Harvest Moon - By Robyn Carr Page 0,46

to the trail that led between fenced pastures and seemed to stretch all the way into the hills, and down that trail blazed a beautiful chestnut-colored horse with a blond mane and tail. And upon this horse, a beautiful boy. Man, for sure. He was lowered in the saddle while the horse charged at what appeared lightning speed.

Then the man rose upright and pulled back on the reins to slow the horse. The horse pranced a bit, turning sideways, then fell into a nice trot right into the stable doors. And the strong athletic young man leaped off, hanging on to the reins. He was also Native American, his cheekbones high, his skin beautifully tan, a long black braid down his back and his teeth so shockingly white that when he smiled Courtney almost wet her pants.

She knew her eyes were wide and hoped she wasn’t drooling.

“My stepson, Gabe,” Lilly said. “Gabe, meet Courtney. She’s considering trying out riding—a brand-new adventure for her.”

“Cool,” he said. Then he looked at Lilly. “I’d get this horse a jockey and trainer, no kidding. He’s unbelievable.” Then he turned and led the horse away.

Courtney whirled away from Lilly and Blue and walked over to where Lief waited by the front barn doors. “I’m going to need boots,” she said.

Eight

When Kelly pulled Jill’s truck up to the Victorian’s back porch, she saw her sister sitting in one of the chairs, all dirty and sweaty from a day in the gardens, tipping back a bottle of water. Kelly gave her a wave and began unloading from the back. She had boxes of fruit from the farmers’ market, bags of tomatoes, onions and peppers from the roadside stand, several different jars of all-natural salsa, relish, sauces and jellies from the co-op, supplies from the grocery.

Jillian picked through one of the bags Kelly dropped on the porch beside her. She pulled out a jar of sweet relish. “Interesting shopping trip,” she remarked.

“You have some late peppers coming in, don’t you?” Kelly asked.

“Yep. Some very pretty, dark red, cherry sweet peppers like Nana used to grow. Yellow sweet Cubanelle, some miniature yellow bells, and pimiento that’s just so sweet and nice you’ll want to eat them like apples.”

“Any jalapeños?”

Jill shrugged. “Not so many hot peppers, but a few. Why?”

“I thought I’d do some preserves, jellies and some of Nana’s relish. With the peaches, how about some chutney?”

“Wonderful,” Jill agreed.

“With the way I’ve taken over your kitchen, I hope you and Colin don’t wake up one morning with the itch to chase each other around naked all day.”

Jillian laughed. “Denny and the UPS guy should get a big kick out of that, not to mention all the other people who feel comfortable just dropping by, like Colin’s brother and sister-in-law.”

“I might have found a job. Sort of.”

“Here?” Jill said loudly, hopefully, sitting straighter in her chair. “Here?”

“Maybe.”

“What kind of job?” Jill asked excitedly. Kelly dug around in one of her bags and produced a jar of Laura’s Pepper Jelly. Jillian took it from her and studied it. “She gave you a job?”

Kelly shook her head. “I bought some of her jelly at the farmers’ market. She makes it in her home kitchen and sells it at the market. It’s her specialty and it’s wonderful. And I got to thinking—I love working in a one-woman kitchen, I have tons of wonderful recipes that were Nana’s, and there are lots of places besides the farmers’ market that might be interested in my goods.”

“Can you just do that? Just make it and sell it?”

“Permits are necessary, but remember—I helped run a very large restaurant kitchen. I know the ropes—I just have to find out what the county requirements are.”

“Oh, my God! You could stay!” Jill nearly shouted.

“Okay, don’t get too excited—I’ve been looking for something to do to justify my existence while I think about what to do next and this might be it. I’m not talking about anything permanent, but something to help me pay the rent.”

“Kelly, you will never pay rent here. You’re my sister!”

“Yeah, well, I appreciate the sentiment as much as your love and loyalty, but I really hate feeling like the poor relation. I want to pay rent—it’s important to me. You must understand that.”

“Maybe later,” Jill said. “You have to let me give this to you for at least a little while. You’d do this for me if I needed you to. Concentrate on this project for now—we’ll talk rent later. I’ll start harvesting peppers for you