by Jen Peters
Because of losing his mother? That tidbit had Maddy reconsidering. “So…he’s afraid of things going wrong?” Which explained the bull pasture episode, but not his complete antagonism toward Ty.
“I’d say more that he’s afraid of not being able to make things right. It’s like when—”
Adam strolled over just then, and the pastor changed the subject quickly. “Everything going okay at the ranch, Adam?” he said. “Got all your calves born?”
Adam stood between Pastor Rich and Maddy. “Yes, thank the Lord. Except for one cow who’s notoriously late. I got my first full night of sleep a couple days ago.”
Maddy listened to them talk, trying to reconcile the two sides of Adam Black: the polite Adam she saw here and at the office with the one who blasted his temper that first day and had shown it a few times since.
She could see why he’d been angry about Mia. And dinner last night had been more relaxed than she’d expected. That might have been because Mr. Black had shown up, but… no, Adam had helped and chatted like any other friend.
Perhaps he could be a friend, although she didn’t think she’d want to cross him as her boss. And all those thoughts of how attracted she was to him? He made her heart race, and she suspected he might feel the same. So should she focus on friendship, or let the possibilities happen as they would?
She looked over to where Mia was talking animatedly with an eight- or nine-year-old girl. Her face was lit, her hands were waving—whatever the conversation was, Mia was definitely at ease.
Maddy was grateful. Besides the trauma of witnessing Brock’s abuse, and being shoved once herself, it was hard for the little girl to leave her friends behind. And her family. If she could make a friend here, they could settle in at the ranch with glad hearts.
Thank you, Heavenly Father. A place to settle is just what we needed. And if starting something with Adam would cause problems, please keep me away from it. Just, please, guide me to know what to do.
12
Two hundred divided by twenty-five did not equal six. Adam shook his head in exasperation—if he couldn’t do a simple math problem…
He looked across the office at the reason for his distraction. Maddy was all business today, scribbling notes as she plowed through the backlog of work. He smiled at the little furrow on her brow and the way she tapped her pencil against her lips.
Adam had hoped she’d sit next to him at church yesterday, but she’d put Mia between them instead. Had that been simply manners, or was she not interested in him at all?
He could have sworn she and Pastor Rich had been talking about him, though, even if they had changed the subject when he approached.
“Hey, Maddy?” But his phone rang before he could say more. By the time he finished with the details of an upcoming veterinary visit, Caleb had come in and was talking to Maddy himself. Explaining invoices, it sounded like.
“What’cha need, Caleb?” he asked.
His brother looked up, pushing back that lock of hair that always fell over his eyes. The one that girls liked to touch. “Just poking my head in,” Caleb said. “But you were busy and Maddy’s got questions, so…” He shifted his attention back to Maddy’s upturned face.
Adam would have pouted, but grown men didn’t pout. Still, she could have come to him with her questions. Except he hadn’t been very nice when she’d come to him the first time. Downright rude, he figured now.
But that didn’t mean Caleb needed to step in.
Adam tried to tamp down the rising frustration, tried to concentrate on numbers again.
Caleb pulled a chair over to Maddy’s desk, evidently settling in for a long consultation.
Adam fumed. Tapped his pencil. Glared at his brother.
Finally, he pushed himself up and stalked out to the equipment shed. He wasn’t getting anything done, and he didn’t need to watch his brother flirt.
Micah was in the middle of changing the oil on the hay spooler.
“Hey, Bro!” Adam called. “I gotta get out of here for a bit. Need some time on a horse. Want to go check the fence progress with me?”
Micah jerked up and hit his head on the tractor cover. “Sheesh, give a guy some warning, would you?”
“Aw, your head’s so hard we could pound fence posts with it. Want to come?”
“Sure, just let me finish this, or we won’t be able to feed tonight.”
Adam watched his younger brother unplug drain lines, tighten bolts, and generally bang on the machinery. Micah had always been the kid who loved tractors as much as the animals, for which Adam would be eternally grateful. He didn’t have much mechanical aptitude himself, and the ranch would be sunk if they had to pay somebody to keep the equipment running.
