Nothing But Trouble (25 page)

Melanie laughed at the irony.  It was so easy for her mother to accept who her father was, but she couldn’t seem to accept it in Melanie.  She knew her mother didn’t understand what was driving Melanie to leave, or what the cause of her sadness had been since she’d returned from Wyoming.  Other than inquiring about her health and fussing after her, Lorna had steered all talk away from Stoney. 

In the beginning, Melanie was grateful.  Every time she’d allow herself to think about Stoney, she’d break down.  Lorna wasn’t a stupid woman.  The bonds of their mother-daughter relationship had always included an unspoken language.  She knew how to read her daughter and had simply chosen not to acknowledge that Melanie was suffering from a broken heart.

“As always you look beautiful with your hair swept up like that,” Lorna said.  “I think that black sequined hand bag is a perfect match for your dress.”

“The satin one goes just as well,” Melanie said, not really caring if she wore a saddlebag hoisted over her shoulder with the black dress.  It was a new style, a dress she’d bought in a funk one afternoon after she’d come home from Wyoming.  In a futile attempt to get her mind off Stoney, she turned around and bought the dress with him in mind anyway. 

She inspected herself in the mirror.  The dress was shorter than she remembered it being in the boutique, giving ample view of her slender thighs.  Black stockings concealed the markings on her upper thigh where she gave herself her insulin shots.  After wearing hiking boots for so long, her feet looked dainty and out of place in the kind of black heels she’d been used to wearing before she went to Wyoming.

Before she went to Wyoming.  Is that what it had come down to?  Would everything in her life be gauged by what her life had been like before and after she went to Wyoming?  Before she’d fallen in love with Stoney Buxton?

“All the men at the country club are sure to only have eyes for you,” Lorna said, chuckling.  “Maybe even some of the married ones as well.  You know Byron Estabrooks.  He thinks he’s hiding his eyes beneath those five hundred dollar sunglasses he always wears, but he’s not fooling anyone.  His head snaps so fast every time a beautiful woman walks by, I’m surprised he hasn’t sued the club for whiplash yet.”

“I'm not really in the mood for the country club tonight.  Why don’t we go someplace else more private?”  The last thing Melanie wanted to do was put on a fake face and be gracious when it wasn’t in her heart.

“Miles Forester will be there tonight.”

Melanie rolled her eyes, knowing what her mother was after.  It was a conversation they'd had a million times.  “Mom, I’m leaving tomorrow and I’m not coming back.  I don't want you fixing me up--”

Lorna’s smile faded.  “Of course you’ll be back.  This is your home.”

Feeling guilty for being so abrupt, Melanie amended, “I mean, I won’t be back here to live.  Of course I’ll be back to visit.”

Lorna averted her gaze and was about to say something when they both heard raised voices.  It sounded like their butler, Robert, talking to someone down in the foyer.  “That doesn't sound like Robert.  I wonder what that is all about?” Lorna finally said.

“It's probably nothing.  I'm almost ready getting dressed,” Melanie said.  She reached for her purse, but something about that voice caught her attention and made her pause.  She left her purse on the bed and advanced toward her bedroom door.

“What is it, Melanie?” she heard her mother say behind her as she rounded the corner leading to the grand stairway.

The voices grew louder, flowing up to the second floor from the foyer below.  One angry voice was rough edged, unmistakable, and musical to her ears all at the same time.  Stoney was here.  He was here!  How on earth and why she didn’t much care at the moment.

Her movements hastened as she took each step down the stairs with jelly legs.  She forced herself to stay calm, not wanting to misunderstand the reason Stoney had come all the way to Long Island.  Stopping midway on the stairs, she caught site of Stoney with Robert.

“I just want to talk to her for a minute,” Stoney said, the deep timbre of his voice booming off the cold marble floor and fixtures of the grand foyer.

“I’m afraid that isn’t possible,” Robert said.

“It’s okay,” Melanie said, looking into Stoney’s dark eyes as he lifted his gaze to her. 

Her heart was in her throat, and her mouth went cotton dry when their eyes met.  Her memory hadn't done justice to him.  He slowly took off the white straw cowboy hat that seemed to glow against his tanned skin and dark hair.  Unlike the first time she'd seen him, he was cleanly shaven and dressed in what looked to her would be considered his Sunday clothes.  And he was absolutely the most wonderful sight a girl could ever hope for.  And he was here.

She carefully took each step down the wide staircase, never taking her eyes from his. 

“Can I get you anything?” Robert asked when she'd reached the first floor.

Melanie shook her head.  When Robert was gone, she turned to Stoney.  “I didn't think I'd see you again.”

Stoney hesitated for a second, then reached into his pocket and pulled something out.  “I came to return your check.”

Her heart fell through the floor.  What was this all about?  “You earned it.”

“We only stayed out in the mountains for nine days.”

“That was my fault, not yours.”

“I’m not going to argue with you about this.”

“Good, because I’m not taking the money back.  A deal is a deal.”  She gazed at him for a long while, weighing the silence that echoed in the foyer, closing in on them.  Impatience reigning, she said, “Long Island is a long way to come just to return a check.  You could have just sent it in the mail.”

