His Montana Bride

Chapter Two

Katie walked downstairs Sunday morning, her second day in the Shaw home and her second day feeling out of place. She didn’t belong here, not in this town or in this house. This was Gwen’s moment, not Katie’s. And yet, here she was.

She took a deep breath and put on a smile and hopefully a look of confidence. She could do this. Following the sound of laughter and voices raised in numerous conversations, she walked through the pine-paneled living room and headed toward the big country kitchen with its long, butcher-block table, gleaming granite countertops and light oak cabinets. Julie Shaw, auburn hair and blue eyes, turned to smile at her.

“Good morning, Katie. Do you want coffee? And we have muffins, bacon and sausage this morning. Breakfast is simple on Sundays.” Julie’s long, auburn hair curled down past her shoulders. She wore her typical homespun sweater but today with a skirt.

“Coffee and a muffin sounds great,” Katie admitted.

Julie pointed to a plate and clean cups. Katie had been told that Julie Shaw raised sheep for their wool. She had an internet business selling that wool and hand-knit items she made. Katie loved fashion and could appreciate the beauty of Julie’s creations. Before she left town, she planned on buying several items.

“There’s fresh coffee in the pot,” Julie continued. “But you have to hurry. It’s the second pot we’ve made and with this many people in the house it won’t last long.”

Julie lived in her own house on the Shaw property. Katie had seen the little place from a distance and the field dotted with the sheep Julie raised for their wool.

“Thank you.” Katie looked around the kitchen, smiling at Nadine Shaw and her daughter Faith Shaw, who had just walked through the door. Both were dressed for church.

Faith wasn’t the youngest Shaw, but she was the tiniest. She and Julie shared the auburn hair they had probably inherited from their mother, and the blue eyes of their father. But Faith was tiny and less inclined to gab at the drop of a hat. Julie had told Katie that Faith played the violin for the Bozeman Symphony, but she’d gone to Seattle for a short time. It hadn’t worked out was the only answer given when asked why Faith hadn’t stayed.

“Do you attend church, Katie?” Faith asked as she poured herself a cup of coffee. She was dressed in a cute denim-and-lace dress, turquoise-and-brown cowboy boots and a scarf around her neck.

Katie looked over the top of her cup. Did she attend church? She hadn’t been raised in church, but last year a friend, seeing that Katie was a train wreck about to happen, had shared faith with her and invited her to spend a few weekends in the small town where she lived so that Katie could attend church. She’d gone and she’d found something that filled a huge void in her life that she’d been trying to fill with relationships. Going-nowhere relationships.

“I’d love to go to church,” she finally answered. “If that’s okay.”

“Of course it is,” Julie gave her a careful look. “Do you go to church in Missoula?”

Katie shook her head. “Not usually. I just haven’t known where to go.”

Or how to walk in alone. She definitely wouldn’t have the alone problem today, not with this group of people.

Faith walked up behind her, giving her a tight hug and taking her by surprise. “You’ll love our little mountain church. Well, it isn’t little. I guess it must have been at one time, but it’s been built on to.”

“Is everyone about ready to head for church? Those who are going?” Jackson Shaw walked into the kitchen, taking up more space than a man should. His very presence commanded respect, Katie thought. And he made her shake in her shoes, just a little.

“Katie’s going,” Julie offered. “And I think Michael and Helen. Oh, and Thomas and Mandy plus her sister, Beth.”

She pointed to one of the couples that would be getting married at the end of the month. Another couple entered the room, along with the sister of the bride. Beth. Katie had met Beth the previous evening. She was a pretty brunette, petite with big brown eyes. Katie felt like a giant in comparison.

“No need taking half a dozen cars.” Jackson looked around the room, his lips moving as he counted. “We’ll take the Suburban and if Cord shows up, someone can ride with him.”

“Cord doesn’t usually go to church,” Julie shared in a whisper for Katie only.

Cord didn’t attend church? That piece of the puzzle didn’t fit. It was like putting a corner piece in the middle and trying to make it work. He was a Shaw from Jasper Gulch. It seemed to her that church and faith would be part of his DNA.

