On the ranch front, someone had said something about a woman named Heidi who raised goats and lived with her grandfather, but he figured they had to be making that up.
Lunch had been ordered and delivered, food mostly eaten and still no one mentioned the actual reason for the meeting. That they were going to do their best to convince him to stay.
He was used to the pressure. It happened everywhere he went. He’d had village chieftains offer him everything from chickens to virgin daughters. In more westernized areas, the enticements included money, positions on boards, stock options and the occasional daughter, with no promise of virginity made.
Their server came and cleared the plates. Simon glanced toward the door and wondered if he could simply make a run for it. Glancing at the women seated around him, he doubted he could make it to the door before them. Senior citizens or not, they were determined.
“I’m sure you’ve guessed why we asked you to join us for lunch,” Mayor Marsha said.
“I have an idea.”
“You’ve brought so much to this community,” she continued. “Your work is extraordinary, but it’s more than that. You have a dedication to your patients that touches us all. You care and we respect that.”
Care? He saw himself as brilliant, gifted and, at times, a complete tyrant. But caring? Had they met him?
“One of the things that makes Fool’s Gold a unique community is that we are so much more than a group of people who happen to live in the same place. We have an emotional bond that makes us more like a family. Many of us can trace our roots back several generations.”
“The Hendrixes are one of our founding families,” Eddie said helpfully. “You like Montana, right?”
One of the other women shushed her.
“What?” Eddie demanded. “We’ve all seen it. Are we going to pretend we don’t know they’re having sex?”
Charity winced, then turned to him. “Sorry. Eddie is…er, unique.”
“Don’t talk about me like I’m not here.”
Simon held up a hand. “It’s fine. I get her point.” At least Montana wasn’t here to witness all this, he thought, not sure if she would laugh or be embarrassed. Probably both.
“As I was saying,” Marsha continued, shaking her head slightly, “you bring a lot to the hospital and we think we have a lot to give in return. Which leads me to my question. What is your dream offer?”
“Excuse me?”
“Tell me what it would take to get you to stay. We’re building a new hospital. You could help with the design—create your dream facility.”
He wasn’t used to that, he realized. All the other places had simply thrown things at him, hoping to convince him with volume. No community had ever thought to ask what he wanted.
He looked at their hopeful faces and knew they would try to fulfill any request. If he wanted to run the hospital board, they would make it happen. It he wanted a fifty-foot picture of himself on the mountain, it would appear.
If only it were that simple.
“What I want,” he said slowly, “is for people to be more careful around fire, because this one life is all we get. What I want is for parents to stop hurting their kids.” He drew in a breath. “That’s not what you meant.”
Marsha smiled gently. “No, that’s not what we meant.”
What did he want? He knew there was no answer to the question because staying wasn’t an option. Selling him on the town wasn’t necessary—he already liked it here. If he could stay…
“I appreciate the offer,” he told them. “Fool’s Gold is great. I’ve enjoyed my time here. My decision to leave isn’t about the town. It’s about me.”
“How can we change that?” the mayor asked.
“You can’t.”
“I APPRECIATE THAT YOU stopped by,” Montana said, “but you look weird lying on the grass in a suit.”
Simon kissed her palm. “I took off my jacket.”
“Well, then, that makes it okay.”
After his lunch with the mayor and her friends, he’d come by the kennel to see Montana. She had been outside with the puppies, enjoying the warm afternoon. He’d joined them, stretching out on the grass, letting the puppies crawl all over him.
He glanced at his watch.
“How long do you have?” she asked.
“An hour.”
She bent over and kissed him. “Slacker.”
He laughed. “Occasionally.”
“So, tell me about this lunch you had with all those sexy women.”
He stared up at her beautiful face. “Not that I don’t admire Mayor Marsha, but the woman is in her seventies.”
“We should all look so good at her age.”
He sat up and studied Montana. He traced her cheekbones, the line of her jaw. “Speaking as a professional, you have nothing to worry about. You’ll always be beautiful.”
He watched color stain her cheeks as she looked down. “Simon, don’t.”
“What? Tell you what I know will happen?”
“I’m not that special.”
“You are to me.”
Daphne wiggled between them and started licking him.
“Your other girlfriend wants your attention.”
He picked up a delighted Daphne and cradled her in his arms. “You’re shameless.”
Daphne gave him a doggie grin and closed her eyes as he rubbed her belly.
“The lunch?” Montana prompted.
“They want me to stay in town.”
“Did that surprise you?”
“I knew it was coming. They asked me to tell them what I wanted, rather than simply offering one thing after another. To be honest, I’m surprised it took them this long to get around to making their pitch. Usually I get it from the beginning, either directly or indirectly. Sometimes one person will be sent in to convince me, sometimes it’s a committee. Either way—”
He stopped talking as Montana went white, then pressed her lips together.
“What?” he asked.
Guilt flashed through her eyes. “Oh, God. I forgot. No, it’s not that I forgot, it’s just…” She squeezed her eyes together, then opened them. “You’re going to take this wrong. I know you are. Don’t be mad, okay? Just let me explain.”
He had no idea what she was talking about. “All right.”
“It’s me. They sent me. Right after you got here, Mayor Marsha asked me to get to know you and find a way to convince you to stay in town. I was supposed to be that person. And we’ve been together and now you’re thinking I lied to you, but I didn’t. Most of the time I forgot. I mean, I had a couple of conversations with people about where to take you and stuff and…” She swallowed. “You hate me now, don’t you?”
