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Chapter Two
Luke Montgomery poured a scoop of grain into the empty trough, then slammed the stall door behind him. The horse inside stamped his foot and let out an insulted whinny.
“Sorry,” Luke told Max, his black gelding. “I’m not mad at you. This whole situation just gets my goat.”
A brown and white billy goat lifted his head from where he was stealing a mouthful of fresh hay from Max’s stall.
“Not you, either.” He shook his head as he tossed the scoop back into the grain bin. “Where does my sister get off saddling me with one of her problems? I’ve got enough problems of my own without taking on a city girl from Chicago who’s probably expecting a luxury spa or dude ranch experience.”
The horse whinnied again, as if in response.
“I know. I know. I owe Faye. Which is the only reason I agreed to this cockamamie idea in the first place.”
He knew his sister, and how different things were for her in the city and the high-powered field of publishing. Hosting one of her authors sounded like a lot of work. And who knew what kind of expectations she would have? Last time Faye had been home, she’d been miffed she couldn’t find some fancy multi-grain cereal at the local grocery store. Luke had offered to put some sticks and oats from the horse’s feed into a bowl for her, but she hadn’t appreciated his humor.
He lived a simple life and found peace in farming his land and taking care of his animals. He didn’t care about lavish restaurants or complicated coffee drinks. It was easy for him to imagine a high-falutin’ city girl who was used to all those things looking down her nose at his modest ranch.
His cell phone buzzed. He pulled it from his pocket and frowned as he tapped the screen and held the phone to his ear. “Hey Sis.”
“Is she there yet?” His sister’s voice boomed from the phone, direct and to the point.
“Not yet.”
“I thought she’d be there by now. I gave her directions, but a couple of those turns are kind of tricky. Does that old white barn still have an American flag painted on its side?”
“Yep.”
“Then I’m sure she’ll find it. She’s a little unsure of herself sometimes, but she’s smart.”
“If she doesn’t show up in the next half hour, I’ll go look for her.”
“Thanks, Luke.” His sister’s voice softened. “You’re a sweetheart.”
He grunted. “Don’t let it get around.”
She laughed. “Text me when she gets there. Love you. Bye.”
“Bye,” he replied, but she’d already hung up.
The sound of a car drew his attention to the window of the barn. “She’s here,” he announced to the horse and the goat.
His phone buzzed again, and he rolled his eyes as he assumed his sister had forgotten to give him another piece of her sage advice. Instead, the Caller ID readDean Austin,his best friend since grade school.
“Hey Dean,” he said, peering through the window as the compact SUV pulled up in front of the house. “What’s up?”
“Just checking to see if she got there yet? I think Emma and I might’ve just met her coming out of the grocery store.”
Dang. The woman had only been in town a minute and this was the second call about her. “She just pulled up.”
“What do you think?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t even seen her. Like I said, shejustpulled up.”
“I want a full report. She seemed nice. And I think having an author visit sounds interesting.”
“You would.”
“You’re not gonna tell her about…?”
