Hard to Hold

by Karen Foley

  The line went dead.

  Maddie stood listening for several seconds longer, before she finally lowered the phone. “Jamie’s alive.”

  Colton took the phone from her and pulled her toward him for a swift, hard hug. “Of course he’s alive. They’re not going to kill him, Madeleine.”

  When he stepped away from her, Maddie immediately missed his warmth and strength. She wanted his arms around her, wanted to hear his voice telling her that everything would be okay. But he was already bending over the table, studying the laptop screen with the other men.

  “We have a location,” Aiden said, indicating the map. “Here, just north of Reno. There’s an abandoned mining operation. I’m bringing up the satellite images now. They should provide a detailed view of the site.”

  “I’ll contact Cooper and let him know where to position his team,” Colton said. He looked at the others standing at the table. “We’ll leave within the hour. Aiden, you come with me. Siyota, you take your men and follow us.”

  Maddie watched as they began writing down coordinates and discussing the layout of the abandoned mine. She turned to Colton. “What about me?”

  “You’ll stay here.” When she would have protested, he pulled her toward the door. “We’ll be back before dinner. This is strictly a reconnaissance mission, and to put men in place, if need be. But nobody is going in, guns blazing, on these guys, okay?”

  Maddie considered him through narrowed eyes. “You promise?”

  “Absolutely.” Seeing her skeptical expression, he heaved an irritated sigh and drew her outside. “I told you to trust me on this, Madeleine. We have some things we need to do to prepare for tomorrow morning and ensure we get your brother back safely. Because as soon as those bastards realize you don’t have their fifty thousand dollars, things are going to get ugly fast.”

  “But you’re not going to do anything today, right?”

  “Nothing that anyone will be aware of. But for now, I need you stay here and promise you won’t do anything stupid, like leave.”

  Maddie bristled. “I won’t—”

  “So help me God, Madeleine, I will handcuff you to the wall if I think you might try to leave this ranch.” His voice was a low growl, and she took an involuntary step back. “Promise me right now.”

  “Okay,” she finally agreed. “I promise.”

  “I’ll be back before dark.” Without warning, Colton pressed a hard kiss to her mouth before releasing her. “Go back up to the house, and—” he shook his head, looking frustrated “—try to behave yourself.”

  10

  MADDIE HAD THOUGHT the day would drag by as she waited for Colton to return, but Susan had clearly anticipated this. Almost from the moment the men left, she kept Maddie busy, first helping to feed the stable of horses that the ranch maintained, and then by helping to prepare the midday meal for the horde of ranch hands.

  Accustomed to cooking for her brother, Maddie had thought nobody could eat more than a teenaged boy. But she hadn’t counted on the hungry men who swarmed Susan’s kitchen just after noon. Together, she and Susan had prepared an enormous batch of spicy rice and beans and cornbread, accompanied by thick slabs of ham.

  The ranch hands made short work of devouring the food, and then quickly went back to their chores, leaving the women to clean up.

  Maddie’s gaze continually drifted to the window, searching the dirt drive that wound toward the main road, but there was no sign of Colton.

  “If he said he’ll be back before dinner, then he will be,” Susan said, accurately reading her thoughts. “Why don’t you help me with supper?”

  Maddie turned and looked at the other woman in astonishment. “Supper? But we’ve barely cleared away the lunch dishes.”

  “There’ll be even more mouths to feed tonight,” she promised. “Colton’s favorite meal is my roasted chicken with biscuits and gravy, so that’s what we’ll have. If you go through that door, you’ll find the pantry and the walk-in cooler. We’ll need six of the thawed chickens and twenty pounds of potatoes.”

  Maddie felt her mouth open before she firmly snapped it shut. She’d had no idea the amount of effort involved in running a working ranch, just in feeding the hands. Colton had said this was a small operation, with just over five hundred cattle, but Susan told her there were always fences to repair and irrigation pipes to monitor, and a dozen other tasks related to keeping the animals and machinery in top condition.

