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Lieutenant Jack Sanders walked into the empty conference room at USSOCOM in Tampa, Florida, crossed to his desk and set a breakfast sandwich and a bottle of orange juice from a fast-food restaurant down by his computer monitor. He took a quick look around to make sure he was alone, kissed the palm of his hand and touched it to the photograph that hung close by.
“Hello, baby girl,” he said softly to the image of Alice Reed, with a silent nod to Logan Hughes, the cocky man who’d started this silly tradition. He’d been surprised how much he’d missed Logan since General Reed had sent him to Montana. He’d missed all the men who’d been in the General’s bogus Joint Task Force for Inter-branch Communication Clarity. One by one, the General had sent them to Chance Creek. He’d sent Brian Lake, a Navy SEAL, to marry his oldest daughter, Cass; Connor O’Riley, a Pararescueman, to marry Sadie; Hunter Powell, a Navy SEAL sniper, to marry his youngest, Jo; and Logan, who was a Marine, to marry Lena.
Now it was Jack’s turn to go to Montana. Soon he’d be with the other men again, and he knew he could work with them. That wasn’t the problem.
Could he marry Alice Reed? Spend a lifetime with a woman he didn’t even know yet?
More to the point—could he love her?
Could she love him?
If the answer was no, was he willing to give up his chance at future happiness to clear his name?
Jack knew he had unrealistic expectations when it came to marriage. His birth parents had set the bar so high—at least in his memory—their example was impossible to meet. He’d never doubted their love for each other, or for him. His impression of his early years was all unrelenting blue skies and happiness. A huge ranch to roam, a father to show him how to ride and rope, a mother who gave him plenty of hugs and kisses. Ranch hands and hired help equally disposed to shower him with attention and praise.
It wasn’t that he’d been spoiled. Jack had worked hard alongside his parents at their tasks. Both of them had demanded that he pay attention and learn when it was time for such things. Still, they had plenty of energy left over for laughter, games… fun.
His parents’ love for each other was equally clear. He remembered them holding hands. Kissing. Their faces brightening when they caught sight of each other—the same way their faces had brightened when they caught sight of him.
He’d learned early such happiness couldn’t last—
And that most families, while loving, weren’t anything like the one he’d known when he was young.
He’d been lucky to know such a life at all, he told himself. Lucky, too, with the home he’d found once his parents were gone. His adopted parents, Richard and Janet Drake, cared deeply for each other, and for him, even if they didn’t extend the kind of boisterous love that made you utterly certain of your place in the world.
Jack didn’t blame them for that. He’d watched other couples through the years and realized few of them possessed what his parents had. When he was younger, he’d told himself he’d hold out for it. Search the world for the woman who’d spark the kind of understanding, respect and mutual passion that could coalesce into a joyful commitment like his folks’.
Now that he was older, he realized it wasn’t likely he’d find such a woman—especially not now he was being forced into an arranged marriage.
Better to focus on his other goals. Clearing his name. Making sure he didn’t humiliate the good people who’d raised him. He’d already let Richard down in his choice of career. If he left the military a failure, it would render useless all the time and effort he and Janet had expended bringing him up.
He had to succeed at this one last mission. Had to trust he could be a good husband no matter what. He’d learned everything he could about Alice Reed—
Which had only made things worse. Alice was lovely and talented, and like Janet, ambitious. Jack knew what that meant. There was nothing wrong with talent and ambition, but you had to understand the trade-offs. Long hours at work meant fewer hours for the people who loved you. Janet’s career was crucial to the security of the United States. Richard was busy with his own career and didn’t mind Janet’s absences—he was hardly around himself.
Jack wanted something different. The kind of marriage his birth parents had. They’d worked the ranch together. Saw each other all the time. Spent long evenings on the back porch together. Walked through life side by side.
He wanted his wife’s face to light up like his mom’s had whenever his dad came into the room, and he couldn’t fool himself into believing a woman like Alice would ever light up like that for him.
It was time for him to grow up and face facts. Live in the present, rather than in some glorified past.
He’d been grateful he was the last of the men the General was sending to Two Willows, but now the day had come, he wondered if it would have been better to be the first. If he failed now, it would affect all the others. Brian was happily married to Cass, and Cass was already almost five months pregnant. Connor loved Sadie, and Hunter thought the sun rose and set over Jo. Now Logan was marrying Lena.
If Jack didn’t marry Alice, the whole house of cards would come tumbling down.
