"Let's load up," Chase said, winking at Maddie.
"Y'all don't work her too hard," Cliff warned.
Maddie headed toward the trucks. "They don't determine how hard I work," Maddie tossed over her shoulder, feeling churlish. "I do. I'll do what I want out there." That said, she climbed into the cab of the truck and slammed the door.
She was startled to see him climb into one of the other trucks. "He's going with us?" she asked Chase when he got behind the wheel.
"Yup. He always helps us some when he comes down. He loves working cattle."
She bit back a groan. Well, if he thought he was going to be her nursemaid today, he was wrong.
She had been doing fine before he came along. She'd made it just fine without someone following her and bossing her around.
Worrying about her.
Doing nice things for her.
She didn't need any of that. She didn't.
*
"She'll slow down when she needs to, Cliff," Rafe warned, from the saddle of his horse. "You have to give a woman like Maddie her space. If you're thinking you like her—like I'm thinking you do, then you'd better lay low and get to know the real Maddie Rose. She doesn't take to coddling too well."
Cliff's movements were jerky as he pulled his rope, recoiling it after they finished with the calf he'd drug over to be branded. He'd been roping and dragging calves to the fire all morning while Maddie administered the meds and shots. Chase branded them and Ty tagged them. At the rate they were going they'd be finished by early afternoon. It felt good to be cowboy'n and he'd been glad Rafe had invited him along. Though honestly, he'd come because he wanted to be near Maddie.
He had to admit that Maddie wasn't slowing them down. The constant up and down had to be killing her ribs, but he could see the truth in his brother's words. He was going to have to give her room. After all, she'd only known him three days.
His downfall had always been that when he saw something he wanted he went after it with gusto. His determination had always been his strong suit. But, he did tend to steamroll his way into things. That, apparently wasn't the way to win Maddie's favor.
By noon, they were all filthy and the sun had them all beat down a bit. Maddie was moving more slowly, though she wasn't going to admit it. But why did she think she had to prove anything with her friends? Didn't she know that it was okay to slow down and show a little vulnerability?
Of course she was a woman in a male dominated world.
By one o'clock they had the last calf branded, tagged and vaccinated. Maddie pulled off her gloves and wiped the sweat out of her eyes as they gathered around the water cooler.
Cliff filled up a cup and handed it to her, their fingers brushed and that tsunami of awareness crashed through him. "Great job, today."
"Thanks," she said, her voice gritty from all the dusty air that hovered about them. She downed water in three gulps. Despite her sun kissed skin, there was a paleness to her.
He pulled his gaze away from her then moved over so others could get to the cooler. It was taking every ounce of determination he had not to ask Maddie how she felt.
What he wanted to do was scoop her into his arms and make her take it easy and rest her ribs. He wanted to take care of her.
"You still holding out okay?" Rafe asked her.
"Doing fine." She shot him a smile—a smile!
Cliff holstered his irritation. If he'd asked her that, she wouldn't have sent that dazzling smile his way.
"I've got business in town. I'll see y'all later," he practically growled. He stalked across to his truck and hauled out of there like an idiot. Jealousy had never been a problem of his...today, he was as green as it got. Frustration played a part in it. He was about as frustrated as a man could be.
He'd never had these kinds of reactions to a woman before.
He was in new territory. Maddie had turned his world upside down.
Chapter Nine
Maddie figured she'd made her point. Two days straight she'd helped work cattle like the rest of her partners. She'd worked hard and her body ached—but there were good signs that tomorrow would be better.
The first day when Cliff had come along she'd expected him to scowl and tell her to take it easy. Instead he'd backed off and it had been Rafe and the gang who'd watched her like hawks. If she didn't know any better—and she did—they were hoping Cliff would open his mouth and she'd explode. The mud-grubbers. But he hadn't—oh he wasn't happy and every time their gazes had met she knew it. But he kept his opinion to himself.
Today he hadn't come along, choosing instead to look at more properties. He'd seemed a little disgruntled at breakfast and headed off soon after she'd walked into the kitchen.
