by Jen Peters
Adam fiddled with his water glass. “We dated a few years ago. Now she thinks she can treat me like, I don’t know, like that.”
“Maybe she still likes you,” Maddy suggested.
He shrugged. “No reason to. I mean, she wasn’t happy when I broke up with her, but there just wasn’t anything there. I couldn’t keep going out with her when I didn’t care. She got over it eventually.”
“Maybe she didn’t.”
“No, she did,” Adam insisted. “She’s been with Sam for two years now. Keeps tabs on everyone, though—has to share any possible gossip…er, news. Now, what about you? Did you ever break anybody’s heart?”
Maddy sipped her ice water, and Adam gave her time to think. “Just Johnny Peterson. He kept after me and after me and I just couldn’t take it anymore.”
She sounded a little nonchalant to be talking about her ex, but Adam’s hands fisted anyway. He struggled to keep his voice light. “A stalker? What did you do?”
“I finally shoved him in a mud puddle,” she said, her eyes twinkling. “We were seven.”
Adam laughed. He did like this woman. She was new to ranching, but she was feisty enough to deal with what she needed to.
A thought crossed his mind, one that hadn’t in quite a while. If ever.
Besides the attraction that was growing, on his part anyway, was Maddy someone important in his life? Had God put her in his path?
He didn’t know that yet, but he knew he wanted another chance to kiss her. One without his brother around.
20
Friday morning, Maddy went through the details of Mrs. Evans’ discrepancies once more. This time, she noticed something new: the most recent bills were overpaid by two or three hundred dollars, but the November and December ones were rounded up an odd amount so that it came out an even hundred for the total payment. A $17.28 overpayment, so the check was exactly two hundred dollars.
Why? Surely the former accountant wasn’t siphoning off such an odd amount. And so small.
Or was that because she didn’t think anyone would notice?
Maddy sorted her list of vendors, invoice amounts, the amount paid, and the discrepancy. She added a few notes, but she’d need to go over all this with Adam.
The computer dinged again, but it was her personal email this time, not the business account.
Her mind needed a break by now, anyway. She answered one email from her sister, but the rest looked like spam. She deleted them one at a time, just in case. And then she froze.
I’m getting closer.
Nothing other words, no signature, just the very generic and spooky email address of [email protected].
Maddy’s heart pounded. She could feel the pulse in her hands, hear it in her head.
It had to be Brock. There wasn’t anyone else who would send a message like that, no one else who would be getting closer.
She had bought a new phone with a new number right after his text. But how had he gotten her new email? Hired a hacker? Or threatened someone she loved?
She shivered, a hard, violent shake that ran up and down her spine. If he hurt her family…
No, if he hurt her family, the police would lock him away for good, and he wouldn’t risk that just for them. But if he found Maddy herself, he wouldn’t care about the repercussions. Would he just beat her up, or would he make good on his threat to do far worse?
But if he came here, surely Adam and his brothers would protect her. Brock couldn’t take them all down together.
Except they weren’t all here at the same time. If Micah wasn’t making noise in the equipment shed, he was out somewhere with the cattle. Caleb was over in the horse barn. And Adam had his father to protect, too.
And even if Brock wouldn’t go after them individually, they couldn’t look out for her if they didn’t know. That had to be enough for Mr. Wilkins’ permission to tell them.
Maddy realized she’d started pacing the room, not even sure when she had gotten up from her desk. Calm down, she told herself, trying to slow her breaths. Brock wasn’t here. He might never get here. And his cocky attitude wouldn’t let him come after her without sending a frightening warning first. “I’m getting close” wasn’t the same as “I’m coming now.”
She had time.
She forwarded Brock’s email to Mr. Wilkins with an explanation and request, then followed it with an actual phone call. The lawyer wasn’t available, though, so she left a message with his secretary.
Fidgeting too much in her chair, Maddy tidied Mia’s corner, straightened her desk, dusted the monitor and keyboard. Anything was better than just sitting and waiting.
