Heart of the Falcon

by Francis Ray

  “Your boyfriends didn’t seem to be around when it counted.”

  She grimaced. “One did win me a four-foot fuzzy green snake at the State Fair of Texas in Dallas when I was sixteen.”

  “I think I can do better than that.”

  “Daniel, I wasn’t hinting.”

  “I know. That’s why I’m going to win you one.” Taking her arm, he steered them through the crowd toward the counter.

  Before they were halfway there, the sharp-eyed booth huckster saw them approaching and began his pitch about how easy it was to win the young woman the stuffed animal of her choice from the top two rows. All the strong man had to do was completely shoot out the red bull’s-eye on the target in twenty pellet shots.

  Taking out his wallet, Daniel turned to Madelyn. “How many?”

  “Two dollars for twenty shots,” replied the worker, placing a pellet gun on the scarred wooden counter.

  Daniel didn’t take his eyes from Madelyn. “I was asking you how many stuffed animals you wanted.”

  She barely kept her mouth from sagging. Not for a moment did she think he was bragging. He was utterly confident in his ability to do anything he set his mind to. It was an awesome realization.

  Although shredded target centers hung from one end of the booth to the other, she didn’t doubt the difficulty of accomplishing such a task. Each time a pellet struck the target, the paper would fan backward, making it more difficult to hit the red center with the next shot.

  Madelyn glanced at Daniel, noting his patience, his confidence. She was just as confident in him. She switched her attention to the display of elephants, lions, and bears. There wasn’t a green snake in sight.

  “The brown teddy bear.”

  “That’s on the bottom row. You’ll have to hit five in a row. No misses,” the man said.

  “Dan—”

  “Line them up,” Daniel said, cutting her off.

  “Ten dollars.”

  Daniel handed the man a ten-dollar bill. Only then did the attendant move to set up the targets, then he placed four other pellet guns beside the first.

  “Remember if you miss one, you’ll have to start all over again,” the attendant reminded him.

  “He won’t miss,” Madelyn said, her arms folded across her chest. She glared at the man behind the counter.

  Daniel winked at her, then picked up the gun. Her confidence in him shouldn’t have made him feel a foot taller, but it did. If he didn’t watch himself, Madelyn could become more of a problem.

  He should have left her hours ago, but there was something about her smile that was irresistible and made him want to keep her smiling. He had come to San Antonio to donate funds and finalize plans for a work-study program to be overseen by Carlos for Hispanic, Native American, and African-American high school students—not fool around with a woman. Yet here he was, trying to win her a darn teddy bear whose fur would probably fall out in six weeks.

  Hoisting the gun upward, Daniel sighted down the barrel and began pulling the trigger. Paper popped and danced as the small black pellets tore into the red circle. Picking up another gun, he began firing again. He continued until the last gun was empty.

  Madelyn’s slim fingers closed around his arm as the attendant slowly removed the clothespins holding the targets. By the time the grim-faced man laid the last tattered remains in front of Madelyn and Daniel, a crowd had formed to see the results.

  Madelyn squealed like a schoolgirl. In each one the red circle was completely obliterated. “You did it! You did it! We won! We won!”

  She threw her arms around Daniel’s neck, intending to kiss him on the cheek. His head turned. Their lips met, clung.

  Fire swept through her. Need warred with common sense. Move closer or pull back?

  Every instinct in Daniel shouted for him to push her away. He couldn’t. Her lips were too soft, too sweet and alluring. He knew he was headed for disaster, but he was powerless to keep from pulling her into his arms and deepening the kiss.

  It was the best and worst decision of his life. Her body seemed to melt into his, offering herself to him without reservation, without coyness. Daniel accepted the gift with reverence, with barely leashed desire.

  “Way to go, man.”

  “Wow!”

  “See what winning can do for you men? There’s nothing like a grateful, happy woman. Who’s gonna be the next man to step up and play?”

  The loud voices snapped Daniel back to awareness of where he was and what he was doing. Abruptly he lifted his head. Looking into Madelyn’s dazed, desire-filled eyes, he wanted nothing more than to take her someplace and make love to her.

