Montana Darling (Big Sky Mavericks Book 3) by Debra Salonen Read Free Book Online

have the best husband and most wonderful kids any woman could ever hope to have,” she’d claimed at the birthday party Edward had thrown for her…a few weeks before he broke the news that he was leaving her for another woman. Someone who “…isn’t married to her job,” he’d told her.
    After a year or so of trying to hold the fragments of her perfect life together—while battling cancer, her devastated children’s sadness and anger and her ex-husband’s joy, she’d finally admitted the truth: she hated her life. She hated the monstrous house she’d once claimed to love. She hated its five toilets that nobody could flush, let alone keep clean. She hated the pool that absorbed money as fast as it grew algae. She hated Edward and was ambivalent toward their children, who had turned, almost overnight, into snarly, contemptuous, demanding brats. She tolerated Roxy, the mocha-colored labradoodle, who, at least, had the good sense not to bite the hand that fed her. She kept Roxy—for companionship—and sent Hunter and Emilee to Marietta to stay with her parents while Mia set out to deconstruct her perfect life.
    In truth, although she blamed chemo for her brain fog, the drugs that may or may not have been necessary to rid her body of any trace of cancer were probably out of her system by the time she started packing. She’d done such a terrible job simply because she didn’t care about any of the crap she’d once valued so highly.
    Unfortunately, a few important items—such as the children’s birth certificates and the deed to the lot she and Edward bought to retire on—were nowhere to be found. She’d gotten duplicates of the birth certificates and immunization records in time to register the kids for school. And she probably could obtain a duplicate deed from the Crawford County Clerk as well. She just couldn’t tolerate the idea of having lost yet another piece of herself.
    She pawed through a bizarre mix of plastic superhero figures, hand-thrown bowls that Edward bought for her at the Big Marietta Fair a couple of years ago, kitchen knives—in their burly wooden block and a dozen or so cookbooks. “Hey, I could use these,” she said, yanking out the knife stand. “You don’t have a sharp knife in the house.”
    Mom shook her pretty bob, artfully streaked with pale gold highlights to mask the silver. “Don’t cast aspersions on my cutlery. It served me just fine when I was raising you four.”
    Mia wrestled the stupid cardboard flaps into submission. Edward had never, in all their moves, figured out how to layer three sides and slip the locking side into place. For some reason, that deficit seemed very telling given what happened in their marriage.
    “They served their purpose. Now, it’s time for something new and cutting edge, so to speak.”
    Her attempt at humor made her mother roll her eyes. Edward would have laughed. He always laughed at Mia’s stupid jokes…until he stopped.
    She kicked the unmarked box into the stack. “Forget it, Mom. I’ll get what I need from the County. Don’t you have to get ready for Bailey’s cake tasting?”
    Mia’s younger brother, Paul, was marrying his high school sweetheart, Bailey Jenkins, in a few weeks. Although they’d been apart for nearly fifteen years—and broke up under pretty horrible conditions, they’d reunited a few months ago and decided they couldn’t live without each other. Mia knew with certainty the sort of love they gushed about was an illusion. Bailey and Paul might be able to make a go of it—the way Mom and Dad had, but the chances were greater that they’d wind up like she and Ed. Divorced. Bitter. Disillusioned.
    Mom checked her watch. “Yes. And so do you,” she said pointedly. Mom had been diligent about getting Mia out of the house and involved in life. “Rachel at Copper Mountain Gingerbread Factory is setting up a special little tasting at her place on Main. Bailey’s expecting you, too. It’ll be charming and