Kissed by a Cowboy (8 page)

But if she'd loved him, why didn't she go
with him? He hadn't asked, but what had stopped her from suggesting
it?

She didn't know the answer to that
question.

And she didn't know what to do about
Maddox.

"Open your heart," Aunt Matilda said. "Don't
be afraid to fall in love again. Life's too short to miss your
second chances."

Coming from her aunt, the words were a
bittersweet reminder.

The doorbell rang.

"Expecting someone?" her aunt asked.

"No."

When she pulled open the front door, there
were Maddox and an effervescent Livy on the front stoop.

"What are you doing here?"

Livy's answer was a hug that Haley gratefully
accepted. A step behind, Maddox held up a hand-packed quart of ice
cream in each hand.

"New flavor, and we thought we'd better check
on you and Mrs. Matilda."

It was thoughtful...and unexpected.

"Can I take it in to Aunt Matilda?" Livy
asked, bouncing on her toes. Bubbling with energy, as usual.

Haley agreed. "Grab a spoon from the
kitchen," she called after the girl.

Maddox relinquished the carton to her and
trailed her into the kitchen. They passed Livy on her way to
Matilda's room.

Haley fished a pair of spoons out of the
silverware drawer and offered one to Maddox.

"I shouldn't," he said, but he took the spoon
anyway. "I had a taste at home already." He patted his stomach, and
she rolled her eyes.

"It would take more than a taste to fatten
you up. You work too hard."

A shadow flickered in his eyes, but he only
smiled.

"So what flavor do we have here?" Haley
dipped her spoon in what looked like a swirl of vanilla and
caramel, but was... "Pumpkin bread?" she asked in surprise after
the first bite.

"Yes, and it's addictive."

She sighed as she swallowed a few good bites.
"This was just what I needed today." Both the ice cream and the
visit.

"Glad we could oblige." His voice was a
rumble of laughter, and Livy's giggle from the bedroom was an echo
of the same.

He set the spoon down in the stainless steel
sink. "Do you want to come to a rodeo this weekend? Like a...
date?"

The tips of his ears had turned that
endearing red.

"I thought you were on the road again."

"The kid I'm splitting shifts with needed to
switch our days. I'll get back out there next week. Plus, I wanted
to spend a little more time with Livy. School will start soon."

Their eyes met, and she read his sincerity.
He was really trying with Livy.

He'd even changed his schedule.

Maybe he was figuring out that you never got
back that lost time.

And she realized she didn't want to lose any
time, either. No matter the risk.

She agreed in a whisper. "All right."

Chapter Six

Two days later, the realization that Matilda
didn't have much time left finally became real for Haley.

She curled in a ball on the living room sofa
and cuddled beneath one of Aunt Matilda's afghans, idly flipping
through a photo album. She had rarely seen her aunt during her
childhood, with her father moving the two of them around often.
Until her senior year of high school, when Aunt Matilda had asked
her to stay. They'd become close, almost as close as the mother
she'd missed for years. Even when Haley had gone to college and
made her life in Oklahoma City, they'd kept in touch with frequent
phone calls and Matilda's visits to the city.

Unlike Haley's father, who had grown more and
more distant. She might talk to him once every three months. At
Christmas. Aunt Matilda had become the parent Haley needed.

What was Haley going to do
without her? She still thought of Aunt Matilda's house as
home
, even after a decade
away.

It was after nine when the soft knock came.
At first she thought she'd imagined it.

But when it came a second time, she knew that
whoever was out there wasn't going away. She peeked out the
peephole to see Maddox's strong features and opened the door
without thinking. It was when he blinked, visibly surprised, that
she remembered she was wearing her painting sweatpants and rattiest
t-shirt, she hadn't had a shower, her hair was tucked in a messy
ponytail, and she probably had bags under her eyes.

It had been that kind of day.

His eyes softened when he saw her.

She tried to smile, but the weight of the day
filled her eyes with tears.