  None too gently, Daniel pulled Madelyn’s arms from around his neck and set her away from him. The look of rejection on her beautiful face tore at him and almost had him pulling her back into his arms. Almost.

  He faced the grinning attendant. “I believe you owe the lady a teddy bear.”

  “Don’t you want to win the mate and make her twice as happy?” the carnival worker questioned slyly. “It would be a shame to separate them since they’re the only bears I have.”

  “Some of us don’t need mates,” Daniel snapped.

  The man quickly rushed to pick up the bear and set it on the counter. “Whatever you say, mister.”

  Feeling irritable, Daniel handed the stuffed animal to Madelyn. “Here you go.”

  “Thank you.” Her fingers sank into the soft brown fur. Glassy black eyes stared up at her. She glanced at the other teddy bear behind the counter and bit her lip. Although she knew the man was trying to con them, she still wasn’t immune to his suggestion. She looked at Daniel.

  “If you want the other one, I’ll win it for you but not because of what he said,” Daniel told her tightly. “It’s silly to think of a stuffed animal needing a mate when most people can’t find and don’t want or need one.”

  Madelyn’s fingers tightened. Her happiness of moments ago disappeared. He was upset with her. She shouldn’t have kissed him. “No thank you,” she replied politely.

  His jaw clenched. “If there’s nothing else you want to see, I think I should take you back to your hotel.”

  Madelyn swallowed the lump in her throat. “No, I’m ready to leave.”

  Taking the animal from her, Daniel started from the area. Fighting tears, Madelyn followed. By the time they reached the door of her hotel room, Madelyn’s nerves were ragged. Daniel hadn’t said one word since they left the street fair.

  She had barely opened the door before he stepped past her to place the animal in her room. “Good night. Have a safe trip home.”

  “Daniel,” she said as he stepped back into the hallway. The expressionless face that turned toward her wasn’t reassuring. It certainly didn’t invite conversation.

  “Yes?” The word was clipped.

  She clutched her purse in her hand, gathering her courage. “Tell me one thing. Are you leaving me at the door because I’m Matt and Kane’s sister or because I’m a lousy kisser?”

  Heat flared in his slumberous eyes, then centered on her lips. Her body quickened.

  Slowly his gaze lifted. “I’m not one for long-term relationships.”

  Madelyn took her courage in both hands. “I don’t remember asking you for one.”

  He smiled sadly. “Everything about you asks for one. You’re not the kind of woman to go from one affair to the next. I’m not the kind of man who offers a woman anything else.”

  “Would we be having this conversation if I weren’t who I am?” She knew she was pushing it, but when you were hurting inside, you’d fight for survival at all cost … including laying your pride on the line.

  “Good night, Madelyn.”

  Her throat stung. “Thank you for the stuffed animal. I had a won—” She swallowed. “Good night.”

  “Don’t do this to either of us.”

  She gazed at him with mute eyes, then swallowed again.

  “If I give you what you’re asking for, neither one of
us is going to be able to look the other in the eye in the morning.”

  He couldn’t have said it any plainer. She could have him for the night, but only the night. She wasn’t that courageous or that stupid. “I’ll be sure and tell the family I met you.”

  Blunt-tipped fingers touched the brim of his black Stetson. Turning, he walked down the hall toward the elevators.

  With each step, she felt the tightness in her throat grow more unbearable. Swallowing did little good. Just before the hallway ended, he stopped and glanced over his shoulder.

  “Close the door and go inside,” he ordered.

  She bit her lip.

  “You aren’t a little girl any longer. Don’t ask for something you can’t handle.”

  Nothing he could have said would have worked any better. Stepping back, she closed the door. Pressing her back against the smooth wood, she stared at her teddy bear.

  It occurred to her as tears rolled down her cheek that for the second time in her life, she had been left alone in her hotel room in San Antonio because she didn’t believe in casual sex. The other time it hadn’t mattered—this time she was afraid it mattered too much.

