Page 17 of Moonlight Over Montana

Jed said, “Your mom is a good rider so I’m going to say you inherited that from her.”

Silently, she thanked him for suggesting Susie’s absentee father had nothing to do with her abilities. Even if it had put the spotlight on her. “I’d say there’s something in the water around here, Susie, and you just come by your ability easily.”

“Well, either way I had a blast and Jed said I can ride anytime I want, but for the first few times, he wants either him or Zak around when I do, just to make sure. But I can come down and see Nahla every day and help take care of her.”

He nodded. “Susie knows there’s more to horses than just ridin’, and if she wants to have her own horse someday, she needs to learn every aspect.” He looked Maggie square in the eye. “If that’s okay with you, of course.”

That would take care of one concern Maggie might have. Would Susie be willing to feed and muck a stall as well as do the fun stuff like riding? “That’s a fine idea.”

Susie’s grin filled her face and she looked between Jed and Maggie. “Thanks, and hanging out with Nahla will make being on the ranch a little more fun.”

“The ranch has its own kind of magic, Susie. All you have to do is be patient to discover it.”

She shook her head. “I like living in town and other than the horse part of a ranch—well, that’s the only good part. It’s too quiet out here and I’m so far away from my friends.”

Maggie didn’t want to go down this path again, so she said, “Who’s hungry? I was thinking about whipping up omelets for supper.”

Jed frowned. “Breakfast for dinner. I can do one better. Quinn is expecting you and Susie at the dining hall and we can head over there anytime you want.” He chuckled, “First, I think Susie and I should clean up a bit. We smell like horses.” He tipped his head. “I promise, there’s nothing like experiencing the dining hall at Grace Star Ranch. Quinn could give you a run for your money.”

“Come on, Mom. It’s kind of like going out to dinner which we never do.”

Maggie held up her hands in surrender. “Fine. But tomorrow night I’ll cook us all a real dinner and I’ll invite Quinn too. Or maybe he’d like to have a cookoff in which case I’d better up my game.”

Jed shook his head. “He’ll let you eat his food, but he’s not one to share his kitchen.”

A worrisome thought crossed her mind. How was she going to bake all the orders she had for pies and other items for the upcoming holidays? It was a good thing she had the customers and their orders on a spreadsheet. The little stove in the cabin would hold one pie at a time, if she was lucky maybe two, but there wasn’t anything she could do about it tonight so for now this new worry was going to simmer on the back burner until she had the bandwidth to figure out a plan. “Come on, let’s get ready for supper. I’m starving.”

9

As they walked slowly in the direction of their cabins, Maggie glanced up at the sky and then looked from Jed to Susie. “Looks like we might get snow soon.”

Jed nodded. “The Farmers’ Almanac is predicting a lot of snow this winter.”

He didn’t look her way, but she wondered if he was thinking it would be tough to rebuild in harsh conditions. Again, something she couldn’t change tonight so for now she’d concentrate on dinner and a good night’s sleep. One look at Susie confirmed she was as tired as Maggie.

“I’m going to school tomorrow, right?” she asked.

“I need to check with Annie and see if I can take her up on the offer to borrow a vehicle. Barring that tiny obstacle, you’ll be in school by seven thirty.”

Jed said, “You can take my truck. I’ll be working with the horses most of the day. No need to rush back to the ranch either.”

“That’s very generous. Are you sure you don’t need it?” Maggie was always surprised at Jed’s never-ending generosity. At the diner, he would lend a hand with clearing a table when they were busy, helping a young mother wrangle her kiddos at Sunday breakfast, and even when the occasional customer was short on their check, he’d make up the difference. She stopped walking.

He stopped a few paces ahead of her. “What’s wrong?” His gaze locked on to her, never wavering.

“I just thought of something. Over the last few weeks, a man has been coming around to eat at the diner. Usually when it’s quiet. I’ve gotten the impression he was down on his luck and the first couple of times, he didn’t have enough money to pay his check so I let it slide. A couple of days ago, he came back around, ordered the cowboy breakfast platter—you know the one with eggs, pancakes, three kinds of meat, and home fries. And when he said he couldn’t pay for it, I offered to let him work in the kitchen a few days a week. Mack can always use a hand and I thought it was a great solution for both of us.”

“I take it that didn’t go over well?”

Shaking her head, she said, “No. He got mad and said I should be ashamed of myself for not being a God-fearing woman willing to help a fellow human being. Then he withdrew a small Bible from his pocket and opened it up, saying he’d pray for me to find empathy for others.”

Jed’s eyes narrowed. “What’s the guy’s name?”

“That’s part of the problem. I have no idea, but tomorrow I’ll stop in and tell the sheriff about what happened and describe the guy. Maybe he’s done the same thing to other businesses around town and Tye can track him down.”

“Mom, he wouldn’t have burned down the diner just because you offered him a job in exchange for food. That’s crazy.”

Maggie could see the strain this conversation was putting on Susie. She didn’t want to upset her anymore after having such a great afternoon with Jed, so she said, “You’re right. I’m grasping for straws and the container is empty.” She nodded in the direction of the dining hall. “We should hurry before Quinn runs out of food.”

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