She raised a hand to cover her face or ward
him off—she hadn't completely made up her mind which—but he took
her elbow in one of his big hands and tugged her forward.

He wrapped her in his muscled arms, and she
sank into his embrace. She let him take her weight, buried her face
in his chest, and breathed in leather and horse and cowboy.

"Bad day, huh?"

His words were a rumble under her cheek and
hot in her hair and she hung on tightly.

She nodded, the top of her head bumping his
chin.

"She's hanging in there?"

She nodded again. "Getting weaker," she said
against the collar of his t-shirt.

"Still doesn't want to go to the
hospital?"

This time she shook her head. Tears burned
her eyes. The end was nearing for her aunt, but Haley wasn't ready
to let her go.

He held her, giving her his strength. She
knew she couldn't have him, not really. He was firmly anchored here
in Redbud Trails, and she was eventually going back to her life in
Oklahoma City. But she could have tonight.

When she'd settled a little, his hands moved
to her waist, clasping her loosely.

She let go of him and raised both hands to
wipe her cheeks.

Then he tipped her chin up, used the pad of
his thumb to catch the tears she'd missed.

As she looked at those infinite brown eyes,
shadowed in the darkness, he slid his palm against her jaw and
leaned in.

And kissed her.

#

Minutes
later—Maddox couldn't tell you how many—they sat together on the
porch swing. He'd given Haley the quart of ice cream Olivia had
sent, and she'd brought out two spoons, but he'd barely tasted the
half-melted sweet. He wanted to remember the taste of Haley, not
ice cream.

"How'd you know I needed this tonight?" she
asked. Her head lolled on his shoulder, and his arm rested around
her.

They fit perfectly together.

Just like at her senior prom.

Except for the fact that she was leaving, and
he was stuck here in Redbud Trails, trying to save the family farm,
trying to keep his brother afloat, trying to be a father to
Olivia.

"Olivia saw me heading out the door and
wanted you to try it. Sorry if it's melted."

"I'm not." The smile in her voice made him
smile, too, and he squeezed her shoulders.

"What's she calling it?"

He wanted to ask her about her aunt again,
but he knew how sometimes when you were so deep in something, you
just needed to think and talk about the silly little things in
life.

So that's what he gave her.

"She said 'peach cobbler'."

"Mmm. I like it. I predict it will be
popular."

He shook his head. "You'd predict that about
any of her creations."

"I would not. Not the bad ones."

Haley's early predictions about the business
had been right. Things were taking off. Orders kept coming in, and
Olivia spent hours running her machine. She was talking about maybe
needing a second deep freezer. And she was thrilled about it.

Finally finished, Haley set the quart on the
floor near their feet, and when she straightened, she turned so
they were almost face-to-face and laid her palms on his cheeks.

He jumped from the cold.

She giggled. "Sorry."

But she wasn't really. He took her cold hands
in his and rubbed them, providing friction, and he hoped, warmth.
He was certainly warm enough for the both of them.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah."

"How come you've never talked about Katie?
With Livy, I mean."

He breathed in deep. "After she died, Livy
was so little. Mom couldn't bear to talk about her. Those first
months were hard on all of us. Then mom had her stroke and just
gave up, and Justin and I didn't talk about anything. We were
focused on surviving.

"I guess I never realized Livy needed it. Not
until you came along. Now she wants to hear about Katie all the
time."

She smiled against his shoulder.

"Has Justin picked out any classes for the
fall?"

"Yeah. But he still has to go to the school
and register."

Maddox wasn't ready to believe that his
brother would do it. But Justin was at least talking about getting
back to having a life instead of moping around in that recliner all
day.

It was an improvement, if a small one. Haley
had made her mark there, too.

The tip of his boot dragged on the porch
floor. Their swing barely moved. She didn't seem to mind.

"Don't forget about our date Saturday. Do you
still think you'll be able to come?"

