The Fake Bride Loophole - A Mountain Man Romance Read online

  Michelle hooks her arm through mine, and I become weightless, guided into my own new house by this funny and yes, loud family of hers.

  It’s like a dream, the same dream I had in jail but better, so much better because it’s real. This is happening. The universe is restoring itself, all thanks to Michelle. Everything happening here… it’s got her signature all over it.

  Inside, Felix and Spark greet me from the sofa. Most of my furniture survived, and has been wiped down and coated with fresh lacquer, judging by the smell. The interior is more or less the same, and it immediately feels like home.

  “I did my best to salvage what the workers were careless with,” Michelle says. “It’s mostly from memory, though, so if I missed anything, I’m sorry.”

  I pull her away from the rest of the family, letting them go ahead into the kitchen and dining area while I hug my woman tight and kiss her with everything I’ve got. Her lips soften and part quickly, welcoming me with sweetness. I lose myself in our embrace while she deepens the kiss and reinforces the thoughts I’ve been having since I returned to the clearing and saw this… this marvelous thing that she and her family accomplished.

  “You are the most incredible woman I have ever met,” I say.

  “You big flatterer,” she replies jokingly.

  I kiss her again. This time, I put more into it. There’s so much love in me, this liquid fire flowing through my veins… I tighten my hold and hope some of it transfers into her so that she might feel me the way I feel myself when I’m around her.

  I’m about to say something crazy, something I might regret, but her phone pings.

  Michelle checks the message. For a moment, nothing happens. She just reads it, eyes moving across the screen. Over and over, she reads the text, eyes growing bigger as she finds the strength to look at me. My breath is gone.

  Michelle screams and jumps from my arms.

  My heart stops.

  “We did it!” she declares, hopping around like a spring. “We did it! Massey overturned the eviction decision! This land is yours! We did it!!!”

  The rest happens in what I can only describe as the most wonderful slow motion. The Perez family rushes back into the living room, and we hug and congratulate each other. I thank everyone repeatedly. I shake their hands again. I smile. Michelle kisses me. She runs a hand through my hair. I look at her, and there she goes jumping and squealing again.

  This is my happiness they’re displaying. This is my happiness they’re feeling.

  Our happiness.

  Once the frenzy subsides, Michelle takes a moment to explain the rest of Evan’s message. “Now, it doesn’t mean it’s completely over, since Cline has already stated that he would file an appeal if Massey rules against him. Nevertheless, the decision buys us at least a couple of months before we reach the Ninth Circuit. By then, Evan and I have a strategy ready to roll out.”

  Michelle’s mom tears up, putting an arm around her daughter’s shoulders. “I knew you were fierce, mija, but you keep surprising me.”

  “Always figured you’d move mountains someday,” her dad replies, equally overwhelmed with pride.

  As for me, I’m still numb and speechless. There’s too much happening. My body has decided to shut me down for a bit, just so I can thoroughly enjoy these moments and fully remember them later. Michelle isn’t done. She’s going to share this grand plan with us.

  Whatever it is, I already know that I can never let her out of my life.

  I’d be an idiot.

  Chapter 24

  Michelle

  Dinner with the Perez clan is raucous and funny and copious.

  Around ten in the evening, Daley and I retire to his bedroom, letting the rest of my family occupy the other two rooms and the living room. We’re all exhausted. It’s not easy to rebuild a house in under two days, but we did it. Our victory with Massey serves as the cherry on top of a job splendidly done.

  I’m amazed by how much can be accomplished with a sufficient amount of determination. I’m also a little proud of myself, but I take my payment in seeing the look on Daley’s face. His happiness is mine.

  He closes the bedroom door behind him and walks over to me. My heart stills for a moment as he cups my face and pulls me into a kiss. It’s easy to melt when he claims me like this. It’s easy to surrender when he just takes what he’s owed with such force and passion.

  “I meant it,” he says. “That time I asked you to stay. I’m not taking it back.”

