452 Memory Lane: Ashbrook, Montana Saga

By Merri Maywether

When a plane flew by with a marriage proposal, Kate should have asked questions. Questions like why would my always grumpy best friend have a change of heart? Now she has to spend a week at a resort with their daughters avoiding team-building activities with him.

Could life get any more awkward?

Kate has been the sunshine in Sam's life since the first day he pulled into Ashbrook. As a single father with a six-year-old daughter and a battered heart, the only thing he had to offer was friendship.

A series of events threatens their relationship and opens Sam's eyes.

If he doesn't hold on to the one woman who loves him despite his rough edges, he'll lose his chance for the relationship he'd always wanted but didn't know he could have.

Friends, family, and a secret ally will remind Sam and Kate that love endures all things —and the first step to a happy future is releasing the pain from the past.

452 Memory Lane is a sweet romance that can be read as a stand-alone.

Readers of Carolyn Brown, RaeAnne Thayne, and Debbie Macomber will discover new friends and family in the Ashbrook, Montana Sagas.
Previously published as Marry Me Kate

• Language: English
• Publisher: Merri Maywether
• Release date: Jul 20, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223127598

Merri Maywether

Twenty years ago, Merri Maywether went on a date with a very sweet man from Montana. Three weeks later they were engaged and they have lived happily ever after. This is Merri taking over the biography section...When I write my romance novels, the characters are the people that I see on a day to day basis. Up here in what I like to call the far, far north, people work hard, live fiercely, and love knowing that they have a community of people behind them. We support each other through the hardships and celebrate the victories. The best part...similar to the characters in my stories, at the end of a long day or a rough week we have stories to share for the years to come.

Book preview

SMALL TOWN STORIES

Finding Love After Friendship

Second Chance Romance

Homecoming Romance

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Sam and Kate’s story starts on the next page.

1

SUNSET OVER THE LAKE

Kate and Sam sat side by side with a beer in their hands. They wore matching gray Ashbrook Eagles hoodies. That was where the similarities ended.

Sam was barrel-chested and stood a head taller than Kate, but when they worked together, she held her own. Like her personality, her strength was masked by lean muscles and a tender temperament.

If they weren’t such close friends, people could have mistaken them for a couple. If one of them was in the room, the other wasn’t too far away. They finished each other’s sentences and didn’t have to ask what the other wanted when they went out to eat. And, Kate always shared half of whatever was on her plate with Sam.

Yes, they were best friends, which was why it didn’t seem awkward for them to sit on the edge of the lake at the end of a long day exploring with their daughters.

Once you see the sunset over the lake, you will never be the same.

Kate blinked back her first instinct to roll her eyes. Really, Sam?

Sam tended to make things more colorful than the way other people saw them. It made for great storytelling at parent gatherings. People learned to take what he said with a grain of salt. However, the shred of truth in whatever he said was enough to consider what Sam shared.

But not enough to get emotionally attached.

Really. He gestured with the can of IPA that was still in his hand, toward the lake in front of them. It’s pinks and oranges and yellows. The colors melt into the water.

They were an hour away from sunset. The sky was a soft blue, hinting that Sam’s prediction might come true. Kate closed her hazel eyes and lifted her chin toward the breeze coming in from the lake. The caress enticed her to believe Sam. That a couple of minutes by the lake would really change her life, even if it was for a few seconds. In this quiet, it feels like I don’t have a trouble in the world. No farm equipment to fix, plenty of water around and–

The soft buzz of a plane flying overhead tapped into Kate’s quiet moment. She pressed her hand over her eyebrow and searched for the source of the sound. After a couple of seconds passed, she found it. A blue and white single-engine plane was towing a banner sign. I haven’t seen one of those in forever.

Kate’s father had a plane collecting dust. When she was a young girl, he’d take her on rides, and they’d admire the land that had been in the family for two generations. It had been parked in their Quonset, beckoning them to go for rides. He wasn’t around to fly it, but Kate and her brother Victor didn’t have it in their hearts to sell it.

Sam leaned forward too. I wonder what it says.

It probably says something about the Cherry Festival. Kate leaned into the back of her chair. Having identified the source of her disruption, she was ready to relax.

No, it says. Sam’s voice brightened with curiosity as he decoded the sign to read aloud. Marry. Me. Kate. xoxo. Sam.

Kate bolted up and squinted to read the message. When she got home, she’d make sure to get her contact lens prescription checked. After her eyes adjusted, she was able to see the letters clearly. The sign was exactly what Sam read to her.

Her chest filled with air, adding notes of tenderness to her voice. I thought you were joking.

When she turned to admire Sam, her hazel eyes softened, and she saw Sam in a new light. The light she had hoped to see but thought impossible. I’ve heard about people getting engaged as friends.

A string of bells, similar to what someone would hear when a door opened, chimed in her mind. They seemed to say with game show host flourish, Here it is. Here is the second chance at love you’d never thought you’d get, and it was better than you’d imagined. She murmured to herself. I need to think about this.

