Montana Hearts

by Charlotte Carter

  She’d found an old horse blanket in the shed and knelt on that to keep the knees of her slacks clean. She could hardly wait for the jeans she’d ordered to arrive.

  Using a trowel and a two-pronged weed puller, she set to work. Weeds released their roots from the hard-packed ground only reluctantly, allowing the scent of untended soil and dry earth to escape.

  The sun, still high in the summer sky, beat down, and sweat crept down the back of Sarah’s neck.

  “Dad said I’m supposed to help you.”

  A spurt of hope zipped through Sarah as she looked up, shading her eyes in order to see Beth. Maybe she could find a way to help the child. “I could sure use a hand. Thanks.”

  Without comment, Beth grabbed a pointed trowel, dropped to her knees and starting attacking a weed with a vengeance. A reluctant volunteer.

  Sarah winced as the girl whacked off the weed without getting any of the roots, then assaulted another victim.

  Rudy came over to investigate the gardening project. He sniffed halfheartedly around the pulled weeds, then lay down near Beth.

  After a few minutes of silence—and a few more decapitated weeds—Sarah asked, “Did you used to help your mother in the garden?”

  “Some.”

  “Good. I’m sure she appreciated your help.” Sarah continued her own de-weeding efforts, including getting up as many roots as she could. Leading by example. “I was thinking, after we get the flower bed pretty well cleaned out, I’d like to go to a nursery and pick out some flowers to plant.”

  “Closest nursery’s in Shelby.”

  “That’s not too far. Maybe you’d like to come with me. You can show me which flowers your mother liked best.”

  “I’m grounded.” Beth jammed her trowel into the ground with the force of an exclamation mark.

  “It’ll take a couple of days to get this flower bed in any kind of condition for new plants. By then, maybe I can talk your father into letting you come with me.”

  Turning her head, Beth eyed Sarah for a moment, then shrugged. “Whatever.”

  Sarah decided to take Beth’s response as one baby step forward. Thank You, Lord.

  When it was getting close to time to start dinner, Sarah called the weed pulling to a halt. Her back, hands and knees ached from the unfamiliar exercise and she was hot, sweaty and very dirty. She needed a hot shower before she set foot in the kitchen.

  Beth readily agreed to put away the tools and dump the weeds in a compost pile out back.

  Sarah had barely gotten to her room and started to undress when she heard the slap of the screen door on the back porch and a woman’s voice.

  “Hello! Anyone home?”

  Mentally groaning, Sarah rebuttoned her blouse and went to find out who had arrived.

  She stepped into the hallway. “Can I help you?”

  An older woman wearing a cotton housedress and carrying a baking pan covered with foil halted abruptly. She gaped at Sarah. “Who are you?”

  “Sarah Barkley. I’m Mr. Ryder’s housekeeper. Is there something—”

  “Really?” The woman’s voice rose on the question, and she looked Sarah up and down.

  Aware of her disheveled state and the dirt streaks on her blouse, Sarah felt her cheeks warm. “Yes, ma’am.”

  “No grass growing under Kurt’s feet, I’ll say that,” the woman said. “I’m not gone twenty-four hours and he’s got a live-in housekeeper. Too bad he didn’t do that for Zoe when she was alive. She worked herself to the bone around here.”

  Her words sounded bitter, but Sarah tried to give her some slack. “You must be Zoe’s mother, Kurt’s mother-in-law. I am so very sorry for your loss.”

  The woman didn’t acknowledge Sarah’s words of sympathy.

  “I brought over a pan of lasagna so the family wouldn’t starve, but I guess I needn’t have bothered.”

  “That’s very thoughtful of you, Mrs….”

  “Livingston. Grace Livingston.” She thrust the baking pan at Sarah.

  She caught the aromatic scent of ground meat and oregano. “I was going to start dinner as I soon as I cleaned up. I’m sure the family will appreciate your lasagna.”

  “They will if you don’t cook any better than you clean.” She glanced toward the back door. “The mudroom needs to be swept every day. Kurt and the children do nothing but track in dirt and somebody needs to clean up after them. Zoe knew better than to leave dirt to be tracked farther into the house.”

