Page 45 of Choosing the Montana Cowboy

“Okay, Gramps,” Sam said, placing his hands on Natalie’s shoulders and turning her for the barn. “Enough flirting with my girl. We’ve got to get moving if we wanna make it back in time for dinner. And don’t eat all our fish while we’re gone, either.”

My girl?Natalie looked to Madison, who was grinning like her father had just leaked a secret. Only, Sam didn’t appear the least bit bashful. She ducked her head, cheeks warming.

Surely, he was just joking with his grandfather. Everyone knew Natalie’s time in Marietta was finite.

While four-wheeling with Sam and Madison was a blast, alas, their ferret hunt today was a bust. Lots of prairie dogs and their burrows, but not a ferret in sight. And though that worried Natalie, neither Madison nor Sam seemed bothered by it.

“We knew it was long shot,” Madison admitted as they headed into the lodge to get washed up for dinner. “Black-footed ferrets are nocturnal, so they spend most of the day underground. I said we should have planned to ride out to watch after dinner, butsomeonesaid we should do it earlier since I have school in the morning.”

Sam just shrugged at his daughter’s eye roll. “A good night’s sleep is more important that ferret watching. Besides, now Natalie has a better understanding of the lay of the land, so she can help explain all this to Neil when we go to pick him up on Friday.”

“We?” Natalie said.

“Of course,” he said. “The Flying J Lodge will be rolling out the red carpet for our esteemed guest. That includes curbside pickup from Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport.”

That was fine by her—she hadn’t been all that eager to make the hour drive up to Bozeman by herself. Especially after listening to some people at breakfast this morning share near-miss stories of moose and elk while travelling on I-90.

As promised, Sam hadn’t made her help clean their catches. Instead, he and his grandfather did that while Sunnie brought her and Madison into the kitchen to help prep salads for dinner. Natalie had been a little nervous at first, feeling awkward in the family matriarch’s industrial-sized kitchen, but Sunnie treated her like one of her own. She even shared her pan-seared trout recipe with Natalie, secret ingredients and all.

Which, Natalie decided halfway through dinner, just might have been the best fish she’d ever eaten.

“Bet you don’t have fresh trout like this back in Indiana, Natalie girl.”

She flashed a smile at Eli, who was seated across from her and beside Sam. “Nope. Bluegill is one of our local favorites; I think most everything else is shipped in from the East Coast.”

“There’s bluegill in eastern Montana,” Sam said. “I haven’t seen any around here, though.”

His sister nodded. “I’ve seen it on menus in Bozeman and Livingston, but we haven’t shipped in any to serve at our lodge, yet.”

Norah had been a little quiet today. Hopefully, none of the lodge’s guests had been giving her fits.

“Is it hard,” Natalie asked, trying to pull her into the conversation, “trying to come up with meals for guests who come in from all over the country?”

But instead of Norah, it was Sunnie who responded. “All over the country and even beyond its borders. We had some folks from Australia stay with us last summer if you can believe it.”

“They were a hoot,” Eli added.

His wife nodded. “But we don’t serve food guests are used to having at home—we serve the kinds of meals families in this area have made for generations. We want our guests to really experience Montana, not just come here and sleep in a different bed.”

Natalie nodded and worked to ignore the grin that dawned on Sam’s face across from her. Yes, the wordbedhad sent her thoughts elsewhere, too. Then again, they hadn’t needed a bed by the river yesterday.

“Right, Natalie?”

Her gaze flashed to Madison. “Sorry, what was that?”

“I said I bet you wished you’d stayed here instead of the Bramble House now.”

Natalie nodded, praying her cheeks weren’t as flushed as they felt. “Definitely. I mean, don’t get me wrong, their meals are lovely, but they don’t have the views or the adventures you all have out here.”

“True. Though, staying in town has allowed you to walk to your meetings so far,” said Sunnie.

“That has been nice,” Natalie admitted. She speared another bite of fish and popped it into her mouth. “It’s also given me the opportunity to sample several of the eateries in town. Come to think of it, I’m doing brunch with Chuck Banyard at the Main Street Diner tomorrow. Got any recommendations on what to order?”

“The Cow Goes Oink skillet,” Madison said without hesitation. “It’s sooo good. Eggs and potatoes topped with tons of cheese and bacon.”

Natalie laughed. “I’ll have to remember that.”

“So, what’s your meeting about?” Sam asked.

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