His Montana Homecoming

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Faith raised her eyebrows. “What about those shoes? They’re showing water stains. Why don’t you put on Adam’s boots?”

He hated feeling useless, and she was right about his kid-leather boots. He’d ruin them, plus they were slippery on the surface of the road. “They’re fine. Give me that jack.”

She handed it over.

He looked at the tiny metal thing. “This is going to support the car?”

“It had better, considering it was made for it. Place the jack a little ways behind the tire, and then crank it up enough for me to wiggle off the wheel.”

Carefully, he positioned the jack under the Honda. Using the lever and the crowbar, Dale got enough height for Faith to finish screwing off the lug nuts by hand. Then she tried to shimmy the wheel. It wouldn’t budge.

“Don’t reach underneath anything.” Dale didn’t trust that jack. “Here, let me do it.”

She stepped aside. “Fine.”

“There’s the culprit. We ran over a nail.” He wiggled the wheel and then pulled. It slipped off easier than expected and he backed up quickly, but his boots failed. Both feet came out from under him and he landed hard with the tire on top of his chest.

“Are you okay?” Faith stood looking down at him.

“Ah, yeah, fine.” He groaned. The cold-packed snow melted, seeping into the seat of his trousers.

Faith giggled as she knelt down to pull the tire off him. Then she gasped. “Oh, no...”

He sat up and looked at the front of his suit. The tire had left a streak of grime from shoulder to hip. Ruined. He glanced at Faith.

Her blue eyes shone with unabashed amusement.

“It’s not funny.” But it was.

She burst into laughter.

He spread his arms wide. “This is one of my favorite suits.”

And that made her laugh even harder. “It’s downright ugly, if you ask me.”

He grinned. “I’ll have you know that I dated a cousin to the royal family in this suit.”

“Really?” Faith wrinkled her nose. “Was it serious?”

He laughed at her wide-eyed innocence. “I don’t do serious.”

“Oh.”

He tried to stand.

“Here.” She reached out her hand.

He looked at it and then at her. Petite came to mind. Then crazy. “Yeah, like you’re going to leverage me into standing.”

“I’m no weakling.”

“Neither am I.” The last thing he needed was to pull her down with him if he slipped again.

He made an awkward show of getting up off the cold ground. She stifled a giggle with the palm of her hand.

Nice.

He managed to remain upright while he hauled the flat tire into the back of Faith’s SUV. No need to worry about more dirt. His suit was toast. The temporary replacement tire lay on the ground waiting to be popped on and tightened. He managed to complete that task, too, without losing his balance.

“Step back,” he ordered as he lowered the jack.

Faith folded her arms and waited, watching him silently.

He stood, whipped off his suit jacket and wiped his hands with it. Then he balled up the garment and looked around.

“Don’t even think about leaving that behind.”

“It’s made of natural fibers, it’ll break down.” Did she think he’d really litter real garbage?

She snorted contempt. “Give it here and I’ll throw it in the back. You still want to drive?”

“Yes.” He tossed her the jacket and slipped into the driver’s seat and started the engine. He needed to feel in control of something.

Flicking the switch for heated seats, he hoped his backside would dry. And thaw. Man, he was cold. He cranked the heat.

Faith climbed in.

“Ready?” he asked.

She leaned toward him, inspecting his face.

“What?”

“You’ve got grease under your chin.” She reached into the glove compartment and pulled out a wad of napkins. “Hold still.”

He jerked his head out of reach and glanced in the rearview mirror. “Where?”

She grabbed his chin and pulled his face toward her. “Quit or you’ll get the collar of your shirt messed up.”

“I don’t care about my shirt.” He didn’t fight her, though. The grip she had on his chin was strong.

She concentrated on wiping under his chin.

He watched her. Her eyelashes were ridiculously long.

“You’ve got a glob of grease right here.” Leaning over the console that separated their seats, Faith rubbed the skin below his ear with a rough napkin.

“Are you done?” He tipped his head down and breathed in the soft scent of her wrist.

She looked up at him and her big blue eyes widened. Innocence. Maybe that’s what drew him to her. All the more reason to stay away. She looked too innocent to go there. But they were so close. And some habits were hard to ignore.

Dale’s instincts kicked in. He lowered his head and brushed his lips against hers. Nothing more than a brief taste. That’s all he was after. That’s all he could possibly go after.

