Piper nodded, unable to repeat Naomi’s greeting.

  “Let’s eat. We have a lot of work to do and we need a meal,” he said.

  “What about your riding lesson? And I have a few lessons scheduled for today.”

  “That’s right,” he said as they took seats at the table where Naomi had placed silverware and coffee cups.

  Piper noticed a bud vase with a yellow dandelion in it. She knew the older woman was doing that for her benefit. She couldn’t see Cal sitting here each morning with a flower on his breakfast table.

  Naomi set a plate in front of each of them and filled their coffee cups. She didn’t ask if Piper wanted, liked or even drank coffee. She knew Cal’s preferences and probably remembered hers, too.

  Cal took a bite of his toast and sipped his coffee as if everything was normal. Piper knew Naomi. At least she had known both her and her husband in the past. The woman could be sarcastic with her words, but her heart was good. Piper glanced at her, and instead of finding a frown, Naomi’s eyes twinkled. She was hiding a smile.

  “After breakfast, you should take care of your classes,” Cal said. “I need to run a few errands anyway. I’ll be back in time for my lesson.”

  “Sounds like a plan,” she said.

  Piper needed a plan. She also needed distance, but she felt Cal could help her. He might find something she hadn’t been able to, after all.

  “You’re not hungry?” Cal asked.

  Piper realized she’d been sitting there but not eating. Glancing down at her plate, she noticed the fried apples. They were her favorite. Naomi must have remembered that. Maybe that was what her smile was about. She took a bite. They were exactly as she remembered them. Piper closed her eyes, both from memory of past breakfasts and from the explosion of delicious tastes the simple fruit provided.

  “Were these for me?” she asked Naomi when she could speak.

  “For both of you. He likes them just as much as you do. That’s the first thing I realized you two have in common.”

  Again, heat burned Piper’s ears and fused into her face. Try as she might, she couldn’t stop the furnace of feelings that seemed to grow within her each time Cal was near. She’d only come today because she couldn’t sleep and was interested in knowing if he’d discovered anything.

  She wasn’t here for breakfast or for any other reason. She wasn’t, she insisted to the internal voice in her head. But she couldn’t be sure it was listening.

  * * *

  “NAOMI, I KNOW what you’re trying to do,” Cal said as soon as Piper finished her breakfast and left to return to her ranch and give her first lesson of the day.

  Naomi was humming in the kitchen as she loaded the dishwasher and put things away.

  “I’m not doing anything,” she said, trying to conceal the grin that Cal could see.

  “Strange how you’re way too tall to even imitate cupid,” he said. A head shorter than he was, Naomi stood straight-backed and commanding. In another life, he could see her as a drill sergeant, although one with a kind heart.

  “Me?” She feigned surprise.

  “You remember my time here is temporary, right?” Cal asked.

  “I remember,” she replied. But the way she said it told him she wasn’t convinced.

  Changing the subject, Cal said, “I’m going into town. Is there anything you need?”

  Naomi picked up a paper from the counter and handed it to him. Cal scanned it. “You need these things?” The list had some of his favorite foods on it, but there were also items he’d never seen before.

  “They’re hers,” Naomi supplied as if she could read his mind.

  “Hers?”

  “Don’t act like you don’t know who she is.” Naomi raised her brows. “I’m sure we’ll be seeing more of her before your temporary time here is over.”

  Cal saw the humor she was holding under the surface. He didn’t think the comment was funny, but inside him, the thought of spending more time with Piper caused a jolt of pleasure. He put the list in his shirt pocket and left. Naomi wasn’t laughing out loud, but he could hear her as if she was.

  It wasn’t thoughts of Naomi that followed him into his truck and all the way to town. It was the brown-eyed woman who had sneaked into his dreams. Their accidental bump had put her in his arms, giving him a glimpse of the way they fit together and a promise of something he didn’t know was missing in his life.

  But obviously Naomi did or thought she did.

