Page 64 of Choosing the Montana Cowboy

“And here I’d been worried that you’d hate me forever.”

“Just the opposite. Thank you for bringing this lonely old heart back to life.” He kissed her long and slow. “Now how’s about we commence with some overdue celebratin’?”

“Okay, but we gotta move this party inside,” she said, taking his hand and leading him toward the front door. “We’re not in Montana right now, buddy. Here, we’ve got eyes everywhere.”

A car horn honked from the street. Sam and Natalie turned together to find a small SUV pulled up along the curb, its passenger side window down.

“Call me tomorrow,” the woman inside called. “Wine time can wait!”

Natalie waved and laughed. “Thank you, Cyn!”

Sam tipped his hat toward the stranger, glad she wouldn’t be delaying their celebrations. Because they had a whole lot to celebrate before he headed home Friday. His girl loved him and was ready to move west. Could anything really top that?

“Told you so,” Natalie said, blushing. “Now how ’bout I show you some Hoosier hospitality before this place goes on the market?”

God, he loved the sound of that. And damn, he loved her.

“Lead the way, darlin’. I’ll go anywhere you want me to go.”

Epilogue

Natalie fidgeted besideSam on his porch swing the Friday before Labor Day weekend, eager for the moving van to arrive. It turned out, moving halfway across the country really was fairly easy when you hired someone else to do the work. Even better, the moving company was towing her Chevy Blazer out here, so she hadn’t had to make the drive from northern Indiana to Marietta, Montana. After dinner, they’d gotten an alert that the van would arrive in the next hour. After that, her move out here would be official.

“I still say you’re going to need a truck,” Sam said, squinting toward the main drive. “Or a Jeep.”

“We’ll see.” She had no intention of getting either. Her Blazer, like the house she’d just closed on, had been purchased and then sat, mostly unused, while she’d spent all those months traveling for work. Now that she’d had some time to drive it again, Natalie remembered how much she had enjoyed the test drive that’d ultimately convinced her to sign on the dotted line.

“Mm-hmm.” Sam pulled her closer and nuzzled the spot below her ear. “You just wait until your little SUV goes sliding off the road into a barrow pit. Then I’ll say I told you so.”

“A what?”

“A barrow pit. You know, the gully beside the road that holds rainwater.”

“You mean the ditch?”

He frowned. “I suppose if you drink enough ditches, you can end up in a barrow pit.”

Natalie held his gaze for a long moment, then burst out laughing. For as many trips as she’d made out to visit the Miles family these past several months, she still was trying to get a handle on all their Montana-isms.Barrow pitwas just the latest in a long line of phrases she was trying to learn.

“What are you two carrying on about over here?”

Natalie craned her neck to spy Eli and Sunnie walking toward them. She’d learned that they often took an evening stroll together across the ranch, and no, they didn’t call or text ahead of time. That just wasn’t a Montana thing.

“City girl here didn’t know what a barrow pit was.”

Eli chuckled. “We’ll get her learned eventually. Though, you can take the girl out of the city—”

“But not the city out of the girl.” Natalie shared a wink with him. “At least, probably not right away. Where are the others?”

Sunnie hitched a thumb toward the lodge. “Telling stories by the fireplace. We’ve got some guests in from Ohio who haven’t ever been out west before. Norah was explaining what they could expect on their trail ride tomorrow, but then Sam’s father got started on his moose story, and I’m pretty sure the wife willnotbe making that ride.”

“His moose story?” Natalie looked to Sam.

“Really?” He frowned at his grandmother. “You had to bring that up, now that I’ve just got Natalie taking some horseback riding lessons from Madison and Norah?”

Sunnie shrugged. “There’s a reason I stay mostly in the kitchen, Samuel. And Natalie will hear the story herself soon enough. I’m surprised Teddy hasn’t mentioned it before now.”

“Oh, he’s tried. Twice,” Sam admitted. “I just keep interrupting at the right moment.”

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