Page 43 of Moonlight Over Montana

He held out his hand. “I’m Montgomery Johnson. But my friends call me Monty.”

She shook his hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Johnson.”

“Monty, please.” He flashed her a bright white smile, and with one front tooth slightly overlapping the other, it made him appear less than perfect.

Maggie said, “How can I help you?”

“You already have.”

She narrowed her eyes and glanced at Jesse who shrugged his shoulders. “I’m not sure I understand. You may have me confused with someone else. I own, well, owned a diner until we had a fire.” She pointed out the window. “We’re in the process of rebuilding.”

“I’ve eaten in your restaurant, and you have the best chicken fried steak I’ve ever had.” He wiggled his brows. “Ring any bells yet?”

Slowly, she shook her head. “No, I’m sorry but I don’t remember you.” What did this man want?

“Do you have children, Maggie?”

“A daughter.” She pointed to the coffee urn. “Would you like a cup?”

Jesse quickly filled three cups, and Maggie was relieved he wasn’t going to leave her alone with Mr. Johnson.

“I have four children.” He smiled his thanks to Jesse as he took a cup.

Maggie took one and sat down in one of the hardback chairs, and Mr. Johnson sat across from her with Jesse on the other side of the desk.

She was going to wait for him to continue, and Maggie wasn’t about to share more details of Susie with him.

“As I was saying, I have four children who have grown up with every possible luxury, and I’m sorry to say they’re not the nicest of people. They’re not bad; they just tend to be on the selfish side of the spectrum. I decided to teach them a lesson about human kindness. First, I cut off access to their bank accounts and had them live on their paychecks from their actual jobs. But that still didn’t make a dent in their ways. So then, I decided to show them people, who weren’t as fortunate in life as they were, actually lived good, caring lives.”

“Mr. Johnson, I’m not sure where you’re going with this. If you’re looking for me to donate to a cause, I can write you a check. I don’t have a lot to give, but I’m happy to help.”

“It’s Monty, please, and no, I’m not here looking to solicit donations for anything. I’m here because of your kindness.”

Now she was thoroughly confused.

“You really don’t know who I am, do you?” His voice was gentle, and he said, “Take a closer look.” He pulled a ragged old black knit hat from his cashmere coat pocket and put it on. “Now?”

Her hand flew to her mouth. She said, “You’re the homeless man I offered a job to in exchange for meals and you got so mad at me.”

Monty chuckled. “As you can see, I’m not homeless, but yes, you were kind enough to feed me and offer me a job to help me get back on my feet and you said that River Junction was a great place to live.” His eyes twinkled. “And yes, those were your exact words.”

She was speechless. She looked at Jesse who looked at Monty and then back to her. He seemed to be at a loss too.

“I’m glad you’re not really homeless with winter coming.” She cringed. That had been a dumb thing to say. “But I don’t understand, what did this teach your kids and why did you get angry with me?”

He grinned. “I’m sorry I yelled at you, I was so overcome with joy that a random stranger would actually help a homeless person down on his luck. It was that or my eyes would have leaked. And now that same man is happy to repeat the kindness. I want to help you rebuild your diner faster so I’m prepared to add to the crew.” He looked at Jesse. “That’s if you’re willing to bring on some more people.”

He gave a nod in Maggie’s direction. “She’s the boss.”

Monty’s gaze swiveled to Maggie. “What do you say? Let me give you a hand up like you did for me.”

Suddenly, all the pieces clicked. The money in her account. She knew where it had come from. “It was you.”

He smiled when he realized she had figured it all out. “No strings, Maggie. You helped me teach my kids that it is better to help others than expect to be handed life on a silver platter. It is a debt I can never repay to you.”

She stood up. “Thank you, Monty. I accept your offer to add to the crew. With the diner being closed, it’s caused a hole in this town that needs to be filled.” Maggie knew of the families around town that counted on her diner to stretch meals. If accepting his help would help her help others, then she would find a way to repay him once she had reopened. “And anytime you want a chicken fried steak, it’s on the house.”

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