  Mrs. Livingston marched past Sarah into the kitchen.

  Stunned by the woman’s ire, Sarah tried to remember Grace Livingston had lost her only child and was now confronted by a stranger she imagined was trying to replace that child. Which was not at all true.

  Granted, Zoe might have been a better housekeeper and cook than Sarah, but she believed there was more to life than domestic chores. And she had no intention of replacing anyone.

  She followed Grace into the kitchen. “Would you like a cup of tea? It would take me just a minute to brew a pot.” She placed the lasagna on the stove top and went to the cupboard to retrieve the teapot.

  “Don’t bother.” Grace appeared to be examining the kitchen for any wayward spot of dirt that had escaped Sarah’s notice. “Where is everyone?”

  “I think Kurt’s in the barn working on one of the horses. Toby isn’t home from his friend’s house yet, and Beth is putting away the gardening tools we’d been using.”

  Without making a comment, Grace looked out the window toward the barn as though looking for evidence that Sarah had spoken the truth. Or lied.

  “I’m sure they’ll all be happy with your home cooking,” Sarah said. “I was going to roast a chicken that was in the freezer tonight. But that can wait until tomorrow.”

  Grace turned to face Sarah. “Zoe always made Southern fried chicken, not roasted. Fried chicken is one of Kurt and the children’s favorite dishes. They like it real crispy like I’ve always made it.”

  “Yes, well…” Sarah had strict doctor’s orders to watch her diet, which included avoiding fried food and limiting the amount of red meat she ate. A heart-healthy diet. Not that she planned to explain the reason for her eating preferences to Grace.

  Apparently restless, Grace edged toward the living room. Sarah wondered if the woman was going to count how many dust mites she’d missed that morning. Then she remembered she’d left the clean laundry folded on the bottom step for the children to take upstairs to their rooms. Probably forbidden in Grace’s world.

  “Would you like me to tell Kurt you’re here?” Sarah asked.

  “No need. I should be on my way. There’s a meeting at church tonight that I should attend.”

  “I wish you could stay for dinner. I’m sure there’s plenty of lasagna for everyone, and I’ll throw a Waldorf salad together.” She’d found some apples in the bottom bin of the refrigerator and raisins and nuts in the cupboard. Tomorrow she’d make a run to the grocery store to stock up on fresh veggies. And chicken breasts, if they had them.

  “I’ll just say hello to Kurt before I go.”

  Without a goodbye, Grace strode out the back door and let the screen slam behind her.

  Sarah winced. That did so not go well. She hadn’t anticipated a confrontation with Zoe’s mother. While she hadn’t exactly expected to be welcomed into the household, she would have thought Grace would be pleased to get a break from caring for Kurt and the children.

  That was obviously not the case.

  Holding up the horse’s hind leg, Kurt used a pick to clean mud from the animal’s hoof. He really needed to get the farrier out to shoe all his horses. They were overdue.

  “A, E, I, O, U,” Kurt murmured under his breath, still feeling his lips move on the U. “U, U, U,” he repeated, trying to get it right.

  “Where did you find that woman?” his mother-in-law demanded in a strident voice.

  One more scrape of the horse’s hoof, and he released the leg and stepped away.

  “Hello, Grace. I
didn’t expect to see you today.”

  “I’m sure you didn’t, young man. Who is that woman?”

  “Calm down, Grace. I needed someone to take care of the house and keep an eye on the kids. It’s only till school starts.”

  “She’s not a local girl. Who is she?”

  “She’s from Seattle. Just passing through.”

  “She’ll probably steal you blind. She surely can’t clean worth a lick. The mudroom hasn’t been swept and she left clothes piled on the stairs. One of the children is likely to break their neck falling over them.”

  “Then they better watch where they step.” He took off his work gloves and placed them on top of the stall wall. His mother-in-law had always been kind and loving, until Zoe died. Over time, her grief had turned to anger at the whole world. He didn’t know how to fix that or help her. “Come on, Grace. You know I can’t take care of the chores and watch out for the kids all the time. She’s only temporary.”

  She sniffed. “If you say so. But I’d be careful, if I were you. She’s got that look about her.”

