Only Yours (Fool's Gold #5)(78)

“People can love more than one person.”

“Other people. Not my mother.”

He relaxed back in his chair and petted Cece. “That’s rational.”

“I know.” She sighed. “As I said, I don’t usually fight with my mom and I don’t like it. All right, enough about me. Who were you talking to before? Is it okay to ask that? It sounded like you were talking about a trip.”

“My assignment after the next one.”

“Oh.”

She glanced at her lap, then back at him. “Where are you thinking of going?”

“Appalachia or Pakistan.”

“That’s a big difference.”

“There’s poverty in both places, and people who need my help.”

“How do you decide?”

“I have someone send me background information. I look over the cases and see which seems like the place I can do the most good.”

“So why did you come to Fool’s Gold?”

“The hospital set up a program that brought dozens of patients from several states here. Also children from Mexico. I don’t have to be in a Third World country to make a difference. I go where I think I can get the most accomplished.”

“I’m glad you chose us.”

He waited for more, for some hint that he should stay, or an attempt to make him feel guilty. Instead she smiled.

“You and Cece are becoming quite the item.”

“She’s my kind of girl.”

“Adoring?”

“It helps.”

“You are just such a typical guy.”

He knew that wasn’t true but liked hearing the words.

He rose, supporting the dog in his arms. “You okay?”

She stood as well. “I guess. I’ll talk to my mom and everything will be fine again.”

“Can I do anything to help?”

“You already did. Talking about it was good.” She reached for Cece. “I’ll take her for a walk and bring her back.”

He glanced at the clock. “I have to prep for surgery.”

“Okay, then I’ll go to Kalinda’s room and see if Cece can stay there. If not, I’ll take her back to Max’s.”

Simon waited for her to ask more questions about where he would be going, or to suggest he should stay. Instead she kissed him lightly, then walked out of his office, leaving him very much alone.

“HOLD STILL,” DAKOTA grumbled, checking the hot curlers clinging to Montana’s head. “These have to stay in longer.”

“How much longer? They hurt.” Montana did her best to ignore the sense of heat burning perilously close to her right ear. She was more a curling iron kind of girl, but hot rollers made the curls last longer.

“You’re such a baby,” Nevada told her, lounging on the bed, flipping through a magazine.

“So says the woman in jeans and a T-shirt.”

“I’m not the one going to a fancy fundraiser. I don’t have to dress up.” Nevada sounded smug.

Montana stood in the bathroom off her bedroom and checked her makeup. Dakota hovered behind her, worried about Montana’s hair.

She’d asked her sisters over to help her get ready so she wouldn’t be too much in her own head before her date with Simon. Wanting to be perfect for him was a whole lot more work than she’d thought, and she didn’t need the added stress of making herself crazy.

“You look amazing,” Dakota said. “Leave your makeup alone. Give your hair five more minutes, then I’ll take out the rollers and we’ll fluff.”

“And spray,” Nevada called. “Her hair is pretty long. Those curls are going to need help staying in.”

Montana studied her face. She’d done a decent job creating a smoky eye and had even applied her lipstick with an annoyingly tiny brush. Once her hair was done, she would put on the onyx and diamond earrings her grandmother had left her, and she’d be ready.

Her dress was simple—a sleeveless, black tank style with two-inch-wide straps. The whole thing was fitted and short, dipping just low enough in front to be intriguing. She’d smoothed on a lotion with a faint shimmer, giving her tanned legs a glow. Fancy, high-heeled black sandals waited by the front door, and Dakota had lent her a black satin clutch.

“I’ll give you this,” Nevada said, looking up from her magazine, “the curves are impressive.”

Montana laughed. “You have the same ones.”

“They look better on you.”

“Thanks. You should see what I have on underneath.”

“Shapewear?” Dakota asked.

“It’s practically bulletproof. I can’t breathe, but it makes a big difference.”

She walked barefoot into the bedroom. “Anybody talk to Mom in the past day or so?”

Her sisters exchanged a glance, then looked at her and shook their heads. She’d already told them what had happened when she’d brought up the subject of Max.

“We shouldn’t have let you do that yourself,” Dakota told her. “We should have spoken to her together. Strength in numbers, and all that. She couldn’t be mad at all of us.”

“I’m not so sure,” Montana told her. “She was pretty upset. The thing is, I don’t know why. We’re talking about something that happened over thirty-five years ago. No one cares about that.”