Prologue
Noah Matthews paced the tiny confines of his ramshackle log cabin while his thoughts churned along with the contents of his stomach.
Today was the day. No more waiting.
It had been more than a month since Houston married Violet. More than a month since Tess caught the bouquet at his wedding and Noah the garter. A stroke of fate, which Noah took as a sign, a nod from God and the universe, that confirmed everything he’d ever believed.
He and Tess were meant to be together.
He’d promised himself right then and there he wouldn’t let another season go by without telling her how he felt. Tomorrow marked the first day of spring. Spring signaled a fresh start, new beginnings, rebirth, all the things he wanted for their relationship. A new beginning with the woman he loved, another chapter in their lives.
It was time to reach for his happily ever after instead of waiting for it to come to him.
With a deep breath for courage, Noah headed to the door, grabbed the keys off the hook on the wall, and tucked them in his pocket as he made his way out the door and toward his old Chevy pickup. He wrenched the door open, and it protested with a creaky whine before he slid inside and turned the ignition, which spluttered to life.
With a deep breath, he wiped his sweat-dampened palms on the front of his jeans and glanced up at his cabin one last time before he backed out of the driveway. With any luck, he’d return home a changed man, spoken for and no longer single.
He wondered if the place would look different then, if everything would.
Today was the day. No more waiting.
It had been more than a month since Houston married Violet. More than a month since Tess caught the bouquet at his wedding and Noah the garter. A stroke of fate, which Noah took as a sign, a nod from God and the universe, that confirmed everything he’d ever believed.
He and Tess were meant to be together.
He’d promised himself right then and there he wouldn’t let another season go by without telling her how he felt. Tomorrow marked the first day of spring. Spring signaled a fresh start, new beginnings, rebirth, all the things he wanted for their relationship. A new beginning with the woman he loved, another chapter in their lives.
It was time to reach for his happily ever after instead of waiting for it to come to him.
With a deep breath for courage, Noah headed to the door, grabbed the keys off the hook on the wall, and tucked them in his pocket as he made his way out the door and toward his old Chevy pickup. He wrenched the door open, and it protested with a creaky whine before he slid inside and turned the ignition, which spluttered to life.
With a deep breath, he wiped his sweat-dampened palms on the front of his jeans and glanced up at his cabin one last time before he backed out of the driveway. With any luck, he’d return home a changed man, spoken for and no longer single.
He wondered if the place would look different then, if everything would.
Chapter One
Tess Montgomery slid inside her truck, sitting the cake box on the seat beside her. She lifted the lid, checking the design once more to make sure it was what she ordered, and smiled with approval. It was perfect, even if the W on Welcome Home did look a little wonky. Regardless, confetti cake with buttercream frosting was Noah’s favorite, and if she knew him at all, it’d be gone before he even realized the piping and design were his favorite shade of blue.
It had been two weeks since Noah took off abruptly for Miami. Two weeks of missing him like she’d miss an arm or a leg. Without him, Cedar Falls just wasn’t the same. She wasn’t the same. Every day he was gone, she regretted not going with him. Not that he’d asked. In fact, he’d made it seem as though he wanted to go alone.
Ever since Houston’s wedding, he’d been weird around her, almost awkward, like he was afraid to look her in the eye, and she couldn’t help but blame it on the fact that he’d caught the garter after she’d caught the bouquet. Like that one stroke of luck–a silly tradition–placed an anvil around his neck. As if at any moment, Tess would bat her eyelashes at him and expect him to propose marriage.
Sheesh.
It was ridiculous, and she’d told him as much, too.
Three weeks ago, they’d planned a hike at Red Rock. It was the first day of spring, exceptionally warm, with blue skies, and everything around them seemed alive with the winter thaw. It was the kind of day she was used to spending with him, doing something outside, then hunkering down at night with good food and a movie.
But the whole time he’d been quiet. Past the small falls and the red rock formations, he’d barely said a word. When they finally made it to their favorite lookout, they’d settled onto a couple rocks to contemplate the view and chat like they always did, but one look at him, and Tess could tell he had something on his mind. Because eighteen years of friendship meant knowing a person inside and out.
