The Moore Sisters of Montana: The Complete Series Box Set: Books 1-4 Read online

  She put her shell down on the windowsill, one she’d collected on one of her many beach walks, undid the buttons on her coat and let it slide off. A lone glass bowl sat on the low coffee table filled with vanilla infused beads beside an arrangement of white roses. The unexpected display made her stop and smell. She’d always loved vanilla and roses scattered around her apartment. How sweet of her sister to remember. She inhaled again, taking the time to relax before exploring her new home.

  Folding the coat across her arm, she turned and walked down a hallway, under the stairs and stepped into what was her bedroom. The familiar antique cast iron bed covered with its patchwork comforter sat facing the window over the stunning water views. At least she wouldn’t have to make the bed tonight.

  She tossed the coat over the foot of the bed before going into the en suite, giving it an approving glance. Perfect. Next she checked out the spare room, sighing in pleasure. Dakota had wanted her work space close to her living area and had chosen the second bedroom for her business. The loft bedrooms would be for when her parents or siblings came to stay. If they ever forgave her for leaving the city and their protective arms.

  Her workroom. Gosh, she’d missed it. The fine intricate tools, the rare gems she had stashed away with visions sketched in black and white of her ideas, her projects for the future pinned to large corkboards stacked against the wall. Now she wondered if she’d ever have the chance to make them. The accident had robbed her of touch in several fingers, nerves damaged beyond repair, or so the surgeons said. Who knew if she would ever get to do the fine metalwork she was renowned for?

  The jewelry table had been set up near the window, but her tools and supplies were still sitting in boxes waiting for her to unpack. When she opened the boxes, she was going to be emotional. It was to be expected.

  A sharp yap from Tiny as her claws hit the wooden floors followed by a knock at the door.

  Get yourself together Dakota. Can’t go greeting anyone looking this fragile. She wiped her eyes, patted her hair and hurried out. Adam stood at the door, a smile on his face and a gift basket in his arms.

  “Sorry, I don’t know what I was thinking when you left.” He held out the basket. “This is a welcome gift for you. Dad gives them to anyone he deals with and it wasn’t until you left that I remembered I hadn’t given you one. Sorry.” He gave her a lopsided grin that she found charming and just a little bit too appealing. How on earth could she be interested in someone when the mandatory time wasn’t up? She’d thought Roger scarred her for life. It would seem she was wrong.

  “That’s really sweet of you.” She took the basket, noticed the bottle of wine and a couple of glasses. “Would you like to share a glass with me? No problem if you’re busy but it seems you’re being so friendly the least I could do is return the favor.” Dakota walked over to the coffee table and put the basket down.

  “Haven’t I caught you in the middle of something?” Adam followed her in, shut the door behind him. “I’d hate to stop your unpacking or settling in.”

  “No, not at all. I don’t have to hurry with anything. Seriously not planning on doing anything major tonight. Tomorrow will be soon enough.” She frowned as she looked at the boxes stacked in the kitchen.

  “If you’re sure it’s not imposing I’d love to have a drink. But only one though, I have to call in on my mom before I go home. She gets a bit nervous staying on her own. Won’t hear of me staying with her while Dad’s in the hospital so the least I can do is check on her as I pass their place.”

  “You are a caring son.” She took the bottle of wine and glasses, walked into the kitchen to open it.

  “Did you want me to light the fire for you? I see it’s all ready to go so it won’t take me a minute and it’s starting to get rather cold at night.”

  “Please. I guess Mari must have brought all the wood in for me and set it up. I don’t know what I’d do without her. She is such a great organizer.”

  The sound of a match striking the box sounded before Adam spoke again. “I think that might have been Woodsie. He’s the local handyman and you’ll probably see him from time to time around the place. An older gentleman, big moustache and a deep voice. He does all the gardening so you don’t have to worry about any of that. If you run out of firewood, give him a shout too, it’s all part of your rental package. He lives two houses down.”