  By the time the two of them had finished preparing dinner and setting the massive farmhouse table, the sun was beginning to sink over the horizon. Maddie didn’t know how much longer she could contain her impatience without taking action.

  “They’ll be back soon,” Susan soothed, sensing her mood. “Try to relax.”

  “Relax?” Maddie gave a short laugh as she used a spatula to remove hot biscuits from a pan and place them into a basket. “I’m not sure I can.” She angled a look at the older woman. “How do you know they’ll be back soon?”

  “Because I know my son. He’s a man of his word.” Colton’s mom smiled. “And because I saw their headlights turn off the main road about five minutes ago.”

  Sure enough, as Maddie spun eagerly toward the window, she saw three vehicles approaching the house. They pulled to a halt just beyond the barn, out of her sight. Several minutes later, Colton opened the door, and he and his stepfather and stepped into the kitchen. Colton dumped his duffel bag and a backpack on a chair in the corner as his gaze found Maddie’s.

  “Okay?” he asked.

  She nodded, unable to prevent the rush of pleasure and relief she felt at seeing him again. Despite the large kitchen and oversize table, he made the room seem small with his sheer presence.

  “We made supper,” she said unnecessarily, indicating the platters of food.

  He came forward to snag a biscuit from a basket on the table, biting into it with relish.

  “What’s in the backpack?” Maddie asked.

  “Nothing much. Just some things I picked up for tomorrow.”

  She wanted to ask more questions, but at that moment ranch hands started entering the kitchen, shuffling past her with mumbled greetings, to take their seats at the table. Shane and Wes appeared from the adjoining room, and Maddie helped Susan finish putting the food on the table.

  “We’ll talk after dinner,” Colton said in a low voice before pulling her down into a chair next to him.

  She nodded. “Okay. Where are your friends?”

  He slanted her a sidelong look, and his tone was dry and sardonic. “Which ones?”

  “Never mind.”

  “Aiden and Siyota stayed in Reno. Relax,” he said, correctly interpreting her anxious expression. “They’re just laying some groundwork. Nothing will happen until tomorrow.”

  Dinner was an energetic event, with so many hungry men at the table, but Maddie noted how both Susan and her husband treated the ranch hands like family. Colton’s mom asked after wives and children, and seemed to know the personal issues of each of the men. Even after the meal was finished, nobody seemed inclined to leave the table. Only after they had gone through several pots of coffee and endless war stories about life on the ranch did the men finally stand up and say their good-nights.

  Susan turned to Colton. “You and Madeleine can stay in the back wing tonight. I made the bed up this morning, and there are fresh towels in the bathroom.”

  Maddie looked questioningly at Colton, but he squeezed her hand beneath the table, warning her to silence.

  “Thanks,” he replied. “I hope you don’t mind if we turn in early. It’s been a long day, and neither of us got much sleep last night.”

  Maddie didn’t miss the knowing look that Susan exchanged with her husband, but when she spoke, her voice was warm. “I understand.” She turned to her sons, who were s
till sitting at the table, reluctant to leave while Colton and Maddie were still there. “Boys, you have evening chores to do, so why don’t you get to it?”

  Maddie hid a smile as they groaned in unison. They sounded so much like Jamie had whenever she’d nagged him to do his homework or clean his room.

  “Go on,” Susan urged. “You can see your brother tomorrow.”

  Maddie murmured her own good-nights as the boys fist-bumped with him and reluctantly left the kitchen. Colton stood up and retrieved his duffel bag and backpack before drawing Maddie to her feet.

  “Thanks for dinner, Mom. It was great.”

  “I’ll see you in the morning, son.”

  Colton paused. “Actually, I plan on getting an early start, but Madeleine will stay here, if you don’t mind.”

