Montana Hearts Read Online Free PDF Page B

, far too old to have my father pick out my dates, as if I ever needed your help in that department.”
    Sammy Jo would have left with her mother and moved to Wyoming, but her mom only had a tiny apartment with no acreage, and her father still had the barn where she kept her horse.
    Saying goodbye had been one of the hardest things she’d ever done, but she and her mom kept in touch weekly via phone and computer, and they visited each other every ­couple of months. Still, she couldn’t help thinking that if her father had tried harder to get along, her mother might have chosen to stay.
    â€œI talked to Mom earlier,” Sammy Jo informed him, throwing down the statement like a challenge for him to pick up.
    Her father glared at her, then his expression softened and he cleared his throat. “How is your mother?”
    â€œAs well as she can be.”
    â€œIs she dating anyone?”
    Sammy Jo scowled. “Of course not. I wish she would, but she won’t, not while she’s still married to you. You’ve been separated for five years. Why don’t you make it official and get a divorce already?”
    â€œWe vowed on our wedding day we’d never divorce.”
    â€œBut you’re both miserable.”
    Her father shook his head. “I’m not.”
    â€œYou are. I can see it in your face, and the way you talk, and the way you stare at her picture on the table beside your bed each night.”
    â€œHow would you know—­”
    She waved his words aside. “Just like I see the way you look out the window toward the Collinses’ property when you think no one is watching, with that same expression of regret. You are sorry you have an ongoing feud with them, aren’t you?” Sammy Jo narrowed her gaze. “And the real reason you don’t want me going over there is because you’re jealous that I have a good relationship with the Collinses.”
    â€œI don’t want to talk about them,” her father said, his voice cold as his John Deere in winter. “Don’t ever mention their name to me again in this house.”
    â€œBut they’re our neighbors,” she said, trying to understand. “Why won’t you tell me what happened between you and Jed and Loretta Collins? What is it you think they’ve done that would make you hold a grudge so long?”
    â€œI said, I don’t want you to talk about them,” her father warned.
    â€œI didn’t say their name.” She raised herself up on her tippy toes to look him straight in the eye and he looked right back.
    â€œSubject closed.”
    Sammy Jo shrugged and turned away. “Okay, I’ll see you later.”
    â€œYou’re leaving?” Her father’s expression faltered. “At this hour? Where are you going?”
    Sammy Jo glanced back over her shoulder as she headed toward the door. “Over to the Collinses .”
    Her father had called after her, “Don’t forget you have to leave early for the Great Falls rodeo tomorrow morning.”
    As if she’d ever forget. She’d had this rodeo marked down on her calendar since the previous year. If there was one thing she never forgot it was the date of each rodeo. It was her dream, her life, her whole reason for being.
    Until now.
    L UKE SMILED A greeting at a few of the guests walking the path past the line of riverfront cabins. Everyone wanted to see how he was doing, and although he found some of the carpentry challenging, he was determined not to let it show.
    Dropping a handful of nails into his shirt pocket, he hooked his hammer through his belt loop, and dropped his cane. Then leaning on his good foot, he took hold of the ladder with both hands and lifted his weak leg to stand on the bottom rung.
    He winced as the pressure shot a painful twinge up to his knee. But with a small hop his weight shifted back to his good leg and the pain subsided. He drew a deep breath and repeated