Marrying the Reed women was the mission. The prize for successful completion was part ownership in Two Willows. Jack didn’t think any of the other men had needed that extra inducement by the time they married their brides. All of them had truly been in love by then, by their own admission. Still, the Reed women loved their ranch. If Jack failed to marry Alice—
And the General stuck to his ultimatum—
None of them would have a home.
What would that do to his friends’ happy marriages?
He had to succeed—for everyone’s sake. It was as simple as that. It didn’t matter that Alice was so beautiful she could have her pick of men, or that she’d been recently hurt by a boyfriend who had dated her to get access to her ranch, or that she was ambitious enough to be going after a position as lead costume designer for a Hollywood movie—and therefore probably had little time or energy to create the kind of life he’d hoped for with a woman.
Jack was a realist, and he was willing to give up his childish ideas about marriage in order to clear his name, but one thing about Alice tripped him up and made him wonder if they could be compatible at all.
Alice thought she could see the future—and she’d convinced just about everyone around her to believe it, too.
Jack was a stickler for facts and truth. Could he marry a woman who lived a lie?
When his phone buzzed in his pocket, Jack grabbed it with relief, although he sighed when he saw the name on the screen. It was Richard Drake. The man who’d rescued him, raised him—and would be mighty pissed if he knew how badly Jack had messed things up.
Jack accepted the call, and Richard’s voice boomed in his ear. “What’s this about a trip to Montana? You’re not due for leave. And I can’t find any record of a Joint Special Task Force for Inter-Branch Communication Clarity, either. I smell a rat, Jack.”
Nothing got by him. Jack didn’t know why he’d even tried to pass this assignment off as something normal. “It’s an unusual situation.”
“How did you get involved?”
“How do you think? I was ordered here.” Jack wasn’t going to get into particulars. He hoped like hell Richard hadn’t been able to uncover the “task force’s” true purpose. “It’s not leave. The General has had some trouble at his ranch.” Maybe that would satisfy him.
“Two Willows. Read all about it. Looks like some bad characters have been trying to move into Chance Creek lately. Strange, though, the pattern of attacks on the ranch. They’re not very rational.”
“I don’t think we’re dealing with a rational enemy,” Jack said, falling easily into the kind of shop-talk in which he and Richard spent most of their time communicating.
Richard hadn’t been the first on the scene at the murder of Jack’s parents in New Mexico—he worked in Washington, DC, but was in town on an unrelated case at the time. He’d been invited by one of the local departments to come along because the murders had been so unusual, and he’d arrived at a moment when Jack’s life hung in the balance between helplessness and action. Richard had given him the tools he needed to survive, thrive and be a force for good. Without his influence, Jack wasn’t sure where he’d have ended up.
When Richard and Janet offered to adopt him, Jack had joined their family willingly. His new parents had loved him and done their best to raise him right, even if their careers often kept them on the run. It had taken years for Jack to put together what it was they actually did. Over time, he realized that the bland job titles they’d repeated so many times covered up their true positions. Richard worked for the FBI as an intelligence analyst. Janet, though a warm and loving mother at home, filled a far more shadowy position with the Bureau that kept her away sometimes for weeks. He respected them for what they gave to their country. Wished he measured up.
“You can save people with a mind like that,” Richard had told Jack early on. “You notice everything. Remember everything. That’s a gift.”
Jack had wanted to save people. He’d gratefully learned every lesson Richard had to share, and when his new father ran out of things to teach him, he’d joined the Army and the Special Forces, looking to take that purpose further. Richard would have preferred for Jack to follow in his own footsteps—or Janet’s—and reminded him of that often. Janet, when she was around to hear the conversations, told Richard to let Jack have his own way. “We don’t choose our passions, or our abilities, Richard,” she’d say.
Somehow that made Jack feel worse.
Now the Army was kicking him out. What would his parents think of that?
“I think you’re right,” Richard said. “Whoever is behind all this isn’t rational. There’s something more going on here.”
“Desperation,” Jack said. He’d sensed it for months as the attacks on Two Willows escalated. “They’re not getting more organized; they’re getting more desperate.” He wasn’t surprised Richard knew all about Two Willows and the trouble there. As soon as Jack got reassigned to the General’s command, his pop would have looked into every aspect of the man. Richard dealt in information, and he was constantly collecting facts.
“A desperate man is a dangerous man,” Richard said. “But I didn’t think generals got to send men on personal missions.”
