The Maverick's Return

by Marie Ferrarella

  “I guess this is kind of like a picnic,” he told her. Danny pushed back his seat so that he had enough room to spread out several napkins and balance his box of wings on his lap.

  “Remember the one we had on your family’s ranch?” Annie asked, instantly stirring up a whole bunch of memories.

  “I remember that the stars were out by the time we finished eating,” Dan recalled.

  More than that, he remembered every detail of that night. It had been the closest thing to perfect he had ever experienced.

  That was the night we made a baby, Anne thought.

  When his eyes met hers, she knew that Danny was remembering the same thing. Not the baby part, because he had no way of knowing she’d gotten pregnant. Instead he was remembering that had been the night when they’d made love for the first—and the last—time. A week after that, his parents were in that awful car accident. And then, right after the funeral, he was gone.

  The mention of the picnic not only brought a flood of memories back for Danny, but it also made him feel utterly drawn to her.

  There they were, in his Jeep, two orders of buffalo wings spread out between them and all he could think of was taking her into his arms and kissing her.

  That would be all she’d need, he upbraided himself, to have him force unwanted attention on her. Desperate to change the subject, he searched for something else to say and remembered the look on her face when he’d explained why he had walked into the clinic.

  Like a drowning man grasping at straws, he asked Annie, “Um, why did you look so confused when I told you that Jamie wanted me to bring in his monthly payment to the clinic?”

  Stunned, Annie blinked. The subject had changed so fast, she’d almost gotten whiplash. For a second there, Danny had had that look in his eyes, that same look he’d had that night at the picnic.

  She’d thought he was going to kiss her.

  Idiot! she chided herself. She couldn’t allow him to kiss her. That would be starting something that couldn’t be started.

  At least one of them had some sense.

  She forced herself to think back to this morning. “Um, because Jamie doesn’t have an outstanding balance with the vet. Your brother makes a point of paying each time the vet comes out to the ranch.”

  That was the impression he’d gotten when she’d appeared so confused and surprised this morning. “So what was in the envelope when you finally opened it?” he wanted to know.

  “Oh, there was a check in there,” she told him. “It was for a small amount. And he included a note. He said it was an advance against the vet’s next visit.”

  “I guess he was trying to come up with an excuse to get me to see you again,” Dan said, feeling somewhat self-conscious.

  He didn’t like being manipulated, but at the same time, he understood why Jamie had done it. His brother’s heart was in the right place. Having found happiness, Jamie no doubt wanted the same for him.

  Not going to happen, Jamie.

  “Yes, I kind of figured that part out,” Annie told him with a self-deprecating laugh.

  “And I would like to see you again,” Dan told her.

  Finished eating, she wiped her fingers on one of the many napkins Danny had thought to bring with the take-out orders. “You mean for lunch?”

  Danny shrugged, not wanting to restrict himself with anything so specific. “For lunch. For a walk. Or maybe we could go horseback riding the way we used to,” he reminded her. Danny saw the uncertain expression slip over her face. Maybe that was too much, he thought as he backtracked. “Or just to talk.”

  “About what?”

  “We don’t need to have a topic outlined ahead of time,” he reminded her. “We can talk about whatever comes up.” And then he went another route. “Or we don’t need to talk at all. We can just enjoy each other’s company.” Finished with his lunch, he packed the wrappers back up into the box and folded it over to contain the denuded bones and used napkins. “Tell you what. I’ll come by Daisy’s Donut Shop tomorrow at twelve thirty. If you want to join me, that’ll be great. If you decide that you don’t want to, or you have second thoughts, I’ll understand.” His eyes met hers. “No pressure,” he promised softly.

  Danny’s magnetic blue eyes had always had a way of getting to her. She could recall getting happily lost in them for hours.

  “Twelve thirty,” Annie repeated. And then she glanced down at her watch. “Oh damn,” she said, clearly distressed. Before he could ask her what was wrong, she told him. “I’m late. I’m supposed to be back in the office. I went to lunch early, remember?”

  He did now. Time had stood still for him as he’d reveled in her company, but she was right. The hour she’d had was gone.

  “I’ll tell your boss it was my fault,” he volunteered as he started the Jeep and pulled away. “I made you late.”

  She appreciated what he was offering to do, but it wasn’t necessary.

  “No, that’s all right. I’m a grown woman, Danny. Nobody ‘makes’ me anything. I’ve been working for the doctor for a while now. I’ll just tell him that I lost track of time and I’ll promise to make it up by coming in early tomorrow. Brooks is a good guy. He’ll understand.”

  Danny was skeptical. “Are you sure? I don’t mind talking to him and taking the blame.”

  “No,” she said firmly. There was no way she wanted to have someone make excuses for her, least of all Danny.

  He was silent for a moment. “I didn’t mean to make you late.”

  Having him feel guilty about something so minor was not the way to go if their relationship had any hopes of being repaired. There were far bigger issues that still needed to be resolved, not the least of which was whether or not to tell Danny the truth about Janie’s parentage.

