Page 3 of First Date: Divorce (Wyoming Marriage Association #1)
“You’re right, Ellyn. We need a wedding,” said Grainger.
“We can hold it at Far Hills Ranch,” the woman said. From the ring on her left hand, she was married. But not, K.D. thought, to any of the men here.
Grainger dropped his head in agreement and thanks. “Good.” He told Bennett and K.D., “My wife and I were guests at a wedding there, Rebecca and Luke’s. You met them, Eric. Ellyn and the other Far Hills Ranch folks do a great job. Couldn’t put the wedding in better hands.”
“We don’t need a wedding,” K.D. protested as her brain cells reassembled from the shotgun blast of that word. At least she’d stopped herself from saying we don’t need no stinkin’ wedding . “The date would be wrong and—”
“We’ll take care of the paper trail,” Grainger said.
“You need wedding photos, Deputy Hamilton,” said the woman named Ellyn.
“That’s part of the package Marriage-Save requires clients bring.
To have appropriate wedding photos and a video by Friday, we need to put on a wedding and we can’t waste any time.
There was a family reunion at Far Hills this past weekend and we can use parts of the setup as a backdrop for a wedding.
If we go there now, we can get the wedding preparations started and fill in Deputy Hamilton more — may I call you K.D. ?”
“Yes, but—”
“Good idea, Ellyn.” Grainger stood and picked up his cowboy hat. “K.D. rides with Eric. Tal, can you bring me back here if I ride along with Ellyn to be sure we’re straight on the general background?”
Larkin tensed. Before he could say anything, Bennett confirmed with, “Sure thing,” and stood.
“I’ll drive myself,” K.D. said.
“No, you won’t,” Bennett said. “Montana plates. Your cover story needs to be that you flew in from Illinois — Eric moved here from Illinois and it makes sense it was to get away from a woman.”
She caught a flicker of a wince from Eric, immediately stifled.
“So, you’ll be the estranged wife flying in for this time at Marriage-Save to see if you two can make a go of it,” Grainger said.
“After we’re finished at Far Hills, K.D.
and I will meet one of Tal’s associates who’s picked up a rental from the Billings airport and we’ll stash your vehicle for the duration. ”
“But if people see me in his vehicle on the way out of town, the timeline—”
“Nah. They’re interested in other people’s lives, but nobody keeps a spreadsheet.
If someone does happen to spot you together now, that’ll be to the good.
They’ll see you as a couple. Word’ll spread like wildfire.
” Amusement flickered across Grainger’s eyes.
“Folks’ve been wondering about this guy since he hit town.
Plus, the drive’ll give you a chance to start your crash course of getting to know each other. ”
*
He did not want to get to know K.D. Hamilton.
What Eric Larkin wanted was a racquet in one hand, a ball suited to being pounded to bits in the other, and an opponent he didn’t much like.
Say, Cully Grainger.
His serve could damage sensitive body parts.
He wasn’t real happy with K.D. Hamilton, either.
If Deputy Hamilton had said no, Grainger would have had to withdraw his objections to Eric’s plan. Hiring an actress to play the role of his soon-to-be divorced wife made a hell of a lot more sense than this . He needed a woman as window-dressing to get him inside Marriage-Save. That’s all.
When Ellyn brought this effort up at Jessa’s store it seemed straightforward. Something he could get in, fix, get out.
Initially, he’d been relieved when Ellyn said Cully was leading this effort and Grif — Ellyn’s husband — was in the loop. He counted them as good friends. If he hadn’t, they wouldn’t have known his circumstances, much less have persuaded him to move to Wyoming.
After Ellyn took the lead at Jessa’s store in explaining the situation, they’d gone to Cully’s office, joined by Grif.
Ellyn presented concerns about Marriage-Save clearly and concisely. They thought someone there fed information to a local divorce lawyer, who used it to ensure the couple divorced and she represented — for a fat fee — the party who got the jump on the settlement.
If those concerns bore out, it was bad for the people who sought help, for Bardville, for Shakespeare County, or for the wider area.
“It’s too risky for any of us to try undercover nosing around because we’re too well known,” Ellyn said. “Specifically, we need someone whose marital status isn’t well known.”
