Caught Kissing the Cowboy: A Return to Snow Valley Romance Read online

  Caught Kissing the Cowboy

  A Return to Snow Valley Romance

  Cindy Roland Anderson

  Copyright © 2018 by Cindy Roland Anderson

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Content Editor: Valerie Bybee

  Cover Design by Valerie Bybee Photography

  Cover Photo by Valerie Bybee Photography

  Cover Model: Nicole Anderson Harbertson

  For my readers who love Snow Valley as much as I do.

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  Also by Cindy Roland Anderson

  Chapter 1

  Be careful what you wish for was something Tomi Jensen’s mother had told her many times. The advice was pertinent to a dreamer like her, especially since she aspired to be an A-list actress someday. No, she hadn’t made the cut…yet. But she was closer than ever, thanks to Jake Kelley.

  He was an A-list actor…well, maybe his status might have slipped to an A-minus or even a B-plus due to his repeated stints in and out of rehab. But according to his agent, he’d been sober for almost a year now, and he was making his comeback as the new and improved Jake Kelley. And Tomi was the lucky girl to rise to the top with him. Or at least she’d thought she was lucky.

  Sighing, she pressed her face against the window of the airplane and studied the terrain below as the jet made its descent under the fluffy clouds. She wished she had a GPS so she could spot Snow Valley, a quaint town with a reputation that extended all the way to California.

  The plane bumped a few times, making her seat-mate tightly grip the sides of the armrest between them. “What was that?” Mrs. Benson asked when the plane bumped again.

  “Just a little air pocket,” Tomi said, patting the older woman’s hand. “Nothing to worry about.”

  Another turbulent hit and Mrs. Benson’s fingers curled around Tomi’s hand, squeezing it as if her life depended on it.

  The seatbelt sign lit up, and the captain’s voice crackled through the speakers. “Folks, we’ll be experiencing a few bumps as we make our descent so I’d like you all to keep your seatbelt on.” The speaker crackled, and then the pilot came back on. “We should be landing in Billings in thirty minutes.” He went on to give the current time and temperature of their destination as the plane bumped a few more times.

  Tomi wasn’t afraid of flying, and the bumpy ride didn’t bother her, but she was going to have bruises on her hand if the woman sitting next to her didn’t let go soon. Thankfully, a flight attendant passed by, collecting any trash. She took the time to reassure Mrs. Benson that everything would be okay. By the time she moved on, they’d made it through the choppy air.

  With her seat in the upright position, Tomi once again stared out the window. It was ironic that she was going to be spending the next month in Snow Valley since her sister, Piper, had moved to the picturesque town nearly a year ago. The move was supposed to have been temporary, but then Piper fell in love with her next-door neighbor. Now she was married to Gabe Wesson and was a mother to his two children, Shane and Lindsey.

  Tomi never dreamed that when she’d landed the lead role playing opposite of Jake, the set location would be in Snow Valley. Taryn, the location scout for Whisper Falls, had ended up stranded in the small town when her car broke down on her way to a family reunion in Yellowstone. While her car was in the local garage getting repaired, Taryn had spent two nights at the Starry Sky bed and breakfast and fallen in love with the small town. When the location in California had been engulfed in a wildfire, scarring the countryside and destroying most of the outer buildings, Taryn had immediately told the director about her stay in Snow Valley.

  Given the green light by the director, Taryn made another trip to Montana and had secured the perfect location on a large ranch owned by the Christensen family. It was a little freaky how closely the ranch fit the description of the horse ranch featured in Whisper Falls. It even had a cute white farmhouse sitting adjacent to a red barn. The house was currently vacant since one of the Christensen men had built a new home for his growing family.

  All the delays had put production so far behind that the financial backers for the project threatened to withdraw their support. Finally, Jake’s uncle, a rich and powerful attorney in Los Angeles, stepped in with the necessary funds. Everything had finally worked out and filming would start in two weeks.

  Her sister, Piper, was overjoyed about the turn of events. Not only about having her baby sister living with her, but also because she was the drama teacher for the junior high. Piper hoped that some of her students would get to be extras for the film.

  The captain’s voice interrupted her thoughts, letting them know they were landing and then rattled off information about connecting flights. Her ears popped as the pilot expertly circled lower until he was lined up with the runway. Mrs. Benson gripped Tomi’s hand as the plane’s wheels connected with the tarmac. She let go as soon as the reverse engines were employed to help stop the massive weight of the jet airliner.

  “Thank you for being so kind, dear,” Mrs. Benson said. “I hope things work out well with your new job as a veterinarian.”

  “Thank you.” Tomi smiled, wondering if she should try explaining one more time that she was only playing the part of a veterinarian, but decided it didn’t really matter. “I’m glad I was able to help you feel better.”

