Montana Desire

Chapter 26

Grant

I was nearly late to my own meeting. A cow got stuck in the road on the way from town, and when that happened, you were at the mercy of their temperament.

Mara was cleaning the kitchen when I walked into the main lodge. “Hey, Mara.”

She smiled, waving once. In the almost three years that Resting Warrior had existed, I’d heard her say maybe ten words. She was sweet and did her jobs around the ranch well. But I hoped that we could help her progress more.

I walked into the conference room and heard footsteps behind me.

The only person who walked in after me was Liam, and that was pretty much expected at this point. There wasn’t anything Liam wasn’t almost late for, except for missions. Which meant he was almost always late.

“Nice of you to join us,” Daniel said.

“Sorry. Cow in the road.”

Liam dropped into a chair. “Something that you’ll literally only hear in Montana.”

Noah sighed. “You know that’s not true.”

“No, but hyperbole is funny,” Liam shot back.

“Hyperbole might be,” Noah said with a grin. “But you’re not.”

Liam put his hand over his heart. “You wound me. How will I ever get the ladies if I’m not truly funny?”

“You’re getting the ladies now?” Jude asked. “News to me.”

Noah pointed. “See that? That was funny.”

Daniel chuckled and held up a hand. “All right, all right. This is Grant’s meeting. Let’s not spend the whole time trying to prove Liam needs to go buy a joke book.”

I smirked, hiding the laugh that was building in my chest. “Thank you.”

“So, what’s up?” Liam asked.

Everyone was looking at me now, and I was a little nervous. I hoped that they would be happy—sure that they would be—but this was still a big thing.

“I had a doctor’s appointment down in Missoula yesterday,” I said. “A surgeon, recommended by Dr. Peak.”

“Oh shit,” Lucas said. “Is everything okay?”

“Yes.” I nodded. “Very okay. She’s optimistic that she can remove the shrapnel on my spine.”

Universal cheering erupted. Liam was on his feet and hugging me, shortly before Noah did the same. “Congratulations, man.”

“It’s not without its risks.”

“Of course,” Daniel said. “What do you need us to know?”

I laid it all out for them. Everything about the placement of the shrapnel, the percentage of risks, and the fact that the sooner I did this, the higher chance that it wouldn’t have a lasting impact on my mobility.

“Well,” Liam said. “Kind of convenient that we’re a place that helps people after that sort of thing, huh?”

“Hopefully I’ll be able to recover at home,” I said with a laugh. “But yeah, it crossed my mind.”

Daniel cleared his throat. “I hate to have to ask this. But what if it goes wrong?”

He was right. It was something I needed to think about. What would I do? As much as I didn’t want to lose my legs, I wasn’t about to say that a life in a wheelchair wasn’t worth living. It would be an adjustment. But one I didn’t want to think about until I had to.

“I’ll deal with that if it happens,” I told him. “I don’t want to invite those kinds of thoughts at the moment.”

“Fair enough.”

“That’s all I wanted to say. I just wanted to tell everyone at the same time. I’ll keep you posted if I need anything with it.” They were all still smiling. “And I expect to see every single one of you at Cori’s surprise party tonight.”

Lucas grinned. “If I didn’t come, Evelyn would never let me hear the end of it. We’ll be there.”

Noah stood and nodded toward the side of the room. I joined him. “What’s up?”

He looked at me carefully. “Have you told Cori?”

“As soon as I got back from Missoula.”

“So she’s okay with this?”

I slid my hands into my pockets. “She’s more than okay with it. But I told her I wasn’t going to commit to anything until after the surgery.”

His eyebrows rose. “Why? Are you—”

“I’m so fucking gone,” I told him. “You never really know if a crush is what you think it is, but…everything is amazing,” I admitted. “I’m in love with her. But I’m not going to tell her that until I know if I’ll be able to walk on my own.”

“You shouldn’t hold that back, Grant,” Noah said. “Cori is an adult. She can make her own choices. And she deserves to have all the information when she makes those choices.”

I saw where he was coming from, but something still sat uncomfortably with me. I’d seen men who came back wounded. Partially paralyzed. Sometimes, it was fine. And sometimes, their relationships fell apart.

