Fame, fortune and fashion: that’s aspiring model Deirdre Cash’s ideal life. But when her splashy New York career dries up, she swallows her pride and returns to Marietta, Montana, desperate for any work she can find.
Isaac Litton doesn’t want the intrusion of a home care aide for his brother, Mark. But when the young man takes a shine to DeeDee, Isaac decides to give her a chance. He can’t help but be impressed when DeeDee changes his brother’s life around, by rewarding healthy habits and exercising with treats from the Copper Mountain Chocolate Shop. Gorgeous and opinionated, DeeDee stirs everything up in the Litton household, including an attraction that Isaac can't deny.
As DeeDee and Isaac start to fall for each other, an unexpected opportunity arises that could launch DeeDee back into the modeling scene. It's her chance to achieve everything she's ever wanted. But taking it would mean letting down her friends at the chocolate shop, her family who believes in her, a boy who adores her, and a man who thinks she's already perfect, just the way she is.
CHAPTER
ONE
Nothing marred a triumphant
homecoming like the secret, certain knowledge of failure. But if
modeling in New York City had taught Deirdre Cash anything, it was
how to put on a good face, no matter what fresh chaos was breaking
out around her.
She
stood on the porch at her parents’ Montana ranch home, shivering—or
rather, hyperventilating—in
the frigid spring air while pretending to take an important call.
The
screen door clanged open. “Is everything okay, DeeDee?” Mom,
worried, as usual. Light, laughter, and warmth spilled out from
behind the kitchen door. “Supper is waiting.”
Joanie
Cash-Henley was never happier than when feeding her family, and
DeeDee’s return had sent her into a cooking, cleaning, and
caregiving frenzy.
DeeDee
pasted on a smile and held her hand over the phone. “Everything’s
great, Mom. Be right there.”
She
loved her family with all her heart, but she’d rather they believe
she was here because of crowd and camera fatigue instead of no
callbacks and eviction. “I have to go, Jon,” she said, even
though there was no one on the line.
Jon
wasn’t speaking to her.
Her
former agent, ex-lover, and worst mistake—though to be fair, there
were a lot of contenders for that title—had dumped her three weeks
ago, citing cosmetic surgery and a personality transplant as the only
way to resurrect DeeDee’s languishing career.
DeeDee
had responded by suggesting Jon perform an anatomically impossible
act—only to later realize she’d proved his last point.
Impulse—one.
Control—zero.
No
heartbreak on either side; they’d been beneficial to each other for
a time, but now they weren’t. So, what did a selfish, spoiled
ex-model with few discernible skills and even fewer friends do when
her bridge to the future lay in smoking ruins?
She
went home. Where, as the saying went, they had
to take you in.
“It’s
cold out, honey,” her mom said. “I’ll get you a sweater.”
“It’s
okay. I’m coming in now.”
Her
mom took her arm, giving it a gentle tug as she led her inside.
“You’re so thin. You need a good meal.”
“Occupational
hazard. I’m fine.”
DeeDee
took her place at the table and pasted on her happy-daughter smile,
hoping no one would notice anything amiss. Why would they? She’d
used the same smile the last time she was home and everyone bought
it, even though she’d been dying inside.
“Norman,
isn’t it wonderful to have all our girls home again?” She took
Norm’s hand and gave it a squeeze on top of the table. Mom never
did distinguish between DeeDee, Maddie, and Norm’s own daughter
Cynthia.
“I
can’t thank you enough for coming home, DeeDee.” Cynthia’s eyes
glistened as she raised her glass of water. Four months into her
surprise pregnancy, DeeDee’s stepsister waffled between glowing and
green. “I don’t know what I’d do if you hadn’t stepped in to
save the day.”
Yes,
unemployment had come at the perfect time. DeeDee could salvage
Cynthia’s event-planning business and her own pride, all at the
same time. Score.
Not.
“Happy
to be here,” she said, glancing around the table. “And a
fashion-show fundraiser—how could I resist?”
Truth.
Just not the whole truth.
“Took
you long enough.” Maddie, DeeDee’s twin, had nagged her to death
about returning to Marietta. “I knew you’d come to your senses
eventually.”
“It’s
great to finally meet you, DeeDee.” Mick, the man seated next to
Maddie, gave her a teasing grin. “I’ve heard so much about you.”
“I
bet.” DeeDee arched a look between the two of them. Mick’s
naturally scruffy-jawed appearance was the sort of thing stylists
worked endlessly to recreate. She didn’t wish misery on anyone, but
Maddie already had a career and an apartment… not to mention the
good personality. How was it fair that she got a great guy, too?
