“No, I have a white Lexus, over in front of the house. At least I think it’s the house. The building with the porch and, yep, it’s a hitching rail.”
Amber whirled around.
Sure enough, Katie was emerging from a low-slung sports car, wearing a short, blue, clingy dress, high-heeled pumps, with her honey-blond hair in a jaunty updo. Her small bag was beaded, and she reminded Amber of how long it had been since she’d had a manicure or a facial.
Amber took a reflexive step away from Royce. “What are you
“I have to talk to you.”
“That’s what telephones are for.” A sudden fear gripped Amber. “There’s nobody with you, is there?” Like Hargrove or her parents.
“Relax,” said Katie as she picked her way along the edge of the baseball field. “Your secret is safe.” She grinned and gave Amber a wave.
Several dozen cowboys followed her progress.
“That’s Katie,” Amber told Royce.
“She does know how to make an entrance,” he muttered, watching as raptly as anyone else on the ranch.
Amber felt an unwelcome pinch of jealousy.
“Who’s that with you?” asked Katie as she drew ever closer.
“Royce Ryder.”
“Nice.”
Okay, jealousy was silly. Katie was an attractive woman, and Royce was an attractive man. They’d noticed. So what?
“Do you have any idea how far away this place is?” Katie called across the grass, folding her phone closed now that she was in shouting range.
“It’s Chicago that’s far away,” Royce countered. “Montana is right here.”
Katie grinned as she stepped up, holding out her perfect, magenta-tipped hand. “Katie Merrick. Creighton Waverley Security.” She shook, then opened her purse, dropped the phone inside and extracted a business card, handing it to Royce.
“I was about to call you,” said Royce.
“Well, isn’t that perfect,” Katie returned, glancing around the ranch yard. “Any chance they’re serving margaritas at this shindig?”
It was a slow walk back to the ranch house, where Sasha whipped up a blender of margaritas while Amber, Royce and Katie settled in on the deck. Gopher immediately jumped into Amber’s lap.
“You’ll want Alec Creighton’s help,” said Katie. She’d been all business while Royce had explained his plans for Ryder International.
“Your boss?” asked Royce as he poured the frozen green concoction into tall glasses.
“My boss’s son. He’s not with Creighton Waverley. He’s sort of a lone-wolf troubleshooter. We subcontract to him on occasion. I can give you a list of a hundred satisfied clients if you like.” Katie accepted the drink with a nod of thanks.
“How do I get hold of him?” Royce handed Amber a drink. She still couldn’t believe Katie had come all the way to Montana. And since they’d done nothing but discuss Ryder International business since she’d arrived, Amber couldn’t begin to guess
“I’ll get him to call you.” Katie took a sip of her drink. “He won’t take on a client without a referral.”
“Appreciate that,” said Royce with a salute of his drink.
Amber couldn’t keep quiet any longer, and her voice came out more demanding than she’d intended. “What are you doing here, Katie?”
Katie shrugged. “I missed you.”
It didn’t ring true. There was something in Katie’s eyes-guilt, maybe fear.
Amber was suspicious. “Did you tell my parents I was here?”
“I can’t believe you’d even ask me that. Can’t a girl visit her best friend?” Katie took another swig, smiling far too brightly. “Okay if I stay over tonight?”
Nine
Wrapped in a fluffy robe, Katie sat cross-legged on the end of Amber’s bed while Amber washed her face at the sink inside the en-suite bathroom door.
“Just how long are you planning to stay here?” Katie asked, her voice muffled by the gush of the running water.
“I haven’t decided,” Amber answered, dipping her face forward to rinse it, then blindly grabbing for a towel.
As the days went by, she thought less and less about going home. Oh, she knew she’d have to, and probably soon. But there simply wasn’t anything tugging her in that direction.
“You know the wedding shower’s coming up, right?”
Amber peeked out from behind the towel. “Nobody canceled it?”
“Nobody believed you were serious. There are people flying in from all over the country.”
Amber tossed the towel over the rack and paced back into the room. “They’re still putting on my wedding shower?”
Katie nodded, while Amber dropped down onto the bed.
“The shower cake’s gorgeous,” Katie offered.
“This is a disaster.”
Katie reached out to rub Amber’s arm. “You breaking it off with Hargrove was the disaster. The shower, the dress…” Her hand gripped on Amber’s shoulder. Then she abruptly stood up and crossed the room.
“I tried on your dress,” she blurted out, turning to brace her back against the bureau.
Amber blinked in surprise. “You did? How’d it look?”
“Gorgeous. Absolutely, stunningly gorgeous.”
“It’s too bad we’ll have to sell it,” said Amber. “I can’t see ever wearing it.”
Katie nodded, her eyes staring blankly into space. “Gorgeous. Really gorgeous.”
Amber pictured her friend twirling in front of the mirror. Katie always did have a romantic streak.
Suddenly, Katie clenched her fists, and her eyes scrunched shut. “Oooh, you have to promise me you won’t get mad.”
“Why would I get mad?” Truth was, Amber wondered if Katie had taken pictures while she modeled the dress. It might be interesting to see how it had turned out.
“I…did something,” Katie confessed in a harsh whisper.
“To the dress?”
Katie didn’t answer, but the color drained from her face.
“Did you spill something on it? Tear it?” Amber waited for an emotional reaction to her wedding dress being ruined, but it didn’t come.
Katie emphatically shook her head. “No. The dress is fine.”
“Then what are you so worried about?”
Katie picked up a china horse figurine from the top of the bureau, stroking her fingertip across its glossy surface. She looked at Amber then drew a breath.
“Katie?”
“He saw me in it.”
“Who saw you in what?”
“Hargrove. He saw me in the wedding dress.”
Amber didn’t exactly understand why that was a problem.
Katie set down the figurine, her words speeding up, hands clasping together. “After it was delivered, and I had it on and was prancing around my apartment, he knocked on the door. I didn’t know it was him. And, well, when I
