Page 36 of A Montana Fake Marriage

She grinned then motioned to the box. “There’s something else.”

He set the gloves aside and pulled out a leather-bound book. When he opened it to flip through the pages, he noticed right away what she’d gotten him. On the left side were regular lined pages. On the right were the pages made out to be a grid.

“It’s so you can keep all your research in one place. You said you wanted to patent more feed formulas for the other animals, right?”

He nodded solemnly. “That’s right.”

Her brows knit together. “You… don’t like it?”

Caleb smiled at her, emotion in his eyes. “I love it. Thank you, Sammie.”

Her smile didn’t reach her eyes, the worry still racing through her. She didn’t know if she could believe him, but what other choice did she have?

Caleb pulled her in for another hug, but this time, his lips didn’t brush against her skin. He rose to his feet and cleared his throat. “I’m sure they’re going to be wondering where we are. How about we head down for breakfast?” He held out his hand to her.

She took it, and he pulled her to her feet.

After breakfast, they sat in the living room. The fire flickered in the hearth, and presents were passed around. She held onto Caleb’s hand, her fingers laced with his as she rested her cheek against his shoulder. This position had become so second nature, she’d started to take it for granted. Soon, they wouldn’t have this connection. Soon, they’d be moving on with their lives separately. Come spring, they’d be divorced.

A box landed in her lap, and she looked up, startled to see Mack grinning down at her. “That one is from Noah and me.”

It was about three feet long and only ten inches wide. She glanced up at Caleb, who hid his smile and shrugged at her. The red and white wrapping paper had been haphazardly taped to the box—about what she would have expected from two cowboys.

Carefully, she tore at the paper and revealed a box with the word Ruger across the top.

“It’s a good beginner’s rifle,” Noah offered.

Mack elbowed him in the ribs. “Let her open the box first”.

Her fingers trembled slightly as she lifted the lid to the box and found a wooden rifle with a steel barrel.

“It’s a single bolt action rifle. It’s what we learned with,” Noah spoke again, this time dodging Mack’s attack. He smirked at his brother then.

Mack rolled his eyes. “I helped pick it out, but Noah swore you’d want it.”

She didn’t know what to say. Her fingers trailed over the gun reverently. She’d had so much fun that night at the rodeo, but she’d completely forgotten about how she’d enjoyed shooting. “Thank you,” she whispered, suddenly feeling guilty that she hadn’t gotten them anything.

Before she could express her apology, Caleb got to his feet. He retrieved two identical boxes and handed them to his brothers. “Those are from us.”

Her wide eyes took Caleb in, but all he did was drape his arm around her shoulder and pull her close. He’d picked out a matching set of new cowboy hats—the sort they wouldn’t be caught dead working in. No, those hats were too nice for work. They’d want to go out dancing with them.

Then Caleb placed a flat square box on her lap. It reached across both of her legs and to her knees. She offered him a smile. When she opened the box and pulled back the tissue, she gasped. The blue and white gingham dress from the vintage store had been neatly folded.

“I got the boots to match, but I didn’t have a box for them.”

She held back the tears as long as she could and wordlessly pulled him in for a hug. “Thank you,” she rasped. “It’s perfect.” When she withdrew to look at the dress again, she let her trembling fingers trace over the fabric and the fine stitching. After she’d gotten her first paycheck, she’d gone back to look for the dress, but it had been purchased. Now she knew who the culprit was.

Caleb had bought the dress all those months ago and had kept it a secret. She couldn’t speak even if she wanted to, otherwise, she’d end up crying.

“We have a gift for you as well,” Caleb’s mother commented. Tana moved to sit on the armrest where Will was seated. “I know we were discussing the possibility of where you two could move.” She exchanged a loving look with Will.

Caleb’s father pulled an envelope out of his shirt pocket and handed it to Caleb.

Sammie watched the envelope with moderate trepidation. They wouldn’t, would they? Her eyes seemed to say exactly what shewas thinking because Caleb squeezed her hand reassuringly as if to tell her they’d be okay.

Then he dropped her hand and opened the envelope.

“It’s a deed.”

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