Love Me Some Cowboy

by Lisa Mondello

  "—or sugar?" Red highlights shone from her dark hair when her head swung around.

  Hell. Get a grip, Boone. Jaw tightening, he bit off the words. "Black. Just black. You don't need to wait on me."

  Mug in hand, she crossed the floor, her full lips curving. "Oh, please. Don't thank me so sweetly." She was waking up now, her eyes shining with challenge. She handed him the mug.

  "Thanks." Boone sipped too quickly, scalding his tongue.

  Maddie's generous lips curved upward, drawing his attention like moth to a flame.

  "Got, uh, work to do." Before his wings incinerated, Boone headed for the door.

  The hounds of hell nipped at his heels, disguised in the form of a sassy, sexy woman.

  Twenty-nine days and counting.

  * * *

  Maddie leaned against the fence, watching the baby nuzzle its mother's belly, rooting around to nurse. The mare kicked out one leg and shifted. Finally, the baby latched on, and the mare settled in.

  Maddie smiled and laid her head against the railing, sighing out loud. How sweet.

  The border collie pup that had followed her made a sound, and Maddie looked down to see him happily chewing her shoelace.

  "You little rascal. What am I going to do with you? Isn't your mother calling?" She reached down and lifted him up, nuzzling his head with her jaw while she scratched beneath his chin and he whimpered with pleasure. "Beggar."

  He caught a lock of her hair and began chewing on it. Maddie laughed, and he scrambled closer, his little claws tickling her neck. Maddie sat down, giggling, then rolled back on the grass and held him against her chest.

  Boone observed her from the barn, wondering who this woman really was. This morning's siren had morphed into something else altogether. Seeing her so unguarded, so much like a fresh-faced girl, did things to his insides, things he didn't want to think about.

  But he couldn't help smiling as the pup scrambled across her chest and began rooting that wet nose at her neck. Maddie rolled on the ground, giggling like a ten-year-old girl. Then she scooped up the pup and hugged him hard.

  Lucky pup.

  Boone knew it was foolish even while he was walking toward her, but he just had to figure this woman out. Then he could write her off and forget her.

  Maddie felt the shadow cross her body before she looked up, but somehow she'd already known it was Boone. Something about him seemed to tickle her antennae every time he was anywhere nearby.

  She craned her head up. He looked ten feet tall. But he wasn't frowning, so that was a nice change.

  "Hi."

  "Hi," he answered. "Devil bothering you?"

  "Is that his name?"

  Boone shrugged, then crouched at her side. The pup abandoned her in a heartbeat, rooting at Boone's hand. "Seems to fit his sense of mischief."

  She had to agree. "It really does." She couldn't take her eyes away from those strong fingers, the wide palms. Envying the puppy who received the stroking. Remembering how those hands had felt in her all-too-brief encounter with Boone Gallagher's potent physical charms.

  Maybe we could just have a little fling while I'm here.

  Maddie shook her head roughly. Good grief, Maddie. You're insane. Besides, she wasn't the fling type.

  "Why are you here, Maddie?"

  Sigh. Back to that. "You know why."

  "How can you just leave your life and come down here for a month?"

  Maddie wasn't ready to discuss her failures with Robert, so she turned the tables. "How could you leave for so long?"

  He stiffened. Probably didn't like being on the receiving end. But she noticed that his hands stayed gentle on the puppy falling asleep against that broad chest.

  Then he met her gaze, shadows in his eyes. "Long story. Nothing you'd want to hear."

  "Maybe I would."

  "And maybe I don't want to talk about it." His tone made it clear she was trespassing.

  But something in Maddie wanted to dig past his secrets. Find out who this man was. "Where were you?"

  Boone huffed out a breath. "Don't give up easy, do you?" He shook his head, then stared out in the distance. "Serving my country at first, then..."

  "I'm sorry."

  He stared at her. "Why?"

  "Because..." She gestured around her. "You had to leave this." Her gaze returned to his. "And because I think it hurt your heart."

  Boone wasn't sure what unsettled him most. That she saw too close to a weary soul, or that she thought the ranch was a place to cherish. But he did know he didn't like how she saw too much.

  "Wouldn't think this place would look like much to a woman like you."

  "It has its own beauty. A little light on the amenities, if you need bright lights and noise."

  "And you do, don't you?" He watched her closely.

  "Why do you think you know anything about me, Boone? And who are you to tell me what I like and don't like?" Her chin jutted out and those gray eyes sparked.

  Damn, he wanted to kiss away that stubborn line of her lips. But he was already sure it wouldn't be enough to cure this growing fascination.

  "Let's just say I know only certain women can handle an isolated place like this, and you aren't one of them. You don't belong here, Maddie Collins. You'd never stick."

  She crossed her arms over her chest. "Good thing I've sworn off men like you for good. I don't have to care what you think."

  "What do you mean, men like me?"

