Free Last Year's Bride (Montana Born Brides) by Anne McAllister

been different if she’d discovered he really was indifferent. But that night of lovemaking had been anything but indifferent. It had been passionate, emotional—magical.
    And he might have thought it was saying good-bye. But Nell knew better. She knew that it meant their marriage was worth fighting for.
    So here she was, her stomach in knots as the plane bounced down onto the runway, hoping against hope that she could make Cole see sense.
    She hadn ’t heard anything from him since she’d left Marietta over a month ago. When she deliberately didn’t sign the papers, she thought she might. But he had been typically silent. She’d fretted, she’d stewed. But she’d also known she would see him again when they arrived to shoot the episode. She could wait until then, she told herself.
    “ Patience,” her mother always said. “Don’t rush things.”
    Nell found that hard advice to take, but she knew rushing Cole was a bad idea. So she waited. She had only talked to Sadie once since Grant had made the decision to use McCulloughs’ ranch.
    Deb, the production supervisor, had handled all the details. It was her job, after all, and as much as Nell wanted to call Sadie and learn what Cole had said when he found out they were coming, if she wasn’t brave enough to call him directly, she couldn’t call his sister and ask.
    Besides, Sadie had no idea what existed between them. As far as Cole’s sister was concerned, Nell was just the woman Cole went out with for a while. She’d been friendly and glad to see Nell in February, but there was no subtext in their conversation to indicate that Cole had even hinted he’d, oh, just happened to marry Nell ten months or so ago.
    So Nell hadn ’t rung. Not until last Friday when her casual query to Deb about what the rest of the McCulloughs thought of their ranch being selected met with no real answer at all for about the tenth time, Nell hadn’t been able to help herself. She needed a clue. Maybe she was hyping herself into a frenzy over nothing. Maybe Cole was actually pleased.
    Uh-huh.
    So she had called Sadie on the pretext of wanting to make sure that everything was on schedule, to let her know they’d be there Monday afternoon, to see if there were any last minute snafus that she could resolve before they arrived.
    “ Everything’s great,” Sadie said. “Dad painted the bunkhouse inside. The mattresses are here. Gran and I have sorted things out to give the ladies space in the house. Cole and Dad are moving to the cabin.”
    The cabin. Memories of the log cabin where she and Cole had made love the first time flickered through Nell’s head. Firelight. An old iron bed. A faded patchwork crazy quilt. Hard muscles. Rough whiskers. Soft lips. Slick skin. “Ah ... great,” she managed, trying to clear her mind as she asked, “Speaking of, um, Cole, what does he think of us coming.”
    “ Don’t ask,” Sadie replied cheerfully.
    Hence, the knot in Nell ’s stomach.

    Cole had forgotten what a lousy cook his old man was. The smell of burned chili greeted him the minute he opened the door to the cabin was a quick reminder.
    Sam, sock-footed, was scraping the bottom of the cast iron pan on the stove. He looked up, his mouth twisting ruefully as he shrugged. “Got distracted. Sorry. Don’t matter. We can always go eat down at the house.”
    “ No! I mean, no.” Cole moderated his tone. “It’s fine.”
    Better than going down to the house. Nell would be there. Cole was sure of it. He knew that she and her crew were arriving this afternoon. He’d hauled his gear up to the cabin this morning after he’d fed the cattle so his sister would have time to wash the sheets on his bed and turn it into a guest room for one of the women Sadie kept calling ‘the talent.’
    Didn ’t matter to him as long as he could steer clear. But even though he intended to stay away, he couldn’t seem to stop riding near the ridge this afternoon. From there he could see the road that