As odd as it was, she'd missed sparring with him today. It was actually fun. Did that make her weird?
She had obviously been kicked in the head by Buford.
Cliff remained on her mind Friday after work. She'd cleaned up and headed to town for a meeting about the festival coming up in a week. With all the Buford and Cliff shenanigans, she'd almost forgotten she'd gotten roped into helping them. Once she'd remembered her commitment she'd tried not to stress about it. She was doing pretty good too, considering the meeting involved the matchmakers. She was anticipating a lot of questions.
Three weeks ago Norma Sue had snookered her by saying since Maddie was now a land owner, it would be good for her to get involved helping the town's economy. Maddie wasn't so sure she believed the matchmakers' reason, especially since she hadn't gone to the guys with the same request. But she was a land owner now. And the fellas had agreed to help her with the riding lesson pen she'd chosen to be involved with, so that was good.
"Yoo-hoo, Maddie, over here!" Esther Mae called, her bright red hair standing out like a beacon the moment Maddie walked into Sam's.
"Where is everyone?" she asked, assuming the other ladies who helped run the festivals would be here. Lacy the local hairstylist was a huge help and usually in on the meetings. There were several others too but the older ladies and Lacy, were the hub of the group.
Norman Sue shook her head. "Lacy's tied up trying to rescue Maureen Simpson from her self-inflicted color disaster. Poor woman has messed herself up but good."
Esther May harrumphed. "It's terrible. Looks like she dipped her head in a can of black tar. Every time she gets bored she does something different to her hair and poor Lacy has to fix the problem."
"Some people are restless that way," Adela said. Maddie had never heard the gentle lady utter a bad word about anyone.
"True." Norma Sue grinned wide, her plump cheeks shiny. "If Esther Mae had that notion, there is no telling what her hair would look like."
Esther Mae looked appalled. "Ha! I have other things that keep my attention. For one, Maddie and her cowboy. Tell us about that good-lookin' hunk you were kissing the other day?"
Maddie felt a headache coming on. She'd known this was coming.
Adela leaned toward her and squeezed her arm with her delicate hand. "We'd heard Rafe's twin brother, was back in town. Such a nice looking young man."
"Cliff. Yes, he is." It was true, he was nice. Maddening and bossy at times, but a nice guy. She thought about the way her pulse had skittered as she'd sneaked a peek at him while he was riding his horse and roping calves. Hunk described him perfectly. She realized all three ladies were watching her with big grins.
"I was showing him property," she added quickly. It was a lame evasive attempt. "I was only helping him out."
"Looked like he needed a lot of help." Norma Sue chuckled, her eyes twinkling.
Maddie had stepped right into that one.
Esther Mae tapped her packet of diet sweetener on the table top like a gavel. "Honey, there is nothing wrong with kissing a man. You need to be doing more of that. We've been worried about you, isn't that right, Norma Sue?"
"Absolutely." Her friend jumped in with both feet. "Kissing is great. Don't think because we're older than you that we don't enjoy o
ur fair share. That Roy Don still turns my head every time he ambles into a room. But if you're always working like you are then you're never gonna find time to meet a man to smooch with."
Maddie almost choked on her water.
Adela bobbed her dewy, white haired head in agreement. "And that is exactly why we were so delighted to see you snuggled up to him on Tuesday."
"You need to get out more," Esther Mae said. "It's healthy, and honey you're supposed to have some fun. Go to the movies, out to eat. To a festival—which we happen to have a lot of."
Norma Sue was grinning widely again. "That's right. Festivals give our cowboys and cowgirls like you a chance to kick up your boots every once in a while."
"Okay, I'm helping at the festival." Maddie stared at the matchmakers, a little stupefied by their logic. She'd been afraid of this, but it wasn't so bad.
And what had Cliff really done?
Made her wake up?
Made her want to finally confront her fear of abandonment?
