Small-Town Moms: A Dry Creek Family / A Mother for Mule Hollow

Maegan Shay couldn't believe she'd started talking to the teddy bear. She'd been on the road for three days and her anxiety was building. If Smokey the stuffed animal hadn't been there, she'd be talking to the little brass button on her steering wheel by now. She should have waited until she arrived in Dry Creek, Montana, to make the call to the Parker family, but her first worry had been that everyone would be away from their ranch when she got to the small town. So, before she left Chicago, she phoned and told Clint Parker that she was coming to meet her nine-year-old niece. That had been a mistake.

"He can't stop me from seeing Lilly," she turned to remind Smokey as he sat in the passenger seat of her car. She was supposed to meet her niece for the very first time when she arrived in Dry Creek. She'd already told the bear the whole story, especially the part about how the girl's uncle, Clint, had barely let her explain why she was calling before he accused her of trying to take advantage of the young girl.

"Since when is a woman in search of her family taking advantage of anyone?" she asked the bear. "If he only knew how many hours—make that years—I've worked to find them."

Smokey didn't answer her question, but his black button eyes did look sympathetic. He wore a sequin studded pair of suspenders and corduroy pants. She'd bought him for her niece at a gas station outside of Grand Forks when it suddenly occurred to her that Lilly might not take to strangers. Maegan hadn't at her age. Some days she still didn't, although at the age of thirty-two she could usually hide her distrust better than someone Lilly's age.

So, the bear was going to be her goodwill offering to her young niece and, by extension, to the man who appeared to be raising her. She wished she didn't feel the need for a present. She usually had more confidence. She should be a match for a rancher like Clint Parker, even i