Patty's Homecoming, page 1
part #1 of Montana Wranglers Series
Montana Wranglers 1
Patty’s Homecoming
Trouble is following Patricia Graymont home. But she needs somewhere to hide for a while, to sort through everything that’s happened, and as the saying goes, there really is no place like home. The only problem is having to face the two men she still loves and once left behind.
Blake Jacobson and Corbin Franks have worked on the Graymont Ranch for as many years as they can remember. They have a love for the land and the work they do is to keep it as natural as possible. They also both love the owner’s daughter, but once upon a time, they had to let her go to become the woman they always knew she could be.
Her homecoming was everything Patty could hope for, and more. Already feeling a little raw emotionally, seeing Blake and Corbin again was like a healing balm to her soul. Now, all they have to do is survive the coming storm.
Genre: Contemporary, Ménage a Trois/Quatre, Western/Cowboys
Length: 93,159 words
PATTY’S HOMECOMING
Montana Wranglers 1
Honor James
MENAGE AMOUR
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
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A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK
IMPRINT: Ménage Amour
PATTY’S HOMECOMING
Copyright © 2014 by Honor James
E-book ISBN: 978-1-62741-447-0
First E-book Publication: March 2014
Cover design by Harris Channing
All art and logo copyright © 2014 by Siren Publishing, Inc.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.
All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.
PUBLISHER
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
Letter to Readers
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DEDICATION
I would like to thank Chris W. for taking time to beta read this novel for me. You totally rock!
I also want to thank my sister for her constant support, as well as three amazing women that have become my close friends. Tara R, Lori K, and Tymber D, you ladies rock.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
About the Author
PATTY’S HOMECOMING
Montana Wranglers 1
HONOR JAMES
Copyright © 2014
Prologue
Buried amongst the rolling hills and valleys of Montana lies the small town of Mission. Settled south of Great Falls, just north of the Lewis & Clark National Forest, this town of 800-plus souls live life off the land and a small, but profitable tourist trade.
Thirty miles due west is the Graymont ranch. Where, as his ancestors before him, Daniel Graymont carries on the tradition of nearly one hundred and sixty years and raises cattle and thoroughbred horses. The life isn’t for everyone. Hot summers of hard work and frigid winters that rival even Siberia take their toll. Only the most hardy of souls dared to settle and remain in the rugged terrain. But, like his ancestors, Daniel is determined to uphold tradition.
* * * *
May 12, 2013
The sound of a door slamming was closely followed by loud curses of a creative, if inaccurate, nature. Lifting his head up from the books he’d been semi-diligently going over, Daniel peeked out the window. What he saw was one of his hands, half-dressed, arguing with Constantine, his housekeeper.
Rolling his chair closer to the window, he cracked it open. He didn’t need to, the whole house had air conditioning. Nope, he was being a nosy old man and cracked it to eavesdrop. Not that he was old. He was only sixty and still going strong. He’d had a great life, an even better one with his beloved wife Charlotte, God rest her soul. She’d given him thirty-five years of marriage, love, and the best sex of his life. She’d also given him every single one of his gray hairs, two sons and a daughter.
Connor worked the farm and, one day, would take over for him. Brendan was a lawyer in Great Falls and handled all the legal matters for the farm, not that there were a lot, but it was a business. And his baby, Patricia, was in New York working for an interior designer and one day, God willing, would go out on her own. In the meantime she was living life, enjoying her career and called him every weekend to chat a mile a minute. Just like her mama used to do whenever she was excited, or pissed off. Chuckling, he shook his head. That girl could talk the ear off of anyone and try the patience of even the Pope himself.
“I’ve told you a dozen times Constantine, and I’m sorry I have to apparently declare it to the whole damned world, but I’m not interested,” Blake, the half-dressed hand, said in a loud tone. Daniel’s attention was dragged back to the goings-on outside the window.
“That’s not what Trevor said,” the woman shrieked. “Do you think I would be here if you hadn’t apparently been pining for me?”
“Pining!” Daniel winced. He hadn’t known that Blake’s voice could go that high or that loud. “Woman, I have never nor will I ever pine for a woman. Especially you, Constantine Delgado. You are a busybody and way too much maintenance. And if I ever, ever catch you trying to jump me while I’m in my rack sleeping again, I will personally kick your ass out of Montana one step at a time.”
