The Marine's E-Mail Order Bride (Heroes of Chance Creek Book 3) (10 page)

“I hear you’re from California. What exactly is it that you do?”

“I climb mountains.” It was uncomfortable to put on Kenna’s persona again, but she knew she’d better not slip up now.

“For a living?” Heloise pursed her lips. “Didn’t know you could make money doing that.”

“I get grant money to help cover costs. I sell articles about my climbs. Conduct research when I can.” Storm congratulated herself on sounding just like Kenna.

“Very interesting.” Heloise’s tone insinuated she thought there might be something untoward about it, though.

Storm smiled tightly. “Thank you.”

“And now you’ve come to marry my Zane. He’s a good man.”

Storm didn’t answer. It occurred to her that despite how close they’d become over the last twenty-four hours, she really knew little about him. Her conscience throbbed. She knew far too much about him, if she was honest.

Heloise lifted her chin. “What’s the story?”

“What do you mean?” Storm grew wary. Had she given away the game already? Every time Zane had brought up Heloise she had thought he’d be there to help her when they met.

“It isn’t easy for four boys to find wives in the space of a single year. I know they think I’m off my rocker, but I’m not. Mason and Austin had to hustle to find their wives. What about Zane? What did he have to do?”

Storm relaxed a little. She rather liked Heloise’s direct manner. “He hustled, too. Wouldn’t take no for an answer.”

Heloise narrowed her eyes. “That glosses over a bit, I’d say.”

“Maybe.” Storm decided she could give as good as she got. “I’m here now and that’s what matters.”

“Yes, but will you stay here?”

Storm held her breath again. Heloise was sharp, she’d give her that. Would she stay? She sure wanted to.

“What would make a mountaineer want to stay in Chance Creek?” Heloise mused aloud. “You need something to anchor you. A baby would be best, but I’ve already played that card with Mason and Austin. I doubt I can do more with you than remind you of your duty as a wife.” Storm’s eyebrows shot up, but Heloise went on before she could say anything. “You need a job. No, not just a job—you’d quit that quick enough. A business.” She smiled in satisfaction. “Yes, a business. That’s just the ticket. What do you think about that, Miss North?”

Storm struggled to find an answer to this surprising statement. Heloise’s use of Kenna’s last name was a helpful reminder, though, that she had to remember she was here as an imposter. Kenna was the one married to Zane, not her. She had to behave like a dedicated mountaineer—one who planned to leave Chance Creek immediately after Thanksgiving.

“I don’t want a business,” she said, even as her imagination kicked into high gear. Yes, she did; a business was exactly what she’d always wanted. Something that was all hers. A chance to create something that expressed her creativity and allowed her to help make the world a more beautiful place.

“I didn’t ask you if you wanted it. I told you I was giving you one.” Heloise humphed. “As daft as the rest of them, aren’t you? Come on.”

“Where are we going?”

“On a walk.”

“For God’s sake,
Heloise; you can’t just take off like that. You, too, Storm—what were you thinking?” Zane said a half-hour later when he found them around the block in a shuttered storefront. When he’d gotten back to Heloise’s apartment and both of them were missing, for one wild moment he’d thought the old woman had sent Storm packing.

“Heloise wanted to show me something.” Storm shrugged as if to say,
what was I supposed to do?
Zane supposed she wasn’t really to blame. Heloise was a force of nature.

“What do you think about it?” Heloise asked.

“About what? About you disappearing and making me hunt you down all over town?”

“Oh, spare me the drama. A Marine can’t ask a question or two and walk a block? Just like a man. About this store. Isn’t it something?”

“It’s a women’s clothing store.” Mandy’s Cowgirl Emporium had been around since he was a boy. It looked now just like it looked then—stuck in a 1950s time warp. “Who wears this stuff?” The store had a musty smell and he didn’t see a clerk anywhere. He couldn’t blame them for wanting to hide if this was their merchandise.

