Marked for Marriage

by Jackie Merritt

  “Please. Go on with your story,” she said softly, hoping to lead him into the trap he so richly deserved, the big liar.

  Noah’s mind raced. Without the Felicia segment, how would he explain leaving San Francisco and moving to Whitehorn?

  “Are you having trouble sifting through your memories to exclude the parts you don’t want me to know?” Maddie asked in the most sickeningly sweet voice she could devise. Her phony smile was equally as saccharine.

  Noah’s face became crimson, and he mumbled, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  Maddie widened her eyes. “You really don’t? Well, I suppose I might have misjudged you. Very well, why don’t you just skip to that bad experience, which was actually the only thing I had any curiosity about, if you’d care to remember the beginning of this conversation. I mean, your hell-raising college days aren’t of much interest to me, and why would they be? Oh, wait, I forgot. All you did in college and med school was study, study, study and put up with dull and boring classes all day every day. I’m such a ninny, but you probably knew that before now.”

  Noah knew when he was the butt of someone’s joke, and Maddie was sitting across the dinette table and making fun of him right to his face.

  “You’re especially good at making a man feel like a fool, aren’t you?” he said.

  “If I am, that’s the first I heard of it,” Maddie replied drily. “Are you going to finish your story or not?”

  “It’s finished,” Noah said flatly, and started to slide from the center of the bench seat to the open end to get up, but then he changed his mind. “Maybe it’s your turn.”

  Maddie shrugged. “Fine with me. I believe I said before that I have nothing to hide, so is there anything in particular you’d like to know?”

  Noah looked at her for a long time while wondering what he was really doing in Maddie’s face tonight. Did he want to know about the men who’d preceded him in her bed? She hadn’t been a virgin last night, so there had definitely been at least one guy, and with her career and independent attitude, the list could be long. No, he didn’t want to know anything about that, not one damned thing.

  Shaking his head, he got up from the booth. “No more conversation tonight, okay? I’m tired and it’s time I went home.”

  Though surprised by his abrupt change of pace, Maddie turned her thoughts back to the mundane. “There’s a lot of food left in these cartons. Take it with you.”

  “No, thanks. If you don’t want it, just throw it out.”

  Maddie slid from the booth and stood, as well. “By the way, I called Dr. Herrera’s office and made an appointment to see him.”

  “Glad to hear it. I should have asked sooner, but how are you feeling?”

  “Other than the painful twinges in my left knee, I feel fully recovered. Can I stop wrapping my hand?”

  “Wait and see what Dr. Herrera says about that.” Noah took a step toward the door, then stopped for another question. “How did you get your truck and trailer back so soon?”

  Maddie explained what had occurred in brief terms and then remarked, “If this Chinook blows all night, there’ll hardly be any snow left by morning.”

  “I won’t miss it.” He gave her a hard look. “Are you really feeling all right?”

  “Do you think I’m lying?”

  “You’ve lied before.”

  Her eyes suddenly blazed. “And you haven’t?”

  It was the challenge in her voice that caused Noah to do what happened next. Taking the one long step separating them in that small space, he wrapped his arm completely around her neck and then bent forward a little to press his lips to hers. It was a long kiss that went from simple to complex in two seconds, and after that got both of them so worked up and breathless that they clung to each other for support.

  It finally ended because they had to have air. Maddie gasped, “Why did you do that?”

  “Good question,” Noah said. Much taller than she, he had to look down to probe the depths of her eyes. “I don’t have all the answers…yet…but a few things are beginning to add up. For one, the time between med school and the present was a meaningless void, and strange as it might seem to you, I just now realized it. You opened my eyes, Maddie, and what I’d like to know is how someone I didn’t know a week ago…less than that…could alter my outlook on life and on a few specifics that seemed earthshaking and weren’t. What did you do to cause such a transformation?”

