Free Cowgirl Come Home by Debra Salonen - Big Sky Mavericks 03 - Cowgirl Come Home Page A

patrons who, like Margaret Houghton, the Head Librarian who hired Louise many, many years ago, preferred things to remain the same.
    They never do, she thought, stopping the cart beside the first bookcase.
    She’d barely finished shelving two books when Taylor Harris, the assistant librarian everyone knew had been hired to replace Margaret, stopped beside the cart.
    Taylor, who haled from Missoula, was twenty-six, ambitious and definitely positioned to move Marietta into the twenty-first century.
    “Hi, Louise. Got a minute?”
    Define a minute. With Taylor, whose enthusiasm often carried her off in several different directions, time became a relative thing.
    “Sure.”
    Louise nudged the cart to one side and walked to the main counter. The library was quiet today. Margaret was in her office with the door closed, probably giving hell to someone who was urging her to step down sooner rather than later. “What’s up?”
    “The Marietta Friends of the Library is planning to set up a booth at the fair and they’d like us to do a couple of readings. You’ll cover the kid stories…something tied into the fair, I presume. And I’ll read something for the grown-ups. Maybe Zane Grey. What do you think?”
    Louise consulted the large, business-type calendar on her desk before answering. She’d blocked off the dates of the Fair, August six through the nineteenth, in yellow.
    Will I be well enough by then to attend?
    She’d done her best to block any thought of her own health issues until Bailey got here. Now, Louise’s fear consumed her every waking thought. Even her dreams were tortured by crazy images of horses running loose in the house, obnoxious tow truck drivers allowing her to get behind the wheel of a giant truck…then criticizing her for driving all over the road. She didn’t know what the dreams meant but she’d awaken more exhausted than if she’d spent the night listening to her baby daughter’s every breath.
    “That sounds like a great idea, Taylor. I’m not the only storyteller around, though. We could make a round-robin list. You know like a ReadaThon.”
    “Ooh,” Taylor said, a glimmer of excitement in her eyes. “What a great idea!”
    Louise liked her soon-to-be new boss a lot and admired her foresight, energy and political pragmatism—something Louise lacked. Louise hated having to beg for the crumbs to supplement their operating budget. Taylor Harris simply shrugged and found a way around the bureaucratic loggerhead.
    “By the way, I bumped into Troy, and he told me he met your daughter. I didn’t know she was an artist and craftsperson as well as being a top rodeo rider. I can’t wait to meet her.”
    As a rule, Louise didn’t talk about her family. Even Margaret who signed her paychecks didn’t know how sick Oscar was until Louise used up the last of her vacation days taking him to the doctor.
    Maybe Bailey was right and she’d done herself—and her friends—a disservice by not reaching out to let them help.
    She opened the bottom drawer of her desk and pulled out the tooled leather purse Bailey sent her for Christmas. The medium brown tone made the perfect backdrop for the turquoise beads and narrow white quills Bailey had worked into a sunburst design. “She made this for me. Beautiful, isn’t it?”
    “Wow. That’s fabulous. Does she have more?”
    Louise shrugged. “I don’t know how much stock she has with her—she just arrived from California, but she’s talking about hiring some helpers to flesh out her inventory.”
    “Really?”
    Taylor dashed to the community bulletin board near the library’s main door. She returned a second later waving a flier. “I spotted this a few days ago. She should call the woman in charge.”
    The flier read: Calling all Crafters. First meeting Tuesday night. Basement St. James.” Louise didn’t recognize either of the contact names.
    “Thank you, Taylor. I can’t wait to show Bailey.”
    Louise knew the best way to keep Bailey in