Page 32 of Engaging the Deputy (Silver Stars of Montana #3)

Olivia had never been to Fortune Creek. Jaden had told her it was small, but tiny might have been closer to the truth.

The town was in the northwest corner of the state, a rock’s throw from the Canadian border.

That whole part of the state was lawless except for the small sheriff’s office where her husband-to-be worked.

She saw at once that the town was wild country, set in the mountains surrounded by pines, lots of pines, and rocky cliffs.

The closest place of any size was Eureka, miles away, across the narrow Lake Koocanusa that crossed the border into Canada.

It made the small Montana town she’d grown up in seem metropolitan.

Jaden, once healed enough to return home, had gone on ahead. She’d taken a few days to pack and spend time with her mother before hitting the road. The first thing she saw when she drove into town was the historic Fortune Creek Hotel with its wide porch across the front.

The rest of the town was a series of small, narrow buildings.

There was a convenience store/gas station, a café and a few empty buildings.

But what caught her eye was a boutique with a bright display in the front window.

Jaden had told her that the sheriff’s wife, Molly, had opened it.

She collected unique things from all over the world to sell there.

It was definitely somewhere Olivia planned to explore, but first she wanted to see her fiancé. She drove only a little farther to find the town ended at a stream. Turning around, she drove back to the sheriff’s office.

Like the rest of the town, it also was small and narrow, with an apartment upstairs where she and Jaden would be living until the wedding. Getting out, she breathed in the mountain air ripe with pine scent. Jaden had already warned her about Helen Graves, the sixtysomething dispatcher.

As she pushed open the door, she spotted the gray-haired Helen behind a desk, knitting something large with variegated yarn. “Hello,” she said as she let the door close behind her.

The woman looked up, eyes squinting. “So, you’re the fiancée, huh?”

“That would be me,” she said with a nod.

Helen looked her up and down for a moment before she smiled. “You’ll do. He’s in the office with the sheriff. You can go in.” With that, she went back to her knitting.

Jaden was sitting in the small sheriff’s office. He rose when he saw her and introduced her to his boss, Sheriff Brandt Parker. They exchanged a few niceties. Then Jaden suggested he help her unload her car and see the apartment upstairs.

“So, what do you think?” he asked, looking anxious as he waved an arm toward Fortune Creek.

“I think it’s charming.”

He grinned and pulled her to him for a kiss right there on the town’s main street. Then he led her upstairs to the apartment. He still had a limp from his injuries at Starling, but the doctor had said he was healing nicely.

Later, Olivia wouldn’t remember much about the small apartment over the sheriff’s office. The moment the door had closed, she was in his arms and he was kissing her, and she’d felt as if she’d finally found her way home.

They hadn’t been together like this since they’d broken off their engagement a year ago.

Desire spiked through her, a wildfire of emotions.

Her body tingled with expectation as he began to slowly unbutton her blouse, his gaze locked with hers.

Her blouse dropped to the floor. He gave her an appreciative look as he took in her black lace bra, passion burning in his eyes.

She could feel her hard nipples straining against the lace as he dipped his head to take one aching tip in his mouth and then the other. Her bra dropped to the floor as she opened his shirt, pressing her palms against his muscled chest and then her breasts to the warmth and strength of him.

Jaden let out a groan of pleasure and the next moment they were tearing off the rest of their clothing. Laughing, they stumbled back to fall on the bed. Naked bodies melting together, they made love without restraint—at least, the first time.

It was late by the time they got around to unloading her car and walked down to the café for dinner. Jaden introduced her to everyone they came across. She felt her face flush with appreciation as the town seemed to welcome her with open arms.

Everyone wanted to know about the upcoming wedding and seemed delighted to hear it would be in Fortune Creek at the hotel—and they were all invited.

Olivia felt a glow of warmth like none she’d ever known. She was excited and full of joy, so much so that she completely forgot about mentioning to Jaden that she’d seen Dean.

* * *

Jaden felt as if he were dreaming as he and Olivia walked back to the apartment after dinner. He hadn’t let himself believe this was possible in the time the two of them were apart. But now here they were, together, engaged and planning their life in Fortune Creek.

He stopped to point out the full moon lolling over the top of the pines and pulled Livie close. “Do you think you could be happy here?”

She nodded and smiled up at him. “I’d be happy anywhere with you, but I’m already falling in love with this town. The people are so friendly. Even Helen, kind of.”

He laughed at that as they continued down the street. It wasn’t until later that night, the two of them lying in bed together, that they talked about Starling and the case. He was still working to tie up the loose ends, but basically, it was over.

Angie had been picked up in Washington and was being brought back to stand trial.

Rob and Cody were dead. The town was still grieving.

Emery had closed up his shop, getting on one of his motorcycles, Krystal on the back, and taking a trip down to California.

Both were required to come back for the trial.

During the weeks Jaden and Livie had been healing from the ordeal they’d barely lived through, they hadn’t talked about it. Instead, they had talked about the future. There was the upcoming wedding, the move to Fortune Creek and where they would live.

Olivia said she was looking forward to being a wife. They’d both agreed that they wanted to start a family, buy a house and put down roots.