  * * *

  THE DRIVE INTO Waymon Valley was generally short, but today Cal took his time. He didn’t want to race to get anywhere. He needed time to digest what was going on inside him. He thought he’d have hours last night, but once he started looking at Piper’s video, his mind had been consumed with trying to decipher it. When he went to bed, he fell right asleep, but his dreams were full of her and time spent with her and their horses.

  He should have awakened tired from the day’s exercise, but he felt refreshed. When Piper appeared in the office doorway, it was all he could do not to act like a fool. Yet he couldn’t stop the pleasure he felt at seeing her. He wasn’t sure if she saw it, sensed it.

  Cal had reached town and as usual the waves and smiles of people on the street garnered his attention. Waymon Valley retained the feel of an old west town. Red or tan brick buildings lined the downtown streets. Miss Rita’s Dance Studio sat next to the barbershop. Across the street, tucked between the fire house and a bookstore was the diner where he’d had dinner with Piper. Passing these shops and businesses, Cal parked in the grocery store lot. Stepping down from his truck, and with a quick wave to a total stranger, he went inside.

  The store today had no trace of Piper. She was giving a lesson. Going up and down the aisles, he selected the items from Naomi’s list, putting them one by one in his cart. Selecting the apples from the produce section, he thought of Piper again and her surprise at the breakfast entrée. Her face had gone red when Naomi had joked and her comment openly connected the two of them.

  Cal should have been embarrassed, but he wasn’t. He didn’t have any bad feeling. Seeing Piper beside him at his desk had conjured feelings he hadn’t known he had. For the second time recently, he thought of his brother and Lauren. Had they begun with feelings like this? Cal shook his head. He needed to stay focused.

  Checking the list again, Cal pulled his attention back to the store. He picked up a box of Belgian waffle mix. It was a brand he’d never seen before, but Naomi’s precise handwriting had noted it. He hadn’t had a Belgian waffle in ages, and even though he’d eaten less than an hour ago, the smell of the sugar through the package made him yearn for the sweet bread. Placing it in the cart, he found the rest of the listed items. Finally, he had everything Naomi needed and a few treats of his own.

  After storing the bags in his truck, he walked down the street and entered the hotel. There was only one person he was interested in and that was Meghan Evans. He didn’t see her until his eyes became accustomed to the dim light.

  “Cal,” Meghan said with a smile. “How can I help you?”

  “I’m taking riding lessons.”

  “Is that a fact?” she said, her eyes widening. “I suppose Piper is the teacher.”

  He didn’t have to answer. The look on her face told him she knew the truth.

  “I need proper riding clothes, boots, maybe a hat. Could you point me to a place where I can get that?”

  “I’d be happy to. Since Piper started that school, there’s been a demand for riding gear.”

  “Oh,” Cal said.

  “That’s what Pete Gallagher told me. He owns the outfitter store.”

  Cal said nothing. He waited for her to continue.

  “The store is called Gallagher’s Western Clothing. It’s about a mile down Main Street. There’s a huge white buffalo in front of it. So it’ll be hard to miss.”

  “Aren’t there any other riding schools in the area?”

  “Plenty of them, but none run by a former famous stuntwoman.”

  “I see,” Cal said.

  Before he could turn to leave, Meghan asked another question. “How are the lessons going by the way?”

  “Let’s just say my contact with the ground is decreasing.”

  Meghan laughed. “Piper is a good teacher. She’ll have you turning cartwheels on horseback in no time.”

  “That remains to be seen,” Cal said. At the door, he waved goodbye and returned to the truck.

  The store wasn’t busy when he entered it several minutes later, but there were a few customers inside. As usual they smiled when he passed them. Checking the racks of riding pants, he selected a few and tried them on. He needed boots and Gallagher’s proved to have a vast number of styles and colors.

  “He’s the one,” he heard someone whisper.

