Taming the Mountain Man (Tamarack Ridge Romances Book 3) Read online

  “Sometimes it just doesn’t work out.”

  “So one girl broke your heart and that makes you not relationship material forevermore?” Jennica asked.

  Jack gave a quick shake of his head, as if trying to clear away a meddlesome fly. “Is this relevant? I can’t imagine anyone at the wedding is going to dig this deep.”

  Jennica paused. For a moment there, she’d forgotten this was just for pretend. She really wanted to know what happened. Why he was still alone? He was only thirty-two, yet he acted like that part of his life was completely over.

  “You’re right,” she finally said. “Sorry. Guess I got carried away.”

  “Don’t worry about it. I’ll see you later.”

  She knew when she was being dismissed. “Thanks for lunch. I’ll be in touch about the wedding plans.”

  He scrubbed one hand down his beard and nodded as she climbed out of the truck and went back to work.

  Chapter Seven

  Jennica wrinkled her nose as she smeared the gooey charcoal mask over her cheeks. It was sticky and cold and very, very black. She’d pulled her hair back into a low ponytail, but there were still loose strands that got caught in the charcoal. She brushed them back impatiently. The back of the package had promised a glowing, purified complexion, and after this much trouble, it had better deliver.

  And it had better not make her break out. It was only three days before the wedding, and she definitely didn’t want Jack seeing her with a rogue acne cluster.

  She paused, aware that her first worry about acne had been Jack seeing her, not her crowd of relatives. Her mind flashed back to the way the sunshine had glinted on his dark brown hair at Fred’s, the teasing light in his eyes, the way that light had died at the mention of a relationship.

  His words echoed through her mind. I’m not relationship material.

  She startled at a heavy knock on the front door, and under the mask, her reflection in the mirror scowled. Who came visiting unannounced at seven o’clock on a Wednesday morning? Grandma was still asleep.

  She put a gentle finger to her cheek and quickly pulled it back when she felt the tacky charcoal. It wasn’t ready to come off yet, so whoever was at the door would have to deal.

  The knock came again.

  “Okay, coming!” Jennica hurried down the hallway, whisked the door open, and gave a startled gasp.

  It was Jack. His eyes widened when he saw her; then he chuckled. “Wow. Guess I should have called first.”

  Jennica ducked her head, and her face burned so hot beneath the mask she was afraid it would melt away. “I was just … it’s a beauty treatment,” she explained lamely.

  “I figured,” Jack said. “Maybe not the right look for a wedding, but I’m sure you’ll make it work.”

  “What are you doing here?” she asked, deciding to go on the offensive.

  “I’ve got Lincoln with me.” He jerked his thumb toward his truck in the driveway. “Thought we’d get going on those trees.”

  “Lincoln?” Jennica glanced toward the truck, where the silhouette of another man sat in the passenger seat.

  “Guy from work,” Jack said. “He offered to help.”

  “That’s really nice and all, but it’s early and this is a neighborhood of old people,” Jennica said. “If you start sawing down trees, you’re going to wake them up with the racket.”

  “This is the only time I have. Besides, we’ll need about an hour to get set up, and we can haul the press to the truck to kill a few more minutes.” The grin was back, tugging at the corners of his mouth. “How long is that thing supposed to stay on your face?”

  The mask was sticky and had turned icy cold in the morning air. The image of how she must look made her cringe. “I don’t know. Probably ten more minutes.”

  “We’ll get to work and you can come check on us later, after the beauty treatment,” Jack suggested.

  Jennica shut the door and listened to the sounds of them unloading gear from the truck. Through the window, she heard muffled voices—Jack’s low tones, and Lincoln’s unfamiliar voice. The rumble of laughter coming from Jack made her cringe. Were they laughing at her?

  Well, who cared what he thought? She shouldn’t … didn’t. Besides, with that beard, he had no room to criticize.

  She paced around the house, peeking at them through the curtains, watching as they discussed the trees. Jack pointed at the overhanging limbs and said something to Lincoln, who nodded. He was about the same height as Jack but not quite as broad-shouldered and looked every bit the lumberjack in his thick work coveralls and heavy boots.