“I don’t think anyone other than Reed would get away with it.” Jack had no idea how the General was managing it. Didn’t want to think about it too much, either. All he wanted was an honorable way out. A chance to start over. A chance to go back to his roots. Richard wouldn’t think much of his desire to start ranching, but ranching was all Jack could think about these days.
“Are you in trouble?”
Richard’s question knocked the wind out of Jack’s sails, although it shouldn’t have, since this was his pop to a T. He put clues together until he had a picture he could understand.
“I can’t talk about it.” Jack prayed that would put an end to this line of questioning. Knew it wouldn’t, though.
“Jack, if there’s something I can do—”
“It’s just an assignment. I’ve got it under control.” A lie. A desperate lie, even. Jack glanced at Alice’s photograph. Was she mocking him? She looked like she was mocking him. Maybe he’d studied the ranch and its surroundings, the men who’d attacked it and the men the General had sent to defend his daughters. Maybe he’d done every bit of research and reconnaissance he could.
That didn’t mean he could win the enigmatic woman staring back at him.
Did she know he was coming for her?
Probably. After watching the General send men home to marry her sisters, she’d know what to expect.
Jack had no doubt she was smart. She’d fooled everyone into believing she could see the future, after all. He’d bet his life Alice’s premonitions were based on the same kind of fact-finding, minutiae-noting, pattern-matching brain he had. He was looking forward to comparing notes.
“Jack—”
“Gotta go.” Jack hung up. What else could he do? If he didn’t manage to marry Alice—and solve the mystery of who was coming after Two Willows once and for all—he’d let down the Army, the General, himself—and his family.
He couldn’t do that.
Which meant he needed to get on that plane. Now.
Shoving his phone in his pocket, he walked the perimeter of the room, closing the blinds, running his eye once more over the charts and maps—and photographs—that lined the walls. This was goodbye to USSOCOM, to his career as he’d known it—to his past.
He stopped in front of Alice’s photograph one last time. “Hello, baby girl. I’m coming to see you today.”
She didn’t answer, and Jack felt foolish. He marched toward the door and flipped off the lights but hesitated, his hand on the doorknob. He didn’t want to leave Alice’s photograph behind. One way or another, she was his future.
He was going to keep an eye on her.
He turned again, crossed the room and grabbed the framed picture. As he shut the office door behind him, a man flagged him down. “Sanders? Hold up a minute.”
There was a tightness in his voice. A pen tucked behind his ear. A phone in one hand, a folder in the other. Jack would bet he’d been carrying that folder when he answered the call that had put him in such a panic.
Bad news. Jack could read it in his eyes. Bad news that concerned someone the man counted on.
“What happened to the General?” Jack snapped.
“How did you know—?” The man shook his head. “It was a missile. It hit the compound. The General’s alive,” he said to forestall Jack’s question. “But he’s hurt. He’s been transported to the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center with the rest of the injured. He’s heading into surgery.”
“I’m on my way to the airport—to Chance Creek.”
“Understood. We’ll keep relaying you information as soon as we get it.”
“How much danger is he in?” Jack couldn’t believe it. The General taken down by a missile strike? He understood the corporal’s shakiness. The General was the sun around which they all orbited. They depended on him to remain fixed in the firmament.
“Unknown, sir.”
Jack’s stomach sank. How would he face the General’s daughters with this news?
“How did it happen?”
Alice Reed stood in the freezing darkness knee-deep in the snow, shining a flashlight on the water streaming from one of the spigots outside the old farmhouse she and her sisters had lived in all their lives. Two Willows was over a hundred years old, and so was the house, which meant sometimes emergencies like this one happened. Still, she had no idea what would make a spigot break at four in the morning.
“I don’t know,” Connor O’Riley said. Connor was married to her sister, Sadie, but apparently Sadie had slept through the excitement. He bent down nearby to get a better look, gently pushing his dog, Max, out of the way. “It must have just broken. We need to get the water turned off.”
“Shouldn’t it already have been shut off for the winter?” Alice asked. Usually Cass was the one who took care of things like that. She couldn’t imagine her careful sister wouldn’t have shut it down at the end of fall, but then things had been pretty unsettled around Two Willows for months. Maybe she’d simply forgotten.
“Is there a shut-off in the basement?” Logan Hughes asked. He was marrying Lena today. Alice could understand the worry in his voice.
“I think so.”
“I’ll go find it.” He hurried around the corner toward the back door. Alice had woken to hear him and Connor talking in low tones in the hall a few minutes ago and had followed them outside to see what was the matter.
