Read Online Montana Hearts by Charlotte Carter - Free Book Online Page A

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.”
    â€œSounds delicious, but I think I’d better get back to the ranch.”
    â€œWell, you drop in when you can.” She started topush her cart away, then halted again. “Say, there’s a potluck social at church this coming Sunday evening. Everybody’s welcome to come. It’d give you a chance to meet some of the ladies in town.”
    Sarah considered the idea for a moment. She didn’t want to be pushy about it, but she would like to be part of a church fellowship while she was living at the ranch.
    Finally she said, “I think I’d like that. Maybe Kurt and the children would like to come along, too.”
    A peculiar expression crossed Bonnie Sue’s face and she exchanged a look with Angus, who shrugged and rang up Sarah’s apple pie on his register.
    â€œThat’d be real nice if they came.” Bonnie Sue’s voice resonated with a dispirited note of skepticism.
    Sarah was left wondering if the entire Ryder family had turned their backs on the Lord following Zoe’s tragic death. Or had they never been churchgoers?
    In either case, Sarah’s heart ached for them, and she rubbed the scar that hid beneath her blouse. Without the Lord at her side, she never would have survived the trials brought on by her leukemia.
    When Angus finished checking her groceries, she told him to put the total on Kurt’s tab, as her employer had suggested.
    Maybe the Lord had brought her here not simply to thank the family for their generosity but to witness to her faith, as well.
    Â 
    Sarah arrived back at the ranch to find both Beth and Toby pulling weeds in the flower bed around the gazebo.
    While that was a shock, Sarah was delighted theywere both helping, apparently in peaceful coexistence. She stopped the car in the driveway and rolled down her window. “That’s beginning to look great. You two are doing a good job.”
    â€œWe’re keeping out of Dad’s way,” Toby said.
    That didn’t bode well. “Are you in trouble?” she asked.
    â€œDad’s in a really bad mood,” Beth said.
    â€œDo you know why?” Sarah hoped it wasn’t anything she had done.
    â€œHe’s been on the phone all morning,” Beth volunteered.
    â€œMostly yelling at Ezra,” Toby added. “He’s our neighbor.” He thumbed over his shoulder toward the east.
    Beth struggled to get the roots up on the weed she was pulling, and finally yanked them free. “He’s a really old guy. I don’t think Dad should be yelling at him.”
    At least the problem wasn’t something Sarah had done. Or, apparently, his mother-in-law. Or his children, for a change.
    â€œThanks for the warning. I’ll tread lightly.”
    Sarah parked her car near the back of the house and carried her grocery bags in through the mudroom. Kurt was on the house phone in the kitchen, pacing the room, stretching the curling cord around with him. Speaking in an agitated voice, he didn’t acknowledge Sarah’s arrival.
    â€œEzra, you had to know Western Region Cattle Feeding doesn’t care if they pollute the water table as long as they’re making a profit.”
    He paused to listen, then said, “I know the price ofbeef is down. Who doesn’t know that? But if I have to keep my cows off the north section—”
    Sarah placed the grocery bags on the counter and went back to the car to get the rest. When she returned, Kurt had hung up the phone.
    He plowed both of his hands through his hair, making it look as though he’d just gotten up from bed. “I don’t know what’s gotten into that man,” he muttered more to himself than to