“Yeah. Probably as much as deputies do.”
She chuckled nervously. “Yeah. I thought…you’d decided not to call me. It’s been three days since you left the house,” she said.
She didn’t sound accusing but, rather, fatalistic, and Daniel realized she couldn’t be expecting much from him or even herself.
“I’m sorry, honey. I’ve been very busy and the time has gotten away from me. Did you miss me?”
Every hour, every second Maggie thought. Aloud she said, “Of course I did. I didn’t like having to do my own cooking.”
He chuckled. “Then maybe I can do something about that. Why don’t you come over to my place for dinner? I have steaks in the refrigerator and brown beans in the slow cooker. I might even stir up some cornbread if you talk nice to me.”
She couldn’t stop the corners of her mouth from turning upward. These past three days she’d listened for the phone to ring. She wondered and waited and missed him terribly. It was joyous to hear his voice again and to know that he hadn’t dismissed her from his life.
“Sounds like a real cowboy meal.”
“Yeah, from a real Indian.”
Since he wasn’t a big teaser, his words put an even bigger smile on her face. “It sounds very nice, Daniel. But I have Aaron to deal with.”
“Surely you’ve left him with a sitter before, or a relative. He’s not a baby, Maggie.”
The word baby pushed her thoughts to other things, and she rubbed her hand back and forth across her lower abdomen. Dear God, could she be pregnant now, she wondered.
“I know, Daniel. It’s just that…he’s so very fond of you. And if I tell him I’m going to see you, I’m sure he’s going to have a fit to come with me.”
He let out a heavy sigh. “Well, I wouldn’t mind Aaron coming. I’m very fond of him, too. But I wanted this evening for the two of us, alone. I…there’s something I want to talk to you about.”
Gripping the phone, she straightened in her seat. “About what? Is something wrong?”
“Maggie, Maggie.” His voice had lowered and she decided he must have phoned from the sheriff’s office. “Nothing is wrong. I don’t want to go into it over the telephone. Can you be at my place by six?”
She had no idea what she was going to tell Aaron. She’d never been a dating mother and this was all very new for her and her son. But maybe Aaron would understand.
“All right. I’ll be there,” she said.
“Great. I’ll see you then.”
As Maggie put the phone receiver back on its hook, she looked up to see Victoria standing in front of the desk. Her brows were raised in a fashion that told Maggie the other woman must have heard at least a part of the conversation.
“Going out somewhere?”
Maggie smiled politely and looked down at the papers she’d been working on before Daniel’s call. “Aren’t you being a little too nosy?”
Victoria chuckled. “No. You’re my sister-in-law. I have a right to be nosy about you. Are you going out with Daniel again?”
Maggie’s head jerked upward. “Again! What do you mean again! I haven’t been on a date with the man.”
Victoria rolled her eyes. “Oh, you’re right, it wasn’t a date. It was a whole weekend.”
Maggie closed her eyes and breathed deeply. “Please don’t start.”
“You are going out with him. That’s why you were smiling when I stepped into the room.”
Shuffling several papers together, Maggie stuffed them into a manila folder and carried the lot over to a tall filing cabinet.
“Okay, I confess. The man is going to cook dinner for me.”
Victoria gleefully rubbed her palms together, then suddenly stopped and frowned. “That’s good. But what are you going to do with Aaron?”
“Good question. Got any ideas?”
The beautiful, dark-headed doctor contemplated Maggie’s question for only a second. “As a matter of fact, I do. You can bring him by the ranch. Katrina adores playing with Aaron, and she can show him the new puppies that Sadie had last week. They’re just now starting to open their eyes.”
Maggie looked hopeful. “Oh, Aaron would love that. But are you sure, Victoria? You have so much to do already, and I know you count your time with Jess special.”