“Sounded like an explosion when it happened,” Connor told her, keeping the dog back from the gushing water.
“I’ve never heard of something like this.”
“Pipes freeze now and then.”
“But taps don’t just fall off. Besides, if the water was frozen, it wouldn’t gush out like this.” Alice hugged her arms to her chest. It was one of the coldest nights they’d had this year. “I hope we can get a plumber out.”
“We’ll call first thing in the morning. I’m sure we’ll get it fixed.”
Alice wasn’t as confident. A few months back, when Cass had been renovating the first-floor bathroom, she’d complained about how Walter Eddings, their usual plumber, was booked for weeks, and had ended up doing the work herself. Alice could only hope things had slowed down for the man since then. She didn’t think Cass could replace a spigot—not while preparing for Lena’s wedding.
“The water’s stopping.” Connor pointed as the gush turned into a trickle and died away. “Good ol’ Logan.”
Logan reappeared a few moments later. “I got the water shut off, but the valve’s leaking inside. We’d better get a plumber out as soon as we can. I’m afraid it’s going to get worse.”
“Today of all days for this to happen,” Alice said. “The house will be full of guests later.”
Connor patted her arm. “Leave it to me. You make sure Lena’s ready for her wedding. I’ll keep an eye on the leak until the plumber comes—and an eye on Logan here. Make sure he doesn’t get cold feet.”
“My feet are freezing already.” Logan indicated their snowy surroundings with a sweep of his hands. “But I fully intend to marry Lena today. No worries there. Go get some sleep now,” he said to Alice.
“I’ll try.” Alice wasn’t at all sure she’d be able to go back to sleep, though. The sense of dread that had plagued her for weeks was even stronger this morning. Something bad was going to happen. She just hoped they made it through the wedding before it did.
She’d always gotten flashes and hunches about the future. Unfortunately, her visions were rarely clear. This was one of the murky ones. Just a feeling, nothing concrete.
“Any news from the General?” Logan asked as they headed toward the house.
“No.” None of them had heard from him since he’d gone abroad a few weeks ago. The General had traveled all over the world during his career, and she’d never worried about him like this before. Years ago, when he’d entered the service, her mother had made a kind of deal with the land. She’d never set foot off Two Willows while he was gone, and the General would come home unharmed.
When she’d died, Alice and her sisters had worked together to honor their mother’s superstition. They made it a practice to check in with one another when they left the ranch, always making sure one of them stayed put.
Until Alice had ruined everything. A few weeks ago, she’d assumed Jo was still in the barn and hadn’t checked before she’d gone to run some errands. Only when she met up with all her sisters in town—including Jo—did she realize her mistake.
They’d rushed home, but it was too late. The damage was done—
Except they didn’t know what that damage was yet. They’d gotten no word from the General himself, and the Army refused to tell them where he’d gone.
“Go to bed, lass,” Connor said softly when they reached the back door, his Irish accent rising to the fore in the way it did every now and then. “Everything is going to be okay.”
“I hope so,” she said as they made their way inside, Max trotting obediently after Connor, but she didn’t believe it for a minute, and although she did go right back to bed, she didn’t fall asleep again.
Several hours later, she was sitting in her favorite spot in the kitchen on top of the refrigerator, eating a slice of toast and petting her white cat, Tabitha, when someone knocked on the back door.
“Who could that be at this hour?” Cass asked. She was frying bacon, her hair tucked into a messy bun at the back of her head, an apron tied over her jeans and thick sweater.
“The plumber, I hope.” Connor sprang up from his breakfast to answer it. He wore jeans, too, with a red plaid flannel shirt over the top of a gray long-sleeve T-shirt. Alice had noticed that the men had adopted a kind of uniform even though they were far from the military bases where they usually served. In the warmer weather it had been jeans and plain color T-shirts. Now they added flannel shirts. In their work boots and thick outer gear, they were hard to tell apart from behind when they were outside.
“This early?” Alice asked.
“I called, and he said he’d be over, but you’re right—it is early.” Connor pulled open the door.
It wasn’t Walter. It was Wyoming Smith, Cass’s best friend. A decidedly unhappy Wyoming. Wye was short, with a mop of light brown curls. She unbuttoned her dark blue wool coat and kicked off her boots.
“Wye—what’s wrong?” Cass asked. She set down her spatula and turned off the stove, moving the pan to a cool burner. She crossed the room to meet her friend as Connor went back to his breakfast.
