Kissed by a Cowboy (6 page)

Olivia and Haley had planned
some elaborate birthday celebration. He thought they might've
invited the entire elementary school. They were calling it a
business expense
, planning
to do something with all the ice cream they'd made over the last
few weeks.

Maddox had never seen so much of the sweet
treat in his life. Olivia had been furiously mixing up batches,
trying out new flavors with her old personal-sized ice cream maker,
and hand-packing quart after quart in cardboard containers.

She'd even appropriated a deep freezer from a
neighbor who wasn't using it any more. She already had that sucker
half-full.

On one of his at-home breaks, he'd sat down
with Olivia and talked about the three books her school had
assigned as suggested summer reading. He'd asked about her friends,
expecting her to duck his question. Instead, she'd chatted with him
for almost an hour. Opened up to him, and all it had taken was him
asking.

Haley had been at the house two Saturdays in
a row, according to Justin. Maddox had been out with the crew both
times.

During those long rides on the combine, he'd
imagined his brother spending time with Haley. Justin had been
known for his charming ways on the rodeo circuit. Unfortunately,
thinking about the two together made Maddox need to pop an antacid.
And he knew why.

Haley was special. Maddox had known it when
she was seventeen, and he knew it now.

Knowing he was going to see her again today
had him antsy and uncomfortable. And he had no business thinking
about her like he was. He was barely keeping the farm afloat.
Barely avoiding the creditors calling about the overdue medical
bills.

Where he'd given up on his dreams, Haley had
a fancy degree and no doubt fancy friends in the city. She even
cooked fancy.

Even if he did find the guts to pursue her,
what would she want with a farmer like him?

She was too good for him. The smartest thing
to do would be to forget about her.

But Justin had seemed more grounded after her
visits. Less stuck inside his own head. Maddox couldn't help
wondering what passed between them.

He turned into the drive to see five farm
trucks already parked in a snaking line.

"What the—?" He guided his truck around the
outside, half-driving in the ditch so he could get to the
house.

He would have sworn Olivia had told him the
party would begin in the afternoon.

He parked his truck on the side of the barn,
since apparently they were going to need most of the yard for
guests.

"Mad, you're here!" Ryan's voice rang out,
quickly followed by Olivia's, "Uncle Maddox!"

He braced one hand on his truck and caught
Olivia with the other arm when she launched at him. She rubbed her
face against his chest. "You made it!"

"I promised, didn't I?"

When she moved back, squealing with
excitement, her face was shining. He was stiff and exhausted from
driving most of the night, but it was worth it.

When she ran off, he looked up to see Haley
standing right there, her eyes showing her surprise.

"Didn't think I'd make it, huh?" he
asked.

"I'm glad you did." She seemed sincere, and
his heart thumped once hard beneath his breastbone.

She led him to a picnic table that hadn't
been in the yard before, beneath a tree that would shade him from
some of the hot June sun. "Where'd this come from?" he asked.

"Neighbors," she answered. "Borrowed
them."

That's when he saw there were ten tables
arranged in a horseshoe.

And the yard had been mowed. "Who mowed?"

"Your brother." She nodded toward the row of
trucks, where not only was Justin outdoors, he was leaning on his
crutch, talking to old man Simpson. The grocer had been a friend of
their mom's and Maddox guessed he had delivered one of the picnic
tables.

It was the first time Maddox had seen Justin
willingly engage with someone outside their family circle since his
fall.

Haley was still talking. "He
said, and I quote,
'I can drag along behind
the push-mower just as well as I can drag behind my
crutch.'
"

He could imagine his brother saying that.
Somehow, Haley had gotten him to mow the yard. He hated to think
how, but the image of the two flirting with each other came
unwelcome into his mind.

"I'm so glad you're here," Haley said,
interrupting his thoughts. "I need your help. Have a seat."

In the next few minutes, Haley showed him how
she wanted him to slice about thirty watermelons. It seemed like
they were planning for a horde—he hoped Haley and Olivia weren't
disappointed.