“Since you’ve been a hermit most of the time you’ve been here,” Grif said to Eric, getting in a dig he’d made before, “you fit.”
That’s when Eric suggested an actress.
And then Cully went all stern law enforcement officer, insisting if Eric didn’t accept a professional, he’d pull the plug.
Had Cully been this pigheaded when they met?
Yeah, probably.
But Eric could have gotten around it. If K.D. Hamilton hadn’t backed Cully’s plan.
Eric glanced toward the woman in the passenger seat of his practical four-wheel drive.
Why did she have to look like this?
… a woman as window-dressing to get him inside … She’d dress up any window.
Especially those legs that occupied more than their share of her height.
But he focused on reading K.D. Hamilton’s expression the way he might someone he was deposing.
Strong, straight nose. Wide mouth in a slightly rounded face. He suspected her chestnut hair being drawn back in a severe knot at her nape was meant to offset that fullness. Sharp, high cheekbones. Eyes the aqua of an inlet in the Caribbean lit by sun.
From the moment K.D. Hamilton walked in, she took him apart, studied each piece, and put him back together with her eyes.
Not comfortable on the receiving end of that.
He glanced at K.D. Hamilton as he made one of the turns that would get them to Far Hills Ranch.
So far, they hadn’t said a word to each other.
*
The silence ended only when they’d turned onto the long ranch road that led past other houses to the main house of Far Hills Ranch — called the home ranch.
He eased off the gas, falling farther behind the vehicles they followed, so dust didn’t envelop them.
“Sheriff Grainger said it would be good for us to be seen together, but why wouldn’t they already know what your wife looks like.” K.D. had a habit of talking abruptly, without any throat-clearing or head-turning.
“No wife here. I was married five years, moved here after the divorce.”
She cut him a look. “I meant for the cover story we’re using for the investigation.”
“We — Cully and I — figured we’d say we were married in Illinois. When we separated, I came here. Going to Marriage-Save is a last-ditch effort at reconciliation.”
“You moved here — Wyoming — when?”
“A year ago. To Bardville.”
The quiet in the car hummed with her speculation. Or maybe that was the sound of her laser look burning into his profile.
“Sheriff Grainger knew you before you moved here,” she said.
“Why do you think that?”
“No one has that much unholy glee about someone else’s discomfort unless they’ve known them longer than a year.”
She was sharp. Not only in the general observation, but in picking up Cully’s delight — unholy glee — at Eric’s discomfort with twists in this situation.
“Yeah, we’ve known each other a while. He suggested I move here.”
At last, she stopped watching him, looking straight ahead through the windshield.
“If people know your real-life history of being divorced before you came here—”
“They don’t. Except a few. Grainger knows. His wife, Jessa. And Grif — that’s Ellyn’s husband. You’ll meet him soon. I don’t broadcast my private life.” That got another flick from her aqua eyes. Did he imagine a hint of approval?
“The only other one is my assistant. You’ll meet Pauline later. For general consumption, we’ll say we’ve been estranged for a while, giving it another try at Marriage-Save,” he said.
He pulled in next to Tal Bennett’s pickup in front of the large, white main house.
The two-story structure, with a wrap-around porch and broad, welcoming steps, was known as the touchstone for the extended family, as well as the hub for the extensive Far Hills Ranch operation.
As they started up the steps, the door swung open from inside.
Eric’s hand went to the vicinity of the small of K.D.’s back in an automatic gesture of escorting a woman up steps. He stopped the gesture short of contact, and started to let his hand drop.
In that instant what seemed like a flood of people jumped out at them.
“Welcome to Far Hills Ranch,” Ellyn said from amid the flood. “I made calls on the way so we could get started. We’ll need photos, menu, flowers— Rebecca, what do you think about a dress?”
Two other women Eric had met stood behind Ellyn in the doorway. Rebecca, with her long, dark hair, and Kendra, with the noticing eyes of her journalistic background.
K.D. rocked back in surprise, bringing her derriere into full contact with the palm of his hand, which had reached that level.
Perfect fit.
He cupped his palm. Slightly. An automatic reaction. He stopped immediately.
Almost immediately.
Certainly stopped before his libido wanted to.