His Montana Bride

“Haven’t seen you here before, have I, Cord?”

Cord smiled at that. Ethan had never seen him here. “No, I guess I haven’t been here since you took over.”

“No, I guess not.” Ethan shot a quick look at Katie and then back to Cord. “Things change.”

Not that way, they didn’t. He wouldn’t hurt Katie’s feelings by opposing the statement too heavily and what it implied.

“I reckon they do.” Cord touched Marci’s back to guide her toward the door. “And we should get out of here so you can lock up.”

Ethan walked to the front of the church with them. “Cord, I heard that with the siding on the museum, they might get some finish work done on the interior by the end of the month.”

“If we don’t run out of money.”

“I’ve found some photographs of the church that I thought might be something for the historical society, as well as an older Bible that has been left in the office. It should really be put under glass. There are even some births and family histories included.”

“Sounds like something we’d love to have in the museum, Ethan. You might even show it to Robin Frazier, she’s in town studying genealogy, I believe.”

“I think I’ve seen her.”

They were at the doors now and Cord watched as Marci, who had hurried out ahead of them, tried to get the truck door open. He hit the remote to unlock it and she shot him a big smile and climbed inside.

“She’s got more energy than ten kids,” Ethan said. He glanced up and then back at Cord. “It’s a shame to have that bell up there and no way to use it.”

“Yeah, I don’t guess I remember that bell ever working,” Cord said.

“You know, if they insist on using the recorded bells instead of fixing this one, we could always remove the bell and put it in the museum,” Ethan said, looking up at the door in the ceiling that led to the belfry.

“I could bring it up with the church council. To be honest, I don’t even know what’s wrong with the bell.”

“Neither do I. When I got here I was told there’s a bell but it doesn’t work and they showed me how to use the recordings.” As Ethan talked, he reached to undo the collar around his neck. “If you could bring up the issue, I’d appreciate it.”

“I’ll do it.”

The two men shook hands and then Cord turned to ask Katie if she was ready to go. Katie had already walked away. She was at the truck with Marci and he could tell from the distance that the two of them were having an animated conversation. He said a final goodbye to Ethan and headed down the sidewalk to see what was waiting for him.

On the way to his place, Cord decided to quiz Katie to find out what he could about weddings. He’d always been an organizer, but he was finding that weddings were way out of his realm of expertise. He knew computers. He could develop software. He helped market his sister’s wool. But weddings were not his thing. Really not his thing. He’d had two brides and not managed to get either of them down the aisle.

“What exactly is the plan for the wedding?” Katie asked, her smile saying what he already knew, that this wedding was just about ridiculous.

“It’s a long process, that’s the plan.” He reached to turn down the radio and pushed Marci’s hand away when she went for the volume. “I think the plan for this wedding is to drive me crazy.”

“That bad?”

“That bad.” He slowed the truck to ease through the open gate that led to his place. “When my dad plans something, he plans big. It’s why he wanted me to run for city council, so he would have help with this big centennial celebration. We couldn’t do just a weekend in the summer. Even the week I suggested wasn’t good enough. No, Jackson Shaw wants something that people will talk about, something that will draw people to town and hopefully give us a jump-start on reclaiming the Jasper Gulch of yesteryear.”

Not everyone had been on board. There were people in town who didn’t welcome new business or all of the traffic the centennial celebration had brought.

Or the drama. The missing time capsule started the whole thing off with a bang. Then came vandalism at the rodeo and the fire at the fairgrounds the previous month. At least his dad had gotten something out of that picnic. He’d gotten Faith hooked up with Pastor Ethan for a single day. Cord didn’t think his sister had seen the pastor since.

Cord figured there had to be another way to jump-start the town he’d grown up in. An easier way than staging a wedding with fifty couples. Especially if he was going to have to be the guy in charge.

He glanced at Katie. “The way things have been going, something crazy is sure to happen at this wedding. Are you positive you don’t want to be the new coordinator?”

“I think I’m pretty sure I don’t want the job. If I can help...”

