Montana Heat - Bonus Epilogue
Jensen
One year after the end of MONTANA HEAT
I stared in the mirror, putting my tie on then taking it off for the thirty-seventh time.
A tie was overkill, right? Dale and Barbara Hurst—Kenzie’s parents—had never seen me in a tie. Why would I be wearing one today?
Except for the fact that I was going to attempt to convince Dale to give me his blessing to ask his daughter to marry me.
Let’s face it, a tie wasn’t going to disguise how I grew up or the fact that both my parents were abusive drug addicts. That wasn’t exactly the bloodline someone wanted to invite into his family.
I took the tie off and threw it to the side. A tie was ridiculous anyway. Dale was coming over early while Kenzie and Barbara were out shopping together so I could show him my latest woodworking projects here in my Denver workplace.
It had taken Kenzie and I a while to find the right balance between Denver and Garnet Bend. But we’d managed because that had been the only option. Neither of us had been willing to let this relationship not work.
For the past few months, we’d been spending more and more time in Garnet Bend, especially once Kenzie had passed the state exam to get her licensure to become a real estate agent in Montana. She said it was a wide-open frontier—literally and figuratively—and she’d be a fool not to expand her business.
So now she mostly only came back to Colorado for her live seminars. I’d gone to one of them just to see what it was like and had been downright amazed. In front of an audience of hundreds she’d been engaging and encouraging and informative. She had such a gift and passion for helping others. Hell, her presentation had almost made me want to go into commercial real estate.
She’d also started doing a lot of personal coaching, which she could do via video chat in Garnet Bend. As promised, I’d made sure the cabin had a dedicated space just for her where she could work as much or as little as she wanted.
I’d kept a careful eye on her as we’d started spending more time in Garnet Bend. I wanted to make sure she wasn’t unhappy and trying to hide it. But that hadn’t been the case at all.
On any given day I’d find her having coffee with the ladies at Deja Brew or running over to Resting Warrior to help out with one thing or another. The weekly family dinners had become part of our routine.
She truly was the 2519th member of our town’s population.
Maybe most surprising had been how the situation with Jada had played out, despite the woman having stalked and kidnapped Kenzie. It had gone down a road none of us would’ve ever dreamed—in the most exciting and heartbreaking of ways.
And Kenzie’s part in that had just made me love her more.
Although I wasn’t sure that was even possible. But I knew for damned sure that I had a ring that was burning a hole in my pocket.
Since we were in Denver less and less, we hadn’t been seeing as much of her parents. We might not be back here for three or four more months, so I wanted to talk to Kenzie’s father today.
The doorbell rang and I looked over at the tie one more time, but left it where it had landed on the sink counter and ran down to let Dale in.
He immediately noticed my collared shirt. “I thought we were doing woodshop stuff. Did I forget and we’re meeting the girls somewhere?”
I was definitely glad I hadn’t worn the tie. “No. I, uh, just… Laundry day.”
Dale smiled as he shook my hand. “Totally understand. Good to see you.”
Dale and Barbara had been nothing but totally accepting of me, each in their own way. Barbara was more like her daughter, outgoing and physically demonstrative—always hugging me or patting my hand. Dale was more reserved, his personality matching his math teacher profession, but he’d still welcomed me as Kenzie’s significant other.
But what I was going to ask for today was an entirely different story. It was one thing to be okay with a guy your daughter was dating. Quite another to be okay with her tying her life to him forever.
We chatted pretty easily as we headed back to the workshop. I’d been teaching Dale how to do some basic carvings, which he’d liked. But he more enjoyed precision measuring and cutting using some of my bigger machinery, not surprising given the mathematical nature of it.
We worked for an hour, partly because Dale was excited to use the tools, but mostly because I was a big fat chicken who couldn’t work up the nerve to ask my question.
Finally, Dale realized something wasn’t quite right. “You okay, Jensen?”
“Yeah. Absolutely. Of course. Sure. Yeah.” Jesus, I sounded like a teenager. I cleared my throat. “I’m fine. Why do you ask?”
The older man studied me. “Well, you’re being quiet, even for you. Plus, every time I’ve looked up, I’ve found you staring at me. Not to mention…that collared shirt. A couple months ago I saw you go in and pick a t-shirt out of the hamper to wear while we were working. The whole laundry day argument doesn’t seem to fit. So, is there something on your mind?”
This was it. My opening. He’d all but handed it to me.
“I love your daughter, Mr. Hurst.”
He raised an eyebrow. “You’ve been calling me Dale since I asked you to ten minutes after I met you. Is there a reason why we’re reverting back to formalities?”
I ran a hand through my hair. I was making a mess of this already and hadn’t even gotten to the hard part. “I need to talk to you.”