“Yeah, well, some business is better handled face to face.”

“Business?”  She fought to hide her disappointment.  “I’m not taking your money, Stoney Buxton.  You may be fool enough to bust your stubborn hide on the back of some bull, but at least be smart enough not to throw away what was earned.  That money was meant for your family, too.  For Black Rock.  You can’t just throw that away.”

“You care that much about the ranch?”

“Of course.  It’s your life.  It's everything to you.”

“Not everything,” he said softly.  He glanced around the foyer and heaved a sigh.  “What about you?  You have some big dreams of your own.”

Yeah, but none of them meant much since she left Wyoming, she thought.  She looked at the check he held out to her.  With both her hands, she bent his fingers closed around it.  With great strength, she pulled her hands from his.  “Please just take the money.”

He balled his fist, crumpling the check before letting it drop to the floor.  Damn him for being so stubborn, Melanie thought as she bent down to give it back to him.  He grabbed her by the arm to stop her motion.  “Your idea about Mitch buying a share of the ranch was a good one.  With some hard work, I think Black Rock will be okay.”

She smiled softly, remembering the day she first arrived at the ranch and found Stoney all dirty and sweaty mending fences by the corral.  She’d had so many dreams that day.  How could she have known their lives would have taken such a turn?  “I’m glad everything worked out for you.”

He swallowed, tapping the brim of his straw hat with his fingers, looking around the foyer uncomfortably.  She noticed the tight set in his jaw.  “And what about you?  Are you going to work with Park Services?”

“Possibly.  But not in Wyoming.”

Stoney's shoulders sagged slightly, giving Melanie hope for the reason for his disappointment.  After everything he said, was he secretly hoping she’d come back to Wyoming?  Or was this just her wishful heart hoping that Stoney Buxton was really in love with her.  That he really wanted her in his life forever.  It had torn her apart to leave Wyoming and come back to Long Island, back to the life she so detested. 

She crossed her arms across her chest.  “I haven’t decided exactly where I’m going yet, but I have a lead on a job in the Everglades.”

A bittersweet smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.  Slow.  Sexy.  And oh, so Stoney.  “You’re not afraid of hanging out with alligators?”

She couldn't help but laugh.  “Stoney Buxton, you are the wildest beast I could ever encounter and I’m not afraid of you.”

He looked at her for a long moment, as if he was about to say something, trying to decide.  Her heart pounded in her chest until she thought it would burst. 

“Was there anything else?” she asked, hoping he'd say the words she wanted to hear.

He propped his cowboy hat on his head and dipped the rim low, almost covering his eyes.  “That's it.  I need to be getting back to the ranch.”  He turned and walked toward the door, and she thought she was going to die.

He gripped the polished brass doorknob, opening the door a crack, then shutting it again.  “I’m a stubborn man, Melanie,” he said, still staring at the door.

“What?”

He swung around, the determined look on his face told her he’d made his decision to speak his mind.  “It was wrong of me to keep you from doing what you wanted.  I had no right to make that decision for you.”  He swallowed hard.  “So if you still want to work with the Park Services, with Ivan Collins, or in the Everglades, then you should do it.”

“Why, Stoney?”

He looked surprised at her question, as if that was the last thing he’d expected her to say.  “Because that’s what you want.  I want you to be happy.”

The only thing that was going to make her happy was for Stoney to wrap his arms around her and tell her words he was too damned stubborn to say.  She wanted him to say he loved her more than rodeo, more than ranching, more than life itself.  But was she fooling herself?

Stoney tipped his hat, his eyes saying more than his words could ever say.  In them, she saw all the words she wanted to hear.  “If you ask me, you're too beautiful to be playing with 'gators, Sunshine.”

She bristled.  Beautiful.  After all this, she was just another beautiful woman?  She didn’t want to be beautiful, not like the woman she was raised to be, not like the women who hung out at the cowboy bars, hoping to get a date with an up and coming bull rider.  She wanted love.  More than anything, she wanted Stoney’s love.

“Good luck, Stoney,” she said, forcing the words past her disappointment.

He hesitated a moment before he reached up and feathered her cheek with his fingers.  Then he closed the door behind him, and he was gone.  And she felt her world close in around her for the second time.

* * *

Stoney stood on the granite steps outside of Melanie's parents' lavish home, staring at the door behind him.  Was he really so prideful that he couldn’t tell Melanie how he felt?  Why was it so hard for him to say the words?

Because you have nothing to give her, he told himself.  Did he really think she could be happy living with him in Wyoming with nothing but a broken down ranch and hard living for the rest of her life?  Everything about this house was flashy and rich.  She’d grown up with the very best that life had to offer, with a silver slate just waiting to be drawn on.  And all he would be doing was bringing her back to a home she couldn’t even call her own. 

He had nothing to offer her back in Wyoming.  Sure, they’d saved the ranch, but it was going to be a long while before they could breathe easy.  If she decided to come back to Wyoming, it would have to be because she’d decided on her own.  He couldn’t ask her to give up everything for nothing.