Her Montana Cowboy by Valerie Hansen

Author:Valerie Hansen
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2014-09-09T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

If someone had told Ryan he’d end up attending the biggest church in town soon after arriving in Jasper Gulch, he’d have insisted it was impossible. Now that he was about to, he still could hardly believe it—and he’d almost missed his chance due to a small fire at the fairgrounds. By the time firefighters had put out a smoldering toolshed and had declared the incident nothing but simple vandalism, he’d had little time to shower, shave and change before heading for church.

He and Julie had not spent this particular day together, as in the past and he actually missed her. A lot. Whether or not she had planned it that way, he was so eager to see her again there was no way he was going to skip meeting her, even if he had to go to church.

When he pulled up in front and saw the place, he realized how well the building fit the country atmosphere of Jasper Gulch. The rectangular center section was built of wide planks, stacked like a log cabin, with a weathered, dark patina that complemented the rock vestibule at the very front. The steeple was white, as was the front door, which stood open at the moment.

Ryan eased his pickup into the dry-dirt lot, taking care to stir up as little dust as possible. There was Julie’s truck! And there she was, too, standing on the plank walkway and shading her eyes, hopefully looking for him. For the first time since they’d met she wasn’t wearing jeans, and although her skirt was long he could see her feet and ankles. She was wearing dressy sandals and a lacy knit vest over a short-sleeved top that really set off her auburn hair and fair complexion.

His heart instantly responded the way it did when the chutes opened and he was catapulted into the rodeo arena. It sped so fast he could feel his galloping pulse without trying.

There were no close spaces open, so Ryan chose one farther out, parked and jogged to Julie.

“Hi! Am I late? There was a fire at the fairgrounds and I got delayed.”

“A fire? Is everybody okay?”

“Fine. No livestock was in danger, either. It looked as if kids might have been hiding in a toolshed to smoke or maybe just wanted to cause trouble. The fire department put the fire out fast.”

“That’s a relief. I hadn’t heard a thing yet, and by the time the rumors reach me they’ll probably say it was a lot worse.”

She eyed his Stetson. “It would probably be easier to leave your hat outside instead of holding it during the service. My truck is closer. Just toss it in there.”

“Okay. Sorry. I told you I wasn’t used to going to church.”

“No problem. Every cowboy needs a hat like that. Just not in church. You’d have remembered. You always took it off in the house.”

“True.” He managed to tear his gaze from her laughing eyes long enough to look around. “How old is this building anyway?”

“Old.

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