From City Girl to Rancher's Wife. Ami Weaver

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СКАЧАТЬ a jar of preserves out of the fridge. “Yes, we do.” To Josie she said, “Don’t be put off by Luke’s grumpiness. He’s a good man.”

      She gave both women a wry smile. “I’m sure he is. He doesn’t seem to like me much, though.” Not that they’d gotten off to the best start.

      Alice sighed. “Give him time. You might remind him of his ex-wife.”

      Josie gaped at her. “What? How can you say that?” She pictured Mandy Fairchild, the petite platinum-blonde country singer, with her huge brown eyes and bombshell figure. Josie was tall and thin. No curves. They couldn’t be more different. “Um. No.”

      Rosa laughed. “I don’t think she meant physically, honey.” She looked at Alice for confirmation.

      Alice nodded as she spread the rich red preserves on her bagel. “That’s right. I meant your background. From a big city, in a new environment. Mandy lasted about a month out here. He doesn’t know you and he probably thinks you’ll bolt as soon as things get tough.”

      Josie raised a brow. “I’m not staying for long,” she pointed out.

      “No,” Alice agreed. “Of course not. But you know how things can trigger the memories even when you’re not expecting it. It doesn’t have to make sense.”

      “True,” Josie said. But she didn’t think there was anything up here that would trigger anything for her. It couldn’t be more different from home. She looked out the huge window over the sink. There was no glitz and glam, but the pink-kissed mountains scraped the sky and took her breath away. “Wow. Oh, my gosh. Look at that.”

      Her aunt came and stood beside her and looked out. “Yes. I see that every morning and it never fails to make me catch my breath. I love it up here.”

      Alice smiled as she came up beside them. “I’ve lived my whole life in Montana. And I’ve never failed to be humbled by the natural beauty up here.”

      Rosa carried Alice’s plate and coffee out of the kitchen. A few minutes later, she was back. “She likes the living room, where she can see the views and watch the news, too. That reminds me. It’s satellite TV out here and it can be a little hit-or-miss in bad weather. Now, I’m heading out in a couple of hours. Let’s get you up to speed. I’ll show you what I do and you can take it from there.”

      They spent a good hour at the little table in the breakfast room off the kitchen, where Josie could see not only the mountains but the barns and people moving around. It was hard to believe just a couple days ago she’d been in one of the biggest cities in the world. “Feel free to put your own spin on anything. This isn’t a sacred document,” Rosa said with a chuckle. “It’s just things that work well for me and hopefully for you, too. Not haute cuisine, I’m afraid.”

      Josie ran her hand over the torn and faded cover. “I wouldn’t expect that out here. There’s no reason for it. It’s comfort food, and hearty meals.” And she could work with all of it, make little changes and tweaks that wouldn’t take away at all from her aunt’s meals. “It’ll be fun.”

      She’d work around the awkwardness with Luke and remember it was only for six weeks. She was tough. She could do pretty much anything for six weeks. Even learn how to live in the wilderness of Montana.

       Chapter Three

      Josie called the rental company while her aunt went to finish packing for her trip and made sure she could drop the car off earlier than planned. The problem was, she’d need a ride back from Kalispell. Would a taxi come out this far? It didn’t seem likely.

      Luke came in the kitchen. He tipped his head in her direction as he headed to the sink to wash his hands and then over to the fridge, where he started pulling out the fixings for a sandwich. “Got the car. It’s fine. Some grass and dirt stuck up under the front bumper, and it’s muddy, but no actual damage.”

      Josie expelled a long breath and relief slid through her. She wouldn’t have to worry about the money, then. “Oh, good. Thank you.”

      “Did you talk to the car company?”

      Josie turned back to the potato casserole she was preparing for dinner. She’d pop it in the fridge until it was time to put it in the oven. “I did. I can return it anytime.”

      “Do you want to go tomorrow? May as well get it taken care of.” When she hesitated, not wanting to put him out any more than she already had, he added, “I’ve got to pick up a part for the tractor over there anyway. May as well take care of both things at once.”

      She nodded. “Okay. As long as you’re sure. I can probably make other arrangements.”

      He chuckled as she covered the pan in tin foil. “No, you couldn’t. It’d cost you a fortune.”

      She sighed. “That’s what I was afraid of.” And money was at a premium right now. She’d sunk most of it in the restaurant, only to lose it to Russ.

      He touched her shoulder as she picked up the heavy casserole pan. She almost fumbled it in surprise. He’d been so cool toward her she’d never expected him to actually touch her. Even if he pulled his hand back awfully fast. “You’ll have to get used to it. It’s nothing like where you’re from.”

      Before she could say anything, Rosa came in the kitchen, and Luke gave her a hug. They exchanged goodbyes, and before Luke left, he asked Josie, “Is eight okay tomorrow? I’d like to get the part before eleven.”

      “Eight’s fine,” she said and tried not to notice Rosa looking between them curiously. Luke left and Josie smiled at her. “Are you ready? You have everything?”

      Rosa patted her shoulder bag. “I think so. And the boys gave me a tablet for the trip, so I can watch movies and read. Wasn’t that nice of them?”

      “It was,” she agreed. “I’m sure Kelly can’t wait to see you.”

      Rosa gave her a big hug. “I can’t wait to see her and meet my new grandbaby. But I do wish I had more time here with you. Enjoy your time here. Relax.”

      Josie hugged her back. “I wish we did, too. But Kelly’s waiting for you.” She didn’t touch the “relax” portion of the comment, since it’d been so long since she’d really relaxed that she wasn’t sure she knew how to anymore.

      “Give Luke time,” Rosa said as Josie walked with her through the house. “He’ll come around.”

      Josie laughed. Aunt Rosa was determined to make her point about Luke. “Oh, no. Not going to happen.”

      Rosa gave her a little smile, then sighed. “I know. I’m sorry, I don’t mean to keep bringing it up. I just want to see you happy. Him, too.”

      Josie stopped in her tracks and looked around for Alice. The last thing she needed was Luke’s mother hearing any of this. “Oh, Aunt Rosa. That’s nice of you to say, but there’s no way I’m staying here. My life is in LA.” What was left of it, of course. But she had every intention of salvaging what—if anything—she could and starting over. She didn’t need a celebrity chef to give her credibility.

      * * *

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