  With her head tilted back against his arm, Maddie returned his penetrating gaze. “You’re giving me too much credit…or too much blame. I’m not sure which,” she said in a low and husky voice. Her insides felt liquid and soft, a sensual sensation caused by his ongoing embrace, from which she could have freed herself and didn’t. “But believe this. I never set out to do anything to you. If you’ve lost emotional contact with events that directed the course of your life, such as the reason you moved to Whitehorn, that’s rather sad, but I didn’t cause it.”

  “Don’t take this wrong but I’m afraid you did. I was a starving man before meeting you.”

  Maddie frowned. “You’re speaking Greek.”

  Noah smiled just a little. “It sort of sounds like Greek to me, too, and I’m not sure how to translate it.” His smile faded. “I wasn’t going physically hungry, Maddie, I was on an emotionally barren plateau. You brought me down to earth again.”

  “And exactly how did I do that?”

  “You’re not buying into a word I’m saying, are you?”

  “Obviously I sounded dubious.”

  “Very. Okay, let’s drop it for now.” Noah gave her a quick but sweet kiss on the mouth, then backed away from her.

  “When is your appointment with Herrera?”

  Though she was reeling a bit from kisses and conversation she didn’t understand, along with emotionally perturbing feelings, Maddie managed a reasonably intelligent reply. “Day after tomorrow. In the morning.”

  “Good.” Noah again started for the door, and again he turned around before opening it. “May I drop in tomorrow night?”

  “You’re asking?”

  “And your eyes are big as saucers because I did. Guess it’s best for me to stay in character and just barge in,” Noah said drily. He started to leave for a third time, and stopped himself again. “Do you know that you left the house unlocked?”

  “I have the key with me, so I must have thought I’d locked it. I was only going to do a few things out here and that was hours and hours ago. I guess time got away from me. You know, I love it when the wind rocks the trailer at night, so I think I’ll sleep out here. Would you mind locking the house on the way to your car?”

  “You’d rather stay out here than in the house?” Noah looked rather incredulous.

  “I just keep throwing you curves, don’t I? Well, relax and chalk that one up to another of Maddie Kincaid’s quirky personality traits.”

  She looked so damned cute that Noah almost went back for another kiss. He stayed where he was, though, because this time a kiss might not be enough. “I’m kind of quirky, too, you know,” he said. “Right now I’m quirky as hell over you.”

  Maddie sucked in a sudden breath, because that was a flirtatiously cute pass if she’d ever heard one, and if he really pressed her to make love with him again, she’d probably do it. She spoke pertly but firmly, as though her stomach hadn’t just taken a drop and her thoughts weren’t in the bedroom.

  “Good night, Dr. Half-and-Half.”

  Noah cocked his head. “And that means?”

  “Half-forthright, half-evasive. Don’t worry, it’s not a fatal disease or a sin. My diagnosis is that you’ll be back to your normal unsmiling self by morning.”

  “My unsmiling self?” He looked wounded.

  “Oh, for pity sake, don’t try that con on me, Doc. You hardly ever smile and you know it.”

  His rebuttal was a big, bright smile that showed off his perfect teeth and lit up his incredible blue eyes. “What d’ya call this
?” he asked.

  “It’s a smile, but you really should check your face for cracks, ’cause it’s sure not the norm.”

  “You’re the sassiest little chick I’ve ever known.”

  “Chick! Now there’s a shock. If anyone had ever asked me if you used such a juvenile term for the fairer sex, I would have denied it to the death.”

  Chuckling—surprising Maddie again—Noah finally left. Maddie returned to the dinette and resumed the seat she’d used during dinner. She was overloaded with questions that she maybe should have asked, but she could only pry so much, which, of course, left her perplexed and uneasily mystified about Noah Martin. He’d been emotionally starved before meeting her? What in heaven’s name was that supposed to mean?

  The wind rocked the trailer most of the night just as Maddie had looked forward to, but it didn’t lull her into the lovely sleep it always had before. Rather, she slept restlessly, waking up over and over and then lying there for what seemed ages before drifting off again. The problem, she finally decided, was that she had far too much on her mind to sleep soundly.