“You weren’t supposed to notice. It’s Lena’s wedding day, and I don’t want to cast a pall on it,” Wye said as she unwrapped a scarf from around her neck and hung it up on the same peg as her coat. Cass led her to the table. “I lost my job yesterday. I’m still in shock.”
“Oh, no. What happened?”
“They can’t justify keeping me on—they simply aren’t getting enough cases. They let me go effective immediately, and now I don’t know what to do. It isn’t exactly easy to find work as a paralegal around here. I might have to move to Bozeman.”
“You are not moving,” Cass decreed. “You’re my best friend. I need you here.”
“Let’s not worry about it today,” Wye said. “Where’s Lena? I wanted to congratulate her on the big day.”
“Out in the barn, where else?” Cass sighed. “I gave her a to-do list, though. She’ll be back soon.”
“Then feed me and point me to my first job,” Wye said, putting her shoulders back and lifting her chin. “Cass, no—we’re not going to figure out my future right now.”
“I was only going to say that if you aren’t working, you should spend the week with us. You could use cheering up, and I could definitely use the help. Not only will we have to clean up from the wedding, it’s also time to do our pre-holiday clean up.”
Alice, still on top of the refrigerator, groaned. Cass’s pre-holiday clean-ups were legendary. “Please stay, Wye, and do my work for me,” she begged. “I have to get my gowns done before Landon Clark gets here to view them.” The movie producer was due in three weeks, and she was racing to finish the three elaborate Civil War–era ball gowns he’d commissioned to get a feel for her design capabilities.
Wye smiled a little. “Sure. I could use something to keep me busy. Otherwise I’ll just sit around and worry. I haven’t been out of a job since I was twelve!”
“I’ve got plenty of work for you,” Cass said. “Sit and eat. We have a lot to do to get ready for the wedding. Where is that plumber, anyway?”
It was nearly ten by the time Walter showed up with a younger man in tow. Alice, who’d been in and out of the kitchen all morning, helping with the wedding preparations, was relieved to see them. Cass had been working herself into a tizzy that they wouldn’t get the job done before their guests arrived.
“Heard you have a problem,” Walter said, knocking the snow off his boots as he came inside. He was a gruff old man who had to be close to retirement. His shock of white hair tended to stand up on end, and he had a thick white mustache, too. “This is my new assistant, Will Beck. Will’s just signed on to help me catch up on all the work.”
“I’m glad you’re here then, Will,” Alice said brightly. In her experience, it wasn’t good for anyone when Cass got stressed out.
“Glad to be here. Just got to town. Was happy to find work so fast.” Will was taller than Walter, with a square face and a shock of wheat-colored hair. His blue eyes shone when he smiled, which he was doing now.
“I’ll bet,” Wyoming said gloomily.
Will considered her, his gaze lingering on her pretty face. Alice bit back a smile; Wyoming had an admirer.
“What seems to be the trouble?” Walter asked.
“Let me show you.” Cass led them to the basement and came back a few minutes later. “Thank God Walter found Will,” she said to Wye. “I hate to think what would happen if we let that valve leak for weeks. I don’t know why Walter didn’t hire someone sooner.”
“Because Walter’s a man who believes if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself. Just like me,” Will said from the doorway, startling all of them. “He sent me to find out if you’ve got another bucket,” he went on with a grin. “It took a lot of persuading to get him to agree to sign me on, but all I heard from everyone I asked when I got to town was how desperately Chance Creek needed another plumber. Good thing that’s what I’m trained for.”
“I’ve got a bucket.” Cass went to the pantry and returned with one. “How do you like it here?”
“It’s great. I already feel at home.” He was appraising Wyoming frankly. “A lot more pretty girls around these parts than where I came from.”
Wyoming perked up under his scrutiny. “Must be a pretty small town if Chance Creek has more women.”
“Sometimes it sure felt small,” he said with another grin. “But I’m here now. Better get back to work.” He took the bucket from Cass and winked at Wyoming.
Cass looked from him to Wye and back again. She stepped forward to detain Will with a hand on his arm. “We have another problem. It doesn’t need to be solved today, but maybe you could come back after the wedding?”
“What is it?”
“The pipes knock upstairs.”
“I could take a look at them in a day or two, when I’ve finished up another few jobs.”
“Good.” Cass beamed. Wyoming looked like she wanted to melt into the floor. Alice tried not to laugh as Will disappeared down the hall.