He fidgeted endlessly and cleared his throat about a dozen times until he finally started in a shaky voice. “Tess, I have something I need to tell you. Something I’ve been wanting to talk to you about for quite a while now, actually.”
Finally, she glanced over at him, trying her best to give him the benefit of the doubt. Surely, this wasn’t about the bouquet/garter thing.
She leaned back on her hands, staring at him, waiting.
“Remember the night of the wedding . . .”
“I do,” she said, stifling the urge to groan. How could men be so stupid sometimes? Did he honestly think she expected him to marry her now? The bouquet/garter thing was merely tradition, a fun game, an old wive’s tale. Actually, Tess had no idea how it got started or where it came from. All she knew was no one actually believed it.
The corners of her lips curled at the thought, and she tried not to laugh. He looked so serious, with his mouth pressed into a flat line and his brow wrinkled in concentration. Part of her wondered what he’d do if she expressed her undying love to him right then and there. He’d probably pass out.
“Well, I know the whole bouquet thing is kind of just a game, an old pastime, but–” He shook his head. “Wait. Let me start over. That’s not how . . .” He sighed and wiped his palms on the thighs of his jeans. “I knew I’d screw this up,” he mumbled under his breath.
She really should put the man out of his torture; it was cruel, really, to let him go on.
“What I mean to say is that I, that you mean–”
“Oh my gosh, Noah.” Tess tipped her head back and groaned. “Relax, will you. I don’t want to marry you.” She shook her head, chuckling.
“You . . .” His throat bobbed. “What?”
“Yeah. You can breathe now and stop acting so weird. Just because I caught the bouquet, and you caught the garter doesn’t mean I really think we’re next in line for marriage, so chill out. You’ve been acting so weird ever since the wedding, and it’s been driving me nuts.”
“Right. I have, haven’t I?” Then he barked out a nervous laugh.
Tess stared wide-eyed, because he was still acting strange.
“But the thing is,” he said, “the reason I’ve been acting so weird is because it’s more than just that. It’s about the fact that I–”
“Can we just drop it?” she asked, not wanting to spend any more time on this silly topic. The sun was fading, and it was a beautiful spring day. Why waste it worrying over nothing?
He blinked at her like he didn’t understand.
“Let’s just forget it ever happened, okay? We’re supposed to be having fun, and look at you! You’re so tense, I could bounce a quarter off your earlobe.” She bumped his shoulder with hers. “Noah, you’re my best friend in the whole world, and I hate seeing you so wigged out. I love you like a brother. Actually, scratch that. I love you more than my brothers because they like to do things that drive me crazy and every year at Christmas they eat all the kolache. But I digress.”
“You love me like a brother,” he said slowly, like he wasn’t sure he heard her right.
“Yeah, exactly like that. And the thing is, I wouldn’t trade our friendship for anything in the world because it’s too special. It’s irreplaceable. And I would never want anything to risk or change that. So even if there was some kind of law that we had to be together now, or fate destined it,” she snorted, elbowing him in the side, “you can rest assured, because I’d want nothing to do with it. We’d break all the rules. Because this—” she motioned between them “—what you and I have is too rare and too special to risk.”
He picked at a twig by his feet. “Some people might argue that the best friendships make for the best marriages.”
“Not this girl. Nuh uh. I like us just the way we are. So, can you finally get the petrified look off your face and act normal now? Because, dude, you’ve been so weird this last month.”
Noah cleared his throat, then shook his head, cheeks turning crimson in the waning sun. “Right. Sorry for being so . . . weird, and thanks for calling me out on it.”
Tess slapped a hand on his back. “That’s what friends are for, brother.”
He nodded, if not a bit solemnly.
Afterward, they finished their hike, talking the rest of the way, much to Tess’s relief, but he bailed on dinner, saying he had a headache. Three days later, he asked Rhett for two and a half weeks off and booked a flight to Miami.