  “That’s great, thanks.” She walked back into the room and handed Adam a glass of wine, took a sip of her own and sighed in pleasure. “This is very nice.”

  “We aim to please, or at least my dad does. The real estate business is his baby.”

  “Have a seat, Adam. Tell me about the town, help me get my bearings.”

  He sat on the lounge and Tiny jumped up beside him, leaning into his side. He put his hand around her which gained him a tick of gratitude from Dakota. “Let’s see. I’ve been away living in Seattle for the last eight years but since I’ve been home, I haven’t noticed much change to be honest. It’s a nice quiet little town. Lovely people and the pace is quite slow which suits most of us. Good way to balance out my crazy lifestyle.” He laughed and Dakota felt the pull of attraction again. How ridiculous that this should be happening to her now. Trusting another man was going to be hard after Roger and his need for the highlife and her money but it seemed her hormones had other ideas.

  “Crazy? In what way?” She kept her voice casual.

  “I play soccer for the Seattle Sounders. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining at all. It’s been an exciting ride and I love the sport. But coming back to Cherry Lake is like a breath of fresh air. I find it a good way to recharge the batteries for the next season and having family here is the best excuse to come home even if this trip back was unexpected.”

  “Sounds wonderful. I suppose you’d have to keep yourself pretty fit for that, even out of season?”

  “Most definitely. I run every morning, always have. Did you see the mountains as you came into town?”

  She nodded.

  “Those are the Mission Ranges. My place sits snug up to the base of the range. Grandparents built the house when they were newly married and luckily they left it to me. It was my favorite place to go when I was a little kid. Plenty of parkland and ranches around and first thing in the morning I pretty much have the place to myself except for the animals.” He sipped his wine and rubbed his fingers over Tiny’s ears. “Enough about me. Tell me what brought you to Cherry Lake, Dakota?”

  Chapter Two

  So, he wasn’t immune to the gorgeous newcomer. After half an hour with her, Adam felt as though they were firm friends. She was easy to talk to, keen to learn about Cherry Lake and didn’t even know who he was. Kind of refreshing not to be recognized and fussed over.

  He drove past the old Grange, one of his father’s renovation projects, past the school’s main building and slowed when he came to the sports field. A group of teens kicked a ball and he paused to watch them. This was where he’d been given the opportunity to play soccer, thanks to Coach Miller. The gruffly sports teacher had seen something promising in the young boy and encouraged him to play. Now his days in the big league were almost coming to an end. Adam wished he could go back and start all over again.

  An explosion pulled him out of his reminiscing. “What the heck?” A gangly teen ran toward the car, fear on his face, hands out in apology. “Sorry, Adam. I didn’t mean to hit your car.”

  Adam opened the door and got out, grabbed the ball before the boy could. “What were you thinking?”

  “Hey, I said I was sorry. It wasn’t like I was aiming for you or anything. I was trying a shot and I missed.” The boy stood with his head hanging, embarrassed but defiant at the same time.

  Adam looked at him, saw his friends standing back out of the way. “What kind of shot?”

  The teen lifted his chin and named the kick. “You should know it, you can curve a ball better than most.”

  “You were trying to bend it, yeah?” Adam felt a stab of pr
ide at the boy’s determination, the memories of long nights practicing with his dad to get that move right and knew how hard it could be.

  “But he can’t do it no matter how hard he tries. None of us can.” The other boys had come forward when Adam had shown a spark of interest.

  “Coach reckons we need to practice more but it’s not working. We lost another season and he’s not happy.” The boy held his hand out for the ball.

  “You’re Cory Woods, aren’t you? Jake’s kid.” He’d grown up since Adam had been in Seattle. Last time he’d seen Cory, he’d been in diapers and barely walking. His father had been a year ahead of Adam in school and was now a fireman in Cherry Lake according to his mother.

  “So? You gonna tell him I hit your car?”

  Adam raised an eyebrow, glanced at the shiny paint. “Did you damage it?”