“No one. The store’s been closed for three months. I bought it from Amanda Hathaway when she retired. Thought it might come in handy.”

He pulled a suede skirt with matching vest off a rack, both fringed to within an inch of their lives. “You thought this might come in handy?”

“Not that, idiot. The store.”

Heloise’s sharp tone almost made him laugh. He liked riling the old girl, but today wasn’t a good time for jokes. “Handy for what?”

“For me,” Storm said. “Heloise is ordering me to open it back up.”

Zane struggled to keep from snapping at his aunt. He and Storm were doing so well; if she messed it up by ordering Storm around… “You can’t make her do things.”

“Who says I can’t?” Heloise shot him an angry look and he cursed himself. She was right; she still held the deed to the ranch. She could order any of them around. “The way I see it, the women in this town need somewhere to shop. Kenna’s got style. She’s the one to do it.”

“Kenna prefers to be called Storm,” he said severely. “And she has to leave right after Thanksgiving for another trip. How is she supposed to run a store?”

“That’s what managers are for.” Heloise folded her arms over her chest.

He’d seen that look before. He might as well try to make Chance Creek flow backward as change her mind. If Storm didn’t bow to her wishes, they might all be in trouble.

“It’s okay,” Storm said, as if anticipating his next words. “It’s a challenge. I’ll do what I can to spiff the place up. Heloise has been forewarned about my travel plans. She can’t blame me if the store gets in trouble while I’m gone.” She fixed a smile on Heloise. “Maybe you should be my manager. What do you say, Heloise?”

“I say I’m too old for that nonsense.” But Heloise was smiling. Zane knew she secretly liked it when people showed they had backbone.

To a point.

“Are you sure that’s what you want? To work in town?” he asked Storm.

“It might be interesting.”

Despite himself, something eased in Zane’s heart. Heloise had obviously taken a shine to Storm. And she was giving Storm a reason to stay and put down roots in Chance Creek, as inappropriate as a store was for a mountain climber. Did Storm realize how she was being manipulated? Why was she allowing it to happen?

And why had Heloise decided Storm needed manipulating? Did she really just need someone to unload the store on? Or did she want him to succeed in staying married? Heloise was tricky—he was afraid there was a catch.

Some of what he was thinking must have shown on his face, because Heloise said, “Can’t an old woman do someone a good turn or two without being suspected? You two have worn me out. Take me home.”

“Heloise must have
really taken a shine to you, if she’s trying to keep you here,” Zane said as they walked back to his truck a half-hour later.

“I guess.” Storm had to admit she was pleased with the idea of turning around a retail store. It was the kind of adventure she’d always hoped for. The kind that had seemed forever out of reach.

“If you’re going to stick around, you’ll need some warmer clothes,” Zane said. “Better shoes, too,” he added, pointing one booted foot toward the sandals she still wore.

Storm cautiously held up the key Heloise had given her. “I can take what I want from Mandy’s Emporium. Let’s go back and take a look.”

Zane shuddered. “There’s got to be a better choice.”

She had to laugh at his expression. “I should at least be able to find a few more pairs of jeans and sweaters.”

As it turned out, she found more than that and soon she’d bagged up several pairs of skinny jeans which Zane declared must have been around since the last time they were in style in the 1980s, a few simple T-shirts and button downs, two A-line skirts made from fall-weight fabric, and three sweaters.

“Grab a pair of boots while you’re at it,” Zane suggested. “They’ll hold up better on the ranch than your sandals. Here—try these. I remember Mom saying Mandy did know her footwear.”

She took the boots gingerly. Cowboy boots weren’t her thing, but then neither were jeans, and she had to admit they were kind of cute. “Wrong size,” she said. They searched together for several minutes, neither of them talking, until they found the extra boxes in the back room. “Here. Size six.” She opened the box right there and tried them on.

“Those look good.” The compliment lifted her spirits. They did look good. In fact, they made her legs look a mile long. Storm grinned, and pulled them off again.

“How about some of these?” Zane had found the lingerie section of the store, such as it was. He held up a thong.

