Free Montana Hearts by Darlene Panzera Page B

kids.”
    â€œSo do I,” Sammy Jo admitted. “It brings back the fun memories we used to have decorating our horses for shows.”
    â€œMaybe Meghan will be in a horse show one day,” Delaney said, smiling. “She’s already riding my grandma’s miniature pony, Party Marty, on short rides to and from the garden. Of course I’m right with her the whole time.” Then Del gave her a wink, leaned toward her, and whispered, “So what’s up? I could tell by your text that you had something important you wanted to talk about.”
    Sammy Jo laughed. Of course Del had seen right through her invite and sensed an underlying purpose. Delaney Collins had always been intuitive that way.
    â€œOkay,” she told her friend. “I made a deal with Luke and he’s agreed to give the rehab horse a try.”
    â€œI heard all about it yesterday,” Del said, and rolled her eyes. “At breakfast, lunch, and dinner.”
    Sammy Jo hesitated. “So . . . he’s thinking about it. Okay, mental preparation is good. But the question is . . . what can I do to make the experience easier on him?”
    Delaney sat Meghan on top of a large wooden barrel and let one of the older girls braid pink ribbons into her daughter’s hair. Then Del said, “Luke doesn’t like being told what to do. Maybe when you’re giving instructions, word it so he thinks he’s figuring it out on his own.”
    â€œGood advice,” Sammy Jo agreed, and then let out a sigh. “You think he’d like me better if I wasn’t so aggressive?”
    â€œA woman has to be aggressive to get anywhere with Luke these days,” Del encouraged. “But it’ll take time for his head to make the mental shift required to switch you from the role of friend to fiancée.”
    â€œI know ,” Sammy Jo crooned. “I’ve been trying to learn how to cook, bake, clean, mend clothes, can vegetables. What else do you think I could do to prepare to become domesticated?”
    Delaney laughed until tears formed at the corners of her eyes. “Sammy Jo, no offense, but I don’t think you’re meant to be that kind of housewife. And Luke wouldn’t want you that way either.”
    Sammy Jo bit her lip. “Are you sure? I could have your grandma teach me to make her homemade marshmallows . . .”
    â€œHer marshmallows are the best,” Del said, “and it might be a good idea to learn how to make them, but you know what my grandma would say?”
    Sammy nodded. “ ‘The way to a man’s heart is to be yourself.’ But what if being myself isn’t good enough?”
    At first Delaney didn’t answer and her face took on a haunted look. Then she confided in a soft voice, “I asked myself that question every day for several months after Steve and I divorced. Then I realized if he couldn’t appreciate who I was, I was better off without him.”
    Sammy Jo’s throat grew uncomfortably tight as she thought of life without Luke. While he was away, her days had been filled with activity but none of it made sense . . . until his return. It was their shared enthusiasm that brought everyday conversations to life. Their challenges and dares that changed common tasks into an adventure. And their awareness of each other’s emotional “triggers” that turned ordinary moments into something breathlessly profound.
    Smiling, she realized she’d been wrong to let her mind disperse doubt. Because in her heart she just knew she and Luke were meant to be together. The same way she looked at these horse-­crazy, fun-­loving, enthusiastic young girls and knew she wanted children of her own someday.
    Luke had to feel the way she did.
    L UKE LOOKED AT the dark chestnut quarter horse Sammy Jo had brought over to his family’s guest ranch in her horse trailer.
    â€œHe doesn’t even