Haley tilted her head to the side, looking at
him for a long moment. "You good?" Haley asked.

"Fine."

He didn't like the hot knot that had settled
behind his sternum, thinking about her and Justin together. As he
watched under the guise of cutting into one of the melons, she got
some kind of magazine out of her aunt's truck. Haley marched up to
his brother and slapped the book into his stomach.

His brother hugged her briefly around the
shoulders, like he would've hugged Katie or their mom, and just
kept on talking.

"They're just friends," Ryan said, voice low.
Maddox hadn't heard him walk up.

He clapped a hand on Maddox's shoulder. "At
first, I thought the same thing you were thinking, but she doesn't
look at him the way she looks at you."

Maddox's stomach swooped at that thought.
He'd been half in love with Haley when he'd known her as Katie's
friend—and the woman she was now affected him just as
powerfully.

Ryan had been checking on Justin and Olivia
on the weekends Maddox had to be gone, so he must have known what
he was talking about.

But it didn't make Maddox feel that much
better.

Haley dashed by his table a little later and
left a sampler plate of the ice cream. This had been their plan all
along. Invite people for free ice cream.

He grabbed Olivia when she tried to skip by.
After he'd complimented her on the ice cream, which was delicious,
he asked. "How much is this costing?"

"Haley says you have to spend money to make
money."

He just hoped they weren't spending too
much.

He'd barely gotten started slicing the
watermelons when cars began arriving. He smiled and greeted
Olivia's guests, shocked at how many came. And kept coming. They
seemed to arrive by the van-load. A lot of people he knew from
church but hardly greeted on Sundays. People he'd gone to high
school with that now had children in elementary school.

Olivia and Haley were in their element,
whirling through the crowd, dispensing ice cream and chatting with
everyone. He'd never seen either of them like this before. Haley
had always been so shy. Apparently, she'd overcome that. And
Olivia...watching Olivia was like seeing Katie alive again. It made
his heart thump painfully.

Just a month before, his niece had been a sad
little girl, defensive and lonely. Then she met Haley, and
everything changed. Haley seemed to be exactly what Olivia needed.
His little girl was blooming with Haley around. But how long was
she going to stay?

#

Haley
couldn't believe it. When Maddox had promised to be there, she'd
envisioned comforting a very disappointed Olivia. Instead, Maddox
had driven all night to be at Livy's party.

Her own father would never have done
something like that.

She couldn't help it that her gaze kept
straying to him during the hot afternoon. She saw plenty of folks
greet him, many slapping him on the shoulder while he shook their
hand.

She also saw the lines of stress around his
mouth. But she didn't know why. Was it the money? Trying to run the
farm while he supported Justin and Livy?

She'd barely seen him since their dinner
together, but Livy had told her all about how they'd spent extra
time together recently. The way Olivia talked about him, it was
obvious the girl thought he hung the moon. And Justin had a
grudging respect for him, even through his pain and depression.

Haley's high school crush had never
completely gone away—and now it was back with a vengeance. She'd
buried it under her busyness and college life. And that doomed
relationship with Paul. Paul, who'd always made her feel like she
wasn't good enough for him.

Watching Maddox now, she could see that he
was still the same popular jock, but beneath that hard exterior
lurked something darker. And she couldn't help wondering what it
was.

By midafternoon, Haley needed a break. She'd
been on her feet since this morning. She spotted a chance and
plopped down on the bench beside Maddox, bumping his shoulder with
hers. "Hey."

"Hey," he responded.

The top of the picnic table was covered with
sticky juice from the watermelons and Haley was careful to keep
clear of it.

Olivia showed no signs of fading. She spun
from one person to the next, bubbly and grinning.

The little girl had been keeping count of the
number of samples they'd handed out. They'd come up with the idea
of purchasing small disposable condiment bowls and scooping samples
into them. Each partygoer got a sampler plate, so they could try
several different flavors.