  She also sensed that there was something he wasn’t telling her, and until he could trust her enough to level with her, their relationship was going to be in a suspended state.

  “You didn’t know what time I was supposed to get back. It’s up to me to keep track of the time,” she informed him.

  He laughed softly. “I guess motherhood really changed you.”

  He meant it as a compliment, but he had a feeling from her answer that Annie didn’t quite take it that way.

  “Twelve years changed me,” she corrected. “I was a teenager when you left Rust Creek Falls. I’m not a teenager anymore.”

  He came to a stop right in front of the clinic rather than in the parking lot across the way. His eyes washed over her, as if seeing her for the first time since he’d arrived back.

  “No,” he replied, “you’re not.”

  There was notable appreciation in Danny’s voice that was not lost on her. She felt a warmth climbing up along her throat, leaving its mark on her cheeks.

  Annie felt it best not to say anything in response to his comment. Instead, she got out of the Jeep.

  “Thanks for lunch,” she said just before she ran through the clinic’s front door.

  Without being able to explain exactly why, Dan felt as if he’d been on the receiving end of a one-two punch. Blowing out a breath, he pulled away and drove back to Jamie’s ranch.

  * * *

  Dan looked at his watch.

  It was thirty seconds later than it had been when he’d looked at his watch the last time. Twelve thirty had come and gone and one o’clock was looming on the horizon, just ninety seconds away.

  He was sitting in Daisy’s Donut Shop.

  Alone.

  Annie hadn’t come.

  He thought—again—of calling the vet clinic to speak to her. He’d already thought of doing that twice before and each time, he’d wound up talking himself out of it. He didn’t want to make Annie feel like he was bothering her at work or even worse, that he was stalking her.

 
Most likely, she had gotten swamped at the clinic again the way she had yesterday. Or maybe one of the vet techs had called in sick and there was no one to man the reception desk when she went to lunch.

  Or, for that matter, maybe she had just changed her mind and decided that seeing him again—especially seeing him two days in a row—was a bad idea. Undoubtedly Annie was just going to work through her lunch and completely forget about seeing him today.

  Or possibly ever.

  If that was the case, Annie was definitely within her rights, he thought. For that matter, she might even view this as payback for what she felt he had done to her by taking off the way he had right after his parents’ funeral.

  Thinking back to that day, he recalled that she’d held his hand all through it, squeezing it the way people did when they were trying to infuse their own strength into someone else, hoping to help them get through something particularly devastating.

  Annie had really tried to help him get through that difficult time, doing the best she could—and he had still left her.

  Danny sighed. Annie wasn’t coming, he realized, resigning himself to the fact.

  Very slowly, he got up, easing himself away from the tiny table for two. His appetite gone, he left the coffee and donuts he’d bought in anticipation of her company and headed for the door.

  Just as he was about to push open the door in order to go out, the door was suddenly moved out of range. Hand outstretched, he found himself tripping forward.

  Chapter Nine

  Danny managed to catch himself a second before he made bodily contact with the customer who was entering the donut shop at that exact moment.

  Annie swallowed a gasp. Instinct took over and rather than stepping back out of harm’s way, her hands flew out to him, anticipating his fall.

  Her heart was pounding wildly in her chest as she asked him, “Are you okay?”

  Dan caught himself grinning like a kid who’d stumbled across Christmas presents in the closet in October.

  “You came,” he exclaimed. “I’m terrific.”

  Anne stepped inside the coffee shop to get out of people’s way.

  “You were leaving, weren’t you?” It wasn’t a question; it was an assumption. She flushed just a tad. Her heart slowly began to settle down. “I’m sorry I’m so late, but things went a little crazy at the clinic.”

  Dan nodded understandingly. “I figured as much,” he told her. Now that Annie was here, he didn’t want her to waste any time with needless apologies. “I ordered for us. I’m afraid the coffee’s probably cold, but the pastries are still fresh.”

  Annie smiled. “No problem. I love cold coffee.”

  She said it so that Danny wouldn’t feel bad, but the truth of it was she really did like coffee no matter what state it was in.

  Placing his hand against the small of her back, he steered Annie toward the little table he’d just occupied for the last forty-five minutes.

  As he approached, he saw that one of the people from behind the counter was beginning to clear away the coffees and pastries.

  “No, hey, wait,” he called out to the woman, “I wasn’t done with that.”

  The waitress immediately deposited the dishes of pastries back onto the table. “Oh, I’m sorry, I thought I saw you leaving.”

  “No, I was just going to get a little air.” He pretended to inhale. “You’ve got great air here in Montana. Crisp and clean.”

  The waitress looked at him as if he’d taken leave of his senses.

  “It’s cold,” was all she would say about it. Putting the closed containers of coffee back on the table, the woman withdrew.

  As she did, she gave Annie a warning look. “I’d watch myself around him if I were you.”