  He did a mental double take. “What look is that?”

  “She’s a predator, Kurt Ryder. I can see it in her eyes. She spotted a good-lookin’ rancher who owns a lot of land and she’s set on hooking him for herself.”

  “I’ll be careful,” he promised, not believing one word Grace said. The only look he saw in Sarah’s blue eyes was a quiet patience with both of his children. An ability to draw them out, just as he’d been drawn in by her silly Dr. Zoom antics. When he’d spotted Sarah and Beth working together, peacefully, in the garden, he’d wanted to hug Sarah. Beth needed a woman to look up to, to talk to, and Sarah was trying to fill that role.

  Kurt wasn’t going to fault her for that.

  Not for a minute did he think Sarah had set her cap for him.

  No woman would set her cap for a struggling rancher with two kids who still couldn’t forgive himself for what he’d done to his wife.

  Especially not if she found out the truth.

  With dinner over and the kitchen once again spotless—Sarah hoped—she took her cup of tea out to the porch. She leaned against the railing, watching the slow descent of the sun behind the distant mountains. Clouds that had formed during the afternoon were edged with pink that soon bled into a deeper rose. The final shards of sunlight streaked the sky in a dramatic light show.

  “I never tire of watching the sunset. It’s different every night.”

  Sarah turned and smiled at Kurt. “It’s truly beautiful. Seattle is so often overcast, it’s easy to forget what a real sunset looks like.”

  He joined her at the railing. “I suspect my mother-in-law gave you a hard time.”

  “She didn’t, not really. She was mostly surprised that I was here. I didn’t take it personally.”

  “I’m glad.”

  “I did invite her to stay for dinner. She said she had a meeting to go to at church.”

  Kurt cocked a brow at her. “Odd. I don’t think Grace has gone to church since Zoe’s funeral.”

  If that was true, Sarah felt doubly sorry for the woman. She might have found some solace for her grief if she’d sought God’s help in His house.

  But Sarah wouldn’t judge her. Losing a child must be the most profound loss anyone could face.

  Kurt hitched his hip over the railing. “Toby’s up in his room with the door shut talking to himself.”

  “Oh?”

  The hint of a smile curved his lips. “I think he’s practicing being a ventriloquist.”

  She grinned and laughed and felt warmed by Kurt’s pleasure. “Good for him. That’s how I learned, in front of a mirror.”

  “Yeah, it is good for him.”

  They remained silent, watching the play of light across the sky. The sound of horses moving in the barn drifted on the still air. A pair of swifts darted past the house in search of the last meal of the day. In the distance, a wolf howled and was answered by another.

  Sarah shivered.

  “Have you ever been on a ranch before?” Kurt asked.

  “No, never. I’m a true city girl.” Her parents had always been too afraid to take her far from her doctors. Not that they had a great deal of money to spend on frivolous activities like vacations or sending her to camps after paying for Sarah’s medical bills.

  “I used to think of this as God’s country.”

  “I can see why.” Glancing up at Kurt, at his rugged profile, she realized he’d used past tense. “You don’t feel that way now?”

  He hesitated, then shoved his hands in his pockets. “How ’bout horses? You ever been around them?”

  Recognizing he’d changed the subject, she laughed uneasily. “Not a whole lot of horses where I grew up.”

  “Well, I’ve gotta put the horses to bed. Come along and I’ll introduce you.”

  As they walked to the barn, Rudy stood and stretched, then fell in beside Kurt. The smell of hay and manure grew stronger with each step they took, though Sarah didn’t find the scent unpleasant. If she’d been dreaming of living on a ranch, this is the way it would have smelled—of fields of grass and large animals.

  It wasn’t a dream she’d ever imagined. Now, in reality, it felt right to be here.

  The barn had held the day’s warmth, and the scent of leather in the tack room added to the bouquet of aromas that plucked at Sarah’s innate connection to the earth on a much grander scale than her small cottage in Seattle.

  One of the horses neighed in his stall and stomped his hoof.

  “Hold on, Pepper. You’ll get your treat.” From his pocket Kurt produced a quartered apple. He held out his palm and Pepper delicately scarfed down the snack, his lips all but smacking together.