  Maddie would have protested, but he shot her a warning look, causing her to clamp her mouth shut. She wouldn’t argue with him in front of his mother and stepfather, but there was absolutely no way he was leaving her behind. After saying good-night, she followed him through the house, her back stiff. On the far side, Colton opened a door to a large bedroom with a cozy sitting area in one corner and an adjoining bathroom. Another door led outside, providing a private entrance to the small apartment.

  “This room was used as a separate living area for the cook before my parents took over the ranch,” he explained, setting his gear on a chair. “The single men sleep in the bunkhouse—at least the ones who don’t live locally.”

  “And what about you?” Maddie walked across the room to the window and stood staring out into the darkness, acutely aware of him standing there. “Where do you usually sleep when you’re here?”

  Colton was silent for a long minute. She watched his reflection in the dark glass as he approached her and then stopped several feet behind her. “I usually sleep in my old bedroom, across the hall from Shane and Wes,” he said quietly. “Would you prefer I sleep there?”

  Maddie felt her breath catch. His words siphoned up decadent images of him—of them—from the previous night. The rational part of her said he should go sleep in his old room. He was too much of a temptation, and nothing good could come of getting physically involved with him, even if it didn’t mean anything. But if he stayed in the main part of the house, she wouldn’t know when he left. At least if they were together in the same room, she’d be able to prevent him from leaving her behind. Drawing in a fortifying breath, she turned to him.

  “Colton—”

  “Forget it,” he said, interrupting her. He spun away, rubbing a hand over the back of his neck. “I didn’t mean to put you on the spot. I’ll sleep somewhere else.”

  Maddie was silent for a moment. “I was going to say that I’d prefer you to stay here with me. I mean, I’d like for you to stay. I want you to.”

  His head swiveled, and she found herself impaled by his dark gaze. He studied her for a moment and then nodded. “Okay. Fine. But it’s still early. Why don’t we sit outside for a bit?”

  Without waiting for her response, he opened the rear door. If she didn’t know better, she’d actually think he was nervous about being alone with her, but that was crazy. She couldn’t imagine anything making Colton Black nervous. Following him outside, she found they were on the wide, wraparound porch. Beside the door was a swinging bench that overlooked the vastness of the surrounding countryside. Even by the dim light of the half-moon, Maddie could make out the gentle rise of hills that culminated in the distant mountains. The temperatures had dipped, and she found herself shivering a little in the night air.

  “Come sit down,” Colton urged and tugged her down onto the swing beside him, giving a gentle push with his foot.

  Maddie held herself away from him, but she could feel his heat even across the short distance that separated them. It was all she could do not to slide closer and absorb his warmth.

  “So what happens tomorrow?” she finally asked.

  “Tomorrow, we get your brother back,” he replied in a clipped tone.

  Maddie turned to stare at him. His profile was stark, and she could see by the set of his jaw that he wouldn’t welcome an argument from her.

  “Why are you doing this?” she finally asked.

  “Because nobody should be allowed to get away with kidnapping and extortion.” He bit out the words. “This is why I studied criminal justice, why I joined the U.S. Marshals Service.”

  “So you always knew you wanted to go into law enforcement?”

  “Pretty much.”

  “Where did you go to school?”

  To her astonishment, he actually looked a little embarrassed. “I went to Stanford.” Her surprise must have shown on her face, because he gave a small shrug. “It’s where my father and my grandfather both went, so it was a foregone conclusion that I would also go.”

  “You said your father lives in Monterey, so I’m guessing he’s not Shoshone?”

  Colton laughed, and Maddie watched as it transformed his face from handsome to breathtaking. She realized she’d never seen him laugh until now, and she liked the way it sounded—deep and rich.

  “No,” he finally said, “my father is definitely not Shoshone.” He paused. “He’s a surgeon, and when he was in medical school, he spent a summer on a Shoshone reservation, working at the local medical center. That’s where he met my mother.”

  “Oh.” Maddie digested this. “So they fell in love.”

