The Marine's E-Mail Order Bride (Heroes of Chance Creek Book 3) (13 page)

It was no use asking herself why she’d gone along with her mother so long in keeping it, rather than selling the thing and getting free from the mountain of debt it represented. She knew exactly why Cheyenne clung to the house—it was her way of clinging to Mitch.

Storm had felt the same way for the first few years after her father had died. If they’d had to leave their home on top of losing him, she would have been devastated. Now she felt differently. They had lost too much in their attempt to keep it. She had never been able to afford college. Neither would her sisters.

It was time to sell.

She felt in her pocket for her phone, pulled it out and looked at it for a long minute.

No, not now. Cheyenne would be at work. She’d have to wait for tonight to call and have the talk that was long overdue. She cast about for something else to do to take her mind off her mother—and Zane. She needed a distraction.

The store.

Storm nodded. She’d go into town and spend the rest of the morning at Mandy’s, if she could get a ride, but there was a phone call she needed to make first. Not to her mother—to someone else. Her short time with Zane had taught her that she didn’t want to beat around the bush in relationships anymore. She wanted to speak plainly and trust others to do the same. That meant she couldn’t ignore Darren’s allegations. Zane obviously hadn’t followed up on it yet with Heloise, so Storm thought she’d get the information she needed straight from the horse’s mouth. A bit of a search on the Internet located the number for Darren. She made the call before she could change her mind and when a woman’s voice answered she crossed her fingers and asked, “Is Belinda there?”

“Speaking.” The woman sounded tired.

“Belinda, my name is Storm. You might have heard of me.”

“Zane’s bride.” No change in the tone of her voice. Storm frowned. She’d expected anger—maybe even a hang up.

“That’s right. I arrived Saturday, met Heloise for the first time and she offered me Mandy’s old store. It sounds like that was meant for you, though.”

There was a silence on the other end. “That’s Darren for you. It wasn’t promised to me if that’s what you mean. Heloise mentioned the store to me when she bought it. I mentioned it to Darren. He thought it should be ours on account of you all getting the Hall. I guess he’s half-convinced himself now it was Heloise’s idea, not his.”

“I can see why he might think it was fair. I wanted you to know I wasn’t trying to take something that was rightfully yours.”

“No, I don’t expect you were. Don’t worry about it.” She sounded like she was about to hang up.

“Wait—wait a minute. Belinda?”

“Yeah?”

Storm couldn’t let the conversation end like this. She hadn’t liked the way Darren had talked to her—or to Zane—but the woman on the other end of the line sounded so defeated she couldn’t stand it. She might regret this, but she thought it was possible one good thing could come of her time here in Chance Creek. Maybe she could help end the feud between the Halls that had been going on for so long. “Would you like to help me?”

“With what?” Now Belinda sounded annoyed.

“Would you like to come work for me at the store?” Storm quailed, even as she spoke. She’d never met Belinda. Didn’t know the first thing about her. What if she was mean, or stole from the till, or scared away all the customers?

“Work for you? At Mandy’s?” For the first time Storm heard a spark of life in the woman’s voice. “I’ve been looking for a job, but I don’t have much experience.”

“You don’t need any experience. Could you meet me there in twenty minutes so we can talk things through? I have a key.” Storm wasn’t sure how she’d get into town, but she’d work that out.

“Yes, I think I can. Yes, I’ll be there. Twenty minutes.” Belinda hung up and Storm had to smile. Belinda’s voice had transformed in those last few sentences. Storm couldn’t wait to meet the mystery woman and see just what she’d gotten herself into. At least now she had something to concentrate on other than the mess she’d made of her life so far.

Ella gladly lent her a car and Storm escaped before Zane could come looking for her again. Twenty minutes later she was struggling with the lock on the store’s front door when a sharp-faced woman with a bad bleach job growing out rounded the corner and walked briskly toward her. She wore jeans and battered old cowboy boots. She carried a few extra pounds and there was a stain on the hem of her knit shirt, but the purse she carried was stylish and her makeup was expertly done.

“Are you Storm?” the woman asked.

“Yes. Belinda?” Storm smiled in greeting. “Come on in. Let’s take a look around.”

Belinda followed her inside, shoved her hands in her pants pockets, and said, “You’re from California?”

“That’s right.”

“You look it.”

Storm decided to take that as a compliment. “Thanks.”

“I guess I look like a hick to you.”

“Of course not.” Storm frowned at Belinda’s tone. “You look like a woman juggling a lot of balls. You have children, right?”

“Five of them.”

“School age?”

“My youngest just started Kindergarten. Thank God.” Belinda swallowed. “I mean, I love them and all…”

“Five is a lot.” Storm chuckled. “I think you’re allowed to be relieved they’re in school.”

“Anyway, I’d be glad to help out here—if you want me.”

“I appreciate it.” Storm began to walk around the store and check out the inventory. It was as out of date and depressing as she’d remembered it being. “How long have you lived in Chance Creek?”

“All my life.” Belinda laughed hollowly. “Can’t seem to escape it.”

“Do you want to?”

The other woman began to move around the store, too, running her hands over the items of clothing. “I don’t want to leave Chance Creek so much as… well… I want something to change. Know what I mean?”

“Yes, I do.” How many times had she wanted something similar back in California, but hadn’t been able to put her finger on what exactly to do about it? Being in Montana was giving her a lot of perspective on her old life, especially about the way she’d let problems drag on and on without doing much to try to solve them. That was going to change. “I think we need to start by getting rid of all this stuff. I mean, is there anything good in here?”

“These aren’t bad.” Belinda pulled out a pair of boot cut jeans that Storm had to admit were just fine. “This too.” She pulled out a plaid shirt and waved it at Storm. “I mean, you wouldn’t find them on Rodeo Drive, but women in Chance Creek need clothes to garden in and clean their houses and run the kids around, you know?”

