The Reluctant Bride (Montana Born Brides) by Katherine Garbera Page B

everyone else in Marietta.
    Lane hadn ’t been in Vegas when she and Monty had first got engaged. He turned to her with a very hard look. “You sure this time?”
    She flushed, but linked her hand to Monty ’s lacing their fingers together. She didn’t blame Lane. He knew that she’d run away and it was obvious that he and Monty were good friends.
    “ Yes, I am sure,” she said.
    “ Glad to hear it,” Lane said, reaching over to pull her into a rough sort of hug. “Welcome to the tribe.”
    “ The tribe?” she asked.
    “ That’s what our group of Marines calls ourselves,” Monty said. “You know, Tony and Della. Then there’s Lane, Pete and Mac. Just our little squad.”
    His family, she thought. Not blood relations, but the guys that he really counted on. She wanted to be a part of that inner circle and realized that, unlike Lane, the rest of Monty’s tribe might not accept her so easily. She knew she’d have to do something to prove herself to them.
    Hell, she had to prove herself to herself. That would be the hardest thing to do. But the last three weeks apart from Monty had convinced her that she did want him in her life. It had been so different when he hadn’t known where she was.
    She ’d been in that limbo of grief for her parents, and loss of him, and it had been a sort of safe cocoon. But once he’d come back into her life, she’d started to feel again, stopped hiding from what had been happening and had finally decided to start living again.
    And now she felt a little bit better about saying yes to Monty. Getting married had been her next goal. Getting married to Monty…well, it still made her a little shaky. In fact, as soon as they sat back down in the booth, she took the ring off her finger, turned it around and put it back on.
    She had a tiny knot of fear in the pit of her stomach. Because she knew what came next. It was the next part that seemed to be the root of all of her trepidation. She had to pick out a dress without her mom. She had to design flowers—well, that wasn’t going to be a problem. Designing her wedding bouquet was the one thing she would have done on her own if her parents were still here.
    “ You okay?”
    She nodded. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
    “ You look pale and like you are having second thoughts. If you run out on me again, I’m not coming after you.”
    She knew that. She wasn’t going to run. But even as she reassured herself, she felt waves of panic rolling over her.
    “ I wouldn’t blame you at all. I don’t want to run, Monty. I missed you way more than I expected these last few weeks.”
    “ Good. I wasn’t sure my plan was working when you gave me back the ring, but I should have known it would. I’m good at strategy.”
    Strategy. She wondered if he was still playing a game with her. If he’d taken her back just to do what she’d done to him. Except that this was Monty, and what? She knew him a bit better this time, but there was still so much she didn’t know about him.
    “ Where is your family from?”
    “ California. My dad lives in San Diego in a retirement community now.”
    “ Should I meet him?”
    “ You can. He’s got Alzheimer’s disease so he might not remember me. Do you have the time to take a few days off and go meet him?”
    His life was complicated. She hadn’t realized all the things he had going on, and a father who sometimes couldn’t remember him had to be hard. She thought about the fear in the pit of her stomach and it eased the tiniest bit as she thought of standing by Monty’s side as his wife. Being the one person in the world he had, as he would be for her.

     
     

Chapter Ten

     
    He walked her home and then made love to her, and he held her in his arms, hoping that this time he’d be able to keep her.
    But the one thing that his life had taught him was that the tighter he held someone to him, the more they slipped away. His mom had left when he was younger, but that had been due to his dad’s