SWEET MONTANA HOME.

Marla Monroe.

Chapter One.

Jacqueline Montgomery moved back to Clifton, Montana, like a scalded cat, fast and under the cover of night. Thank G.o.d the renters had already moved out of her parent's old house when they did, or she would have had nowhere to go.

The nearly four hour drive from Billings had taken its toll. At two in the morning, there were very few cars on the road, but it had been a difficult drive just the same. Her hands shook so badly she dropped the key as she tried to unlock the door. Cursing, she picked it up, and used both hands to unlock it.

You're a fool for driving here in the middle of the night, much less in the condition you're in, Jackie. You could have killed yourself, or worse, someone else.

She returned to the car and dragged her suitcase out of the back of the Pathfinder and carried it in the house. She set the suitcase in her old bedroom. There was no furniture, but she would make do. The fact that the electricity was still on was a G.o.dsend. She made one more trip to the car and carried in the comforter and blankets she'd brought with her, knowing she would have to sleep on the floor.

Serves you right for thinking you could make it in high society. You're not a social b.u.t.terfly. You're a small-town girl who knows more about horses and cattle than which fork to use with your salad.

Jackie brushed aside her tears in frustration. It was no use crying about it now. She had made it home. Things were looking up. All she had to do was file for divorce, find a job, and get on with living. Which was easier said than done in a small town. There would be questioning glances and outright gossip the minute someone learned she was back in town-alone.

She didn't bother unpacking her suitcase. She would do that when she got up. For now, all she needed was something to sleep in. Making a pallet on the floor proved to be harder than she'd expected with shaking hands and tears in her eyes.

She couldn't help the flashbacks from earlier that evening. She'd come home early from a committee meeting that night with a headache and found her husband in bed with one of her so-called friends. That had been shocking enough, but it was the fight afterward that had sealed the deal. She might have worked at saving their marriage if he'd acted the least bit remorseful, but he acted the injured party.

"f.u.c.king you is like f.u.c.king a cold fish. You're about as s.e.xy as one of those cows where you came from. I should have known better than to think you could fit in here. All you've done is embarra.s.s me."

"You've spent all your time at the office, or so I thought, instead of helping me to adjust and learn how to be the wife you expected me to be. You're nothing more than a cheating b.a.s.t.a.r.d."

She'd picked up the winegla.s.s from the coffee table left over from her husband's little romantic evening and threw it all over him. He backhanded her, causing her to fall and hit her head on the table. It was the last straw. She'd be d.a.m.ned if she would stay after that. She'd packed her bag right then and there and grabbed what she wanted before leaving to head home. He hadn't so much as blinked an eye when she'd walked past him.

Jackie sighed and settled on the blanket and pulled the comforter up to her chin. It wasn't exactly cold in the house. She just felt cold inside. She dried her tears and told herself she'd shed the last one for the son of a b.i.t.c.h she had married. She would be just fine without him now that she was back in Clifton. It had been six years, but there would be old friends here, she was sure. All she needed was a good night's sleep and everything would look better in the morning. With that, she closed her eyes and willed herself to go to sleep.

Less than twenty minutes later, there was a loud knock at the door. It startled her, and she screeched. Who would be knocking at this hour of the morning? Surely it wasn't Stewart, her soon to be ex-husband. She just couldn't see him feeling remorse and chasing her all the way back to Clifton.

The knock came again, louder than before. She got up and wrapped the comforter around her before trudging to the door in her makeshift robe. She'd left a light on in the hall so she could see her way around the house. At the front door, she looked through the peephole, but it was too dark to see. Turning on the porch light, Jackie opened the door a crack with the slide chain in place to see who it was.

"Who is it?" she asked.

"Jackie? Is that you?" The voice sounded familiar, but she couldn't quite place it.

"Who are you?" she asked again.

"It's Sam and Mitch Grayson from across the field."

Jackie sighed and closed the door so she could slide the chain off and open it all the way. She had known Sam and Mitch since grade school. They'd grown up together, and she'd been bad about following them around until she started high school. Then she'd developed a crush on not just one of them, but both of them, and knew that would never work. They both asked her out a dozen times, but she couldn't choose one over the other, so she'd never gone out with either of them.

"What are you doing here at this time of morning?" she asked as they stepped inside.

"Saw the light on over here and knew the Morrisons had already moved out. Thought we should investigate to be sure someone wasn't squatting," Sam told her.

"I appreciate it, but it's just me. I'm moving back."

"Hey, that's great to hear," Mitch said. "How did you manage to get your husband to move?"

