Sweet Montana Christmas Read online

  Why the hell had he kissed her? It was a great kiss, far better than she’d ever had with Reed.

  But other than a need to dump her ex, what did it mean? The man was a total stranger. She didn’t go around kissing people she didn’t know.

  What if she got to know him better? Could she get another kiss then?

  Her headache increased its pounding.

  Get a grip, Devereaux.

  Time to push all complications with the male gender out of her life. There was time for that later. Forget the strange airport guy. Dump her boyfriend’s ass. After she got the key to her car back. And the one to her apartment. What had she been thinking when she gave them to him?

  She pulled onto the highway, the shortest route between the airport and the University District where she shared an apartment with her pug, Sugar, and her friends.

  Luck was with her. A parking place was open only a block from the old brick building that contained their apartment. Shivering in the deepening chill, she hauled her wheeled suitcase and one of the shopping bags from the trunk and started down the snowy pathway. The rest could wait until she moved into her new place. Around her, Christmas lights and wreaths still decorated the houses. Missoulians were reluctant to let the holidays give way to the icy grip of three solid months of serious winter.

  Although she tried to control the clunking of her suitcase wheels, the thunk echoed through the stairway as she climbed to the second floor, each thud increasing the throbbing in her head. Excited barking let her know Sugar was waiting for her.

  The other tenants in the building would probably cheer her departure.

  As soon as she opened the door, her pug jumped up and down, like a toy on a spring.

  “Shh, Sugar, it’s okay. Mommy’s home.” She closed the door behind her and picked up the squirming animal, which immediately set about cleaning Sue Anne’s face.

  Pure loving in an eighteen-pound package. Sugar would be more than enough for the next six months.

  “I’m glad you’re here,” Julie, one of her roommates, said, coming into the living room from the small galley kitchen in the rear. The petite woman held two glasses of white wine in her hands. “That dog has been driving me nuts. Good trip?”

  “Yes. I’m glad to get out of Seattle’s constant rain, but it’s good to see my grandmother.” She slipped off her coat and hung it on one of the brass coat hooks before grabbing a couple aspirin from a bottle she kept in her purse and downing them with wine. “The others still in California?”

  “They’ll be home Sunday.”

  “Good, just in time to help me move.” The crisp chardonnay stimulated her taste buds, reminding her of the touch of Zach’s lips on hers. What had possessed him to kiss her? And for her to respond?

  No matter. They’d never see each other again. Just a fleeting moment between strangers.

  “You look like you’ve already left,” Julie said as she settled back into the second-hand couch. “I’ve got sauce on for spaghetti. Figured you wouldn’t want to go out for dinner after a long trip.”

  “Thank you. That was sweet of you.” Maybe food would help the headache go away. Or maybe it was tension. “You’re right. I don’t want to go out, and I’m saving every penny I have for the business.”

  “No regrets?”

  “I sign the papers on Monday.” Sue Anne glanced at Julie. “How about you? You still up for my crazy business idea?” She was counting on her friend’s sweet shop experience to make the opening smoother.

  “Of course I am. We’re going to make Sweets Montana a big success!” They high-fived each other.

  The warmth from the wine and shared enthusiasm thawed the chill that had settled into her bones once she’d left the airport.

  “Say, did you know Reed borrowed my car?” she asked.

  “Uh, yeah.” Julie’s cheeks pinkened.

  Odd. The pounding that had started to subside took a turn for the worse.

  “Why did he call you? I had my cell phone. He knows the number.”

  “Um. I ran into him at the Kettlehouse.” Julie’s gaze shifted away.

  “What were you doing at the Kettlehouse? I thought you didn’t like beer.”

  “I normally don’t, but someone suggested I try theirs. It wasn’t bad. I had a fun time.” Defensiveness underlay her voice.

  “Someone?” Sue Anne asked.

  “Well, Reed, actually. He mentioned it when he was here Tuesday asking when you’d be home.”