Victoria’s laughter trilled around the small space Maggie used for an office. “I do count it special. But with two small children, time with each other is hard to find. We have to wait until the lights go out, if you know what I mean. And even then we’re not sure if Katrina will come toddling into the bedroom wanting to sleep with her parents. Dear heaven, by the time Sam starts walking we’ll need a king-size mattress,” she joked. “Believe me, one more child around the house isn’t going to bother us. In fact, let him stay overnight and I’ll drop him off at the T Bar K tomorrow. I need an excuse to visit Ross and Bella anyway.”
“Thank you, Victoria. You’re an angel.”
Victoria laughed as she started out the door. “Don’t let this white coat fool you,” she said over her shoulder.
As her sister-in-law exited the room, Maggie very nearly collided with Nevada, who’d come in search of the doctor.
“Hey, doesn’t anyone around here besides me do any work?” Nevada tossed the question at the two women.
Victoria paused in the open doorway long enough to motion her head toward Maggie. “We do. But we were just discussing a date.” She turned a pointed look on her young nurse. “Have you given Mr. Logan his injection?”
Nevada nodded. “He’s waiting for you in Room 1,” she informed her boss, then looked back and forth between Victoria and Maggie. “And what kind of date are you talking about? With a man?”
Victoria laughed. “Is there any other kind?”
Maggie groaned as Victoria walked away and Nevada entered the tiny office. Not again, she thought.
The young Hispanic nurse, with flashing brown eyes and waist-length hair coiled atop her head, jammed her hands on her curvy hip as she looked slyly at Maggie. “Are we talking about a date with Mr. Cool?”
Maggie’s nostrils flared. If the truth were known Nevada would be a much better match for Daniel. She was much younger and full of spirit. Her face and hair were beautiful and her figure was hourglass and then some. The nurse didn’t want to be tied down. And from all that she’d gathered, neither did Daniel. So why was he bothering with Maggie Ketchum, she wondered.
“If you mean Daniel Redwing. That’s right.”
She made a tsking noise with her tongue. “Oh, Lord, Lord, if I were only in your shoes. I’d be walking on air.”
Maggie was walking on air, but her state of mind was a result of somersaulting nerves. She could only think of Daniel as forbidden fruit, and she couldn’t begin to guess what was going to happen to her now that she’d had a taste of him.
“It would probably be better if you were in my shoes,” Maggie told her. “I really don’t have any business going on a date. Especially with a man like Daniel.” She didn’t have any business making love to him, either, she thought. But she had and, as she’d told Daniel, she wasn’t going to regret that now.
Nevada frowned with disbelief. “Why do you say that?”
Maggie sighed. “Because I’m too old for him. And I have…well, past issues.”
Shaking her head vehemently, Nevada stepped over to the desk and covered Maggie’s hand with her smooth brown one.
“You are far from being too old, dear friend. And the past is just that—the past. Maybe it’s time for you to leave that all behind you and start fresh, hmm?”
Like the Utes’ Bear Dance, Maggie thought. Leave a feather on a tree and along with it all the fears and troubles of the years before. How wonderful that would be, if only it could truly happen and she could forget the devastation of losing the man she’d loved.
Chapter Ten
Maggie arrived at Daniel’s five minutes early and parked her vehicle in front of the old, hacienda-style ranch house. The front of the str
ucture was shaded with a straight row of poplars while at one end an array of choya, yucca, prickly pear and stovepipe cacti grew wide and tall against the outer wall. The porch was also dotted with pots of succulents growing in the evening sun.
A black-and-white dog that appeared to be some sort of collie was lying next to the front door. Maggie presumed the animal was friendly and reached down to pat its head before she rang the doorbell.
Daniel promptly opened the door, and she found herself greeting him with a nervous little laugh.
“Hello, Daniel. I know I’m early. But the drive didn’t take me as long as I anticipated.”
“I’m glad,” he said simply, and pushed the screen door wide for her to enter.
The house was deliciously cool and dim enough to make Maggie nearly blinded after the bright sunlight outside. She blinked and looked around her as images began to appear. Ancient wooden shutters were closed against the western windows to block out the heat, and the low roof was made up of dark wooden beams.