Now, though, in the darkness of their small apartment over the sheriff’s office, they talked about the case and their near-death experiences.

“It’s a miracle I lived through the tornado,” Livie said.

“Cody saved your life that night.”

She nodded. “Only because he needed an alibi.”

“I think there was more to it than that. He loved you. How could he not?”

“We both loved each other growing up, but that boy I knew was gone. Some of it was the drugs, but a lot of it was his bitterness. He’d never really been trapped at the hardware store. He’d used that as an excuse. Such a waste.”

Jaden agreed. “He was looking for an easy way out, though I don’t think he would have ever left town if he hadn’t been forced to run.

For a lot of people, leaving the safety and security of what you know is just too hard.

” He looked over at Livie. “But not for you. That’s another reason Cody resented you.

You were a lot braver than him, and he knew it. ”

“I’m not sure how brave I was. But I was determined—to a fault.”

“Well, now you have your business degree.”

“Molly was impressed,” she said with a laugh. “She seems excited for me to be working with her since she spends so much time on the road looking for more product for the store. I like her.”

“I thought you would.” He pulled her close. “We’re going to be okay here, aren’t we?”

She nodded. “About that night when you found me in Starling. I can’t believe as injured as you were…” Her voice broke.

“At one point I thought I was going to have to crawl up that hill,” he said. “But nothing could keep me from getting to you.” He kissed her. “I love you, Livie. Always have. Is your mother going to be all right with you marrying me?”

She laughed, brushing at tears. “She’s excited that I’m closer to home. And, of course, she’s excited about the wedding. She never had one of her own. She can be…prickly, but she’ll grow on you, I promise.” He chuckled. “She really is excited about us giving her grandbabies.”

“Me, too,” he whispered. “Maybe we should work on that right now? What do you think?” She answered with a kiss.

* * *

It amazed Olivia what a small town the whole state of Montana felt like. She and Jaden had posted their wedding announcement in the local shopper. It was what was done in small-town Montana since everyone in the community was invited.

On Thanksgiving, her mother had come up for the local feast down at the café. Alice, the café owner, put it on every year. Olivia couldn’t believe how warm and welcoming everyone was. It was clear that they all loved Jaden and were happy for the two of them.

Ash Hamilton, over at the hotel, had told them not to worry. He had plenty of room. Local café owner Alice Weatherbee was to cater the affair and promised there would be plenty of food. The local bar would be furnishing the booze.

“Are you sure about an open bar?” Olivia had asked.

“Don’t worry. Anyone who drinks too much will be put up at the hotel,” Jaden had assured her.

Sharon Brooks had arrived two days early for the wedding to help. “This place is really nice,” her mother had said of the hotel room Jaden had gotten for her. She’d sounded surprised. “The town, though, seems a little…small.”

Olivia had laughed, surprised she wasn’t more nervous as the wedding loomed.

She couldn’t wait to become Mrs. Olivia Montgomery.

She and Jaden had waited until they were both settled in to have the wedding.

During those weeks, when he wasn’t working, they’d spent their days looking for a house in the area and making love.

With the wedding only days away, she wanted to pinch herself.

She and Jaden had found a cute house that overlooked the stream on the edge of town.

It had plenty of room inside and out for the family they were planning.

Olivia had spent hours painting and decorating their new home.

They’d stayed in the apartment over the sheriff’s department, planning to spend their first night as husband and wife in their new house.

Olivia couldn’t wait to start her future with Jaden—and put the past behind her. Especially Starling. Unfortunately, that part wasn’t that easy. She found herself thinking about all of it.

Jaden had filled in some of the blanks. She now knew why she’d thought she’d seen Elden Rusk the night of the tornado. Emery had put Krystal up to it to scare Rob. Apparently, he owed everyone in town. That he was running away with Angie had come as a surprise.

“He’d been busy keeping his affair with Jenny Lee from her,” Jaden had said. “But I wouldn’t be surprised if he’d suspected more was going on out at the barn than she’d told him.”

Had Dean really not known what his wife was up to?

“That reminds me,” she said. “It completely slipped my mind until just now. I saw Dean as I was leaving home. He flagged me down on the road. He said he just wanted to give his best wishes to my engagement to you, but after he drove away, I thought it was strange since he hadn’t seemed that glad to see me. ”

“But he flagged you down.”

“Maybe only because it was just the two of us on the road,” she said. “It would have looked strange if he’d just driven by.” Jaden didn’t look convinced. “At first, I thought he was on his way to my house, but wouldn’t he have turned around and gone back to town?”

“Where did he go?”

“On down the road. It seemed odd until I remembered there was a shortcut back to town.”

“Shortcut?”

“It connects to the road to the south.” She saw his expression change.

“The road out to Angie’s barn,” he said.

“Is there any reason he’d want to go out there?” she asked and saw him frown.

She shouldn’t have been surprised the next morning when he announced he was going back down south on deputy business. It was a miserable late-November day, the mountains socked in, a mist of rain and snow peppering the windows.

“This is about Dean, isn’t it?” Livie said. “I thought the case was over?” He didn’t have to answer; she saw the answer on his face. “Jaden, we’re getting married tomorrow,” she cried. “The rehearsal dinner is tonight!”