Read Online Sleepless in Montana by Cait London - Free Book Online Page B

in his kitchen, his morning
chores already done. Maxi was busy preparing his six-thirty
breakfast. A branch from the old maple tree outside scratched on
the kitchen window as he drank coffee and Ben slid into his
unsettled emotions. He knew his sons would come—to keep Carley
safe.
    He was ashamed of the house and land, the way
he’d let it go. But when Dinah had called, he’d offered it and his
life gladly. Her voice had quivered, coming across the telephone
lines, telling how much she feared for Carley.
    Ben’s quick proud smile startled him as he
saw his reflection in the window’s glass and he stared down at his
coffee. That girl was a Kodiak all right. His daughter wasn’t
letting a stalker run her away from her work. At first he’d hated
the idea of faking a terminal illness, of seeing the pain in his
daughter’s eyes, but then the thought of his family all together
under one roof had tempered the blow to his pride. He needed that,
he realized, all his children together, under his roof.
    Hell, that roof might blow off with the
tempers flying around— his mostly— because he was feeling ashamed
he hadn’t done better. Ashamed that he’d had to sell off part of
the land, that ended in Hogan’s fist.
    Hell, he should have given that land to the
boy, but he’d needed the money, and Hogan—well, Hogan needed
something more....
    And it took Jemma to stir the brew, to keep
Carley safe on Kodiak land by Kodiak men. Jemma to nudge Hogan’s
impassive shields until that glitter came into his eyes. She could
be hell or heaven to the man who got her for keeps. But he’d have
to be a fast mover, Ben decided, and one that could hold her fast
from her shadows.
    Jemma was shrewd and unafraid; Ben liked and
respected her.
    He ran his hand over his chest, the faded
flannel shirt covering the gold wedding ring he always wore on a
chain. Dinah, his wife— the mother of his children— was coming back
to him. He’d always loved her, from the first time he saw her on
that Seattle street corner— a classy, well-dressed blond, not a
hair out of place, as she hurried to pick up her groceries, dropped
on the sidewalk.
    He’d stopped to help her, and his heart had
stayed for a lifetime. He’d wanted her to marry again, but it had
hurt when she did. Still, he was glad that someone else could give
her tenderness, financial stability, and a whole body.
    Ben gripped his thigh, the part of his leg
that belonged to him, and damned the rest, the prosthesis. Dinah
had been the bright flower of his life— in his heart, where she’d
always be. She’d added to his joy and pride in Hogan by giving him
two more fine children, Carley and Aaron. She’d brought happiness
into the old house that his father had built and ruled with that
iron fist.
    Ben took a deep breath and stared out into
the wide Montana blue sky.
    He had too much of his father, old Aaron, in
him. He didn’t know how to tell Hogan how he felt. He hadn’t told
Dinah, either, except with his body. Then, after the accident, he
couldn’t bear for her to see him— less than he was.
    Lovemaking was impossible; not a whole man
any longer, he’d feared how she would look when she saw him that
first time. A strong man, he couldn’t bear his woman’s distaste or
discomfort, and so he had forced her away.
    He’d forced away a soft, tender part of his
heart, and now she was coming back.
    Ben looked at the shabby kitchen that Maxi
kept clean, the old appliances barely working, the rugs worn and
the furniture battered.
    The old house was too quiet after the boys
left, one by one. Hogan had been the first, soaring off in that
beat-up old pickup.
    Ben slapped his open hand on the table,
jarring his coffee mug. Something had happened that summer,
eighteen years ago, and his children weren’t talking. They’d locked
some dark secret inside them, and they didn’t trust him enough to
share it. Carley was at the focus of that night, and she’d become a
shadow of the woman she