A Match Made in Montana. Joanna Sims
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“Tyler, how many times have I asked you to not to feed Ranger at the table?”
Josephine looked across the table at her brother; Ranger was sitting on Tyler’s lap waiting for a morsel to come his way. Tyler winked at her and smiled, but didn’t move Ranger.
“I haven’t been up to the chapel in years.” Josephine remembered playing wedding there with Jordan when they were girls. “Are you really thinking about moving the chapel, Dad? How? And where would you put it?”
Great-grandpa Brand had been a full-time rancher and a part-time preacher. He’d built a small chapel on the ranch with his own hands, and had a small congregation that would come on Sunday morning to hear him preach. It had sat abandoned, unused, for decades.
“I don’t really know.” Hank snuck Ilsa a full strip of bacon from his plate. “I haven’t been up there in years. I couldn’t tell you if it’s even still standing.”
“It’s standing,” Tyler said. “But it’s rough. Real rough.”
“I’d be willing to take a look at it for you, sir,” Logan offered. “My uncle’s a contractor. He had me framing houses before I could drive. I could take some pictures and get my uncle take a look at them.”
Hank stood up and grabbed his hat off the back of his chair. “I’d appreciate that.”
Ranger hopped down to the ground when Tyler stood up and grabbed his hat as well. “I can take him up there so he can get a look around.”
“No, I need you supervising the work on the north fence today.” Hank grabbed his plate and utensils, stacked them in the sink, and then kissed his wife.
It hit her out of the blue, but the only thing Josephine wanted to do with her morning was see the chapel. She didn’t want to spend the morning cooped up with a bunch of textbooks. She wanted to get out in the fresh air, get out into the sunlight, and get her blood pumping by hiking her way up to the ninety-year-old chapel.
“Mom? Jordan’s not going to be ready to tackle wedding stuff until after noon. If you don’t need me, I could take Logan up to see the chapel.”
“That’s fine, honey. Just make sure you take plenty of water and bug spray.” Her mother never took a break from being her mother.
Josephine looked at Logan. “If you don’t mind...I’ll take you to the chapel.”
Logan had been sitting across the table from Josephine, trying not to stare at her. There was just something about her that got his attention and held it. Would he mind spending the morning hiking in the mountains with the most beautiful woman he’d seen in a long time?
Heck, no!
Logan did his best not to look like a kid who had just been handed the keys to the candy store when he casually said to Josephine, “No, I don’t mind.”
Josephine quickly changed into a pair of denim cutoff shorts and hiking boots, and layered a sweatshirt over a Berkeley Law T-shirt. She grabbed sunglasses, a baseball cap, and raced down the stairs. She deliberately left her cell phone behind. This was her time to take a break from her worries over her relationship with Brice. This was her first full day home at the ranch and it seemed sacrilegious not to at least make the attempt to enjoy it.
“Ready?” Logan was waiting for her.
“Ready.” Josephine hopped down the porch stairs to meet him.
Logan liked the way Josephine’s face was lit up with excitement. He had no doubt that the excitement was related to the hike and seeing the chapel, but he couldn’t stop himself from hoping that perhaps spending time with him factored into that equation.
“Lead the way, boss.” Logan lifted his heavy rucksack onto his shoulders.
They walked along a well-worn dirt road that would lead them up the mountain to her great-grandfather’s chapel. Before they reached the tree line at the base of the mountain, the early morning sun was heating up the bright blue, cloudless sky. By the time they reached tree line, Josephine was ready to shed her outer layer of clothing.
“This road will take us about three-quarters of the way up this mountain.” She wrapped her sweatshirt around her hips and put her hat back on. “There’s an incredible view of the continental divide once you reach the peak. You’ve got to be sure to check that out while you’re here, but you’ll have to get there on foot or on horseback. Do you ride?”
Logan nodded. “All my life.”
“Well...” Josephine slid the sunglasses back into place. “Anytime you want to ride, just let London know. She’s the intern working in the foaling barn. She’ll make sure there’s a horse saddled up for you.”
Together, side by side, they walked along the gravel and dirt road that followed a winding stream up the mountain. Although she had known him for only a very short time, it wasn’t awkward hiking alone with Logan. Out of his uniform, he wasn’t uptight. Their conversation was easy, and right when a lull was about to occur, Logan would ask her another question about the history of the ranch. She couldn’t stop herself from thinking that Brice had never shown this much interest in her family’s history. Even though she hadn’t really paid much attention to that before today. But with Logan’s genuine interest as a comparison, it was pretty hard to ignore.
“Do you mind if we take a quick break?” she asked when they reached the halfway point.
Josephine found a large boulder near the stream embankment and sat down. She closed her eyes for a minute to enjoy fully the sounds of the mountains. It seemed so quiet when they were walking and talking, but right now she could hear how loud the water flowing over the rocks in the stream sounded.
“Thirsty?” Logan, kneeling nearby, had opened his rucksack. He held out a bottle of water to her, which she accepted.
She drank the water slowly, taking some time to catch her breath. Logan downed his water, stuffed the empty bottle back into his bag, and then stripped his T-shirt off. Beneath it was a ribbed tank top that clung to his chest and stomach. For a second, Josephine found herself mindlessly staring at Logan. He wasn’t tall; she typically dated tall men. In fact, when she stood next to him in heels, she was a little taller than he was.
But on the other hand, he was built like Michelangelo’s David. His body was incredible. She’d never seen anything like it in real life. His shoulders, his biceps, his chest, were covered with thick, defined muscle. His waist was tapered and she could actually see the ripples of his abdominal muscles through the ribbed material. Logan didn’t have a six-pack—he had an eight-pack. In particular, she was fascinated by the large tattoo of a dark gray wolf that covered a large portion of his upper left arm and chest. Part of the tattoo was obscured by his tank top, and Josephine wished she could move the material over and take a closer look at the design. It looked like beautiful work. Knowing that she needed to stop staring at the man, she looked at the stream instead. But, she could still see him out of the corner of her eye as he wiped the sweat off his face, neck, and arms with his T-shirt.
After a minute, she stood up and brushed the dirt off the seat of her shorts. “I’m over here huffing and puffing and you’ve barely broken a sweat.”
Logan rolled up his T-shirt and packed it back into the rucksack. “I spend a lot of time indoor rock climbing.”
“It shows.” This was blurted out without thought. Josephine inwardly cringed as she extended her empty bottle to him.
He smiled at her as he held out his hand for her bottle. She was genuinely relieved when he didn’t latch on to her comment and run with it. He just zipped up his bag, slung it back onto his shoulders, and adjusted the straps for comfort.
“Ready?” he asked.
“Yep.” Now that she had