Montana Hearts Read Online Free PDF

help, she’d cleaned up the kitchen. Then he’d vanished back into his office to work on the accounts. Beth was still upstairs, pouting. Toby had resumed his place in front of the big-screen TV. From her perspective, the show he was watching looked too violent for a nine-year-old. Or an adult, for that matter.
    The family ought to be doing things together, she thought. That’s the only way they’d heal their grief.
    She went to her room to retrieve her oversize tote that contained her ventriloquist’s dummy. Dr. Zoom came fully equipped with a white lab coat, stethoscope, wire glasses and a Pinocchio nose.
    For the past several years, when she was able, she had volunteered one morning a week at the University of Washington Medical Center. She donned a costume and became Suzy-Q, clown extraordinaire, visiting the pediatric oncology ward. Dr. Zoom told silly jokes and listened to his own heart instead of the patient’s. She’d spent hours in front of a mirror making sure her lips didn’t move when she spoke in Dr. Zoom’s voice.
    As Suzy-Q, Sarah also did face painting. All of this in an effort to pay forward some of the kindness that she had experienced as a child.
    The best medicine she could give a sick child was a chance to smile and laugh, a few minutes of simply being a normal kid.
    Maybe she could give the same gift to Kurt’s children.
    Returning to the living room, she sat on the couch and adjusted Dr. Zoom on her lap, his legs dangling over her thigh.
    â€œVhat’s dat kid doing?” Dr. Zoom asked in a fake German accent.
    â€œHe’s watching TV,” she responded.
    â€œVaste of time, I say.”
    Toby remained glued to the TV show, not so much as looking over his shoulder to find out who was in the room.
    â€œWell, what should we do?”
    Dr. Zoom looked up at her, his long nose quivering. “Ve could drop a bomb on the boy?”
    â€œNo. That wouldn’t be very nice.” Sarah wasn’t at all sure Toby would even react to a ton of TNT going off.
    â€œHee hee hee. KABOOM!”
    Very slowly, Toby turned his head and frowned.
    â€œWhat’a’ya doing?”
    â€œIs the boy alive? Let me listen to his heart.”
    Sarah manipulated Zoom’s stethoscope to the middle of his own chest.
    â€œOh, no. I hear nothing. Nothing! The boy is—”
    â€œYou’re trying to listen to your own heart and you don’t have one,” Sarah pointed out.
    She definitely had Toby’s attention now. His glassy, hypnotized look had been replaced by a note of interest.
    â€œVhat? No heart? Vhy don’t I have a heart?”
    â€œBecause you’re a dummy.”
    Dr. Zoom twisted his head around to look at Sarah.
    â€œIt’s not nice to call people names.”
    â€œI’m not. You really are—”
    â€œDon’t say that.”
    â€œBut you—”
    The quick exchange between Sarah and Dr. Zoom started Toby laughing. He shifted his position to watch her, the violent TV show forgotten.
    â€œWay cool. How do you do that?” he asked.
    â€œDo what?” she asked innocently.
    â€œMake the dummy talk.”
    â€œYou mean ventriloquism?”
    â€œNow see vhat you’ve done?” Dr. Zoom shook his finger in Sarah’s direction. “Tell him it isn’t so. I’m not a—you know—vone of dose.”
    â€œYeah, you are,” Toby insisted.
    â€œIs zat what you think? Huh. I vill show you. You know vhat you get when you cross a pair of trousers with dictionary? Huh, you know vhat?”
    â€œNaw, I don’t know. What?”
    Dr. Zoom did a little hop on Sarah’s thigh. “You get a smarty-pants, that’s vhat. A smarty-pants like you, huh?”
    Toby’s giggle was infectious, and he had a wicked, little-boy gleam in his eyes. “Hey, Sarah, can you teach me how to do that?”
    â€œBut of course, young man. I am the greatest teacher in the