Before she could comment, there were footsteps and Cord’s voice coming from the direction of the living room. His voice was low and husky as he spoke to someone. The dog, his mother’s poodle, barked. He told the dog to be quiet. When he entered the room, carrying the poodle and talking to his mom, Katie had a moment. She told herself it wasn’t one of those moments, the kind when you see a guy and something amazing happens. It was a moment that was sweet and undefined but precious. Cord Shaw seemed like a good, decent man.

He was also a man in his mid-thirties who had never married. There had to be a reason for that.

Twice bitten kept coming back to her. Who had said that about Cord Shaw? Did that mean he’d been married twice, or rejected twice?

It didn’t matter. Her attention drifted to take in his appearance, even though she said she didn’t care. If his father filled up space, Cord Shaw took the oxygen. He was dressed in jeans, boots and a button-down shirt. But no hat. His dark wavy hair caught her attention because it looked as if he’d brushed it with his fingers. As if he’d read her mind, he brushed a hand across the top of his head, pushing the wayward strands into some type of order.

“Why’s everyone looking at me?” Cord glanced around. On second look she realized he wasn’t dressed for church. His jeans were faded, his shirt was flannel and his boots were worn.

He glanced at his dad and neither of them smiled.

Family dynamics and more of the tension she’d felt the previous evening.

“We’re filling up the Suburban to go to church and I think we have too many people.” As Jackson spoke, Cord started backing up. Jackson glanced around the crowd and without saying anything, his sharp gaze landed on the very pretty Beth. Then his gaze shifted to Katie.

Cord followed his dad’s look and he shook his head. “I wasn’t going to church.”

“Well, it sure would make things easier if you would.” Jackson didn’t bother hinting.

Cord didn’t look like a man who cared what anyone thought or expected from him. As the family scattered, grabbing jackets and purses, Katie turned to follow.

“Fine, I’ll go. Katie, looks like you’re riding with me.”

She turned, her mouth open. And what was she supposed to say to something that hadn’t been a question and didn’t even sound as if it was what the man wanted? She got it, she was the easiest choice. Beth had that look, the kind that said she was searching for romance, for her own walk down the aisle. Katie was used to the role of friend.

“Excuse me?” she blurted out, shifting her purse over her shoulder.

“Beth would probably prefer to ride with her sister,” Cord said with a shrug that said he’d made a logical choice.

“Yes, of course.” Katie looked around the room seeking an ally. Everyone seemed to be content with the plan. Everyone but Beth, who cast a jealous look at her as she left with her sister. Julie, whom Katie thought might be a friend, just smiled and hurried out of the room.

“I’m really sorry,” Katie offered as she walked out the front door with Cord.

He smiled at her. “Katie, if you want to go to church, you should go. And if I have to go, I prefer taking someone I can at least have a conversation with.”

“Thank you.” She didn’t know if it was the correct response, but what else could she say? Once again she’d been put in a box, the one labeled Friend. She told herself she was good with that. After all, she’d been a new-and-improved Katie for the past year. No more chasing after love. No more insecurity. Friend was safe. She wanted safe.

* * *

Cord had to count to ten as he walked around the front of his truck to the driver’s-side door. He didn’t know exactly how his perfect fishing day had turned into a date, or was it church, with Katie? But here he was climbing in his truck and heading for the main road and church. With Katie at his side.

Once again his dad was the one to thank.

In the seat next to him, Katie toyed with her purse, fiddled with the necklace hanging around her neck and then watched out the window as the scenery passed them by. Did she see what he saw? That it was a perfect morning for fishing? The air was brisk and smelled of drying leaves and pine. There were a few white clouds chasing each other across a perfect azure sky. They wouldn’t have many more mornings like this.

Well, maybe God would appreciate his sacrifice and bless him with some decent trout. Not that God worked that way. He wasn’t so far gone that he didn’t still believe, still pray, still take time for the Almighty. He just had a few issues to work out.

“I’m sorry,” Katie finally said. Her voice was clear, bright, sweet.

Strong.

He had the overwhelming impression of strength when he looked at Katie. But there was more to her than that, there was something in her expression, something a little lost about her.

“Why are you sorry?” He glanced her way and then refocused on the road.

“That you’ve been stuck with me again.”

“I’m sorry if I made you feel that way. I’m going to be honest with you, I’d feel stuck no matter who they put in my truck. I think my dad put me in charge of this wedding thinking it would make me all romantic, give me ideas about forever and the like.”

