Page 21 of Marrying Mr. Majestic

The worn flannel of his shirt was soft and warm under my fingers. I wanted to grip it and hold it—hold him—for as long as he’d let me. For some reason, he felt like a safe place… which made absolutely no sense when I didn’t even know the man.

When Silas pulled back, I took in a shaky breath in hopes he wouldn’t be able to see how much the hug affected me.

“I’ll do it… on one condition,” he said, sounding almost as affected as I was.

“Anything. Anything you want,” I blurted before remembering Foster’s warning about my ranch and the truck.

“You’ll sign a promise to give me an uncontested divorce, no questions asked, and no financial arrangements or detailed disputes that might slow things down. Agreed?”

I wondered if this was too good to be true. “Agreed,” I said quickly before he learned about the size of my family’s spread.

It didn’t occur to me at the time that he might have had just as much reason to want an easy out with no financial disclosure, and honestly, I didn’t care. Either way, there was no need for either of us to consider any kind of financial arrangement when we’d never intended to get married in the first place. It wasn’t a real marriage of any kind.

Even though for the next couple of months, we were going to pretend it was.

Silas nodded and exhaled, his shoulders lowering as if in relief. “Good. That’s settled. I guess I don’t need to worry about finding a hotel or anything, right?”

I stared at him as the reality of the situation sank in. Silas Concannon was going to come home with me, live with me. Share my tiny, one-bedroom cottage… the place I’d hand built just for myself. The only place on earth where I drew up boundaries and didn’t allow anyone else in.

Silas was going to invade my sanctuary.

EIGHT

SILAS

I agreed to follow Way to his house in my rental car. As I suspected, his was the beat-up Dodge Ram that had been parked out front of City Hall. At least if the old thing died on the way to the ranch, we’d still have my rental to get us the rest of the way.

Staying in someone’s old farmhouse wasn’t exactly my idea of comfort. While I tried not to be a complete snob, I had to admit my wealth had allowed me to live well. I had a spacious penthouse apartment in the city that had been upgraded to include every creature comfort possible, and when I traveled, I usually stayed in high-end hotels.

As we turned off the highway that led out of town, an old timber arch indicated we were entering Fletcher Ranch. Visually, this area was jaw-dropping. Vast, rolling pastureland spread outward for miles in every direction, dotted here and there with large swaths of trees as well as horses of all sizes and color patterns. Other than an attempt at learning how to play polo from my friend Dev, I had very little familiarity with horses.

The deep blue sky seemed to go on for miles, something I’d noticed on the drive down from Billings. What this part of the country lacked in conveniences, it more than made up for in beauty. In the distance, mountains retained white peaks, and I suspected even the early May warmth wouldn’t be enough to melt them anytime soon.

My rental car bumped over the uneven gravel drive as we curved around more fenced pastures. I was surprised by the size of the ranch as well as the quantity of horses, especially considering Way was handling ranch operations while also juggling his mayoral duties. He’d talked about his never-ending schedule, about how he essentially worked two full-time jobs, but seeing this place drove the point home.

Kenji’s initial investigation had shown Way’s annual salary as mayor was a grand total of twenty thousand dollars a year, which wasn’t enough to live on comfortably, even if the ranch was debt-free… which it wasn’t. In fact, the land had been mortgaged to the hilt only a few years ago. It seemed he and his siblings had been working hard to pay down the loan, but at the rate they were going, it would take a while.

According to Kenji’s report, the ranch business itself had become more profitable in recent years, and I was starting to realize that was most likely due to Way’s sheer determination to do right by everyone and work his ass off. The effort was obviously taking a toll on him.

In the distance, I spotted a wide, sprawling farmhouse that looked well-maintained. Instead of being the white clapboard structure I’d teased him about, it was constructed with brown timber. Otherwise, it had the same deep front porch and dormer windows I would have expected in an old farmhouse. Several outbuildings dotted the area around it, and I anticipated learning what each one was for.

So when we drove right past the driveway leading to the house, I was surprised.

The gravel road wound deeper onto the property, past a large barn and metal shed, past several horse rings and smaller paddock-type areas, until finally curving around a small hill and cutting through a thick stand of aspen trees.

There, in a clearing in the trees, sat a small cabin nestled perfectly several hundred yards back in the curve of a large, fast-moving river, beyond which lay a stunning view of the mountains. It was clear how the town had gotten its name when that view could be seen from practically everywhere in the area of Majestic.

The cabin itself was made from weathered gray timbers and sported a light blue metal roof with a stacked stone chimney on one side. It was something out of a fairytale. The dwelling was tiny, but it had a curved portico, creating a welcoming front entry space big enough to host a rustic wooden bench and a planter overflowing with pink and purple flowers. The columns holding up the portico seemed to be rounded and carved like old bedposts and painted with a weathered gray-blue that matched the rest of the house.

The front door was glass-paned, and there were several windows on the front and side of the house that I could see. The area around the cabin was neat and tidy, with only the barest glimpse of a wooden storage shed out back before the aspen forest continued.

When Way parked and exited his truck, he seemed nervous. He settled his hat on his head but then lifted it to resettle it.

“This is amazing,” I said, excited to see the inside. “Is this where you live?” I honestly couldn’t imagine it was big enough for the two of us to share comfortably, so I wasn’t sure if maybe it was a guest cottage he was putting me up in.

He nodded and chewed on his lower lip before squinting back at the cabin as if trying to see it through my eyes.

“It’s really something,” I added. “The views are unbelievable. I can see why you picked this spot. And the ranch itself is beautiful. I’d love a tour at some point, but I know you’re busy.”

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