  Cal didn’t look in the direction the voice had come from. He stood up to check the boots and overheard another whispered comment.

  “He’s on the ranch next to the Hollywood woman. You know the one.”

  He turned toward them. Immediately, they averted their eyes.

  He finally understood Piper’s comment about the rumors in town.

  When he left Gallagher’s Western Clothing, he had plenty of riding clothes and a new pair of boots. He’d come to Montana with only a few things and never needed a huge wardrobe anyway. The shopping took longer than he expected, however, and he was ready to head back to the ranch. Passing the diner made him think of the talk about Piper. Cal decided to get a coffee before leaving.

  The diner was quiet. Only a few people occupied the tables and counter. They smiled and nodded when he walked by. Hooking a leg over a stool, he sat down. Diner owner Ally was watching the big-screen television that hung from the ceiling at one end of the counter. There was an action scene going on. Cal was unfamiliar with the movie, but he knew enough to recognize a major turning point when he saw one.

  “Mr. Masters,” she greeted him. “How’s it going?”

  “Fine, thanks.”

  “Have you decided what you’re going to do with the ranch?”

  “Do?” he questioned.

  She looked as if she’d spoken out of turn.

  “I’m sorry,” Cal said. “I hadn’t really thought of doing anything. I’m not planning to stay in Waymon Valley.”

  “I didn’t know,” she said.

  “I understand. I only came here for a visit and some relaxation. The horses are great for that. I’m an engineer and I need to get back to it soon.”

  “Well, we’ll be sorry to see you go. Whenever that is,” she added. “Now, what can I get you?”

  “Coffee, to go,” he said when she looked at him. “Black. And maybe a piece of that cake.” He indicated the cake under a glass dome on the counter.

  She smiled and picked up the pot and filled a cup, then added a lid. Cal’s eyes were on the flat-screen television as she passed the cup to him.

  “You like action movies, I take it,” he said conversationally.

  “Not really. I’m more the romance story type, along with tearjerkers. I’m a sucker for a good cry,” Ally said, now cutting a piece of cake for him.

  Cal placed money on the counter, indicating that he needed no change.

  “If Piper wasn’t in this one, I’d probably skip it.”

  “Piper?” Cal’s head came up and he looked closely at the screen. “Piper’s acting?”

  “She’s a stuntwoman. She does all the stunts for Elisabeth Grey.”

  Sure, Cal didn’t see many movies, since he moved around a lot, but even he knew of Elisabeth Grey—young, beautiful, great actress and a wonderful humanitarian.

  “Piper doubles for her?” His attention was still on the screen. He knew Piper had worked on films, but he hadn’t made the connection that she would be such a star, or performing in place of one.

  “Did.” Ally drew his attention now. “She hasn’t worked since she returned to the ranch a year ago. No one knows why, but...” Ally leaned forward and lowered her voice. “I think it had something to do with that accident.”

  She closed one eye. It wasn’t exactly a wink, more like a confirmation. Before Cal could respond, she’d moved along the counter to take care of another customer. He picked up his coffee and slice of cake, and left the diner. Piper Logan doubled for Elisabeth Grey.

  Of course, he knew about the accident. He was actively working on how it might have happened. A thought came to him as he slipped into the truck’s seat. Any accident on a site required an incident report. Something as important as a person being hurt had to have involved the police or other authorities. He wondered if Piper had the documentation.

  On the other hand, he’d get the report, but not from her. That accident was a nightmare for Piper and she was still living it. The report was public record, he’d bet. He’d access it online and read the account. Cal didn’t know exactly what he was looking for. At this point it was too early to tell. But he knew he wanted her to be whole again and find her lost spirit.

  CHAPTER SIX

  WHEN THE HOTEL EMILY was built in the early twentieth century, the railroad bisected the town of Waymon Valley. Meghan’s forward-thinking ancestor, the hotel’s namesake, insisted that both the front and back entrances be equally majestic. And now that the small town sprawled wider, the Emily was part of a downtown area with a city hall, a sheriff’s office, and stores and services. The streets may see cars and trucks, but it was still a down-to-earth Western town.

