Page 16 of A Montana Secret Admirer (Sagebrush Ranch Sweethearts #4)

CHAPTER TWELVE

Serenity stared at the letter in her shaking hands. Her heart hadn’t stopped doing that thumping thing in her chest. She glanced up at her sister, who had a smug look on her face.

“What?” Serenity demanded.

“What does the letter say?”

She shook her head and slapped the letter against her chest. “Nope. You don’t get to read it.

” What was she supposed to tell her sister?

That this secret admirer had stepped up his game?

This letter was by far the most romantic she’d received thus far.

It didn’t indicate whether the author knew about her date with Reese, and she wasn’t sure she wanted him to know.

He didn’t seem jealous. But he was indicating that there were feelings between them.

Or at least they were coming from his side.

She was insane to be considering this—whoever it was.

It could be anyone who worked or lived at Sagebrush.

Anyone.

The problem with that was his feelings were one-sided. The only person who came close to capturing her attention was Reese.

It could be him , she reminded herself. Why rule anyone out?

And yet she had the strangest feeling that Reese wouldn’t be able to keep such a secret. He’d been incredibly open about how he felt about wanting to pursue her from the beginning.

“Earth to Serenity,” Jane sang. “If you don’t tell me what’s in the letter, then I’m going to just have to snatch it and read it for myself.”

Serenity glowered at her sister. “He’s… got feelings for me.” At least that was how it appeared.

Jane lifted her brows. “It says that?”

“Pretty much.”

Her sister let out a whistle. “And what about Reese?”

“What about him?” Serenity hated the way her palms were now sweating, and she couldn’t control the unfortunate stutter her heart was experiencing.

“He took you on that date. I thought the two of you were hitting it off.”

“Urrgh.” Serenity shook her head. “We were— are . It’s going really great, actually.”

“So why do you look so upset? You can’t possibly be worried about whoever this person is. We’ve been over that. If he was really that interested, then he’d say something. He’d come out and tell you, ask you out, show Reese that you’re a commodity.”

Serenity’s flat look apparently wasn’t enough to get her sister to stop with this line of thinking. “You wouldn’t understand.”

“You’re right. I don’t understand. Not only did you have the perfect husband and father to your children. You now have two more guys who are interested in you. Sounds real tough .”

“Sounds like someone might be jealous.” The voice was low and teasing, and both Serenity and Jane jumped when Noah entered the kitchen.

To her credit, Jane blushed. Serenity grinned. She’d had it coming.

Noah glanced from Serenity to the note she still had pressed to her chest. “Another letter, huh?”

She nodded.

“Well, for what it’s worth, I agree with Jane.”

Serenity rolled her eyes. “Of course you do.”

He shrugged as he passed by her and moved to the refrigerator. “Whoever is writing those letters isn’t ready to tell you to your face how they feel. That means one of two things. They’re trying to protect you, or they’re a coward.”

“Protect me?”

He paused, his back facing her as he peered into the fridge. “Yeah.”

“Noah,” Jane warned, but Noah didn’t seem to get the clue that this was a tricky subject.

He turned to face her. “You were with Finn for most of your life. You went from being taken care of by your parents, to being taken care of by your husband, to being taken care of by your family. Maybe this person is worried that you’ll either jump into something too soon, or you’re too scared to take the leap. ”

“Well, which is it?” Jane had her hands on her hips. “Is she too scared to fall in love, or is it bad for her to risk catching feelings?”

Noah and Jane exchanged a look—one that showed just how much they were in love and how easy it was for them to communicate without actually saying anything.

Jane’s demeanor shifted, and she relaxed slightly.

Noah glanced to Serenity. “That’s up to you to decide.

Would you want someone expressing their love for you at this moment?

Would it be a crutch or would it scare you off? ”

“Are those the only options?” Serenity asked weakly.

“No,” Noah said simply, surprising her. “You could be a well-adjusted adult who doesn’t have any hang-ups whatsoever.” He flashed her a grin then a wink, and she wanted to throw something at him.

Jane moved closer and placed a hand on her forearm. “He’s right. You have to decide if it’s something you want.”

“With my secret admirer?” she asked incredulously.

“No, with Reese. He seems to be the one who’s being upfront and honest about everything. Is that something you want?”

Serenity stared down at the flower and the note. Noah grabbed what he seemed to be looking for and left the kitchen. In a low voice, Serenity whispered, “Would you try to help me find out who it is?”

Jane looked surprised and maybe a little disappointed. “You still want to figure out who he is? Instead of developing something more with Reese?”

She shrugged. There was something… less scary about the admirer. Reese was—a lot. He was there, and available. She had to look him in the eye when she told him she wasn’t ready.

For some reason, the abstract idea of the man who might have written this letter was… safer.

Jane sucked in a deep breath and exhaled thoughtfully.

“Will you?” Serenity asked again.

“You know I’d do anything for you, right?” Jane was her older sister. She might have been the last to get married, but she’d always known what she wanted to do in her life. Now that she was married to one of the wealthiest people in the state, she had the resources to be able to help her.

