Page 41 of Moonlight Over Montana

“About time you decided to put your mouth where my heart has been, cowboy.”

He kissed her again. This time it was tender and passionate, filled with all the longings his heart had held in check. There would be time for their feelings to rise to the surface. For now, this kiss was near perfection.

A loud thump and muttered curse words reached his ears. “Guess Susie needs you.” He relaxed his arms, knowing she had to go inside but not quite ready to let her go. “Would you have dinner with me tomorrow night? We can go into Bozeman if you want or stay in River Junction. Your choice.”

She tipped her head and looked deep into his eyes. “I know it’s cold out, but what if we took a picnic someplace, built a fire, and sat under the stars.”

“You’d rather sit outside than get dressed up and let someone wait on you?” She was a rare woman.

“For our first date, I’d like it to be just the two of us. But if you’d rather, we can put this idea on hold.”

He cupped her cheek. “A picnic it is. But I’ll take care of everything. You just plan on dressing warm. We can leave around four.”

Hugging him tight she whispered, “I wish it was tomorrow at three fifty-nine.”

He felt the same way, but he had a lot to do to make it the most romantic night of her life. “Me too.”

She stood on tiptoes and pecked his lips one last time before she slipped from his arms. “See you in the morning?”

“You kinda can’t escape me.” He pointed to his porch. “Being neighbors and all.”

Giving him a thoughtful look, she walked up the steps before turning to him. “The fire was the lowest point in my life, but it has also opened my eyes. In these last few weeks, I’ve seen another side of you and I really like what I see; I like the entire package.”

Using his index finger, he pushed back the brim of his hat and grinned. “Oh, so it wasn’t until you lived next door that you saw my charms?”

“I never said you weren’t charming,” she quipped. “But there is so much more to you than you let people see.” She touched the corner of her eye and then pointed her finger at him. “I see the real you, Jed Steele.”

His heart flipped in his chest. If she saw the real person now and wasn’t put off by his quiet nature, that was a good thing for both of them. “Maybe it’s just you who brings out new sides to me.” He wanted to rush up the steps, pick her up, and twirl her around, confessing how deeply he felt about her and had for a very long time. But not with her daughter mere feet away. He knew there would be plenty of time for whatever was between them to grow. He just needed to have patience and that was one of his strong points.

“Good night, Jed.”

“Night, Mags. Sleep well.” He watched as she stepped over the threshold and closed the door. He couldn’t contain the grin that now split his cheeks. Changing direction from his cabin, he headed back to the dining hall in search of Quinn. He wondered what it would take to bribe the best chef in River Junction to create a mouthwatering picnic for him and Maggie. There was one thing he knew about his friend; he might appear to be a grouch, but when it came to others and the pursuit of romance, he loved playing Cupid. And the next person he needed to talk with was Annie. There was a romantic spot over near her parents’ old house complete with a firepit and endless views down the valley and the mountain range. The stars over Montana would shine bright from that vantage point. Jed rubbed his hands together, looking forward to an evening with Maggie, and he would do his best to make it a night to remember.

21

Maggie stood with her back to the door of the cabin and ran her fingertip over her lower lip, remembering what it felt like to have Jed kiss her, and she wanted to spend the rest of the night in his arms kissing him. But there was tomorrow night, in front of a fire, under the canopy of stars.

“Mom, you look weird. Do you have a headache or something? If you’re tired, I can fix dinner.”

She straightened up and noticed Susie had books spread out around her on the leather-covered sofa. Giving her daughter a warm smile, she said, “Just a little tired. And thank you for the offer, but I have dinner made. I just need to slide the casserole in the oven.”

“Cool. I’m going to finish my homework, and then I thought we could look online for saddles and stuff I’ll need for when we buy my horse.”

“That sounds like a great idea. I’ll be right back.” She went in the kitchen and placed the chicken casserole in a cold oven as she decided to broach the subject of Thanksgiving. Hopefully, Susie would want to attend what sounded like a bit of a celebration with everyone on the ranch.

Once dinner was heating up, she returned to the living area and sat in a chair across from her daughter. “Thanksgiving is next week, and I was talking to Jed. It sounds like it’s a big deal around here with people helping Quinn out in the kitchen and they have dinner together. What would you think about joining everyone?”

Susie didn’t look up. “Sure, that sounds fine. But I’ve made some plans for the weekend with a bunch of kids from school. I think we’re having a sleepover at someone’s house Friday night into Saturday.”

“That sounds like fun. But I’ll need to know where you’ll be spending the night so don’t forget to share that little detail.” She got up. “I’m going to take a shower before dinner.” Dropping a kiss on top of Susie’s head as she was leaving the room, she noticed a chat window was open on her laptop. “Who are you talking to?”

She closed the laptop screen and looked up, annoyed like Maggie had been snooping in her diary or something. “Mom, a little privacy, please. I didn’t grill you about you smooching with Jed before.”

Maggie felt her cheeks flush with heat. “You saw us?”

“Plu-eeze. You were standing right outside the cabin; it was hard to miss.”

“It was just a kiss.”

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