  “You want to feed Peaches?” Kurt asked.

  “I don’t think so.” From Sarah’s perspective, the horses looked gigantic. While the stalls appeared sturdy, she wasn’t anxious to get close and personal with any creature that large. “I’ll just watch.”

  “Come on. Peaches is as gentle as a baby. She won’t hurt you. Will you, girl?” The fawn-colored mare nodded in the affirmative and he rubbed the white blaze on her face.

  A quiver of unease made her stomach flip. “You go ahead.”

  Kurt eyed her in a way that made her stomach flip again. “I thought you said you never backed down from a challenge.”

  She said that? In the future she’d have to choose her words more carefully.

  Drawing a steadying breath, she took a step forward. Peaches snorted and shook her head. Sarah retreated in haste.

  Kurt laughed. “Coward,” he teased in a low, seductive voice.

  Her cheeks flamed. “I am not a coward.” Well, she might be when it came to horses. But that didn’t count.

  Squaring her shoulders, she marched over to Kurt’s side and snatched the apple quarters from him. “If Peaches bites me, I’ll…get back at you.”

  Her hand shook as she held the apple pieces in her palm and stretched her hand toward the horse.

  The soft caress of Peaches’s lips on the sensitive skin of her palm amazed Sarah. It was the lightest of kisses. As tender a touch as a mother stroking her baby.

  Withdrawing her hand, Sara closed her fingers over her palm in an effort to hold on to that sweet sensation.

  “There. That wasn’t so bad, was it?”

  “I had no idea.” She gazed into Peaches’s soft brown eyes, wondering if the horse was as stunned by the experience as she had been.

  “I’m thinking by the end of the summer you’ll be an old hand at riding a horse.”

  Her head snapped around and her jaw went slack. Riding? A horse? Not in this lifetime.

  Chapter Five

  The following morning, Sarah drove into Sweet Grass Valley and discovered Main Street Grocery was a world apart from any supermarket she’d shopped at in Seattle.

  Still, despite the limited selection in every department, the produce was fresh and locally grown, and the meat well trimm
ed. Sarah loaded up her cart, including a good-looking apple pie from the bakery and some freshly baked whole-wheat rolls.

  As she wheeled her cart toward the cash register, she heard a familiar voice.

  “Hey, hon. I didn’t expect you to still be in town.”

  It took Sarah a moment to recognize Bonnie Sue from the diner without her name tag on.

  “I’m working for Kurt Ryder this summer. Housekeeper.”

  “Is that a fact? My, my…” The woman’s blue eyes gleamed with curiosity, and Sarah feared Bonnie Sue would spread the news around town as fast as a YouTube video going viral.

  “It’s just temporary,” Sarah assured her.

  “Well, I’m glad Kurt found somebody to help out.” Bonnie Sue turned her cart toward the cash register. “Last time I saw Grace Livingston, she looked exhausted.”

  The last time Sarah had seen Kurt’s mother-in-law, she’d looked angry. She sincerely hoped Grace would get over her temper soon.

  Bonnie Sue reached the store’s one cashier first. “Hey, Angus, I want you to meet a new gal in town. She’s workin’ this summer for Kurt Ryder.” She turned to Sarah to make the introduction. “Well, sakes, I don’t even know your name, hon.”

  “Sarah. Sarah Barkley.” She produced a smile for the middle-aged gentleman. She didn’t like being the center of attention.

  “Welcome to Sweet Grass, Miz Barkley.” Without missing a beat, he scanned the two gallons of milk Bonnie Sue had purchased.

  “Angus’s daddy opened Main Street Grocery way back when. He still comes in a time or two a week to make sure Angus is doing his job right.”

  Angus punched in the price for a head of lettuce. “His back’s been bothering him somethin’ fierce lately so he’s been leaving me alone.” He flashed a grin that suggested he was pleased with the situation, if not his father’s pain.

  With her groceries bagged and back in her cart, Bonnie Sue said, “Come on by the diner if you’ve got the time. We’ve got strawberry shortcake this week.”

  “Sounds delicious, but I think I’d better get back to the ranch.”