As they walked to the stables, Adam had to remind himself that Micah wasn’t a kid anymore. At twenty-nine, Micah was only two years younger than Adam. He’d been married and divorced, with a small son to show for it, even if the family didn’t get to see the boy much.
How hard it must be to have fallen in love and made a baby together, and then have nothing to embrace now. Micah kept to himself even more these days than he used to. Kept his pain to himself too, no complaining or whining, just doing his work and keeping his head down.
No, Adam thought, Micah definitely was not a kid any longer. None of them were.
Adam let Mister have his head as they crossed the home pastures. He put Maddy out of his head and mulled over the ranch hands and who worked well with whom.
Micah interrupted his thoughts with a jarring, “So have you noticed that Caleb keeps finding reasons to be around Maddy? I think he likes her.”
Adam’s fist tightened on his reins, and Mister jerked at the irritation.
He suddenly felt like he had a rock in his belly. He didn’t have any real claim on her. Maddy could have her pick of any one of them. Why not Caleb?
Micah was still talking. “He brought the tractor back when she was going home one day. He was almost drooling. What was it Mom would say when we were little? Twitter-pated.”
Adam couldn’t seem to get any air into his lungs. Mister slowed as Adam’s muscles went rigid.
Micah twisted in his saddle to look back. “You coming, or what?”
Adam kicked Mister harder than he needed to. “Or what” was right. Dinner with Maddy, even with Dad there, had been the most enjoyable evening he’d had in a long time. He enjoyed sharing the office with her, seeing her focused on spreadsheets or looking up something she didn’t know about ranch business. The more he got to know her, the more he wanted to know more.
In truth, Maddy seemed like everything he’d wish for in a woman. She was pretty and confident, had a killer smile, loads of patience with her daughter, and integrity in her work.
He had to admit there was a proprietary feeling running through him already, but he really had no right to it. He’d never made a move, and she hadn’t given him any overt signals that she was interested. But still…there had been looks and just something he could sense.
Could he have been mistaken? Was she interested in Caleb instead?
He clamped his lips against the thought, urging Mister into a lope. He’d do better to concentrate on getting to the crew working on the cross-fencing than examining his feelings. He liked them stuffed in a tidy box and put away.
Micah caught up to him, laughing. “So. You don’t like the idea of Caleb and Maddy, huh?” He got a wicked gleam in his eye. “Maybe you’ve got a thing for her yourself! Is that the way the wind blows?”
Adam scowled and pushed Mister into a hard gallop. They breezed along the fence line, the wind blowing at his hat. Micah caught up, and they raced across the field like they had as youngsters, finally pulling up at the gate to the next pasture.
Micah slapped his hat against his thigh. “Hah! Can’t outrun me as easily now!”
“We’re not teenagers anymore, in case you haven’t noticed.”
“Nope, we’re grown men who should be honest with each other. So
tell me about you and Maddy.”
“There is no me and Maddy,” Adam growled. “And if there were, you’d be one of the last to know.” Then another thought struck him. “But as long as we’re talking honesty, why aren’t you looking at her? Or anyone else, for that matter?”
Micah’s laughter dropped away. “After Selena? You’ve got to be kidding.”
“You’ve been divorced more than a year. Isn’t it time you moved on?”
It was Micah’s turn to scowl and grunt. “I’m not actually crazy, you know. Not a glutton for punishment, either.”
Adam closed the gate behind them, and they rode on in silence.
Finally, Micah glanced his brother’s way. “Selena’s pretty nasty right now. Every time it’s my weekend to have Jacob, she vanishes into thin air. I go all the way into Grand Junction, and she makes a point not to be there.”
“How old is he now? Two?”
“Two and a half. And let me tell you, it sucks to have a kid you love and not be able to be with him. I haven’t seen him since his birthday—he probably wouldn’t even recognize me now.”
