Page 22 of Choosing the Montana Cowboy

“Howie?”

“One of our ranch hands,” Sam supplied, still watching her closely. “He was out with me when—”

A song started playing from somewhere nearby. Natalie dug into the purse she had hanging over the back of her chair. She rose, mumbling an apology, and stepped from the room. Sam watched her go, frowning. Beside him, Gramps bumped his elbow.

“Going pretty good, huh?” The old man chuckled. “We’ll have her ready to pack up and move west in no time.”

“This isn’t about convincing her to relocate. This is about saving the ranch.”

Gramps shrugged. “To-mA-to, To-Ma-to.”

Gran shushed them both. “If you two weren’t yapping so much, I could hear what—”

Footsteps sounded and then Natalie reappeared, looking less dazed but still not quite back to her usual, smiley self.

“I apologize for the interruption, everyone. That was my boss, and it seems we’ve had something come up at work. I’m afraid I need to get back so I can help him make this deadline.”

Disappointment washed over Sam. And suspicion. Was that really why she was leaving, or did it have to do with the ferret discussion?

He shook his head. Just because Sasha had fed him lies didn’t mean he should go around thinking everyone else would, too. “I’ll see you out.”

“That’s al—Actually, I’d appreciate that.” She offered him the smallest sheepish grin and collected her purse. “Thank you all for the amazing dinner and wonderful conversations.”

Gran smiled. “You’re more than welcome, dear. Come back anytime.”

“Yes!” Madison chimed in. “And earlier in the day, remember? So we can show you the animals.”

“And the land,” Gramps added with a wink. “There are some amazing views of Big Sky country when you get closer to the foothills.”

Sam watched Natalie offer them all polite nods, then guided her to the door. He wasn’t sure what had caused that shift in mood, but something was definitely bothering her. Did he ask, or should he let it go?

It’s not a date.

CC and Larwill were gone from the porch when they stepped out, giving Natalie pause as she scanned the porch and front yard looking for them.

“They’ve probably gone around back for the night. We’ve got a breezeway they lay in until Gramps lets them in for the night.”

She offered him a relieved smile and followed him down the steps and to her car.

“Thank you again for the tour and lovely dinner,” she said, clicking to unlock her vehicle.

Wait—she’d locked it? Out here? He grinned at the city girl.

And damn, she sure looked pretty tonight. Even prettier outside beneath the fading sunlight. The sleeveless top she wore put her lightly tanned, smooth skin on display, while those capris hugged that cute ass of hers just right. Add in the wedge sandals and those painted pink toes, and it’d been a struggle not to stare; Sam had always had a thing for cute feet. So he’d trained his eyes on hers, watching the deep oranges of dusk dance in her hazel eyes.

Had this been a date, now would have been the perfect time to pull her close for a goodbye kiss. His fingers itched to do just that. His brain gave them a cease-and-desist order.

“You’re very welcome. Everything all right?” Damn it, he hadn’t meant to ask.

Her gaze shifted from his. “Oh, yeah. Just… gonna be a long night. Lots of research.”

With one last forced smile, she climbed into her car, gave him a small wave goodbye, and drove off.

Something was definitely up. But what? As Sam watched her taillights grow smaller and smaller, it hit him: the ferrets. If there was an endangered species on the Nelson property, what impact could that have on Terakion’s development? Enough to shut it down? It looked like he had some research to do tonight as well.

“Yes, Virginia, there just might be a Santa Claus.”

Chapter Eight

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