Meg's Best Man: A Montana Weekend Novella by Cynthia Bruner

thinking that I’d be running into a Peeping Texan.”
    He grumbled and rubbed his palm against his forehead. “Yeah. Here, you want this?” He stood up and held the towel out to her. She recognized it from the large stash of towels at the cabin. Something darker green and shiny was sitting on top of it, though. He noticed her looking, and snatched it off and shoved it into his back pocket. “I ate the mint.”
    He’d brought her a towel and a mint. She didn’t know whether to be amused or freaked out. To give herself a little time to decide, she took the towel back to the camper. And she locked it again. Then she came back to find Gage still waiting, and still looking cranky. He looked that way as he took the messenger bag from her and slung it over his own shoulder and the whole time they walked up the long driveway.
    When they came in sight of the cabin and the guests gathered in camp chairs in the meadow, he handed the bag back to her. “Thank you,” he said. She didn’t know what he was thanking her for, but before she could ask, Joshua was waving a spatula and calling him over.
    “It’s about time!” Josh was yelling at him.
    Meg spotted a few friends she had not seen earlier and went over to catch up. A few minutes later she caught sight of Leah on the deck, and she headed that way, even though it meant being near Gage. He was still with the other men at the new grill. Leah came over and gave her a hug. “Did you get some rest?”
    Meg nodded. “Did you?”
    “I did! Josh found some earplugs for shooting and I put those in and slept like a baby. I’m so glad we got most of the decorations done. Catherine has tomorrow’s reception dinner covered, and Josh and Caleb have dinner covered. Well, sort of; they’ve been arguing about the right way to grill, of course. And I see Gage went down to visit you again.”
    “He is my valet.”
    “Mm hmm,” Leah said, adding a little Texas drawl to the sound. “And I suppose a man deciding to become your valet happens to you all the time.”
    “Oh, yes, of course. Doesn’t it happen to everyone?”
    “Only once for me, and now I’m marrying him.”
    Meg gave her a warning glance. “Don’t even let it cross your mind, Leah.”
    “I’m not thinking anything except what a beautiful day it is.”
    They were soon handing out paper plates full of potato salad, hamburgers, and brats. Cadence gathered orders like a pro, Leah and Meg assembled the plates to be delivered, and Josh, Caleb, and Gage argued about when to flip and what constituted done. Up on the edge of the deck as they were, they looked like a comedy routine on a stage. As far as Meg could tell, Joshua told everyone what to do, Caleb told him he was wrong, and Gage did it his own way anyway. Leah and Meg had to stop twice they were laughing so hard.
    Eventually everybody but the servers had a plate, and Joshua made up one for Leah, explaining that he put the sweet relish on her brat even though he thought it was awful and she really should try the dill. When Meg reached for a plate for herself, Gage grabbed it out of her hand. “Dog or burger?”
    “Burger, please.”
    “And how do you like it done?”
    “Anything but burned.”
    Gage glared at the burner. “I think we may be out of those. How about singed?”
    Meg peeked at the grill. He wasn’t exaggerating. “That would be great.”
    He got her ketchup, pickles, no relish of any kind, and potato salad order ready for her. She reached for her plate again, and again he pulled it away. “Where would you like to sit?”
    Leah, who was finding the whole routine amusing, patted the seat next to her. On her other side, Joshua was busy poking his brother in the shoulder for some reason. Meg sat down next to Leah, and Gage set the plate down in front of her and disappeared into the crowd. Meg closed her eyes and sighed. The man was relentless. When she opened her eyes, it occurred to her that she didn’t have any silverware or anything to drink,