Page 7 of Choosing the Montana Cowboy

“Or how long it will be before another hole forms nearby,” Madison added.

Sam frowned. His daughter was sharp as a whip, which her grades reflected. He just wished that tonight her sharpness would be more on his side.

Gran shrugged. “Money doesn’t grow on trees, Sam, especially around here. The town’s got to take advantage of opportunities when it can. And we’ve got to remember—it wasn’t Marietta or even Crawford County who went looking for this trouble. We have Jack Nelson to thank, since he’s in such a hurry to cash out his inheritance. Either way, there’s a lot of money at stake for both JackandMarietta.

“That being said, I think this project as it stands is far from being a done deal.” Gran paused and met Sam’s gaze. “If we’re going to have any chance at mitigating our losses, we need to play nice with Miss Natalie. She seems like an honest, hard-working young woman with good intentions.”

If anyone could get a read on someone in a short amount of time, good, bad, or indifferent, it was his grandmother. She had a knack for such things. So, while Sam wanted to steer the conversation away from Natalie yet again, he opted this time to hear Gran out.

“Okay, so, what did you have in mind?”

“We need to talk to her.Nicely.” Gran cut a warning look his way. “Show her Marietta living so she can better understand the impact this development could have on the ranches nearest the proposed resort.”

“Okay,” Norah said, leaning her elbows onto the table. “So, you’re thinking what—invite her to the ranch? Have us take her on a guided tour?”

The devious look that blossomed on his grandmother’s face broke Sam into a sweat. What was she planning to do, invite the woman to dinner or something? Good Lord, he couldn’t have that happen. Because if Madison met her and they hit it off, he’d never hear the end of it. In fact, the farther he kept Madison—and his grandfather, for that matter—away from Natalie, the better. And the only way he knew to do that was bite the bullet himself.

“I’ll talk to her.”

“Actually, I overheard the mayor saying he’d have his secretary check the planning commission’s calendar to see when they can schedule the hearing’s continuation. All I have to do is convince Patty to make sure nothing’s available until at least next week. That should give us time to accidentally bump into her in town and invite her out for a tour.”

Gramps nodded. “We’ll let the townies keep an eye out for her, and then we can conveniently show up at the same places. I love it.”

Norah chuckled. “You’re a sneaky one, Gran.”

“Thank you, dear. I do what I can.”

Everyone seemed to relax then. Everyone but Sam. There were still too many unknowns and an attractive out-of-towner who was sticking around longer than he preferred. And that had him worried.

“What if it’s already a done deal?” he asked.

“It’s not. You were there tonight—no vote means this decision is yet to be decided.”

Sam’s anxiety eased a notch. Having his grandmother on the board did come in handy from time to time. Even so, he didn’t like sitting around and waiting for decisions to be made that could lead to the end of his family’s lodge. Or, even worse, their entire ranch.

He’d let his grandparents play their little spy games for now, but if they didn’t connect with Natalie by the end of the week, he’d take matters into his own hands. Though, he really hoped that wouldn’t be needed. The less he saw her going forward, the easier it would be to pretend she wasn’t here at all.

Chapter Three

Natalie sat ina booth at the back of Grey’s Saloon, laptop open and scrolling through a day’s worth of emails. Yes, she should be back at her room in the Bramble House, but the space had been too quiet and Nat far too wired after filling up on coffee all afternoon to combat the time change than to sit still in her room. So she dumped off her things and set out on foot to find somewhere she could sit and think. At this hour, the only thing open that fit the bill were the town’s two bars.

Grey’s was the closest.

Nat raised her glass of bourbon on the rocks and took a sip, discretely scanning the rest of the bar. Tonight, the clientele was slim and, unfortunately, no drama unfolding to distract her from the recap of tonight’s public hearing playing on repeat in her head. Or that close encounter she’d shared with Sam Miles beforehand.

Holy cowboy.

He’d caught and held her like she weighed nothing, his strong, working man’s hands firm yet gentle. Careful. But it was his green eyes that haunted her still. She’d gotten momentarily lost in their depths, sensing a story there. One of hurt, of distrust.

Of… interest?

Okay, so that angle she’d probably misinterpreted. Her imagination had been known to run wild from time to time, especially after these long stretches on the road. Besides, if there’d been interest of some kind, it was probably to get her as far away from him as possible. After he’d changed out of his soiled shirt, his scowls had been anything but welcoming.

But then he’d brought Nat her purse and almost smiled. Enough of a smile to hint of the wild hidden in the depths of those eyes…

Nat shook her head and took another drink. Jet lag was messing with her head. Men like Sam Miles didn’t look her way. She was a romantic, not some wild child looking for a fling. Besides, she was here for work, no romance allowed.

Not that she had much time for that kind of thing. The handful of relationships she’d had after her brief, post-college marriage had been one reminder after another that getting to know the other person took time and energy. Then, just about the time she was starting to feel comfortable enough around them to start thinking long-term, they changed; their true sides came out.

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