  By the time the charcoal mask had dried, the men had loaded the press into the bed of the truck and set up their equipment for the tree trimming. Jennica quickly pulled the sticky black mess off her face and changed out of her pajamas into jeans and a long, thick sweater. When she poked her head outside, Lincoln was already up in the tree and they had pulley lines stretching from the dead limbs to the ground. She blinked. This wasn’t a simple operation at all.

  “Hey! There you are.” Jack grinned when he saw her on the back porch. He wore jeans and a sweatshirt and was tying a chainsaw to a rope.

  Jennica crossed her arms against the chill and eyed the tree where Lincoln waved from, as casually as if he were on the ground, not fifty feet in the air. “Looks like you guys know what you’re doing,” she said.

  Jack scoffed. “Did you doubt me?”

  “I didn’t think it’d be this complicated,” she admitted.

  “Well, yeah. You don’t cut huge limbs off trees without taking some precautions,” he said.

  “Should I get Grandma out of the house?” The thought of a limb crashing through the roof made her mouth go dry.

  “Not yet,” Jack said. “The only one that could possibly hit the house is that spruce.” He pointed to the pine nearest the house. “We’ll do these smaller ones first, and I’ll let you know when we’re on to the big one.”

  Smaller ones was a relative term. The tree Lincoln sat in was still huge.

  “Grandma said she and Grandpa planted most of these when they built the house,” Jennica said. She’d seen pictures of them standing by the front porch when the white siding was new and gleaming. The trees had been tiny then. “I wonder if they ever thought they’d get this big,” Jennica said.

  Jack looked at her sharply. “You okay?”

  “Yeah, why?”

  “I don’t know, you seemed kind of sad there for a minute.”

  Was she? The thought of Grandma as a young bride, planting trees and dreaming dreams, made her heart ache. Had all her dreams come true?

  “Hey!” Lincoln yelled from high in the tree. “Are you sending that saw up or what?”

  “Sorry.” Jack pulled his eyes away from Jennica’s to call back to Lincoln. “On the way now.” He sent her an apologetic look. “We’d better get started.”

  Jennica nodded. “Want some help?”

  “Nah, we got it,” Jack said.

  By the time they were ready to start sawing, Grandma was up, moving slowly through the kitchen. Jennica made her tea and toast, and they sat and watched Jack and Lincoln. Well, Jennica mostly watched Jack, justifying that she couldn’t really see Lincoln since he was up in the tree. Jack had taken his sweatshirt off and wore only a thin T-shirt in spite of the cold. The fabric stretched tightly across his shoulders and chest, defining the muscles underneath and making her throat feel tight.

  The saw roared and the muscles in Jack’s arms flexed as he pulled on the ropes. A few minutes later, the dead limb came crashing onto the lawn.

  “Goodness,” Grandma said. “That looks very dangerous.”

  “They work for the lumberyard, remember?” Jennica said.

  “I thought he was a dentist?” Grandma’s eyebrows were drawn in confusion.

  “That’s Josh; this is Jack.” Jennica waved her hand toward the window. “I don’t date Josh anymore.”

  “Oh, so you’re dating this young man?” Grandm
a nodded. “He seems very nice. I like him.”

  Jennica gave her a small smile. It didn’t seem worth clarifying, especially since they’d be at the wedding together in a few days, most definitely pretending to be on a date. It was probably better if Grandma did think they were dating; she’d be the only one to blow their cover if not.

  “Yeah,” Jennica said. “We’ve been out a few times. He’s a nice guy.”

  “I’d say better than a nice guy,” Grandma said, tipping her head to one side.

  “What makes you think that?”

  “Honey, you just lit up like a sparkler talking about him.”

  Jennica shook her head. “No … that’s not … It must be the charcoal mask I put on this morning; it’s supposed to make my skin glow.”

  Grandma gave her a small chuckle. “You’re glowing, all right, but I don’t think any mask thing is to blame. I think it has more to do with that handsome young man out there in my yard.” She gave a thoughtful frown. “It sure is nice of him to do all that work. Tells me he must think quite a lot of you too.”

