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toward the barn.”
    J.D. leaped from the table to the counter, where he picked up a walkie-talkie. “Good job. I’ll meet you halfway. Give me your location.”
    When he finished the communication, he turned to Madge. “I’ve got to go.”
    “I’ll wrap up the rest of your sandwich,” Madge said. She moved to the counter with his plate and began doing so. J.D. grabbed his sheepskin-lined jacket and shrugged into it.
    “Don’t you have a scarf to go around your neck?” Rachel asked.
    “A scarf? What do you think I am, a sissy?” J.D. asked as he buttoned up his coat. Then he took the wrapped sandwich from Madge, kissed her cheek and slammed his hat on his head before heading outside into the cold air.
    After a moment of silence, Rachel shivered again. “I can’t believe it’s March and this cold.”
    “Sometimes we have a warm March. You just never know. Have you finished eating?”
    Rachel shrugged her shoulders. “I guess so. I don’t have any room left. But if you’ll wrap up my sandwich, I’ll have it for dinner. It’s delicious.”
    “Thanks, honey. Ready to go back to bed? I think a nap would be a good thing.”
    “I think you’re right,” Rachel agreed.
     
    T HE NEXT MORNING , Rachel woke up around nine. She knew Madge would’ve been up for hours, hard at work. Feeling guilty, Rachel slid from bed and went to the bathroom without disturbing the woman.
    When she came back to her bedroom, she found Madge waiting, a tray in her hands.
    “How did you know I was up?” Rachel asked in surprise.
    “I heard you. Slip back into bed and eat your breakfast.”
    She did as Madge ordered, scanning the tray as it was put in her lap. “Mmm, hot chocolate. And scrambled eggs. This looks so good, Madge.”
    “Good. Clean your plate,” Madge ordered with a smile.
    “Did J.D. get off all right?”
    Madge looked surprised. “Lands, yes, child. He was out of here by six-thirty.”
    “Oh, yes, I remember. He’s an early riser.”
    “A rancher has to be. I’ll be back in a few minutes to get your tray.”
    Rachel snuggled down under the covers and sipped the chocolate drink, feeling guilty that she had such warmth and comfort while J.D. was outside in the raw wind that buffeted the house.
    When she finished her breakfast, she slipped out of bed again and carried her tray to the kitchen.
    “Land’s sake, Rachel. I would have come to get it. That’s too much for you to do.”
    She shook her head at the housekeeper. Withgraying-brown hair, Madge looked to be about sixty, but she was fit and strong and had boundless energy.
    “Oh, Madge, I’ve done so little, and you’ve cared for me. And I am getting stronger. Is there anything I can do to help?”
    “No, no, child, you get back in bed where you’ll be warm. Maybe you should do a crossword puzzle out of that book I bought you. It will keep your brain working.”
    Rachel agreed and went back to her room. But she felt locked out, like a child looking through the window of a candy shop. Everyone here on the ranch was so busy, so…involved. Even when she was working, she was still uninvolved, just standing there in a certain pose, not doing something productive.
    But she supposed she’d cause more trouble than she would help if she insisted now. She was still weak. Instead, she started working on the crossword puzzles, with the television playing in the background.
    When the words “snow, possibly heavy” caught her attention, she looked up at the TV. Raptly she listened as the meteorologist predicted that due to temperatures much lower than originally forecast, there was the possibility of at least six inches of snow.
    Rachel scrambled from her bed and went into the kitchen. “Madge, the weather report has changed. It’s going to be colder and there will be snow!”
    “What?” Madge asked. She immediately turned on the small television she kept in the kitchen. As soon as she confirmed the forecast, she picked up the walkie-talkie. “J.D., this