Jackie hesitated just a fraction of a second, but Sam picked up on it.

"He's not coming with you, is he?" Sam asked.

"No, it's just me. I'm getting a divorce."

Mitch turned on the light in the living room and cursed. "Did that son of a b.i.t.c.h do that to you?"

Sam turned her face to the light and winced. "Baby, you need some antibiotic salve on that cut."

"It's fine. I'll get something for it tomorrow. I didn't pack anything like that." She pulled away from Sam and took a step back, pulling the comforter tighter around her.

"Jackie? You know we'd never hurt you," Sam said softly.

"I know. Look, it was a long drive, and I really need some sleep. Maybe we could talk another time."

"Of course. You know where we are if you need anything, anything at all." Sam told her.

Mitch stood back with a grim look on his face, his lips in a fine line.

"Thanks. I appreciate it. I'll be fine." She walked over to the door and held it open for them to leave.

"Night, Jackie," Sam said, and the two of them walked out on the porch.

"Lock up, Jackie," Mitch reminded her.

She nodded and closed the door, setting all the locks before waddling back into the bedroom. Only now she wasn't sure she'd be able to get any sleep. Mitch and Sam hadn't changed much, if at all. Sam, the oldest by several minutes, looked just like Mitch, with the exception of a scar at the edge of his left eye. As a teenager he'd been thrown by a horse and had to have twelve st.i.tches.

Both men were tall at six feet five inches with unruly black hair that they kept just brushing the collars on their shirts. Broad shoulders with wide chests that tapered down to narrow waists was enough to make any woman drool over them. They both had a tight a.s.s she would love to sink her teeth into.

She loved Sam's playful att.i.tude and easygoing nature. He had more creases around his eyes and at the corners of his mouth from smiling than Mitch.

Mitch was the more serious of the two. Though the youngest, he tended to be the more responsible one when they were growing up. Still, she could count on either one of them to always be there if she needed them. She just hadn't been able to date them. Instead of making it awkward for turning them down, they'd become great friends. She had missed them while living in Billings.

They lived next door, so to speak, since next door tended to be about three miles on the other side of the field separating their homes. When she had gotten married, they had been at the wedding, but it was obvious from the beginning they hadn't approved of her choice in mates.

Jackie had met Stewart while away at college. They'd seemed perfect for each other. He'd been so laid back in college, only to change once they were married and living in Billings. Too bad she hadn't noticed the gradual change sooner. Once she had, she felt that she had to make it work. Not anymore, though. She was through with him.

She tossed and turned trying to get comfortable once again, but her thoughts kept returning to Sam and Mitch and how things had been when they were younger. Eventually, she fell into a dreamless sleep.

"I can't believe she's back home," Sam said under his breath.

"Did you see the d.a.m.n bruise on her face?" Mitch asked.

"Yeah. She's well rid of him. I hope he comes here looking for her. I'll show him what it means when you hit a woman." Sam looked out his window at the fence posts as they pa.s.sed by.

Mitch's grip on the steering wheel turned his knuckles white. He didn't know if he would wait for the a.s.shole to show up or not. He just might go hunting him. No one hurt their Jackie and got away with it. They'd been watching out for her since grade school.

"Mitch. Do you think we stand a chance with her now?" Sam asked.

"I don't know, Sam. She's been through a trauma of some sort. We can't just jump on her to go out with us."

"I know. Still, if we play our cards right..." He trailed off.

"Maybe. For now, she needs a friend, and someone to help her set up house again. I say we don't push her." Mitch turned down their drive.

He wondered if she had changed much in the six years since they'd last seen her. She still had the most beautiful auburn hair that reached to her shoulders and curled around her face. Her wide, green eyes seemed to look right through you. It had been hard to tell with the comforter wrapped around her like it was, but he would bet his truck that she was still the same curvy beauty she'd been when she left. At five feet six inches, she had been just right for them. He'd loved watching her a.s.s twitch when she was in a snit, and had been bad about riling her up just to watch her walk away.

"d.a.m.n, I'm glad she's back." Sam climbed out of the truck and walked up to the porch.

"I'm glad we were checking on the horses so that we saw the lights on over there." Mitch looked across the wide open field and could barely make out the front porch light she'd left on by mistake.

"It's going to be hard being around her without letting her know how we feel about her. h.e.l.l, all she'd have to do is look at my jeans and see my c.o.c.k imprinted on the front. I always did stay hard around her." Sam adjusted his jeans then opened the door and walked inside. "You coming?"

"In a minute."