And they'd printed quarter-sheet flyers
listing the flavors and ordering instructions, which they'd handed
out with each sample.

The response had been wonderful. People had
marveled at all Livy had done, at the wonderful ice cream, and at
the girl's ingenuity. Haley couldn't have been more pleased.

"She seems happy," Maddox said, voice low.
"And I can't believe Justin was out here for awhile. What did you
give him earlier?"

"Hmm?" She was so tired, she couldn't think
straight.

"Earlier, I watched you hand him something.
Looked like a magazine or—"

"College catalog. I've almost convinced him
to enroll for the fall."

Maddox shifted to look into her face. "You're
kidding."

He didn't seem particularly happy about it.
The lines around his mouth had tightened even more.

"Hey, Katie's friend!" The voice came from a
little cluster of folks near the back porch, and then a woman
walked up to their table, waving off one of the last slices of
watermelon that Maddox tried to slide across to her.

Haley froze, then forced a
smile to her face. She recognized the woman from high school but
couldn't remember her name, either. She shouldn't have been
surprised to be called, "Katie's friend," even after all these
years. Apparently, Haley would always be the
tag-along
in this town.

"Can I buy a quart today?" the woman
asked.

"We hadn't planned to sell any until next
week."

Maddox snorted. "Olivia's been running that
machine night and day. I bet I could find a quart for you to take
home. How much are you willing to pay for it?"

"You gonna auction off some ice cream, Mad
Dog?" a man Haley didn't know asked, wandering closer from the
crowd around the porch.

Maddox looked at Haley, something brewing
behind his eyes.

He stood up, using the table for leverage,
then bellowed, "Livy!"

The girl darted out of the crowd, beaming and
wearing the apron Haley had made her.

She approached, and Maddox whispered
something to her. She squealed and ran off to the kitchen.

While she was gone, Maddox started clearing
off the picnic table. Haley helped, but when she asked what he was
up to, he half-grinned and said nothing.

A few minutes later, Livy climbed on top of
the picnic table, and Haley realized what Maddox and Livy had
planned. They were auctioning off five quarts of the gourmet ice
cream. Immediately, a crowd gathered around.

Olivia's eyes were shining, but Maddox looked
slightly pained.

Maddox started, "Okay, we've got—" Olivia
murmured something to him—"Chocolate covered strawberries, folks.
Who'll give me fifteen bucks for this quart?"

It had been one of the most popular flavors
of the day, and Haley wasn't surprised to see several hands go
up.

Maddox got the bid up to thirty before his
voice boomed, "Sold, to the gal in the yellow shirt." Within a few
minutes, the rest of the quarts were auctioned and, with some
cheesing up to the audience and Olivia chipping in about the
ingredients she'd put into each different ice cream, sold for top
dollar.

Handing out the prized ice cream, Olivia was
bouncing with joy.

Haley watched from the edge of the yard,
swelling with pride for Livy. All the work they'd put into this
event had been worth it. And when Maddox's eyes met hers, that
pride was replaced with something entirely different.

#

The party
was winding down when Haley brought Maddox a bottle of water. He'd
been sitting at the same table, though finally, he'd been left
alone for a little while. He grabbed the water, twisted off the
cap, and downed it. "Thanks."

"You looked thirsty."

He was wiping his mouth with his sleeve when
Rob Shepherd, one of the loan officers from the bank, moseyed
by.

"Got a neat little operation here," the man
said. "I hope it pays off for you."

"It's all Livy," Haley said, sliding onto the
bench beside him. Thank God she hadn't caught the man's
undertones.

"Place is looking good, Michaels," he said.
"I heard the medical bills might keep you from putting in that
irrigation system you were talking about last winter."

Maddox could only imagine who he'd heard that
from. Small-town gossip.

"Not this year," Maddox said, gritting a
smile out.

The other man lifted one foot onto the bench
opposite theirs and shot the breeze for another few minutes before
moseying off.