He carefully put Daphne down on the grass, leaned toward Montana and kissed her.
“I don’t hate you.”
“I don’t understand. You should be furious. I betrayed you.”
He chuckled. “Hardly.” He cupped her cheek. “Don’t take this wrong, but you didn’t do a very good job. We rarely talked about the town.”
“I know. Like I said, I forgot.”“You’d be a lousy spy.”
She sighed. “I wouldn’t want to be a good one. All that lying.”
She kissed him back, her mouth soft and hungry against his.
When they parted, he asked, “Did the mayor ask you to sleep with me?”
Montana stared at him. “Of course not. She would never do that.”
He held in a laugh. “Just checking.”
“Simon! How could you even think that?”
“I didn’t. I was curious as to how far the good people of Fool’s Gold would go.” He stretched out on the grass again. “I’ve been offered virgins before, after all. And a cow.”
“I know someone who has goats if you want to check into those.”
“No, thanks.”
“Okay, but it’s your loss. I think they’re French goats. Very sophisticated.”
“Well, if they’re French…”
She tilted her head. “You’re not going to suggest the sister thing as a way to entice you?”
“What sister thing?”
“Guys get this idea that because we’re identical it would be really cool to have all of us in bed at once. We think it’s icky, but trust me, we’ve had more than one request.”
He sat up. “No. You’re the only one I’m interested in.”
“Really?”
“You’re completely different from your sisters.” He took her hand. “Not to hurt anyone’s feelings, but you’re much prettier and more fun to be with.”
She laughed. “Thank you, but I think you’re biased.”
He knew he wasn’t, but she wouldn’t believe him. “Your names are interesting. A family tradition?”
“No. A quirk of fate. Mom had some trouble during delivery. For a while there was a question as to whether or not she would make it. There was my dad with three newborns in the hospital and three young boys at home. My brothers missed their mother and resented their yet unseen sisters for taking her away. To help smooth things over, my dad said they could pick out our names.”
She grinned. “Over the years, we’ve heard some of the alternatives. Oceania was tossed around, apparently, so we figure we got lucky. At least people can spell the states.”
“Multiple births are hard on the mother.”
“Is this the doctor speaking?”
“Sorry. I get carried away.”
“It’s okay. I like that about you.”
“When’s your birthday?”
“We’re Christmas babies. So Dad was dealing with the possibility of losing his wife and the mother of his children on Christmas Day.”
“Poor guy.”
Palmer and Jester raced toward her. She caught them both in her arms and kissed their heads.
“How are my best boys?” she asked, her voice full of affection. “You, too, Bentley. You’re one of my best boys.”
As if Bentley spoke English and would be hurt if he were left out.
Simon had never met anyone like Montana and doubted he ever would. While Fool’s Gold had gotten to him more than any other place he’d lived, what he would miss the most was Montana. Her laugh, her smile, the way she led with her heart.
Come with me.
The words formed in his mind and he almost spoke them. Because for the first time in his life, he was willing to consider the possibility of something more than a temporary relationship.
Then he looked around at the kennel and the grounds, at the other service dogs, lying in the sun. He thought about her family and her home.
This was where she belonged. Besides, to ask her to leave would imply a promise on his part. A promise he could never make.
If she were different…he began to imagine, then realized the foolishness of that line of thought. If she were different, he wouldn’t want her.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
“MOM, I WANT TO ASK YOU something,” Montana said as she sat in her mother’s kitchen, a glass of iced tea in front of her.
“Of course. What is it?”
Her mother set a plate of chocolate chip cookies on the table.
They were fresh and the scent of chocolate reminded Montana of all the times she and her sisters had made cookies in this kitchen. Denise had set up three stations, so each of them could measure and stir, then carefully place the raw cookie dough on the cookie sheet.
“You did a good job with all of us,” she said impulsively.
Her mother laughed and sat across from her. “Thank you for that endorsement.”
“It can’t have been easy, raising six kids. Plus, Josh came to live with us.”
“After the first couple, it’s not that much harder. I had a lot of help from your father and not one of you was especially difficult.”
“Still.”
Montana wanted a family, but she’d never thought of having six kids. Talk about overwhelming.
“How are things going with you?” her mother asked.
Montana told her about the puppies and the fundraiser she would be going to with Simon. “Work is busy,” she said. “All my standing appointments. The library reading program is working out really well. Max has brought in some new dogs for training.”
She watched her mother as she spoke, but Denise didn’t respond to the name. Obviously, being subtle wasn’t going to work.
“Mom, I want to talk about my boss.”
“Sure, honey. Is there a problem?”
“Not a problem. Just…” She shook her head. “Is Max Thurman the same Max you used to date? Is he the guy from your tattoo?”
Her mother rose and crossed to the sink. “What an odd question. Why do you ask?”
“Because I work for him. If you two have a past, I don’t want to say something I shouldn’t.”
“How could you possibly do that?”
“You’re not answering the question.”
“I’m not sure I’m going to.” Denise turned to face her. “Yes, I had a life before I met your father. But that was a long time ago. I married your father and I loved him with all my heart. He was a wonderful father and an amazing husband. I would give anything to have him back.”
Her mother sounded emotional and maybe even angry.
“I’m not questioning your commitment to Dad.”
“I should hope not. I’ve been a widow over ten years. I’m just barely starting to date, even though I don’t like it.” Her gaze narrowed. “Have you girls been talking about this?”