“I’ll stick to what I’ve got back at the ranch, thank you very much.” When they reached the front of the store, she hesitated. “It feels weird just walking out with this stuff. Shouldn’t I leave money or something?”

“To pay yourself? If it’s your store, I think you get to take whatever you want.”

If it’s your store.

Was it her store? Was Zane her husband? Did she belong here at all?

Or was this all a fleeting dream that would disappear in six short weeks?

‡

“T
here he is,
the man of the hour,” Mason said, coming into the stables just before dinner. Austin followed close behind and they both clapped Zane on the back. “You sure found yourself a pretty woman. Sweet, too. Regan likes what she’s seen of her so far.”

“How’d you meet her, anyway?” Austin asked. “Is she really a mountain climber? She looks like a wisp of a thing to me.”

Zane realized he and Storm hadn’t discussed what story they’d tell the others, but he wasn’t too worried. After all, Mason was the first of them to place a wife-wanted ad on the Internet and he and Regan had met online. Austin and Ella had met that way, too.

“She answered an ad,” he said.

“The one I put out for you?” Mason asked as he got to work.

“No, a different one.” A much more matter-of-fact and mercenary one, but he wouldn’t tell his brother that.

“How long have you dated?”

“Probably not as long as we should have,” Zane hedged, “but she’s the one for me.”

“Sometimes you just know,” Mason agreed.

“Mia’s called about wedding preparations a few times in the last couple of weeks,” Austin said. “Have you spoken with her?”

“Not yet. Storm’s taking care of that.”

“Couldn’t help noticing Storm’s not wearing a ring,” Mason said nonchalantly. At his brothers’ perplexed looks he threw up his hands and admitted, “All right, it was Regan who noticed. What gives?”

“I wanted to pick it out here in town,” Zane said, scrambling for a suitable answer. “I’ll take Storm to get it this week.”

“I’m surprised Heloise didn’t give you heck about it.”

“She was too busy forcing Storm to take over Mandy’s Emporium. Remember that place?” He filled them in on the details, including the way Storm had tweaked Heloise with her offer of the manager position.

“She’s a keeper, that’s for sure,” Austin said. “Maybe it’s a good thing, though. When you two start your family, she won’t want to keep traipsing off for months at a time to the far corners of the earth, will she?”

Zane didn’t know how to answer that.

“You have discussed kids, haven’t you?” his twin pressed.

“Not exactly. I mean, she wants a family. Someday.” He could hear how lame he sounded. Wouldn’t a couple getting married for real talk about all of this stuff? He hadn’t thought to ask her.

Because they were supposed to be divorced before it ever came up.

The thought left him feeling bleak, so he was glad when Austin continued. “Better start talking about it. I know Ella and Regan are going to start in on her soon. You know how it is. Pregnancy is contagious.”

“Is that how it works?” Mason said. “I always thought it had something to do with birds and bees.”

Zane tuned out their jokes. The idea of having a child with Storm had taken hold of him, and he wondered what she really thought about children and family. Would she want to keep climbing mountains forever, or would she someday settle down?

“I’m glad everything turned out all right for you,” Austin said, breaking into his thoughts. “Whether or not you have kids, I’m sure you both will be very happy.”

Suddenly Zane wasn’t sure about that at all. It hit him hard how little time he had to convince Storm to stay with him. Just under six weeks. He’d better get started now.

“Details. We need
details,” Regan said when Storm ventured downstairs again and found the two women alone in the kitchen, preparing for supper.

“We want the whole story about how you two met,” Ella said. She poured Storm a cup of coffee and beckoned her to take a seat at the small kitchen table. A large, solid, shaggy black dog sat underneath it. Ella tracked the direction of her glance. “That’s Milo. Friendliest mutt you’ve ever met.”

“Hi Milo,” Storm said, buying time. She perched on the edge of the seat, blowing on her coffee. “What about you two? How did you meet Mason and Austin?”