The offer, made with some hesitation, took him by surprise. Cord pulled up to his little log house at the edge of Shaw Lake. It wasn’t a big lake, just five acres of fresh water from an underground spring and runoff from melting snow.

“I know we have dresses we can borrow and a business that will make flower arrangements, a bakery for the cakes and a caterer for the reception.” He’d been making plans for months, with the wedding coordinator handling details and giving him information.

“So you’re down to the final details?”

He opened his truck door but didn’t get out. “Yes, final preparations. The bouquets have to be ordered. I think there is an assortment of fall colors the women can choose from. The dress choices have to be finalized and fitted by a local seamstress. And of course we have a committee to decorate the tents the day of the wedding.”

“You should probably have the brides finish picking their dresses. Some of the fittings might take time. Especially if the women aren’t in town.”

“That’s the kind of help I’m talking about.” He only wished he could talk her into taking over. But he also knew the rumors that would start if she did, and if they were seen spending too much time together. Not that he cared too much about talk. He’d been creating talk most of his adult life.

Marci sighed and gave him a pointed look. “Do you think you two wedding planners could work on this later?”

Cord laughed at his goddaughter and pushed his door open. She was already climbing out the backdoor of his truck. “I think we can get this show on the road.”

As they walked up to his house, Katie stopped to look around. She stood in his wild, overgrown mess of a yard, all wildflowers and shrubs. He could have put down sod for grass, but he liked the wild look. The house was a two-story, log with plenty of windows facing south and west to catch the heat of the sun and to give the best view of the lake. A short distance from the house were his private stables, a barn and the acreage where he kept his horses.

He raised some of the best quarter horses in the state. It wasn’t that the Shaw family didn’t have quality horses and love their animals, but Cord took his horses a little more seriously. He raised cutting horses and sold them all over the country. His best stallion had sired several champions and had been a champion himself.

“This is beautiful,” Katie turned once more and looked back at him. “And secluded. Being out here could make a person feel like they were alone in the world.”

“Yeah, sometimes,” he admitted. But it never really bothered him. Being duped, being let down by someone you trust, those were the things that bothered Cord.

“Hello, hungry kid here.” Marci reentered the conversation with those words.

Cord growled and chased her up the front steps of the house. “Marci, you’re getting worse every day.”

“Grammy says it’s your fault I’m spoiled.”

“Yeah, I think she has to take some of the credit.”

He opened the door of the house and ushered Marci in and then held the door for Katie. It took her a few minutes. She stood at the foot of the stone steps looking around, turning in slow circles. He tried to see the area through her eyes. The wide stretching valley, grasslands that were often sprinkled with wildflowers. In the distance cattle grazed. He could barely make out the smoke from the fireplace at the main ranch.

It had been a long time since he’d brought anyone other than family to this house. As he followed Katie inside a few minutes later, he glanced around the adequately sized living room with the braided rugs, deep red leather furniture and stone fireplace. It was a good place to live. The only feminine touches came from gifts his sisters or mother gave at Christmas or on birthdays. And there were throw pillows. He had a weird feeling his sister Julie sneaked in from time to time just to add little things. A throw pillow here, a bouquet of flowers there, sometimes flowery-smelling hand soap. All the things she knew would drive him crazy.

He’d started thinking he might put a wildlife camera outside. Just to catch her in the act. He thought it would be fun to watch her creeping in with whatever feminine assault she planned.

The house had three bedrooms upstairs. He had an office and a family room at the back of the house on the main floor. More than enough room for a bachelor who spent most of his time outside. Katie followed Marci to the kitchen. He’d gotten sidetracked and the two of them were ahead of him, laughing about something. He watched Katie lean down to hear something Marci said. The moment caught him by surprise.

It was good for Marci to have these moments. Life would change soon enough. There was nothing he could do about what would happen in the coming days, weeks or months. He shoved away the troubling thoughts and smiled at Marci, the girl who was going to need him more than anyone ever had.

That thought was enough to put him back on track and keep him focused on what was important in his life.