Good Enough (Meet Me in Montana #3) - Kelly Elliott Page 0,123

snowfall, and it looked like a winter wonderland.

Smiling, I stared out at the same view. They were part of the reason I was drawn to Montana. But the man standing there, telling my father what mountain range he was looking at—he was the reason I had come here. I hadn’t known it at the time, or maybe I had. But Tanner Shaw was one of the reasons I fell for Montana.

My father turned and looked at me. “Well, I certainly see the appeal.”

“Just wait until you see Hamilton. Kaylee is so excited to see you.”

His brows narrowed ever so slightly. “I don’t even know when the last time I saw Kaylee was. I think you were in high school, and she might have been in college.”

I laughed. “Most likely.”

We made our way to Tanner’s truck as my father kept talking. “I haven’t heard or seen her parents in a while either.”

“Kaylee said they were in Austria. Or maybe it was Australia. I don’t remember.”

He let out a halfhearted laugh. “They always did like to travel.”

“Yes, they did,” I replied.

When a silence settled over us, Tanner started to talk. “So, Timberlynn tells me you’re a doctor.”

My father smiled politely. “Yes, I am. Right now, though, I do mostly consulting work for hospitals.”

When we got to Tanner’s truck, Tanner opened the front door for me, held his hand out to help me in, then assisted my father with his suitcase.

“How long will you be able to stay?” I asked my father.

“I’m not sure. I told my secretary to put everything on hold for at least a week.”

I felt Tanner turn and look at me. I was too nervous to meet his gaze.

A week. My father had planned on staying in Hamilton for a least a week. Was he going to try and talk me out of living here? That had to be why he planned on staying so long.

“Well, we’ve got you set up to stay with us, but my folks have also offered the use of their house as well. It’s whatever makes you feel more comfortable.”

“I appreciate that, Tanner. Now, how long have you and my daughter been living together?”

Oh. Shit.

This time I did look at Tanner, who simply took a quick look my way and winked.

“Not that long, sir. I’ve only just recently purchased a cabin that was on my folks’ ranch.”

I let out a nervous laugh. “It’s not a cabin, it’s a log house that sits on a crystal-clear lake. Dad, you should see it. If you thought the mountains outside the airport looked too pretty to be real, wait until you see the Shaw ranch.”

“I’m excited to see it,” my father said.

As we drove, my father asked Tanner questions about what type of ranch his family owned. Did they have cattle? Did they grow things? How long had it been in their family? Then he moved on to Tanner’s recent career.

“You roped cows?”

“Yes, sir, I did. We mostly used Corriente cattle.”

“And you made a decent living at it?”

“I did, yes. I was a four-time WNFR qualifier and won the world championship once.”

“Are you able to make it with that sort of a living?”

My jaw dropped open, and I quickly turned to look at my father. “Dad!”

Tanner laughed. “It’s okay, Timber. And yes, you can make money at it. My career earnings were around one-point-two million, give or take. I also still get asked to do endorsements. I’m set to fly to Colorado for a Wrangler commercial in March.”

This time I looked at Tanner, my jaw even wider open at what he just said. “What?”

I hadn’t even thought of asking Tanner what kind of money he made while roping. It honestly wasn’t even something I thought about. I knew he had money, especially since he paid his folks cash for the lake house. He had never asked about my trust fund, and I had never asked him about his money. It never mattered to me, and I knew it didn’t matter to him.

Tanner didn’t look at me as he said, “Sorry, Timber, I just found out about that this morning. I was going to talk to you about the upcoming trip this evening.”

I laughed. “I’m not surprised about your commercial…or maybe I am.”

He shrugged as if it wasn’t a big deal.

“Have you invested your winnings, Tanner?” my father asked.

“I have, yes, sir. I’ve learned a lot from my older brothers and have taken advice from them and my folks. I bought my house from my parents in cash,