  For one thing, she’d rarely had to see a doctor during her twenty-three years, and since the accident, that was practically all she did. Not that she’d invited Noah to stick his nose into her medical problems, but however innocent his initial involvement had been, there he was. She really had to see Dr. Herrera as her knee worried her more than had all of her other injuries combined, so she wasn’t through with medical professionals yet.

  Then, of course, there was that other thing with Dr. Noah Martin, the intimate and personal thing between them, and Maddie wondered what Aunt June would have said about her niece sleeping with a man she hardly knew.

  Maddie sighed over that, recalling again how positively Aunt June had believed that people knew in their hearts when they fell in love. Maddie tried to figure out what, if anything, was in her heart and came up blank. She seemed to be putty in Noah Martin’s hands when it came to feverish feelings of sexual desire, but was that love? Maybe love in disguise? Maddie would prefer being in love with a man if she was going to make love with him, but how did one make sure that love preceded lust?

  All in all it wasn’t a good night, and Maddie was glad when it was over. She’d torn herself, Noah and the present course of her life to shreds, and she was happy to think of something else, if only her normal morning routine. She went to the house to bathe, dress and eat breakfast, and during the short walk from her trailer she came alive. Almost all of the snow was gone and the Chinook had died down, leaving behind a pleasantly warm day with a bright sun shining in a cloudless blue sky.

  She decided at once that she was not going to waste a rare February day like this one, and as soon as she was ready, she got in her truck and drove away. She noticed that the gas gauge was below the half-full mark, so, as was her habit, she stopped to fill the tank at the Easy-In convenience store and gas station.

  Because of the glorious weather, she was even enjoying pumping gas, and she smiled when a car pulled up right behind her truck and Melissa North got out.

  “Maddie!” Melissa called, and walked over to Maddie to give her a hug. “How are you doing? I heard you were home.”

  “I’m fine, Melissa.”

  “But you did have an accident?”

  “Yes, I took a fall in the arena. I have makeup on my face, but there are still some traces of bruising, if you look closely. My whole right side was pretty banged up.”

  “And your hand?” Melissa’s gaze dropped to Maddie’s wrapped hand and the sling around her neck, which she wore all the time even if she didn’t keep her hand in it constantly.

  “I broke a few small bones, but it’s pretty much healed now.”

  “Well, I’m glad you’re all right. You know how rumors are. I will never understand how a few simple facts can get so blown out of proportion, but I even heard that you were in a body cast.”

  Maddie couldn’t help laughing. “Well, as you can see, ‘the rumors of my death are greatly exaggerated.’”

  Melissa laughed. “I love that quote. I apologize for not calling you before the storm, which put the whole town and my good intentions on hold, but in all honesty, Maddie, I felt that you must be much better than some rumormongers had you, or Mark and Darcy would not have left you alone.”

  “And you were right.” As they chatted, Maddie was remembering some things Mark had told her about Melissa. For one, the diner she owned, the Hip Hop Café had been burned to the ground by an arsonist a few weeks ago. Someone had poured gasoline throughout the restaurant and lit a match. If that weren’t enough to spook a person, Melissa had been poisoned at Mark and Darcy’s wedding. Since she was the only one who’d gotten ill, it had obviously been a deliberate attempt on Melissa’s life. Maddie had known that Melissa had become ill at the reception, but she’d left town before the diagnosis had been made, and Mark had told her about it during a telephone call. Of course Maddie had had to do some prodding on the subject as her brother was hardly a chatterbox.

  At any rate, talking to Melissa now, Maddie couldn’t help being curious about the awful events hanging over Melissa’s head. Actually, dangerous was a better word than awful, because it was apparent that someone wanted to harm Melissa, but Maddie couldn’t quite bring herself to ask questions. Melissa was as pretty as she’d always been, with her black hair, deep-blue eyes and slender figure. She and her husband, Wyatt, were a good-looking couple, as Wyatt North was a truly handsome man.

  Melissa smiled. “I have to get my gas and be on my way. Maddie, it was great seeing you. Do you know how long you’ll be here?”

  “No longer than I have to be,” Maddie said frankly. “As soon as I’m able, I’ll be on the road again.”