  Colton smiled. “For that one summer, they did. After he returned to Stanford, my mother discovered she was pregnant with me. My father offered to marry her, but she refused.”

  Maddie shouldn’t have felt shocked, but somehow the knowledge dismayed her. She didn’t know what kind of childhood she’d expected him to have, but knowing he’d come from a single-parent family made her feel sympathetic to him.

  “I know what you’re thinking, but you’re wrong,” he said, correctly reading her expression. “I had the best of both worlds, living on the reservation during the summer and in Monterey during the school year.”

  Maddie nodded. He was obviously close to both his parents, and she couldn’t help but envy him that.

  “What about you?” he asked, still rocking the swing gently. “How did you end up becoming an accountant?”

  She looked at him, startled, before remembering that of course he knew she was an accountant—he knew everything about her background. Smoothing her fingers over her jeans, she gave a self-conscious shrug.

  “I lost both of my parents when I was still pretty young. After that, my brother and I lived with my grandfather in that cabin.” She gave a soft huff of laughter. “And that’s all we did—live with him. He was the adult, but I pretty much raised my brother. I managed our finances, and have always had a knack for numbers, so becoming an accountant seemed a natural fit.”

  “How did you manage to get your degree and look after your brother at the same time?”

  Maddie recalled those difficult days when her grandfather had insisted she attend college in Elko. He’d somehow managed to set aside enough money to pay for her tuition, as well as her room and board, and Maddie had worked nights at a local restaurant to earn extra money. But that had changed the night Jamie had turned up unexpectedly at her dorm room, saying he couldn’t live in the cabin anymore.

  “After I left for college, my grandfather began drinking again. Nothing Jamie did or said could change his behavior.” She couldn’t keep the bitterness out of her voice at the memory. “He didn’t do any food shopping, or even care if Jamie went to school or not. He completely neglected his own grandson.”

  “So you took him in.”

  Maddie gave him a helpless look. “What else could I do? Jamie showed up at my dorm room at ten o’clock at night, having hitched all the way from the cabin. He was only a child!” She recalled again how horrified she had been upon dis
covering her twelve-year-old brother had hitchhiked along Interstate 80, alone and at night.

  “So what did you do?”

  “What I had to do. I left the dorm and found an apartment with two other students, and brought Jamie to live with me. He went to the local public school, and I worked nights at a nearby restaurant in order to keep up with the rent.” She shrugged. “Once I graduated, I got a job and we found our own place.”

  “You were little more than a kid yourself.”

  Maddie snorted. “Trust me, I grew up fast. My mother died when Jamie was just a toddler, and my father committed suicide about a year later. Not exactly an idyllic childhood.”

  Colton blew out a hard breath and stared upward at the stars for a long moment. “I ran into a friend of yours the night you took my truck. An old coot named Zeke. He said to tell you hello.”

  “Oh, my God,” Maddie groaned. “Is he still alive?”

  “He is, and he certainly remembered you. Said you were a liar and a thief.”

  “He was right.” She gave a rueful laugh. “Back then, I’d have done just about anything for a little money. God knows my grandpa wasn’t doing anything to keep us solvent.”

  “And yet he had money to send you to college,” Colton mused.

  “That’s what’s so confusing,” Maddie admitted. “We lived with next to nothing, but he had no trouble coming up with tuition money for me. I asked him so many times where he got it, but he’d just clam up. I finally decided I didn’t want to know. Later on, though, when he was really sick, he’d say—” She broke off abruptly. She hadn’t meant to share so much with this man. “Never mind.”

  “What did he say?” Reaching across the space between them, Colton laced his fingers with hers. “Tell me.”

  Maddie used her free hand to pinch the bridge of her nose hard, not wanting to remember those days when her grandfather had been terminally ill, and so strung out on his pain meds that she was never sure if he was lucid. But as he had from the beginning, Colton made her want to confide in him, to tell him everything.