Between
Maddie and Mick, and Cynthia and her fiancé Chad, there was enough
romance in the room to put a girl off her food.
And
to remind DeeDee that she was now the only unattached daughter.
The
third wheel.
The
seventh person at a table for six.
The
last lone banana on the rack that no one picked.
Men
stared at DeeDee all the time. But never, not once, had one looked at
her the way the men at this table did their women.
“Everything
smells great, Mom,” DeeDee said, trying to shift the conversation.
She’d
left Montana by choice and in the pursuit of better things. In the
meantime, her family’s lives had gone on without her. If she felt
left out, left behind, well, what did she expect?
“I,
for one, am ready to dig in,” Norm said, holding out his hands to
the person on either side of him. Everyone linked hands and bowed
their heads while he said grace. Maddie caught DeeDee’s eye across
the table. Despite her mood, DeeDee had to stifle a giggle.
Some
things, at least, never changed.
“Eat
up, everyone.” Mom pressed the bread basket into DeeDee’s hand.
“I made all your favorites, just the way you like. Lasagna with
lots of cheese and spinach, garlic bread, and Caesar salad.”
As
if.
DeeDee
passed the basket to Maddie. “Mom, I haven’t eaten pasta or bread
in months.”
“I
thought as much,” she said. “You can’t get good home cooking
like this in New York City.”
“Make
sure to leave room for dessert.” Norm looked pleased, like he was
announcing a special surprise. “I bought a gallon of rocky road ice
cream, to celebrate.”
Her
favorite.
“Ice
cream,” Cynthia murmured, putting down her fork. Her lips had gone
white.
“Is
she going to…?” DeeDee looked at Chad, feeling her own stomach
turn over. She’d always been a sympathetic puker.
“I’m
okay.” Cynthia swallowed. Reaching a shaking hand for her water
glass, she brought it to her mouth, took a tiny sip, and swallowed.
“Norman,”
her mom said, oblivious to the other end of the table, “I baked
lemon-meringue pie and DeeDee’s favorite chocolate cheesecake. You
didn’t have to get ice cream, too.”
Cheesecake.
“All
I’ve got is my face and my figure,” DeeDee said, one eye on
Cynthia. “Fatten me up too much and I’ll be living in your
basement for the rest of my life.”
“You’ve
got more than that going for you.” Cynthia burped delicately.
“Oops. Excuse me.”
“Speaking
of chocolate.” Maddie pushed her chair back and grabbed a package
from the buffet. “I brought some of Sage’s salted-caramel
chocolates, too. She says hi and welcome back, DeeDee.”
The
famous Copper Mountain Chocolates. When would the torture end?
“Since
when are you pals with Sage Carrigan?” she asked. Due to their
popularity with the male population, the Cash twins had never been
overburdened with female friends.
“Most
people are pretty great when you take time to get to know them,”
Maddie said. “You’ll see.”
Maybe.
Maybe not. DeeDee had never seen the point in investing in
relationships she wouldn’t be around long enough to enjoy.
“I’ve
got frozen yogurt for you anyway, Norman,” her mom added. “Last
thing you need is pie.”
“Like
hell, woman.” Norm sent a wink DeeDee’s way. Maddie, Cynthia, and
Mom started talking at once then, about Norm’s diet and exercise,
his cardiologist’s recommendations, and how they each believed the
other was pushing the man they all loved into an early grave.
DeeDee’s
throat tightened as she returned Norm’s smile. Though he’d come
late into their lives, the gentle man was the only father she and
Maddie had ever known. She couldn’t bear it that they’d nearly
lost him, that she hadn’t been here when it had happened, or that
she’d clung to blissful ignorance rather than face the fact that
she didn’t have the gonads to deal with pain.
Panic
bubbled up in her chest.
She
grabbed for the salad bowl and helped herself to an enormous serving
of greens, sans croutons.
The
garlic bread, dripping with herbed butter, smelled amazing, and the
edge pieces of lasagna had extra cheese, bubbled and crispy from the
oven. She scraped the cheese off a small inside piece as she watched
everyone else enjoy the feast.
How
nice it must be to not worry about every calorie that passed your
lips.
And
then it was time for dessert. The final gauntlet.
“People
keep asking what magazines you were in,” her mom said as she handed
around plates. “I looked and looked, but I never saw you in them.”
It
was the question DeeDee dreaded the most. “I wasn’t doing that
kind of modeling, Mom. It’s a huge industry. There’s a lot more
than magazines.”