As if it had been planned before hand, Maddie heard a familiar, delicious laugh and shot a startled glance over her shoulder. Sure enough there was Cliff walking into the diner with the group of cowboys he'd promised to give bull riding tips too. His gaze locked onto hers like she was the only person in the crowded diner.
His laughter stalled and tension cracked between them like a bull whip. His eyes warmed, a slow smile tickled Maddie's insides as if he'd just traced the curve of her cheek with his fingertips. Or teased her lips with a brush of his lips on hers.
Oh goodness.
Esther Mae's sigh from across the table made Maddie jump and snap to.
She had a romantic movie moment. A boy-meets-girl-sigh-worthy moment that Maddie had never experienced before, not personally. She'd watched many a chick-flick over the years and experienced moments like that.
But this was a first.
"Yoo-hoo, Cliff. Over here," Esther Mae called.
Maddie's jaw dropped and it was crawl under the table time.
Cliff parted from his friends and came their way. His long legs had him to the table in three strides.
His smile continued to dazzle as he held out his hand to each of the ladies. "It's been a long time, ladies. Y'all look like you're doing well and having a good time."
"Oh, we are," Esther Mae cooed. "We were actually discussing our Maddie here."
Maddie went on full alert.
Norma Sue pushed back her white Stetson. "We've been thinking that our Maddie should get out more. You know date more, and we're just thrilled to pieces about the two of you."
Oh, no. Maddie had relaxed. Forgotten she'd let the ladies see her thoughts—they were good at reading signs of attraction. She almost rubbed the tension that had formed smack in the middle of her eyes but caught herself before doing it. Instead she willed her expression to relax as Cliff's amused gaze slid to hers.
"I can't imagine Maddie not having dates lined up from here to the next county," he said, sounding like he meant what he said.
Norma Sue frowned. "Oh, she could, but she works all the time. We're trying to pull her out of the pasture more."
"That's right," Esther Mae interrupted in a rush. "There's more to life than riding a horse and roping a bunch of cows."
Surely this wasn't happening.
"I couldn't agree more." Cliff grinned and Maddie scowled nervously at him. He knew exactly what he was doing adding fuel to the meddlesome posse's bonfire. They were eating it up.
"Matter of fact," he said, milking the whole ordeal for all it was worth. "I heard the theater on the outskirts of town is great and I was going to see if Maddie would go with me this weekend. Maybe y'all could help a cowboy out and put in a good word for me."
If she hadn't been so mad at him she would have laughed. He was really cute and having such a fun time teasing her. And that was what he was doing, she knew it. But still, please-Louise, he was about to make her life hard.
The problem was that he had no idea who he was dealing with. While the innocent looking posse knew exactly what they were doing.
At least she thought they did. Their matchmaking resume had blossomed into the high double digits in the last few years.
That lit their eyes up and if Cliff had been sitting down Maddie would have kicked him under the table for encouraging them!
"That's perfect, Maddie," Adela encouraged. "You should do that."
"But—"
"Maddie," Esther Mae joined in. "It's not healthy the way you work all the time."
"I like working," Maddie argued. "And no one says anything about it when a man works like that. Norma Sue, you're a ranch woman, you know what it's like." It was true. Norma Sue loved her work. The woman wore overalls or jeans all the time with boots and her white Stetson.
"She's got you on that, Norma," Esther Mae agreed.
"Hold on. I love ranch work, sure do. But when I met my Roy Don that man made my heart start thinking of other things. Believe me, I was more than ready to get out of the sun and make a life with that cowboy." She grinned. "Like we told you a few minutes ago, there is a lot more to life than cattle. Some really good stuff. Like that kissin' you and this good lookin' hunk of cowboy were doing the other day."
Maddie rubbed her suddenly clammy hands on her thighs, as heat suffused her cheeks, thoughts of that kiss she'd shared with Cliff instantly came to mind. No matter how much she tried not to think about it she wouldn't mind doing it again. Her gaze flicked to his and he smiled, as if he could read her mind!
