Gracie's cheeks flamed brighter than the feathers of a red-tail hawk. She scrambled to her knees, flicking hay off her clothes and seriously avoiding eye contact with him. "Don't think anything of it. It was just a kiss. I won't hold it against you."
Her face got a whole lot hotter.
He'd ruined everything. Lost his mind. But damn if she didn't look cute with her tiara hanging sideways off her head. He reached out to catch it before it fell but thought better of it. He grabbed her hand instead, hauling her the rest of the way out of the hay before he made an even bigger mistake.
"Come on, Gracie. It's time to leave the loft to the mice."
***
Gracie turned on the kitchen faucet, rinsing a bowl covered in smears of chocolate frosting. The last few days had flown by. In between ignoring the hottest kiss she'd ever had, she'd made a few more trips into town. The last decorations for the barn dance had arrived and thanks to Erin's list from the library, she'd tracked down another J. Green in Great Falls. Only it turned out he was too young to be her father.
When she wasn't in town or helping Adele in the kitchen, Trent had let her tag along with him. He'd introduced her to the other cowhands and taught her how to fix a fence. It was just a pity he'd spent more time laughing than helping mend the wobbly wires.
"Are you ready yet, Gracie?" Trent stood in the kitchen doorway, hands planted on his hips and sunglasses covering his eyes.
She didn't need to be a rocket scientist to work out he was getting titchy. "If you hadn't eaten half the chocolate out of the bowl I would have been ready ages ago." Gracie put the cake she'd just finished frosting into a box. "Did you get the chicken wings out of the fridge?"
"And the wine, and the salady things you made. Are you sure you don't want to take the kitchen sink?"
"It wouldn't fit in your truck." Gracie shooed him out of the way and raced upstairs, yanking a towel off her wet head. "Can I borrow your hair dryer?" she yelled over the banister.
"Top drawer on the left in the bathroom."
Gracie found the hairdryer and plugged it in. Bending forward she let the hot air blow through her hair. She flicked her head up and looked in the mirror. Thank goodness for hair ties and baseball caps. The frizzy red halo staring back at her made her look like she'd been shoved into a power socket. Jamming the hairdryer back into the drawer, she ran into her bedroom. In two seconds flat she'd pulled her chocolate splattered T-shirt off and found a clean one to wear. Ponytail, baseball cap, lip-gloss, a flick of mascara and she was done.
She took a deep breath and then remembered her camera. She opened her closet and started hunting. Trent had taken her to the cattle sale yards yesterday. She was sure she'd put the camera back on the shelf in front of her, but it wasn't there.
Gracie had a quick look under her bed and on top of the dresser. Not there either. She walked onto the landing. Trent was disappearing out the door with a box of food in his arms. "Have you seen my?"
"Your camera's in the truck."
"How did you know what I was looking for?"
Trent grinned over his shoulder and Gracie's traitorous heart went flipperty-flop. "It's turned into your third arm. I haven't seen you leave the house without it. You'd better hurry or the barbecue will be over before we get there."
Gracie glanced at her watch, stomping on her hormones as she headed downstairs. They were ten minutes late. "It's just as well I know you're exaggerating."
"Tell me that when you see the crowd of children waiting for food." He headed out the door.
Gracie's eyes darted to the nicely rounded bottom and long legs striding through the timber frame. Not that she cared what Trent's bottom looked like, of course. But a woman couldn't help but appreciate what was clearly outlined for the entire world to see. Especially a woman who'd been living with the body beneath those faded blue jeans for two weeks.
She took one last look around the foyer before locking the front door behind her. Snug jeans or not, Trent McKenzie was completely off limits.
Gracie sniffed the air inside the cab. "You smell nice." She bit her lip, cursing her runaway mouth.
"You'll make me blush with all that sweet talk."
Gracie locked her seat belt into place and took a deep breath. Not a good move. She could practically taste pine and man rolled into one delicious package. "You should save your blushes for your future wife."
"Ouch?do I detect a hint of grumpiness inside that little body of yours?"