  “He’s doing it in exchange for the press in the garage, remember?” Jennica said.

  “Oh, I remember.” Grandma grinned. “But I don’t think that’s all it is.”

  Chapter Eight

  It was the day before the wedding. The trees in Grandma Ruby’s yard were trimmed and the press sat in a place of honor in Jack’s workshop. He’d been right about the hydraulic hoses, just hadn’t had time to replace them yet.

  Jack leaned on one elbow against the counter at TR’s, stacking bottles of Powerbait into a pyramid. Sometimes it was a pain not having a cellphone, but it did give him a good excuse to come see Jennica in person instead of texting her.

  Though … he stacked another bottle as a dart of unease danced in his stomach. It was becoming far too easy to find excuses to see Jennica. In the past week, he’d made more trips into town than he usually did in a month. And all of them had had something to do with her.

  “Okay, let’s go over the plan for tomorrow,” Jennica said. She looked cute today in her green TR’s shirt with her red hair in a loose braid down her back. He wanted to reach out and brush his fingertips along the freckles dotting her cheekbones.

  “The whole thing is at the Peterborough Mansion in Great Falls,” she continued, apparently oblivious to the desire crashing through him. “Ceremony is at one, but we should probably be there a little early. After that, there’s a luncheon, then pictures, then the reception starts at six.”

  “Wait … pictures?” Jack looked up from his bait pyramid. “We’re in the wedding party?”

  “No.” Jennica shook her head. “But we’ll have to have a few big family pictures, so you’d better brush up on your smile.”

  “Whoa.” He knit his eyebrows. “You never said anything about pictures.”

  “They always want a few with all the wedding guests. We can stand in the back,” Jennica assured him. “I have a huge family; it’s not like anyone will notice us.”

  “Some people are bound to notice us,” Jack said. “Your siblings, for example. They knew me; I even went to school with a couple of them. What are you going to tell them?”

  She added a can of bait to his pyramid and wouldn’t meet his eyes. “I haven’t decided yet.”

  “Can’t you simply say we’re friends?”

  A look he couldn’t quite interpret washed across her face, turning the freckles brighter. “I … can we tell them we’re in a relationship?” Jennica finally asked. “I know it’s kind of weird, but my family … half of them think I’m already engaged to Josh, and so to go from that to just friends would be …” She flapped her hands nervously.

  The vice in his chest twisted, the way it always did when someone mentioned the R word. Relationship—so loaded with nuance, and disaster. He stared at the counter, fighting the urge to turn and run out of the door.

  “Excuse me.” They both jumped as a middle-aged man approached. “I’m looking for a dehydrator to make jerky. Do you have any?”

  Jennica sent Jack an apologetic look before turning to the customer. “Sure. This way.” She stepped from behind the counter and led the man to toward the hunting section. The back pockets of her jeans were covered in silvery embroidery, rhinestones, and a bunch of other nonsense that couldn’t be comfortable to sit on. But comfort was probably a secondary objective. The bling was probably to draw attention to her shapely backside and the curve of her hips.

  It worked. Jack quickly pulled his eyes back to the stack of bait bottles they’d created on the counter.

  Within a few minutes, Jennica was back. She’d left the customer examining the dehydrators.

  “Okay,” he said with a deep breath. “We can tell them we’re in a relationship. But it has to be in the early stages. I don’t want anyone making assumptions.”

  “Deal,” Jennica said. She sighed deeply. “Then the only thing left is shaving.” She gave his beard a quick once-over.

  He hadn’t forgotten, exactly, that he’d promised to shave. More like blocked it out. The ring of Damascus steel sounded in his mind. “Right,” he said, squaring his shoulders. If this was what it took to get one step closer to his dream, he’d do it. “How much do you want off?”

  Her eyes narrowed as she examined his beard. “I’m not sure. It might depend on the haircut.”

  “Now I’m getting a haircut too?” Jack demanded. When it was down, his hair fell just below his shoulders, though he usually kept it pulled back in an elastic and secured with a baseball cap.

