Only Yours (Fool's Gold #5)(91)

There was concern in her tone and sympathy in her gaze.

“You heard.”

“That you and Simon aren’t seeing each other anymore? Yes. I heard.” Her mother reached across the table and took her hand. “Anything I can do?”

“No. If I asked you to change Simon, you probably couldn’t. And even if you could, I don’t want him to be different. I love him the way he is.”

“That’s usually best. Women think they can change a man, but they’re often wrong.” Denise straightened. “Do you want me to talk badly about him or ask one of your brothers to beat him up?”

Despite everything, Montana laughed. “I’m good. He can continue life unscarred.” The laughter faded. “You know what I mean.”

“I do. I just want you to know I’m here for you.”

“Me, too,” Nevada told her. “Whatever you want. We can call him a jerk or worse, if you don’t want him beaten up.”

“Maybe next time.”

She couldn’t blame Simon for what had happened. As her mother had said, trying to change someone was a losing proposition. People changed because they wanted to, not because someone made them.

“On a more cheerful subject,” she said, turning to her sister. “I have someone you should meet.”

Nevada rolled her eyes. “You aren’t seriously considering setting me up with someone, are you?”

“Yes. You haven’t had a date in months.”

“Years is more like it,” Nevada grumbled. “I can’t find anybody I’m interested in. Or if I am interested, they’re in love with someone else.”

Montana blinked at her. “You’re interested in someone who’s married?”

“No. Don’t be an idiot. Of course not. I’m just saying that once, maybe, there was a guy…” She sighed. “It doesn’t matter.”

Montana glanced at her mother, who looked equally intrigued. She would have sworn she knew everything about Nevada’s personal life. Apparently she was wrong. Her sister had been keeping secrets.

Nevada leaned toward her. “Fine. Tell me about this guy you want me to meet.”

“His name is Cameron McKenzie. He’s the new vet in town. He’s tall, with dark wavy hair. Very cute. He moved here about a month ago. He took over Dr. Rivera’s practice. Rumor has it he has a daughter. She’s pretty young. Six or seven. Adorable, or so I’ve been told.”

“Where’s the wife?” Denise asked. “Kent has taught us all that the ex-wife is important to the equation. You’ll want to find out about her before you get involved.”

“I’m not involved.” Nevada slapped her hands on the table. “Mom, I haven’t even met the guy.”

“He sounds very nice.”

“Montana said he was cute, with a kid. How does that make him nice?”

“He likes animals.”

“Kill me now,” Nevada moaned. “Just make it quick.” She looked at both of them. “I can get my own guy.”

“I’m sure you can,” her mother said calmly. “The problem is you won’t. I want to see you happy.”

“I am happy.”

“You’re changing jobs and you don’t have anyone special in your life. Sell it somewhere else.”

Nevada turned her gaze on Montana. “Are you in on this?”

“I swear, it wasn’t planned. It just happened spontaneously.”

“Let’s try to keep that from happening again.”

Despite Nevada’s obvious annoyance, Montana grinned. “I’ll do my best.”

OVER THE NEXT WEEK, Simon braced himself for two events that never happened. The first was a final, hard push by the town to convince him to stay. The second was Montana “just happening” to show up in places where he would see her. Because she had to know that every time he looked at her, he wanted her with a desperation that nearly drove him to madness. Neither occurred.

He ran into Mayor Marsha twice, some women from the city council once and played golf with Josh, Ethan and Raoul Moreno, the former NFL quarterback who was married to Pia. No one mentioned that he was leaving or hinted at one reason why he should stay. Josh even asked about his next assignment, and the four men debated the merits of working in the States versus traveling to Pakistan.

He didn’t get it. He knew he would be an asset to the community, that the new hospital would have state-of-the-art facilities that would tempt any medical professional. Arranging to have patients come to him instead of the other way around added a layer of logistics, but was somewhat doable. He knew—he’d seen multiple presentations on the process over the years. Still, they were all silent on the subject.

He also hadn’t run into Montana anywhere. Once, leaving the hospital, he thought he caught sight of her turning the corner, but he wasn’t sure and by the time he’d reached the corner himself, she was gone. Although Cece showed up regularly in Kalinda’s room, Montana remained elusive. The one time he’d hung around until it was time for the dog to be picked up, he’d met her boss instead. Max Thurman had been the one retrieving the dog.

He’d gone so far as to question Reese, a regular visitor, about how his aunt was. The kid had blinked at him. “Which one?”