  Sugar jumped on the couch and snuggled next to Sue Anne, as if the dog sensed her unease with the conversation. Why was Julie being so evasive, like she had something to hide? Why had Reed been there on Tuesday? She looked at her friend expectantly.

  “He stopped by to drop off some brochure samples he said you’d asked him to make up.” Julie’s gaze finally returned to hers.

  A flash of concern increased her pulse. She’d told Reed she wasn’t ready for brochures yet. Another example of his disregard of her feelings. But what was he doing with Julie?

  Her distrust of her soon-to-be-ex boyfriend grew another notch.

  “What did he say about my car?”

  “He said he had the key and you wouldn’t mind if he borrowed it. He told me he’d leave it in the same spot,” Julie replied.

  “He didn’t even leave it in the same lot!” She stood and strode to the kitchen to refill her wine glass. The man had to go.

  “He made me look like a fool.” Sue Anne leaned against the kitchen doorjamb. “I had to get one of the security guys to help me find the car.” She’d think about the touch of Zach’s lips on hers later.

  When she was in bed.

  Alone.

  She forced her attention back to Julie.

  “I’m sorry. If I’d thought he’d do that, I would have told you,” Julie said.

  “He should have told me.”

  “Uh-huh. Really, Sue Anne, I’m sorry.” Julie drooped like a stringless puppet.

  Crap. She didn’t want to hurt her friend. Reed was an excellent manipulator. He’d gotten what he wanted from Julie, just like he had with Sue Anne.

  Why had she put up with him so long?

  Inertia. She had a bad habit of ignoring things she didn’t want to face. But that was a habit she was going to break first thing in the morning.

  “Don’t worry about it,” she said. “Everything’s fine. Really. Besides, that sauce smells fabulous. Let’s eat.”

  Julie smiled up at her, and the ache in Sue Anne’s shoulders subsided. With everything she owned riding on her business, she needed everything okay between her and her best friend.

  • • •

  The temperature had dipped to the teens the night before, leaving a lasting bite to the air, but Sue Anne’s body tingled with the heat of anticipation as she stood in front of the one-story structure, the key heavy in her hand. She’d signed the pile of financial papers with restless anticipation, eager to get on with the future.

  She climbed onto the wooden porch. It would need staining come springtime, but it would be a darling place for a pair of wrought-iron tables and chairs. Maybe she could coax wisteria to climb the posts that held the overhang.

  Taking a deep breath, she unlocked the door to the storefront, walked inside, flicked on the light, and peered into the corners.

  Nothing scurried away from the brightness.

  Good.

  Letting out a sigh of relief, she scanned the room. The previous owners had left the glass-fronted display cases, and there were sets of shelves along both walls. Behind the cases, a counter provided space for wrapping goods and making change.

  She’d need to get wireless in here, both for credit card transactions and for customers. Wi-Fi made them linger for another cup of hot chocolate or a selection of fudge to take home.

  Her insides shivered with excitement. It was really hers.

  Well, hers and the bank’s. Her late father’s trust fund had provided the down payment, but she’d taken out a loan to leave
something for the inevitable costs of setting up a business.

  She ran a finger across the top of one of the display cases.

  First expense: Pay the cleaning crew she’d hired.

  She walked down the hallway that led to the back half of the building, a cozy one-bedroom apartment. A second locked door separated the business from the living quarters.

  Tiny. But she didn’t have to share it with anyone else.

  The jewel was a back porch and postage-stamp lawn with a sturdy chain-link fence. No more dragging Sugar down a flight of stairs to do her business.

  It would do.

  Sue Anne leaned against a porch rail and looked around her new neighborhood. It was a mixed area, predominantly businesses, with a few upstairs apartments and small houses. A quick walk down the block and over the Clark Fork River Bridge gave her access to downtown, and the river walk was only a few blocks away.

  It would more than do.

  She touched her lips, swearing she could still feel the imprint of Zach’s kiss on them. It was silly, really. She was too old to be that into a guy she’d met only once, even if that one time had been memorable.

