“This is the last cabin, Jennie.” Heidi Copeland, the maid service supervisor, adjusted the pillows on her side of the bed and waited for Jennie to do the same. “Are you ready to quit for the day?” She blew her wispy flaxen bangs off her forehead.
“I am definitely ready,” Jennie said, “but I should check with Aunt Maggie. She might need me to help somewhere else.”
“Such dedication for one so young.” Deep dimples appeared on Heidi’s flushed cheeks. “Maggie and Jeff are lucky to have you.” She reached around to her back and tucked a loose end of her aqua Dancing Waters T-shirt into her jeans.
Nearly all the staff wore jeans and shirts with a Dancing Waters logo, and Jennie was no exception. It was a uniform of sorts, only they could choose whatever color they wanted. Jennie had picked a royal blue to match her cast.
“Thanks. I could say the same thing about you. You always seem so happy.”
“I am happy, Jennie. Oh, sometimes I miss my family in Switzerland, but this is my home now.”
“I’m curious, how did you end up in Montana?”
“I came to see the big sky and I fell in love with the land and its people.”
One person especially, Jennie noted. Heidi’s face took on a special glow when she talked about John, her husband of three months. She and John had been working at Dancing Waters for a year since Maggie and Jeff had opened it as a dude ranch.
Heidi supervised maid service. John worked as a ranch hand under Bob Lopez.
Jennie straightened and rubbed her back. It had been a grueling day. Since breakfast, Jennie had been introduced to more people than she could count. Okay, maybe she was exaggerating, but between guests and staff members she’d met at least fifty. She just hoped they wouldn’t expect her to remember their names.
“Do you live here on the ranch?” Jennie asked as they left the cabin area and walked toward the main lodge.
“We did before we got married. The staff lodging is in the dorms behind the cabins. Jeff and Maggie offered to let us use one of the guest cabins, but they are much too small. We have a home in Cottonwood.”
“Heidi,” Jennie hesitated. She’d been wanting to ask the question all day, but the time hadn’t seemed right. “I know there’s been a lot of problems at the ranch, and I wondered if you had any ideas about it.”
“Ideas? I don’t understand.”
“Do you know who might want them to leave?”
“No.” The dimples vanished. Deep worry lines appeared on her forehead. “It would be best if you didn’t ask such questions, Jennie. It is dangerous to know too much about these things.”
“What about this Chad Elliot guy? Heather says he’s suing.”
Heidi shook her head. “I’m sorry, Jennie. I know nothing of Mr. Elliot—only rumors that he is an angry man.”
They climbed the steps to the lodge. Instead of going in the main entrance, they followed the porch around to a side door marked “Office.” Jennie collided with a young man backing out.
“I’m sorry,” he said, turning around. “I should have been watching.” He raked a hand through his walnut brown hair and smiled.
What are you doing here? Jennie started to ask, then caught herself. He was the guy she’d seen at the airport with Heather. And she wasn’t supposed to know him.
Maggie joined them in the doorway. “Eric, this is my niece Jennie and this is Heidi. Heidi supervises our maid service. Ladies, meet Eric Summers. He’s a photographer and has offered to do some promotional work for me. He’ll also be helping Bob with maintenance around the ranch.
So this was Eric. Heather had let his name slip that morning. Jennie had a zillion questions.
“I was about to take Eric to the men’s quarters. Did you two want to talk to me?”
“Yes,” Heidi said, “but I can wait.”
“Why don’t I take him over, Aunt Maggie? It’ll save you some time.” And give me a chance to check him out.
“That’ll be great.” Maggie gave Jennie a knowing wink. “Eric, why don’t you get settled? I’ll have one of the men show you around after dinner and we’ll talk in the morning. I should have a schedule ready for you by then.”
“Sure thing, Mrs. White Cloud. And thanks.” He turned to Heidi before leaving. “Nice meeting you.” Eric’s gaze lingered on the Swiss Miss a little longer than necessary.
“You can stop drooling, Eric,” Jennie said when they were out of earshot. “She’s married.”
“Who?” He tossed her a questioning look.
Jennie shook her head. “You really are a piece of work. I don’t know what Heather sees in you.”
He stopped and grabbed her arm. “Heather … you know?”
“Of course I know.” Jennie shook off his hand. She didn’t bother to tell him she knew very little, and hoped he wouldn’t guess. “I’m her cousin. We share a room together. I was there when she snuck out of her room last night to meet you.”
He frowned. “She said she wasn’t going to tell anyone.”
Bingo. She’d guessed right. “Well, don’t blame her. I saw you two at the airport yesterday.”
His tan cheeks turned a ruddy rose. “Um, look, Jennie. I’d appreciate it if you didn’t say anything to Heather about …” He glanced back at the lodge. “I didn’t mean anything by it.”
“You mean Heidi?”
“Yeah. Heather and I go back a long way. We went to the same school.”
“In New York.”
He nodded. “We had a good thing going. She’s a terrific model. I’ve already won some awards for my photography. I’d started putting together a portfolio and we had an agent ready to take us on.”
