Out of the Storm (Buckhorn, Montana #1) - B.J. Daniels Page 0,1

he’d whispered next to her ear. “You will take it off when you’re ready to wear the engagement ring I’m going to put on that lovely finger.” He had leaned back to look into her eyes, and she’d felt her heart swell with love for this man who had come into her life so unexpectedly.

She’d almost given up, believing that she couldn’t love again after Danny. For years after his death, her life had been full with raising their two girls alone and working to support the three of them. But now Danielle was almost through with college and Mia had a successful career as a graphic artist. Both had their own apartments. It seemed as if suddenly Kate had found herself with too much time on her hands, living alone in a home too large for just her.

After some disastrous dates, Kate had told herself that she didn’t need a man, which was true—at least financially. She’d found she had a talent for writing. As a ghost writer, she’d made a name for herself writing other people’s stories. She’d never had to touch the money she’d gotten from the death benefit the oil company had paid on Daniel. Invested all these years, it had multiplied again and again. One day she’d awoken to find herself a wealthy woman who wasn’t even middle-aged—if the statistics were true.

And then she’d met Collin. She’d told herself that she was still young enough to start over. She’d gotten married at seventeen to the love of her life, had her first baby and her second in a two-and-a-half-year span. Daniel had been all of eighteen. By the time she’d given birth to Danielle, he’d been working two jobs to make ends meet. Then the refinery where he worked in Houston had exploded one day, and he and hundreds of others had been...gone.

There had been such confusion after the explosion. Stories of people wandering around, not knowing who they were. Because so many were incinerated in the explosion, it had been impossible to identify the remains. That morning, Danny had gone to work and hadn’t come back.

In her heart, she wanted to believe that he had walked away that day with an injury that had left him not knowing who he was. That’s why he hadn’t come back to her. For a while she’d expected him to show up one day on her doorstep. But he’d never come back.

Her oldest daughter, Mia, had never minced words. “Daddy is gone. You have to accept that. You have to move on.” Her daughters had been happy and maybe a little relieved for her when Kate had told them that she’d met someone.

“Collin’s younger, but just by three years,” Kate had said, feeling giddy and youthful, something she hadn’t felt in years.

“Three years? That’s nothing,” Mia had scoffed.

“So, tell us about him,” Danielle had said, curling up on the couch and looking at her expectantly. Danielle was the romantic in the family.

Kate hadn’t known where to begin. “His name is Collin. He has his own company. He owns numerous small businesses. He’s...enterprising.”

Mia had rolled her eyes. “Really, Mother?”

Danielle had laughed. “It doesn’t matter exactly what he does. Does he make you happy?”

“He makes me laugh,” she’d said and had found herself smiling.

“Good for you, Mom. You deserve this.” Her youngest had taken her hand. “I just want you to be happy. You deserve to enjoy the rest of your life.”

Mia had chimed in. “Just be...careful.”

When the girls had met Collin, she could tell that they’d both been surprised. “He’s so handsome,” Danielle had said with a kind of awe. “Not that we didn’t expect he would be,” she’d added quickly. Even Mia seemed to grudgingly like him. And he had fallen for them as well.

So, now here she was, moving on, she thought as she went upstairs and, taking the well-worn wedding band from the hollow of her palm, placed it gently in her jewelry box. It looked so insignificant and yet just the sight of it made her heart ache for what had been lost.

“Goodbye, my love,” she whispered and closed the jewelry box. Danny would have wanted her to move on years ago. It had taken Collin coming into her life. She felt a bubble of excitement. She could hear him downstairs on the phone. It sounded as if he was making arrangements for their trip before he left for his apartment in the city.

She felt herself smiling again. Collin loved her. And she loved him.