Montana Desire

“Yeah.”

I raised one eyebrow. “I’m assuming she’s already told you plenty.”

“I want to hear it from you.”

Quickly, I glanced around to make sure we weren’t being eavesdropped on. I wasn’t ashamed of my feelings, or of Cori. In fact, I planned on kissing the hell out of her in front of all these people when she got here. But our business was still our business, and small-town gossip was a real thing.

“It’s going really well,” I said, not sure how to put it. Honesty was important, but I didn’t want Cori to hear what I wanted to say to her from anyone but me. “Cori is…very important to me.”

“Good. She should be.”

She glanced out the kitchen door. Garnet Bend was the epitome of a small town. It wouldn’t take Cori long to get here from our houses, and faster if she’d still been at the clinic when Lena called.

“She’s coming!” Lena said. “Quiet!”

The bell chimed over the outside door. “Lena?”

“Back here,” she called, grinning at all of us like the Cheshire cat.

“Are you okay? I hope nothing—”

“Surprise!” We all shouted at the top of our lungs.

Cori froze, looking at all of us, her face going through panic and fear to sudden understanding. I stepped forward, tugging her into a hug so she’d have a chance to recover without being watched. “Happy early birthday.”

“Thank you.” Her voice was quiet, but she sounded miserable. Down deep in my gut, my instincts told me that something was very wrong, and this wasn’t a place I could ask about it.