Page 2 of A Montana Fake Marriage (Sagebrush Ranch Sweethearts #1)

“Come on.” He slipped his arm around her back and placed hers over his shoulder. “I’ll take you home.”

She didn’t argue, but by the time they’d headed down the steps of the bleachers and made it to the parking lot, she was sobbing. When they got to his truck, she turned her face into his chest and clutched at the fabric of his shirt.

Her body shook with uncontrollable sobs, and all he could do was wrap his arms around her and hold her close.

He let her cry like that, letting time slip away.

Her mother was gone. The one person she talked about with a smile on her face—the one advocate she had at home.

Based on the way her father spoke to Caleb on the phone, he could tell why Sammie didn’t talk about him much.

The guy was cold. Then again, he’d just lost his wife. He was grieving. They both were. At least Caleb was here to ease some of the ache in whatever way he could. His arms tightened around her, and he knew he couldn’t just drop her off at her dorm.

He moved to open the door and gently situate her on the passenger seat.

“Where are we going?” she rasped, her voice cracking.

“My place.”

She didn’t react. Her eyes were dead, her expression flat. Not even a nod in his direction was given.

At his apartment, he moved her through the living room, past his roommates who looked on with curiosity, but they knew better than to ask. Still, the look he gave them would have prevented any stupid questions.

Once in his room, he removed her jacket and her shoes, then put her into his bed and pulled up the covers. She stared at him, eyes vacant. “She’s gone,” Sammie whispered.

He crouched down beside her and brushed tear-soaked strands of hair from her face. “I know.”

Sammie shut her eyes tight, and more tears slipped from beneath her lashes.

“Get some sleep,” he murmured. “I’ll help you call your dad in the morning.” Caleb stood, prepared to sleep on the couch, but her frantic voice stopped him.

“Caleb!”

He stopped, nearly at the door, and turned to look at her. He didn’t know what to do. There was nothing he could do. Nothing he could say that would ease the ache that plagued her. “Yeah?”

“Don’t leave me,” she rasped.

He frowned. There was no way she didn’t have a migraine with the way she’d been crying. His shirt was still soaked with those tears. She needed to get some sleep, not stay awake to talk about it. Talking could come later when everything had settled. “I don’t think?—”

“Please,” she croaked. “Stay with me.”

He glanced over his shoulder to where he could hear the television in the front room. He wasn’t worried that his roommates would tell their resident assistant. They knew when to keep their mouths shut. Finally, he nodded, taking his hat off and tossing it to the desk.

Caleb sat on the edge of the bed to remove his boots then climbed onto the bed beside her on top of the comforter. Sammie scooted closer, pulling her arm from the confines of the blanket to place it on his chest. He slipped his arm beneath her head, and she took in several shuddering breaths.

Neither one of them spoke, and her breathing grew deep and regular far earlier than his own. Caleb stared at the ceiling, his heart hurting for everything she’d just lost.

Caleb didn’t leave Sammie’s side for even a second at the visitation and funeral. She was dressed in a simple black dress and heels, her face blotchy from the tears she’d shed since their arrival.

Her father, Joe Michaels, didn’t hide the disdain he had for Caleb the moment he’d stepped over the threshold. The way his eyes had raked over Caleb from his hat to his boots made it clear he thought Caleb was beneath him.

None of that mattered. Caleb was here for Sammie.

The way she clung to him, holding his hand, made it clear he’d done the right thing in coming. Every conversation with her father was stifled. Every comment made by friends or family was laced with pity.

He didn’t know what it was like when Susan was alive, but right now, the large colonial house felt cold and empty with sharp edges and nowhere to get comfortable.

Caleb squeezed Sammie’s hand and leaned close after a well-meaning older woman offered her condolences. “I can take you back to campus whenever you want. If you want to stay a few days, I’m sure your teachers?—”

She shook her head vigorously. “I want to leave today.”

His brows creased. “But your father?—”

“Today,” she said firmly.

He nodded.

A few hours later, he stood at the front door, duffle bag in hand as he waited for Sammie to come out of her father’s study. The enormous mahogany doors had been left ajar, and the first part of their conversation was spent in hushed tones. But then that changed.

“What do you mean, you’re leaving? There’s a luncheon tomorrow.”

“I don’t want to go to a luncheon. I came for the service and that’s over now. I came for her , not you.”

Caleb winced at that last statement. This wasn’t going to go over very well.

“We’re a family, Sarah Ann. That means?—”

“The luncheon isn’t for Mom. I don’t even know why you set it up for the day after we buried her. Don’t you get it?” she shot back.

“What I get is that you’re disrespecting your family. Me. You’re disrespecting me.” His voice got louder with each word.

“Well, the truth is that you’ve never approved of my choices or supported me at all. Whatever I do, it’s always wrong and I’ve been nothing but a disappointment to you. But that’s on you. Geez. I can’t stay here. Not without Mom.”

“You ungrateful?—”

Caleb pushed the door open, and a pair of dark, hard eyes shot to him.

If Caleb were a lesser man, Joe’s stare would have been enough to make him wither on the spot.

Instead, he lifted his chin and stared right back.

“I’ve got everything loaded into the truck.

We should head out if we’re going to get back before it gets too late.

” He didn’t even glance in Sammie’s direction.

It was clear where this conversation was headed.

There wasn’t a drop of affection in Joe’s voice.

It didn’t matter that he’d lost his wife.

In Caleb’s book, a father was supposed to be there for his daughter, not expect it the other way around.

Caleb wouldn’t have been surprised to find out that Joe was the kind of man who had to control everyone and everything in his life right down to the career his daughter would have.

Joe stood, bracing his hands on the desk. His glare was a challenge—one Caleb was willing to take. Then something akin to grief flickered in his eyes, and he glanced to his daughter. “I’m not paying for housing this summer on campus. You can either come home or stay with a friend.”

Caleb stiffened.

Sammie nodded. “Fine.” She didn’t say goodbye as she charged for the door and brushed past Caleb.

Caleb touched the brim of his hat and nodded out of respect, then hurried out of the house and to his waiting truck.

She was already seated, her hands clenched tightly in her lap.

“You can come stay with me this summer if you’d like.”

Sammie gave him a sharp nod, and he started the truck.