Montana Mornings (The Wildes of Birch Bay Book 3)

  PRAISE FOR KIM LAW

  “Montana Cherries is a heartwarming yet heart-wrenching story of the heroine’s struggle to accept the truth about her mother’s death—and life.”

  —RT Book Reviews, 4 stars

  “An entertaining romance with a well-developed plot and believable characters. The chemistry between Vega and JP is explosive and will have you rooting for the couple’s success. Readers will definitely look forward to more works by this author.”

  —RT Book Reviews, 4 stars (HOT) on Caught on Camera

  “Kim Law pens a sexy, fast-paced romance.”

  —New York Times bestselling author Lori Wilde on Caught on Camera

  “A solid combination of sexy fun.”

  —New York Times bestselling author Carly Phillips on Ex on the Beach

  “Sugar Springs is a deeply emotional story about family ties and second chances. If you love heartwarming small towns, this is one place you’ll definitely want to visit.”

  —USA Today bestselling author Hope Ramsay

  “Filled with engaging characters, Sugar Springs is the typical everyone-knows-everyone’s-business small town. Law skillfully portrays heroine Lee Ann’s doubts and fears, as well as hero Cody’s struggle to be a better person than he believes he can be. And Lee Ann’s young nieces are a delight.”

  —RT Book Reviews, 4 stars

  Also by Kim Law

  The Wildes of Birch Bay series

  Montana Cherries

  Montana Rescue

  The Turtle Island series

  Ex on the Beach

  Hot Buttered Yum

  Two Turtle Island Doves (novella)

  On the Rocks

  The Sugar Springs series

  Sugar Springs

  Sweet Nothings

  Sprinkles on Top

  The Davenports series

  Caught on Camera

  Caught in the Act

  The Holly Hills series

  Marry Me, Cowboy (novella), Cowboys for Christmas

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organizations, places, events, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Text copyright © 2017 Kim Law

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.

  Published by Montlake Romance, Seattle

  www.apub.com

  Amazon, the Amazon logo, and Montlake Romance are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc., or its affiliates.

  ISBN-13: 9781503943117

  ISBN-10: 1503943119

  Cover design by Shasti O’Leary Soudant

  To the Huntsville, Alabama, Lunch and Learn Romance Book Club. What a great group of women! Thank you for being so welcoming each time I’ve visited, and for making those trips a truly enjoyable experience. And thanks for all the great ideas tossed out during our chats! I wish I lived closer, and I’d absolutely join you every month.

  Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Epilogue

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Prologue

  This was the beginning of his and his daughter’s new lives.

  Gabe Wilde stood alone in the middle of the Birch Bay High School classroom, hands on hips and satisfaction overflowing, as he took in the details he’d spent the last week putting effort into. Whiteboard cleaned and waiting for the year’s first assignment, periodic table gracing the back wall. Every feature of the room had been gone over with a fine-tooth comb, and he was ready for his first group of students to walk through the door. He was a high school science teacher now. And this space was all his.

  Or it would be when school started the following month.

  At thirty-three, a total career change might seem drastic to some, but for Gabe, at this moment in his life, it felt exactly right. And it had to be done in his hometown in Montana. Not in California, where he’d allowed his soon-to-be ex to convince him to live since leaving the family cherry orchard.

  The door to the room opened with a soft whoosh, and Gabe’s sister poked her head in. “Did you pick up Jenna’s teacher assignment yet?” Dani waved the piece of paper in her hand. Room assignments were being handed out in the elementary school across the street.

  “I’m heading that way as soon as I leave here.” Gabe made one last sweep of the room. Everything needed to be perfect. “I take it you got Haley’s?”

  “I did.”

  He looked back at his sister. “And?”

  The light disappeared from her face. “They’re not in the same room.”

  His chest ached at the words. Dani’s stepdaughter, Haley, and Gabe’s daughter, Jenna, were not only the same age, they were best friends. Additionally, given the issues Jenna had been through with her mother over the years—with everything escalating since he’d filed for divorce—Haley was the only person Jenna came close to being her normal self around. With everyone else, she was rude and hurtful, or she simply ignored them. In many ways, very similar to her mother. Therefore, getting Jenna and Haley into the same second-grade classroom was imperative.

  “I’ll talk to Colin,” Gabe said. He didn’t like being “that guy.” The one who called in favors with the school’s principal just because the two of them had gone to high school together. But for his kid? He’d do whatever it took.

  “That’s a good idea.”

  Dani slid fully into the room as Gabe remained standing in the middle of the rows of chairs, and he watched as she surveyed the space he’d been anxious to get his hands on. He didn’t miss the pride that flashed through her eyes as they roamed over each detail. As she took in the nameplate he’d proudly set at the front of his desk. Though only eleven months older than him, she was still his big sister, and he had to admit that seeing her admiration for what he’d accomplished filled him with warmth.