  * * *

  Daniel’s tense shoulders slumped. Who would have ever thought he’d have trouble keeping his hands off a wide-eyed woman like Madelyn Taggart.

  She called to him in ways he had never experienced before. Her smile charmed. Her laugh invited him to join in. Her voice stroked him. Her touch fired his blood.

  Madelyn Taggart wasn’t for him. So why was walking away one of the most difficult things he had ever done in his life?

  * * *

  The answering machine was blinking in Madelyn’s bedroom when she arrived home Sunday afternoon. She wasn’t naive enough to think it was Daniel calling. He didn’t have her phone number. That he hadn’t asked for her unlisted number even before the kiss continued to bother her. She couldn’t help feeling as if she had failed to interest him as a potential friend as well as a woman.

  After hauling in her luggage, the gifts for the twins, and the teddy bear, she punched the recall button. As the messages played, there were no surprises.

  Her parents wanted her to call when she arrived home. The same instructions from Kane and Matt … only their wives had made the phone calls. The fourth message was from Jeremiah Gant. His irritatingly cocky voice made the same request.

  Madelyn screwed up her face. If he asked her out again, she was going to scream. He was a successful accountant who attended her church, but he was also full of himself. He couldn’t seem to understand why she and every other woman wasn’t beating his door down.

  The next caller had her smiling again. Sid Wright, her neighbor from two doors down in her apartment complex, wanted to remind her that they had tickets to the Houston Grand Opera to see Carmen the next night. Going out with Sid wasn’t dating. His girlfriend, Gloria, was an international flight attendant and was gone a great deal.

  Picking up the phone, Madelyn began returning the calls. She put off the most difficult call … Kane … to last. Somehow he always knew when things were bothering her. Casually mentioning she had met Daniel Falcon to her parents had elicited only mild interest. Her oldest brother would be another story.

  “What was he doing in San Antonio?” asked Kane.

  “Getting a new mold made for his boots.”

  Kane chuckled. “He likes the finer things in life, but flying over nine hundred miles is reaching even for Daniel. There had to be another reason.”

  Madelyn glanced at the teddy bear. “If there was, he didn’t confide in me.”

  “Don’t feel bad. He confides in few people,” Kane said. “I didn’t know until I heard the news this morning that his company is moving from Denver to Houston.”

  “Houston?” she almost shouted.

  “I take it he didn’t tell you.”

  Madelyn’s misery increased on recalling his unease when she told him she lived in Houston. He probably thought she would be one of those women chasing after him. Kissing him had only confirmed his speculations.

  “N-No, he didn’t.”

  “Sounds like the Daniel I know. Can’t blame him though. Looks like the oil and gas industry is about to go boom again, and he’s going to be a big part of it. Letting the competition know your plans would be business suicide.”

  “Yes.”

  “Looks like you’ll be seeing him again then.”

  Madelyn chewed on her lip. “I doubt it. He’s a busy man.”

  “You’re both in Houston. Both in the petroleum business. You’ll see him from time to time.”

  She managed a shaky laugh. “The underlings don’t often mingle with the top brass.”

  Kane snorted. “Daniel’s not the type to judge a person by their job description or their salary. You’ll see him again.”

  Madelyn was unsure if she was feeling better or worse when she hung up the phone five minutes later.

  Daniel was coming to Houston.

  Heaven help her.

  Chapter 4

  Heaven might help her, but the news media wouldn’t.

  Daniel Falcon hit Houston with a media blitz that was unprecedented in recent history. Everyone wanted to interview him, see him, press flesh with him. The mayor and the city council members loved anyone who was legally bringing millions of taxable dollars into the city.

  He was an instant hit.

  Not since the Houston Rockets won the NBA title had the media covered an event so thoroughly. Only now one man held center court, and he did it brilliantly.

  The camera loved him. He didn’t have a bad angle to photograph or film. The press and citizens of Houston couldn’t seem to get enough of his effortless charm or his exotic male beauty.