  “In that case, I’ll leave it up to you. If you find yourself with some spare time on your hands, give Wyatt and me a call, and we’ll get together for dinner or something. It was good seeing you, Maddie.” Melissa returned to her own car and began the process of filling its gas tank.

  Maddie finished up, waved goodbye to Melissa and got in her truck. As she drove away she found herself hoping that whoever it was that was trying to harm Melissa North, the culprit wasn’t a member of the Kincaid family. Whitehorn’s history was heavily laden with Kincaid scandals, from mayhem to murder, and while there were some good and decent Kincaids—Mark and herself, for instance—there was definitely a felonious, greedy streak running through the family.

  Maddie headed straight for the Braddock ranch, but even while looking forward to seeing Fanny, she couldn’t forget Melissa. If Noah did come by tonight, she was going to ask him the numerous questions she hadn’t had the nerve to ask Melissa, Maddie finally decided.

  If Noah came by. Maddie found herself mentally repeating that phrase. To her dismay, once that seed was planted she couldn’t think of much else. As hard as it was to face and admit, she knew in her soul that if she didn’t get away from Whitehorn and Noah Martin very soon, she was going to be in big trouble.

  “Damn,” she whispered.

  Denise Hunter seemed glad to see Maddie. Denise was wearing rubber boots that reached her knees, faded jeans and a bulky, pullover red sweater. Her cheeks were pink from working outdoors in the fresh air, and Maddie liked the way she’d pinned up her long dark hair—all haphazard-like, as though she’d just grabbed bunches of it and secured it without any sort of design in mind.

  “Isn’t this a fantastic day?” Denise called out while Maddie was walking toward her.

  “It’s days like this that keep Montana’s residents from leaving en masse after a blizzard,” Maddie returned with a laugh.

  “True enough.”

  The two women met near the stables. “I put all the horses in the fenced area right behind the stable,” Denise said. “They needed exercise, and I needed them gone so I could clean house.”

  “Thus, the rubber boots. You’ve been mucking out stalls.”

  “I’m almost done. I’ll probably leave the horses outside f
or most of the day, though. They’ve been cooped up far too long. Are you planning to ride Fanchon today?”

  “No, this is just a visit.”

  “How about a cup of coffee at the house after your visit. I should be finished out here in another fifteen, twenty minutes. Then I need to clean up a bit myself. Coffee should be ready in about half an hour.”

  Maddie was pleased by the invitation. Denise Hunter was an interesting woman, and Maddie would like to know her better.

  “Thanks, I’ll come to the house after I see Fanny.”

  “Okay, great. See you later.”

  Maddie hiked around the building, and there were the horses in a small fenced field. There was very little to graze on—what remained of last year’s grass crop was brown and soaked in standing though shallow water from the quick thaw of so much snow—but there was hay spread out on the ground, so the animals had plenty to eat. Some of the small herd was eating and some were wandering.

  Spotting Fanny, Maddie whistled softly. The mare lifted her head, pricked up her ears, saw Maddie and began trotting toward her. But, to Maddie’s surprise, she only trotted a few steps then slowed to a walk, and she wasn’t walking straight!

  “Oh, my God, what happened to you?” Maddie whispered. But she knew what had happened. Fanny had gone down in the arena, same as Maddie had, and because the mare hadn’t immediately shown signs of injury, no one had checked her over. Even when Maddie had left the hospital early to make sure Fanny was all right she hadn’t been concerned that Fanny might have been hurt in the accident. No one had been concerned, and Fanny had been injured!

  The mare reached the fence and with tears in her eyes Maddie put her arms around Fanny’s neck and hugged her. Fanny whinnied softly and nuzzled Maddie’s shoulder. Those were signs, Maddie knew, that the mare was glad to see her. Maddie cried harder.

  Finally she broke away, went to the gate and walked into the pasture and over to Fanny. Bending down, Maddie ran her good hand up and down Fanny’s legs. She could tell there was swelling and tenderness around the mare’s knees, which could have been caused by numerous problems, some minor, some very serious. Fanny needed a veterinarian.