Chapter 11

Friday afternoon, Montana gave herself the once over before Paul had come down to her room to pick her up once Shaun had arrived to stay with the girls.

She had pulled on jeans with a green cotton, short sleeved sweater that almost matched her eyes, wearing matching, lacy green bra and panties underneath. Montana felt a little naughty wearing them, but the bra was the only one that looked decent under her top.

Paul had been right on time eying her up briefly before they had headed off to Starbucks about four blocks from the hotel. There was plenty of time to chat; it was still early in the day and Montana wasn't needed for anything the rest of the afternoon. The girls were safe with Shaun, and the desk staff also had his contact information for an emergency.

In the period she had known him, however, Montana had been developing feelings for him that she had never felt for any other man. She had held them inside; first off, she was six years older than he was, and two, hardly the gorgeous diva type at five feet three and now about 160 pounds, her dark brown hair slightly shorter than his own shoulder length hair.

Still, she found Paul fun to be around and though he could be a pain in the ass at times, Montana loved his goofiness. Most of all, she admired his ability to be a wonderful father to Mackenzie and Kira in spite of his circumstances. She'd seen two-parent families fall down on the job a lot worse.

He had opened up to her about Reggie, how it hadn't really been serious until she'd gotten pregnant with Mac. They had gotten deeper feelings for one enough during her early pregnancy and had been married only months before Mac was born.

"Not exactly how I envisioned getting married, especially at a young age, but what can I do? Besides, Reg and I really loved each other at that point," he added.

Paul then talked about Reggie's unexpected death and the cause. Montana felt terrible; how could an apparently healthy young woman die so unexpectedly and something showing up after her death?

"I guess Reggie either never knew something was wrong, did know and didn't want to tell me, or it just wasn't diagnosed at all," he shrugged.

He had taken Mac with him on the road, leaving baby Kira with his parents until she was toilet trained and old enough to travel. Once Mac had started school, both girls were left with his parents during the school year, and spent summers with him.

Well that explains why Kira is so clingy at times, Montana thought.

"But enough of my depressing bullshit," he said. "In the time we've known each other, I have yet to hear much about you."

Montana nodded, discussing how her parents had met at the Dairy Queen where her mother had worked at the time. Her mother had been eighteen, her father twenty four at the time. He had worked at a nearby mill while training to be a boxer. A year later, Naomi Solomon had married Jack Hayes, and Montana's brother, Sylvester (known later as Sly), had been born shortly after her mother had turned twenty. Jack was twenty-six and had just begun to box full time on the amateur circuit, making a name for himself and being tapped for the Olympics.

Five years later, at a match in Helena, Montana, Jack Hayes had gotten his first big championship. Naomi had gone into labor earlier that day and Jack had been informed after his match that his wife had given birth to a healthy baby daughter. In celebration of his championship and his little girl's birth, Jack had christened her Montana Naomi.

When Montana was three and Sly eight, Jack was about to turn professional when he and Naomi were heading back from Las Vegas, where Jack had fought his last amateur show. The kids had been staying with their grandparents at the time, and Jack was eager to see them.

A group of kids returning from an after-prom party had come around the turn at a high rate of speed, colliding head on with Jack and Naomi's car before Jack had had a chance to react. Naomi had died of her injuries in the emergency room­–as had one of the occupants of the other car only minutes before–and though he would survive, Jack suffered devastating injuries that would end the promise of a professional boxing career.

Though he would win both a wrongful death suit for Naomi dying from the injuries she'd sustained in the accident as well as a considerable settlement for his own permanent injuries, Jack Hayes refused to be bitter, eventually forgiving the driver of the other car. He had also saved most of the proceeds from both lawsuits to send Sly and Montana to college.

Though he could no longer box, and not having many options for employment that would accommodate his limitations, he tried for a job with the US Postal Service and secured a position sorting mail. Soon, though he would never carry mail because of his disabilities, Jack was promoted to being a window clerk, and within fifteen years with the branch, had moved up the ranks to being the top person–the Postmaster himself–all before the age of fifty.

When Jack was made postmaster, Montana had been eighteen and a senior in high school, while Sly was twenty three, a college graduate and gotten a good job as an investment banker. He had studies finance and economics in college, where he also played football. Sly had the promise of an NFL career, but an injury during his senior year had blown out Sly's knee. Like his father, Sly had turned a negative into a positive; in addition to his job, he volunteered as a coach for a youth football team.

Sly met his wife, Tasha Drew, at the firm where he had worked. Tasha had been one of the receptionists, and the petite, ebullient blond immediately drew his attention. They had married eighteen months later, and after several years of being childless, Tasha gave birth to their son, Logan.

Sly had also moved Jack in with him, Tasha, and Logan once Montana had moved out and gotten her own job with WWE; in additon to the close relationship they had had over the years, Sly knew his father couldn't keep up the large house where he and Montana had grown up, and he also knew Jack wasn't getting any younger. The thought of his dad being alone made Sly desolate, and he helped Jack sell the house, with Jack wisely investing the proceeds on Sly's good advice.

Jack and Montana had both doted on Logan; though she hadn't had any children of her own, she loved kids and Sly had also encouraged Logan to spend as much time with both his aunt and grandfather as he could, stressing that at any day, they could be gone.

Jack had recently turned sixty five, and though his health had not been as good recently, he was still cheerful and never let up nagging on Montana about when she was going to find a husband and give him another grandchild. She would only laugh and say that would only happen when she'd found a man worthy enough of both her and the men she already had in her life—her father, big brother, and her nephew.

Paul had sat back and pondered all of this. "Now I really know why you clicked with the girls almost right away," he nodded. "You've been down that route."

Montana nodded. "I was the age Kira is now when I lost my mom. Daddy did date some a few years later, but he never got married again. No one measured up to Mama as far as he was concerned. Of course," she giggled, " Daddy does have a lady friend now, someone he worked with at the post office before he retired. Sly and I tease him about it all the time, but truth be told, Dotty is good to him."

"Wow," he said, "taking that into consideration, there's hope for me yet."

She laughed. "You're barely twenty-eight; you have practically the rest of your life, not to mention those beautiful little girls."

"Yeah, well, those 'beautiful little girls' have put a kink in my love life more times than I can count."

"They just want you happy, Paul," she replied. "I think most kids tend to have an idea that no one is good enough for their parents. Add to that those girls are crazy about their daddy."

"I kind of got that part," he nodded. "Now if I could get Mac to keep her mouth closed at the opportune times, I may be set yet."

"That and you need to quit being so picky."

"What?"

"Look, not to butt in or anything, but I'm saying this because I care. Outside of Shaun and Mariah, and they're good friends of yours, let's be honest here. I can see why the girls don't like some of the women you'd gone out with. To be honest, a lot of them give off the impression to me of being opportunists that either used you for career advancement, kind of a note in their day planners to brag to their friends about sleeping with you, your name and status, or anything else they could siphon out of you. They don't see you as a person, which is what you really need, and more importantly, they don't realize Mackenzie and Kira play a large role in your life too."

He nodded in agreement. "You're right on the money, Mon, because I've been thinking the same thing. And no matter what woman comes in my life, the rule stands that if they're going to love me, they have to love my daughters. Mac and Kira will always be first in my life."