  Cory looked over his shoulder at the car, frowned and then lifted his chin. “No.”

  “So, how about I give you a lesson? Not saying you’ll get it right away but we can try if you want to.” Adam’s competitive streak rose up and stood proudly waving the flag. He knew better than to try and force it down.

  Cory shrugged his shoulders as if he didn’t care but he couldn’t hide the smile taking over his face.

  “Let me change my shoes.” Adam threw the ball to him, opened the trunk of his car and took out his sports bag. Like any keen sportsman, he kept a change of clothes and sponsor supplied boots in his car. One of the perks of being the face of a popular sporting brand, the latest styles delivered to his door. Never knew when he might get a chance to work out or take on a friendly game. He slipped them on, did up the laces and jogged over to the boys who were huddled near the goal line talking in excited whispers.

  “Stand in the middle of the goal posts and watch how I angle my body when I kick.” Adam took the ball and walked back to give himself room to curve the ball.

  Cory shuffled over to the goal posts and stood uncertainly between them. “My granddad will be furious if I come home with a bloody nose. Doubt he’d believe me if I told him you did it.”

  “If you know me that well, Cory, you’ll know I don’t miss. Stand still and watch.” Adam lined up the boy in his vision, imagined the spot beside his right ear, saw the kick in his mind and stepped back. He rubbed his hands together, glanced at the goal posts again and stepped forward lifting his foot. The kick cracked in the still night air and the group of boys sighed in awe as the ball curved around Cory and hit the back of the net.

  Cory stood frozen for a second and then a slow grin spread over his face. “Can you show me how to do that, please Adam?”

  “It takes a fair bit of time to pick up. It’s not that simple.” He should know. It was kick after kick, night after night, until he could do it right every time. His father was determined to make sure Adam could do it in his sleep if need-be and after months of trying, he’d succeeded.

  “Please. We need help. You know we do. I’ll mow your mom’s lawn, clean out the front of the shop for you if you help us.”

  “I’m not here for long. Only until my father recovers from surgery.”

  Taking that as an agreement he would help them, the boys ran forward and all started talking at once. Adam held up his hand, overwhelmed with the chatter of teenage boys. When he had silence, he spoke. “Tell Coach Miller that if he wants my help, I’m more than willing to give you guys a coaching session but it won’t be anything more than that, alright? One session.”

  One of the other boys sidled closer. “Coach was talking to us about getting you and some of your friends down for a coaching clinic. Reckons that it might do us the world of good and it would be a good deed for your team.”

  Adam looked from face to expectant face. It would be a goodwill exercise and he was sure the team would take it on board if he suggested it, even this late in the year. If he could get at least a couple of the guys down here to help out, he wouldn’t feel so bad about not being here to help out for next season. “Leave it with me and I’ll see what I can do.”

  “Can you watch me while I try and do that kick before you go?” Cory held the ball, his eyes full of hope and determination.

  “Sure. But I’m not standing in the middle of the posts for you just yet.” Adam lined him up, whispered in his ear as he got himself ready and then stepped back.

  Cory watched as the ball sailed close to the poles but skimmed the top of the net landing in the grass and bounced under the stands. His friends laughed, slapped each other’s shoulders and yelled derogatory remarks that made Cory blush in shame.

  “Ignore them and try again. This time, don’t curve your foot so far to the left, keep your toes on point. You want to imagine a dotted line taking a lazy curve but your big toe has to lead the way. You can do it if you practice hard enough. Took me months of trying day and night to get the right angle and I still practice all the time to keep my eye in.” Adam turned to his friends. “You guys can cut the noise if you want a turn. Give your friend a little respect.” They huddled together and kept quiet, jostling to be first in line.

  Cory placed the ball and took a step back, glancing at Adam for reassurance. Then he looked at the goal, down to the ball and up again before taking a steady breath. He stepped forward and kicked with a solid whack of his foot.

