Matchmaking with a Mission

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“You’re adopted?” That seemed to interest him.

“I didn’t find out until recently.”

“No one told you?”

She shook her head. “If you knew my adoptive mother, that would make sense to you. She said the moment she laid eyes on my sisters and me we were hers and nobody else’s, and that’s why she didn’t tell us. Lila Bailey Jackson is a very strong, determined woman.”

“Like her daughter.” He took a sip of his champagne, then frowned. “Lila Bailey Jackson?”

“She recently married Loren Jackson. It’s a long story, but apparently they were in love for years.”

“Jackson,” he repeated softly. “Like the sheriff?” He refilled her glass. She hadn’t realized she’d emptied it already. Nerves.

“The sheriff is Loren’s son and my sister Eve’s fiancé. It’s a small town,” she added with a laugh and realized she was starting to enjoy herself. And why shouldn’t she? She did have something to celebrate, and her date was just as handsome as Arlene had said.

She hadn’t dated all that much, too busy between school and a job working for a local veterinarian in Bozeman while she’d attended Montana State University. It felt good to be in the company of an attractive cowboy.

“So tell me about you.”

He shrugged. “Not much to tell. Raised on a ranch, like you.”

Had she told him she was raised on a ranch? She couldn’t remember.

“I’ve worked all over, wrangling and doing odd jobs. Once you turn thirty you can’t help but think about planting roots. Not too deep, though,” he quickly amended. “I like being a free spirit. When I leave here I’m thinking of going to South America. Like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. You know, they robbed a train up here right before they went to South America.”

Allegedly. But she didn’t tell him that. She knew Flynn Garrett’s type. He liked to think of himself as an outlaw. He’d used his looks to get him through life, always taking the path of least resistance. She’d dated a few boys like him in college. They were fun. At least for a while.

“So why did you bid on the old Harper place?” she asked and took a drink of her champagne. She might as well celebrate because she’d just bought herself a house and forty acres.

He shrugged in answer. “I like competition.”

She eyed him over the rim of her champagne glass. Yeah? But he wasn’t as good at losing as he was at pretending, she thought. The question was: had he wanted Harper House or did he just not want anyone else to have it?

“What will you do now?” she asked.

“I don’t know. You’ve forced me to change my plans.” He smiled at her as if he thought he could con her into thinking she owed him. Not likely.

“Sorry,” she said with a grin, “but I’ve always wanted that place.”

“Really? Why?”

She shook her head. “I wish I knew.”

Flynn seemed lost in thought for a long moment, and she wondered if he understood the pull of Harper House more than he was admitting.

She felt a kinship with him because of the house. It was odd. She’d just met him earlier today and yet it was as if she’d known him a lot longer. Which made this date a little sad, since she didn’t think she would be going out with him again.

Flynn poured them both more champagne, emptying the bottle. “Don’t worry about me,” he said as if there hadn’t been a lag in the conversation. “I’m a man who always lands on his feet, one way or another. Meanwhile, I’m having dinner with a beautiful, fascinating woman.” His expression was so intense she was glad that the waitress appeared with their salads.

The conversation turned to horses during dinner and that awkward moment passed. McKenna realized that he’d either guessed about her love of horses or someone had told him. But then, that would mean that he’d asked around about her. Arlene. How had McKenna forgotten that Arlene had set this up?

She recalled how Arlene had been so confident this man would be perfect for her. She really should cancel her membership in Arlene’s dating service first thing in the morning. If only she’d read the contract more closely.

The evening passed quickly, and suddenly they were at that uncomfortable end of the date where he walked her out to her pickup and she feared he would kiss her.

And feared he wouldn’t.

His kiss was nice. Soft, sweet, tentative. What surprised her was that she sensed a vulnerability in him when he kissed her that he’d kept well hidden in the time she’d been around him. Flynn Garrett didn’t have it all together as much as he wanted everyone to believe.

He drew back from the kiss, and she was surprised to see regret in his gaze. As he turned and walked away, she could only assume she wouldn’t be seeing him again.

Chapter Five

The ringing of her cell phone wrenched McKenna out of a terrifying dream in which she was running for her life.

She jerked up in the bed, her heart pounding, her night-shirt stuck to her skin with sweat.

“Hello?”

“McKenna, I wanted to catch you before you took off this morning.”

She glanced at the clock. It wasn’t even six o’clock. “Arlene?” If she was calling to see how McKenna’s date had gone—

“I didn’t want you to feel bad about what happened last night. These things happen, although I was surprised. He seemed like such a nice young man. And he was so interested in you I couldn’t imagine why he’d cancel.”

“What?” She was still caught in the dream; danger hunkered in the room like dense fog, making everything seem surreal.

“I just feel bad because I couldn’t get hold of you to tell you. I tried your cell. You must have had it turned off. And when I called the restaurant to give you a heads-up—”

“Arlene, what are you talking about?”

“Your date last night. I just hate that he stood you up, but I have someone else who I think—”

“Wait a minute.” McKenna sat up straighter and rubbed her free hand over her face as she tried to make sense of what Arlene was saying. “I wasn’t stood up.”

“You mean he changed his mind and met you at the restaurant after all?” Arlene let out a relieved laugh. “Good, I wasn’t wrong about him. I told you Nate Dempsey was perfect for you. I’m so glad he showed up. I do wish he’d let me know, though. If he’d read the dating service agreement, he’d have—”

“Nate Dempsey?” McKenna repeated.

“Your date.” Arlene laughed. “It must have been some night if you don’t remember his name.”

Arlene was mixed up. McKenna regretted the day she’d signed up for the online dating service.

“Arlene, my date was with Flynn Garrett. Not anyone named Nate Dempsey.”

Silence. An anomaly for Arlene.

McKenna felt her first sense of unease. “My date was with Flynn, right?”

“I’ve never heard of a Flynn Garrett,” Arlene said at last. “Who did you have dinner with last night?” she asked, sounding horrified.

It was too early in the morning for this. “Arlene, I have to go.” McKenna hung up and replayed the scene at the restaurant. She’d just assumed that Flynn was her date. Now that she thought about it, he’d never mentioned the online dating service—and neither had she.

She felt a little foolish. But, then again, no harm had been done. She’d enjoyed dinner and Flynn Garrett.

Unfortunately, she couldn’t help but wonder who this Nate Dempsey was. And why he’d canceled his date with her at the last minute. Arlene said he’d been “so interested” in her?

Not that it mattered, she thought as she gave up on returning to sleep and headed for the shower in an attempt to throw off the remnants of the nightmare she’d been having before Arlene’s phone call. Her legs felt weak as if she really had been running for her life. The dream emerged again. She had a flash of Harper House. It had been dark in the dream. She’d been running away from the house, she thought with a chill, because someone had been chasing her.