“Looks like you made a conquest,” Cass said to Wye.
“He must be starved for company. And you’re shameless making up a fake job like that.”
“It isn’t fake,” Alice put in. “Those pipes have knocked as long as I’ve been alive. I doubt he can fix it, though.”
“I don’t see why he couldn’t,” Cass said. “You need to stop talking yourself down, Wyoming Smith,” she added. “Any man would be happy to go out with you.”
Wyoming rolled her eyes. “Yep, they’re beating down the doors. I’m surprised he wasn’t flirting with you, Alice. Usually men can’t even see me when you’re around.” She got back to work helping Cass polish the silverware they’d use to serve their guests later.
Alice didn’t know how to answer that. She hated it when other women compared themselves unfavorably to her. Cass came to her rescue.
“Alice probably already has a taken sign around her neck that only men can see.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Wyoming asked.
“Her fiancé is arriving today. After all, Lena’s getting married, and Alice is the only one of us left.”
Wye smiled. “Forgot all about that. I wonder what he’ll be like? I guess it doesn’t matter: you’ll have to marry whoever your father sends through that front door tonight. It’s tradition, right?”
Alice didn’t mind Wye’s banter, but she wished Cass hadn’t brought it up. Wye was right; the General had sent each of her four sisters a man. She could only assume he’d send her one, too.
As for having to marry him…
The back door swung open, and Lena tromped in, scattering snow everywhere.
“The to-do list Cass gave me said I have to have a last fitting,” she said ungraciously to Alice. “I don’t see why. I haven’t gained any weight since yesterday.” Lena wasn’t one to fuss over her appearance much. Alice knew it would take some cajoling to get her done up for her big day.
“Come on.” Alice joined her at the door and began to pull on her outer things. “It will only take a minute, and you’ll thank me later.” She was grateful for the interruption. She might be able to glimpse the future sometimes, but she’d never seen her own wedding. She had no idea what would happen next.
And it was driving her crazy.
It was long past dinner time when Jack arrived in Chance Creek, and as he pulled up and parked his rental car outside Two Willows, it was obvious Logan and Lena’s wedding reception was in full swing. He patted his pocket to make sure he still had the small gift the General had left behind at USSOCOM for him to take to Lena, opened the door and climbed out, taking a moment to appreciate the cheerful, brightly lit windows of the house that shone through the winter darkness. Snow lay in a pale blanket on the ground. Above him, stars winked in the firmament. He savored the quiet. Two Willows was a full house at the best of times. Tonight it looked packed to the gills.
The wind had a bite to it, and he pulled his coat more firmly around him as he popped open the trunk and pulled out his bag. These next few minutes were crucial for the path his life would take. Soon he’d meet Alice in the flesh. He couldn’t help but wonder how that would go.
He was especially worried about the confrontations that were sure to come when Alice realized he didn’t believe in her ability to see the future. He’d often been accused of having that same ability. That didn’t make it true. People’s behavior tended to follow predictable tendencies. Once you made a study of it, it was regrettably easy to guess what would happen next.
Was Alice the same? Did her eyes notice things others didn’t? Did she study people until she’d learned them well? Was she plagued by the details no one else seemed to notice? Did her mind whirl and click through images and facts late at night when she was supposed to be asleep?
Jack had met only two other people whose ability matched his. One was the man who’d brought him up. The other was a young girl. He’d saved her life seven months ago—
And lost his career as a result.
If he wanted his good name back, he needed to convince Alice to love him. Or at least to decide he was enough of an asset to her and Two Willows that she should spend her life with him.
Which was going to be a challenge, since he hadn’t set foot on a ranch since he was seven.
His only hope was that all Alice’s sisters had come around to the idea of marrying the men the General had sent. Maybe the General had some piece of intelligence he didn’t.
Jack sure hoped so. He slowly walked up the path to Two Willows. Only one way to find out what would happen next.
He knocked on the door.
And waited for someone to answer.
“Why aren’t you dancing?”
Alice Reed pushed down the familiar sense of dread that still swirled in her gut and turned to see her youngest sister. Jo, petite, with an elfin face, was dressed in a spring green bridesmaid gown, identical to the one Alice was wearing. She was flushed in the heat of the room; there were far too many people packed into the house tonight. Alice was sure she was glowing as well. It was time to crack a window even if it was below freezing outside. At least the wedding had been a success so far—even the leak in the basement had been fixed. Walter had left Will behind to handle the job once he’d inspected the problem, and Will had left an hour later with the job completed and a promise to be back in a day or two to fix the knocking pipes.