At first, it didn’t register to Sam what he read aloud. But when it did, he grimaced in preparation of the joke Kate was sure to inflict upon him.

She defied his expectations. Her face went soft and mushy like she had just found a kitten. The only thing missing was her cuddling her hands to her chest and saying, Aww.

The hoped for I-got-you point and giggle didn’t follow. The truth hit Sam in the head like an anvil. Kate believed he had proposed to her.

Sam was a say-it-like-it-is guy. Kate had saved him from himself on many occasions because she softened his message. He took one look at her face and knew. If he said it like it was, days of uncomfortable conversations were to follow. The ones where disappointment was in the bottom notes of whatever she said. It was a fate worse than walking in a Montana winter without a coat, and to be avoided at all costs.

It was simple. Sam had to recall how she said things, mimic the style, and let her down easy.

Or maybe, he’d be lucky, and someone would appear and help him. Like the real Sam who ordered the sign. Maybe he’d appear with his arm wrapped around his girlfriend turned fiancée.

Sam surveyed the landscape around him, hoping to find the other Sam and Kate. Then, when his Kate saw the other happily engaged couple, she’d realize the misunderstanding. It would be something they could laugh about. He’d thank her for being gracious, and she’d call him a fool, and they’d both agree that this would be a good story to tell in the years to come.

The only other person he found was some old guy in the middle of the lake with a fishing pole leaned against the side of his boat.

Gah! Sam’s body tensed in anticipation of the discussion he wanted to avoid.

Oh, don’t take it personally. Marriage is a big decision, especially when I didn’t know it was on the table. Kate held her hand out as though she were smoothing his ruffled feathers.

She had been like that since the first day they met. His daughter Jasmine was having a temper tantrum. Kate stepped in, knelt to his six-year-old daughter’s level, and talked her through the trauma of losing the last chicken nugget that had fallen on the ground.

Now she was trying to do it to him. If he wasn’t such an ornery and embittered man, Sam might have taken hold of the opportunity. But life had bitten too big of a chunk out of him.

He searched the area around them. What were the odds that there were no other people?

Kate craned her neck and mirrored his gesture. Her eyes had darkened to a soft brown, relaying the disconnect between what Sam had said and how things were between them.

Sam’s chest deflated, and his shoulders dropped. Relief was forthcoming. Somehow, she had figured out the message wasn’t from him.

A thin line so deep it looked like someone could have drawn it formed in the middle of Kate’s brows. Do you have someone filming this?

Slowly, Sam’s voice moved from his gut, clenched in fear of hurting Kate’s feelings, to his throat. He croaked, Uhm, no, I don’t have anyone filming this. He gulped his beer and swiftly opened another.

That is so romantic! she exclaimed. I didn’t know you could even think that way.

Rather than say something and stick his foot in his mouth, Sam took another drink of beer.

He shook the can and turned it upside down. Like his ideas on how to get out of the mess, it was empty.

Wow, I must have been thirsty. Relieved because he found a valid excuse to depart the area, his confidence returned. He gestured toward the buildings with his thumb. It might be better if I head back to the lodge and drink some water.

Kate held up her reusable water bottle. If you want, you can drink some of mine. I don’t go anywhere without water.

That’s kind of you, but I think I’ll probably need to use the facilities in a bit. It’s better if I head in. He stood to leave. I don’t want to rush you. Are you all right to bring in the blanket?

Noticing the abrupt change in tone, Kate wilted. Her forced smile hid some of the disappointment, but not all of it. Oh, yeah, sure. I can bring it in. You don’t want me to go in with you?

Sam turned to leave and meandered up the incline toward the cabin. Nah, I’m a big boy. I think I can handle it myself. When he thought he was a safe enough distance to hide the obvious, his pace quickened, and the course diverted to the direction of the tavern that was walking distance from the lodge.

All the while, he asked himself the same question. How the heck am I going to get out of this one?

2

WHEN YOUR KID TRIES TO GIVE DATING ADVICE

Luckily, The Getaway, an adequately named pub, was within walking distance from the lodge. Sam needed to hide behind a couple beers and sort things out. When he walked in the door, the wall on one side of the bar, lined with several large screen televisions, had more patrons than he expected for a Wednesday evening. Apparently, going away to the forest wasn’t enough to distract people from the NBA playoffs and the beginning of baseball season.

Settled at the bar with a beer and some cheesy fries, Sam divided his attention between the different sports events on the televisions and listening to the conversations around him. Like him, several other men were chaperones for the senior trip activity and went to the bar for a reprieve from the insanity.

Most of the conversations were chatter about their young adult children who thought themselves to be fully adult because they were in possession of a high school diploma. One man exclaimed, My daughter tried telling us she didn’t need a curfew anymore.

Other fathers chimed in their opinions on how to handle the matter. Sam considered himself lucky. In comparison to what he heard the other men complain about, his daughter, Jasmine, was an easy child to raise.