His eyes narrowed. “Did you do something to hurt Kenzie? Be unfaithful?”
“What? No. No, I would never. I wanted to talk to you about the opposite, in fact.”
He stepped back from the saw and placed the wood he’d been preparing to cut to the side. “I see.”
I let out a breath. “Kenzie is the most amazing woman I’ve ever known. I would like to ask her to marry me. But first I wanted to ask for your blessing to do so.”
Dale tilted his head to the side. “Sort of an old-fashioned notion, isn’t it? Asking for a father’s blessing? We both know Kenzie is more than capable of making important decisions herself.”
“Yes, of course. She’s probably smarter than both of us combined. But I know how much you and Barbara mean to her and I just…”
I ran my hand through my hair again. Had this been a bad idea? I hadn’t meant any disrespect to either Dale or Kenzie by what I was trying to do.
This was why I had been alone for so long, because I fucked up interpersonal stuff so badly.
Dale cleared his throat. “Your relationship with your parents is strained, if I understand correctly. Is that right?”
“More like non-existent. I haven’t talked to either of my parents since social service removed me from my home when I was ten.”
“And before that, it wasn’t a great living situation, was it?”
I rubbed my eyes. This was nothing I hadn’t thought of before more than once. I couldn’t blame him for bringing it up. “I know what you’re getting at.”
He leaned back against the saw’s table. “Do you? Explain it to me.”
“I know you have to be worried about me passing down my genes to any kids Kenzie and I have. My parents were abusive addicts. You probably don’t want that combining with your bloodline.”
“Well, I?—”
“You probably have concerns that I might become an abusive addict myself.”
“Actually, I?—”
I couldn’t blame him for that. “To be honest, I don’t know that I can promise I won’t. I worry about it every day. I have never touched drugs in my life, but I know that doesn’t necessarily mean anything.”
“Jensen—”
“You’re right. This was a bad idea. I don’t know what I was thinking.”
“Son.” He walked over and put a hand on my shoulder. “I never thought I’d have to say this to you, but I want you to be quiet now and let me talk.”
Son. He’d called me son. I couldn’t remember anyone ever calling me son to my face. I nodded.
“Have any of us ever told you how Barbara and I met?”
I shook my head.
“I went for a hike at one of our state parks when I was in grad school—literally the only hike I’ve ever gone on in my life. I somehow wandered off the trail and got lost. A brand-new park ranger found me and she escorted me back to my car. The rest was history.”
I had to smile at that. “No, I hadn’t heard the story.”
“Everything about Barbara and I shouldn’t work. She’s outgoing, outdoorsy—big and bold and beautiful. I’m an introverted math teacher. A computer nerd. Don’t think I don’t know Kenzie calls me a vampire behind my back because I’m so pale.”
I chuckled. “I can neither confirm nor deny that.”
“I know you think you and Kenzie are opposites too.”
“We are. For sure.” I swallowed hard, forcing the next question out, afraid I already understood what Dale was saying. “Do you think getting married would be a mistake?”
He squeezed my shoulder. “I waited way too long to propose to Barbara because I convinced myself she wanted—needed—something else that wasn’t me. I almost lost her because of that. What a tragedy that would’ve been.”
I nodded, almost afraid to believe what I was hearing.
“You and Kenzie are like me and Barbara. You balance each other out. And as for your concerns about your bloodline? That’s always a crapshoot. Maybe a penchant for addiction does get passed down, but the right home with two loving parents may completely change how that manifests. I guess I’m saying it’s worth the risk.”
“Really?” My voice came out as a whisper. I knew there were years of trauma and fear in the one word.
“Absolutely.” His other hand came up to rest on my other shoulder. “You’re a good man, Jensen Chambers. Even better because of what you had to climb out of to become one. My daughter loves you to distraction and I would be delighted to have you as my son-in-law. As my son.”
I wasn’t a big hugger, but when the older man wrapped his arms around me, I didn’t resist. “Thank you.”
He thumped me on the back, then let me go. “And old fashioned or not, it means the world to me that you came to me first. You have my blessing.”
“Thank you.”
“We’re home!” Kenzie’s voice rang out and I could hear her and Barbara laughing and continuing a conversation. “Where are you guys?”
“In the workshop,” I yelled, then turned to Dale. “Now I just have to convince Kenzie.”
He winked at me. “Since I overheard she and her mother talking about some sort of plant conservatory in the middle of Garnet Bend and how that would be perfect for a spring wedding, it probably won’t take as much convincing as you think.”
I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face. That would be more perfect than I’d ever imagined.
I’d be gaining a wife who I loved to distraction.
And evidently, a set of parents too.
Thank you for becoming a Josie Jem and reading this bonus epilogue of MONTANA HEAT!