Serenity’s nerves got the better of her. “Am I crazy? This could be a really bad idea. What if he’s some weird guy who’s stalking me?”

Jane laughed. “That’s literally what a secret admirer does. They watch, observe, and fall in love with you from a distance. They just don’t go about it by making you feel scared and trapped. No threats. No demands. Just promises of love, right?”

Serenity gaped at her sister. There was no way she hadn’t read this letter. That was what the guy was doing. He’d wanted to make her promises she wasn’t sure she was ready for.

Jane nodded. “I’ll help you figure it out.

And when we find out that he’s not nearly as attractive as Reese Chambers is, then you can sleep easier knowing that you already hit the jackpot.

” She snickered. “Don’t tell Noah I said that.

He’ll get all bent out of shape, and I won’t hear the end of it for weeks. ”

“Hey.” Reese’s hot, sultry breath lifted the hairs on the back of her neck.

Serenity jumped. She stood watching her boys climb all over the playground equipment in the backyard of the main house.

Jane had gone into work later than planned after they’d gone over all the options for them to catch whoever it was leaving the letters.

The first and most obvious choice was a camera.

Serenity didn’t like that idea for the specific reason that if they used it, then chances were high she’d stop receiving the letters, and they’d never find out.

Second option was a stake out.

Guilt swept through her body. She shouldn’t be thinking about this person. She shouldn’t be considering who he might be when there was someone completely available to win her heart, and he was standing right behind her.

His fingertips traced down her spine, and chills made her shudder at his touch.

She did her best to settle her racing heart before she glanced up at him. “Hi,” she murmured. He was sweet, attractive, good with her sons, and yet she couldn’t stop thinking about the man behind the flowers who seemed to see her better than anyone ever had.

Yep. She had officially become the villain.

“So, about this weekend.”

“This weekend?” she squeaked.

He nodded, his eyes locked on the children climbing the playset. He dropped his hand and took a decided step away from her.

Serenity shifted her focus there once more, finding Tegan giving her a strange look. There was a slight downward tilt to his lips as he watched her standing beside Reese. But when he met her stare, he resumed playing with the other children.

“Yes, this weekend,” Reese murmured. “I want to take you dancing.”

Her breath hitched. That would require a lot of eye contact—and other contact as well.

Fingers tingling, Serenity shot a look at him out of the corner of her eye.

“Actually, I think I’m going to have to take a raincheck.

Do you think we could plan something for next weekend instead?

” That would give her a week to figure some things out, first. She really needed to know for her own sanity who was leaving her flowers.

She wasn’t entirely certain it wasn’t Reese. If it was? Already she could sense the joy that concept would bring.

But what if it wasn’t? What would she do with that knowledge? For all she knew, he could be someone who didn’t deserve her time.

Serenity shut her eyes briefly as she felt Reese’s stare turn toward her.

He was frowning now. Shoot! She was messing everything up.

Jane had hinted at the fact that she shouldn’t be chasing down a ghost. They’d even discussed the idea of writing a note for the mysterious flower leaver and see if he wrote back.

The problem with that was whether or not a flower would be delivered on the night they left the note. He didn’t bring them on the same day or at the same time.

“Serenity?”

She startled and stared at him. “What?” He’d been talking. Well, that was just great. This admirer was getting into her head. She needed to get her head on straight. “Sorry, I was distracted.”

“Is it something I’ve done?” Reese asked quietly.

She flinched. “No, of course not.”

“Okay,” he drawled. “Because we were discussing our plans yesterday, and I thought that you were… on board.”

Shutting her eyes tight did nothing to prevent the blush that threatened to overtake her. “I know. I swear, it has nothing to do with you.”

And everything to do with the fact that she couldn’t let this mystery go.

“I’ll make it up to you, okay? Our raincheck? I can plan the date or?—”

“I already said I want to take you dancing.” He smiled at her, and all at once, her insides melted into a pool of jelly. Those eyes. That grin. He had this knack for putting her at ease when she knew she didn’t deserve it.

She nodded. “Okay. Next weekend. Dancing. Wherever you want.” Saying her promise with conviction seemed to be all he needed for reassurance. Now, if she could only figure out who was leaving her those letters and those flowers.

Jane had promised to call up the floral shops in the surrounding towns to see if the guy was just trying to cover his tracks when it came to keeping his secret.

She’d said she’d give a full report after dinner.

But based on the fact that Jane was due to arrive home in the next fifteen minutes, and she hadn’t sent Serenity any text messages warning her that she was the genius of the family, Serenity didn’t have much hope in that option panning out.

She tossed Reese an apologetic look. “I better get the boys all cleaned up for supper. I don’t like to be late when Tana has been so gracious to host us this summer.”

They both knew that Tana didn’t mind it one bit. She was the easy-going sort of person who couldn’t be riled up even if her three sons were pitted against her.

Reese nodded. There was a slight crease between his brows—and it was the only indication that he was concerned about something.

Everything would be okay.

After the mystery was revealed, everything would just go back to normal.

At least that was what she’d be telling herself.