The day he showed up at Tess’s place to let her know before her shift at Open Range, the resort restaurant, was the last she saw of him.
Though she’d asked if he wanted company, he insisted that the solitude and sunshine would be good for him. No talking or worrying about work. Just days spent lounging poolside and listening to country music. And because Rhett nearly had a heart attack at the suggestion Tess take off to travel with him, she let it go.
Still, it was the longest they’d been apart in all their years of friendship, and though she’d always known what an integral part of her life he was, it made her realize it all the more. She’d been miserable without him. Friday nights at Jimmie’s weren’t the same. She had no one to stop by Open Range and beg for scraps of food like a lost puppy. No one to order pizza with and binge reruns of their favorite shows. Even her jokes fell flat without him around to laugh at them.
Which was why she’d taken the whole day off to spend with him. First, they’d down this entire cake. Then they’d go for a hike and work it off before they followed it up with dinner and he could fill her in on every single minute detail of his vacation. She’d be completely selfish, too. No sharing. Tonight would be her and Noah and no one else. Just the two of them, like old times.
She followed the signs at the airport, heading to arrival, where she parked her truck in temporary parking and made her way inside the airport, through the metal detectors, and down the corridor, toward the desk where she asked the attendant for a gate pass.
With the pass in hand, she found Rhett’s gate and settled in to wait with bubbling anticipation. Digging her phone out of the pocket of her jeans, she opened her texts and found the ones from Noah, scrolling until she found the picture he’d sent her, the one of him swimming with dolphins.
His dark hair was wet, a single curl falling over his forehead, and his normally olive complected skin had darkened to bronze in the sun that glistened off the water, making his already dazzling smile pop.
Vacation looked good on him.
The thought rattled her as the airport speaker crackled to life, announcing Flight 263 from Miami. A flutter of anticipation flapped inside her chest while she stood, clicking off her phone and shoving it back in her pocket, nearly giddy with excitement.
She waited as she watched a flight attendant head to the gate, and soon, passengers began to spill out of the hallway into the airport one by one.
Someone stepped in front of her, blocking her view, and she craned her neck. Searching the faces, she waited. Then she spotted him. Behind a family of five, she could just make out his tanned face.
Her gaze swept over him in appraisal. He wore a dark gray t-shirt and a pair of athletic shorts, something he typically reserved for the summer and had probably been more appropriate in the Miami heat than spring in Montana.
And when the family stepped away, his eyes locked on hers. He smiled, and a riot of butterflies erupted inside her chest.
Raising his hand in a wave, Tess returned the gesture as her heart swelled. It was as if these past weeks melted away, and the world finally started spinning again. Because Noah was back, and all was right in the world.
She stepped forward, stifling the urge to run to him and jump into his arms like she wanted to when he turned to the woman beside him and threaded his arm through hers. Tess’s heart all but stopped.
Her smile froze as she took in the stranger. She was short and petite, with rich olive skin, warm brown eyes, and black hair that skimmed her shoulders. And when she tipped her head up to Noah and smiled, she could melt the polar ice caps with just one glance.
Tess watched, frozen in place, as they approached arm-in-arm. Obviously, they were together, but her brain couldn’t compute. Or maybe it was the way her heart pounded like she’d just run a marathon that killed all coherent thought.
“Tess,” Noah said, his voice an even deeper baritone than she remembered, “meet Annie, my girlfriend.”
It had been two weeks since Noah took off abruptly for Miami. Two weeks of missing him like she’d miss an arm or a leg. Without him, Cedar Falls just wasn’t the same. She wasn’t the same. Every day he was gone, she regretted not going with him. Not that he’d asked. In fact, he’d made it seem as though he wanted to go alone.
Ever since Houston’s wedding, he’d been weird around her, almost awkward, like he was afraid to look her in the eye, and she couldn’t help but blame it on the fact that he’d caught the garter after she’d caught the bouquet. Like that one stroke of luck–a silly tradition–placed an anvil around his neck. As if at any moment, Tess would bat her eyelashes at him and expect him to propose marriage.