  “Teaching,” she murmured when she brought her gaze back to his. “I still can’t believe that’s where you ended up. Who would have guessed?”

  He chuckled. “Caught me off guard, too.”

  When he’d moved to California two years before, his one goal, other than saving his marriage, had been to figure out what he truly wanted out of life. After running the family orchard for years—a position he’d taken on solely because it had always been assumed he would—he’d decided to see if he had any real hopes and dreams of his own, and throughout his soul-searching, he’d discovered his thoughts continually turning to his freshman science teacher. The man had not only taught Gabe to appreciate the sciences, but he’d been there w
hen Gabe had needed someone the most. Recalling that period in his life had given him the desire to provide the same kind of support for others. It was his time to give back. Therefore, high school teacher had seemed the obvious solution.

  He’d spent the last two years getting his teaching certification and adding enough classes to his undergraduate degree to earn a chemistry major, all while working multiple jobs around his class schedule to support his wife and daughter. It had been a hard two years, but it had also been worth it. Except now he was divorced. Or about to be.

  “You’re going to be great at teaching.” The love shining from his sister’s eyes almost had him wrapping an arm around her. He wasn’t much of a hugger, though, so he went another route. He lowered his gaze to her stomach instead. “And you’re going to be great with a baby. You ever going to start showing, though?”

  “I am!” A warm glow lit Dani’s cheeks as she tugged both sides of her shirt back and pressed the material to her body. “See my bump?” She beamed up at him. “I’m at five months today.”

  He could see it, and he couldn’t be more proud. The two of them—as well as their other four brothers—had come far since their family had nearly ruptured two years before, and the fact that Dani was not only happily married to Gabe’s best friend and that she was the stepmother to a sweetheart of a kid thrilled him, but now she and Ben were bringing new life into their family as well. The world could be a good place sometimes.

  “Maybe I can see it,” he grudgingly admitted, and at the wide smile that suddenly covered Dani’s face, Gabe couldn’t help but drop an arm around her shoulders. “Come on, dumbass, let’s go. Gloria is using the smoker to make barbecue tonight, and I’ve already been warned that if I don’t get home in time to help, then I don’t eat.”

  “You decided to stay with Dad and Gloria for good, then?” Dani asked as Gabe held the classroom door open for her. Gloria was their stepmother of eighteen months.

  “Actually . . . no.” He and Jenna had been staying at the farm since coming home the month before, letting everyone assume that’s where they would remain. But at the same time, he’d been keeping a big secret. He cut a glance down at Dani. Now seemed the time to share it. “I put in an offer on a house today.”

  This time it was relief that filled his sister’s eyes. As well as tears. “Oh, Gabe,” she whispered. Then she threw both arms around him. “Does that mean you’re really staying, then? That you and Michelle aren’t . . .”

  He pried Dani away from him. She’d been worrying that he and Michelle might get back together? “I filed for divorce, Dani.” He stared down at her. “Months ago.”

  “I know, but”—she bit her lip—“sometimes people change their minds. And you’ve never really talked about what happened or anything.”

  He hadn’t talked because not everything was his family’s business.

  “And the divorce isn’t final yet,” she added hesitantly.

  “It will be soon enough.” He had a court date in Los Angeles scheduled for the day before school started. “And though a judge has yet to make it official, it’s final to me. Michelle is out of our lives. For good.”

  His sister hugged him once more, and he again found himself staring at the top of her head.

  “Really?” He gave a good-natured sigh. “Now that you’re pregnant, do you plan to use hormones as an excuse to be hugging me all the damned time?”

  “I might.” She slapped his arm as she pulled away and then wiped at the tears once again filling her eyes. Then she gave him a tremulous smile. “I’m glad you’re home, moron.”

  Chapter One

  One month later

  His daughter waited up ahead, her gaze trained on the oversize red doors in front of her, and her blonde hair pulled high on her head. She wore the yellow dress and red sequined shoes she’d picked out special for that day, with her pink PAW Patrol backpack fitted snugly over her shoulders. The sight of her brought a relieved smile to Gabe’s face. The tension that had been coursing through his body for the last several days finally began to ease.

  And then her small hands clenched nervously at her sides.

  He cursed under his breath and picked up speed. He had not wanted to be late. Not for this. And to top it off, the judge hadn’t even signed the divorce papers.

  Gloria caught sight of him as he closed the final few feet, and she touched a hand to Jenna’s shoulder. When Jenna looked up, her grandmother nodded toward Gabe.

  Jenna whirled. “Daddy.”

  “Hey, kiddo.” Gabe stooped and opened his arms. “I missed you.”

  “I missed you, too.” Her words were no more than a whisper before she got them all out, and as Gabe’s arms closed around the slim body, his eyes shut. He’d been gone only two days, but he’d hated having to leave at all. Not when his daughter needed him. And though she often leaned more toward pain in the ass these days than the sweet little girl he’d always known, that didn’t mean she didn’t need him.

