Wedding at Cardwell Ranch. B.J. Daniels

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      “I have to hand it to Sarah, putting up with her mother day in and day out,” Belinda said.

      Allie didn’t want to think about it. Along with fewer incidents the past few days, she’d also been blessed with no visits from her mother-in-law and Sarah.

      “Sarah’s a saint, especially—” Belinda lowered her voice “—the way Mildred treats her. She is constantly bugging her about her weight and how she is never going to get a husband... It’s awful.”

      Allie agreed.

      “I don’t understand why she doesn’t leave.”

      “Where would she go and what would she do?” Allie said. “Sarah was in college when Mildred broke her leg. She quit to come home and take care of her mother. Mildred has milked it ever since. It used to annoy Nick, Sarah living in the guesthouse. He thought Sarah was taking advantage of his mother.”

      “Ha, it’s the other way around. Sarah is on twenty-four-hour call. She told me that her mother got her out of bed at 2:00 a.m. one time to heat her some milk because she couldn’t sleep. I would have put a pillow over the old nag’s face.”

      Allie laughed and changed the subject. “You look especially nice today,” she commented, realizing that her friend had seemed happier lately. It dawned on her why. “There’s someone new in your life.”

      Belinda shrugged. She didn’t like to talk about the men she dated because she thought it would jinx things for her. Not talking about them didn’t seem to work, either, though. Belinda was so superstitious. Why else would she see a psychic to find out her future?

      “This is going to be so much fun, the two of us working together again. Don’t worry. I won’t get in your way.” Belinda took her hand. “I’m sorry I upset you. Sometimes I don’t have the brains God gave a rock.”

      She didn’t think that was the way the expression went, but said nothing. Belinda could be so...annoying and yet so sweet. Allie didn’t know what she would have done without her the past few years. Belinda had been the only person she would talk freely to about Nick and the trouble between them.

      “I’m just worried about you, honey,” Belinda said, squeezing her hand. “I really think you should see someone—”

      “I don’t need a shrink.”

      “Not a shrink. Someone more...spiritual who can help you make sense of the things that you say keep happening.”

      “Things do keep happening,” she snapped. “I’m not making them up.”

      “So talk to this woman,” Belinda said just as adamantly. She pressed a business card into Allie’s hand.

      She glanced at it and groaned. “Your psychic friend?”

      “She might be the only person who can help you,” Belinda said cryptically. She gripped Allie’s hand tighter. “She says she can get you in touch with Nick so you can get past this.”

      Allie stared at her for a moment before laughing out loud. “You have got to be kidding. What does she use? A Ouija board?”

      “Don’t laugh. This woman can tell you things that will make the hair on your head stand straight up.”

      That’s all I need, she thought, reminded of Jackson Cardwell asking her if she was superstitious.

      “Call her,” Belinda said, closing Allie’s fingers around the woman’s business card. “You need closure, Allie. This woman can give it to you. She’s expecting your call.”

      “I’ve been expecting your call, as well,” said a sharp, older voice.

      They both turned to see Mildred and her daughter. From the looks on their faces, they’d been standing there for some time.

      Chapter Three

      “Want to see the building for Montana’s first Texas Boys Barbecue?” Tag asked after they’d dropped Jackson and Ford’s luggage off at the small cabin on the side of the mountain and gone down to meet cousin Dana and her brood.

      Dana Cardwell Savage was just as Tag had described her. Adorable and sweet and delighted that everyone was coming for the wedding.

      “How is your cabin?” she asked after introducing him to her children with husband, Marshal Hud Savage. Hank was the spitting image of his father, Dana said, and six now. Mary was five and looked just like her mom. Then there were the twins, Angus and Brick, just a year and a half old with the same dark hair and eyes as all the Cardwells.

      “The cabin is great,” Jackson said as Ford instantly bonded with his second cousins. “Thank you so much for letting me stay there.”

      “Family is why we had them built,” Dana said. “My Texas cousins will always have a place to stay when you visit. Or until you find a place to live in Montana when you realize you want to live up here,” she added with a wink. “Isn’t that right, Tag?”

      “I would love to visit, but I’m never leaving Texas,” Jackson said.

      “Never say never,” Tag commented under his breath. “I was just about to take him down to see the restaurant location.”

      Ford took off with the other kids into a room full of toys and didn’t even look back as his father left. Jackson almost felt as if he were losing his son to Montana and the Cardwell clan.

      “Are you sure you don’t want to wait until everyone gets here?” he asked as they left.

      “Hayes and Laramie are flying in tomorrow. I was hoping you would pick them up at the airport. Austin is apparently on a case tying up some loose ends.” He shrugged. Of the five of them, Austin was the loner. He was dedicated to his job and being tied up on a case was nothing new. “Anyway, it’s your opinion I want. You’re better at this than all three of them put together.”

      “So you haven’t heard from Austin on the deal,” Jackson guessed.

      Tag shook his head. “You know how he is. He’ll go along with whatever everyone else says. Come on,” he said with a laugh when Jackson groaned. “I really do want your opinion.”

      “Honest opinion?” Jackson asked.

      “Of course.”

      Jackson glanced around as they drove out of the ranch and down the highway to the turnoff to Big Sky. Being the youngest, he didn’t remember anything about Montana. He’d been a baby when his mother had packed up her five sons and taken them to Texas.

      Big Sky looked more like a wide spot in the road rather than a town. There were clusters of buildings broken only by sagebrush or golf greens.

      “This is the lower Meadow Village,” Tag told him. “There is also the Mountain Village higher up the mountain where the ski resort is. You really have to see this place in the winter. It’s crazy busy around the holidays. There are a lot of second homes here so the residents fly in and spend a few weeks generally in the summer and the holidays. More and more people, though, are starting to live here year-round. There is opportunity here, СКАЧАТЬ