Sheesh.
It was ridiculous, and she’d told him as much, too.
Three weeks ago, they’d planned a hike at Red Rock. It was the first day of spring, exceptionally warm, with blue skies, and everything around them seemed alive with the winter thaw. It was the kind of day she was used to spending with him, doing something outside, then hunkering down at night with good food and a movie.
But the whole time he’d been quiet. Past the small falls and the red rock formations, he’d barely said a word. When they finally made it to their favorite lookout, they’d settled onto a couple rocks to contemplate the view and chat like they always did, but one look at him, and Tess could tell he had something on his mind. Because eighteen years of friendship meant knowing a person inside and out.
He fidgeted endlessly and cleared his throat about a dozen times until he finally started in a shaky voice. “Tess, I have something I need to tell you. Something I’ve been wanting to talk to you about for quite a while now, actually.”
Finally, she glanced over at him, trying her best to give him the benefit of the doubt. Surely, this wasn’t about the bouquet/garter thing.
She leaned back on her hands, staring at him, waiting.
“Remember the night of the wedding . . .”
“I do,” she said, stifling the urge to groan. How could men be so stupid sometimes? Did he honestly think she expected him to marry her now? The bouquet/garter thing was merely tradition, a fun game, an old wive’s tale. Actually, Tess had no idea how it got started or where it came from. All she knew was no one actually believed it.
The corners of her lips curled at the thought, and she tried not to laugh. He looked so serious, with his mouth pressed into a flat line and his brow wrinkled in concentration. Part of her wondered what he’d do if she expressed her undying love to him right then and there. He’d probably pass out.
“Well, I know the whole bouquet thing is kind of just a game, an old pastime, but–” He shook his head. “Wait. Let me start over. That’s not how . . .” He sighed and wiped his palms on the thighs of his jeans. “I knew I’d screw this up,” he mumbled under his breath.
She really should put the man out of his torture; it was cruel, really, to let him go on.
“What I mean to say is that I, that you mean–”
“Oh my gosh, Noah.” Tess tipped her head back and groaned. “Relax, will you. I don’t want to marry you.” She shook her head, chuckling.
“You . . .” His throat bobbed. “What?”
“Yeah. You can breathe now and stop acting so weird. Just because I caught the bouquet, and you caught the garter doesn’t mean I really think we’re next in line for marriage, so chill out. You’ve been acting so weird ever since the wedding, and it’s been driving me nuts.”
“Right. I have, haven’t I?” Then he barked out a nervous laugh.
Tess stared wide-eyed, because he was still acting strange.
“But the thing is,” he said, “the reason I’ve been acting so weird is because it’s more than just that. It’s about the fact that I–”
“Can we just drop it?” she asked, not wanting to spend any more time on this silly topic. The sun was fading, and it was a beautiful spring day. Why waste it worrying over nothing?
He blinked at her like he didn’t understand.
“Let’s just forget it ever happened, okay? We’re supposed to be having fun, and look at you! You’re so tense, I could bounce a quarter off your earlobe.” She bumped his shoulder with hers. “Noah, you’re my best friend in the whole world, and I hate seeing you so wigged out. I love you like a brother. Actually, scratch that. I love you more than my brothers because they like to do things that drive me crazy and every year at Christmas they eat all the kolache. But I digress.”
“You love me like a brother,” he said slowly, like he wasn’t sure he heard her right.
“Yeah, exactly like that. And the thing is, I wouldn’t trade our friendship for anything in the world because it’s too special. It’s irreplaceable. And I would never want anything to risk or change that. So even if there was some kind of law that we had to be together now, or fate destined it,” she snorted, elbowing him in the side, “you can rest assured, because I’d want nothing to do with it. We’d break all the rules. Because this—” she motioned between them “—what you and I have is too rare and too special to risk.”
He picked at a twig by his feet. “Some people might argue that the best friendships make for the best marriages.”