“And?” She smiled a big smile and those green eyes twinkled. For the first time since he walked into the main ranch, he felt a little easier on the inside.

“It makes me want to run as fast as I can in the other direction. Your sister and her fiancé seem decent but I’ve heard more bickering and arguing in the past week, since the couples for the wedding arrived in town. There is a couple staying with a family in town. She knows this wedding is vintage but she’s got this dress ordered from New York, and why can’t she have her own cake, and what about her aunt Milly from Oregon?”

“I think I met that bride last night. Andrea, I think. You’re safe with me, though. We can be birds of a feather.”

Smiling came a little easier. “I’m glad to hear that. So, you think they were going to toss Beth my way?”

“She’s pretty and very sweet. They’re going to throw the most tempting package at you.”

“And you think you’re not...” Well, now, how in the world did he continue this conversation and not sound like a jerk or the world’s biggest flirt?

“Tempting?”

“You think Beth is more tempting?” He cleared his throat, feeling pretty uncomfortable with this whole conversation. But she was laughing now and he enjoyed her laughter. When he looked at her, she shrugged in answer to his question.

If he was going to have to go to church, he might as well have a good time. He wouldn’t have enjoyed it with Beth at his side. He’d met her two days ago and she’d made pretty big hints. No, not hints. She’d outright asked him to show her the town. The next day she’d told him she’d heard about the café and the homemade pies but she was stuck with her sister.

His phone buzzed and he gave her an apologetic look and answered because it was finally the wedding planner. “Cord Shaw.”

He listened. He tried to argue. He counted to ten, more than once. And then he tossed his phone on the seat.

“Bad news.”

“Yeah.”

“They put your name down with Beth’s as the fiftieth couple?”

He smiled and he hadn’t meant to smile. “No. That was the wedding coordinator. She’s quitting. She was doing this pretty much free and she got a better offer, one that pays.”

“Ouch. So now what?”

“I’m not sure.”

He pulled into the parking lot of the church that his family had been attending for generations and that he’d been avoiding as much as possible for a few years. Avoiding because he and God hadn’t seen eye to eye on several things. A broken engagement when he was twenty. And then at twenty-nine a fiancée who ran off with his best man two weeks before they were to get married in this very church. Those were his reasons for avoiding relationships. His reason for avoiding God had more to do with Marci. He shoved the thought away because he couldn’t go there right now, not with Katie sitting in his truck waiting to go to church. The look on her face was something close to a kid’s on Christmas morning.

He shook his head, amused in spite of himself. He hadn’t expected to go to church when he woke up that morning. He really hadn’t expected to be there with a woman he barely knew getting out of the passenger side of his truck. But there he was, standing on the sidewalk, the rustic church with wood siding, stone and stained glass behind him.

The sign out front with the name Mountainview Church of the Savior also had smaller print telling the history behind the church. Most folks just called it Mountainview now, and everyone knew which church they meant.

“With no coordinator to help, will you call off the wedding?” Katie asked as she stepped next to him.

“No.” He couldn’t explain to her that there was too much at stake. The town needed this wedding and the money it would bring in. They had a bridge in need of repairs and a museum they couldn’t finish without more funds. “I’ll just figure out how to pull off a wedding for fifty couples, maybe get some media attention for Jasper Gulch and hopefully not mess up anyone’s life.”

“I think you’ll do just fine. Remember, it’s all about the dress.”

“How long are you going to be in town, Katie?” He placed a hand on her back and guided her up the sidewalk that had a few uneven places.

“I’m not sure. I’m supposed to be helping my sister, but she seems to have escaped and left me here.” She sighed and glanced at him. “I’m sorry, that wasn’t fair. Gwen is in a residency program and of course her time off is limited. And Jeff has a practice to tend to. I have several weeks of vacation and several personal days that I planned on taking so I could be here to help Gwen.”

“Do you always give up your time to help your sister?”

She looked away and he was sorry he had asked. Especially when she smiled at him a moment later, a hint of sadness in her eyes. “She would do the same for me.”

“Of course. I didn’t mean...” What had he meant? “It’s really none of my business.”

“You don’t have to apologize. I’m okay with being here, and with helping her.”

“Do you think that as long as you’re here...”