“Hmm. You must have been really upset when her parents decided to move out west. She told me how much she hates it out here.”
“You might find this hard to believe, but I love Heather. And one way or another we’ll find a way to be together.”
One way or another. While Jennie couldn’t imagine Heather deliberately hurting her dad, she had no trouble adding Eric to her suspect list. His motive could be love, but Jennie suspected the stronger motive was money. If Heather made it in the modeling industry, she could be worth millions.
There’s just one problem, McGrady. He wasn’t here. He couldn’t have had anything to do with the explosion—unless … “Is this your first trip to Montana?”
He nodded. “It’s taken me a while to raise enough money.”
They reached the bunk houses and Jennie stopped. End of trail on both counts. Eric thanked her and said he’d see her later.
Jennie ambled back to the main lodge. Now what? She hated being stuck in the middle. So what had she done? Wedged herself in even deeper. Heather was headed for trouble, and Jennie didn’t know what to do about it. Should she tell Maggie and risk alienating her cousin forever? Jennie rubbed her forehead. No, she’d confront Heather first and try to convince her to stop sneaking around and to tell her parents about Eric and her dreams to be a model. Maybe they could compromise.
Jennie knew what it was like to deal with a parent who didn’t approve of her kid’s career choice. Mom didn’t want Jennie to go into law enforcement, but she was beginning to soften.
Amber hopped down the steps as Jennie approached. “There you are,” she said in an accusing voice. “I’ve been waiting to show you around.”
Jennie eyed the black, gold-trimmed Dodge Caravan that sat in the driveway. “Who’s here?”
Amber wrinkled her nose. “Mr. Bennett. He’s talking to Mom.”
Jennie took a step up, battling against the urge to sneak up to the door and eavesdrop. When the office door opened she jumped back.
“I hope when the litigation is all over you and Jeff will be able to overlook our differences. We should get together for dinner in town.” Bennett extended a hand to Maggie and she shook it.
“I hope so too, Greg. Tell Melissa I said hi.”
“I surely will.” He nodded at Jennie and Amber as he descended the stairs and stepped into his van. “I’ll stop out again when Jeff is home. You have him call me, okay? There’s still a chance we can settle out of court. I’m trying to talk my client into a compromise.” He shrugged and offered an apologetic half smile.
Jennie wanted to sit down with her aunt and learn more about Bennett and his client, Chad Elliot, but Maggie had other plans.
“Oh good,” she said, turning her attention from Bennett to Amber. “I see you’ve found her. Jennie, this would be a good time to take that tour with Amber. She wants to introduce you to some of our four-legged guests.” The phone rang and Maggie excused herself, then hurried in to answer it.
Jennie thought about waiting around for a few minutes so she could ask Maggie some questions about the land deal. Like, if Bennett and Jeff were friends, why would he take Elliot’s case? As she thought about it, Jennie realized it wasn’t all that unusual. Lawyers often defended people they didn’t necessarily agree with.
“Come on, Jen. What are you waiting for?”
“I’d like to talk to your mom for a minute.”
“You might have a long wait.” Amber sighed and pointed to the red convertible pulling up to the lodge.
Alex Dayton stepped out of the car and waved. He’d exchanged his Brooks Brothers’ suit for khaki slacks and a brick-red shirt. “Hey Amber.” He came along beside them and ruffled Amber’s hair. “How’s it going, Sunshine?”
“Fine.”
“Your mother in the office?”
“Yep.”
He reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out a Snicker’s bar and handed it to Amber, gave Jennie a quick nod, then ran up the steps and disappeared into the office.
“See, I told you she was too busy.” Amber yanked on Jennie’s hand again, and this time she gave in and followed. Over the next hour, Amber introduced Jennie to two dogs, three cats, a shaggy new llama named Socks and his mother, Angel, named, Jennie suspected, for her tender disposition, her white coat, and her beautiful sky-blue eyes. Now it was time to meet Gabby.
“Gabby will be your horse while you’re here.” Amber led the way through the largest horse barn Jennie had ever seen. “He’s a six-year-old gelding. He loves people and talks all the time. Come on, I’ll show you.” Amber approached a white horse and patted his nose. “Hi, Gabby.” The horse snuffled a greeting and nodded. “I want you to meet my cousin Jennie.”
“Nice to meet you, Jennie.” A gravelly male voice said.
Jennie jumped back, thinking for a moment the horse had spoken. She laughed when she spotted the buckskin-colored hat. “You had me going there for a minute.”
A short man in his late fifties unlatched the stable door and stepped out. He had the weathered look of a rancher who’d spent too many summers in the sun. His bright blue eyes twinkled as they caught Jennie’s questioning gaze.
Amber took Jennie’s hand and pulled her forward. “This is Dusty Coburn. He runs the stables.”
“Howdy there, Jennie. Amber tells me you want to learn how to ride. Well, you’ve come to the right place.” He lifted his hat and wiped perspiration from his brow with a red handkerchief he’d pulled from his back pocket. “You hang around awhile, get to know old Gabby here and we’ll get ’im saddled up for ya.”