"I'm not grumpy. Have you made any progress on your hunt for the perfect childbearing woman?"
Trent spun the wheels on his truck as he drove away from the house. "What do you think?"
Gracie knew he'd been working from dawn to dusk. Unless he'd started wooing someone on the phone, he hadn't been near any females except Gracie, Adele, his mom, and a few thousand heifers. "I think I'm being grumpy."
"Nice to know you're not perfect."
"Keep that in mind when you see Jo-Jo and Katie. From what I've heard they'll be happy to whisper sweet nothings in your ear all night."
Trent leaned forward and switched the radio on. "Should be an interesting evening, then."
***
Gracie watched a group of children kick a ball around the backyard. Their parents sat on picnic chairs nearby, enjoying the last heat of the sun.
Tess's house sat tall and proud on a tree-filled section in the center of Bozeman's historic district. Surrounded by homes built nearly a hundred years ago, it made Gracie feel like she'd stepped back in time. The hardwood floors had creaked under her feet when Tess had given her a guided tour of her beautiful home. Wood detailing gave the house bucket loads of character and the smell of lemon fresh polish made Gracie feel a little homesick.
"Come and meet my friend, Kristina Green."
Gracie turned toward Trent's mom. "She's here?"
"I brought her as my date." Karen grinned. "Jim's running a rodeo course out of State and I thought she'd enjoy catching up with everyone. We're sitting on the patio."
Gracie followed Karen across the yard. She spotted Tess sitting beside the Deputy Chief of Police, a mountain of a man called Dan Carter. Trent sat beside Dan, with Katie Jenkins firmly planted beside him.
As soon as they'd arrived, Katie had introduced her nearly-six-foot-in-heels self, then tried to whisk Trent away. It hadn't worked. He'd stood beside Gracie until the last sausage had disappeared from the barbecue. She didn't know whether he'd stayed because he was hungry or because he felt obliged to keep her company.
With Katie tucked beside him, he didn't look as though he had much on his mind at all now.
"Gracie, this is Kristina."
Gracie stared at the pretty woman sitting on a wooden bench in front of her. "It's nice to meet you." Soft silver curls framed Kristina's smiling face. Deep green eyes, almost the same color as the oak leaves shading the patio, stared up at Gracie.
Kristina patted the seat beside her. "It's good to meet you, too. Come and sit down. Karen told me Trent had a guest staying with him out on the Triple L."
"And that I thought you were going to be my daughter-in-law," Karen added.
Gracie felt a warm blush skim her cheeks. From the way Katie's body was pressed up against Trent, Karen might not have too much longer to wait. Only it wouldn't be Gracie she'd be welcoming into the family.
Kristina laughed. "You'll embarrass the poor girl, Karen."
"Nonsense. Gracie knows I mean well. Trent's been talking about getting married for so long that I think he's forgotten he needs to meet a woman first. But we've got a plan, haven't we Gracie?"
Gracie looked between Karen and Kristina. Did everyone in Bozeman know Trent was looking for a wife?
"Don't worry," Kristina whispered, "Karen hasn't told anyone except me about the reason for the barn dance. I think it's a great way to find someone special."
Gracie tried not to look too stunned. Trent wasn't looking for special. He was looking for desperate-someone who wasn't
worried about her husband's lack of happy-ever-after tendencies.
She sighed as she took another peek at Trent. If he didn't set alarm bells off inside her body, she could almost imagine becoming more than his friend. But Gracie needed to know she was loved. And she had a life back in New Zealand. And a reason for coming to Bozeman.
She glanced at Kristina, wondering how to ask about her husband's past without sounding like she was ticking off bullet points engraved on her brain.
"Can I get anyone a drink?"
Gracie jumped. Her alarm bell man stood beside his mom, a grin plastered across his too handsome face. She looked behind him, trying to find his number one fan.
Trent raised his eyebrows. "Lost something, Gracie?"
She bit back the words skimming along her tongue.
"Come and join us, Trent. We were just talking about the barn dance." Karen moved along the bench, leaving a space between her and Gracie.