He didn’t know what to say. They were standing in front of the massive wooden doors that led to the church. She had a slightly red nose from the cool morning air and her lips were tinted with pink gloss. As long as she was there, she could be a friend. That wasn’t what he’d planned to say but the thought framed itself as a question in his mind.

She was studying his face, waiting for him to finish.

“Maybe you could help me with this wedding?” He asked the question that had originally been on his mind.

“Me?”

“You obviously have more fashion sense than I do. For me, dressed up is a sport jacket with my jeans and a pair of boots that I only wear to town or for special occasions.”

“I see. I thought maybe you wanted me to run interference and keep the single women at bay. Hands off Cord Shaw, that kind of thing.” As she said it, somehow her palm came to rest on his shoulder as if they’d been friends forever.

It was the strangest and maybe one of the best feelings. It tangled him up and made him lose track of the reality that he was standing in front of church. People he’d known his whole life were walking their way. The door could open at any moment. And for the first time in years a woman had made him feel at ease.

“That wasn’t what I was thinking,” he finally said. “But your plan does have merit.”

“Of course it does.” Her hand slipped away and she took a step back.

“So, you’ll help me?”

“Keep the women at bay?”

“With the wedding?”

“I’m not sure I want to be that involved.” Her voice was soft. “I already have to be my sister’s right-hand woman. I’m not sure I can be that and help you.”

“I would be forever in your debt.”

“The times I’ve heard...” She smiled and didn’t finish. “I’ll think about it. But I think you probably need someone local who has more knowledge of the area and what’s available. I’ve been a bridesmaid a few times. That is my total experience with weddings.”

“I’ve never made it down the aisle, so you have more experience than me.” He pushed the double doors open and then with a hand on her arm he guided her down the aisle to the pew behind his family.

He glanced behind them, looking for Marci and her grandmother. He’d promised to take Marci riding after church. No matter how busy he was during the week, he always managed to spend time with her on Sunday. It was their day. It was his way of keeping a promise to a friend.

He hadn’t been to church too often since the day of Marci’s mother’s funeral.

And yet, here he was, sitting next to Katie Archer, trying not to weep over the loss of a friend, a girl without a mother, and soon...

He couldn’t think about soon, or about what Lulu Jenson, Marci’s grandmother, was going to face in the near future. In the seat next to him, Katie moved, turning to look around the old building. He tried to see it through her eyes, with the golden glass of the windows, the polished wooden pews, the history.

At the back of the church and on the opposite side he saw Marci with Lulu. The two waved and he smiled. Both of them looked a little too happy to see him there. In the pew in front of him his mother turned to smile, the look in her eyes saying she thought a prayer had been answered. He was back in church. It had been a while.

He settled back in his seat and ignored the woman next to him and the questioning look she gave him. Because she was the one person he didn’t really have to worry about answering to. She’d be gone in a month. Their stories weren’t connected.

But he couldn’t ignore her, not completely. Not when he caught a scent of the oriental perfume that had followed him into his house last night, clinging to the jacket he’d slipped over her shoulders.

She was temporary in this town, and in his life. What was permanent for Cord Shaw were the people in this church. The people connected to him each and every day, counting on him to be there for them.

Right now it felt as if there were a lot of people needing him to pull off this Old Tyme Wedding. There were fifty couples counting on the wedding of the century at the end of the month. Jasper Gulch was counting on him. They needed this wedding. They needed it to bring in funds. They needed it to keep them all united.

He needed a wedding coordinator. The woman next to him moved, her arm brushing his. He didn’t glance her way because he wasn’t going to be obvious, but it was obvious to him that she might be the best person for the job. He knew she worked in fashion. She knew what it would take to put this event together. And bonus, she didn’t appear to be a woman on the hunt for a groom of her own.

Chapter Three

The church service ended with a prayer and a closing song. Katie sat for a moment, reflecting on the words of the sermon, a sermon about faith and persevering in troubled times. She couldn’t say that she’d ever really had troubled times. Her life hadn’t been perfect, but she’d never gone without or faced real tragedies.

Next to her, Cord moved and stood. She wondered if he would leave now and continue with the fishing trip he had planned. Before she could ask, a lightning streak of a girl zoomed down the aisle of the church and grabbed his hand. She appeared to be a preteen, perhaps ten or eleven years of age. Her blond hair was braided and she wore jeans and a sweater. With a look she dismissed Katie.