“Any chance you’ll be around?” she’d heard him ask Wyoming on his way out.
“Maybe.”
“I don’t have anyone to dance with,” Alice said to Jo.
Jo raised an eyebrow. “Really?”
Alice only shrugged. She could have danced if she’d wanted to, as Jo knew well. A smile would raise a willing partner from any corner of the room. Alice wasn’t vain, but she wasn’t stupid, either. She’d been blessed with her mother’s beauty, and men liked beauty. What they didn’t like was finding out she had a mind of her own.
Alice had learned over the years that the combination of her ambition and her ability to see the future tended to turn men off. Not that she had a lot of experience with them. She and her sisters had spent their teenage years trying to drive away the guardians and overseers the General sent to watch over them—and then laying low on the ranch as long as possible before some other adult realized they were on their own and let the General know. This meant she hadn’t gotten around to dating much until she was older. Howie Warner was her first serious boyfriend, but before him there was Matt Gordon.
Matt was two years older than her. He’d played baseball in high school before taking his place on his family’s ranch. Alice had been twenty-one when they’d met up at the Dancing Boot one night and he’d asked her to dance. One thing led to another, and they’d gone out a few times. At first it had been fun—
Until Matt asked her about her costume designing business. He wasn’t interested in the techniques she used or the research she did to make her creations period-accurate. “What do you get paid for something like that?” he’d asked at dinner one night.
Alice, thrilled at a commission she’d landed for a specialized movie costume, had told him, expecting him to be as excited and impressed as she was. Turned out the commission for the single outfit was double what he made in a month.
Matt wasn’t amused.
“You think you’re real hot shit, don’t you,” he’d spat at her as he stood up, his chair scraping the floor. “With all your money and your ‘special abilities.’”
“I don’t think I’m hot shit, but I am proud of my work,” she’d countered, aware that everyone in the restaurant was staring at them.
“Your whole seeing the future thing is a crock of shit. Everyone knows it.” Matt had left Alice to finish her meal and pay the bill. She’d never felt smaller, and when Howie had come along, she’d done her best to stay that way and let him feel like a big man.
That had been a disaster.
Now her future husband was due to arrive any minute. She had no idea what to do about it.
“What’s wrong?” Jo asked. “Have you had a vision? Is something bad going to happen?”
Alice shook her head. “It’s the same feeling I’ve had since before—” She broke off, pulled herself together and tried again. “Before we all left the ranch.” Since before she’d left it without checking to make sure one of her sisters was still at home. Whatever happened next would be her fault.
“The General is fine,” Jo assured her.
“We don’t know that. No one’s been able to get in touch.”
“Because he’s overseas and his mission is confidential. We would know if anything had happened to him.”
Alice wasn’t reassured. That was the problem; she was supposed to be able to see the future, but her gift—her curse, Alice thought—was a sad, sorry, intermittent kind of thing that rarely told her anything useful. She was nothing like her mother, Amelia, who’d seen so clearly.
“You sure you aren’t just nervous?” Jo asked. “After all, your husband’s due to arrive any minute. Maybe that’s why you’ve been feeling off these past few weeks.”
“I’m going to get started cleaning up.” She forestalled her sister when Jo would have joined her. “Enjoy dancing with Hunter.”
“Can’t wait to meet your new man,” Jo teased but turned away.
Alice made her way through the crush of bodies to the relatively quiet kitchen. Dishes had been scraped and stacked when dinner was done and the tables cleared away. They sat in piles on the counter near the sink, which Alice now filled with hot water and dish soap.
She was grateful to be alone, but without the distraction of conversation, she found it harder to defend against the dread. It was an awful, stifling blankness where the future was supposed to be. She couldn’t see it. Couldn’t even get a read on it. Knew something was coming—something bad.
Not just a husband, although that was part of it. Something else.
Something—
Big.
The only other time she’d felt like this was in the months leading up to her mother’s death. Alice didn’t like to think about that, for obvious reasons, and rarely did she allow herself to probe that part of her past. She wondered if she’d actually known what was coming but had suppressed it, or if there were certain things too big to know.
What was coming now?
Alice slipped a number of glasses into the sudsy water and began to wash them carefully. She hated to admit it, but Jo was right: she was nervous. Not just about the bad feeling, but about her husband-to-be. When she tried to picture the man the General would send, she couldn’t see him. Fate wasn’t giving her even a glimpse of him, which made it hard to decide how she would react when he rang the bell.