“This is so lovely,” Maggie exclaimed as she turned slowly to survey the living room. “How old is this house, anyway?”
“I’m not sure. I’ve tried to find out the exact age. But no one can find accurate records. I’m guessing at least 120 years old. The story goes that a south Texas rancher moved up here and built the place to escape the heat of the Lone Star State. Trouble was he brought a herd of Brahmans and none of them survived the cold.”
“How sad,” Maggie replied. “Did he have a wife and children?”
Daniel slipped his hand against her upper back and guided her in the direction of the kitchen. “Yes, I think so. Because it was a son of his that eventually sold this place to Norman Prescott, an Aztec native. Norman’s in the nursing home now, but he still remembers the family.”
The two of them turned into a wide, short hallway with arched openings leading off in several directions. He nudged her to take the one to the right, and soon they were standing in an elongated room built along the back of the house. Where the cabinets ended, a row of several low windows began, and Maggie was instantly enamored with the view of the mountains beyond the small glass panes.
“How beautiful,” she murmured and hurried over to a round pine table situated near the windows. “How do you get anything done, Daniel? I’d be sitting here all day, looking and daydreaming.”
He came up behind her and slid his arms around her waist. “I do sit here and daydream at breakfast.” He lifted a hand and pointed. “See that tall peak over to the right. Your home sits down in the crease below it. I look at that spot and think of you.”
Twisting around in his arms, she slid her arms up around his neck. “Daniel, I’ve never had a man say the sweet things to me that you do.”
A sexy chuckle rumbled up from his chest. “Don’t get me confused, Maggie. There’s nothing sweet about me.”
“Maybe I should be the judge of that,” she said as she rose on tiptoe and kissed his lips.
His hands gathered at the back of her waist and for long moments he held her close answering the seductive search of her mouth.
When the kiss finally ended, he looked down at her. “My, my that was quite a greeting,” he said with a smile. “Want to try it again?”
Laughing softly, she pushed out of his embrace. “No. We might never have any supper. And I’m very hungry.”
She walked over to the gas range where a large iron skillet was heating over a blue flame. Two thick and seasoned rib eyes were sitting on the cabinet counter, waiting to be cooked.
“I was waiting for you to arrive so the steak would be hot. How do you like yours cooked?” he asked.
She stood to one side as he joined her at the range. “A little rare.”
“Good. So do I. This won’t take long.”
He tossed the cuts of beef into the skillet, and the meat instantly seared. The scent wafted upward, and Maggie’s stomach growled with anticipation.
“Tell me where you keep your dishes and I’ll set the table for us,” she told him.
He glanced over at her. “No need. It’s already done. In the dining room. I wanted to impress you,” he added.
Just standing here next to him impressed her, Maggie thought. He was neither a cocky or wordy person, yet he had a physical presence that always bowled her over. Just as it was overwhelming her at this very moment.
Tonight he was dressed casually in a pair of Levi’s and a navy-blue T-shirt. The muscles of his chest and arms had the thin fabric stretched taut against him and she could hardly keep her eyes or her hands off him.
A few minutes later the steaks were cooked, and the two of them went to the dining room to eat their meal. Like the kitchen, the dining room had several windows near the table and chairs. Only this view was of red buttes and a wide, empty mesa filled with nothing but cacti and sagebrush. The picture in front of them was rough and lonely but mesmerizing.
Maggie said, “That Texan must have liked the scenery here. He had plenty of windows built in the house.”
Daniel nodded as he filled her plate with pinto beans. “Guess he didn’t realize that harshness often-times accompanies beauty.”
Her expression thoughtful, she glanced at him. “How did you wind up with this place? Does it have much acreage?”
“About two thousand acres. Not really enough to graze much livestock. I have a couple of horses and twenty cows running on it now. And that’s too many. But I grain feed often.”