  "Doesn't feel too good, does it?" She cocked one eyebrow.

  Boone couldn't decide whether to laugh or argue. Sass and a sharp mind, a dangerous combination. And altogether too intriguing.

  "Boone, come here—quick," Sonny called out. "We've got a break in the fence line and cows out on the road."

  He handed the puppy back to Maddie and rose quickly. "Anybody ever say you got a mouth on you, Maddie Rose?"

  Her gray eyes crackled with energy. "Why, thank you." Her smile went wide and way too inviting.

  Boone shook his head, but when he walked away, he was grinning.

  * * *

  MADDIE CROSSED THE front porch after her evening walk. Dinner—or supper, as they called it around here—had been strained, the silences outweighing the conversation. Vondell asked questions about Boone's assessment of the ranch, about Maddie's life, her gambit to have each of them speak to the other failing miserably. Boone had reverted to the man of few words, listening when Maddie spoke, responding to Vondell, but initiating no conversation himself.

  Maddie herself had mostly sat uncharacteristically quiet, all too aware of the man sitting across the table. An enigma, he was, and one Maddie shouldn't want to solve. Her curiosity had gotten her in hot water all too often in her life. Boone stirred it up again. Though he hid it well, a deep sadness peered from those shadowed blue eyes. Yet true affection shone from his gaze when he looked at Vondell. With the hands, he seemed relaxed. Only when she was around did he turn into a block of stone. This afternoon it had almost seemed like he was teasing her, but tonight the glowering stranger had returned.

  Can you blame him, Maddie? You waltzed into this place and stole his home.

  No. She hadn't stolen it. Sam Gallagher had given it away. Very soon Boone would have it back. As soon as she could possibly make it happen. This vacation had derailed on its very first day.

  Yet the peace and quiet she had longed for was certainly abundant. Well, maybe not the peace, but definitely the quiet. It was almost eerie. Night sounds she didn't recognize had kept her awake longer than she would have liked.

  Maddie stepped onto the porch and turned around, struck anew by the vista. Gentle hills rolling on to the sunset, the only sounds the wind, the soft lowing of cattle, the excited barking of a dog. She drew in a deep breath, realizing how her heartbeat slowed in time with the rhythm of a place that still bore the look of its past. If she ignored the power lines, she could be looking at this country as it was a hundred years ago.

  Too slow for her, that was for sure. She h
ad a lot of life to live yet...if only she could figure out how she wanted to do it. But still...There was something about this place that made her curious. She couldn't help trying to picture her father here, as boy and young man. Couldn't help wondering about her grandmother...and those who had come before Rose. Sam's letter had said that generations of Wheelers had fought weather and Indians and hard times to keep this place. Closing her eyes, Maddie searched inside herself for a sense of connection, but nothing answered.

  Maybe someone in Morning Star could tell her about her family. She'd ask Vondell.

  Maddie opened the screen door and headed toward the kitchen. Just before she got there, she heard Boone's voice.

  "What's the name of that investigator, Vondell? The one looking for Mitch?"

  "Devlin Marlowe. He's out of Houston. Nice young fella, smart as a whip."

  "You got his number?"

  "No, but I'm sure it's on Sam's desk somewhere. Want me to look?"

  "I'll look. I need to go over the books, anyway." He paused. "Guess I'd better go ask City Girl if it's all right, since it's her house, not mine."

  "It's not her fault, Boone."

  "I know it's not. I just..." A muffled curse was followed by a sigh. "I just wish I understood why he did it."

  He sounded more weary than angry. Maddie settled back on her heels and wondered if she should turn around or if she could make it to the stairs without being heard. Beneath her, a floorboard squeaked.

  Boone stepped out into the hallway. "Want to join us, Big Ears?"

  "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to eavesdrop. I was headed to my room."

  "Well, while you're here, why don't you enlighten us?"

  "I don't know much." She stepped around the door.

  "Tell us what you do know. What is this debt Sam owed your father?"

  "I don't really think..."

  "You come in here and take my home and I don't even deserve an explanation?"

  Maddie's temper simmered. She tried to think up a simple answer. "He said it was because he should have looked for my father when he first knew he was alive."

  "When did he find out?"

  "I don't know. All I know is that it was before your mother died."

  "Why didn't he look for Dalton?"

  Maddie hesitated. "I'm not sure you'll want to hear it."

  Boone's expression was wry. "I was just a kid then. How could it mean anything to me? Or am I wrong? Is it something he said about me? Maybe he just wanted me not to have this place so bad he was grasping at straws."

  "It's not about you. Listen, maybe it's not a good idea right now."

  "So you're the one who decides what I need to know and when?"

  "Boone..." Vondell cautioned.

  He held up a hand. "No. I want to know." His gaze narrowed, tension invading his frame. "She comes down here to play lady of the manor for a month, inserting herself where she's not wanted, and then she eavesdrops on a private conversation. She has answers I need in order to understand maybe just a little of why my father hated me enough to do this—and she refuses to answer because she, who doesn't know a damn thing about any of us, doesn't think I'm ready to hear it."