Soon enough, Sam overheard a conversation that piqued his interest. Did you see that plane that flew over earlier?

Another parent commented, Yeah, that banner proposal has started all kinds of mischief in our hotel wing.

What do you mean?

It’s got the girls in our group looking at the guys all doe-eyed. Shoot, these kids barely know how to do their laundry, let alone think about wooing a girl.

What are you talking about? Another person added to the conversation. I’ve been married twenty-five years and still don’t know how to work the washing machine.

They burst into loud laughter, and the conversation moved on to predicted trades in baseball and guesses as to who would be chosen by what team for the upcoming NBA draft.

After a basket of buffalo wings to go with the fries, and a couple more lite beers, Sam guessed the air cleared enough for him to go back to the lodge and safely return to his room.

He still hadn’t figured out what to say to Kate. Whatever it was, he wanted to let her down nicely.

It flattered him that she even considered the idea.

But, it wasn’t fair allowing her to believe any longer than necessary that he had any interest in her.

Kate was one of Sam's first friends when he rolled into Ashbrook, a newly single father. He didn’t know much about raising a daughter. Kate invited him to a play date. Since then, she had treated him and his daughter, Jasmine, like they were members of her family.

His time to plan ended when he walked into the front of the lodge and saw Jasmine sitting in front of the fire with that boy named Jacob. Despite the long shaggy hair that made Sam want to take scissors to the boy’s bangs, he thought Jacob was a nice enough guy. His daughter was beautiful. When she was younger, her slim feature was gangly. Somewhere along the way, his awkward daughter turned into the beginnings of a woman with sleek features that made Sam think of princesses. The braided ponytails she liked to wear sealed the impression in his mind.

At times like this, Sam missed his wife. If she was still with them, conversations about boundaries, and expectations, and the things daughters needed to know, but a father couldn’t tell, would happen more frequently.

Kate took Jasmine under her wing, but it wasn’t the same as a mother. Sam hardened to his reality. Molly had told him reconciling wasn’t an option. He nor Jasmine hadn’t heard from her in over ten years. It was his responsibility to talk to his daughter about relationships.

He walked around the couch and casually pushed his way onto the middle cushion between Jasmine and Jacob. Then he spread his arms on the back of the chair, so both kids were under his proverbial wings. Hey there! He flashed Jasmine his most charming grin. How long have you been back from the movie?

A cat that ate the canary smile illuminated her face. We didn’t go.

Sam shot Jacob a dirty look. The boy squirmed but didn’t show the typical responses that accompany guilty behavior.

Sam’s left eyebrow climbed an inch or so. He couldn’t wait to hear their excuse. What happened?

Jasmine’s golden-brown eyes brightened with anticipation. We came back because we thought there was something you might have wanted to tell me.

At a loss, Sam asked, Something like?

Jasmine released the words like they were bubbles. Her eyes brightened with each one. Like we are going to have something of a normal family. She clasped her hands in front of her chest. A more than just the two of us family.

Honey. Sam knew his daughter needed a mother but had no idea she’d grown up wanting one. What’s wrong with the family we have?

It’s good. She stuck with the point. We saw the proposal.

His heart sank into the heat from the buffalo wings that rose to meet it—first Kate, then his daughter. On this unfortunate night, there was no winning with the women in his life. He pulled his arm off the back of the couch to make it easier to face his daughter. I’m sorry to disappoint you, Jazzy, but that wasn’t me.

Her voice dropped with the unexpected news. It wasn’t?

It was almost as bad as the time Sam told her she couldn’t keep the stray duck that wandered onto their farm. She refused to believe it needed to be with its flock. There were tears, and please daddies, and episodes of wallowing under the covers. If that wasn’t bad enough, she was angry with him when Quackers left to join his flock. Like Sam had anything to do with the natural migration pattern.

I told you it was more than your dad would do. Jacob leaned to talk behind Sam. Someone who’s totally into relationships was behind the proposal.

Indignation flared into Sam’s throat. Hey, I’m sitting right here.

No offense, Mr. Waters, Jacob apologized. You seem more down to earth. Like you’d have the girl pick out her ring, type of guy.

As much as he wanted to get upset, Sam couldn’t. Jacob had described him perfectly.

Jasmine pushed the issue. Dad, you and Kate would be perfect together. As much time as you two spend together, we thought you were dating and just afraid to tell me.

"Who’s we?"

Jacob said, Almost everybody. Except for sitting in separate pews at church, you two do almost everything together.

Lacking a better answer, Sam shrugged and told his truth. That’s what happens when you get married, and your spouse just disappears. You develop friendships with other single parents and work together to survive.

He turned to face Jasmine. First, there’s no spark, no chemistry, no attraction between Kate and me. She’s like a sister. He shuddered to show that the thought of anything happening between them gave him the willies.

A memory of Molly at twenty years old rushed to the front of his mind. He was madly in love with her and couldn’t believe he was lucky enough