  “School’s already started, Daddy.” Worry filled Jenna’s eyes. “Will I be in trouble?”

  “Absolutely not.” He knuckled the top of her head. “I’ve already talked to your new principal about it. In fact”—he dug his cell out of his pocket—“I have an e-mail from him right here that says that it’s perfectly fine if you’re late this morning. He also told us who your new teacher is.”

  He’d gotten Jenna reassigned to be in the same classroom with Haley, but then their teacher had gone on early maternity leave, leaving the school scrambling to find a last-minute replacement. They’d only finalized the plans over the weekend.

  “Let me see.” At Jenna’s request, Gabe handed the phone over, then he looked at Gloria.

  “Everything okay?” he asked.

  She gave a sage nod. “One minute she’s excited to meet everyone and make new friends, and the next”—she gave a tiny shrug—“we end up waiting on the front stoop, well after the bell has rung.”

  “I’m sorry I was late.” He looked beyond the elementary school to the sprawling high school off to the right, and farther to the empty football field. Jenna wasn’t alone with her nerves today. Because teaching was no longer the only new adventure he’d taken on for the coming year.

  “It couldn’t be helped,” Gloria assured him. “You can’t control traffic.”

  Nor could he have gotten back any earlier. His case hadn’t been heard until the end of the day, and then there’d been a long break as it had become apparent that vital paperwork from his ex’s side had been missing. Given the late hour and the fact that too many balls had to be juggled to push the divorce through in that small window of time, the proceedings had been set aside until the following month. He’d ended up catching one of the few flights still heading to Montana, which had put him in Billings around midnight.

  Even six hours away by rental car, he should have been able to make it in time, but he’d gotten stuck behind an accident about an hour out. He’d called to assure Jenna that he’d stop by her classroom to see her the minute he arrived back in town, but clearly she’d instigated a different plan.

  She handed the phone back to him. “I’ve decided that I don’t like Ms. Bird.”

  Gabe’s heart sunk. “You haven’t even met her, sweetheart. Don’t you think you should see what she’s like first?”

  “My friend Leslie met her yesterday, and she didn’t like her. So I don’t, either.”

  “That’s not what Leslie said,” Gloria interjected. Lines bunched between her graying brows as her gaze shifted between Jenna and Gabe. “We ran into Leslie and her family at the supermarket last night. She said Ms. Bird was nice.”

  Jenna shook her head. “She only said that because the grown-ups were listening, but she whispered and told me the truth. Ms. Bird isn’t a nice woman. She won’t like me, so I don’t like her, either.”

  The pulse point at the side of Gabe’s neck began to pound. Jenna’s personality had changed so much since the divorce proceedings had begun. �
�How about you give her a chance before you make a decision like that?” He understood far too well the reason for the personality shift and exactly why she’d be scared to set her hopes on any new woman in her life. “And if you’ll do that—really give Ms. Bird a chance—then I promise I won’t try to change your mind if you don’t like her. How about that?”

  Jenna studied him with more shrewdness than a seven-year-old should possess. “But can I get a new teacher if I don’t like her?”

  “I’m afraid not. Ms. Bird is your new teacher. They won’t move you again.”

  Once again, his daughter locked her gaze onto his. Her jawline showed her stubbornness, but the insecurity swirling in the blue starbursts around her pupils spoke the real truth. “Leslie says she’s only a temporary teacher, anyway.” Her chin lifted. “So there’s no reason I should like her. She’s gonna leave soon.”

  The air left Gabe’s chest. He’d worried about that exact thing. Ms. Bird would be there for eight weeks only, at which point Mrs. Watts would return. He hadn’t liked the idea of Jenna not having one teacher for the duration of the school year, but the choice had come down to either having her in a classroom with Haley and a temporary teacher, or not having her in a classroom with Haley at all. And though it had become a daily routine of his to question each and every decision he made for his daughter, in the end he’d taken the path he had so many other times over the last seven months. He’d gone with his gut.

  Having Ms. Bird as her teacher would be the right move for Jenna. It had to be.

  “Even though she’ll have to leave”—he took his daughter’s hand and gave her an encouraging smile—“it’s possible that she’ll be the most fun teacher ever until she goes.” He angled his head toward the closed doors, knowing they had to move past this point and at least enter the school. “What do you say? Shouldn’t we go in and find out?”

  Jenna’s feet remained rooted to the ground.

  “You have to go in, Jenna.” Gloria’s soft voice drifted from the other side of him.

  “But I don’t wanna.” Tears suddenly appeared in Jenna’s eyes, and though Gabe had the urge to scoop his daughter up and take her immediately away from there, he didn’t let himself. She had to go to class . . . and so did he.