  The scream from his friends as the ball slammed into the back of the net had Cory grinning. It was on the high side but that didn’t matter, it was in the goal. Adam slapped him on the shoulder. “Good job. See, if you know where you want the ball to go and you can imagine its trajectory, you’re halfway there. Keep practicing.” He nudged the boy to the back of the line. “Right, who’s next?”

  By the time he got to his parents’ house, it was dark and the house was a sea of lights. His mother hated the dark when she was at home alone and he felt a twinge of regret staying so late with the kids, knowing she was expecting him. He parked his car and walked into the kitchen, not surprised to see her at the stove standing over a large pot of warming stew. The smell of onions, garlic and tomatoes made his stomach rumble.

  “You’re late. Have a busy day?” She lifted the spoon and tested the gravy, nodded her satisfaction and turned down the stove. “I made your favorite. Did you want to eat here or take it home for later?”

  “Reasonable day.” He sniffed the pot and smiled. One of the things he made the most of when he came home, was his mother’s cooking. “I think I’ll eat with you tonight and if you have plenty, I won’t say no to a take-out meal too. I stopped at the school to help some boys. Remember little Cory, Jake Woods’s kid? He was playing soccer with his friends and convinced me to show him how to kick. Time got away on us.”

  “That was nice of you, Adam. Those poor kids are desperate to win a district championship but it hasn’t happened so far. Dad always hoped you’d lend a hand with the school team. Maybe you could see your way to…”

  “Already been asked, Mom. I told them to talk to Coach Miller about me doing a one off coaching session. I don’t have time to commit to anything else because I don’t know when I’m going back.” He opened the fridge and took out a soda, popped off the top, throwing it in the bin. “Newcomer to town today. Dakota Moore has rented Galway Cottage for twelve months. Seems a very nice person, bubbly and friendly. She’s a half-sister to Mari Moore, you know the lady that bought the Lake Hotel.”

  “Really? That’s interesting. We thought that old hotel would never sell with all the work it needs. Hope she has some good ideas. Was lovely in its day.” She picked up a glass of wine she had on the kitchen counter and placed it down at the kitchen table. From the fridge she took a bowl of the salad Adam ate on a daily basis despite the colder weather, and placed it down within his reach. “I wonder what your father knows about her.”

  “Knowing you, you’ll have all the information you want out of her yourself by the end of the week.” He took a seat at the table, picked at a piece of red pepper from the top of the bowl and ate it, savoring the crunch. “How’
s Dad today?”

  “Cranky. He wants to come home. You know how much he hates being made to sit still.”

  Adam took a sip of his drink to wash down the heat of the pepper. “I don’t blame him but considering he’s had major heart surgery he’s going to have to do as he’s told.”

  “He understands he’s lucky to be alive but still, he’s not used to being so useless. His words, not mine. I’ll take him any way I can have him.” She sat opposite Adam. “I’m so lucky they got to him in time. I was terrified he was going to die.”

  He reached out and took her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. “I know. I can imagine how you must have felt. When you called me, I couldn’t get home fast enough. Every mile was agony wondering if I would make it in time. Now we have to make sure he takes it easy and recovers properly before he eases back into his routine. Last thing we need is a relapse of any kind.” He doubted they would be so lucky a second time considering the severity of the first attack.

  His mother smiled and linked her fingers on the table in front of her. “I want to talk to you about that. The doctor thinks it’s time your father retired. He’s been doing far too much lately and it’s taken its toll.”

  He hadn’t seen that coming. “He won’t do it. You know he’s going to fight you on this, don’t you? The last thing Dad would want to do is sell the business.”

  “I know. It’s going to be hard but honey, we don’t need the money. We’re set for life and that’s what I want with your father, a decent life so we can do things together. I want to travel and we can’t do that with the business tying us to town. I wonder if you can talk to him about it, maybe he’ll let you put out feelers. See if there’s anyone in town interested in buying it.”

  *

  “It’s so good to see you. How’s the hand faring up after that long drive?”