Montana Homecoming

“After making good on all your cookie promises, I sent him straight to bed with a new rawhide bone.” He seized the grips of Lil’s wheelchair, deciding to be useful.

“I’m glad to see you’re handling him properly.” She hiked the strap of her leather bag higher on her slim shoulder. She wore dress slacks and a solemn blouse and sweater, adding to her seriousness. What did he like about her most?

That was easy. She clearly gave him a “not interested” vibe. Not one thing about her hinted she might be open to further conversation with him. Not with the way she turned away, keeping her back to him.

This was a woman he could like. They were on the same wavelength.

“Come along, Lil.” She ambled ahead, her tone softening with affection as she addressed the older woman. “Let’s get you settled before the courtroom gets too busy.”

“That would be easiest,” Lil agreed cheerfully, tipping her head back to look up at him. A knowing grin made her sparkle. Multiple sclerosis might have put her in a wheelchair, but it hadn’t slowed her down. “Do you know what you need, Liam?”

“I’m afraid to answer that question.” He wasn’t the dimmest bulb in the pack and he figured Brooke wasn’t, either. The tap-tap of her heels could only be an attempt to escape Lil. Not that he blamed her. He gave the wheelchair a good shove to get it going. “What do I need? Maybe a haircut? A new attitude? A—”

“A dog trainer.” Lil smiled as Brooke held the heavy courthouse door.

A dog trainer? He didn’t see where she was going with this. A tiny zing at the back of his mind told him to be wary—there was something familiar but he couldn’t place it. Mainly because all he could see was Brooke in full sunlight. Her ivory complexion, her chiseled, fine-boned features and her full, rosebud mouth. Why couldn’t he look away?

“Don’t do it, Lil.” Brooke rolled her eyes as a breeze of wind rustled the ends of her dark hair. “Don’t condemn me to that.”

“To what?” Then it hit him. He remembered her gentle touch, how the Lab had taken to her, that she had been the one to catch the runaway. So, the pieces were all starting to fit. He guided the wheelchair into the busy lobby.

“You need help with that dog, young man.” Lil glimmered like a rare gem. “Brooke, you’ve trained how many dogs?”

“Not many,” Brooke hedged as she fell in line behind him at the security checkpoint. “Hardly any at all.”

“She’s modest.” Lil’s words held a mother’s love. “She grew up on a farm outside Miles City. She’s been around animals all her life. 4-H, all the good stuff. She won more blue ribbons than a body can count for her animals at the county and state fairs. She trained all the family’s herding dogs. I think she would be able to handle one mischievous yellow Lab.”

“Please, Lil. Stop.” She rolled her eyes. “That was a long time ago. I’m sure if Liam wants to find a dog trainer, then he’s more than capable of finding one on his own.”

“Maybe. Maybe not.” His stunning blue eyes met hers and held, full of trouble and a glint of quiet humor. He did not look like a man upset by Lil’s meddling. The woman was clearly trying to match her up with Mr. Handsome. “I do have a dog in need of training. I don’t know where to start. Some folks would hire a trainer in this exact situation.”

“There are plenty of good obedience schools in the area, I’m sure.”

“But Brooke, honey, I thought you could use the work.” Lil’s caring was hard to turn down.

“Oh.” She felt foolish. Lil had been trying to help with her precarious financial position.

“Look, there’s Colbie.” Pleased, Lil clasped her hands together. “Did you find a parking spot close in, dear?”

“Would I be out of breath if I had?” Colbie laughed raggedly as she broke away from security. She seemed to bring the sunshine with her. “Liam, thanks for piloting Lil, but I’ll take over.”

“I don’t know. You know I’m sweet on Lil. I might have to keep her.”

“Too bad. You’ll have to fight me for her.” With a wink, Colbie wrapped her hands around the grips and gave the wheelchair a practiced shove toward courtroom five. “Are you ready, copilot?”

“I’m ready, captain.” Lil’s amusement lingered after she and Colbie headed down the busy corridor.

Leaving her and Liam alone.

Maybe she hadn’t been completely wrong about Lil’s motives. She squinted at the man beside her. Tall, thick dark hair, granite face, rugged features, handsome enough to give most women in a five-mile radius butterflies.

Not her, but most women.

“Looks like they don’t need a navigator.” What was she going to do about Liam? And what exactly were the chances of running into him two days in a row? “What you are doing at the courthouse? Wait, don’t tell me. You’re here for a trial.”

“You mean a trial of my own?”

“Sure. You don’t strike me as a thief, but I’ve learned you can’t judge a book by its cover.” She tried to keep her tone light, easygoing, just making conversation as she walked down the corridor. But the truth? She felt the pain of her past and the walls closing in. The courthouse brought back too many memories. “You never know what’s inside.”

“Funny. With me, what you see is what you get.” He winked at her, shortening his gait to match hers. “Well, most of the time. I don’t have secrets.”

“Everyone has secrets.” Secrets. Her secrets whispered until the past was all she could see. “You’re being evasive.”

“Me? I’m not the evasive sort.” That grin of his could make a girl’s neurons fail completely.

Fortunately not hers. She was immune to a man’s charm, thanks to her last boyfriend, Darren. “Then why are you at the courthouse early on a Monday morning?”

“I’m not a thief and, no, I’m not a lawyer. Although if I’d chosen differently, I might have been one. Both of my parents are, they’re off in L.A., and that’s what they expected me to be. A summer volunteering in Ecuador changed that.”

“You volunteered?” She raised one eyebrow. This man with his magazine-cover polish, perfect black suit and patterned tie? With a briefcase clutched in one hand? “Wait, don’t tell me. Probation?”

“Funny.” His chuckle was as warm as she might have expected. “I volunteered as part of my church’s youth group. We stayed in a village that had no electricity or running water. We worked to put in a water system and irrigation for crops. I liked it so much I volunteered every summer until I was out of college. Because I had to work for a living, I decided to stick closer to home with my volunteer efforts.”

“I’m not impressed.” Fine, maybe a little. But she didn’t have to admit that out loud.

“Didn’t expect you to be.” Dimples played at the corners of his smile. “Let me guess. You’ve done a lot of volunteering, too. Animal shelters?”

“Yes. Good guess.” She hesitated, not knowing how to explain. She felt akin to those animals forgotten in cages. She’d lost so much of her life after Darren’s betrayal and her trial, and she’d lost herself, too. Helping in the city shelter gave her the chance to make a difference and to work with animals, something she’d always wanted to do with her life. “I put in a lot of time at the shelter close to where I lived. I was there so often, I knew every animal by name.”

“Busy? That on top of a job has to keep you hoppin’.”

His voice dipped low, interested.

“At times.” Uncomfortable, she shrugged. She didn’t try to explain. A man like him, so polished and confident, would never understand. What did he see when he looked at her? She gave her thrif-store sweater a tug. “I like to keep busy.”

“Busy is good,” he agreed.

She risked another sideways glance at him. Strong profile, thick dark hair, a straight nose, square-cut chin, a man who radiated a quiet integrity that anyone would believe in. But did she?

“Volunteering keeps me out of trouble.”

“Oh, sure. Me, too.”

“You volunteer still?”

“Guilty. I can’t help myself.”

They shared a smile. She could read in his eyes the truth, the same truth she couldn’t say aloud. There was true need in this world. She’d never been able to turn her back on it. Neither could he.