The woman shrieked at the top of her lungs, pure frustration there, Daniel thought. His next thought was he would be needing a new housekeeper. And he was spot-on with that assessment, especially given her next words. “Don’t fucking bother you degenerate! I quit!” she screamed. With that volume, Daniel was pretty sure all of Montana knew she’d just quit.
“Good!” Blake sneered right back at her. “I pity the next fool that dares to take you on. I only pray that he’s got a wife that puts you in your fucking place.”
Another shriek and Constantine was storming toward the house. Eyes going wide, Daniel shut the window and rolled his chair back into place just in time for the front door to smack the siding. Wincing, he turned his attention to the books as she went to her room. More banging, door slamming, and a lot of swearing.
One of the problems with having a single woman on the farm was that the men tended to forget about her sex when they were working and let loose with some creative language. Not that he normally minded. The only time he enforced it with the hands was when Patricia came home to visit. ’Course, most of the lads thought of her as a baby sister, so that helped keep the cursing to a minimum. Not that he was fool enough to believe his baby girl couldn’t out-swear them all. She could. He was just in denial and would remain so until the day he left his farm and went to meet up with his Charlotte in the hereafter.
His head came up as he realized that silence reigned in the house all of a sudden. Oops, thought it too soon. A door slammed and angry steps stomped toward his office. Pasting on a bland expression, he looked u
“I’m sorry, Mr. Graymont, I can’t work here any longer. I quit,” she said, slamming her suitcase to the floor.
“I’m sorry to hear that, Constantine. May I ask why?” He tipped his head and hoped he looked confused and slightly curious.
“It’s got nothing to do with you, sir. It’s…” she waved a hand viciously if vaguely about. “It’s them! Those no-good, vile men!” she hissed.
Fighting a chuckle, he nodded slowly. “Well, I’m sad to see you go, Constantine. But you have to do whatever is right for you, dear.” He grabbed his checkbook and wrote her out a check for her last pay plus a little extra. Passing it to her, he sighed, “If you need references, you have them call me. You did great work while you were here and I’m going to make sure they know that.”
She folded the check, stuffed it into her purse and hefted her suitcase. “Thank you, Mr. Graymont. I am sorry to leave you in the lurch like this.”
“Don’t even worry about it. We’ll make do.” He waved her off. “Drive safe now and if you need anything, let me know.”
A stiff nod was her only answer as she spun away. The door slammed behind her and he turned to watch her march to her car. The finger she threw toward the bunkhouse was telling—immature, but very telling. So were the spinning tires and gravel kicked up behind her as she tore up the drive toward the main road.
“Wow, that girl is mad,” he muttered, reaching for the phone. Hitting a number on speed dial, he grinned when his buddy at the Mission Post picked up. “Morty, how’s it going? Good, good. Nah, usual shit and lots of it, given what I’ve got out in the north forty. Listen, I need you to run my ad for a housekeeper. Yup, she thought she’d get into one of the lads’ pants and he told her otherwise. I know, damn women are just too pushy. A little subtlety goes a hell of a lot further. Yup, sounds good. I’ll drop the check off tomorrow when I’m in getting supplies. What? Yeah,” he chuckled. “We can grab a beer. Let’s say around four if that works for you. Sounds good, see you then Mort.”
Chapter One
“God damn woman,” he muttered. Grabbing up his saddle and other tack, he headed for the stall where his horse was. Easing open the door, he moved in slowly. “Morning, Rusty,” he said to the large stallion.
The big head swung around and he got a nicker of hello. Smiling for the first time that morning, he set everything aside. Moving to his head, Blake scratched under the big red’s chin. “Did you have a good night, fella?” He got bumped in the chest. The horse was looking for his morning apple.
“Yeah, I got it here. So, did you hear that ruckus with Constantine? Woman is crazy,” he said, holding out the apple in his palm. “She actually tried to crawl into my bed, naked no less. I have never once given her any hint that I wanted her in that way. Hell, I was only cordial to her because she could poison us at any time.”
