Trust in Sanctuary [Sanctuary, Montana 4] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Read online

  Sanctuary, Montana 4

  Trust in Sanctuary

  As a forensic genealogist, Jocelyn Richards spends all her time delving into other family’s histories as a way to avoid dealing with her own. She’s quietly hired to find the information needed to put an end to a centuries-old feud between the Baldwins and McLeans but never expected to find her future while investigating the past.

  Eric and Matt Baldwin are cousins who have grown up like brothers. Life in the fire department hasn't been risk free. After an accident that almost claimed Eric’s life, they both moved back to their home town to build a future and train a new generation of firefighters.

  Matt grew up with the firm belief in love at first sight. When they meet a woman in town to do research on a book, Eric is tempted to believe it too. But there are more secrets to Jocelyn Richards than he first believes, and when the feud flares to life again she is caught in the middle. Will the history behind a centuries-old feud drive them apart before they can create a future?

  Genre: Contemporary, Ménage a Trois/Quatre, Western/Cowboys

  Length: 59,889 words

  TRUST IN SANCTUARY

  Sanctuary, Montana 4

  Corinne Davies

  MENAGE EVERLASTING

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

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  A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK

  IMPRINT: Ménage Everlasting

  TRUST IN SANCTUARY

  Copyright © 2013 by Corinne Davies

  E-book ISBN: 978-1-62740-668-0

  First E-book Publication: October 2013

  Cover design by Les Byerley

  All art and logo copyright © 2013 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.

  All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

  PUBLISHER

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  Letter to Readers

  Dear Readers,

  If you have purchased this copy of Trust in Sanctuary by Corinne Davies from BookStrand.com or its official distributors, thank you. Also, thank you for not sharing your copy of this book.

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  This is Corinne Davies’s livelihood. It’s fair and simple. Please respect Ms. Davies’s right to earn a living from her work.

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  www.SirenPublishing.com

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  DEDICATION

  Many thanks to Alicia, Lara, Melody, Jane, and Zara for inviting me to be a part of this incredible series. I had so much fun writing and planning this with all of you.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Dedication

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  TRUST IN SANCTUARY

  Sanctuary, Montana 4

  CORINNE DAVIES

  Copyright © 2013

  Chapter One

  April 20th

  Matt felt another drop of sweat trickle down his back as he raced up the tower stairs while carrying a forty-two-pound fire hose over his shoulder. There weren’t all that many buildings this tall in Montana, let alone Sanctuary, but exercises like this made certain that they all stayed in peak shape.

  “You’re three seconds slower than last week, Matty.” His cousin Eric sat at the top of the tower holding a stopwatch. “You better lay off those chocolate croissants over at Tempting Tea.”

  “Kiss my ass, Eric. I’m still faster than you.” He dropped the hose and quickly tied himself off to the safety equipment before climbing over the edge. He paused for a split second to flip his cousin the finger before jumping off and grappling down the wall edge. His steel-toe boots hit the dusty ground a moment later, and his knee twinged painfully at the impact, but he ignored it. There was a smattering of applause behind him from the rookies, and he bowed dramatically before unhooking his safety belt from the rope.

  He took off his helmet and pulled the mask from his face. The cold air hit his lungs and almost stole his breath. The air inside the mask held the heat and taking it off was a bit of a shock. “All right, I’ve set the baseline. Let’s see if anyone can do it faster, bottom five wash the station bathrooms for a week, while the rest of us wash the truck this afternoon.” A series of groans from the newest recruits was his response as the more seasoned men picked up their gear and the stopwatches were reset.

  They all loved to challenge each other, and he hoped this wasn’t the week everyone managed to best his time. Maybe Eric has a point and those damn croissants are doing me in. He mentally shrugged. Some things were worth an extra mile of running, and he wasn’t about to deprive himself of something he enjoyed as much as the tearoom’s treats. Two hours later, Matt was up to his elbows in sudsy water.

  “Washing the truck by hand? When it’s still this damn cold out?” Eric threw a sodden sponge at his head. “What were you thinking?”

  Matt ducked the projectile and shrugged. “It seemed like a good idea at the time and a lot better than cleaning the station’s bathrooms for a week.” They all took turns caring for the daily housekeeping chores in the firehouse, but sometimes a well-placed challenge freed them for a spell. “And stop your bitching. It’s not that bad out.”