“You talk to your lawyer about it?”
Micah shook his head. “He’d bring it all before a judge, she’d get slapped with contempt of court and maybe land in jail. And I won’t do that to the mother of my son, no matter how much I don’t like her.”
Adam had no comfort of his own to give. All he could say was, “God will get you through this.”
“And use it to make me stronger,” Micah finished in a sing-song voice. “I know. Dad keeps reminding me.”
They crested a small rise and could see the Gator and the four-wheelers where the ranch hands were working.
“Looks like good progress,” Micah said, tilting his hat to block the sun better. Then he turned back toward Adam. “And what about you, big brother? You’re the oldest, but you’ve never been serious about anybody, not really.”
Adam put a grin on his face. “Maybe because I saw all the trouble you guys landed in.” It wasn’t really true, but it would do for now. That answer was all he was going to give. He didn’t need to mention he might be ready for more.
He’d gone on dates, sure. Even had a girlfriend or two, but no one who’d felt like she belonged in his life. He’d been focused on the ranch, of course, but surely if you met your soulmate, the feelings would be strong enough to push other things down the priority list. A surface-only relationship seemed like a waste of time.
Maddy’s face flashed in his mind, and his heart thudded again. He’d only known her for a couple weeks, but he was certainly feeling more already than with anyone he’d dated. Maybe he’d just been waiting until the right person came along.
Unless she was interested in Caleb.
Adam forced that thought away as they rode down the slope.
“Hey, Boss,” Jesse called out, ratcheting the come-along to tighten the wire.
Luis hammered barn staples to fix the smooth top strand firmly to the post, while Ty held the rest of the roll steady. He seemed steady himself, and Adam was glad to see he wasn’t drinking. Two other hands were farther down the fence line, coiling the barbed wire they were taking off.
“How’s everything going?” Adam asked.
Jesse nodded, then relaxed as Luis put in the last staple. “We’ll finish this stretch today, top and bottom strands and the vinyl pieces for visibility. You want us to go up the north side tomorrow?”
Adam nudged Mister, turning so he could see all that had been done. Well-spaced, well-done, as he knew Jesse would have it. “Looks good. And yeah, I think so. North side next, west after that.”
Jesse pushed his cowboy hat back to wipe the sweat off his forehead. “Sure, Boss. Break time, guys,” he called.
Adam and Micah rode back along the newly re-done fence, but Adam’s thoughts were elsewhere. Like wondering what Maddy was doing right now.
13
The next morning, Adam’s mind wouldn’t stay put as he gave out ranch assignments. He talked about the fencing project, but thought about Maddy’s little check marks next to a list of numbers. He sent Jesse to work with Caleb, and thought about Maddy and Lacey cooking. He kept Wes back to help Dr. Sue when she came to look at some calves with scours, but his mind flicked to Maddy caring for her young daughter.
Man, he had it bad. And Micah was right. The thought of Maddy and Caleb made Adam burn with jealousy. If he was interested in her, he needed to do something about it.
When the ranch hands had left, Adam returned to his office and flipped a pencil in the air. Over and over and over, until he realized that as much as he wanted to see Maddy, he couldn’t keep flipping it for another hour until she came in.
He wandered outside to where Lacey had set the scrub jay free last night, its wing seemingly healed. Now he checked for feathers on the ground—a telltale sign that a predator had gotten it.
The ground was clear, though. Adam breathed a sigh of thanks, but searched the nearby area anyway. It all looked clear, and he made a note to congratulate Lacey on her nursing, maybe do something to celebrate.
He wondered how long it would be before she rescued the next wild animal, and what it would be. Another bird? A rabbit?
Adam let his mind wander about this soft-hearted sister of his. Eventually, with a smile and a shake of his head, he headed back. Maddy should be arriving soon.
Inside, he could hear the small sounds of her settling in for the day, but he found himself stalled in the hallway. She was here—good. He wanted to talk to her, to maybe find out how she felt—also good. So why weren’t his boots moving him forward?