  Piper drove past the hotel to the large house located on its east side. It looked like an addition, but in fact, it was the original boardinghouse that once provided lodgings for miners and was now the sole residence of Meghan Evans.

  From the parked cars and trucks in front, it appeared the gang was all here, she thought, likening them to the horde of Hollywood paparazzi that dogged her after the accident.

  Getting down from the cab, Piper closed the truck door and stood looking at the old home with its thoroughly modern transformation.

  Taking a deep breath, she knew she couldn’t put it off any longer. Time to run the gauntlet. When Meghan opened the door, Piper’s smile was in place. They hugged as usual and Meghan pulled her inside.

  “Relax,” she whispered. “No one is here to bite you.”

  “No, just to goggle at me—and wonder.”

  Piper hadn’t taken three steps into the main room before she was approached by a very tall man.

  “Hello,” he said with an outstretched hand. Piper took it.

  “This is Sam Winslow. He owns one of the shops. They do wedding photos, school pictures, baby announcements and everything related to photography.”

  “From learning to use your basic camera to etching scenes on glass or acrylics,” Sam added.

  “And he will talk your ear off,” Meghan added. “So let her meet some of the other people before you try to monopolize her,” Meghan said and winked.

  Sam smiled and dropped Piper’s hand.

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Sam,” Piper said.

  She moved away, ready for the stares and the questions. What she got was a bear hug. Piper didn’t get to see the face of the man who was suddenly holding her tight enough to cut off her breathing.

  She pushed back and looked up.

  “Piper, how’s my girl?” The bellow could be heard all the way to the kitchen.

  “Mark? Mark Jackson?”

  “The one and only. We’ve missed you around here.” He hugged her again.

  Mark was six foot four in his stocking feet. He appeared even taller than Piper remembered. She wasn’t his girl, had never been his girl, but they were friends.

  “What are you doing now?” she asked. “I thought you’d left Waymon Valley.”

  “I did. Lived in Seattle for a few years, but missed home, missed the mountains. I took over my dad’s practice. I work at the hospital now.”

  “That’s great.” Piper didn’t feel any eyes on her that weren’t admiring or friendly. She recognized a few of the people, but most were new to her. Everyone seemed to own something in town or work on one of the ranches in the area.

  There was one woman with her husband who looked familiar. Piper didn’t know where she’d seen her before, but she was sure she had. She caught Piper staring at her and started toward her. Her smile was wide and genuine, and she was clearly the most beautiful woman in the room.

  “I’m Rosa Clayton. My husband is Adam Osborne.” She looked over her shoulder at a tall man, average build, nice features. He was grinning at Rosa from ear to ear.

  Piper thought they made a sweet couple. She could tell they were in love.

  “You look very familiar,” Piper said. “I thought I might have met you before.”

  Rosa shook her head. “I was never in the movies,” she said. “I used to be a model, some commercials.”

  “That’s it.” Piper remembered. “You were in cosmetics ads. The face of the Darling brand.” Piper could see her in the television spots, putting on her lipstick or applying blush across her high cheekbones.

  She nodded. “I modeled for them for years.”

  “And the evening gowns, along with the diamonds. I loved the way you flourished through that door in the commercials.”

  Piper almost turned around showing her what she meant. She felt she’d met a kindred spirit.

  After a while, Piper completely relaxed. Just as Meghan said, no one was there to bring up Piper’s past. She moved about the room, talking to the other guests and having a good time.

  Then the door opened and Cal came in. Piper’s heart lifted. She was glad to see him and it had to show on her face. Without thinking, she went toward him. If Mark hadn’t stepped in front of him before she got close enough, she was sure she’d have gone straight into his arms. As it was, the two men were shaking hands when she stopped.