Rusty crunched his apple and bobbed his head. Sometimes he thought the big guy actually understood him. Sighing, he moved away and grabbed the blanket. Smoothing it over the big bay’s back, he hefted the saddle. “But Trevor is in for it. Fucker apparently told her I was pining away for her or some such shit.”
His horse shook his head, and Blake took it to be in disbelief. “My thoughts exactly. That prick has been a thorn in my side since he got here.” Tightening the strap, Blake flipped down the stirrup and sighed. Grabbing the halter, he moved around the front and looked into the big brown eyes. Leaning his head to the horse’s, he let out a breath. “Women are fucking confusing, buddy. You have it easy. You see a lady horse and you either get to mount her or you get a hoof to the head. Simple in comparison to the crap we mere humans have to put up with.”
No answer from the horse. Figured. When he needed one, he got nothing. “Thanks anyway, buddy. At least you listen to me without a running commentary. Do you know how rare that is? Well, if you don’t, it’s very rare. You’re a good friend.” He patted Rusty’s neck. “Open up bud, let’s get this on you and go for a ride.”
Leading Rusty out of the stable ten minutes later, he adjusted his hat and swung up into the saddle. Glancing around, he let out a breath and turned Rusty’s head toward the trail. “Come on boy, let’s get a move on. We have a lot of fencing to check today.” And the day after, and the day after that. Which is why he had food, water, his pack, extra clothing, and food for Rusty in his saddlebags. He was going to be out for a time.
The plan was to meet up with Corbin, who was out there already with a herd of cattle. He’d restock his friend, they’d check the fences and then head back in, four days down the line, to the main farm. They then had three days off before they’d have to be back to work.
* * * *
Stretching slowly, he scratched at his chest and yawned. Rolling his head around his shoulders, he groaned. Four days with the herd that did nothing but eat, moo, and poop was damned boring. And he was out there on his own. Normally he didn’t mind, but he didn’t even have Duke, the farm’s mascot dog, out there to talk to. Nope, he had cows who stood chewing their cud while he tried to chat them up.
Thank God Blake was coming out and they were doing fence sweeps. Blake didn’t talk much, but at least he listened. And actual human company for a few days would be a relief. Any human company would have been a relief right then. Blake’s was just a bonus.
Glancing up, he shaded his dark-green eyes from the morning light. Dust coming in, small plume, single rider. Blake, right on schedule. Moving then, he gathered up his items, stashing them back into the saddle bags. Moving to his horse, he started to get her ready, saddling her as he talked to her quietly. Not that Petunia cared. She was one of the more easygoing horses around. Worked well with the cattle and didn’t spook easily, a huge plus when she was his only mode of transportation.
He was in the saddle, hat covering his dark red hair, when Blake came up the last hill. Tipping his head, Corbin moved up to join his friend and fellow cowhand. “Mornin’,” he greeted him.
Blake gave a grunt in reply and handed over a flask. Opening it, Corbin nearly fell off his horse at the delightful scent. “Oh thank you God, real coffee.” Pouring a cup while on horseback took talent, something that he thankfully had. Sipping the strong brew, he could have wept, it was so good.
“Constantine quit,” Blake said into the silence, twenty minutes into their ride.
Looking over in surprise, Corbin blinked. “What? When? Why?”
He got an irritated look for the rapid-fire questions. “She quit this morning because I wouldn’t fuck her.”
Corbin nearly fell off his horse at that. “What?” he squawked. “What the hell, bro? What are you talking about?”
“I was asleep in my bunk when she decided to molest me. Apparently on the advice of Trevor, who told her I was pining for her. I didn’t get much more out of her before I lost my cool and basically unloaded on her.”
Whistling through his teeth, he shot Blake a look. “Damn. What in the world did you ever do to that boy?”
“Nothing. Not a Goddamn fucking thing. The little shit’s been a burr up my ass since he got here. But this, God, Corbin.” He could hear Blake grinding his teeth. “If he’d been there I’d have whooped his ass and then done it all over again for that unwelcome wake-up call. I can’t believe the gall of him.”
“Well, there has to be a story there. When we get back, we’ll just have to ask him.” Corbin shrugged at his friend’s look. “Real nice-like, of course.” He grinned. Yeah, they’d ask. Real nice-like. With a right hook or an uppercut or two. One way or another they’d find out why Trevor was out to undermine Blake.