Gracie looked at the empty spot beside her, then at Trent. He had far more important things to do than sit squished between his mom and his temporary cowgirl. Things that involved a whole lot of squishing with someone that wasn't her.
"You'll get permanent wrinkles if you keep frowning at me, Gracie." Trent sat on the patio stones, stretching his legs out in front of him. "I'll sit here, mom. It looks as though Gracie still hasn't forgiven me for leaving the steak in the fridge."
It wasn't the steak she'd been worried about and he knew it.
Kristina looked between Gracie and Trent, a smile hovering on her lips. "Karen told me you're a teacher, Gracie. How old are your students?"
"Most of my students are eight years old. I've been emailing them lots of photos of the ranch."
Trent pushed the brim of his hat back, giving Gracie the full blast of his laughing gray eyes. "She's taken about fifty photos of the cattle, and I don't think there's one cowboy that hasn't been snapped at least a dozen times."
Gracie wrinkled her nose. "You're just jealous that Jeb's photo ended up on the notice board in my classroom."
"I don't need to be cowboy of the week." He grinned at the tongue poking out at him. "You'd better watch your manners or else Kristina might think all Kiwis are cheeky little critters."
Kristina put her arm around Gracie. "I've known you for years, Trent McKenzie, and I think you've met your match." She gave Gracie an extra squeeze. "Keep up the good work. You've got to keep a man on his toes otherwise he gets too comfortable in his own skin."
Gracie looked at the man in question and blushed at the devilish gleam in his eyes. Just thinking about Trent's skin was enough to make her wish that cuddly Katie might suddenly appear and whisk the man of the moment away.
"The students in Gracie's class want to know everything about cowboys," Trent said. "I told Gracie that Jim runs a rodeo school. Do you think she could come across and take some photos before she heads back to New Zealand?"
"Of course you can, Gracie. Just give us a call first in case we're between classes. Jim's away for the next couple of weeks, but anytime after that is fine. He traveled around the world as a professional bull rider for quite a few years. He's probably got some memorabilia tucked away somewhere that he could show you too."
Gracie's heart leaped in her chest. She looked at Trent. His body looked relaxed, but there was a stillness about his face that raised goose bumps along her arms.
"It must have been an exciting life," he said.
Gracie held her breath, waiting for Kristina's reply.
"Sometimes, but raising two boys on my own for most of the year took a toll on all of us. We knew his professional career couldn't last forever. Sacrificing our time together for a few years seemed like the obvious thing to do if we wanted to set ourselves up financially."
Gracie stared at Kristina. "Was it worth it?"
"We wouldn't have been able to buy our ranch without the money Jim earned, or start the rodeo school. But if someone else in the same situation asked for my advice, I'd tell them to hold off having a family until they could all be together."
"What countries did Jim visit?" Trent asked.
Gracie's gaze locked on his face. The words had fallen off the end of his tongue as if the question wasn't the most important thing in the world to her.
Kristina dropped her gaze to her hands, tightly clasped in her lap. She looked across at Gracie, then turned back to Trent. "Jim visited a lot of places. His passport looks like an advertisement for the United Nations. He got so many stamps that we gave up counting how many countries he'd visited after he filled up his third passport." She cleared her throat. "Who wants dessert?"
Gracie didn't think she'd be able to eat another thing. Her stomach twisted into a ball of knots. The questions she'd carefully thought about back in New Zealand seemed too personal, too much of an intrusion into Kristina's life. She needed to speak with Jim, but for the first time since she'd begun her search she wasn't excited. She was scared. Scared of the answers to questions that had sat heavily on her shoulders for the last eight months.
"You go ahead, Kristina." Trent stood up and held his hand out to Gracie. "I'm going to introduce Gracie to Becky."
Gracie looked at his hand, reaching out to the only person that knew what was running through her mind.
He slid his palm around her wrist, pulling her upright. "We'll be back soon." Wrapping his arm around her shoulders, Trent nudged her toward the side of the house. "You've gone pale. Take a few deep breaths."