  “They kind of go together, don’t they?” Jennica insisted.

  He sighed. “Fine. Can I use the phone? I’ll see if Leo has an opening today.” Leo ran the small barbershop next to the grocery store and had been in charge of Jack’s infrequent haircuts as long as he could remember.

  Jennica’s eyes widened. “You don’t have an appointment yet?”

  “It’s fine. Leo can always fit me in.”

  “What if he can’t?” She reached out and brushed her fingertips against the tips of his whiskers.

  It was only hair; there were no nerve endings in it. So why did he suddenly feel like sparks would come flying out of his beard like they did when he took a hammer to a billet of glowing metal?

  “Will you be home tonight?” Jennica asked. “Why don’t I see if Astrid Martingale can come do it?”

  “Astrid?” The name was unfamiliar to Jack.

  “We went to beauty school together, before I dropped out.”

  Another piece of the Jennica puzzle clicked into place. “Why’d you drop out?” Jack asked.

  “I decided beauty school isn’t my thing. You should have heard my mother.” Jennica twisted her fingers together. “Actually, no. You should still hear my mother. She’s not over it, so make sure you don’t bring that up at the wedding.”

  “Thanks for the tip. Anything else I should know?”

  Jennica sighed. “Do you have somewhere to take notes?”

  Jack’s eyebrows went skyward. “I don’t like the sound of that.”

  “It’s just dumb family stuff. Like don’t talk to Mom about beauty school or offer Grandma a wheelchair no matter how tired she looks. And don’t mention my nephew AJ’s autism, and …” She trailed off and sent him a helpless look. “This isn’t going to work, is it?”

  “Not if you’re trying to convince them we’re almost engaged,” Jack said.

  “It’ll be okay,” she said, seeming to switch gears. “We can keep to ourselves and try not to socialize. You can just stand there and be man candy.”

  Jack chuckled. “Man candy? But only if I shave, right?”

  “Well …” She eyed his beard again. “It does look kind of like a broom.”

  His eyes widened. “Broom?”

  Jennica waved her arm toward the camping section. “We have some old-fashioned straw brooms in stock. Go compare for yourself.”

  Jack drew himself up to his full height. “My beard does not l
ook like a broom,” he said with dignity.

  “Maybe you’re right,” she said, narrowing her eyes. “It’s more like bad Brad Pitt than a broom.”

  “Wait. There’s a bad Brad Pitt? Isn’t he on every girl’s top ten hottie list?”

  Jennica picked up her phone from where it sat near the register. It was covered in a glittery blue protective case that for some reason made him want to stare into her eyes. She swiped a few times, then turned the phone and presented it to him.

  An image of Brad Pitt filled the screen, and Jack had to admit it was bad Brad. His dirty blond hair looked greasy and hung in his eyes in long clumps. His beard was curly, shot with gray, and scraggly. The two sides hung down longer than the middle, making Jack think of goat horns.

  Not a good look.

  “This was in prep for a movie role, so he gets a little bit of a pass,” Jennica said, taking the phone away. Her eyes sparkled with mischief. “Unfortunately, we don’t have a similar excuse for you.”

  Jack swallowed. He worked all day in the yard and then spent most of the night in his workshop. The only time he thought much about his beard was if there was a chance he could catch it on fire when he got too close to the forge.

  “Astrid works at Guys and Gals,” Jennica went on. She still had her phone, and her fingers started flying over the screen. “I’ll text her and see what time she’s off.”

  Guys and Gals was a local beauty shop and definitely not frequented by Jack. He shook his head, accepting his fate. “What are you going to tell her?”

  He’d meant to ask what would Jennica tell Astrid about their relationship, but Jennica threw him a saucy grin, her blue eyes sparkling. “I’ll tell her we’re taming a mountain man.”

  Chapter Nine

  “You’re kidding. Jack Hale?”

  Jennica took a deep breath. “Yes. Now do you see why I need your help?”

  “Well, obviously,” Astrid’s voice said over the phone. “But I don’t own a pair of hedge clippers, and I don’t know if my regular clippers are up to that big of a challenge.”