Beneath Montana Skies

“He thinks we’re a bunch of uneducated hicks,” Ty muttered in unbridled disgust. “Just ’cause you’ve got graphs and stuff on a fancy laptop don’t mean that what you’re planning to do is okay. Anyone with half a brain can see that what they’re proposing is gonna destroy everything within thirty miles of that installation.”

Stunned by his quick—and very accurate—assessment, she stared at him in disbelief. “You really think that?”

“I’m not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but I know a song and dance when I see one. The front office executives sent this guy to pull the wool over our eyes, but I got news for him. We ain’t sheep.”

“All right, folks,” the mayor announced, rubbing his hands together in anticipation. “What do we think?”

That was a mistake, Morgan thought wryly, as the general hum of comments escalated into a chaotic mess. After waiting a couple of minutes for the hubbub to die down, Kevin apparently decided it wasn’t going to happen anytime soon. Pleading for cooperation, he managed to regain control of the restless crowd and plucked his microphone from its stand. Handing it off to the town clerk, he said, “Polly, take this around to people who’ve got something to say. That way, we can all hear what’s going on for ourselves.”

“My place isn’t big, but it’s up near the ridge,” one elderly man said, “and they’re offering us triple what it was assessed for last fall. My wife and I are barely scraping by on our fixed income, and we can’t hardly afford the taxes anymore. We’ve got no choice but to sell.”

Unable to sit still any longer, Morgan jumped to her feet. “Anyone who’s got land to sell, the Mustang Ridge Conservancy is interested in buying. We don’t have the kind of money Cartwright does, but we’ll work with you to find an arrangement that suits all of us. We can’t just let them stroll through here and destroy anything that’s in the way of profits that may or may not be buried under our land.”

Her offer got everyone buzzing again, and Kevin had a tough time getting the meeting back under control. Several people voiced their support of the conservancy, while others scoffed at it as a waste of time and effort.

“Standing in the way of progress is pointless,” one woman insisted. “If it doesn’t happen now, sometime in the future it will.”

“Not while I’m around and still breathing,” Dad assured her in his booming, listen-to-me voice as he got to his feet beside Morgan. “My family dug our homestead outta the dirt with their bare hands back in 1882, and we’ve got no intention of letting it go now. Or ever.”

Many sitting around them voiced their agreement, and the public debate got sidetracked into a multitude of conversations between friends and neighbors over what to do and the best way to go about getting it done.

In the middle of it all, Ty leaned in close and said, “Way to go, cowgirl.”

When she looked at him, he grinned and gave her the same wink he’d used when they were kids planning some kind of mischief. And for the first time since he’d so unexpectedly strolled back into her life, she felt herself wanting to smile back. But that would only encourage him, so she stemmed the impulse and returned her attention to the meeting. There was the expected back-and-forth, and at the end the only thing that had changed was that they were all an hour older.

She was by nature a decisive person, so the hemming and hawing grated on her nerves. Her father, on the other hand, seemed to take it all in stride, even hanging back to chat with people when the official gathering had been called to a close. Long past the end of her patience already, she opted to scoot out a side door and wait for him outside.

To her annoyance, Ty trailed after her. He didn’t say anything, but just having him next to her was both a distraction and an annoyance. He’d picked up a new cologne, she noticed even though she was supposed to be beyond registering that kind of thing about the man she’d come to think of as the runaway cowboy. The scent had a campfire, leathery quality to it, and she grudgingly admitted that it suited him well.

But there was no way she was telling him that. Instead, she folded her arms and scowled up at him. “What do you want?”

He grinned back, and she braced herself for what was coming next. In a million years, she never could have predicted what she heard.

“Y’know, I always did admire your spunk.” Leaning back against the tree behind him, he went on. “I also admire the way you have with animals. Instinctive, like you know what they’re thinking. Whether it’s training a new horse or herding calves, you’re always a step or two ahead of ’em so you can head ’em off before they get into trouble.”

“That’s all well and good, but what does any of that have to do with the meeting?”

“And then there’s that laser focus of yours,” he added with a chuckle. “The thing is, when your eyes are on the prize, sometimes you miss things that are fanned out to the sides.”

“Such as?”

In answer, he pulled out his phone and scrolled down the contact list to the name he thought might interest her. He handed it over, and when she took in the name, her eyes widened as they met his. “You know Congressman Barlowe?”

“Turns out Craig’s a big rodeo fan. We’ve had dinner a few times, and he strikes me as a good guy who really cares about protecting Montana’s natural treasures. I think the conservancy would be something he’d want to know about.”

“I’ve written a dozen letters to him,” Morgan confided in a dejected tone very unlike the feisty cowgirl he used to know. “I always get a form response that basically says he’s a busy man with a lot to do, so we’ll have to get in line behind everyone else.”

