Page 56 of Hiding in Montana

“Police!” Thundering footsteps came into the house. “Freeze!”

When the sheriff saw that it was Clint and Polly, he lowered his revolver and surveyed the destruction. “Any idea who did this?”

“No, unless it was the person who shot me.” Clint held Polly a little tighter. “I guess you could surmise someone was hell-bent on searching her house and my guess, they were ticked when they didn’t find what they were looking for.”

Sheriff Blackstone looked at them. “Sorry to say, still no leads on the shooter.”

She looked up, her eyes filled with fear. “They’re never going to stop. I have to talk to Matthew and get the exact dollar amount so I can pay them off.” She looked around her bedroom. “What if I had been home? Would they have killed me?”

That question struck Clint to the core. Maybe that was their intent. They had tried once and failed.

27

Polly pulled weeds and glanced at her watch. Matthew was coming out to the ranch after lunch and one way or another, she was going to get the truth out of him if it was the last thing she did. There had to be a way to stop these lunatics from coming after her and it was time Matthew stood up and was a man instead of tossing his former wife to the wolves. She sat back on her heels and thought of Clint and the caliber of man he was by comparison. As sad as it was, there was no comparison.

A small shadow fell over her from behind and she knew it was most likely Annie. To her surprise, Mary was walking in her direction with slow but sure steps. How this woman who was north of seventy worked as hard as anyone and made it look easy, she didn’t know. She hoped she was as spry as Mary was later in life.

“Hi, Mary. This is an unexpected treat.” Polly stood and brushed her dirt-covered hands on her jeans.

“Annie has been keeping me abreast of what’s been goin’ on with you, and I hope you don’t mind.”

Of course, Annie told both Mary and Daphne everything. They needed to be on guard, too. She hugged the thin older woman, who had become more like a grandmother to her instead of a friend. “I’m glad Annie has kept you in the loop. It’s been really tough these last couple of weeks.”

“Sweet girl, I wanted you to know I’m always ready with a cup of tea or coffee and a friendly ear if you ever need to talk.”

The older woman’s smile was warm and came from her heart. “Thank you, Mary. That means a great deal to me. With any luck, this will be behind us soon and we can get back to the business at hand.” She swept her arm over the field. “The harvest and preserving.”

Mary crossed her arms over her body and grinned. “Quinn has his work cut out for him.”

Looping her arm through Mary’s, she said, “Come with me. I want to show you a new variety of winter squash I grew. I’ve got plenty to put in the root cellar if you want to take one up to the main house for tonight.”

With a twinkle in her eye, Mary squeezed Polly’s arm. “That would be a nice treat. A hearty squash soup might be in order too. And I will make sure to put a cup aside for your lunch tomorrow.”

Walking through the garden and showing Mary everything, talking about next year’s plan put a sense of balance and normalcy back into her day, and this was just what she needed before she talked with Matthew.

As they approached the gate to the house, Polly’s steps slowed. “Mary, how do you do it?”

“I’m not sure what you mean. Talk about gardening almost as much as you do?”

“How can you take all the jangled nerves inside of me and smooth them out with a simple conversation?”

She beamed. “Ah, that’s something Pippa often said. Annie’s grandmother was my best friend, and she was a worrier as a young woman. After Annie’s parents died in the plane crash, it got worse. Her grandfather loved Pippa, but he never got the hang of a calming conversation. I guess after all those years of talking with Pippa, it just became second nature to me.”

Throwing her arms around Mary, she hugged her tight. “Pippa was very lucky to have a good friend in you.”

Patting her cheek, Mary gestured to the house. “There are two women inside who would be the same for you. It’s okay to open up and let more people into your life. I can promise they’ll never hurt or betray you. True blue women. And if you don’t believe me, ask Daphne sometime how she came to live at the ranch. I’d like to think a little touch of me is in Annie.”

Now there was something to think about, opening up and letting more people than just Clint in her life. Maybe it was time to become an active part of the community. Other than her sister, she had never really been good at having female friends. They seemed to always be looking to come out on top when she was living in Portland.

“Give it some thought.” Mary took the squash from Polly and walked through the gate toward the back door. Over her shoulder, she called, “Stop in the kitchen around four. Clint’s going to be running a bit late and we’ll have coffee and I made blondies.” She lifted her hand in Polly’s direction before closing the door behind her.

Before going back to work, she made a detour to the dining hall where she had stored her lunch in the refrigerator. Mary was right about many things. She needed more friends. She was lucky to have Quinn and Jed whom she had become close with. They were two good men who liked her and not because she was dating Clint. With her steps lighter, she hurried down the path. But a shiver raced down her spine. She did a slow three sixty but there was no one around as far as she could see. That would be all she needed, her unfriendly mountain lion to come around again. Still feeling hinky, she touched the butt of her handgun under her shirt. If anyone had told her a year ago she’d be walking in a garden with a gun, she would have scoffed at them. She wanted to jog to the kitchen, but if there was a big cat roaming, that would just encourage it to chase her. The last thing she needed was more danger.

Polly texted Matthew about two o’clock and said she was in the greenhouse. Several minutes later, he said he’d meet her there. Her stomach tightened at the thought of the direct conversation she needed to have with him, but it was long overdue. He was going to stop dancing around the subject and tell her everything. She stamped her foot for an extra kick of adrenaline to her system. While she was doing the inventory, her phone pinged. She looked at the message from her sister and sent a quick text back. Call you tonight. She got a smiley face emoji back and put her phone on the workbench.

The sound of a door slamming caught her attention, and she looked up to see Matthew striding toward her. His smile was jovial, almost a little too carefree. Didn’t he care about what was happening to her?

“Paulina, don’t you look in your element?”

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