***
John wasn’t sure when he’d started to enjoy himself. He was sitting beside Rachel, listening to the light-hearted banter bouncing around the table. Over the last hour they’d been joined by other friends, filling the patio with a buzz of laughter and happy conversation.
He’d met Tess and Sally not long after Charlie had lit the fire in the big stone fireplace. They were part of The Bridesmaids Club and Rachel’s friends. Dylan had been right—when Rachel and her friends got together, no one was safe. Their funny stories and good-natured ribbing brought a smile to everyone’s faces, including his.
He leaned across the old wooden table and picked up another slice of pizza.
Rachel watched him as he bit into layers of beef, salami, bacon, and mozzarella cheese.
He swallowed what he was eating and frowned. “Have I got sauce on my face?”
She smiled and shook her head. “I didn’t think you’d eat pizza.”
“Why not?”
She shrugged her shoulders. “You’ll think I’m crazy.”
He’d learned a lot about Rachel over the last hour. She was impulsive, easily excited, compulsively happy, and able to be part of two conversations at once. There wasn’t any room for craziness in her brain.
“Try me.”
She looked at the pizza, then back at him. She leaned in close and her blond hair brushed against his arm. “You’re rich,” she whispered. “I thought you’d have a housekeeper making you healthy meals.”
John grinned. Rachel wasn’t joking. She honestly thought that he wouldn’t eat the same food as everyone else. He’d never been particularly worried about what other people thought of his life, but for some reason, Rachel’s opinion made him laugh. “Everyone likes pizza.”
Annie, the bride-to-be, pointed at her plate. “Everyone that’s not getting married likes pizza. I feel like I’ve turned into a rabbit.”
Rachel had told him that Annie was on a strict diet. No amount of tempting could make her eat one spare rib or anything dripping with cheese. John had no idea why Annie was starving herself, but he’d never been very good at second-guessing the way a female brain worked.
A waitress brought out more plates of hot, spicy food, drawing a groan from Annie.
Rachel passed her the salad dressing. “This might make your dinner taste better.”
Annie took the bottle out of her hand. “As long as I fit into my wedding dress, I’ll be happy.”
As the conversation randomly moved from one thing to the next, John relaxed, laughing more than he had in a long time. It felt good to be sitting with a group of adults who wanted nothing more from him than his company.
“I still don’t know why your mom didn’t like the peppermint creams,” Sally said to Dylan. “It doesn’t make sense.”
“Nothing about my mom makes sense,” Dylan said with a smile. “I love her, but she changes her mind about everything. One year we were driving to Denver for a vacation. Halfway there, she changed her mind and we ended up in Texas.”
“Did you have a good time?” Molly asked.
Dylan nodded. “My mom might change her mind, but she’s fun to be around.”
“That must make up for her spontaneous nature. What about you, John? Do you have any childhood vacation tales to share with us?”
He looked at Molly and took her question at face value. “We didn’t go on many vacations. My parents preferred to stay at home on their ranch.”
Rachel looked at him. “Are you from Montana?”
“I spent the first eighteen years of my life here.”
“And then?”
John picked up his pizza. “And then I joined the military.”
She watched him finish his slice of pizza. Dylan asked him a question and everyone joined in with their opinion about the latest scandal to hit the streets of Bozeman.
Rachel leaned toward him. “You don’t like talking about yourself, do you?”
“It’s easier not to.” He’d learned the hard way not to speak about where he’d come from and what he did. There were lots of reasons why being a billionaire was great. There were other, less obvious ones, why it wasn’t.
He’d been in enough situations to tell him when to be careful. And for some reason, his internal radar was telling him to slow down and watch what he said. “You don’t freelance as a reporter, do you?”
She shook her head. “No. I leave that up to Logan.”
Logan was married to Tess, one of Rachel’s friends. John had met him not long after he’d moved back to Bozeman. He was a reporter for the Bozeman Chronicle and a former war correspondent.
When John relocated Fletcher Security’s head office to Montana it had created a ripple on the information highway. Half the folks of Bozeman wanted to know all about the man who’d transformed the old flour mill into a security company. The other half couldn’t care less.
Their first meeting had gone better than he’d expected. They’d come to an understanding, trading information like a game of poker. Logan wanted to know what he was doing and why he was doing it. John wanted to promote his company, not himself. The stories Logan wrote were focused on the public face of John’s business and the jobs he was creating. The rest was left alone, filed away for another time.
John hoped that once people got used to seeing him around town, no one would care what he did. On the whole, keeping a low profile had helped keep him invisible, and he wanted it to stay that way.
Rachel nudged his elbow. “Well?”
