Montana Wrangler

A painful laugh broke from her throat. What a joke! Krissy had recently celebrated her twenty-seventh birthday. Paige had had all that time to help her little sister and she’d done squat.

Now she had a second chance. With Bryan. If he’d let her try.

* * *

It was nearly dark and Grandpa was sleeping in his recliner when Bryan finally came in the house. He marched right past Paige, who was sitting on the couch reading, and went to his room. He slammed the door.

Patience, Paige. The youngster was facing a big change in his life. Little wonder he was upset.

Grandpa mumbled something and went right back to sleep.

Sighing, Paige got up and walked down the hall. She knocked softly on Bryan’s door. “It’s me. Can I come in?”

“Go away!”

“I think we ought to talk, Bryan. This is all new to me, too.”

Her plea was met with silence.

“Could I at least give you a hug? I know you miss your mother.” She’d hugged Bryan when she had arrived yesterday, but his response had felt more perfunctory than loving. Understandable given the situation and the fact that she hadn’t seen him in months.

She heard what sounded like a boot dropping to the floor in Bryan’s room. A moment later, the other boot followed the first.

“Your mother loved you very much,” she said to the closed door. “When she picked me to be your guardian, she thought it was the right thing to do.” Paige intended to follow her sister’s wishes as best she could. “Please, it won’t hurt to talk, will it? I’m sure we can work things out together.” That, at least, was her prayer.

The knotty-pine door remained firmly closed, the boy’s displeasure radiating through the wooden barrier without the need for words.

Paige hated confrontations. She had since she’d been a child. Although she’d learned how to deal with difficult situations in her position at the hotel, she didn’t think now was the time to push her luck. She’d let Bryan sleep tonight. Hopefully he’d be better able to listen and understand the situation in the morning.

Returning to the living room, she stood looking at her grandfather. There were definite signs of aging. He didn’t move as fast as he used to and she’d noticed he’d become breathless walking into the church for the funeral service. She feared the difficulty was more than the stress of losing his granddaughter.

Maybe Krissy had been right not to rely on their grandfather to see Bryan into adulthood. As much as Grandpa loved the boy, and Bryan loved him, the court might not even accept Grandpa as a viable candidate for guardian.

Too restless to read, and with no interest in checking what might be on the television, Paige decided to step outside for a breath of air and clear her head.

She retrieved her jacket from the sewing room and went out onto the front porch.

The spring air had a snap to it. She stepped off the porch and wrapped her arms around herself. The stars in the darkening sky twinkled in the clear air, a view rarely seen in Seattle. As she watched, more and more stars began to appear, each one filling its special place in the heavens.

Where was her special place? She’d dreamed of living in European capitals, caught up in their history and culture. In college she’d taken both French and German to help her achieve her goal. For the past three years, she’d used her vacation time to visit Elite Hotel properties overseas, immersing herself in the ambience, making contacts, planning her future.

In the course of one day, her future had taken a sharp turn and now included the welfare of a twelve-year-old boy.

* * *

As he headed to the barn for his last check on the horses for the night, Jay spotted Paige gazing at the stars. Cast in the faint rays of starlight, she looked vulnerable. Not the corporate executive who had shown up for her sister’s funeral yesterday. More approachable. More appealing and not so standoffish.

Even though he knew it wasn’t wise to test how welcoming she might be, he strolled toward her.

“How about a nickel for your thoughts?” he asked.

She started then glanced in his direction. “Is it part of your Native American thing to be able to sneak up on people?”

“Nope. My Scottish ancestors used to slip into English castles and make off with barrels of whiskey without making a sound.”

The trill of her soft laughter tickled down Jay’s spine. He hadn’t responded to a woman’s voice so strongly for a very long time.

“I gather they were well motivated,” she said.

“According to the stories my great-grandfather told, fooling the British was a mark of honor in the old days.”

She nodded before looking up at the sky again.

“So have you decided what to do about Bryan?” he asked.

“Krissy wanted me to be his guardian. I owe her that and more. I have to respect my sister’s last wish.”

Jay balled his hands into fists. That might have been Krissy’s wish, but it sure wasn’t Bryan’s. “You’re going to move him to Seattle?”

“That’s where I live. Where my job is.”

“Just curious, but how many horses do you own there in Seattle?”

“None, thank goodness! I live in a condo.”

He pictured shoulder-to-shoulder apartments with no room to breathe, and he shuddered as much for himself as for the boy. “So there’s a stable nearby where Bryan can board his horse?”

“Not that I know of. But Bryan won’t need a horse in Seattle.”

Jay moved a little closer and lowered his voice in frustration. “Miss Barclay, horses are that boy’s life. He lives and breathes for the chance to ride the trails in the mountains. Spot a bear. Or a mountain lion. Being able to see to a horizon that’s farther away than the building across the street.”

She straightened her shoulders. “The city has all kinds of advantages he doesn’t have here. He’ll be able to go to museums, art galleries, hear a symphony orchestra. He can learn to sail on the Sound. Play any sport he likes. It’s a wonderful place to live.”

His jaw was going to crack, he was biting down so hard not to tell Miss Barclay exactly what he thought of that kind of life for Bryan. “You don’t know a thing about raising a boy, do you?”

She backed up a step. “No, but I’m perfectly capable of learning.”

Pacing away from her, Jay struggled to keep calm. Krissy might have been reckless, but her sister was downright stubborn.

He circled back to her and got inside her personal space. “You’re going to take Bryan away from all that he knows and loves and stick him in some condo with neighbors close enough to hear them brush their teeth?” Jay couldn’t imagine any worse way to live, cooped up inside a building where he couldn’t smell the sweet scent of spring or the biting cold of a real winter.

Not budging an inch, she planted her fists on her hips, showing more spunk than Jay thought she had. If she were a couple inches taller, she’d be right in his face. In this case, that would be a bad thing. He might just kiss her, and wouldn’t that fry her beans?

“I know there will be adjustments we’ll both have to make, but that’s what Krissy wanted.”

“And precisely what adjustments are you going make? Take weekends off so you can be home with Bryan?” He was guessing. He didn’t know what her schedule was but he figured working at a hotel she had to work some crazy shifts.

Hooking her hand around the back of her neck, she hesitated. “I can’t do that. I’m the conference manager for the hotel. Most of the conferences are scheduled for—”