  Sitting near the front of the plane, Tomi’s row exited the plane quicker than the usual wait time. Her stomach fluttered with anticipation at seeing her sister and her new family. This was her second trip to Snow Valley. She’d come out earlier for Piper and Gabe’s June wedding. Normally, she wouldn’t intrude on newlyweds, but Piper had insisted she stay with them. Besides, she was an aunt now, and Shane and Lindsey were fun to spoil.

  Making her way down the aisle, she was grateful for the temporary reprieve from her life in Hollywood and could already feel the stress from her chosen profession dissipate. She’d escaped to Montana a couple of weeks before the rest of the cast would arrive under the guise of shadowing a rural veterinarian, but the real reason was to get away from Jake. The guy had to be the most insecure man she’d ever met. If she had to tell him one more time how amazing he was or how hot he looked, she was going to lose it.

  Playing the role of his movie girlfriend might prove to be more than she’d bargained for. For one, everyone assumed she had a thing for Jake in the real world, including Jake. She might have once had a wild crush on the bad-boy actor, just like every other girl in America, but working with him daily had changed her mind. Now her feelings for Jake were as shallow as the actor himself. She just couldn’t let him ever figure that out.

  He was Jake Kelley, after all. And she was a nobody. At least in Hollywood, she was a nobody. She knew she was
expendable and could be replaced as quickly as Jake snapped his fingers when he wanted something. If the temperamental actor found out her feelings for him had cooled, she wouldn’t put it past him to ask for a replacement costar that would give him the ego boost he seemed to thrive on.

  Then there was the PR department and their not-so-subtle hints that the possibility of an off-screen romance between her and Jake would be great for ratings. Jake wasn’t quite on board with making that kind of commitment, but he certainly expected Tomi to be in love with him. So, to ensure she kept her job, she played the role of the besotted costar whenever the two of them were together.

  She hoped her sacrifice would pay off and the acting career she’d always dreamed about would become a reality. In the end, it would be worth it…at least that’s what she kept telling herself.

  Pressing forward, she ignored the voice of reason trying to creep back into her thoughts. It sounded just like her mother, planting seeds of doubt about sacrificing true happiness for something that wouldn’t last. Her mother believed she needed to follow in her big sister’s footsteps by finding a man to marry and eventually provide a few more grandchildren for her parents to dote on.

  Tomi wasn’t ready to play the role of a wife and mother. She liked her freedom too much. She also loved being an aunt. Staying single meant she could fulfill that role to perfection.

  Hopefully, her sister would back off wanting to set her up with any available bachelor from Snow Valley. Her sister had found happiness in the rural community, and she was convinced Tomi would find it too.

  Ian Davies, the local veterinarian and the guy Tomi was shadowing, was the intended target. She was supposed to have met him at Piper and Gabe’s wedding, but he’d been called away for an emergency and ended up missing the event. She was relieved the guy had been a no-show. She’d been able to enjoy the wedding without her sister constantly trying to pair her off.

  There were several reasons why Tomi wasn’t interested in a serious relationship. First, she was only twenty-five and hopefully on the cusp of her acting career taking off. Second, she didn’t want to live in Snow Valley, Montana. She loved living in Southern California. Loved the weather, the beaches, and living close to her parents. Third, and most important, she couldn’t be interested in Dr. Ian Davies, no matter how hot he was. She’d seen pictures of the man on his website. It wasn’t hard to see why he was one of Snow Valley’s most eligible bachelors. Ian was ruggedly sexy with dark wavy hair, silvery blue eyes and a square jaw covered with a perpetual five o’clock shadow. But falling for Ian or any other man wasn’t going to happen. Not when she was supposed to be devoted to the star of the show.

  Exiting out of the tunnel to the terminal and following the signs toward Baggage Claim, Tomi placed a hand over her lower abdomen. Thinking about Jake made her stomach feel queasy. Not the kind of queasy with butterflies of new love. It was more like queasy as in nauseous.

  As she descended the stairs, her cell phone pinged an incoming text. Digging her phone from her pocket, she read the text from her sister.

  Are you off the plane yet?

  She tapped out a quick reply that she was on her way to get her luggage and smiled when her sister replied with a row of clapping-hand emojis. Rounding the corner of the terminal, she spotted her sister and the kids waiting for her. Before she reached them, Lindsey, her seven-year-old niece, turned and then broke out into a run. Tomi opened her arms, catching the little girl and spinning her in a tight circle, so they didn’t take out any of the bystanders.

  “I’m so happy you get to live with us,” Lindsey said, squeezing her arms around Tomi’s neck.

  “Me too, sweetie.” Tomi loved the feel of the little girl in her arms. She frequently used video chat to communicate with Piper and her family, but nothing compared to being here with them in person. “You are getting so big,” she said, letting Lindsey slide to the ground.

  “I lost another tooth.” Lindsey opened her mouth and stuck her tongue through the gap.

  “Cool,” Tomi said, holding out her hand for a fist bump. “Did the tooth fairy leave you some money?”

  “Yep.” Lindsey gave her a toothless grin. “I bought a new horse with it.”