“Cord, you’re at church!”

“Yes, I am. Don’t act so surprised.”

She laughed and held on to his hand, at the same time shooting Katie a curious look. “But you never come to church. I thought you would pick me up at Grammy’s.”

A daughter? Katie watched, wondering but knowing it had nothing to do with her. She stood and glanced around, looking for Julie, because with Cord’s younger sister she felt as if she had a friend in the strange world she’d been left in. She would thank Gwen for that. For making her feel like a pet left on the side of the road.

Cord was speaking to the girl and Katie overheard part of the conversation. “Since I’m here I don’t have to pick you up at your grammy’s.”

“Who is she?” the young girl asked.

“She’s Katie and she’s staying with my parents. Don’t be rude.”

Miss Preteen stared Katie down, curious and territorial. “Are you getting married?”

“No, my sister is,” Katie answered.

“Then shouldn’t she be here?”

Katie smiled at that, liking the girl even if she asked a lot of questions. “She should, but she had to go to work. Now, you know a lot about me, why don’t you tell me your name.”

“Marci.” Marci had big brown eyes and nothing about her features, her hair or eyes, resembled Cord Shaw.

“I see. And are you going fishing with Cord?”

Marci shook her head. “No, he was supposed to go fishing and then take me riding.”

Katie couldn’t help that she wanted to know who the girl was to Cord. But neither Marci nor Cord seemed to be giving up details.

“That sounds like fun,” was all she could think to say. She glanced around, still looking for Julie. She saw her finally, holding the hand of her fiancé, Ryan, and chatting with a group of people similar in age. She knew from Julie’s sister, Faith, that Ryan Travers had come to town for the rodeo and stayed. The reason for his putting down roots in Jasper Gulch was pretty obvious as he smiled at the young woman holding his arm. Katie looked away, uncomfortable with that easy gesture between Julie and Ryan.

The sun shone through the golden stained-glass windows of the church, catching everything in the warm light. Katie forgot the crowd of people. She forgot the turmoil of the past few days. She allowed Cord to step away with the girl, Marci, the two deep in conversation that had nothing to do with her.

The golden light, the soft scent of wood polish and the hum of conversations, it all melded together and Katie felt the peace she’d been looking for. When she went home to Missoula, she would find a church like this one.

Or maybe she would never leave Jasper Gulch. The thought took her by surprise. It was a silly idea, one that came out of nowhere and made no sense. She couldn’t stay here. She didn’t have a job, probably couldn’t find a job and she didn’t have family in the area. What would she do in Jasper Gulch?

“Katie, there you are.” Julie appeared in front of her and Katie managed a smile, shaking free from random thoughts of moving, leaving behind the life she had in Missoula.

“Here I am,” she responded with a smile.

“We’re all going to town for lunch. Do you want to join us?”

Katie looked around, searching for Cord. He’d walked off and was a short distance away, Marci next to him. The older woman he was speaking to had to be Marci’s grandmother. As the two adults talked, Marci shifted from foot to foot. The girl turned, caught Katie’s gaze on her and smiled. Katie returned the gesture but then focused on Julie’s question about lunch. Cord had moved on with his own plans. She could move on with hers. Not that she really had plans.

“Lunch would be good,” she told Julie. “Where will we go?”

“The diner in town has a Sunday special. Usually something yummy like pot roast or fried chicken.” Julie looked from Katie to Cord and back to Katie. Her eyes twinkled with mischief. “Unless you have other plans.”

“No, of course not. I was just thinking that I probably need to find another ride to the Shaw ranch. Cord seems to have plans and I don’t want him to feel like he has to give me a ride.”

Julie nodded in agreement. “He usually does something with Marci on Sundays. It’s their day together.”

“I see.” But she didn’t see. “Is her mother here?”

Julie’s smile dissolved and she shook her head. “No, Marci’s mom died when she was a baby. Her grandmother, Lulu Jenson, has raised her.”

The story settled in Katie’s heart and she felt a wave of pain she hadn’t expected. She shouldn’t have asked, but now that she knew Marci’s story it mattered. It made sense of a man she barely knew, made him more real, more like someone a woman would want to spend time with.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked.”

“It isn’t as if it’s a secret. Cord would have told you, if he’d had a moment to spare.”

