Forever Dreams (Montana Brides) by Leeanna Morgan Page B

last sausage had disappeared from the barbecue. She didn’t know whether he’d stayed because he was hungry or because he felt obliged to keep her company.  
    With Katie tucked beside him, he didn’t look as though he had much on his mind at all now.  
    “Gracie, this is Kristina.”  
    Gracie stared at the pretty woman sitting on a wooden bench in front of her. “It’s nice to meet you.”   Soft silver curls framed Kristina’s smiling face. Deep green eyes, almost the same color as the oak leaves shading the patio, stared up at Gracie.  
    Kristina patted the seat beside her. “It’s good to meet you too. Come and sit down. Karen told me Trent had a guest staying with him out on the Triple L.”
    “And that I thought you were going to be my daughter-in-law,” Karen added.
    Gracie felt a warm blush skim her cheeks. From the way Katie’s body was pressed up against Trent, Karen might not have too much longer to wait. Only it wouldn’t be Gracie she’d be welcoming into the family.
    Kristina laughed. “You’ll embarrass the poor girl, Karen.”
    “Nonsense. Gracie knows I mean well. Trent’s been talking about getting married for so long that I think he’s forgotten he needs to meet a woman first. But we’ve got a plan, haven’t we Gracie?”
    Gracie looked between Karen and Kristina. Did everyone in Bozeman know Trent was looking for a wife?  
    “Don’t worry,” Kristina whispered, “Karen hasn’t told anyone except me about the reason for the barn dance. I think it’s a great way to find someone special.”
    Gracie tried not to look too stunned. Trent wasn’t looking for special. He was looking for desperate. Someone that wasn’t too particular about her husband’s lack of happy-ever-after tendencies.  
    She sighed as she took another peek at Trent. If he didn’t set alarm bells off inside every part of her body, she could almost imagine becoming more than his friend. But Gracie needed to know she was loved. And she had a life back in New Zealand. And a reason for coming to Bozeman.  
    She glanced at Kristina, wondering how to ask about her husband’s past without sounding like she was ticking off bullet points engraved on her brain.
    “Can I get anyone a drink?”
    Gracie jumped. Her alarm bell man stood beside his mom, a grin plastered across his too handsome face. She looked behind him, trying to find his number one fan.  
    Trent raised his eyebrows. “Lost something, Gracie?”
    She bit back the words skimming along her tongue.  
    “Come and join us, Trent. We were just talking about the barn dance.” Karen moved along the bench, leaving a space between her and Gracie.  
    Gracie looked at the empty spot beside her, then at Trent. He had far more important things to do than sit squished between his mom and his temporary cowgirl. Things that involved a whole lot of squishing with someone that wasn’t her.
    “You’ll get permanent wrinkles if you keep frowning at me, Gracie.” Trent sat on the patio stones, stretching his legs out in front of him. “I’ll sit here, mom. It looks as though Gracie still hasn’t forgiven me for leaving the steak in the fridge.”
    It wasn’t the steak she’d been worried about and he knew it.  
    Kristina looked between Gracie and Trent, a smile hovering on her lips. “Karen told me you’re a teacher, Gracie. How old are your students?”  
    “Most of the kids are eight-years-old. I’ve been emailing them lots of photos of the ranch.”
    Trent pushed the brim of his hat back, giving Gracie the full blast of his laughing grey eyes. “She’s taken about fifty photos of the cattle, and I don’t think there’s one cowboy that hasn’t been snapped at least a dozen times.”
    Gracie wrinkled her nose. “You’re just jealous that Jeb’s photo ended up on the notice board in my classroom.”
    “I don’t need to be cowboy of the week.” He grinned at the tongue poking out at him. “You’d better watch your manners or else Kristina