  We kiss some more, relishing each breath, each taste we get of each other. Around us, the world comes to a slow and lazy halt, the night enveloping the old woods outside and bringing a most wonderful kind of silence with it. Not a soul moves elsewhere but for Daley and me beneath the fur covers. We’re rediscovering the very things that made us work so well together.

  “I know you meant it,” I find a breath to tell him, while he trails kisses down my chest and heads for my navel, the temperature rising gradually.

  “Okay, and?” Daley comes back up, elbows digging into the mattress while I brush his messy hair with my fingers. No matter how I comb it, it just won’t listen. “Will you stay? I’ll come to Minneapolis. Ask me, and I’ll come.”

  “I want to make this work,” I say. “We need to figure something out. I don’t want to say goodbye.” It took more than I anticipated to say this. I don’t regret a single word.

  “Let’s not get that divorce just yet,” Daley replies.

  I remember the ring on my finger and look at it. “How odd, I forgot it was there. That’s how natural this feels.” I take a deep breath, shifting my focus back on him. “Daley…”

  “Yes.”

  “Here’s the thing. We both have to work on making this… thing between us happen. You coming to Minneapolis is fine and dandy, but this mountain is part of your life, a big part of who you are. It’s also part of why I love you.” I take a moment to watch his expression and admire the burning silver in his eyes. “I would never take us away from it. That being said, you are absolutely right about the divorce. Besides, we’re gonna have to stay hitched until Cline loses his appeal, at least. So… I guess you’re kinda stuck with me, anyway.”

  He frowns slightly. “That’s just… awful.”

  “We can revisit the whole marriage-divorce aspect later. What do you think?”

  “Nothing is set in stone. I get it.”

  “It’s not that,” I reply. “But we might like it so much that we’re going to have to do a church service, too.” Raising my hand, I show him the ring. “Besides, baby… We need better wedding bands.”

  He kisses me again. I feel it. His love. I feel it flowing through me, and I know he feels mine, too. We’re becoming one. It will soon be impossible to keep us apart.

  We roll over and I end up on top this time, soft against his muscular frame.

  “What if Cline wins the appeal?” Daley asks, the shadow of doubt briefly clouding his gaze.

  “You still can’t shoot him dead, I’m afraid. But I promise you… he won’t.”

  “How do you know for sure?”

  I crinkle my nose, feigning insult. “Really, Mr. Fontaine? Now you decide to doubt me?”

  “Never, Mrs. Fontaine.”

  The night becomes ours. We make love until the first morning light, until our bodies are spent and our souls are singing the same song.

  I’m exhausted, but we did it. I’m scared, but we will find our way to each other every time. Looking back now, I feel infinite gratitude for ending up over that cliff face, hugging a dead tree and wondering if the grizzly was going to kill me or the impending fall.

  It worked out, though weirdly so.

  Chapter 25

  Michelle

  “Are you sure, mija?” Mom asks.

  The trucks are empty, which will make the drive back down the road easier. I’ve let Lauren know that they’re coming, just in case they might need some help reaching the interstate. My family is going back to Minneapolis today, b
ut I will not be joining them.

  “Positive,” I reply.

  Dad loads the last of their overnight bags into the back of his truck, then comes around and hugs me tightly.

  “I’ll miss you,” I say.

  “Good grief. Stop talking like you’re moving to Mars,” he replies.

  “Minneapolis isn’t that far away,” Matteo calls out from the other truck. “And you bet your ass we’re coming to visit again! You’d better make a plan for the holidays. I’m gonna be here whether you want me or not!”

  Jax likes my brothers, too, so it’s not like I can use the wolfdog to keep any of them away. It’s fine. I don’t mind. This place is a lot livelier with them around, and even Daley looks happier.

  I guess I should have expected this change. My solitary mountain man got himself a bride with a big family, so that just makes everything… louder.