“I know,” I said. “But I have choices too. I want Cori to be my partner—maybe my wife—I don’t want her to be my caretaker.”

Noah looked at me for long moments. “All right. But if that’s something that she wants? To be a part of that journey with you? Don’t completely shut her out because it’s not what you think she needs.”

Not exactly what I wanted to hear, but something I probably needed to. That was the good thing about Noah. He cut straight to the heart of a matter and was willing to kick your ass if you weren’t seeing straight.

“Yeah,” I said. “Yeah, I’ll keep that in my head. Thank you.”

He smiled. “So, a surprise party?”

“Lena just told me about it. She kept it from me too. Probably didn’t think that I could actually keep the secret from Cori.”

“Was she wrong?”

“I can keep a secret,” I protested. “Asshole.”

He nodded. “Sure you can. Whatever you say.”

I punched him in the arm. “Anyway, her birthday isn’t for a couple of days, so this is the perfect time for a surprise because she won’t actually see it coming.”

“Better get there,” Noah said. “I’ll be right behind you.”

Hopefully there wouldn’t be a cow in the road on the way back to town.

Apparently, the party had been in the works for a while. Lena was brilliant at this sort of thing. If she ever decided to leave Garnet Bend for a bigger city, I had no doubt she could make a name for herself as both a force of nature in the baking business and event planning.

With her personality and talent, I wouldn’t be shocked if she ended up with her own TV show at some point.

I parked several blocks away from Deja Brew. We didn’t want Cori to think anything was up when she came over to the café. Some of the guys had already beaten me here.

The kitchen was decked out with decorations so there wouldn’t be any hints. A big green banner that read “Happy 30th!” was on the back wall, streamers hanging down. A giant cake sat on one of the worktables, along with an assortment of cupcakes and cookies and drinks. Everything you would expect if it were Lena Mitchell hosting a party.

“Good! You’re here!” Lena called when she saw me. “I wasn’t going to call until you were here. I’m having everyone in the kitchen.”

“How are you getting her over here?” I asked.

She smirked. “I’m going to pretend that a pipe burst and I need help.”

“Cruel.”

“Better than saying the building is on fire. Fire is something I would never joke about.” The deadness in her eyes with those words gave me pause. Jude too. He was watching her, though she couldn’t see that with him behind her.

Lena was a bright and shining star in the community. She helped everyone, loved everyone, and she took care of them when she could. But at some point, she was going to need someone to return the favor.

Of course I knew—everyone knew—who should be the one to return that favor. If the stubborn man would get his head out of his ass. But I couldn’t exactly judge. Jude had gone through hell and come back alive. It was frankly amazing that he was standing and walking around, let alone doing everything that he did now.

I just hoped he could let her in. Based on that look in her eyes, they both needed it. I didn’t doubt that look had everything to do with what had happened to her and Evelyn.

“Well, good,” I said with a smile, realizing I’d been silent too long. “I’m sure she’s going to love this.”

“Okay, everyone shut the hell up so I can make the call,” Lena called.

Evelyn was here, too. All the Resting Warrior guys. Jenna, Cori’s vet tech. Even Grace and Harlan, back from their honeymoon. Though you could see that in their heads, they were still on vacation.

“Oh my God,” Lena said into the phone. “Cori? I need help. You’re the first one I thought of in town who I could call.”

A pause.

“No, I’m fine, but a pipe burst in the kitchen, and there’s water everywhere. I’m calling everyone I know. Come as quickly as you can. Thanks!”

She hung up and grinned. “Now, we wait.”

“Can we get coffee while we wait?” Liam asked.

“Right there.”

A huge carafe of the stuff was sitting on the worktable.

“You know, as a former SEAL, you’re supposed to be more observant than that,” I told him.

He laughed. “This is Lena’s kitchen. I don’t know what I’m allowed to touch, and I’m really not interested in dying today.”

“That’s a smart choice,” Lena confirmed. “But you can help yourself to the coffee.”

She turned back to me. “How’s it going?”

“With Cori?”