  The sun had gotten warmer as the day went on, and while it was chilly, the constant movement had warmed him enough to toss his coat to the side and wash the truck in a long-sleeve shirt. He looked over at Eric, expecting his cousin to make
another comment, but his attention wasn’t on the suds slowly making their way down the length of his arm.

  Matt turned and immediately noticed the source of his cousin’s distraction. The most intriguing woman he’d ever seen drove down the road toward them. He couldn’t make out much from his position, but something about her drew his attention. It took a second before he realized she was looking over at them and not…

  “Oh, shit,” Eric muttered as she jumped on her brakes, almost plowing into the back of a pickup truck that’d stopped to let a cat cross the road. Her tires squealed in protest, but she got her vehicle stopped in time.

  “Good brakes,” he muttered. “Think she gave herself a heart attack?”

  “She’s gripping the steering wheel like a lifeline and hasn’t looked back here since. Yeah, I bet her heart is pounding like a drum right about now.”

  Matt had the insane thought that he’d like to feel her heart pounding as he kissed a path down her neck. His cock twitched inside his heavy workpants. Hell of a reaction for a woman I barely got a glance of.

  She refused to look back over at them, and Matt was tempted to throw the sponge at her window to get her to look again. He wanted to know who she was. He looked back at his cousin, who hadn’t moved. “Do you know her?”

  Eric shook his head and then must have suddenly realized there’d been a steady stream of soapy water trickling down his arm. “Dammit.” Eric snapped and tossed the sponge in the bucket and shook out his arm. “I say this truck is as clean as it’s going to get.”

  Matt turned back and watched the woman’s car make its way down the street. He wanted to think that he could see her looking up at the rearview mirror at them, but that was just wishful thinking on his part. She turned right on First. “Maybe she’s staying at Minnie’s.”

  “Maybe.” Eric shrugged. “Let’s get this finished up and go for a beer. She’s probably here for the rodeo and just heading back out of town.”

  “I hope not.” Matt continued to look down the road as if she was going to suddenly appear again. “There was something about her.”

  “Good thing her reflexes are quick and she drives a reliable vehicle or that would have turned out bad.”

  For the first time in his life as a firefighter, Matt wished an accident had happened.

  * * * *

  You complete and utter moronic buffoon. Jocelyn Richards continued to berate herself as she slowly drove down the street, keeping her gaze on the road in front of her and not the hot firefighters behind her. Her heart felt like it was pounding in her throat, and her hands trembled on the steering wheel. I almost plowed into the back end of that truck, all because I was looking at… What was I thinking?

  Her heart was racing, and she felt like she couldn’t take a deep breath. It was tempting to open her window and get some fresh air, but it was still bitter cold for this time of year. She glanced in the rearview mirror and noticed the slight rounding of her jawline. Part of her panicked, while her rational side reminded herself that skin and bones was not healthy and this was a good thing. She knew she had terrible eating habits born of a decade of battling anorexia when she was in her early teens.

  She’d always been a bit heavier than the other girls in her classes in elementary school, but it wasn’t until she was a freshman and the taunts started that she started watching her weight and what she ate. What started as a simple diet her phys-ed teacher recommended blossomed into an inner war she’d almost lost. Jocelyn never blamed her teacher. It wasn’t her fault that the constant “Wow, you look great” and “You look like a model” and wolf whistles from cute boys fed an inner obsession for control. She’d starved herself, taken diet pills, and strived to reach the ultimate body, all which had cumulated with her in a hospital bed fighting for her life.

  Pulling her thoughts out of the dark path they leaned toward, Jocelyn focused on the road and flicked the spinning ring she wore on her thumb with her fingers. It was a nervous habit that helped calm her thoughts when they started to race. Soon she’d be able to dive into the history of a small town and forget about her own pathetic life by living vicariously through others.

  Thankfully, the old truck in front of her turned left on First Street and she turned right. Staring at the bumper she’d almost had a close encounter with was nerve-racking. Aunt Minnie’s Boarding House was right on the corner like Aubrey Maxwell had described in her phone call. Being asked to investigate something like this had taken her by surprise.