As soon as they were out of sight, Gracie leaned forward, bracing her hands on her knees. She sucked in a great lungful of air, trying to clear the fuzzy dots drifting across her eyes. Trent's hand rubbed her back in slow deliberate circles, centering a world that had tilted on its end.
"Are you all right?"
Gracie nodded. "I don't know why I got so wound up. Half the men in Montana know how to wrestle a steer to the ground and ride a bull." She stood up, trying to control her pounding heart. "I shouldn't get excited about Kristina's husband being in the rodeo. It could be a coincidence that he traveled a lot."
"What's your father's name, Gracie?"
"I can't tell you."
Trent's hand dropped to his side. "Can't or won't?" He stared at her with a mule-headed stubborn look on his face.
"If I find my father it could stir up a whole lot of issues. I don't want you getting in the middle of my problems when you've got enough of your own."
"Who is he, Gracie?"
Trent looked like he was fit to burst when Gracie kept her mouth closed.
"It won't do any good keeping it a secret if you want help finding him."
"You have to promise not to tell anyone I'm looking for my father."
"You think I'd go around telling everyone?"
"Of course I don't," Gracie sighed. "But he might not live here and the list of names I've got could be totally wrong."
"You wouldn't have come all this way if you didn't have an idea of who you were looking for. What's his name, Gracie?"
"James Green."
Trent's body stilled. "So it could be Kristina's husband?"
Gracie shrugged her shoulders. There had to be thousands of men in the world with her father's name. It would be pure luck if her father still lived in Montana. If he was still alive. "I don't know if it's Kristina's husband or not."
Trent's gaze traveled the length of the house, staring at a clump of trees sheltering the backyard. Children's excited voices cut through the silence that had settled on their hiding place.
"Jim's not going to be home for a while. That will give you time to locate some of the other people on your list."
"I guess I should be glad he stopped still long enough to settle in one place. At least I'll be able to find out one way or another whether we're related." Her lips wobbled into a half smile. A breeze stirred the nape of Gracie's neck, cool and inviting, taking the sting out of the late afternoon heat. "We'd better get back to the others before they think we've disappeared.
"
"Will you be all right?"
"I'll be fine..." As they rounded the edge of the house more than one set of eyes followed them. "?but I don't know about you."
Gracie stopped in the middle of the yard. A ball flew along the ground straight toward them, followed by a red-faced six-year-old looking like he'd nearly run out of steam. Gracie put her foot out to stop the ball and kicked it back to the little guy. His face broke into a grin as he booted the ball back to the rest of the children playing in the yard.
"I'm not about to stand between a man and his dreams."
"What dreams?" Trent asked.
"Marriage. Babies. If people see us spending time together, your wedding plans might turn to custard. Katie might be tempted to start looking elsewhere for her match made in heaven."
Trent bent down until his head was level with hers. A smile hovered on his lips and his gray eyes flashed brighter than the afternoon sun. "You've forgotten one thing, Gracie," he whispered. "I'm not looking for heaven."
CHAPTER FIVE
Tossing the salad one last time, Gracie put it on a tray along with a couple of cold cans of lemonade and headed out of the kitchen. This time tomorrow night the first guests would be arriving for the best barn dance Bozeman had ever seen. For the last few days every ranch hand, wife, and girlfriend had been working hard to get the Triple L ready for the big night.
Smoke from the barbecue stung her eyes as she walked through the French doors. She put the tray on the wooden table and passed Trent a drink.
"Thanks, Gracie. How was your ride with Jordan?"
She watched sausages and steak sizzle on the hot grill. "Spectacular, breathtaking, inspiring?and that's only for starters."
"I take it you're talking about the scenery and not Jordan?"
Gracie laughed. "If I told Jordan he was all of those things his head would swell so much he wouldn't be able to get through the kitchen door. And I wouldn't do that to him because I know how much he loves Adele's cooking." Smiling at the warmth in Trent's gaze, she ducked her head and fiddled with her glass. "In between admiring the mountains, we managed to find enough wildflowers to fill the barn to overflowing."