“Tell
us about your average day,” Chad urged.
Now
there was a face—and a personality—that New York would love. Chad
could have a career doing orthodontia ads with that smile of his. He
wasn’t just being polite, either. He was a genuinely nice guy—for
a cowboy.
“It’s
pretty boring to outsiders.” DeeDee squirmed. There wasn’t much
she loved more than attention. So why did her back itch like she’d
contracted poison oak? “Hair and makeup. Changing outfits a million
times. Sitting around while you wait for the stage manager and the
photographer to quit feuding, or for the light to cooperate. That
sort of thing.”
“That’s
why I knew you’d be the perfect one to help with the fundraiser.”
Cynthia’s face was the color of seafoam. She shook her head at the
plate that was offered to her.
“How’s
the cheesecake?” her mom asked.
DeeDee
forked a small piece into her mouth. The crunchy cookie crush
contrasted with the smooth cream cheese, which made the bittersweet
dark chocolate layer even more intense. She groaned. “Even better
than I remembered.”
“To
think we have a real, live celebrity in our family,” Norm said to
Cynthia. “Tell us more, DeeDee.”
Cynthia
shoved her chair back and ran from the table, fingers pressed to her
mouth.
“Is
she like this all the time?” DeeDee asked.
“Comes
and goes.” Chad got up to follow his fiancée. “But mostly, yeah.
You see why she needs you. Carry on.”
She’d
rather not. The conversation, not to mention Cynthia’s nausea, was
making her stomach hurt. DeeDee toyed with her dessert, buying time.
She
had plenty of stories to entertain them with. It had been so much
fun, at first. Eccentric designers, flamboyant photographers,
bigger-than-life characters, narcissism galore, ambition and egos
everywhere, everything bright, sparkly, and pretty.
But
how quickly the glamour had faded. Those first few weeks of
excitement turned first to routine, then to boredom, then to anxiety
as she spent more and more time waiting around, listening to the
other girls complain about their high-rent condos, hearing about
parties she wasn’t invited to, boyfriends they didn’t appreciate,
food they wanted but couldn’t have, and drugs they weren’t
supposed to have but often did.
Suddenly,
DeeDee needed to get out of there. She pushed back her chair
abruptly.
“This
has been wonderful, Mom, but I’m wiped.” She needed to get some
air, to not have any more questions thrown at her, or mine fields
unknowingly tripped. Her stomach twisted again, another ulcer,
probably.
“But
you haven’t finished your cheesecake.” Disappointment creased her
mom’s forehead.
“I’ll
take it to go. Mick, Maddie, do you mind? Jet lag and all.” DeeDee
gave a great, huge yawn that wasn’t entirely an act.
“Don’t
forget Sage’s caramels.” Mom pressed the package into DeeDee’s
hand. The copper ribbon was undone, releasing the rich, buttery
caramel scent, underscored by cocoa. “Get some rest, honey. Love
you. See you soon, right?”
“You
bet, Mom. Love you, too. Thanks for everything.”
“You
leaving already?” Cynthia reappeared, Chad at her side.
“Yup,
sorry, exhausted. I’ll talk to you about the show tomorrow, okay,
Cyn?”
While
Maddie and Mick gathered their things, DeeDee escaped to the porch
once more. She bent over slightly, her hands on her thighs, and
sucked the cool evening air into her lungs. She’d forgotten how
great fresh air tasted.
She’d
forgotten how great a lot of things tasted.
It
was better that way.
“You
okay, DeeDee?” Mick asked as he walked to his pickup truck.
“Fabulous.
Spectacular.”
DeeDee
had hitched a ride with Mick and Maddie, and now he drove them back
to Maddie’s apartment in town. DeeDee suspected she was cramping
their style by bunking with her twin, but honestly, that was too bad
for them. DeeDee would go mad if she had to stay in her old room at
the ranch with their parents.
Besides,
Maddie spent half her time at Mick’s place, a rat-infested fishing
lodge or something, out on the lake. It wasn’t like he and Maddie
would have to make out in the truck like teenagers.
“Here
are the keys,” Maddie said when they arrived at her apartment
complex. “Go ahead. I’m going to say goodnight to Mick.”
They
were
going to make out in the truck like teenagers.
DeeDee
grimaced. “I hope you’ve got wine.”
Maddie
tossed her the Copper Mountain Chocolates. “Better.”
Chocolate
she shouldn’t eat. Stories she wouldn’t tell. Regrets she
couldn’t escape.
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