“Well, what?”
“What happened after you joined the military?”
“I was stationed overseas for a while. I came back to the States six years ago and started Fletcher Security. I built my business from nothing into what it is today.”
“So you’re just another country boy turned billionaire success story?” She looked impressively underwhelmed by the sketchy story he’d given her.
“You could say that. Although the billionaire part is fairly new.”
“It must take time to get used to having so much money?”
He looked closely at her. “Not as long as you might think. Most of my profits are reinvested straight back into my business.”
“So no gold encrusted chandeliers or jets whisking you away for luxurious vacations?”
Before he could answer her question, Molly gently banged her dessert spoon against her wineglass. “I’d like to propose a toast,” she said in her lilting Irish accent. “To Dylan and Annie, two of the nicest people I’ve met. May your marriage be strong and true, tied together with bonds that will last all time.” She raised her glass and smiled. “To Dylan and Annie. Slainte.”
Everyone raised their glass to toast the nearly married couple. John glanced at Dylan. He looked so nervous that it almost brought a smile to his face. Until he remembered why he was nervous. Annie meant everything to him. He’d given his heart and soul to her, expecting nothing in return. It was the kind of relationship that Dylan had never thought he’d find. The kind of relationship that he didn’t think he deserved.
John watched Rachel as Annie kissed Dylan’s cheek. A gentle smile lit Rachel’s face and her eyes filled with tears.
He picked up a napkin and handed it to her.
“Thanks.” She wiped her eyes and smiled through her tears.
The wobbly breath she took told him more about what she felt than her words could have. She cared deeply about her friends and believed in love. It was a dangerous combination for a man who was trying to keep away from single women.
She left the napkin on her lap and turned toward him. “Was it hard to find a babysitter for Bella?” A soft blush skimmed her cheeks. “I know I’m changing the subject, but if I keep watching Annie and Dylan I’m going to cry again. There are only so many tears I can manage before my face goes red and blotchy.”
Her face was already red and blotchy, but she still looked beautiful. “Mrs. Daniels, my housekeeper, is looking after Bella tonight.”
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“Did you talk to her about the letter she sent to The Bridesmaids Club?”
John chose his words carefully. “She was worried about me. She thought I was sad because I don’t have a wife. And before you ask why I’m sad, I’m not. Bella thinks that if I don’t smile, I’m unhappy. I have to work on making sure I don’t frown so much.”
“You’re doing it now.”
“What?”
“Frowning.”
John lifted his hand to his face and his frown deepened.
“You could always get Bella more involved with other children. Then she wouldn’t have time to worry about you.”
“She already does ballet class.” A cheer rang out from inside the bar and John glanced over his shoulder. Another bride-to-be had just walked past the window, dressed in a veil with a bouquet in her hands. It was just as well Bella wasn’t here. She would have been grilling each of the brides about what their dresses looked like and how many bridesmaids they had.
“What about a different type of program?”
He turned back to Rachel.
She sat forward and rested her elbows on the table. “She could join a drama club—the local library runs a wonderful program. Some of the children in my class already go to it.”
The whole idea of Bella visiting Bozeman Elementary School was to get her used to being in a classroom. After Christmas she’d be going to school, settling into life in Bozeman like any other child. He hadn’t thought joining other after-school programs would be worthwhile.
“It might be too much.”
“It’s only once a week. It would give her another opportunity to meet children who will be in her class.”
“She’s met you. That’s got to be just as important?”
“Except I’m not going to be her teacher. I’m a substitute teacher at the moment. Jackie Reynolds will be teaching Bella.”
John felt his frown deepen. When he’d met with the school’s principal, he’d been very clear about why he was sending Bella to school once a week. He wanted her transition into the local school to be as easy as possible. Part of that transition involved placing her in the classroom she’d be in after Christmas. Putting her in a classroom with a different teacher wasn’t what he’d had in mind.
“Don’t worry about Bella,” Rachel said. “Jackie is a great teacher. I’m sure they’ll get along fine.”
His mind was working overtime and coming up with answers he wasn’t comfortable with. Bella liked Rachel. His daughter needed a tutor for the next two months. If Rachel wasn’t going to be her teacher in January, then he’d do everything he could to make sure she became Bella’s tutor now. He didn’t know what she earned, but it had to be a lot less than what he was willing to pay.
Rachel glanced across the table and smiled at something Annie said.
He took a deep breath and ignored the warning buzzing inside his head. Spending more time with Rachel would be a big mistake. But his daughter needed a tutor and she was the obvious choice. If he could convince her to take the teaching job, Bella would be happy and he’d have one less thing to worry about.