Merry Christmas, Baby Maverick!. Brenda Harlen

      “She sustained some pretty serious injuries, and died five days later. She was only twenty-three years old.”

      “Trey must have been devastated,” Kayla said softly, her heart aching for his loss.

      “He was,” Melba agreed. “We were all saddened by her death—and so worried about him. But then, when I heard that he was dancing with you at the wedding, well, I have to admit, I let myself hope it was a sign that his heart was healed.”

      “It was just a dance,” she said again.

      “Maybe it was,” Melba acknowledged, as she pushed her chair away from the table. “And maybe there will be something more when you see him again.”

      * * *

      “Did you leave any presents in the mall for anyone else to buy?” Kristen teased, as she helped her sister cart her parcels and packages into the sprawling log house they’d grown up in.

      The Circle D Ranch, located on the north side of town, was still home to Kayla, but her twin had moved out a few weeks earlier, into a century-old Victorian home that their brother Jonah had bought after the flood for the purposes of rehabbing and reselling. Since Kristen had started working at the theater in Kalispell, this house, on the south edge of town and close to the highway, had significantly cut down her commuting time—and given her a taste of the independence she’d been craving.

      “Only a few,” Kayla warned her, dumping her armload of packages onto her bed.

      “That one looks interesting,” her sister said, reaching for the bag from the bath shop.

      Kayla slapped her hand away. “No snooping.”

      “Then it is for me,” Kristen deduced.

      “You’ll find out at Christmas—unless you try to peek again, in which case it’s going back to the store.”

      “I won’t peek,” her sister promised. “But speaking of shopping, I was thinking that you should plan a trip to Thunder Canyon to check out the stores there.”

      Kayla gestured to the assortment of bags. “Does it look like I need to check out any more stores?”

      Kristen rolled her eyes. “You and I know that your shopping is done—or very nearly, but no one else needs to know that. And shopping is only a cover story, anyway—your real purpose would be to see Trey and finally tell him about the secret you’ve been keeping for far too long.”

      Just the idea of seeing Trey again made Kayla’s tummy tighten in knots of apprehension and her heart pound with anticipation. Thoughts of Trey had always had that effect on her; his actual presence was even more potent.

      She really liked him—in fact, she’d had a major crush on him for a lot of years when she was younger. Then his family had moved away, and her infatuated heart had moved on. Until the next time he came back to Rust Creek Falls, and all it would take was a smile or a wave and she would be swooning again.

      But still, her infatuation had been nothing more than a harmless fantasy—until the night of the wedding. Being with Trey had stirred all those old feelings up again and even now there was, admittedly, a part of her that hoped he’d be thrilled by the news of a baby, sweep her into his arms, declare that he’d always loved her and wanted to marry her so they could raise their child together.

      Unfortunately, the reality was that five months had passed since the night they’d spent together, and she hadn’t heard a single word from him after he’d gone back to Thunder Canyon.

      She’d been pathetically smitten and easily seduced, and he’d been so drunk he didn’t even remember being with her. Of course, another and even more damning possibility was that he did remember but was only pretending not to because he was ashamed by what had happened—a possibility that did not bode well for the conversation they needed to have.

      “I know I have to talk to Trey,” she acknowledged to her sister now. “But I can’t just show up in Thunder Canyon to tell him that I’m having his baby.”

      “Why not?” Kristen demanded.

      “Because.”

      “You’ve been making excuses for months,” her sister pointed out. “And you don’t have many more left—excuses or months.”

      “Do you think I don’t realize that?”

      Kristen threw her hands up. “I don’t know what you realize. I never thought you’d keep your pregnancy a secret for so long—not from me or the rest of your family, and especially not from the baby’s father.

      “I’ve tried to be understanding and supportive,” her sister continued. “But if you don’t tell him, I will.”

      Kayla knew it wasn’t an idle threat. “But how can I tell Trey that he’s going to be a father when he doesn’t even remember having sex with me?”

      Kristen frowned. “What are you talking about?”

      “When I saw Trey—later the next day—he said that his memory of the night before was hazy.”

      “A lot of people had blank patches after drinking that spiked punch.”

      She nodded. “But Trey’s mind had apparently blanked out the whole part about getting naked with me.”

      “Okay, that might make the conversation a little awkward,” Kristen acknowledged.

      “You think?”

      Her sister ignored her sarcasm. “But awkward or not, you have to get it over with. I’d say sooner rather than later, but it’s already later.”

      “I know,” Kayla agreed.

      “So...shopping trip to Thunder Canyon?” Kristen prompted.

      “Three hundred miles is a long way to go to pick up a few gifts—don’t you think Mom and Dad will be suspicious?”

      “I think Mom and Dad should be the least of your worries right now.”

      Kristen was right, of course. Her sister always had a way of cutting to the heart of the matter. “Will you go with me?”

      “If I had two consecutive days off from the theater, I would, but it’s just not possible right now.”

      She nodded.

      “And no,” Kristen spoke up before Kayla could say anything more. “That does not give you an excuse to wait until after the holidays to make the trip.”

      “I know,” she grumbled, because she had, of course, been thinking exactly that—and her sister knew her well enough to know it.

      “So when are you going?” Kristen demanded.

      “I’ll keep you posted. I have to get to the paper.”

       RUST CREEK RAMBLINGS: THE LA LAWYER TAKES A BRIDE

      Yes, folks, it’s official: attorney to the stars Ryan Roarke is off the market after being firmly lassoed by a local cowgirl! So what’s the next order of business for the California lawyer? Filing for a change of venue in order to keep his boots firmly planted on Montana soil and close to his beautiful bride-to-be, Kristen Dalton. No details are available yet on a date for the impending nuptials, but the good people of Rust Creek Falls can rest assured that they will know as soon as the Rambler does...

       Chapter Two

      Trey Strickland had been happily living near and working at the Thunder Canyon Resort for several years now, but he never passed up an opportunity to visit his grandparents in Rust Creek Falls. His family had lived in the small town for nearly a decade while he was growing up, and he still had good friends there and always enjoyed catching up with them again.

      Now