Read Online Last Year's Bride (Montana Born Brides) by Anne McAllister - Free Book Online

was the anti-Sam. He sighed, then leaned back in his chair and waited, his hands firmly anchored on the coffee mug. His grandmother brought her cup over to the table, put a plate of fresh baked cookies down and shoved it in his direction. Cole took two.
    At last Sadie spun into a chair and looked at him, rosy-cheeked and beaming. “It’s like this,” she said. “You remember the Valentine’s Ball?”
    Cole nodded. He was still doing his best to forget it.
    “Well, there was a TV production company here that weekend, looking for a place to shoot a couple of episodes of a reality TV show. That girl you dated a couple of years ago—Nell?—she works for them. And she or her boss or somebody heard about the Wedding Giveaway and they thought it would be cool to use a local ranch as a setting for their own wedding couples on The Compatibility Game .” Her smile widened.
    Cole ’s fingers tightened on the mug.
    “ They contacted the paper and got the names of local ranches. I was there writing ads when Mrs Akers took the call. She gave them some names—and I gave them ours!”
    Cole was hanging onto the mug for dear life.
    “They came out the day after the ball. You and Dad missed them. You were with Mr McKay looking at cattle down by Ennis. Gran and I showed them around. Gave them a tour. Showed them the bunkhouse—”
    “ The bunkhouse?” Cole sputtered. “Nobody’s slept in the bunkhouse since Clint and I were kids!”
    “ Well, there’s nothing wrong with it that a coat of paint and some mattresses won’t fix,” Sadie the optimist said stoutly. “They can bring their own sleeping bags. Besides, it’s just for the guys. The girls are going to stay in the house.”
    “ The hell you say!”
    “ Swearing, Cole,” Gran murmured mildly into her coffee mug.
    “ Dad’s not agreeing to this.” He couldn’t imagine Sam doing anything of the sort.
    Sadie shrugged. “Yes, he is.” And at Cole’s incredulous look, she added, “You know Dad—he trusts me.” She gave Cole a guileless smile that turned mischievous at the last second. “And it could have had something to do with Jane.”
    “ Jane?” Cole stared at her. “Who’s Jane?”
    “ The new Chamber of Commerce woman. That Jane. When they were really interested, I said maybe she should talk to him, too. So she did.”
    Cole felt as if his head was coming off. His father had listened —and agreed—to something mighty Jane Weiss had said?
    He ’d always known she was a force. Troy wouldn’t have encouraged her to come to Marietta to put the town on the map if she hadn’t been. But she must sure as hell be persuasive if Sam was doing what she wanted.
    Cole let out a pent-up breath, then realized he ’d been sidetracked by the Jane and Sam subplot. “What guys are staying here?” he demanded. “What girls?”
    “ The contestants,” Sadie said. “There are four couples. They get challenges and they have to be able to meet them. The guys will do some stuff. You know, mend a fence, deliver a calf—”
    Cole was agog. He shook his head to clear it. “Whose calf?”
    “ Well, how would I know?” Sadie said, giving him a blank look. “Whichever cow goes into labor when they’re here, I assume.”
    Cole shut his eyes. His mind spun.
    “ It’s not a big deal,” Sadie said. “You don’t have to do anything much. Well, maybe show them the ropes. Teach them a bit. I think it’ll be fun!”
    Cole thought it would be a disaster. And Nell had something to do with it? He knew she’d come to look for a place for her show. He had never in a million years imagined their ranch was on the list. Christ, most of the ranches in the valley had more to recommend them than the Rafter M Arrow. He said so now.
    “ You’d think, wouldn’t you?” Sadie munched a cookie happily. “But the boss, Grant, said that he liked ours because it was authentic. Genuine. It wasn’t a Hollywood star’s hideaway.”
    No, it wasn ’t that. Cole was still appalled,