She should rebuff him, of course, and if she’d been the first daughter to whom the General had delivered a husband, she would have, but she was the fifth, and she was beginning to wonder if it was even worth her time to fight against something so obviously preordained.
That was just the problem, though; everything was preordained. Her life. Her success. Her husband… and whatever this sense of dread portended.
Fate doled out glimpses of everything. Not especially helpful glimpses, but enough to derail her from making her own choices sometimes. It had shown her that she would make costumes for a living—and do well at it.
Fate had also told her Two Willows would always be her home. For most of her life she’d cheerfully accepted that, too, but lately she wasn’t so sure that’s what she wanted. Oh, eventually she’d settle here, but did she have to live in Montana every day of her life?
That didn’t seem fair.
Then there was the case of her husband. If it was preordained that she marry the man the General sent for her, shouldn’t she have seen that in her visions?
She hadn’t. Not even once.
As far as Alice was concerned, her special gift kind of… sucked.
Alice rinsed a glass and set it down harder than she meant to, stifling a curse when she cracked it but grateful it hadn’t shattered. She transferred the pieces into the trash carefully and took a deep breath.
She wished Amelia could have been here today to see Lena married. It had been breathtaking to watch her prickly, independent sister exchange vows with the man she so obviously loved.
Amelia had died when Alice was only thirteen. For months beforehand, Alice had been both restless and consumed with a desire to stay close to home at the same time. She’d heard her oldest sister, Cass, discussing it with Lena. “Hormones,” Cass had said disdainfully, and Lena had snickered.
It hadn’t been hormones.
On the day Amelia had been struck down, Alice hadn’t wanted to go out riding, but Amelia’s word was law on the ranch. Always had been, even when the General had been home. Alice hadn’t even thought to contradict her when Amelia ordered them all to go out for a ride. They’d always been homeschooled, and riding was gym class. Everyone knew gym class was mandatory.
They were a quarter mile from the house when a blinding pain had nearly knocked Alice off her horse. She’d cried out and known instantly her mother was in trouble. Wracked with pain and terror, she hadn’t been able to move; Cass had maneuvered her horse as close as she could, leaned over and supported her, while Lena and Jo had streaked home atop their mounts.
By the time Alice saw Amelia again, the paramedics had arrived. Amelia had lived a couple of days, and Alice had her chance to talk to her in the hospital—
But that was a long time ago.
She’d give anything for the chance to talk to her mother today.
If her dread back then had portended a death, what did it mean now? Was death stalking her family again?
If so, who was its intended victim?
A loud knock on the front door made Alice clutch the counter.
He was here.
The man the General had sent.
She couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t see the future. Couldn’t see anything. Did this dread have to do with the man standing on her front step? Was he wrong for her? Would he hurt her?
No.
She didn’t know how she knew, but she did. He wouldn’t hurt her.
But something else was wrong.
Alice’s hands shook as she dried them, then reached up to pat her hair. She made herself walk out of the kitchen and down the central hall.
This was it.
Taking another deep breath, she opened the door to find a handsome man with sandy brown hair and blue eyes on the other side. He stood at ease like a soldier, hands clasped behind his back, legs spread in a strong, ready stance. There was a rugged duffel bag on the porch to one side of him.
He was handsome. Oh, so handsome. Alice was unprepared for the desire that surged inside her. How could she feel like this when—
She gave up trying to understand anything. The universe was unfathomable, even to someone like her. All she could do was meet the day where it met her, and today fate had brought her a man to reckon with.
That didn’t mean she’d make it easy on him. She fixed him with a steady gaze.
“I knew it would be you,” she said.
“I knew you’d say that,” he answered. “I’m Jack. Jack Sanders. The General sent me.”
“I knew that, too,” she assured him. She didn’t want him to think she was dumb.
“Do you know what I’m going to say next?” He wasn’t yanking her chain, Alice decided; he was actually curious. Someone had told him about her abilities, that was clear in his challenge.
Alice was used to that. She shook her head.
He stepped closer, and suddenly the soldier filled the doorway. His gaze held hers, and she read concern—and a searching hope she couldn’t fathom. He swallowed. Cleared his throat.
“I’ve got some bad news.”
Of course. She’d known that. Alice nodded, steeling herself. Whatever came next, it would be hard.
“The General’s been hurt. He’s coming home.”