  Friday afternoon at Special Occasions Beauty Shop proved no exception. The moment his smiling, handsome face appeared on the TV screen, everyone paused to watch, listen, and speculate.

  “Now that’s what I call one fine man.”

  “Look at those big hands. I bet that man could do a lot of damage.”

  “Hands nothing,” shouted a dyed redhead getting a wave. “I wanna see the feet to see if he’s gonna go the distance.”

  Special Occasion Beauty Shop erupted into bawdy laughter, foot stomping, and finger snaps. The wide open elongated room, done in purple and white, and filled with a profusion of cascading ivy and lush tropical plants, invited conversation and interaction between its clients—which they took full advantage of.

  Refusing to join in, Madelyn hid her face behind a copy of Our Texas magazine. Scrunching down farther in her overstuffed purple floral chair, she wished she were still under the dryer.

  Daniel Falcon had struck again—this time on a live broadcast with the local TV station. It was almost impossible to turn on the TV news or read the paper without seeing his face. Although she admired him and his accomplishments, she just wished seeing him didn’t remind her of how little she had impressed him.

  Not one time had he mentioned to her his plans to relocate Falcon Industries. Yet he was telling the interviewer the move had been planned for months. Add to that his plans to pitch his considerable wealth into finding the next mega oil fields, and she felt almost betrayed.

  He could have said something, given her a hint. He hadn’t. His silence couldn’t have made it clearer that he didn’t trust her or expect her to be a part of his life when he reached Houston.

  Although she tried to concentrate on the editorial by General Berry in the magazine, it was impossible. The announcer’s words drew her like the proverbial magnet. In almost reverent tones she described Daniel as brilliant, intelligent, and charismatic. Madelyn noted she left out ruthless in getting what he wanted. The reporter last night on the ten o’clock news hadn’t, but the newscaster had been a male.

  Mr. Falcon has an uncanny knack for tapping into the next big-money venture before it hits big. His record as an industry forecaster and trendsetter is unprecedented in the business world. If anyone doubt
ed that after a decade of lean years for the energy industry that energy would be back, then I suggest you look at Daniel Falcon.

  I know this reporter will be watching closely. This is Erica Stone reporting live from the temporary headquarters of Falcon Industries in downtown Houston. Back to you in the studio, Elvin.

  “Somebody give Erica a bib, I think the woman is drooling.”

  “I bet she won’t be back in the studio for a while.”

  “You think he likes ’em chesty?”

  “He’s a man, isn’t he?”

  “My man says more than a mouthful is a waste.”

  “That’s because you’re still wearing double-A’s.”

  More laughter, including the teased woman wearing double-A’s.

  Surreptitiously Madelyn glanced down. She was all right in that area. But it wasn’t likely that Daniel had any interest in finding out. He had been in Houston two weeks, and he had yet to contact her.

  She snorted. As if he’d take the time. He was too busy giving interviews and grinning at chesty females like Erica Stone, who probably wore a push-up bra.

  Instantly Madelyn was ashamed of herself. It wasn’t like her to be waspish or vindictive. Daniel had her as confused and off kilter as she had ever been. She didn’t know what to think of him, and apparently she wasn’t alone.

  It was a testament to his craftiness that he had virtually snuck into the oil and gas industry unnoticed. The same day he broke ground for his five-acre business development, he announced his purchase of Slate Oil Company, stunning people again. Slate Oil had been family owned for over seventy-five years and no one expected George Slate to sell a company his grandfather started despite its financial woes.

  George Slate couldn’t be reached for comment, and Daniel Falcon wore his perpetual smile just before saying, “No comment.”

  “Madelyn, I’m ready for you.”

  Madelyn almost leaped into the black leather chair. In thirty minutes she’d be out of here and on her way home. Tomorrow she planned a quiet day at home, and she wouldn’t have to listen to one person comment about Daniel. Her relief was short-lived.

  “You work for Sinclair Petroleum Company, don’t you?” questioned the beautician blow-drying Madelyn’s black hair.