“How many folks are in the group so far?” She hesitated, and he said, “Let me guess. You and JD.”

“And some others.” He gave her a nudging look, and she relented with a sigh. “Okay, there’s six of us so far. This energy company’s only been here a couple times, and most people don’t see any harm in them hand-drilling for soil and core samples. The trouble is, if they find something, the bulldozers and excavators will be here within a few weeks. Once they have permits and geological surveys that tell them where to start prospecting, it might be too late for us to stop them.”

Still the smartest kid in the room, he thought. “Sounds like you’ve done your homework.”

“You have no idea. This kind of thing goes on all the time, and in places where the residents don’t have the will or organization to put up some resistance, the big energy companies get what they want. I know the country needs to find more sources of oil and natural gas, but there must be better ways to do it.”

“I don’t doubt that, but it’ll take some really smart folks working together to make that happen.”

“That’s what the conservancy is all about. We just need more members.” After a pause, she frowned. “A lot more.”

He hated seeing her so dejected. He much preferred the in-your-face attitude she’d had earlier, even if it made him a target every once in a while. Fortunately, he held the key to lifting her spirits this time, and it felt great.

“You also need a bigwig who can help bring the right kind of attention to your cause.” Ty rocked his phone side to side. “Wanna meet your congressman?”

“Yes,” she replied without even a hint of trepidation. “You convince him to visit Mustang Ridge, and I’ll take it from there.”

He almost agreed, then realized there was a golden opportunity for him in this. It might be his only chance to mend fences with her, and he couldn’t let it slip by without at least giving it a shot. “Not so fast. Craig and I are friends, and he’ll be staying at my place while he’s here. I’m not just gonna make introductions and step away. I wanna be involved in the conservancy and what it’s trying to do.”

Those gorgeous blue eyes narrowed into glittering slits. “Why? You never cared about stuff like that before.”

“I do now. I want our daughters to grow up the way we did, in a wild place with plenty of fresh air and open space. Not choking on the pollution from a bunch o’ gas and oil rigs.”

He knew she wouldn’t accept his help on its own merit alone, but reminding her of one of her own reasons for doing this might persuade her to take him on despite their rocky history.

The front doors banged open, and several people flooded out, still arguing about what to do. JD was among them, and he detoured away from the group to join Morgan and Ty.

“Ready to go?” he asked his daughter.

Clearly thinking about what Ty had said, she hesitated and then nodded. “Yeah.” Connecting with Ty again, she gave him a wry grin that told him she wasn’t thrilled with his proposal but recognized that it made sense. “So, call your politician buddy and set up a visit. You and I can take him around and show him how beautiful this area is and let him see for himself why it’s worth saving.”

Thrilled with her approval of his plan—however reluctant it might be—he barely held back a triumphant whoop. Instead, he grinned and nodded. “Will do.”

“And you can stop being all grown-up,” she teased, the grin shifting to a slightly warmer version. “I know you’re dying to go all yee-hah on me.”

“Well, now, that’d be immature. I’ll wait till I’m in my truck.”

That got him a short laugh, and she walked away with JD, shaking her head. Ty watched her go, and for the first time in months, he felt as if things might finally be shifting to go his way.

What she’d given him wasn’t exactly the I forgive you that he was hoping for. But it was a start.

Chapter Four

“That drawing of Teddy looks great, Allie,” Morgan approved, patting her budding nature artist lightly on the shoulder. Her daughter still wasn’t fond of too much physical contact, but with the family exercising a lot of patience and gentle persistence, she was getting better at accepting it from people she knew well. Morgan hated forcing the gestures on her, but the occupational therapist had assured them that tolerating some tactile interaction was an important part of Allie learning how to function in the world outside her own home. And since the goal was to encourage her to be as independent as possible, they all kept doing it.

“Thank you,” her shy girl replied, adding a rare smile. “I think he had fun.”

As rewarding as the smile had been, her two-stage response made Morgan’s heart swell with pride. Bolstered by a fabulous teaching team in her special-needs classroom and plenty of good, old-fashioned prayer, Allie had come so far in the past year. While Morgan knew there was a lifetime of challenges ahead for her beautiful daughter, moments like this one gave her hope for the future.

And then, Allie surprised her again. Looking across the table at her twin, she said, “Hannah helped me with math. I get it now.”

Glancing up from her workbook, Hannah beamed. “That’s really nice, but you did the hard part. You’re way better at numbers than you think you are.”

Allie didn’t respond to that, but a faint dimple showed in her cheek as she fished around in the multicolored box of artist’s pencils and crayons Jessie had given her last Christmas. Morgan wanted to crush them both in a grateful Mom hug but out of respect for Allie, she settled for dropping a quick kiss on top of each curly ponytail. “When you girls are done, go up and brush your teeth and get into your jammies. Then we’ll cuddle in my room and watch your princess spy show until bedtime. Okay?”

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