“Going all clean-freak on us?” Adam was leaning against the doorjamb.
Maddy laughed nervously. “Just a lot of restless energy, I guess.”
“Anything I can help with?”
She sighed. “I wish you could. There’s…” She hesitated, Mr. Wilkins’ instructions shouting in her head. “There’s stuff going on with Brock, but I’m not allowed to talk about it.”
“Ohh-kay.” Adam’s expression looked awkward, like he wanted to say something but was holding back. Well, that made two of them.
He came close to her desk and lowered his voice. “You know I’ll keep whatever you say confidential.”
Maddy nodded. “I know. It’s just that…” If she couldn’t tell, then she couldn’t tell. She’d just have to deal with it. “Maybe soon. I’m waiting for a phone call.”
Adam’s eyes were somber. “I’ll leave you some privacy. But when you’re done, I’d like to see what you found about Mrs. Evans.”
Maddy nodded. “I’m sure it will be just a few minutes, but I sent it all in an email.”
She watched him leave, wishing this whole thing were over. Or had never happened in the first place.
Her phone chimed and she answered eagerly.
“I got your email, Maddy,” Mr. Wilkins said. “I’ve already sent it on to the police. How are you doing?”
She shuddered. “Nervous. Worried. About what you’d expect. I mean, he could show up any time.”
“He won’t,” Mr. Wilkins said firmly. “The sergeant said he was seen in a restaurant this morning. He may have gotten your email address, but he still doesn’t know where you are.”
Maddy dropped into her chair and let her body sag. Relief washed over her. It wasn’t peace, but at least she didn’t need to panic right now. Thank you so much, Lord.
“I appreciate it, Mr. Wilkins. I wish they could find something else to arrest him for.”
“We’re watching everything he does. We’ll find something eventually. In the meantime, it’s good you’re out on that ranch.”
“About that…I know you said to keep quiet about everything, but if Brock does show up, the guys on the ranch really need to know.” Maddy held her breath. Adam needed to know.
“Maddy, we don’t know how he got your phone number or your new email address. Which, by the way, you need to change again.”
“I know, but—”
“Until we do, you can’t trust anyone not to be the leak. Maybe it was inadvertently done, but it still happened.”
He reminded her that while they were looking for the leak, Colorado was a big state, and Brock’s chance of physically finding her was slim to none. He reassured her once more, then hung up.
Maddy stared at the pencils on her desk, lined them up from tallest to shortest, then again by color gradation. Finally, she took a deep breath and went to find Adam. She may not be able to tell him, but his presence would steady her nerves.
Except he’d been called away to check a problem cow.
21
With the ranch hands hanging out at Jesse’s cabin in the late evening, the mountains forming a perimeter around the ranch, and Mia’s giggles, Maddy calmed down about her situation. She had a new phone, a new email, and Mr. Wilkins was right—the chances of Brock finding her were slim to none. She really hadn’t felt this protected since high school, when her br
other offered to beat up a girl who called her names.
Back at work the next day, she was happily entering numbers for payroll when Adam knocked on the open door. “I had an idea,” he said. His voice cracked a little, and she smiled to herself.
“Yeah?” She didn’t look up from her numbers.
“You busy tonight?”
Now she looked up. Adam’s t-shirt showed off his muscled shoulders, and he had a bit of a scruff on his face. Be still, my heart.
“It’s going to be clear, which means chilly,” he said, “but we’ll have a gorgeous night for stargazing. I could pick you up around nine-thirty?”
Stargazing. With Adam’s arm around her to keep her warm? Except… “Sounds like fun, cowboy, but I’ve got Mia.”
“We’ll just be in the field behind the cabins. And you left her sleeping when the last calf was born.”
Maddy frowned. “Yes, but I’ve felt guilty about that ever since. I shouldn’t have left her. Even if the risk is minuscule, I can’t do it.”