  She grinned. Would he ever look at lima beans the same way?

  “Hello?” Julie’s voice echoed through the empty building.

  “Back here.”

  Julie’s footsteps were accompanied by the click of Sugar’s claws on the wooden floors. Once she caught sight of her, the tap-tap-taps came more rapidly. Julie let the leash go, and the pug scampered to her and begged to be picked up.

  Sue Anne complied.

  “This is your new home, baby. You’re going to like it so much.”

  “We’re going to miss her.” Julie scratched the dog’s head.

  “You won’t miss the barking or whining to go out.”

  “Well, that’s true.”

  Julie looked around the space. “Needs some work.”

  “Yeah. But the front comes first. We’ve got five weeks to be up and running. I’ve got the cleaners coming in tomorrow.”

  “Good thing. The whole inside needs it. Looks like no one’s taken a scrub brush to the place since the last century.”

  “That’s for sure.” Sue Anne laughed and put Sugar down. “When’s the order for the kitchen equipment coming in?”

  “Wednesday.”

  “Same day I’m moving in.” Sue Anne idly opened a closet door. “Darn. I thought the last owners took everything with them.” She pulled out the box that sat on the floor.

  “What’s in it?”

  “Looks like Christmas ornaments.” She held up a tray of glass bulbs, the kind her mother had hung on the tree when her father was alive.

  “They’re so pretty! Next year, you can have a Christmas tree in the front window.”

  “Yeah.” She could almost feel her father’s arms around her as he grabbed her up. As soon as she’d see him, she’d run to him as fast as her legs could go. Other than her birthday, the holidays had been the one time she could guarantee her father would be home from whatever far-flung engineering project kept him occupied in a distant country for most of the year.

  Until he died in an explosion when she was twelve.

  Then her mother had put away the glass bulbs and purchased a flocked artificial tree with preinstalled lights and bulbs. The thing had even twirled on its stand.

  Sue Anne would figure out how to embrace the holidays next year. It was time to make her own Christmas, even if the only gifts under the tree were things she got for herself and Sugar.

  Shoving the memories and the ornaments into the closet, she stood and brushed off her jeans. “Let’s go back out front. I’d like to know what you think about the arrangement and if there’s anything else you think we’ll need.”

  The next few hours passed quickly as the friends made lists, discussed sales strategies, and determined how to supplement their own chocolate-making efforts. The tiny kitchen behind the counters was just big enough for their needs, although it was another room that needed a thorough cleaning.

  “I don’t know how they ran a bakery in here,” Julie said. “It’s so cramped.”

  “Maybe they were small people. You know, child bakers. They probably had a bunch of Easy Bake Ovens stacked in there.” She rubbed her finger across a counter, and it came up dirty. “They probably had a disgruntled Scottish brownie for cleaning. They’d stopped leaving gifts ... or maybe the brownie didn’t like Easy Bake Oven cookies...”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Scottish brownies. You know ... house fairies.”

  “Uh-huh.” Julie cocked her head in the same way she always did when Sue Anne’s ramblings took the conversation in unexpected directions.

  “You know I can’t help myself. My mind has this little weird track.” Like talking about lima beans.

  “Thank goodness we’re not planning on baking anything.”

  “For now,” Sue Anne said, surveying the logistics of the small space. Julie was right. Baking anything in this kitchen would be a challenge. “I’ll keep the office in my place—carve out a section of the living room. There’s no real room for it up here.”

  “You could use part of the storage closet.”

  “Don’t think so.” Shivers shook her upper body. Small, dark spaces gave her the creeps, but it would be good to have some type of office close at hand to the store.

  Another thing to figure out later. “Ready for lunch?”

  “Yep.”

  Sue Anne locked the front door behind them, the pride of ownership grasping her once again. From the other side of the door, Sugar whined her dissatisfaction with the arrangement.