“Not this girl. Nuh uh. I like us just the way we are. So, can you finally get the petrified look off your face and act normal now? Because, dude, you’ve been so weird this last month.”
Noah cleared his throat, then shook his head, cheeks turning crimson in the waning sun. “Right. Sorry for being so . . . weird, and thanks for calling me out on it.”
Tess slapped a hand on his back. “That’s what friends are for, brother.”
He nodded, if not a bit solemnly.
Afterward, they finished their hike, talking the rest of the way, much to Tess’s relief, but he bailed on dinner, saying he had a headache. Three days later, he asked Rhett for two and a half weeks off and booked a flight to Miami.
The day he showed up at Tess’s place to let her know before her shift at Open Range, the resort restaurant, was the last she saw of him.
Though she’d asked if he wanted company, he insisted that the solitude and sunshine would be good for him. No talking or worrying about work. Just days spent lounging poolside and listening to country music. And because Rhett nearly had a heart attack at the suggestion Tess take off to travel with him, she let it go.
Still, it was the longest they’d been apart in all their years of friendship, and though she’d always known what an integral part of her life he was, it made her realize it all the more. She’d been miserable without him. Friday nights at Jimmie’s weren’t the same. She had no one to stop by Open Range and beg for scraps of food like a lost puppy. No one to order pizza with and binge reruns of their favorite shows. Even her jokes fell flat without him around to laugh at them.
Which was why she’d taken the whole day off to spend with him. First, they’d down this entire cake. Then they’d go for a hike and work it off before they followed it up with dinner and he could fill her in on every single minute detail of his vacation. She’d be completely selfish, too. No sharing. Tonight would be her and Noah and no one else. Just the two of them, like old times.
She followed the signs at the airport, heading to arrival, where she parked her truck in temporary parking and made her way inside the airport, through the metal detectors, and down the corridor, toward the desk where she asked the attendant for a gate pass.
With the pass in hand, she found Rhett’s gate and settled in to wait with bubbling anticipation. Digging her phone out of the pocket of her jeans, she opened her texts and found the ones from Noah, scrolling until she found the picture he’d sent her, the one of him swimming with dolphins.
His dark hair was wet, a single curl falling over his forehead, and his normally olive complected skin had darkened to bronze in the sun that glistened off the water, making his already dazzling smile pop.
Vacation looked good on him.
The thought rattled her as the airport speaker crackled to life, announcing Flight 263 from Miami. A flutter of anticipation flapped inside her chest while she stood, clicking off her phone and shoving it back in her pocket, nearly giddy with excitement.
She waited as she watched a flight attendant head to the gate, and soon, passengers began to spill out of the hallway into the airport one by one.
Someone stepped in front of her, blocking her view, and she craned her neck. Searching the faces, she waited. Then she spotted him. Behind a family of five, she could just make out his tanned face.
Her gaze swept over him in appraisal. He wore a dark gray t-shirt and a pair of athletic shorts, something he typically reserved for the summer and had probably been more appropriate in the Miami heat than spring in Montana.
And when the family stepped away, his eyes locked on hers. He smiled, and a riot of butterflies erupted inside her chest.
Raising his hand in a wave, Tess returned the gesture as her heart swelled. It was as if these past weeks melted away, and the world finally started spinning again. Because Noah was back, and all was right in the world.
She stepped forward, stifling the urge to run to him and jump into his arms like she wanted to when he turned to the woman beside him and threaded his arm through hers. Tess’s heart all but stopped.
Her smile froze as she took in the stranger. She was short and petite, with rich olive skin, warm brown eyes, and black hair that skimmed her shoulders. And when she tipped her head up to Noah and smiled, she could melt the polar ice caps with just one glance.
Tess watched, frozen in place, as they approached arm-in-arm. Obviously, they were together, but her brain couldn’t compute. Or maybe it was the way her heart pounded like she’d just run a marathon that killed all coherent thought.
“Tess,” Noah said, his voice an even deeper baritone than she remembered, “meet Annie, my girlfriend.”