He wanted to think for a while. He doubted he would sleep anyway. Not without dreaming about her. What had that son of a b.i.t.c.h done to her and why? He could never understand how a man could hurt a woman in the first place. There was nothing they could do that warranted hitting one. You walked away and calmed down. His parents had taught both of them to respect women.

He had never gotten over her. Sure, he and Sam had dated plenty of women and even contemplated marriage, but no one could measure up to Jackie. They knew what had happened during high school. She hadn't wanted to pick between them. As kids, they couldn't very well both date her, but as adults, it was a different story.

He and Sam had known since high school that they would share a woman as their wife. His mom had been raised in a family with two fathers and her mother. He could still remember going to visit his grandparents at their farm on many a weekend and at least one week out of the summer. They'd been very happy. He still missed them.

They had grown up in a traditional home, but he and Sam shared a closeness as twins that seemed even more so than other twins. They'd discussed many times growing up their plans to share their wife. All they had needed was for Jackie to grow up and come home from college to them. Unfortunately, she'd met her husband there, and didn't come home to them. It had hurt, but they hadn't been able to do anything about it.

Now they could, but once again, they would have to wait until she'd gotten past her divorce. Only this time, they weren't going to give anyone else a chance to woo her out from under them. They would make themselves indispensible to her, and slowly ease her into feeling comfortable around both of them at the same time.

Mitch looked out over the field one more time at the tiny light representing a new chance for them. When they'd driven over there to investigate, they had never dreamed it would be to find their Jackie moving back. Mitch smiled and turned to go inside. He would try to get a few hours of sleep. Then they would start their campaign to win Jackie as their wife.

Chapter Two.

The sound of birds singing woke Jackie earlier than she would have liked, but there was no use trying to get back to sleep. Besides, she had a lot to do today. First on the agenda was to locate a lawyer and file for divorce. Second was to look into possible jobs and then see about buying a few pieces of furniture, namely a bed.

An hour later, she had showered and dressed in jeans and a T-shirt. Sure, they were designer jeans, but this was home, and no one expected you to dress up unless you were going to church, a wedding, or a funeral. It felt good to be home.

The trip into town took all of fifteen minutes. She headed straight to the only lawyer she knew in town, James Tidwell. He had practiced law in Clifton for as long as she could remember. She pulled in front of his office and drew in a deep breath. This was it. She was going to put an end to her marriage. She got out of the car and walked into the building expecting to see Madge at the front desk. Instead, it was someone she didn't know.

"Can I help you?"

"Um, yes, I wanted to see Mr. Tidwell about some business.

The secretary looked knowingly at her, and Jackie realized her bruises would be visible despite the makeup. She could feel the heat race up her neck and into her face.

"Do you have an appointment?" the lady asked.

"No, I didn't realize I needed one. I've been out of town for a few years, but you didn't use to have to have one."

"Let me check if he can see you. What is your name?" she asked.

"Jackie Montgomery. He knows me."

"Hold on a minute." She got up and walked toward the door behind her and, after a brief knock, walked in the office.

A few seconds later she came back out and nodded at her. "He'll see you now."

Jackie thanked her and walked to the door and went in. She was shocked to see James, Jr. instead of his father.

"Jackie, it's been a long time." He walked around the desk and held out his hand to shake hers. "What can I do for you?"

It was obvious he was ignoring the bruises on her face, so the secretary must have mentioned them. It unnerved her a little to talk to someone she'd gone to school with. Still, she didn't really have a choice unless she wanted to go back to Billings and get a lawyer there.

"I want to draw up divorce papers." There, she'd said it.

"I'm sorry to hear that," he said with a frown. "Let's sit down and talk." He held out his hand to indicate the chair across from the desk. He returned to his chair and pulled out a legal pad and picked up his pen. "Tell me about it."

Jackie went over the basics of her ordeal. To his credit, he focused on his pad and didn't look up while she was talking.

"That's about it," she finished.

"Okay, you have a valid and excellent case. What do you want out of the divorce?"

"Nothing really. I just want out. He can have the house and the furniture. I want the rest of my clothes and personal things, is about it."

"You realize you could take him to the cleaners for not only adultery, but for striking you."

"I know, but I just want to put it all behind me and forget the mistake I made." She licked her lips and swallowed.

"I understand. I'll draw up the papers. I'm going to put in them that he has to pay all court costs and your legal fees, as well as a small allowance for one year. You will need it to set up your house and get through the next few months of looking for work."

"I guess that will be okay. I am going to need to find a job. Don't suppose you know of anywhere hiring, do you?"

"Not right off the bat, but I'll check around for you." James, Jr. smiled and stood up extending his hand across the desk.