Laughter crinkled the edges of Cliff's eyes. "Sounds good to me."
Maddie's mind reeled. She didn't ever remember the matchmakers ever, ever, being so blunt and to the point. Did they consider her that desperate—or that hard to find a match for?
If they only knew how badly she wanted a family. How she struggled with making ranching be enough fulfillment for her because she didn't think anyone could ever love her enough to stick around. Or that she'd let them close enough.
Sadly she knew that the way the ladies depicted her was exactly how it would be if she didn't make some changes.
Esther Mae patted the edge of her short red hair. "A woman has to show the fellas she's available. Why, Maddie you've got walls up a mile high and they need to be torn down. Cliff, don't you think that would be fun?"
Maddie gasped. "Esther Mae!" This was beyond okay.
Cliff's brows dipped.
"Oh, I didn't mean nothing mean about that," Esther Mae said, actually looking sheepish. "I—"
"She gets carried away sometimes," Adela apologized giving her friend a gentle warning look.
Cliff cocked his head and his eyes thoughtful. "The man who falls for Maddie needs to love her for the woman she is. Maddie, here, needs a partner with a vision for the same things she wants. I wouldn't change anything about her."
Maddie's stomach tumbled a few times and her heart followed. Humiliation burned her cheeks as she hated to think what Cliff might be thinking after all of this craziness.
Cliff's expression shifted with sincerity. "I'm serious, Maddie. I really would love to take you to the theater. But only if you want to go."
Maddie didn't have to see the other three pairs of eyes to know that they shared her focus on Cliff. Maddie could feel their matchmaking minds speed into overdrive.
Her heart raced out of control at his words and she didn't know whether to whack him with a menu for helping create this fiasco or thank him for the invitation.
Norma Sue elbowed her. "Say something, Maddie. He's good."
Maddie stood up. "Fine. I'll go." She looked about the table. "But, so you know—I understand exactly what just happened here. And y'all do not play fair." Zeroed in on the exit she didn't stop until she was at her truck.
Her life had just turned into a circus.
And she'd accepted a date with Cliff...
Chapter Ten
"I have a date with Maddie," Cliff told Rafe a few hours after the incident at the diner.
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They had met at one of the neighboring ranch arenas to watch the group of young cowboys ride bulls like he'd promised.
Cliff was still reeling over what had happened in the diner. He wasn't real sure the posse wasn't a few cards short of a full deck. He hadn't appreciated them making Maddie feel bad about herself. Although he didn't think that was what they'd meant to do he'd seen it in her eyes. Some of the advice they'd offered could do her some good. But still...wow, they'd poured it on strong.
The truth was, he'd walked right into their little setup with his eyes wide open.
Sure he was teasing Maddie, and going along with them before it had gotten out of hand. But only because he could sense that they really cared about Maddie. They wanted good things for her. Still, they'd gotten a little carried away.
And Adela had completely blindsided him when she'd been the one who suggested the date.
He'd gotten serious when he realized Maddie thought he was having a good time toying with her.
"Really?" Rafe said.
"You don't have a problem with that do you?"
Rafe had his arms crossed and hanging over the edge of the arena. He cocked his head at Cliff. "None. Just treat her with respect."
"And you actually thought you had to tell me that." Cliff was no saint, but he wasn't some womanizing love'em and leave'em jerk.
"No that's not it. You need to know Maddie is special."
"I know that."
"I don't know if you do. She doesn't date and we've all noticed that. She's become like a little sister to us but we don't pry. She's private and the fact that she's accepted a date with you is a good thing. I'm thinking you need to know the full score though. I think she could be hurt real easy. She's not as tough as she wants us all to think."
"I had figured some of that out, but thanks for filling me in," Cliff said.
Rafe turned toward him. "Look, I know we had a crummy background and I know you've been running around the country trying to outrun it all these years."
MULE HOLLOW MATCHMAKERS 21: NEW HORIZON RANCH 01: Her Mule Hollow Cowboy Page 6