Page 29 of Moonlight Over Montana

“Single mom and a business owner. She does have a lot on her plate, but I heard you’re teaching Susie to ride so that must take some of the pressure off. Give it some thought.” Linc whistled to the mare and her ears perked up. “See you later, mama.”

A while later Jed had finished lunch and was walking back to the barn when he noticed his truck headed in his direction. He stopped and waited for Maggie to park it.

She slipped out from the behind the wheel wearing a grin he hadn’t seen in several days. Surmising it was a good meeting with Tasha, he strode over to greet her.

“Howdy. That look on your face tells me the morning was productive.”

She held up her hand and slapped him a high five. “Darn right, it was. Not only did I talk with Tasha, but she already had some ideas on her tablet to show me. I want to keep the color scheme the same since Susie’s partial to the old blue, white, and black, but she suggested a layout and an open kitchen concept. I’ll run it by Mack too, but I am leaning in that direction. Then”—she bounced on her toes—“the contractor showed up and they’re going to start clearing tomorrow which is earlier than I thought. Tasha consulted with them on the time frame and they’re finishing up a job and can start in two weeks.” Then her face fell.

He asked, “What’s the downside?”

She jammed her hands in her front jacket pockets. “With the fire being so hot, we have to pour a new foundation and footings, but we’ll have a basement to store all the mechanical operations which will give me additional floor space upstairs in the diner.”

Jed wanted to reach out and touch her cheek in some attempt to offer comfort, but he held back. “That’s good news, right?”

“Winter is closing in. What if they can’t get the foundation poured? That means we won’t start until spring.”

“Is that what the contractor said? Because they have additives to put into the concrete for curing in colder temperatures.”

Her face brightened and she lifted her face to look at him. His heart flipped in his chest when he stared into her bright-blue eyes.

“That’s good news. I didn’t think to ask about it and it’s been on my mind the entire drive to the ranch.”

She hadn’t mentioned the apartment above the diner. “And your living space?”

Waving a hand, she said, “That’s the easy part. Same footprint but I’m going to add a second bathroom for Susie adjacent to her bedroom and cut down on the living room to add a little more closet space for us both. Projected move-in date will be next May if all goes according to plan. I need the diner open first so I’ll talk to Annie and Linc about renting the cabin until then.” She scuffed the gravel with the toe of her boot. “If they agree, you’ll be stuck with the two of us as your neighbors for a while.”

His heart soared. Living next to Maggie and Susie wouldn’t be a hardship at all. “That will give me plenty of time to teach Susie how to ride; she’s a natural in the saddle.”

“You’re a sweet guy but like I said last night, don’t sacrifice getting your job done to entertain her. She’ll adjust to our situation. I hope.”

Unsure how to respond since he had already said he had time to work with her daughter, he gestured to the barn. “Wanna see the little girl? She’s doing great and Annie’s trying to come up with a name for her. Maybe you can think of something.”

Hooking her arm through his, she said, “Lead the way, and then I’ll run up to the house to talk to Annie about extending our residency.”

He liked the way her arm felt on his. “And Susie, don’t you have to pick her up from school?”

“No. I bumped into Polly in town. She was going into The Trading Post and said she’d swing by and pick her up since I wanted to get back out here.”

“It takes a ranch family to raise kids, I guess.” He steered her toward the palomino barn.

“You really think Grace Star Ranch is like a family? I know Annie and Linc would do anything for anyone, but with so many personalities, it just seems like you’d have too many different people to be a cohesive unit.”

He was sure it was odd for Maggie to understand what ranch life was like here. He’d worked other ranches before landing at Grace Star Ranch, and this place was different. Annie’s grandfather, Pops, heaven rest his soul, had made it easy for people to feel comfortable here. “Not all ranch owners are like Pops and Annie. They’ve never treated anyone like they were just an employee. We start as friends with common goals and over time, if the ranch hand stays on, they morph into the family that we’ve created by choice. Look at what happened to me and Polly. Every one of the cowboys from this ranch and others were searching for us after the kidnapping. No one was going to give up. If they weren’t searching, they were backfilling chores to keep things running smoothly.”

“I remember.” She paused as he slid open the barn door.

“And when I got stepped on by a bull and was in the hospital, not only did Annie show up, but she made sure I had space in the bunk room near the dining hall so I could be close to the action, and she even hired a physical therapist to come out and work with me until I was good as new.” He’d never forget how it felt when Annie brought him home from the hospital and set him up making sure that he was comfortable. She had gone beyond what a boss needed to do. Annie took care of him like he was family and for that he’d never forget.

“Whoa. I knew you’d gotten hurt, but I never realized how far she went to help you get better. That was above and beyond.”

Quietly, he said, “It’s what this family does.”

Maggie withdrew her arm from his as her cell phone rang. She looked at the screen and frowned. “I’ll be right in.”

He left her as she walked away from the barn and stood in the middle of the gravel road. Entering the building from the outside, he gave it a moment for his eyes to adjust and then left the door open wide enough so Maggie could slip in without having to wrangle the door. He could hear the agitation in her voice but not make out the words. If she wanted him to know what the call was about, she’d tell him, but by the tone in her voice and the serious expression on her face, it wasn’t good news.

He grabbed a couple of carrots and swung by his horse’s stall. “Hey, Tonks.” The gelding lumbered over to him and Jed rubbed the length of his nose before offering him a tasty treat. “Want to go riding this afternoon? I thought we’d show Susie what it’s like on the trail. You’d be a good boy with Nahla, right?”

---