Montana Hearts. Charlotte Carter

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      “Vhat’s dat kid doing?” Dr. Zoom asked in a fake German accent.

      “He’s watching TV,” she responded.

      “Vaste of time, I say.”

      Toby remained glued to the TV show, not so much as looking over his shoulder to find out who was in the room.

      “Well, what should we do?”

      Dr. Zoom looked up at her, his long nose quivering. “Ve could drop a bomb on the boy?”

      “No. That wouldn’t be very nice.” Sarah wasn’t at all sure Toby would even react to a ton of TNT going off.

      “Hee hee hee. KABOOM!”

      Very slowly, Toby turned his head and frowned.

      “What’a’ya doing?”

      “Is the boy alive? Let me listen to his heart.”

      Sarah manipulated Zoom’s stethoscope to the middle of his own chest.

      “Oh, no. I hear nothing. Nothing! The boy is—”

      “You’re trying to listen to your own heart and you don’t have one,” Sarah pointed out.

      She definitely had Toby’s attention now. His glassy, hypnotized look had been replaced by a note of interest.

      “Vhat? No heart? Vhy don’t I have a heart?”

      “Because you’re a dummy.”

      Dr. Zoom twisted his head around to look at Sarah.

      “It’s not nice to call people names.”

      “I’m not. You really are—”

      “Don’t say that.”

      “But you—”

      The quick exchange between Sarah and Dr. Zoom started Toby laughing. He shifted his position to watch her, the violent TV show forgotten.

      “Way cool. How do you do that?” he asked.

      “Do what?” she asked innocently.

      “Make the dummy talk.”

      “You mean ventriloquism?”

      “Now see vhat you’ve done?” Dr. Zoom shook his finger in Sarah’s direction. “Tell him it isn’t so. I’m not a—you know—vone of dose.”

      “Yeah, you are,” Toby insisted.

      “Is zat what you think? Huh. I vill show you. You know vhat you get when you cross a pair of trousers with dictionary? Huh, you know vhat?”

      “Naw, I don’t know. What?”

      Dr. Zoom did a little hop on Sarah’s thigh. “You get a smarty-pants, that’s vhat. A smarty-pants like you, huh?”

      Toby’s giggle was infectious, and he had a wicked, little-boy gleam in his eyes. “Hey, Sarah, can you teach me how to do that?”

      “But of course, young man. I am the greatest teacher in the world.”

      “What’s she going to teach you, son?”

      They both looked up at the sound of Kurt’s voice.

      “Sarah’s a ventriloquist, Dad. It’s really cool. Her lips don’t move at all. An’ she’s gonna teach me.”

      Just like his son, Kurt cocked his head to the side. “Ventriloquist?”

      Her face flushed and she shrugged. “A little hobby I have.”

      “Really? I used to love stuff like that when I was a kid.” He sat down cross-legged opposite her, his grin as eager as Toby’s. “Show me.”

      Dr. Zoom proceeded to conduct a ridiculous conversation with Kurt about being a bowlegged cowboy. Kurt laughed and so did his son, the cares and battles of the day forgotten.

      Sarah hoped her botched dinner would be as quickly forgotten.

      Toby made an effort to speak without moving his lips, which left the words unintelligible. “Hey, I don’t get it.”

      “If you really want to learn, let’s start with some easy exercises. There are lots of sounds you already make without moving your lips.”

      “Like neighing like a horse?” Kurt asked.

      The realization that Kurt was interested, too, gave Sarah’s heart a little jolt. She couldn’t help reacting to the mirthful twinkle in his golden-brown eyes. Her mouth felt dry and she had to lick her lips. “It’ll be easier if we start with the vowel sounds, A, E, I, O, U. Try making those sounds without moving your lips.”

      Toby gave it try, slipping only on the O and U sounds. Kurt repeated the exercise with the same level of success.

      She grinned. “I can see you’re both going to be great students. You practice and we’ll work on lesson two after you feel comfortable with those sounds.”

      Later in the guest room, she sat down and opened her laptop. First she sent an email to Tricia Malone, who was handling her business in Seattle while she was gone. Without providing any details, she explained she’d be staying in Sweet Grass Valley for the summer and promised to call her soon.

      Then she ordered a couple pairs of jeans, casual tops and some sturdy shoes online. Her city clothes weren’t at all suitable for the rough wear and tear of ranch living.

      That task accomplished, Sarah slipped between the crisp sheets on the bed and picked up her Bible-study book as she did every evening. Tonight’s passage was from Colossians 3:12. “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.” (NIV)

      Sarah would certainly need patience with Beth, compassion with Kurt, who was still grieving, and gentleness with Toby. She prayed she would be up to the task the Lord had given her.

      And do no harm, she warned herself as her eyes closed and the book slipped from her fingers.

      The following morning, Kurt recruited Toby to help him move the mother herd to the north section to graze on the fresh grass. Beth, who could handle cattle well enough when she wanted to, claimed a headache. He didn’t press the issue.

      “Come on, Ellie Mae. Let’s keep the girls moving.”

      Speaking in a calm, easy voice, Kurt reined his horse Pepper closer to the lead cow and her young calf, who had slowed their pace. His approach caused Ellie Mae to accelerate to her previous speed, and the rest of the mother herd followed suit, their calves trotting along beside them.

      “That’s my girl,” Kurt murmured. “You remember how sweet the grass is in the north section, don’t you?”

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