Brenda Harlen - The More Mavericks, The Merrier!

“Uh-uh,” Fallon said, shaking her head. “I’m not taking the kids out to chop down a tree—we are.”

“I don’t have time—”

“Make time,” she said, interrupting his familiar refrain.

He frowned. “When did you get to be so bossy?”

“She’s always been bossy,” Bella chimed in. “I don’t know how it’s possible that you’ve known her for more than twenty years and not known that.”

But Fallon wasn’t surprised that he hadn’t noticed her ability to take charge and assert herself when the situation warranted. There were a lot of things that Jamie had never noticed about her. Most notably the Montana-sized crush she’d had on him since she was a girl experiencing the first stirring of adolescent hormones.

And while a part of her was grateful that he’d never discovered her feelings for him, another part continued to be frustrated that he’d always viewed her as his kid sister’s friend. Sure, over the years they’d developed a friendship of their own outside of their mutual connection to Bella, but Jamie had only ever seen her as a pal to hang out with and an occasional confidante.

She was the only person he’d shared his anger and frustration with when he’d discovered that his wife had secretly been taking birth control while he’d thought they were trying to get pregnant. Of course, when Paula finally had conceived, Jamie had shared the good news with everyone in Rust Creek Falls. He’d been so thrilled, he’d practically shouted it from the rooftops. But he’d subsequently admitted to Fallon that Paula wasn’t nearly as excited about having a baby as he was—and even less so when they learned that she would have three of them.

“I thought you were the bossy one,” Jamie responded to his sister’s comment while his speculative gaze lingered on Fallon.

“I’m not bossy,” she denied.

His lips twitched. “Of course not. And now, I really do need to get out to the barn to check on Daisy,” he said, suddenly remembering his expectant mare.

Fallon nodded. “Will we see you at lunch?”

“Not if I’m going to finish up early to go out hunting for a Christmas tree.”

“I didn’t ask you to do that,” she pointed out.

“It gets dark early this time of year.” He snagged a couple of muffins out of the container on the table, then winked at her on his way to the door. “These will tide me over.”

She started to offer to wrap them up and fill a thermos with coffee, then clenched her teeth to hold back the words. She was pleased that he liked the muffins, but while offering baked goods was an acceptable and neighborly gesture, sending him off with a bagged lunch and a hot beverage was something a wife would do.

And Fallon wasn’t his wife—she was his friend and his children’s babysitter, nothing more. She needed to remember that—for the sake of her own heart.

Chapter Two

While Jamie was making his way to the door, his sister started clearing the breakfast dishes off the table.

“If you have to get to work, I can take care of that,” Fallon offered.

“I’m not really in a hurry,” Bella admitted.

“You don’t have to meet Hudson to look at applications?”

“Not until this afternoon.”

Fallon shook her head. “Really? You were so afraid to sample my baking that you made up that story?”

“I didn’t make it up,” her friend denied. “I just fudged the timeline a little.”

“I’ve prepared lunch and occasionally dinner here numerous times over the past ten months and you never balked at eating anything I’ve cooked,” she pointed out.

“You know how to put a meal together,” Bella confirmed. “Dessert? Not so much.”

“Ouch.”

“You have a lot of talents,” her friend soothed. “Baking just isn’t one of them.”

“But the muffins were good, weren’t they?”

“They were very good, but one batch of muffins isn’t going to make anyone forget the potluck experience.”

Fallon scowled as she washed the babies’ hands and faces, then she and Bella carried the triplets into the living room.

Because Henry, Jared and Katie were preemies—born almost two months ahead of schedule—they were a little bit delayed in their development and had only recently started to crawl and climb. Their sudden mobility had Jamie in a panic about childproofing the house, so there were now caps in all of the outlets, child locks and latches on all of the doors and drawers and baby gates to block off the rooms that were completely off-limits to the little ones.

He also had a play yard—which Fallon thought was intended to go in the yard, but he’d assured her was also suitable for indoor use and gave the babies a little more room to roam around than a traditional playpen. But for now, with Bella there to provide an extra set of eyes, they were letting the babies crawl around the floor.

While her brothers were playing with wooden toy cars, Katie was preoccupied with the sparkly ring on Bella’s finger. “Pretty, isn’t it?” Fallon said.

Katie, of course, didn’t respond but continued to be mesmerized by the massive diamond.

“You’re a smart girl,” her Auntie Bella said. “You already know that diamonds are a girl’s best friend.”

“And her brothers are already obsessed with cars,” Fallon noted.

“Whatever keeps them busy...and happy,” Bella said, smiling as she watched them play. “For a long time, I didn’t think they’d ever learn how to occupy themselves.”

“It’s amazing how much they’ve grown and changed over the past ten months,” Fallon agreed. “And speaking of changes...have you and Hudson set a date for the wedding?”

“We have,” her friend happily confirmed. “Saturday, June 10. We’re having the ceremony at the church followed by a reception at Maverick Manor.”

“Have you found a dress?”

“I’ve been looking at bridal magazines and browsing online, but that’s it so far. I’m hoping to get to Mimi’s Bridal in Kalispell on Saturday, but I have to make sure my maid of honor can go with me.”

“Who are you having stand up with you?” Fallon asked.

“Hopefully my best friend,” Bella said.

“Me?”

The bride-to-be smiled. “Of course you, if you’re willing.”

“I would be honored,” Fallon told her sincerely.

“And are you up for wedding dress shopping on Saturday?”

“Absolutely. Have you decided who will be your bridesmaids?”

Bella shook her head. “I’m not having any other attendants.”

“Why not?” Fallon wondered.

“Because I always imagined that I’d have Dana and Liza in my wedding party,” the bride-to-be admitted softly, referring to the two sisters she hadn’t seen in years. “And if they can’t be there... I don’t want anyone else.”

Fallon reached over to squeeze her friend’s hand in a silent gesture of comfort and support.

“So the wedding party is going to be very small,” Bella continued. “Bride and groom, maid of honor and best man, flower girl and two ring bearers.”

“Katie, Henry and Jared?” she guessed.

Her friend nodded. “Jamie thinks I’m crazy, but I want my niece and nephews in my wedding party.”

“That’s not crazy,” Fallon assured her. “Crazy would be letting Homer Gilmore anywhere near the wedding punch.”

Bella chuckled at her mention of the old man who had confessed to spiking the wedding punch with his homemade moonshine when Jennifer MacCallum and Braden Traub got married last Fourth of July. As a result, the celebration had resulted in several new romances and started the local baby boom. “Apparently he learned his lesson. Although I have to admit, I’ve found myself wondering if ‘what happened at the wedding’ wasn’t much ado about nothing.”