  “I’m not kidding, Jocelyn. There are two families in this area who have been fighting for more than a century. They blame each other for every bad thing that happens, and there are a lot of people who would like to finally get to the bottom of this.”

  It wasn’t that family feuds were all that uncommon but for one to last from the Civil War to now seemed very unlikely. Stories like those of the Hatfields and McCoys had been bastardized and romanticized over the decades. Being asked to investigate the origins of a feud between the Baldwins and McLeans made her think someone was pulling an elaborate prank on her. It was almost too good to be true.

  She’d filled her commitments at Montana State for this semester as a regular guest speaker and advisor in the Sociology and Anthropology Department, when this opportunity had been brought to her attention. She’d been looking for something to pay the bills over the summer months until the beginning of the next semester. It was almost too perfect. Serendipity, one might think, but she’d never been one for romantic overtures. Coincidence was a possibility, but she hadn’t wanted to be made a fool of. When she got the call from a colleague that someone wanted to hire her to investigate the feud that surrounded the town named Sanctuary, Jocelyn had to admit her curiosity was piqued. She had no idea how long it would take but didn’t think it would be more than a few weeks of solid research. Noah, Riley, and Aubrey’s insistence and generous salary were far more enticing than her pride, so she’d accepted.

  According to the McLeans there were lots of documents in the local library and church, one of Jocelyn’s favorite places. It had nothing to do with religion and everything to do with dusty old books and the thrill of discovering names and facts long forgotten. This was what had drawn her into this line of work. Her mom had traced their family back as far as she could, but Jocelyn had wanted to know more about her family. Like many people she’d dreamed of being a long-lost princess, heir to an ancient throne, and other silly childish dreams along with knights in shining armor and glass slippers. While her romantic ideals faded with maturity, the love of discovery never did. She liked to think of herself as Indiana Jones of the literary world. Not that I’d ever admit that out loud to anyone.

  Jocelyn pulled into a long driveway and parked around back of Minnie’s Boarding House. It was a beautiful Victorian home, and she couldn’t help but wonder about its history. How many families had lived here, and would there be clues to their personalities in the building itself?

  She lugged her bags around to the front of the building, walked up to the porch, admiring the ornate woodwork, and then stepped inside to a small hallway. The sight of sepia-colored pictures distracted her from the remnants of panicked fear. The wall was lined with old portraits and images of what she thought might be the town long ago. She stopped at one picture recognizing the house she’d just entered. Her heart pounded with excitement as she looked at the surrounding area. At the time of the picture, the house looked brand-new and there wasn’t another building to be seen in the distance. She lowered her bags to the floor so she could look at it longer.

  “My great-grandfather took that picture the day after the last nail was pounded in. He and his brothers worked for years on this place to get it ready for their family.”

  “What a wonderful legacy. Do you have any more pictures of the town?” That would help her get a feel for this place and the mindset of its inhabitants. Aubrey had asked her to keep her investigation quiet so not to upset the families involved, and Jocelyn couldn’t have agreed more. The
last thing she wanted was to be accused of a conflict of interest because she became friends with the wrong person.

  “Goodness sakes, you just got here.” The woman waved her hand. “There is plenty of time to talk about the past. I’m assuming you’re Dr. Richards?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Good, let’s get you checked in. Aubrey Maxwell told me that you are writing a paper on families who’ve been in Montana for generations. I’ll help in whatever way I can but at least get settled in your room first.”

  Jocelyn felt her cheeks heat up. It was true she hadn’t gotten her coat off yet or checked into her room, but these pictures had caught her imagination. Also, it was a lovely diversion from the almost-accident and the two men she wanted to blame.

  “Did you have a nice drive in today?”

  Jocelyn looked over at the woman wondering if she’d already heard of her poor driving habits and the utter fool she’d made of herself. How fast was the gossip in this town? “It was sunny, but I wish it was a bit warmer.” She pulled her oversized winter coat tighter around her torso.

  “You need to have something to eat and put some meat on you. My goodness, you look like a stiff wind would blow you away.”

  “I have a fast metabolism and burn food off quickly.” The lie easily slipped from her lips, born out of repeated habit. It was the same lie she’d told for years when she was a teen and habitually starving herself. She considered herself totally recovered from the anorexia she’d battled as a teenager, and yet the moment she felt her life had spun out of control, it was the first habit she’d slipped back into.