  “I fully intend to,” Annie answered with a smile, looking at Danny and not the waitress. “Do you want to take those somewhere and eat?” she asked him, thinking that he would probably like to get out of the little shop.

  “No, she’s right. Montana’s cold. You don’t want to spend your lunch hour sitting in a Jeep, shivering.” He pulled out her chair for her, then took his own after taking off his jacket and draping it on the back of the chair. “So,” he started, amicably, giving her his full attention, “what happened?”

  “What happened?” she echoed, not quite sure what he was asking her about.

  “To make you late,” he prodded.

  Annie waved his question away. It was just the usual work stuff, compounded. She had no desire to bore him to death.

  “Oh, you don’t want to hear about my morning.”

  “Sure I do,” he told her with feeling. “It’s got to be more interesting than standing outside in the cold, fixing twenty feet of fencing.”

  “Well,” she allowed, “I guess it was warmer at any rate.”

  He smiled at Annie, watching the way the rays of sun played off her hair, turning the blond strands into gold. “Sounds more interesting already.”

  Annie’s expression was somewhat dubious as she looked at him. “All right,” she agreed, “but remember, you asked for this.”

  “You won’t hear one single word of complaint,” he promised, making an elaborate show of crossing his heart with the hand that wasn’t holding a cream-filled chocolate donut.

  Annie laughed and the sound was like music to his ears.

  * * *

  The next fifty minutes passed much too quickly. Annie did most of the talking and it was as if they had regained some of their former relationship, at least a little of the ease that they had once felt around one another.

  And then, just as she finished the last of her pastry, he told her, “You’d better be getting back.” Annie looked at him, puzzled. “Your lunch break is almost over,” he explained.

  “You’re keeping track?” she asked, surprised. She hadn’t seen him look down at his watch.

  He nodded. “I didn’t want you to be late two days in a row,” he told her, rising and coming around behind her chair. He held it as he helped her out of it.

  Bemused, Annie asked, “You actually timed this?”

  He couldn’t tell if she was amused or offended by his action. All he could do was restate his reason. “Like I said, I didn’t want you to be late getting back again because of me.”

  As they walked out of the shop, Danny held the door open for her. She smiled at him as she crossed the threshold.

  “What?” he asked. He needed to know why she was smiling so he could do whatever it was again. “Do I have some cream filling on my face?”

  Annie shook her head. “No.”

  “Then why are you looking at me that way?” he wanted to know.

  “It’s nice to know that there’s a little of the old Danny still left inside you.”

  There were times when he really doubted that, even though he had done his best not to let what had happened—what he had caused to happen—bury him in despair. “What makes you say that?”

  “Because someone else would not have gone through the trouble of keeping track of the time, or worrying about me being late getting back to work.” There was a fond look in her eyes as she said, “But the old Danny would have. And you did.”

  They were by her car now and Dan realized this was the last moment he was going to spend with her for at least a while. A feeling of sadness corkscrewed through him.

  “Terminal nice guy, that’s me,” Danny responded with just a touch of sarcasm.

  She saw that the sadness in his eyes that had been missing for a little while as they’d talked in the donut shop was back. She wanted to erase it even though she told herself it shouldn’t matter to her one way or another.

  “Nothing wrong with being a nice guy,” she told him softly.

  He made no comment. Instead, he told her, “This was
nice. Maybe we can do it again sometime.”

  She noticed that he didn’t say anything definite the way he had yesterday. Was he afraid of committing himself to something specific?

  “I’d like that,” Annie told him. “But right now, I have to go.”

  “Right.”

  Dan stepped back, although in reality, he wasn’t blocking her from her car. Annie’s vehicle was right behind her, a ten-year-old pickup truck whose paint was fading in several places. The step back he’d taken was more symbolic than actually necessary. He didn’t want to seem as if he was trying to detain her for even an extra minute.

  “I’ll see you, Annie,” he said as she got into her truck.

  “I hope so,” she answered just before she started up her vehicle and pulled away.

  Danny lost no time in getting into his Jeep. He’d told Jamie he’d be back in plenty of time to help him fix the north gate. He intended to keep his word.

  I hope so.

  The words echoed in his head all the way back to Jamie’s. It accompanied the smile that was on his face.

  * * *

  “So things are going well?” Jamie asked, eyeing Dan over the gate that they were trying to put back up after they’d mended it.

  Jamie had waited to ask his question for what he thought was a decent amount of time after Danny had gotten back from town. He was proud of himself for not immediately jumping on his brother to pump Danny for information.

  “Yeah, I just about got this gate straight,” Danny answered, grunting for effect.

  “I’m not talking about the stupid gate,” Jamie said in exasperation.

  Waiting until he had hammered the three nails he’d been holding in his teeth to the two sides of the gate, Dan looked at his brother with mock innocence and asked, “Then what are you talking about?”

  Jamie scowled. “You know damn well what I’m talking about, Danny. Those trips of yours into town.”