Chapter 29 – Kenzie
Two months later
I stared out the window of my Denver office, a view I’d always loved. I’d leased this place three years ago because of the view of the city skyline. The office space had actually been less expensive than the ones across the hall because of that view— not facing the Rocky Mountains, like most people wanted. Worked great for me because I’d preferred the city view.
But not anymore. Now, I found I didn’t want the city view or the mountain views.
At least not these mountain views.
I should be happy, not pensively staring out my window. My nightmare was over.
The police eventually arrived at the cabin that night, but by then, everything had been nearly taken care of. Lucas and Daniel had helped me get Jensen to the cabin and warm enough not to be critical. By the time the ambulance had arrived to get him to the hospital for his knife wound, he’d at least been stable.
Jensen had saved me. If he and the Resting Warrior guys hadn’t shown up when they had, if he hadn’t so selflessly given me his jacket and shoes, if he hadn’t fought Alan despite Alan’s knife, I definitely wouldn’t have made it.
Most of the night was still a blur for me, even now. From what I understood, Lucas’s cousin Hunter had taken out most of Alan’s hired thugs: two dead, two severely beaten. But when we got back to the cabin with Jensen, Hunter had been gone.
Jada had been too.
Evidently, disappearing was Hunter’s modus operandi, according to Lucas. For years, he’d been trying to get Hunter to come stay at Resting Warrior. After all, the ranch was meant for people exactly like Hunter: a former Special Forces soldier who was having difficulty adapting back into civilian life. Hunter’s demons apparently didn’t give him much peace.
Lucas was certain Hunter would eventually show back up. But to keep him out of trouble with the law since he wasn’t there to give a statement, Lucas and Daniel had taken responsibility for what had been done to the thugs.
Not that the police had cared overly much. Alan’s guys all had extensive rap sheets and were all wanted for various crimes. Taking them out had been doing law enforcement a service, especially in a situation like this where everything was very cut-and-dried.
Except for when it came to Jada.
She’d saved my life too. Despite the stalking, and that she was obviously a little off her rocker, if she hadn’t jumped on Alan when she did, I’d be dead right now.
So, the thought of her injected with that damned amnesia drug and off on her own somewhere? I didn’t like it. She had to be terrified—no memory of anything about her life, no resources… I hoped they found her soon. Less for making her pay for her actions and more for getting her help. She needed it now more than ever .
Alan was heading back to prison, this time under multiple counts of attempted murder. There would be no early parole for him a second time.
My life was truly my own once again. I could see my friends and family whenever I wanted to. My seminars for the next few months were set up and almost sold out.
Everything I’d wanted when I’d rolled into Garnet Bend a few months ago, I now had. I was free to live and do whatever I wanted. Get back to the business that was so important to me.
But all I could think about was Jensen.
I’d seen him, of course. I’d stayed with him in the hospital the two days he was there, and then I had helped him get settled back at home afterward. He’d been a grumpy patient, not wanting to sit still, but I’d found ways to convince him to stay in bed.
Then the next weekend, my parents had come to meet him. They’d loved him—and Garnet Bend—like I knew they would. And, God bless Jensen, he’d eaten my mother’s cooking with a smile on his face as if he couldn’t taste how terrible it was.
But then it had been time for me to go back into the career I’d spent such a long time building. The career that had brought me so much joy and fulfillment.
The career that now seemed a little empty if it meant I was going to have a life without Jensen.
I loved him. He loved me. We talked multiple times every single day. But how did this work with us so far apart?
My phone buzzed on my desk, and I pressed the intercom button to answer. “Kenzie, your three o’clock is here.”
Shit. I was so out of it, I hadn’t even realized I had a late-afternoon appointment. I glanced at my calendar and didn’t see anything written down.
“Samantha, I don’t even know what appointment this is,” I told my assistant. I hated being unprepared for a meeting. It wasted both my time and my client’s. “It’s not on my schedule. ”
“Sorry, boss. I must have forgotten to write it down.”
I swallowed my frustration. Samantha didn’t make mistakes like this very often. Never, in fact. “Maybe we should reschedule so that…”
I trailed off as Jensen walked into my office and shut the door behind him. “Samantha was covering for me. I asked her to block out some time for me on your calendar but not let you know I was coming.”
I couldn’t help myself. I rushed around my desk and into his arms.
I breathed him in. God, that smell. No matter how much I was near him, the scent of Jensen always felt like coming home.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were coming? How long are you staying? I’m so happy to see you!”
