Dancing in the Moonlight - Harlequin.com

RAEANNE THAYNE
35
“I will be careful, Mama, I promise. But I’m going
to help you.”
Viviana studied her for a long moment while honeybees
buzzed through the flowers and the breeze ruffled
the pale new leaves on the trees, then she sighed.
“You are so much like your father,” she said in
Spanish, shaking her head. “I never could win an
argument with him, either.”
Maggie wasn’t sure why she was suddenly filled
with elation at the idea of hard, physical labor. She
should be consumed with fear, with trepidation that she
wouldn’t be able to handle the work. Instead, anticipation
coursed through her.
She meant her words to her mother—she needed
something to do, and pitting herself against the relentless
work always waiting to be tackled on a small ranch
like the Luna seemed just the thing to drag her off her
self-pitying butt.
“No wonder the kid’s not sleeping.” Jake finished his
quick exam and let his three-year-old nephew off the
breakfast bar of the sunny, cheerful Cold Creek kitchen.
Glad to be done, Cody raced off without even waiting
for a lollipop from his uncle.
“What’s the verdict?” his sister-in-law, Caroline,
asked, her lovely, normally serene features worried.
“Ear infection. Looks like a mild one but still
probably enough to cause discomfort in the night. I’ll
write you a prescription for amoxicillin and that should
take care of it.”
“Thank you for coming out to the ranch on such