  “I know it’s still early,” I tell Mom while the boys say their goodbyes to Daley and Jax. The cats are still inside, just happy to have the armchair all to themselves once more. “But this is real between me and him.”

  “Yeah, I see it,” she replies, gently caressing my face. “Sometimes it happens like that. It comes up unexpectedly. It sweeps you off your feet, then boom. You’re married. Of course, you two skipped a couple of steps and caught up later, but if you’re happy, if this is really what you want to do… then who am I to stop you?”

  “Oh, Mama.” I hug her tight, working hard to keep my tears back.

  “It’s what your father and I prayed for, from the moment you came into this world. That each of you may find your way and your true happiness, no matter what that entails. You look happier here than you ever did in Minneapolis.”

  “Right?”

  We’re both laughing-crying now. “What about your career?” she asks.

  It’s a good question to which I do have an answer, but I’m not yet sure how it’s going to turn out.

  “Well, the county could do with better attorneys,” I say. “I thought I might open my own practice at some point, but in the meantime, I can take cases in and around the area. I can offer online consultations, too. It’s going to be okay, Mom. I’ll find my way to the Supreme Court eventually.”

  “Ah, so you’re still aiming for it?”

  “Maybe. I don’t know. I have to see if the thought will still make me happy later down the road, I guess.”

  She looks at me for a while without saying anything, but I know what she’s thinking. I’m hoping for the same.

  Finally, we hug and kiss each other goodbye. Daley comes over and holds me close as we watch the trucks clumsily pull back and turn across the narrow parking area at the bottom of the path before they reach the forest road.

  We stand there, listening to the sound of their engines fading in the distance. Then Jax comes back from a tour of the clearing and nuzzles my hand.

  Daley chuckles. “Even if I had let you go, I’m pretty sure the wolfdog would’ve followed you all the way back to Minneapolis. He loves you.”

  “And I love him!” I reply, then turn to face my husband. “Not to mention you. I can’t get enough of you, Mr. Fontaine.”

  “Good. ’Cause I’m positively hooked on you, Mrs. Fontaine.”

  He sweeps me off my feet and takes me in his arms. We laugh as he takes me across the threshold, then back upstairs where we started the day. I look forward to hiding beneath the covers with him as we claim each other and love each other into madness and back and then beyond. The future is ours.

  I am his, and he is mine.

  We’ll figure the rest out, one step at a time. From everything that has happened since we first met, one thing is clear: life works itself out if the universe likes you enough.

  Epilogue

  Daley

  It’s been a month, and Michelle and I are ridiculously happy together. Sometimes, I wake up in the middle of the night just to make sure she’s with me. It feels like such a good dream.

  Minneapolis wasn’t that bad, either. Lauren made sure my furballs were fed while I stayed there with Michelle for a week. The mountain has really grown on Mrs. Fontaine, though.

  She’s a resident of Dickinson, now. Officially.

  The county does need some good lawyers to protect from greedy monsters like Simeon Cline—he isn’t even the worst among the one-percenters of North Dakota. The system has been rigged in their favor for too long, anyway. My people deserve a break, and I have faith Michelle is bold and brave enough to shake anybody down.

  This isn’t how I imagined my life turning out, but I love it. There’s nowhere else I’d rather be. Ever since the whole Cline issue, the townspeople rallied behind me. I’ve been getting new furniture orders, more and more coming out of state after Michelle spent an evening putting up a website with some of my projects.

  The courtroom is packed. I didn’t expect so many people to come to root for us.

  I’m out of my element here. The Ninth Circuit is eons away from our little courtroom back in Dickinson. There are hundreds attending and a handful of bailiffs present to keep the order. Our case escalated after Cline appealed. He’s here, scowling from the other table. Sykes is still on his retainer, though he does look a tad older. I suppose selling one’s soul does come at a disadvantage.

  “Whatever happens today, it has been an honor working with you,” Evan says, having no trouble ignoring the constant hum of the crowd behind us. Guess he’s been in bigger places than this.

