“You’re still in one piece,” Eric said, turning his attention back to the dinosaur. “It must have gone well.”
“They didn’t kick me out. Brody thought about it, but he heard me out.” Liam went to the fridge and helped himself to a bottle of water. He had a feeling Brody Summers’s reaction had more to do with the fact that he’d walked Katie home. “They said I’d have the rest of their financials tomorrow.”
“I’ll take a look at the numbers with you, but I have a feeling our starting offer will be low. I like those guys, but I don’t want to overpay.” Eric secured the dinosaur leg and handed the completed model to his nephew. “All done, buddy.”
“Did you see Katie?” Georgia asked.
“I did.” Liam leaned back against the counter.
“She told you about her potential job? The one in Montana?” Georgia stirred the pot on the stove.
Liam straightened, his hand tightening around the bottle. “No.”
“A horse rescue wants to hire her. But get this. The owner is leaving for six months, maybe longer, to care for her son. He was recently diagnosed with cancer, which is awful. But Katie would be running the place while the owner was away. She’d basically have her own sanctuary.”
“That’s great.” Liam tried to sound genuine, but the idea of Katie leaving unsettled him, more than he wanted to let on. “But I’m sorry you’ll lose your friend and maid of honor.”
“They haven’t offered her the job yet. She still needs to do a phone interview. But she’ll get the position. When she accepts, I will make her promise to return for the wedding,” Georgia said. “I’ll miss her, but Katie has been counting down the days until she can focus on doing what she loves. And I get the feeling she is ready to leave the watchful eyes of her older brothers.”
“Big brothers can be a pain in the—”
“Language,” Georgia warned him, waving her wooden spoon at the little boy playing with his dinosaur.
“Sorry.” Liam crossed to the stove and gave his sister a quick kiss on the cheek. “I should get going. Long day. Eric, I’ll see you at the office.”
In the driveway, Liam sat on his bike, engine off, staring out at the mountains. The land he’d bought and planned to build on one day had a similar view. But somewhere between her broken-down car and the long walk to the barn cradling her goat, he’d realized that he couldn’t shake the memory of Katie. He’d never forget her. Worse—he’d never stop wanting her. And this time he needed more than stolen moments in parking lots.
But he couldn’t go after her now. Not with the deal undone. But if he didn’t act soon, she would leave.
“Freaking Montana,” he muttered, closing his eyes, blocking out the view. His road to success suddenly felt like it might take a detour to failure.
Liam opened his eyes and focused on his bike, revving the engine. He couldn’t afford to make a wrong turn and end up like his dad. Still, something inside him refused to accept the thought of Katie walking out of his life.
TWENTY-FOUR HOURS LATER, Liam stood in the gas station waiting for the attendant to fill up the fifty-gallon drum he kept in the back of his truck. It was there just in case his crew ran out of gas to run the chainsaws out in the forest. Today had been one of those days. But shit, it was Monday, which probably explained why anything that could go wrong on a job site had gone wrong.
Hands on his hips, he hoped the attendant would hurry up. Liam had been working since before dawn and his body ached from head to toe. He needed a shower and then bed. But first he had to review the financials Brody had dropped off that morning and send Eric his thoughts on a starting offer.
Shaking his head, Liam turned and headed for the station to pick up a coffee. He needed something to keep him up tonight and—
“Liam!”
The familiar voice that up until, oh, now, only screamed his name in his dreams, called for him a second time. He glanced over his shoulder and spotted Katie. She’d traded her short skirt for jeans and a T-shirt, but with her red curls flowing over her shoulders and her determined walk, she looked pretty damn enticing.
He smiled as he ran a hand through his dirty hair even though nothing short of a shower would make it presentable. “Hey, how are the goats?”
“Fine.” She stopped an arm’s length away. “But they were as surprised as I was to learn we hiked through the woods and you never bothered to mention that you were looking at buying my family’s trucking company.”
He raised an eyebrow. “You talk business with your livestock?”
“When it concerns how I’m planning to earn money to buy their grain, yes.”
“Fair point.” Liam stared into her green eyes, shinning bright. Right now, he was too damn tired for this conversation. And he had a feeling the Independence Falls gas station wasn’t the place. “But it didn’t come up.”
Her eyes widened. “Didn?
?t come up? Seriously? That’s your excuse?”
He drew a deep breath. “Look, Katie, at the time, getting you home safe seemed more important than a deal that may or may not happen.”