A Bride For Liam Brand. Joanna Sims
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Название: A Bride For Liam Brand
Автор: Joanna Sims
Издательство: HarperCollins
Жанр: Контркультура
Серия: The Brands of Montana
isbn: 9781474077279
isbn:
Liam sat at Kate King’s counter, watching the horse trainer interact with her daughter, while he gulped down grape soda, which he hadn’t had since he was a kid. This visit to the Triple K Ranch was an unexpected blast into his past.
Every time he emptied a can of soda, Callie would put another cold can of it in front of him. He didn’t even have to ask. It had been a long time since Liam felt like he was part of a family; he’d been separated for several years, and the divorce had finally been settled the year before. The judge had granted full, physical custody of their two children to his ex-wife and liberal visitation to him; now he was a long-distance father to two teenagers. His son and daughter lived in Seattle, Washington, with his ex-wife and her new husband. Although he had known that his ex-wife, Cynthia, had been dating during their separation, it had still been a shock when she remarried so quickly after the divorce had been finalized. He hated being a video-chat father and a “see you on your next school break” dad. But, that fight was over and he had lost—big time.
He’d always been the kind of man who wanted to be married, to have kids, to make a home with a woman. But it hadn’t worked out that way. Liam had his work—his salvation—and a big family with lots of siblings, yet he always went home to an empty house. He liked being in Kate King’s house, chitchatting and laughing about nothing in particular while Calico stirred the chili and put an extra place setting on the table.
Once Callie announced that she was ready to serve, Liam joined them at their little square table, wobbly on its legs, and hungrily dived into the large bowl of chili. Perhaps he shouldn’t have been so shocked at how good the chili was—perhaps he underestimated Callie because of her disability—but Callie’s chili was incredible.
Two bowls later, Liam was completely stuffed and wishing he hadn’t been so greedy. He felt more like curling up on Kate’s old plaid couch than driving forty-five minutes back to his family’s ranch, Sugar Creek.
“That was the best chili I’ve ever had,” he told Kate’s daughter. “Hand’s down. The best.”
Callie smiled shyly with pleasure, sometimes finding it difficult to look him in the eye.
As she picked up his bowl to take it to the sink, Callie said, “I-I’m making steak and garlic mashed potatoes tomorrow night.”
Liam smiled at her. “I’m sure that’s going to be another masterpiece of a meal, Calico.”
She stood by his chair, his bowl in hand. “Do you want to come for dinner tomorrow?”
Liam saw Kate’s expression, fleeting as it was; she had no idea Callie would invite him for a second dinner, and she wasn’t on board with the idea. Kate sanitized her expression quickly as she said, “Callie, I’m sure Dr. Brand can’t come out all this way just for dinner.”
“Actually—” he didn’t plan it; the words just popped out of his mouth “—I think that steak and garlic mashed potatoes are definitely worth the drive. What time’s dinner?”
“I still don’t know what possessed you to invite Dr. Brand for dinner tonight, Callie!” Kate said as she was attempting to stuff a family pack of paper towels onto the top shelf of her pantry.
“He likes my cooking.”
Kate had been irritated all day about their dinner guest. She was annoyed with her daughter for extending the invitation, and she was even more annoyed with Liam for accepting.
“Everyone loves your cooking.” She shoved the paper towels hard with both hands.
Callie put her hand over her mouth and giggled. “True.”
No matter how hard she shoved that stupid pack of paper towels, it refused to fit into the space. Kate stared at the offending paper towels before she sighed, grabbed ahold of the plastic encasing the paper towels and yanked on it until she pulled it free and dropped it onto the floor.
“We don’t have company during the week.” She picked up the paper towels and put them on top of the refrigerator.
“I—I know.” Her daughter was busy gathering the ingredients she would need to make dinner. Callie always needed help with measuring, but she could follow her list of ingredients and then double-check after she was done. “B-but,” her daughter said as if she were the parent, “you’re gonna need someone to eat dinner with when I—I’m living in New York.”
This had been a conversation that had been going on for years. In spite of her disability, Callie was a very goal-oriented young woman. She wanted to live in New York City on her own, go to culinary school and then open a restaurant. Kate had always supported Callie’s dreams, but there had to be limits.
“You know that New York isn’t an option, Callie. Our life is here at the Triple K.”
“That’s why I—I’m going without you.” Her daughter put her armful of ingredients on the counter. “You stay here, and I—I go to New York.”
This was said with another giggle.
Kate walked up behind her daughter, wrapped her arms around her shoulders and kissed her on the cheek. “I love you, sweet girl.”
Always affectionate ever since she was a baby, Callie turned in her arms and hugged her tightly. “Don’t be afraid, Mommy. I—I’ll be okay.”
“If you want to move out, Callie, you know I support that. But you’ve got to take baby steps. Get a place in town.”
“I-I’ll live in New York first.”
This wasn’t the first, or last, discussion about New York. Down syndrome hadn’t quelled Callie’s ability to dream big for herself; she was goal-oriented and ambitious, dreaming of attending culinary school in New York City. For someone born with Down syndrome, Callie was on the higher end of the spectrum as far as her IQ was concerned, but there would never be a time when she could live independently in a small town like Bozeman, much less in the largest city in the country. Her daughter was so full of life, so full of dreams, but simple, daily tasks, like taking money out of an ATM machine, stumped Callie.
It was important to Kate that her daughter gain as much independence as possible; they had often spoken about Callie finding an apartment in town. Kate had even been in touch with a local, non-profit organization that supported individuals with disabilities to review options for transitional living in Bozeman. But every time they discussed moving, Callie inevitably circled back to her goal of moving to the Big Apple.
“You may move out and hate it,” Kate teased her daughter.
“No.” Callie said, emphatically. “I-I know what I want.”
She waited for Callie to slowly go over the ingredient list, check each item off as she doubled-checked to make certain she had everything she needed. Her daughter leaned her elbows on the counter, her face very close to the enlarged print on the recipe card, talking aloud to herself as she went along. It had taken years to develop this routine, this step toward independent life, and Kate was proud to watch Callie make continued progress. Her daughter had gotten the King stubbornness and СКАЧАТЬ