Forever in Love (Montana Brides) by Leeanna Morgan Read Free Book Online

else.  
    Jessie Adams glared at her pumpkin neighbor. “That’ll be enough of that sort of talk. Just because Nathan walks into the store with a bundle of baby in his arms doesn’t mean it’s his.” Jessie’s words weren’t idle conversation fillers. She attended the same quilting group as Doris and his mom. What those women didn’t know about everyone in Bozeman wasn’t worth knowing.
    “Don’t stir yourself up over nothing,” Steve chided. He moved his hand, almost like he was about to pat Jessie on the shoulder. One look at the scowl on her face and his hand dropped away quicker than a branding iron.  
    Nathan unzipped his jacket and grabbed Catherine’s snowsuit off the counter. Four pairs of eyes followed him across the room. The only person ignoring him was the person they most wanted to know about. He left his jacket on top of the backpack, wondering what they’d make of their little visitor. “Everyone meet Catherine Sullivan. She’s Amy’s half sister.”
    Doris frowned. “The same Amy Sullivan that lived with your family for a couple of years?”
    “Yep.” He stuffed his hands in his pockets. “Amy and Catherine are staying on the ranch until they get settled in Bozeman.”
    Steve grinned. “It must be mighty cozy with another two females keeping you company.”  
    Nathan clenched his fists, wanting to wipe the smirk off Steve’s face.  
    “Get your mind out of the gutter,” Jessie hissed. “Some of us folk have kind hearts and others should be put out of their misery.” She glared at Steve, turning her back on his careless shrug. “It must have come as a shock finding out that she was going to be a big sister after all these years. Where’s Amy’s mother?”
    He didn’t know, but he figured Amy did. “I’m not sure.”
    Doris nodded. “I vaguely remember her. Small woman, always busy doing something but never seemed to get anywhere. Your mom’s as proud as a peacock over what Amy has achieved. We saw her graduation photos in the quilting group a few years back. Isn’t that right Jessie?”
    Jessie nodded. “Is she going to work at the hospital?”
    “Hopefully. She’s meeting Stan now.”
    Doris sighed. “That Stan’s a nice young man. If I was twenty years younger and wasn’t married to a wonderful husband I’d make sure I got to know him too.”
    “Just as well you’re married then isn’t it?” Jake muttered from behind the counter, a plate of scones in one hand and a kettle in the other. “Take a seat over by the pot-belly stove everyone. We can all enjoy a hot cup of coffee while Nathan tells us about this little girl.”
    Nathan glanced around the room at the eager faces. He’d only come in for a few things but it looked as though he’d be here for a while yet. “You know about as much as I do.”
    Doris broke one of the scones into quarters and gave Catherine a piece to chew on. “Not to worry,” she said. “Come and tell us what your parents are doing.”
    That he could manage. After five weeks away he’d had enough postcards from Florida to wallpaper his mom and dad’s spare bedroom. Twice over. He reached for a mug of coffee, smiling at Catherine as she tried to squish another handful of scone into her mouth.  
    He forgot about the freezing wind howling through the streets, forgot about the jobs he’d pushed aside to come into town today. Instead he sat back, enjoying his mug of thick black coffee, the heat from the stove, and the people around him.

CHAPTER THREE

    Walking from ward to ward, Amy began to see the differences between the community hospital in Bozeman and the larger hospital she’d been working at in Chicago. The pace was slower. Patients weren’t stacked in the corridors, waiting in queues that never seemed to end.  
    She watched an elderly man in a wheelchair shake Stan’s hand, joking about whether he’d be home in time to watch the Dallas Cowboys. The light-hearted banter touched her heart and made her even more determined