  “You make it sound like we’re going to get crushed,” Michelle grumbles.

  She looks at me, then back at Evan, and the three of us chuckle. I have a good feeling about today. No matter what the judges decide, I’m happy. I’ve got a path figured out, and Michelle is going to be with me. It will break my heart to say goodbye to my mountain, but I have faith in the universe. It has yet to steer me wrong.

  “He hates you,” Evan chuckles, noticing Cline. “And his lawyers look like goons. Where does he find these people?”

  “Behind the dumpsters at Lao Mei’s,” Michelle replies, and we’re laughing again.

  “Say what you will about that place, but it’s one of the best in Minneapolis,” I say. “The greatest dumplings are theirs. I’m willing to die on that hill.”

  “Oh, bad idea,” Evan scoffs. “Wait till I take you to the Jade Palace in Toledo. Trust me.”

  “Hey, Daley!” Cline calls out, forcing us to look his way. “Your land’s mine.”

  Michelle shakes her head, wearing a cold smirk, but quickly looks away when the side door opens and the judges come through. A long minute passes in heavy and respectful silence as the justices take their seats behind the massive structure bearing the Supreme Court sigil.

  History was made in this room.

  I feel like a part of it, now.

  Everybody stands up as the bailiffs introduce the justices, then the case number. We’ve come a long way since Cline filed his appeal. Michelle and Evan’s efforts paid off. We’ve got a few senators on our side reaching from across the aisle. Today, a decision will be made with regard to the fate and value of my land.

  “By the way, your senators pushed to have the Bachelor Amendment repealed,” Evan whispers during a brief moment of silence as the justices prepare their conclusions and probably at least one dissent. Eleven people are about to change everything. “After the midterms, we’re gonna see some changes across the state.”

  Chief Justice Johnson takes the lead.

  I’m scared. Something is going to be different from now on, and I need to prepare myself.

  It’s not the prospect of change that scares me, but rather this idea that evil, represented here by the likes of Cline, might actually prevail. What does that say of our world, if we cannot come together as a community to reject the malice and poison of greed?

  “In the matter of Cline versus Fontaine, there are several factors that need to be considered before the court herewith presents its unanimous decision,” Johnson says. “Firstly,
not every bill that becomes law is a good one. Unfortunately, some wretched ones slip through the cracks, as seems to be the case here with Article 492 of 1889.”

  My stomach becomes unclenched, and the entire courtroom seems to breathe a collective sigh of relief. I can almost hear Cline’s brain exploding.

  “Second,” Johnson continues, “newly introduced declarations issued by the Secretary of Interiors last week further tips the balance in favor of the reasonable agents of law. Third, it is ridiculous that we, as a nation, have not been paying attention to statewide laws such as this so-called bachelor’s amendment. A man was thrown out of his house because of this loophole, and it takes a special kind of awful to pull something like this off.” He glances up for just a moment to acknowledge Sykes, in particular.

  “There goes the future clientele,” Evan whispers, no longer able to hide his amusement. “Someone’s gonna be unemployed, soon.”

  I grin; I reckon he’s allowed to gloat after all the work he and Michelle have put in.

  “He can have my old job,” Michelle mumbles, hand covering mine on the table.

  “But it is this court’s decision that the land currently owned by Daley Fontaine is considered sacred and part of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park, along with the rest of the mountain on which it exists, therefore rendering any development efforts useless and illegal,” Johnson says.

  People cheer behind us, but Johnson isn’t done.

  “We therefore rule in favor of Mr. Fontaine. Given that the decision was unanimous and with absolutely no opposition, there will be no dissent published on this occasion.”

  And just like that, the last of Simeon Cline’s plans go up in smoke. No one will ever try to take my home away from me. It’s protected territory.

  We didn’t just win. We pummeled Cline into the ground because he just lost the entire mountain. His dream of a second Aspen and luxury barbecues just turned to dust. Given the sour and miserable look on his face, he can taste it.