Adam frowned. Then his eyes brightened. “I bet I could get Lacey to babysit.”
But Maddy had an alternative. “We could stay close to the back door, and I could keep a window cracked to hear her.”
Adam’s smile spread across his face. “Great! I’ll bring everything we need.”
He left, and Maddy turned back to her computer. What would a person need for stargazing? She shook her head and tried to pay attention to her work, but the thought of laying on a blanket next to Adam, gazing up at the grand heavens, took over instead.
He really was all she wanted in a man, even though she hadn’t been looking. He was a hard worker, a leader, and really cared about the animals and the people on his ranch. And while he was serious about work stuff, he could laugh at jokes, he allowed himself to be teased, and he teased back in return. He loved his family and…did she dare to think he might be coming to care for her?
She thought back to when the calf was born. Not just the feelings that whirled through her at his closeness afterwards, but his tenderness and care. If only Caleb hadn’t shown up right then…
Maddy shook the luscious memory away. Right now, she needed to finish the payroll so the ranch hands could have something to spend in town. They’d invited her to go with them one Friday night, but the bar-and-pool-table scene wasn’t for her.
By the time ten o’clock rolled around, Mia was fast asleep cuddling her stuffed T-Rex, and Maddy had added fleece leggings under her jeans. It might be the end of April and well into springtime, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t cold at night!
Adam rolled up in his truck, even though it was only a five- or six-minute walk from the homestead to the cabins. He carried camp chairs and blankets from the pickup bed to the space behind the cabin, grinning all the time.
And oh, how that grin tickled her heart!
When he had everything situated the way he wanted, he put the tailgate up. He lifted a thermos in one hand and two mugs in the other. “Hot chocolate?”
“Ah, a man after my own heart.”
Adam got a funny look on his face, and Maddy cringed inside. True, she’d daydreamed about following up their almost-kiss with a real one, but to be honest, she wasn’t sure she was ready for another relationship now.
She marveled at how her feelings could go from anticipation to caution and back again so quickly. If something was going to grow between them, she was too unsure to be one to instigate it. “Come on in,” she said as evenly as she could. “Let me check Mia one more time.”
The child hadn’t moved, other than to pull her T-Rex closer under her chin. Maddy opened the window an inch, grateful to whoever built the cabin for the smooth-gliding workmanship. At her old apartment, opening a window involved grunting and groaning until it finally went up with a bang.
She followed Adam out the back door, shutting the lights off as she went. They stood for a moment, eyes adjusting, and Maddy marveled at the difference in what she could see. The trees were a darker shade of black, the starlight outlined the fence posts, and oh, the sky! Like she had never seen it before.
She wouldn’t call it velvety-black—it was too crisp and sharp for that. Each star sparkled individually, some blue-white, some yellow. A few even pulsed. The Big Dipper was to her right, low in the sky, one of the few she knew how to pick out.
Adam led her over to the chairs, and she settled into a lounger that reclined. He tucked a blanket around her, his hands lingering on her arms. His eyes were soft and her heart fluttered, but he stepped away.
“It’s a beautiful night for star-gazing,” he said as he settled into his own reclining chair. “I don’t come out often—morning comes too early—but I like knowing it’s here when I want. I could never live in town.”
“There’s a billion more stars than I’ve ever seen before,” Maddy said. She took her eyes off the panorama above and glanced at him, only to find him looking at her, not the constellation.
He didn’t blink. Anticipation curled in her stomach.
She hadn’t planned on giving her heart to anyone for a very long time, but then again, it had already been a long time since Brock had held even the smallest piece of her heart. Was she ready for this?
Unsure once again, she turned back to the night sky. “I know the Big Dipper, and I can pick out Orion’s Belt, but that’s all. How about you?”
She could hear the smile in Adam’s voice. “See that big W over there? That’s Cassiopeia. That’s Perseus beside her, and below the Big Dipper is Leo.”
