Page 49 of Moonlight Over Montana

Her face blanched for a fraction of a second, and Jed wondered what that was all about, before she agreed to text later.

He started the truck and backed up before heading down the gravel driveway. He noticed Susie had a large duffel bag at her feet. “Moving back to town?”

“What?”

He pointed to the bag. “I thought it was just for the day.”

“Oh, yeah. Marcy’s got a date tomorrow and I said she could borrow something of mine.” She put her ear phones on and tapped her cell phone effective ending that part of the conversation.

Jed remembered his sister and her friends always trading clothes. He thought it was silly but harmless.

When they reached the blacktop, Susie pulled out her earphones. “Jed, have you heard from your friend yet on my horse? I’ve been talking to Tate, and he’s been telling me how we’re going to train and I’m excited to get started.”

“Not yet. But as soon as he has a lead on a good mount, he’ll call.” With one hand on the wheel and the other propped on the door, he studied the road. “Are you looking forward to getting back to town once the diner is reopened?”

“Yeah, but the only downside is my horse will be at the ranch so I’ll be coming out twice a day to take care of it. But I can get my driver’s license in March so at least Mom won’t need to drive me around anymore.”

“Are you sure you want to have the responsibility of a horse? You’ll be going off to college in a couple of years.”

“Maybe not. If I get really good, I can make money working the rodeo. I’ve been asking around and I’ll bet I could make enough to support me and my horse.”

He was hearing the words but what more was behind them? “Does your mom know this is a possibility?”

Susie looked out the windshield, doing her best not to look right or left. “She wants me to go to college and until I make some decisions, I’ve decided to not bring the topic up.” She snapped her head in his direction. “You’re not going to tell her, are you?”

“What’s to tell? You’re undecided about your future other than you still want to learn barrel racing and have your own horse. But you should still keep your grades up in school and have some fun too.”

She exhaled. “That’s why I really wanted to go into town today and experience all I can. Meet people, talk about life, you know all that interesting stuff.”

There was much more to her thought process than met the eye, but he wasn’t about to scare Maggie half to death with a gut feeling that something was off. What he would do is keep an open eye and ear and if anything was going wonky with Susie, he’d be there to step in. Sure, she was Maggie’s daughter, but Jed also looked at her as extended family in the short time they’d been living at the ranch. He could see she had a big heart just like her mom and she was smart and a hard worker. All those qualities deserved trust and loyalty. He just prayed she wouldn’t run off half-cocked and do something she’d regret down the road.

“Is there a male friend that you’re meeting today?”

A flicker of panic crossed her face. “What makes you ask that?”

“You’re sixteen and believe it or not, I was sixteen once too. Itching to hang out with friends for me usually meant someone special would be there too.”

Relief flickered in her eyes. “Yeah, there is. But don’t tell Mom. I’m not ready to spring the news on her, yet.”

Dang, now he had to ask a few more questions just to make sure nothing was going to turn bottom side up. “He’s not putting any pressure on you of any kind, is he?”

“No. No, Jed, he’s not like that. He’s a really nice guy and we’re just talking, you know, getting to know each other. We’ve been talking online a little bit and today we’re going to hang out.”

“Right, pizza and a movie. Sounds more like a date to me.” He gave her an encouraging smile, hoping she’d tell him a little more, like the kid’s name.

“It’s not like that. I’m not looking for a serious boyfriend, so stop worrying. I told you it’s all good stuff.”

During this conversation, he wondered if this was how his father felt when his sister had been sixteen and started to date. If only he could call him, but that wasn’t an option. Jed was on his own to navigate being the boyfriend of this girl’s mother.

“Did you and Mom have a good time last night?”

“We did. Quinn made us dinner and we ate by a fire while watching the stars and moon.”

She gave a low whistle. “Pulling out all the stops, Jed. Nicely done. I’ll bet Mom swooned just a little bit.”

“It was nice.” He was not going to reveal the details of the date, not to Susie or anyone. If Maggie wanted to tell her, then she could.

“Be patient with her. She and my dad didn’t have the best relationship. He left when I was just a newborn, and I don’t know that Mom ever got over his leaving. They were just two different people who wanted different lives.”

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