But then Faith’s response surprised him and before Dale knew what he was doing, he’d wrapped his arms around her. Too late, he realized there was nothing safe about this woman. On a lonely stretch of narrow road in the middle of the mountains, they were in her car alone. Dale shivered. No, it was more like a shudder from the inside out. Had to be the cold, not the woman. He quaked right down to the soles of his useless boots and pulled away.

Faith blinked at him like a deer caught in headlights. Stunned. Then she smiled. “Wow. You’re really good at that.”

“I’m good at a lot of things.” He stared at her.

She blushed, making the scatter of freckles across her nose and cheeks stand out even more.

Was she toying with him? He didn’t think so. She’d kissed him as if he meant something to her. Like she cared. And that was a dangerous place to be. He ran his hand through his hair and tried to get his bearings. “Look, Faith, uh, I’m sorry about that.”

“Now you’ve got a smear of dirt on your forehead.” She reached up, napkin in hand, completely ignoring him. Ignoring what had happened between them.

What had happened? He wasn’t quite sure.

Dale took it from her, looked in the mirror and scrubbed.

“Thank you for changing the tire, by the way.”

“You’re welcome.” He crumpled up the napkin and tossed it at her feet where the others had been thrown.

He looked at her.

She gave him another smile.

The woman could really smile. It lit up her whole face and did something to him. Dale might as well have slipped and fallen again. That same unbalanced feeling had him gripping the steering wheel.

“If we go now, we can make it to the hardware store before they close.”

“Yeah.” He checked his mirrors. No one. For miles. He was all alone with a girl who’d thrown him for a loop.

He pulled away from the side of the road with less speed than a grandmother. He couldn’t get his bearings. A trip to Bozeman’s airport made a lot more sense than traveling to the Jasper Gulch hardware store. But he was here for a reason, and there was no use backing out now.

He sighed.

“You okay?” Faith’s voice was soft and quiet.

Finally, she’d acknowledged that something might be wrong. All wrong. And why was she so calm?

He cleared his throat. “Fine. Maybe a little worried about what kind of jeans your hardware store carries.”

“Good ones, Dale. Jasper Gulch only carries the good ones made to last.”

“Let’s go, then.” Dale pressed the gas a little harder.

Nothing lasted. Not jeans, and especially not relationships. His father had proved that with three sons from three different ex-wives. He glanced at Faith Shaw, who might be one of Jasper Gulch’s good women. She deserved a man who’d last for the long haul.

That wasn’t him.

Good thing he wasn’t staying long. The sooner he got out of Jasper Gulch, the better. He’d do his Massey duty at the homecoming and then split. Until then, he’d keep his hands and lips far away from Miss Faith Elaine Shaw.

* * *

“Try these. Every cowboy I know wears them.” Faith handed Dale a couple of pairs of jeans to try on.

“Thanks.” He disappeared into the fitting room.

Faith leaned against the wall and nearly sank to the floor. What had she been thinking, kissing Dale like that? She couldn’t stop reliving it, remembering the feel of it, the taste. Was it possible to fall in love at first kiss?

Dale had apologized.

She had to own that that had surprised her. After she’d kissed him back, Faith had scriptures lined up like buckets of cold water just in case. But she hadn’t needed them. Dale had backed away quicker than a colt feeling his first saddle.

Why?

Faith closed her eyes. She shouldn’t care about the answer. They were worlds apart. He’d never stay in Jasper Gulch and she’d never leave. Not that he’d offer. Men like him didn’t offer anything proper. He’d said so himself that he didn’t do serious relationships.

Knowing that, why in the world had she kissed him? Hadn’t she learned her lesson in Seattle? And why had he apologized for kissing her?

Why?

“I don’t know.” Dale exited the dressing room with a pair of prewashed jeans that fit him just right. He turned a couple of times, looking in the mirror.

“I do. Buy them.”

He gave her a quick look.

“Now all we have to do is find you a couple of decent shirts.” She wandered away to rifle through the sweatshirts and thermals hanging on a circle rack.

“I have plenty of shirts.” He stood behind her.

“Patronage, remember?” Faith whispered, trying to calm her jitters. Did he have to stand so close?

“Are you folks finding what you’re looking for? Oh, Faith, I didn’t see you.”

Of course not. Dale practically hovered over her. She replaced a red thermal shirt and smiled. “Hi, Mike. This is Dale Massey, in need of clothes.”