  “Shh,” Sue Anne said. “We’ll be back soon.”

  “You look happy,” Julie said as they walked toward the new sandwich shop on Higgins.

  “I am. This is a dream come true.” Sue Anne grabbed Julie’s arm. “Don’t you feel it, too? We’re on the cusp of possibility.”

  “Cusp of possibility?”

  “Yeah. I read it in a book somewhere. Been waiting days to slam it into a conversation.” Sue Anne giggled. “I’m giddy. It still seems unreal to me.”

  “I get that. I’m excited, too. We’re going to be the best chocolate shop in Missoula.” She flung her arms. “In all of Montana!”

  “Every small grocery in every small town is going to feature Sweets Montana chocolates!” Sue Anne skipped a few feet. “Then when we’ve conquered this state, we’ll move on to others.”

  “Careful, you’ll slip.”

  Even as Julie said the words, Sue Anne felt the slick ice beneath her. Arms whirling, she tried to stay upright but failed. With a thump, she landed in a nearby snowbank, smacking her butt onto well-packed slush.

  “Ouch.”

  “That must have hurt,” said a familiar male voice.

  She looked up a pair of well-fitting jeans, topped by a heavy leather jacket, to a square-jawed face crinkled in a smile that went all the way to his pine-needle-green eyes. Out of uniform, it took her a second to recognize him.

  Zach.

  “Let me help you up,” he said, offering her a hand.

  She grabbed it and propelled herself up.

  Her forward momentum carried her inches too far, and she found herself pressed against his chest.

  His face twitched in the same way it had the moment before he’d kissed her.

  Her pulse raced. Time to get in control of the situation.

  “Uh. Thanks. What are y’all doing here?” she asked, her southern accent growing stronger.

  Why did this man make her mind as mushy as spring snow?

  “I was looking for you, actually.”

  “Why?”

  “You left something in the patrol car the other day.” He handed her a lipstick. “At least I assume it’s yours.”

  “Not your shade?”

  “Huh? Oh. I see. Funny.” He didn’t look like he got the humor.

  This guy needed a serious joy of life makeover. S
he examined the tube. Sure looked like one of hers.

  “Thanks for the effort.”

  “Hi, I’m Julie, Sue Anne’s friend.” Julie thrust her hand at Zach. “We were going for lunch. Want to join us?”

  No. No. No. She mentally pushed the word at Julie. The last thing she wanted was any more face time with the good-looking cop. At least this time, he didn’t have on a uniform.

  But he was still damned attractive.

  Zach seemed to consider the idea for a few moments, then shook his head. “It’s my last day off before my next rotation. I’ve got a bunch of errands to do.” His gaze focused on her, tempting her with memories of a shared moment. “But I still have your card. I’ll be by in February to taste some chocolate.”

  February was eons away.

  “Come next week. We’ll be experimenting. It would be nice to have a test subject.”

  Next week? What was she thinking?

  “Is it dangerous? Being a test subject, I mean?” False concern crinkled his eyebrows.

  Maybe there was hope for his humor after all.

  “Not as much as some other activities I can think of.” Good God, was she flirting with him?

  “That’s a relief. I’ll be by.” His smile promised he’d sample more than one kind of sweetness. He held out a hand to Julie. “Nice to meet you.”

  Sue Anne watched him saunter down the street. Then she let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding.

  “Damn. That’s one hunk of man,” Julie said. “And you, my friend, have it bad. Where did you find that fine specimen?”

  “He helped me find my car at the airport last week. After Reed moved it.”

  The nice officer not only found my car, he kissed me.

  She didn’t mention that part to her friend.

  Chapter 3

  Zach stared at the card in his hand. This woman had kissable lips; he’d already proven that. But they had nothing else in common.

  Okay, he liked chocolate.

  Which was why he was standing in front of Sue Anne’s chocolate shop—or soon-to-be chocolate shop. It didn’t look like anyone was here.

  Just as well. This had been a bad idea anyway.