He cupped my cheeks with his hands and drew me in for a kiss. We were both breathless by the time we pulled away.
“Maybe I can send Samantha home early,” I whispered. I’d done that the last time he’d come to visit. I could hardly work at my desk anymore without remembering Jensen bending me over it.
But he shook his head. “Actually, today, I’m here as a client.”
I started to chuckle, but then I realized he was serious. “Wait. Really?”
“Yes, if you have time.” He pulled back slightly. “I’d like to talk about real estate.”
“Well, sir, you’ve come to the right place.” I went back to sit at my desk and gestured for him to take the chair across from it.
“I’m looking for a commercial real estate location.”
Maybe he was thinking about opening a second shop in Garnet Bend, although I couldn’t figure out why he’d want to do that. Regardless, I wasn’t licensed as a real estate agent in Montana.
At least, not yet. I had looked into the requirements for becoming a Realtor there. But I hadn’t mentioned my research to him. After all, we hadn’t made any definite plans for the future together. Even if I wanted to move to Montana—which I wasn’t sure I did—I didn’t know if he even wanted me there permanently.
But for right now, I would listen to him as a client and try to offer my best advice. “Well, the first step would be figuring out exactly what you need, and then we could find an agent in Montana who could help you secure that.”
“Actually, I’m looking for a place in or around Denver.”
I froze in the middle of grabbing my notebook so I could jot down particulars. “Denver?”
“Yes. Particularly, I’m looking for some sort of small woodshop for woodworking.”
Was he saying what I thought he was saying?
“Jensen…”
“This isn’t working for me, City. This being so far away from you. I love you, and I want us to figure out a way to be together.”
I closed my eyes. There was nothing I wanted more than to be close to him. Jensen was it for me. He was the one I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.
And while I didn’t want to leave behind the career I’d worked so hard to build, I knew I also couldn’t ask him to give up the only true family he’d ever known and move here.
“I don’t want you to come here.” I forced the words out.
I opened my eyes to find him staring at me with a half-startled, half-concerned look on his face. “Have I misread this thing between us? Were you not thinking of us as long-term?”
I shook my head. “No, I love you and want to be with you too. The longest of terms. But I can’t ask you to leave Garnet Bend. That’s your home, your family.”
“Actually, I don’t plan to leave Garnet Bend, not permanently. But I don’t expect you to give up everything here to move there either.”
I let out a sad sigh. “Then what do we do?”
“We do both.”
Excitement had heat radiating through my chest. “How?”
“We add a room on to my cabin in Garnet Bend for the sole purpose of it becoming your second office. I will make sure we have the fastest internet available, so you can conduct business there whenever you need to.”
I stood up, nodding slowly. “Go on.”
“We find a place for me here so that, like I said, I can have a woodworking shop. That’s bringing in a lot of my income anyway. I can hire a second mechanic for the shop, which will free me up to come here and do woodwork as much as I want.”
I walked around my desk so I was leaning on it in front of him. I could literally feel my heart thundering in my chest with exhilaration. “You’ve put a lot of thought into this.”
“You’re worth a lot of thought. And even more, you’re worth a lot of effort.” He hooked his hands onto my hips and pulled me down to sit on his lap. “I also looked into the regional airports near Garnet Bend. Did you know one of the smaller airlines has flights to Denver and back four times a week? Airport is an hour away, but…”
“But that’s very doable,” I finished for him.
He nodded. “I want to make this work, City. I want you in my life, and if that means making changes to create space for you, I’m more than willing to do it.”
“Me too, Jensen. I love that we’re opposites, but that those opposites attract. Let’s do it. Let’s commit right here and now to doing whatever it takes to make this work.”
He pulled me in for a kiss. “Good, because I’ve already talked to the town council about changing the sign. I even offered to carve a fancy one for them.”
“What sign?” I asked against his lips.
“The one as you pull into town.”
I remembered it from the first day. “Oh yeah? Change it to what?”
“Garnet Bend. Population 25 19 .”
That sounded absolutely perfect to me.
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Thank you for reading MONTANA HEAT.
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And don’t miss Jada and Hunter’s hauntingly beautiful story told in MONTANA MEMORY…
If you have no recollection of the person you once were, are you doomed to repeat the same mistakes? Read MONTANA MEMORY !
And, while you’re waiting for the next Resting Warrior Ranch story, be sure to check out the Linear Tactical books.
Fully complete small town romantic suspense series ready to binge. Start with CYCLONE . He’d protect her from any threat… But what if the biggest threat is him ?