Montana Homecoming. Jillian Hart

sun, feeling guilty at leaving his new dog home alone for the first time. He couldn’t get the sound of Oscar’s howl out of his head. Trying not to imagine how the poor dog was feeling, he focused on his work. The courthouse looming up ahead helped to remind him of his responsibilities.

       He had to stop worrying. Oscar would be all right. He was safe in the house. Come five o’clock, Liam would walk back through that door and the dog would see he hadn’t been abandoned. All would be well. Right?

       Right.

       “Oh, dear. Oops.” A woman’s good-natured trill caught his attention. He rounded the corner to see Lil in her wheelchair with her back to him, gazing down at her purse on the sidewalk.

       “Hi, beautiful.” He knelt to swoop up her leather bag. “Don’t you look fetching? You are going to turn heads in court today.”

       “Liam, you are a charmer.” Lil accepted her handbag with a nod of thanks. “What good timing. Brooke, Colbie, look who I found walking the street.”

       “That makes me sound iffy. Like I’m up to no good.”

       “Oh, I suspect you are up to something very good.” Lil’s eyes twinkled merrily. “I hear you got yourself a dog.”

       “Guilty. It seemed like a good idea at the time. What can I say?” His few working brain cells decided to fail the moment Brooke circled around the back of the SUV and into sight. He opened his mouth intending to say something about Oscar but he forgot what.

       Soft golden sunlight tumbled over her like a promise, glinting in sleek mahogany hair and caressing the curve of her delicately cut face.

      Don’t look, he instructed his brain, but his neurons didn’t obey. Neither did his eyes, which could not stop taking her in. At first glance she seemed fragile, fine-boned, as if a brisk wind could carry her away. But when she leveled him with her hyacinth-blue gaze, an inner strength shone through, impressive and distinctive.

       Wow. She’d been beautiful in the starlight, but in the full day words failed him. Stunned, frozen, his jaw slack—did he look like a dolt?

       Good thing he wasn’t interested. Nope, not one bit. Her beauty bounced off him like rain on a roof. He remained unaffected.

       “I hardly recognize you without your dog.” Brooke didn’t meet his gaze. “How is Oscar?”

       “After making good on all your cookie promises, I sent him straight to bed with a new rawhide bone.” He seized the grips of Lil’s wheelchair, deciding to be useful.

       “I’m glad to see you’re handling him properly.” She hiked the strap of her leather bag higher on her slim shoulder. She wore dress slacks and a solemn blouse and sweater, adding to her seriousness. What did he like about her most?

       That was easy. She clearly gave him a “not interested” vibe. Not one thing about her hinted she might be open to further conversation with him. Not with the way she turned away, keeping her back to him.

       This was a woman he could like. They were on the same wavelength.

       “Come along, Lil.” She ambled ahead, her tone softening with affection as she addressed the older woman. “Let’s get you settled before the courtroom gets too busy.”

       “That would be easiest,” Lil agreed cheerfully, tipping her head back to look up at him. A knowing grin made her sparkle. Multiple sclerosis might have put her in a wheelchair, but it hadn’t slowed her down. “Do you know what you need, Liam?”

       “I’m afraid to answer that question.” He wasn’t the dimmest bulb in the pack and he figured Brooke wasn’t, either. The tap-tap of her heels could only be an attempt to escape Lil. Not that he blamed her. He gave the wheelchair a good shove to get it going. “What do I need? Maybe a haircut? A new attitude? A—”

       “A dog trainer.” Lil smiled as Brooke held the heavy courthouse door.

       A dog trainer? He didn’t see where she was going with this. A tiny zing at the back of his mind told him to be wary—there was something familiar but he couldn’t place it. Mainly because all he could see was Brooke in full sunlight. Her ivory complexion, her chiseled, fine-boned features and her full, rosebud mouth. Why couldn’t he look away?

       “Don’t do it, Lil.” Brooke rolled her eyes as a breeze of wind rustled the ends of her dark hair. “Don’t condemn me to that.”

       “To what?” Then it hit him. He remembered her gentle touch, how the Lab had taken to her, that she had been the one to catch the runaway. So, the pieces were all starting to fit. He guided the wheelchair into the busy lobby.

       “You need help with that dog, young man.” Lil glimmered like a rare gem. “Brooke, you’ve trained how many dogs?”

       “Not many,” Brooke hedged as she fell in line behind him at the security checkpoint. “Hardly any at all.”

       “She’s modest.” Lil’s words held a mother’s love. “She grew up on a farm outside Miles City. She’s been around animals all her life. 4-H, all the good stuff. She won more blue ribbons than a body can count for her animals at the county and state fairs. She trained all the family’s herding dogs. I think she would be able to handle one mischievous yellow Lab.”

       “Please, Lil. Stop.” She rolled her eyes. “That was a long time ago. I’m sure if Liam wants to find a dog trainer, then he’s more than capable of finding one on his own.”

       “Maybe. Maybe not.” His stunning blue eyes met hers and held, full of trouble and a glint of quiet humor. He did not look like a man upset by Lil’s meddling. The woman was clearly trying to match her up with Mr. Handsome. “I do have a dog in need of training. I don’t know where to start. Some folks would hire a trainer in this exact situation.”

       “There are plenty of good obedience schools in the area, I’m sure.”

       “But Brooke, honey, I thought you could use the work.” Lil’s caring was hard to turn down.

       “Oh.” She felt foolish. Lil had been trying to help with her precarious financial position.

       “Look, there’s Colbie.” Pleased, Lil clasped her hands together. “Did you find a parking spot close in, dear?”

       “Would I be out of breath if I had?” Colbie laughed raggedly as she broke away from security. She seemed to bring the sunshine with her. “Liam, thanks for piloting Lil, but I’ll take over.”

       “I don’t know. You know I’m sweet on Lil. I might have to keep her.”

       “Too bad. You’ll have to fight me for her.” With a wink, Colbie wrapped her hands around the grips and gave the wheelchair a practiced shove toward courtroom five. “Are you ready, copilot?”

       “I’m ready, captain.” Lil’s amusement lingered after she and Colbie headed down the busy corridor.

       Leaving her and Liam alone.

       Maybe she hadn’t been completely wrong about Lil’s motives. She squinted at the man beside her. Tall, thick dark hair, granite face, rugged features, handsome enough to give most women in a five-mile radius butterflies.

       Not her, but most women.

       “Looks like they don’t need a navigator.” What was she going to do about Liam? And what exactly were the chances of running into him two days in a row? “What you are doing at the courthouse? Wait, don’t tell me. You’re here for a trial.”

       “You mean a trial of my own?”

       “Sure. You don’t strike me as a thief, but I’ve learned you can’t judge a book by its cover.” She tried to keep her tone light, easygoing, just making conversation as she walked down the corridor. But the truth? She felt the pain of her past and the walls closing in. The courthouse brought back too many memories. “You never know what’s inside.”

       “Funny.