“Okay.” Storm had an inspiration. “That’s where you can start—separating out the good from the bad. Let’s clear two racks. We’ll hang things to keep on one. The other will be for things to get rid of.”

“We could have an in-store garage sale,” Belinda suggested.

“Great idea. We’ll price everything super cheap. Maybe someone will buy them.”

“Everyone will buy them—for quilt squares if nothing else.”

“Quilt squares?” Storm stopped in her tracks. “Does anyone actually quilt anymore?”

Belinda turned to stare at her. “Of course. I guess they don’t in California, though.”

“None of my friends do.” Storm shrugged, realizing with a small ache that she didn’t have many friends, seeing as she was always so busy. Maybe lots of women in California quilted. What would she know about it? She pulled everything off of two wheeled racks and moved them into the center of the store, hoping Belinda hadn’t noticed her distress. “Let’s get started.”

Time flew by as they got into the task and soon Storm’s sorrow passed away and they were chatting easily, showing each other the things they found and debating the merits of various items of clothing. The sale rack filled up faster than the keeper rack, but there was more to keep than Storm had imagined. She cringed at a few of the things Belinda added to it, but mostly agreed with her choices.

“I’ve got to go,” Belinda exclaimed several hours later. “Time to pick up Joey from Kindergarten.”

“Can you come tomorrow?”

“You bet!” Belinda bit her lip. “I mean, if you want me to.”

“I definitely do. You and I are going to whip this store into shape.”

“I’ve had more fun this morning than I’ve had in ages,” Belinda said in a burst of enthusiasm. “Thank you for this.”

“Oh, your time card!” Storm ran to find a piece of paper in her purse. “Let’s write down your hours for today. I’ll get something more official set up soon.” She named a wage that seemed awfully low, but Belinda seemed grateful for it. Storm hoped the money Heloise was giving her to cover startup costs would cover Belinda’s pay, too.

“See you tomorrow!”

“See you.”

Alone once more, Storm took more time to look around the store. Yes, she could definitely make something of it.

But would she be here long enough to see it come to fruition?

‡

“W
hat’s wrong?” Zane
asked when he reached the northwest pasture. He’d received a call from Mason that he’d better get out there quick, and had left off saddling up his horse for a morning ride and taken one of the utility vehicles instead to save time.

Mason gestured to a break in the fencing where the wires dangled. “Just dumb luck that the cattle have been staying on the eastern end. None of them discovered the break yet, so we didn’t lose any.”

“Looks like that’s been cut.” Zane approached the fence.

“Damn straight. And you know who did it.” Austin’s arms were crossed over his chest.

“You think it was Darren?”

“Of course it was Darren. Who else?”

“Could be kids with too much time on their hands,” Mason said.

Zane shook his head. “Darren wants to make us look bad, so Heloise will change her mind.”

“He wants to damage the herd and bankrupt us,” Austin said.

“He might want to do that, but I doubt he can figure out a way,” Mason said. “He’ll just do what he can to make things miserable.” He glanced back at the fence. “If he even did this.”

“You’re underestimating Darren. It wouldn’t take much to drain our profits enough to make us unable to go on. I won’t ask Ella to underwrite the cattle ranch.” Austin was adamant, and Zane understood his position. As a former actress, Ella had money in the bank, but Austin didn’t want to risk any of it on this particular venture. It was too chancy—especially since it only took Colt reneging on his promise to get married to ruin it for all of them.

“So what do we do?” Zane calculated the time it would take to mend the fence.

“We keep our eyes open. Keep the dogs outside for a few nights to warn us of intruders.” Mason came to stand beside Zane. “You make sure to keep your bride happy and your wedding on track. The last thing we need is any more ugly surprises.”

Storm caught a
ride into town with Ella the next day, met Belinda at the store and got to work where they’d left off the day before.

After working and chatting for an hour or so, they fell into a companionable silence for a while that allowed Storm’s mind free range to think about her business.

“I want this place to be more than a clothing store,” she said after some minutes had passed.

“In what way?” Belinda kept sorting.

“I want it to be a place that’s got everything a person needs to feel like they’re surrounded by beauty.”

“A person just needs to look out the door for that. Chance Creek’s beautiful all on its own.”

“How about inside your house? How about the clothes you wear? So much of what we own is just… good enough, you know what I mean? It doesn’t really fit. It isn’t really right. It’s not all that it could be.”

Belinda looked down at her clothes. “We’re not all built like mannequins, for one thing. We’re not made of money, either.”

“I know that. I’ll have to look hard to find brands of clothing and housewares to stock that are beautiful, yet functional. I’ll get to know my customers because this town is so small. Maybe I can tailor my stock to the people who shop here.”

“Is that possible?”

“I don’t see why not,” Storm mused. “I’m in a pretty sweet position because for once in my life I don’t need a lot of money. I can take chances.” Instantly guilt swept over her. Shouldn’t she be sending every extra penny back to Cheyenne? And what about contributing to the ranch’s expenses?

What about the fact she was leaving in six weeks, for that matter? She shook her head at her own fantasy. She’d have no time to tailor her stock to her customers.

“That sounds nice.” Belinda kept on working. Now Storm felt guilty for a new reason.

“It must be expensive to raise five kids,” she said as if she didn’t know exactly how expensive it was to raise children. She needed to stop daydreaming about staying in Chance Creek and start figuring out how to fix things back in California.

“It is.” Belinda hung several shirts on the sales rack. “Especially when your husband doesn’t work steady.” She looked down. “Shouldn’t have said that,” she murmured. “I hate it when women talk down their husbands.”

“Darren’s not too… happy, is he?” Storm hoped that wasn’t a poor choice of words.