Charlotte Carter - Montana Hearts

Or it could be…

With a shaking hand, Sarah flipped open the phone. She didn’t recognize the number.

Her throat tightened and her mouth went dry. “Sarah Barkley,” she answered.

“Ms. Barkley, this is Kurt Ryder. If you’re still interested in the housekeeper job, I’d like to talk to you.”

“Yes…” Her voice caught. She squeezed her eyes shut. “Yes, I’m still interested.”

“Good. I think it would be best if you came here, to the ranch. Then you’d know what you’re getting into.”

That sounded a bit ominous, as though she’d agreed to work for the local ax murderer. “I can come there.”

She propped the phone against her shoulder and searched for a notepad and pen in her purse while he gave her directions to the ranch.

When he finished, she closed the phone and took a deep breath. Her insides quivered with a combination of excitement and trepidation. Second thoughts assailed her like the bugs that had spattered her windshield on the highway.

This is what she wanted. This is why she had come to Sweet Grass Valley. To help those who had given so much.

As instructed, she took Second Street north out of town. Residences on modest lots quickly gave way to open prairie. Scattered clusters of cattle grazed on rolling hillsides and horses stood head-to-tail in pairs beneath shade trees, switching flies with their tails. A gentle breeze rippled the fields of tall grass like waves on a summer-green ocean.

Soon she spotted her destination. She turned off the road to drive under the arched entrance of the Rocking R Ranch. In the distance, a two-story house appeared through the rising waves of heat. Several outbuildings were also visible including a large red barn and a corral. The Rocking R appeared to be a profitable enterprise.

In front of the house, a white gazebo sat in the middle of a lawn surrounded by flower beds that had been left untended for some length of time. Weeds had invaded the plots where rosebushes and irises had gone scraggly. Sarah suspected Zoe had kept her garden a showpiece. Since her death, the family had let the beauty wither away.

A porch with two wicker rocking chairs and a cedar porch swing stretched the width of the house on the western side. She imagined sitting there at the end of a day, drinking iced tea and watching the sun set behind the distant mountains.

A black-and-white dog wandered out of the barn and barked at her.

As soon as Sarah came to a stop, the front door of the house opened. Kurt waited for her on the porch, his thumbs hooked in the pockets of his jeans, his legs wide apart. The cuffs of his blue work shirt were rolled to his elbows, revealing muscular arms lightly covered in dusky hair.

The dog had kept track of her as far as the corner of the house, where he stood guard.

“Thanks for coming,” Kurt said as she reached the porch steps.

“You have an amazing place here. How much of this land do you own?”

“About all you can see plus a little bit more.” She sensed he wasn’t bragging. He was simply stating a fact.

Sarah’s small cottage on a city lot didn’t bear comparison.

“Come on in. Beth’s fixing some iced tea. I wanted you to meet my kids.”

He held the screen door open for her. As she passed him, she suddenly realized how tall Kurt was. He stood well over six feet. At five foot four, she barely came up to his chin.

She stepped inside and caught the faint scent of lemony furniture polish.

The Western decor was immediately obvious, maple furniture with floral print upholstery. A large fireplace made of river rocks bisected one wall, a variety of riding trophies displayed on the oak mantel. The opposite wall contained family photographs, grandparents and probably great-grandparents in old black-and-white shots, the history of the Rocking R Ranch down through the decades. In the center of the collage stood Kurt and his beautiful blonde bride, Zoe.

With a lump in her throat, Sarah quickly looked away. Guilt burrowed like a garden gopher into her midsection, as though she were responsible for stealing Zoe’s life. Not just exercising her heart.

Sarah struggled to regain her composure.

Kurt introduced his son, Toby.

She extended her hand to the boy, the resemblance to his father striking. “I guess some of those trophies are yours.”

“Yep.” Dressed like his father in jeans and a work shirt, he shook her hand firmly. “Calf roping for ten and under.”

“Congratulations.” She felt overdressed wearing slacks and a fussy cotton blouse when the uniform of the day seemed to favor jeans.

“Have a seat, Ms. Barkley.” When she sat down on the chintz-covered couch, Kurt said, “How is it you happen to be in Sweet Grass Valley?”

“I’m on vacation, taking some time off to see the countryside.” She wondered what he would say if she told him the truth. How she had ferreted out the death of his wife. And why.

Sitting in the adjacent armchair, Kurt appeared to consider her answer. “Did you lose you job or quit?”

She smiled, realizing he thought she was an employee of her company. “A friend is filling in for me. I do have to be back in Seattle by September first, which means I can stay here through the rest of July and most of August.” That was the date of her next doctor’s appointment. In the meantime, she took a whole phalanx of pills to keep her body from rejecting her new heart.

Nodding, he glanced at Toby, who had plopped down on a colorful plaid pillow on the raised hearth of the fireplace. “Son, go find out what’s taking Beth so long with the tea. And have her put some of Nana’s cookies on a plate for our guest.”

“’Kay.” He hopped to his feet. “But she’ll probably bite my head off.”

“Just don’t start anything.”

When Toby left the room, Sarah said, “He’s a good-looking boy.”

A flash of pride flared in Kurt’s eyes and he smiled. “Smart like his mother.” He glanced over his shoulder to make sure the boy was out of sight. “When I got back from town earlier, my mother-in-law was in quite a state. She and Beth don’t get along well. Today things were so bad, Grace grounded Beth for a week, and I had to agree. I’m guessing it’s part women’s troubles and part that Grace still misses my wife, Zoe. She was Grace’s only child.”

“I’m sorry for your loss.” She was sorry, even while she felt guilty that Kurt’s loss had been her gain.

“It hasn’t been easy for any of us,” he admitted. “I thought the best thing for Grace was to take some time off. That’s why I called you.”

“I understand.”

Beth appeared from the kitchen carrying a cherrywood tray with a pitcher of tea and two glasses. A slender, pre-pubescent girl, she had her long blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail and wore a tank top and jeans.

Toby strolled in behind her, a glass of cola in one hand and a plate of cookies in the other.

Her expression sullen, Beth set the tray on the coffee table. Her eyes appeared puffy as though she’d been crying. “You want anything else?”

“I’d like you to meet Ms. Barkley. My daughter, Beth.”

“Hello, Beth. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Yeah, right.” She turned to her father. “Can I go now?”

Kurt glared at his daughter. “You can stay right here and be polite for a change. I’m talking to Ms. Barkley about being our housekeeper for the rest of the summer.”

Beth’s eyes widened. “What about Nana?”

“You know Nana Grace isn’t as strong as she used to be,” Kurt said. “She tires easily and that makes her cranky, I know. That’s been hard on both you kids.” He gave his children a weary smile. “Since your mother’s been gone, I guess I’ve been cranky, too, and not a whole lot of fun to be around.”