“Oh?” His brows arched. “What kind of project would bring you all the way to Montana?”
“It’s a documentary about mustangs,” she said. “I filmed the first part of it in Nevada and plan to finish it out here.”
“You’ll have to tell us all about it later,” Judith said. “Right now I need to get out of the cold. My thin Arizona blood can’t take these temperatures anymore. We’ll need help with the bags. Where’s Marvin?”
“I sacked Marvin months ago. I thought I told you that,” Jo-Jo said.
“Maybe you did.” Judith gave an impatient wave. “You know I don’t keep track of those kinds of things.” For the first time she looked to Keith. “Could you please get our bags?”
“Keith isn’t an employee,” Jo-Jo quickly interjected.
“Oh?” Judith arched a brow and gave him a critical once-over.
Jo-Jo turned to him with an apologetic smile. “Keith, this is my daughter, Judith, and—”
“Dr. Pearson,” Miranda’s uncle interjected before Jo-Jo could complete the introduction.
The guy really was a self-important ass. It seemed that Judith and Robert were a matched pair. Keith tipped his hat and stepped forward, hand extended to make his own introduction. “Good to meet you both. I’m Keith Russo.” Darting a look at Miranda, he added, “Your niece’s fiancé.”
Miranda’s eyes widened and jaw went slack. He didn’t know what devil had suddenly taken charge of his tongue, but it was done now and not to be taken back.
“Fiancé?” Judith repeated. “No one said anything about an engagement.” She turned to Jo-Jo. “Mama, why didn’t you tell me? I would have at least brought a gift.”
Jo-Jo looked baffled. “I didn’t know myself.” Her gaze flickered from Keith to Miranda and back again. “When did you two decide this?”
“Only yesterday,” Keith answered smoothly. “We’d planned to keep it a secret until after I picked up the ring.”
“Yes. It had to be sized,” Miranda blurted. She held up her left hand, following his lead. “See, I have really skinny little fingers.”
“This is rather abrupt, isn’t it?” Judith remarked, eyeing Miranda up and down. “Or perhaps you have a pressing reason?”
“What do you mean?” Miranda asked.
“With the way this came out of the blue, I thought maybe…” Judith gave a blithe shrug. “It’s nothing to be ashamed of… It happens all the time these days.”
“What happens all the time?” Miranda asked.
Keith stifled a chuckle. “I think she’s wondering when we expect little Keith to arrive.”
Miranda’s face suffused with color. “I’m not pregnant, Aunt Judith,” she replied through her teeth.
“How terribly awkward,” Judith remarked.
“I suppose congratulations are in order,” Robert said, offering Keith his hand with a supercilious smile. “When is the big day?”
Miranda flashed Keith a warning look.
“We haven’t discussed a date yet,” he answered.
“We’ll look forward to hearing the whole story once we get settled.” Judith looked to her husband. “Won’t we, Rob?”
“Absolutely,” Robert agreed, wooden faced.
Judith frowned. “Now then, what are we going to do about the luggage? Rob can’t lift anything since he threw his back out playing golf.”
“I’ll get it,” Keith volunteered.
“We will,” Miranda corrected. “Got the remote thingy for the back, Jo-Jo?”
“Sure thing.” One click opened the tailgate. Judith and Robert each grabbed a small bag and then headed for the house, leaving four more for Keith and Miranda to haul.
“Thank you for the help,” Jo-Jo murmured to Keith, “and for putting up with their crap. As for the bomb you just dropped…” She gave Keith a pointed look. “We’ll talk later.”
Miranda stood gaping while Keith finished pulling the bags out of the back. She drew in an audible breath and confronted him, hands on hips. “Um…what the hell did you just do?”
He grinned. “Just saved our asses. I thought I was pretty smooth about it too.”
Her brows knitted over stormy eyes. “By faking an engagement? How does that help?”
“It sure makes things more pleasant for me,” he said.
Her lips compressed. “How do you figure that?”
“As your fiancé, I now have every right to some PDA. What’s wrong?” he asked, noting her scowl. “You don’t like being engaged to me?”
“I don’t like lies and deceit, even in exchange for PDA.”
“It’s only for a few days,” he said. “What else could we do after they caught us lip-locked?”
She exhaled a defeatist sigh. “I suppose you’re right. You just shocked me with that. By the look on her face, you shocked Jo-Jo too. For the record, I don’t think she pegged you as marriage material.”
“Do you?” he asked, turning suddenly serious.