by Barbara Gee
Chapter 33
They all went to church on Sunday morning, then Virgil, Kay and Libby left from there to go look at some horses Virgil was considering buying, with plans to eat lunch along the way.
Tuck and Maddy went back to the ranch, where Maddy insisted on making lunch for them. After checking out the available food supplies, she chose one of her favorite recipes, chicken potpie.
“If you want to grab a nap while I cook I don’t mind, since you’re taking a red eye flight home,” she told Tuck.
“I don’t need a nap, but I might make a few phone calls. Are you sure you can stand long enough to make lunch?”
“Yep. I’m sure. It’ll be ready in an hour and a half.”
As she had expected, cooking in Kay’s kitchen was glorious. She hummed as she cooked the chicken and rounded up peas, carrots, potatoes, and some mushrooms. She had the creamy potpie filling in the casserole dish and was rolling out the pastry crust for the top when Tucker entered the kitchen. He grinned when he saw her wielding a rolling pin, strolling over to her as she carefully lifted the circle of dough and laid it across the top of the dish. She trimmed off the excess and before crimping the edges.
“You really do know how to cook,” he said.
“I told you I’m a good cook,” Maddy said, frowning when her phone chimed. “Didn’t you believe me?”
“I just wasn’t sure what your definition of ‘good’ was. But that’s one fine looking potpie.”
“It’ll taste even better than it looks,” Maddy said confidently. “Hang on, I need to see what Elaine wants now.” She dusted the flour off her hands and picked up her phone from the corner of the island.
“I’m guessing she’s not happy to hear you aren’t coming back to work?”
“Well, it’s really weird, because when I called her at home yesterday to tell her, she was fine with it. I mean, she said she was going to miss me and it would be hard to replace me and all that, but she was happy for me. But now she’s been burning up my phone all day asking questions. Some of which I’ve already answered. She got along fine without me all these weeks, and now she can’t stop emailing me.”
“Maybe she was just letting some stuff slide until you got back, and now she’s playing catch-up.”
“But it’s a Sunday. She shouldn’t even be in the office today. I asked her why she’s at work but she didn’t answer.”
“Have you told her why you left, and why you aren’t coming back?”
“Yeah, I told her most of it yesterday. I didn’t go into tons of detail, and I didn’t specifically tell her I was in North Dakota, but I told her the basics. And when I told her I was staying with you and Libby, she thought it was really romantic that I fell for the FBI agent who rescued me.”
Maddy couldn’t help but smile at the memory of Elaine’s dramatic sigh at the end of the story. Her friend had declared it a modern day fairy tale.
Tucker gave her a slow smile as he leaned down and rested his forearms on the countertop. “Just how far have you fallen for him, Madison? As far as he has for you?”
“Pretty sure I’m farther gone,” she said, flashing him a smile as she finished reading the email from Elaine and sent a brief reply.
“Pretty sure you’re not.”
“Whatever, Tuck.”
Her smile didn’t fade. If his feelings were anywhere near as strong as hers, maybe the fairy tale description wasn’t so far off.
“Hand me that knife, please,” she said.
He did, and she cut some slits in the top of the potpie. Tuck pushed away from the counter and came to stand behind her, leaning down, his hands flat on the granite on either side of her.
“Would it disappoint you to know I find you working in the kitchen really sexy?”
Maddy’s heart rate picked up at his nearness.
“No, should it?” She leaned back against him, loving the feel of his big, warm body against hers.
“I don’t want to give the impression that I’m a chauvinist and think that’s where women belong.” He reached up and swept her hair back over her shoulder, baring her neck before pressing his lips against the sensitive skin below her ear.
“I know you’re not a chauvinist,” she said breathlessly.
His arms closed around her stomach, bringing her tighter against him.
“I called Tim a little while ago,” he told her.
Maddy put her arms over his and laid her head back on his shoulder. “Did you tell him your plans to transfer?”