She found Cassiopeia easily and even thought she’d be able to find it again. But Perseus? No way.
Adam leaned across the gap between them, which, come to think of it, wasn’t much of a gap at all. He put his face close to hers, turned her head slightly, and pointed.
His breath warmed her cheek, and she could hardly see the stars for the jumble of feelings. She could smell his aftershave or shampoo or whatever, mixed with the ever-present smell of leather. His skin was slightly rough against her ear, but she didn’t move. To be honest, she didn’t think she could move.
“There, see it?” he murmured. “Those three small stars making a triangle? That’s one knee. Then from his head and to the right is his sword arm. And that line is his arm with Medusa’s head at the bottom. The other line of stars is his other leg.”
Maddy nodded numbly, finding what might be Perseus. Or might not. She really didn’t care right now.
If she leaned her head ever so slightly, they’d be cheek to cheek. If she turned, their mouths would be millimeters apart. Every nerve ending she had tingled with longing.
Did she want this? If he kissed her, there would be no going back to their still-growing friendship. And that might ruin the best thing she’d had in a long time.
Adam gently pulled her head around. His eyes held hers for a long second before he dipped his head, giving her a kiss that was both soft and strong at the same time.
He pulled away too soon, a question in his eyes. “Was that okay?” he whispered. “Should I have asked first?”
But her heart suddenly knew with certainty what her mind had been unsure of. She reached for him, pulled his head back to hers, and let him know that a kiss was just fine. Better than fine.
They looked at stars, then back at each other, then back at the stars. Adam might have snuck another kiss or two in there. And Maddy might have snuck one back. But amidst the excitement and exhilaration and joy, came the persistent feeling that she needed to tell him. Brock, the stalking, Mr. Wilkins. Everything.
She sighed and sat up.
“What’s wrong?” Adam asked warily.
Poor Adam. He wouldn’t know what hit him. “Um, you remember when I said I couldn’t tell you stuff?”
He nodded slowly.
“I’m still not supposed to, but I think you need to know.” Maddy glanced at his lips, wondering if this would change how many kisses they’d have in the future. His eyes had turned dark with concern.
&
nbsp; She sighed. “I guess I need to start at the beginning. You know I’m divorced. What you don’t know is the whole story and what’s happened since.” She paused, swallowing with difficulty.
“I know he was abusive,” Adam said softly.
Maddy nodded. “I wasn’t going to stick around through it. Or put Mia through that either.”
Adam scrambled to his feet. “Mia? He hit Mia? Dirty son of a low-down... Men like that shouldn’t be allowed to exist. I ought to—”
He towered over Maddy, but she put a hand on his leg. “Names won’t help, Adam, and no, he didn’t hurt Mia. At least not physically. Except for the time she got shoved when she couldn’t get out of the way fast enough.”
She could see him rein in his emotions, but the tension didn’t leave as he sat back down.
“At least it’s over now,” he said.
“Actually, it’s not.” Maddy worked the blanket with her fingers. “He wouldn’t give up. He kept after me, stalking me. I got a restraining order, but it didn’t stop him. He went to jail, but came out threatening me even more. The police couldn’t guarantee my safety, so I ran.”
“Ah, and that’s how you ended up in the middle of a mountain ranch.”
Maddy glanced at Adam, glad to see the understanding in his eyes. He really didn’t care about her history. She warmed as he stroked her cheek with the back of one finger.
“You could have told me before. It’s no big deal, but at least you’re safe here now.” He kissed the corner of her mouth.
Maddy looked down and smoothed the blanket across her lap. “That’s just it. I’m not. And I couldn’t tell you before. From the beginning, I couldn’t risk anyone letting it slip in town.”
“I wouldn’t do that!”
“I know that now, but I didn’t back then. I worried that if it were common knowledge on the ranch, someone might let it slip. And then a week ago, Brock got some information, and my attorney gave me strict instructions not to tell anyone anything. And you don’t like lies.”