She nodded and he went on. “As for the house, around about the time Norman turned seventy he had a stroke and couldn’t take care of the place. His relatives advised him to sell the place, but he couldn’t give it up. Not right then. He sold off several thousand acres, leaving the two thousand and the house and barns. When he finally went into the nursing home, I asked him about leasing the place. He agreed and for five years I leased. But then one day I went to visit him, and he offered to sell the whole thing to me. Even offered to let the rent that I’d paid those five years to go in on the price. I couldn’t turn that kind of deal down.”
Maggie swallowed a bite of her steak before she answered, “This man must be very generous.”
Daniel nodded. “And one of the very best friends I’ve ever had. Maybe you’d like to go with me to visit him sometime,” he suggested, then immediately frowned. “Or maybe you wouldn’t. Not too many people will go into nursing homes.”
Reaching across the table, she squeezed his hand. “Don’t be silly. I volunteer at the hospital every week. I know what it’s like to see sick people and old people in need. I like to think I can help them in some way. Even if it’s just handing them a newspaper.”
His brown eyes softened with admiration as they swept over her face. “I’m so glad you came tonight. I’ve missed you, Maggie. I wanted to call before, but the department has been overloaded with work. I’m surprised I got this evening off.”
“I’m glad you did,” she said softly.
He sliced into his own steak and smeared it into a dollop of steak sauce. “What about Aaron? Where is he tonight?”
“At Jess and Victoria’s. She offered to babysit. They have new puppies. Aaron was excited about that.”
“He didn’t give you a bad time about wanting to come, too?”
Maggie shook her head and then blushed. “Not at all. He has this idea that we are now boyfriend and girlfriend and we need to be alone.”
“Well, we are…boyfriend and girlfriend, aren’t we?”
She sighed. “Daniel, I’ve been thinking and—”
He shot her a pointed look and she stopped in the middle of her sentence. “I’ve been thinking, too,” he said. “But let’s not talk about all that now. Let’s finish our supper.”
Maggie was more than happy to oblige. If he asked her to have an affair with him here at the supper table, her appetite for food would fly right out the window.
“All right, Daniel. We’ll talk later.”
Nearly an hour later, after several cups of co
ffee and dessert that Daniel had purchased at the bakery in Aztec, Daniel invited her outside to view the small courtyard at the back of the house.
Maggie was instantly charmed and surprised when she saw a square redbrick patio around a small trickling fountain fashioned in the form of a nude angel holding up a basket of fruit. Apparently the fountain and the patio had been there for years. Arid plants and grasses, some of which were blooming, grew thick and tall, almost hiding the divine figure.
Lawn furniture made of bent willow branches sat in a grouping not far from the trickling sound of the water. Daniel gestured for her to take a seat in one.
“You have surprised me over and over tonight,” she said as she sank onto the padded cushion. “I never expected you to have such a…home.”
“What did you expect? Strobe lights and mirrors? Or a tepee with a buffalo hide for the door?”
For a moment she thought she’d offended him and that he was angry with her. But then she caught the glimpse of his white teeth as he smiled in the darkness and she realized he was teasing her.
“Well, neither actually. I just expected your place to be—well, like a man who is rarely here, who wouldn’t bother to have lawn chairs because he doesn’t socialize or have the time to, even if he did.”
He didn’t sit in the accompanying chair to hers. Instead, he meandered over to a clump of purple sage and plucked off a bloom.
“I am a busy man,” he conceded. “But I do have friends over from time to time. Jess and Victoria come to see me. And my grandfather on occasions. Sometimes I get Norman out of the nursing home and bring him out here, just so he can see what the old place still looks like.”
“What does your grandfather think of this place?” she asked curiously.
Daniel shrugged. “He thinks its pretty grand. But still, he’d rather have me living on Ute land. I tell him this is Ute land. I own it.”
“What about your mother?”
A soft night breeze was beginning to blow down from the north and cool the shadowed yard behind the hacienda. Daniel watched it tease Maggie’s red hair and flutter the hem of her skirt against her legs.
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