“Mmm hmm. He said he’s going to hate like hell to see me go, but if it’s the best way to make sure you and I work, then I made the right choice.”
Maddy spun around in his arms to face him. “He really said that?” she asked disbelievingly. “Tim said that?”
“He said you’re a one in a million kind of woman.”
“He did not.”
Tucker cupped the back of her head in one big hand. “He did. He saw the video feeds, Maddy. He saw your strength and courage. And your selflessness. We all did. And he’s right. You’re definitely one in a million.” He pressed his mouth to hers, causing Maddy’s knees to instantly go weak.
“You’re good for my ego, Tuck,” she breathed against his lips, sliding her hands up over his biceps and around to the strong planes of his back.
It was a while before the potpie got put in the oven.
Later they sat snuggled up on the couch watching a movie, enjoying a last bit of solitude before the others got home. Maddy had her knees drawn up and was curled up against Tuck’s side, with his arm around her and his cheek resting against the top of her head. She loved how big he was, and how he made her feel so cared for and protected. Never in her life had Maddy felt such a sense of contentment and serenity. Being with Tuck felt so good and so right, and she couldn’t wait until he came to North Dakota to stay so she could see him every day.
Her phone chimed again, but she ignored it.
“You gonna get that?” Tuck asked lazily.
“Nope. I told Elaine she needed to go home and enjoy what’s left of her weekend. She’s not even talking about work anymore anyway. Now she’s asking if she can come and visit me. I told her we’d talk about it later.”
“You don’t want her to come?”
Maddy shrugged. “I don’t know, to be honest. I mean, she’s awesome to work with and we’re friends, and we would sometimes go out for dinner after work and stuff, but I don’t know if we’re close enough to warrant a trip out here. It would be a little awkward, I’m afraid. Plus I’m not sure she’s ever been out of North Carolina.”
“Did you tell her how far away you are?”
“Yeah, she was begging to know, so I finally told her I’m way out in North Dakota.”
“And that didn’t discourage her?”
“Didn’t seem to. I told her to go home and we’d talk during the week. But evidently she’s still at the office.”
Tucker cocked his head. “The gang’s back.”
Maddy frowned. “How do you know?”
“I heard them pull up.”
“You have superhuman hearing, Tuck.”
“I’m just aware of my surroundings at all times.” He put a finger under her chin and tilted her face up. “I’m also aware of you at all times,” he said softly, bending his head to kiss her gently.
When he pulled away Maddy looked up at him, smiling languidly. “I’ll never, ever, ever get tired of kissing you, Tuck.”
“You have the sweetest mouth I’ve ever kissed, Madison,” he replied, making her shiver with awareness. “I’m gonna miss it.”
“When can you come back?”
“I’ll try for next weekend.”
“I’ll be waiting.” She let her eyes roam over his face, drinking him in while she could. “God created a beautiful man when he created you, Tuck, both inside and out.”
His blue eyes met hers. “I’m better when I’m with you, baby.”
Maddy ran her fingers slowly through his
hair, shivering like she did every time he called her that. A moment later footsteps sounded on the porch and Tuck reluctantly sat up.
“Time to share you,” Maddy said ruefully.
Tuck stood up and stretched. “I will be back next weekend. I’ll make it work.”
The others burst through the door, and even though Maddy had loved her time alone with Tuck, she was glad to have her family home.
Too soon he was gone, driving to Grand Forks and then hurtling through the night on a jet, away from her. Maddy went to bed early, already counting the hours until she would see him again. She had it bad. She was crazy about him. Passionate about him. Completely in love with him.
Chapter 34
The week passed slowly, but Maddy stayed busy. She spent more time than ever in the gym, and Jolene was thrilled with how strong she was getting and how well her knee was responding. They had put the crutches away on Monday and not looked back.