Dusty limped away and disappeared into an office at the far end of the barn. “He’s got arthritis,” Amber said before Jennie could ask. “Dad says it’s from all those falls he took when he was a jockey.”
“Does he still ride?”
“Every day. Come on—you gotta meet the real Gabby.” Jennie reached up to stroke Gabby’s white forelock, then yanked her hand back when the horse whinnied and shook his head. “I don’t think he likes me.”
“Oh, sure he does. Let’s get him some grain and a few carrots and you’ll be his friend for life.”
Jennie spent the next half hour getting acquainted with Gabby and several of the other horses including Cinnamon, Amber’s mare. Amber worked with her on grooming skills until Dusty arrived to give Jennie her first riding lesson.
Following Dusty’s instructions, Jennie led Gabby into the arena behind the stable. She watched as Dusty cupped his hands to give Amber a hand up onto Cinnamon’s back.
Jennie raised her casted right arm up and rested it on the saddle. She slipped her foot into the stirrup, then grabbed the saddle horn with her left hand to steady herself, bounced up, and swung her right leg over the saddle.
“Hoowee,” Dusty hooted. “You sure you’ve never been on a horse before, Jennie? You’re a natural.”
Jennie shrugged. “Not unless you count carousels.”
He chuckled. “Who’d a thought it?”
“I just hope the cast won’t be a problem.”
Dusty shook his head. “Naw—you’ll be holding the reins and guiding him with your left hand. You should do just fine.”
For the next hour, Dusty taught her how to handle the reins to guide Gabby through the various courses he’d set up in the riding arena. They circled the arena dozens of times as she practiced turning and backing up, walking and trotting. Jennie loved it. Of course she’d always known she would.
That night, Jennie helped bus tables again and, after a late supper, dragged herself up to bed. A scraping sound woke her as Heather crawled in through the window. Jennie glanced at the clock. Midnight.
Jennie stretched and yawned. “Well, well, if it isn’t Cinderella. Out with Prince Charming again?”
Heather closed the window and pulled down the blinds. “Eric told me about the little talk you had with him. That was sneaky, Jennie.”
“Maybe it runs in the family. I just put two and two together. What I don’t understand is why the big secret? Why don’t you just tell your folks how you feel?”
“I’ve tried. Dad is totally against my being a model. If they knew about Eric and me, they’d … I don’t know what they’d do. Please don’t tell Mom. She’ll tell Dad and …”
“So when do you plan on letting them know?”
“Soon. Eric has been doing photo shoots. He’s got this fantastic layout. Oh, Jennie, he’s a wonderful photographer. Wait until you see them. Once the photos start selling and I get some work, we’ll have enough money to get married.”
“Married?” Jennie snuggled back under the covers wishing she hadn’t heard Heather’s response. “Just for the record, I think you’re making a big mistake.” She sighed. “I won’t say anything right now, but I’m not making any promises.”
“You sound like my grandfather.”
“He knows about Eric?”
“He knows I want to be a model and that I want to leave Dancing Waters.” She sat on the bed and removed her boots. “He probably knows about Eric too.”
“Why doesn’t he tell your folks?”
“He says I am nearing womanhood and must make my own way.” Heather closed her eyes, then brushed away the tears that had formed there. “Papa says I am at a fork in the road and I must be careful in the choosing.”
“So you haven’t made up your mind?”
She shook her head. “I love Eric. And I love modeling. But today—when I took those people into the wilderness, I felt … different. Riding through the woods felt so right.”
Heather changed into a plaid flannel nightshirt that reached almost to her knees. After a trip to the bathroom, she crawled into bed and turned off the light. “Good night.”
“’Night.”
“Jennie?”
“Hmm?”
“Thanks for understanding.”
“Sure,” Jennie murmured. She didn’t like sharing secrets like that, but she no longer felt as responsible. Heather’s grandfather knew. She hadn’t met Joseph White Cloud yet, but she already liked him.
After lunch in the lodge the following day, Maggie gave Jennie the afternoon off. “You’ve earned it. Besides, Amber thinks it’s time you rode into the hills to visit Papa.”
“He wants to meet you.” Amber turned to her mom. “May I be excused, please? I need to pick up snacks and have Dusty get the horses ready.”
“Yes, you may go.” She watched Amber run out the door, and shook her head. “That girl. So much energy.”
The gesture reminded Jennie of something her mother would do. “Oh no. I haven’t called Mom back yet. I can’t believe it.”
“It’s my fault. I should have reminded you last night before you went to bed.” Maggie set her napkin on the table. “Why don’t you call her now? You can use the phone in my office.”
Jennie gulped down the rest of her milk and excused herself. Minutes later she was listening to the ring and waiting for Mom to pick up the phone.
“Hello.” The break in the familiar voice told Jennie her mother was crying.
“Mom, what’s wrong?”
“Oh, honey. It’s so awful. I’m afraid we’re going to lose Hannah!”