  “Wow, the tooth fairy must give out a lot more money than when I was a kid.”

  “It’s for her Barbie,” Piper said with a laugh. She reached out and gave Tomi a hug. “I’m so happy you get to stay with us.”

  She pulled back, and Tomi studied Piper’s face. A radiant glow made her sister even more beautiful than she already was. “You look good, Sis. Married life must be treating you well.”

  “It is.” Piper smoothed a hand down Lindsey’s dark hair. “I love being a mother too.”

  It was crazy how much Lindsey looked like she could be Piper’s biological daughter. The two almost had the exact same color of hair.

  “I’ll bet she’s a good mom, right?” Tomi said, tousling her nephew’s hair.

  “Yeah, she’s alright,” Shane said, giving Tomi a quick hug.

  “How much have you grown since June?” she said, looking up and down his lanky body. The kid was almost an exact replica of his father.

  “Two inches,” Piper said proudly. “I think he’s going to be taller than his daddy someday.”

  “What about me?” Lindsey asked. “Am I going to be taller than my daddy too?”

  Laughing, Tomi tapped the little girl on the nose. “I think you are going to be as tall as your mom.”

  “Which one?”

  Tomi looked to Piper for the answer. She had never met Lindsey’s biological mother, but her sister had. From what Piper said, Gabe was lucky to be free of the cheating woman.

  “I’m not sure,” Piper said. “Maybe you’ll be taller than both of them.”

  Lindsey was an inquisitive child, and the questions could go on and on. The whir of the conveyer belt provided the perfect distraction. “Hey, will you and Shane help me get my bags? Grandma Maggie sent you each a surprise.”

  Both kids eagerly scrambled toward the luggage conveyor. “Not too close,” Piper called as she hurried after her children.

  “Thanks for coming to get me,” Tomi said, moving next to her sister. “I could’ve rented a car, you know.”

  “No way.” Piper bumped her shoulder against Tomi’s. “I wanted to come and get you. Besides, my Subaru is just sitting there until Gabe, and I decide what to do with it.”

  “Speaking of Gabe…how is my favorite brother-in-law?” Tomi asked, keeping her eye on the different bags sliding down the chute.

  “Incredible,” Piper said on a sigh. “I can’t believe how lucky I am to be his wife.”

  “You deserve to be happy.”

  “So do you,” Piper said in her big-sister voice. “Are you still into Jake Kelley?”

  Tomi wanted to tell her sister the truth but held back. What if someone overheard them talking or Piper accidentally told someone? Tomi was too close to success to risk saying anything that might jeopardize her acting career. “Why wouldn’t I be?” she said without looking directly into her sister’s eyes.

  “You can do so much better than him,” Piper said.

  Tomi pressed her lips together, so she didn’t blurt out her enthusiastic agreement. “You don’t need to worry. Neither one of us is looking to settle down, so it’s not like I’m going to marry him or anything.”

  “You know what dad always says.”

  “You marry who you date,” Tomi said in unison with her sister.

  “Exactly,” Piper said with a laugh.

  “We’re not dating in real life.” She wanted to reassure her sister she could never date a guy like Jake but spied some of her luggage. She nudged Shane forward. “That one with the lime-green ribbon is mine,” she said, following close behind him in case he couldn’t lift it off.

  Shane was almost eleven, but he was tall for his age. He had no problem getting the suitcase off. Tomi praised the pre-teen and pointed out the carry-on she’d checked at the g
ate before boarding the plane.

  “Can I get this one?” Lindsey asked.

  “Sure,” Tomi said, appreciating her sister following close behind Lindsey. Piper did most of the work but allowed Lindsey to help enough to satisfy the little girl’s desire to do everything her big brother did.

  Turning her attention back to the chute, Tomi saw her last suitcase slide down the chute. Shane spotted the piece of luggage with the green ribbon tied to it at the same time. “You think you can lift that one too?” she asked him.

  “Yeah.” He rushed forward and tugged on the handle, jerking the bag to the ground.

  “Good job,” Tomi said, grateful she’d packed her makeup to endure the rigors of being handled by the airport employees.

  The kids were excited about the gifts her mom had sent with her. As soon as they got to Piper’s SUV, Tomi popped open the carry-on and found the cheerfully wrapped presents.

  “You need to get buckled up before you open them,” Piper said. “We’ll call Grandma Maggie to thank her as soon as we get home.”

  “Mom sent something for you and Gabe,” Tomi said, shoving her suitcase to the side to accommodate the other two pieces of luggage. “Do you want me to drive so you can open it?”

  “No thank you.” Piper pushed a button on her key fob that lowered the rear door. “I’ll wait for Gabe. He should be home from work by the time we get home.”

  As Piper navigated her way to the exit, Tomi turned in her seat to watch the kids open their gifts.

  “Cool!” Shane said, admiring the new set of Legos. “This is the one I’ve been saving my money to buy.”