“Honestly, Maddy,” Jolene said when they had wrapped up their Wednesday yoga session, “I don’t think you need me anymore. Your range of motion is almost back to normal already. It’s just a matter of continuing to strengthen that knee. I suggest a combination of gym work, and then spending time being active outside. You can walk up and down the lane, or even go climb a butte. Don’t overdo it, of course, but going part way up would be good for you. You can even start riding horses if you want to.”
“I do feel good,” Maddy said. “Thanks to you, I think I’ve got this. But I’m going to hate to see you go. You’re not only the best PT in North Dakota, you’re a great friend, too.”
“You won’t be rid of me completely,” Jolene assured her. “I fully intend to stay involved in the retreat center planning. I think I’m as excited about it as you guys are. I’d like to get my partners out here at some point. Their input could be invaluable.”
“That would be great. Tuck is going to schedule meetings with a few contractors. He wants to start getting some plans drawn up so we can get preliminary bids on the buildings and the site development. I’m starting to think this thing is really going to happen.”
“Me, too. And it will be a great thing for a lot of hurting families.”
“I hope so,” Maddy said. She rolled up her yoga mat and stowed it in the closet. “So you’re really going to leave me on my own?”
“Yep. Tomorrow we’ll go over a few routines that I want you to rotate through in the gym, and then we’ll go outside and scout out some good places for you to walk and climb and eventually run.”
Maddy grimaced. “The walking and climbing sound great, but I’m not sure I’ll ever take up running.”
Jolene gave her a mischievous smile. “I wouldn’t be too sure about that, my friend. I was walking over here to the house one morning when Tucker was just getting back from a run. Now I’m saying this purely as a female who makes her living working with the human anatomy—I don’t want you to think I’m lusting after your man. But seriously, Maddy, I’ve always believed that there’s nothing more beautiful than a toned, athletic, male body in action. And let me tell you, Tuck is a finely tuned machine. He’s flawlessly put together, and watching him run was an absolute pleasure. If I were his girlfriend, I’d take up running just for the experience of seeing him do it a few times a week.”
Maddy blinked at her friend, imagining all too clearly what Jolene was describing. “So, um, what kind of running shoes would you suggest for me?” she asked a little breathlessly.
Jolene burst out laughing and put her arm across Maddy’s shoulders. “One more piece of advice. Make sure you run slower than him part of the time, so you can get the rear view.”
“And you say that purely as a professional,” Maddy said, grinning.
“Purely professional,” Jolene confirmed, laughing again. “You’re a lucky girl, Madison Harper.”
“I am,” Maddy agreed. “And now I think I’ll go take a cold shower. See you later.”
On Friday morning, Maddy was in the gym, alone and missing Jolene, when her phone chimed an email tone. She grabbed a towel and picked it up, seeing that the email was from Elaine. After that flurry of emails on Sunday, Maddy hadn’t heard from the other woman a single time all week. She had considered checking in with her, but decided that it was best if she didn’t, as she still wasn’t sure how she felt about Elaine’s out of character plan to come visit her.
Maddy read the email, frowning as she scrolled down the screen. Elaine was apologizing for her long silence, telling her that the week had been crazy because the temp worker hadn’t shown up on Monday, or any day since. He wasn’t answering his phone or emails, and it made Elaine especially mad because she’d even texted him on Sunday morning to tell him Maddy wasn’t going to return after all and if he wanted to start working more hours, she’d get it approved. Instead, he’d left her high and dry.
If I knew where you were I’d be tempted to come join you and get away from this rat race, Elaine wrote. Maybe your man could introduce me to one of his friends. Except you said you’re far away, which means I’d have to leave North Carolina, and I’m not a traveler as you know.
Maddy’s frown deepened. She’d told Elaine where she was, so why was she acting like she didn’t know it was North Dakota? She typed out a response.
I’m still in North Dakota, like I told you on Sunday. Did you find the PowerPoint file for the benefit summaries you were looking for?
Elaine’s response came quickly. Yes, but how did you know I was looking for that file? And seriously, North Dakota? Sounds like an awesome place to be with your Prince Charming, but you never told me that. And we didn’t talk on Sunday. Must have been someone else.