"Unless Aunt Matilda gets much worse. She's
looking forward to hearing all about it."

"Good."

He tucked her close again
and rested his chin on top of her head. He liked being with her
like this. He could imagine spending all their summer nights
together, talking about their days and just
being together
.

He wanted it. Wanted it so bad he could taste
it.

And that was just plain dangerous.

But it didn't stop him.

#

Haley was
wide-awake when Maddox left a half hour later. She needed sleep,
but instead of climbing into bed, she stared out the window where
his taillights had disappeared.

She was in love with him.

Forget about a teenager's crush on her
friend's handsome older brother.

She'd seen the real man. Someone who worked
his butt off to take care of his family. Someone who held her, not
asking for anything. Giving comfort.

Someone real.

Not the dream she'd imagined for so long.

How was she going to go back to her old life
after this was all over?

Chapter Seven

Saturday came, right on the heels of a new
pile of medical bills. Maddox had thought they'd gotten through all
of them, but a phone call to their insurance company revealed the
truth—here was another stack waiting to be paid.

He'd gotten complacent these last few days,
talking with Haley on the phone. Kissing her.

Thinking that they might have some kind of
future together.

What had he been thinking?

He had a kid, a brother, and a farm to take
care of, and bills out the wazoo.

Later that night, when Haley joined him and
Justin and Livy at the rodeo arena one town over, those thoughts
kept him company. He couldn't get past them even though to make
polite conversation.

She noticed. Of course.

Sitting next to him on the crowded bleachers,
she bumped his knee with hers, smiling sideways at him. Livy was on
her other side, and Justin took up another seat past her. Maddox
had been shocked when his brother had asked to ride along. He
hadn't wanted to get off the farm at all, and now he wanted to
attend a rodeo?

But Maddox had helped him load his crutches
into the truck without a word.

"Did you ever want to do rodeo as a child?"
Haley asked.

"For a few weeks," he admitted. He squinted
down at the action in the fenced-off, dirt-packed arena. A bell
rang and a horse took off from the starting gate at one side, its
rider clinging to the reins and urging it on as it raced around
three barrels in a triangle, then back out the gate where it had
started.

"What happened?" Haley asked after the barrel
rider had finished her loop.

"Took a ride on a sheep. Fell off, and
decided football was safer."

"That's my brilliant brother," Justin put in
from Livy's other side.

Maddox let Justin take the conversational
reins, talking about their childhood and Katie riding barrels.

Until Haley bumped him again. "Wanna take a
walk? I'll buy you a pretzel."

He considered her. She was wearing a cute
pair of jeans, boots, and a black Stetson he'd never seen before.
It made her look right at home in this crowd. "This is my date. I'm
buying."

She met his gaze squarely. "I'm glad you
remembered," she teased softly.

She was right. He'd let his worry about the
medical bills take over his thoughts.

But it was also his life. He had to support
his family. He refused to do what his dad had done and give up.

She followed him down the
bleachers, and when he started off to the food trucks, she slid
easily under his arm. Her boots put the top of her head level with
his chin, and she felt
right
there. Again.

One of Justin's friends called out to Maddox,
and he waved, a flop of his hand on her shoulder.

"Wanna tell me what's wrong?" They stood in
line behind a few people with the same idea about the pretzels, and
she looked up at him with slightly raised brows, waiting for an
answer.

"Nothing for you to worry about," he said.
"You've got enough going on with your aunt." And being broke wasn't
exactly something he wanted to own up to. He had a little
pride.

"That's true." Her chin lifted toward him.
"But I can still listen."

He shook his head slightly. Not tonight. His
problems were still too raw.

She looked off into the distance. "Once I get
back to Oklahoma City, maybe you could drive down for a
visit..."

Haley continued to speak, but he heard very
little. He'd known she would be leaving, knew this was only
temporary, but how could she speak of it so casually? Her words,
the very thought of her leaving, felt like a punch in the gut.