Because Adam didn’t want to mess this up; he didn’t even know exactly what he wanted. And he didn’t like not knowing. He ran through phrases in his mind, possible ways she’d react, what he might say next. Nothing he imagined dispelled the uncertainty.
Fine, then. He wasn’t one to drag his heels over what might happen. Once it happened, he’d know how to handle it. Right?
“Oh, hi, Adam. I was just getting started,” Maddy said, her curls swaying as she looked up. “It’s going to be nice to work on something besides taxes.”
He nodded. He opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. Nothing even came to mind. He stopped his hand from fidgeting with his belt buckle.
“Is there something you need?” she asked.
“No—yes. Have you found any other damage Mrs. Evans did?” Adam cringed inside. So much for not acting like a tongue-tied teenager.
“A little.” Maddy pulled a file drawer open, riffled through the papers, and pulled out a clipped set. “I’ve haven’t had much chance to look, though.”
“I know, I was just wondering.” He stifled a sigh, wondering how he could take charge of so many things and still be dumbstruck now.
Blast it, he wasn’t used to not accomplishing what he set out to do. “Would you like to go out on a trail ride this afternoon?” he blurted.
Maddy’s eyes sparkled. “Really? Out on the range?” Then she dimmed. “But I don’t really know how to ride. I haven’t been on a horse since I was a kid.”
Adam smiled softly. At least he hoped it looked soft and encouraging, not weird or stalker-ish. “We’ll do some practice stuff here, and we won’t go far. Promise.”
Her sparkle returned. “Then I’d love to. But I’d need to be back to meet Mia off the bus.”
“Oh.” Dang, the best laid plans… He lifted his hat and ran a hand through his hair. “Actually, we have a Skype call with my youngest brother at noon every Tuesday, so I can’t leave until maybe one.”
“What’s that I hear?” Dad came in. “Something about the school bus?”
“I was going to take Maddy out on a trail ride, but there’s really not enough time between our call with Seth and when Mia gets home,” Adam said.
“Nonsense,” the older man replied, sending a knowing look Adam’s way. “I can take care of Mia. If that’s all right with you, Missy.”
Mad
dy’s gaze went from one to the other, and Adam wondered what she was thinking.
She finally nodded. “I think she’s met you enough times that it would be fine, Samuel.” She looked back at Adam. “So I’ll take you up on that trail ride, cowboy.”
Adam’s heart gave some quick, light beats. Tongue-tied or not, he’d managed it. He tipped the brim of his hat. “Why don’t you grab some lunch around noon while we’re talking to Seth, and then we’ll head over to the stables?”
She smiled and nodded, then turned back to her work. Adam settled at his own desk, but not before he saw his father smile and nod, too.
Maddy sat in the large kitchen eating the roast beef sandwich Uncle Dirt had made for her, trying to quell the jitters running riot through her body. Adam was taking her riding. She was a little nervous to be getting on a horse again and actually going out on the trail. But even more, it was Adam.
Adam, who made her heart beat faster when he walked into the room.
Adam, whose serious face made her want to make him laugh.
Adam, who carried two different people inside him. Which one was real?
She listened to the murmurs and laughter coming from the other room, Adam’s deep voice booming out like his father’s. It warmed her, but also made her miss her own large, boisterous family. On the other hand, in the short time she’d been on the ranch, she’d become more relaxed than she’d been in the last five years. Knowing she was well out of Brock’s way gave her more peace than she’d expected. As long as she kept her secrets, she and Mia would be safe.
The first time Brock had hit her, she’d been more shocked than anything. She’d broken his family’s heirloom, so she could understand him giving into a gut reaction. Not that that excused it, but still…
Their arguments had become more frequent, though, with Mia retreating to her room at the first sound of raised voices. Brock threw things against the wall, progressing to throwing them at her. She dodged successfully, until he started twisting her wrist instead. He knew just where to leave bruises that wouldn’t show.