Okay, this was really getting weird. You were looking for the file on Sunday, when you were at work. You emailed me about it a dozen times. And you said you were going to come out here to visit me.
What are you talking about, Maddy girl? I didn’t work on Sunday. And trust me, if you’d told me you were all the way out in North Dakota I’d remember it. And I certainly wouldn’t have started planning a visit way out there. I’ve never flown, and I never plan on it.
Maddy sat frozen for a long moment, her mind whirling with possibilities. None of them were good.
I’ll be in touch, Elaine.
Maddy got up and walked toward the stairs, trying to reason things out as she went. She didn’t want to believe it, but she kept reaching the same conclusion. The emails on Sunday had started by asking for her help finding a file, but had ended with questions about her location. Maddy tried hard to remember exactly how much she had said. She knew she’d said she was in North Dakota, and although she hadn’t given the name of the town, she’d said she was on a ranch owned by good friends of Libby and Tucker.
Her heart pounded faster. Elaine’s temp hadn’t shown up on Monday. The temp who was a whiz with computers.
With a horrible sinking feeling, Maddy concluded that they weren’t quite finished with Jimmy Callahan.
She changed swiftly out of her workout gear, donning jeans, a long sleeved tee shirt, and sneakers. Then she took a moment to collect her thoughts before making the phone call she hated more than anything to have to make.
Tuck was having lunch with Ryan Anderson, the Detective from Chandler who had so memorably “kidnapped” Libby. Over the course of the recent Jimmy Callahan chase, the two of them had consulted often, and had continued meeting up even after Jimmy had been captured. Ryan was becoming a good friend, and Tuck had set up a lunch meeting in Chandler so he could let him know about his plans to move to North Dakota. He had just broken the news to his stunned companion when his phone rang.
“Hang on, this is Maddy and she rarely calls during the day. I need to take it.”
Ryan sat back and nodded. “Take as long as you need.”
Tuck walked to the back of the café, where no patrons were sitting, to take the call.
“Hey, this is a nice surprise.”
“Tuck. I’m so glad you answered.” Her voice
was shaking and he instantly stiffened.
“What’s wrong, Maddy?” he asked, his stomach bottoming out with dread.
She filled him in, trying to be as precise as she could about everything that had transpired between herself, Elaine, and whoever had been posing as Elaine on Sunday. By the time she finished, Tuck was gripping his phone so tightly it was a miracle it didn’t splinter apart.
“Abe,” he said darkly.
“That’s what I’m thinking,” Maddy said.
“Okay, baby, listen to me. I’m going to call the sheriff out there and have him get some men out to the ranch right away, and I’m going to get Tim and everyone else on my team working on tracking Abe down. I’ll call Elaine and get a description of the temp, to verify that it’s him we’re looking for.”
“I should have thought of that,” Maddy said ruefully. “I should have asked her for a description already.”
“Don’t worry about it, it won’t take us long to verify it. Listen, Maddy, Abe has had plenty of time to find you and get out there. I need you, Libby, Virgil and Kay to stay in the house. Are they all there now?”
“Virgil and Kay are gone on a horse buying spree. They won’t be back until tomorrow night.”
“That’s good, actually. I’ll call them and tell them to stay away.”
“They won’t like it. They’ll want to be here with Libby and me.”
“I’ll convince them it’s safer for everyone if they stay away. We’ll put a deputy in the house with you and Libby.”
“Wouldn’t it be better if Libby and I left too?”
“If Abe is out there already, he’s most likely watching everyone coming and going, trying to get a feel for how things operate. He might have help, too. If Jimmy is financing this, adding extra guys wouldn’t be a problem. And they’ll be well armed and could easily take out a vehicle. I think you should stay put for now. I don’t want to give him or his men the chance to follow you and get you out in the open.”
“Okay. I need to go find Libby. I think she’s in the kitchen.”