Katie didn’t agree, but she didn’t say that to Julie. To Cord Shaw, Katie was practically a stranger. He didn’t owe her stories about his life or about a child that seemed a very big part of his life.

“She’s cute and she obviously loves your brother.”

At that Julie laughed. “She does love him and he does spoil her rotten. Sometimes I think he uses her as an excuse, though.”

Katie pretended not to hear the last comment made by a sister about her older brother. What Cord did in his personal life was really none of her business. For that reason she changed the subject. “Are you sure you have room for me?”

Julie slipped an arm through Katie’s. “Of course we do. There are plenty of us Shaws here at church, so we’ll have more room heading over to the diner. I’m riding with Ryan and you can go with us.”

“That sounds great. I’ll just let Cord know so he doesn’t wonder where I’ve gone to.”

Julie pointed and Katie turned to find Cord standing behind her. Somehow she got lost for a minute in the blue of his eyes and in the smile that shifted the rugged planes of his face, emphasizing the scar near his eye and the dimple in his left cheek. A shaft of sunlight filtered through the windows, catching the slightest bit of gray at his temples. And then the sunlight was gone and the room seemed darker.

Words evaded her and she really needed to say something. Anything to put this moment to rest. And suddenly Marci was at her side, giving her the break she needed.

“Do you like to ride?” Marci asked, in maybe not the friendliest tone.

“I’m sorry?”

Katie heard Julie excuse herself and before she could stop the other woman, she was gone. Katie started to call out to her because she was an ally of sorts. Marci’s hand reached for hers, drawing her attention back to the man and girl standing in front of her.

“I’m sorry, ride?” Katie looked from Marci to Cord.

“Horses,” Marci said with a preteen roll of the eyes.

“Oh, horses.”

“Yes, horses.” Cord was smiling now.

She didn’t know if she liked to ride horses, but she knew she wanted to. She would be in Jasper Gulch for most of the month and she wanted to enjoy herself. And she could enjoy herself with Cord Shaw and Marci. No entanglements. No temptations.

He was a man who wanted only friendship. And maybe help planning this monstrosity of a wedding.

* * *

The last thing Cord had planned to do was bring Katie Archer into this part of his life. He protected Marci and Lulu. That had been his job for almost as long as Marci had been alive. But Marci had other ideas this time. For some reason she was clinging to Katie’s hand, pleading with her to go riding.

He wanted to smile at the trapped look on her face. Her jewel-colored eyes were flitting from his goddaughter to him and back to Marci. It would have made his life easier if she’d met Marci and quickly slipped away, uninterested in this part of his life. Instead, she seemed to be silently asking his permission.

Great.

He’d gone several years without getting tangled up or inviting a woman into this part of his life. He’d learned his lesson with his ex-fiancée, Susan. She’d told him from the beginning that she didn’t want Marci in their lives. He hadn’t realized until it was too late that she’d been serious. It had all become crystal clear when she’d thrown him over for his best man—his supposed best friend.

Lesson learned.

“Marci told me she wouldn’t mind if you joined us,” he admitted now to Katie because she was still standing there looking unsure. She seemed to be waiting for permission to accept. Great.

“We really don’t mind,” he continued.

And he’d love to see her on a horse, the city girl in her made-for-dresses riding boots, the scarf around her neck and hair falling in loose curls.

“I see.” She bit down on her bottom lip and then looked around.

“They all assumed you’d go and they’ve left you behind,” he explained the obvious. The church had emptied out.

“We have a picnic,” Marci offered with a hesitant smile. “And Cord has a real gentle horse.”

“Does he?” Katie looked down, smiling at his goddaughter.

He felt a real fondness for this woman, practically a stranger, at that moment. Her hesitation wasn’t about Marci. Maybe it was more that she just wasn’t interested in him. Or was she afraid of horses?

“Do you ride?” he asked.

“I’ve been once, on a trail horse.”

“The nose-to-tail kind of trail horse?” he asked, unable to hold back his amusement.

“Yes, that’s the kind.”

“Don’t worry, you’ll be fine.”

Pastor Ethan Johnson approached, ending the conversation. Cord smiled at the other man because he and Ethan had something in common. They were both on the list of eligible bachelors in Jasper Gulch. Men who needed to find wives. He, for one, didn’t need help. Ethan probably felt the same way.