  A few long strides brought him right in front of her.

  Maddie held her ground.

  "Let me tell you something, City Girl. I've known since I was fourteen years old that my father didn't give a damn about me, that the only person who ever meant anything to him was my mother. He beat the hell out of my brother and then tried to have him arrested for murder, then crawled up inside his grief and didn't care what happened to anyone on this ranch.

  "My mother was a good woman. The very best. She lived her life to love people. Her legacy was that love, and Sam perverted everything she stood for. But I survived. It made me a stronger person."

  He leaned closer, and Maddie met his gaze without flinching, seeing within those blue eyes pain of a magnitude she'd never in her life experienced.

  "There's nothing you can tell me that's going to hurt me. I quit letting Sam Gallagher hurt me years ago. He drove my brother so far underground I've never been able to find him, and he didn't even give me a chance to say goodbye before he died. You think a letter will bother me?"

  He looked up at the ceiling then, his voice harsh with grief. "Well, to hell with you, Sam Gallagher—you hear me, wherever you are? You're gone and I'm here, and I'll be damned if I'll spend one more minute caring."

  Then he looked down at Maddie. "So you just tell me what he could have said that would give me a second's pause. I don't think you know me well enough to know what I can take." His eyes turned cold, colder than the light from a distant star and every bit as lonely.

  "Boone..." She placed her hand on his muscular forearm. The contact shocked them both—she could see it in the quick flare in his eyes, could feel it all the way down her spine. "It's not anything like what you're thinking, but it won't make you feel any better."

  A muscle jumped in his rock-hard jaw. He pulled his arm away, and Maddie felt the loss.

  In a voice deceptively soft, he asked, "Why don't you let me be the judge of that?"

  So be it. "All right." Maddie wished she'd stayed out on the porch, but she met his squarely. "He said that he was afraid to find Dalton or to tell Jenny that Dalton was alive."

  Boone's hard expression didn't flicker. "Why would he be afraid?"

  Maddie swallowed. "Because your mother loved my father first, and Sam was afraid he would lose her."

  Boone still didn't move, and his gaze never wavered. Behind him, Vondell sucked in a gasp of disbelief.

  His voice betrayed nothing of his feelings. "I'd like to read the letter."

  "Are you sure?"

  Boone's laugh was short and rusty. "Yeah." But his eyes told a different story. "I'm sure."

  "Boone, I'm sorry. I don't know what—"

  "Just get the letter, Maddie."

  She traded sympathetic glances with Vondell, then ran up to her room and got Sam's letter. Back in the kitchen, she handed it to Boone. She stayed quiet, though she could have recited every word after all the hours she'd spent trying to decide if any of it was real.

  Dear Maddie Rose,

  I was hoping we'd get to meet, but the doc says it's not likely. In any case, my lawyer will be contacting you with this letter and the provisions of my will. You don't know me, but my name is Sam Gallagher, and your father was once my best friend. I wronged your father, Maddie Rose, but it's too late to make it right with him, so I'm giving you the house that should have been his.

  It probably comes as a surprise to hear that I'm leaving you a ranch house in Texas. This house belonged to your grandmother Rose and was the place where your father grew up. It should have been his when Rose died, but by then everyone believed he was dead. I bought it from Rose's estate, not knowing until a few years later that Dalton was alive.

  That's why I'm leaving it to you, Maddie—because I should have looked for Dalton then, and I didn't. You see, my Jenny loved Dalton first, and I was afraid I'd lose her. I know she only married me because Dalton was gone. By the time I found out he was alive, we had our two boys, Mitch and Boone, and we'd built a good life together. But there was always this sadness in Jenny, and I knew it was because she lost Dalton.

  A few years after I bought this place, my Jenny passed away. I never got over her, never loved another woman. Gallagher men love only once, you see. But I should have trusted Jenny and told her about Dalton. I'd like to believe she would have stayed with me, but I couldn't take the chance.

  If you don't want the place, that's fine. The land will go to my sons, regardless, but it won't go down easy with Boone, especially, for you to have the house. But give yourself a chance to love the place as your daddy did. I'm making it a condition that you stay in the house for thirty days before you make up your mind. It might take a while to grow on you.

  I hope you and my sons can make peace with what I've done. At the end of the thirty days, if you don't want the hou
se, I want you to sell it to Boone. I think he'll want it, now that he won't have to put up with me. But if you decide to stay, there's plenty of land for them to build their own houses on. It's as fair as I know how to be.

  I hear that you're a fancy cook back east, but Devlin also tells me you have no other family. Your blood runs deep in this place, Maddie Rose. You have roots here. Generations of Wheelers fought and died, battled drought and Indians and heartache to keep this place. I believe old Rose would like knowing you were here.

  I was off in the service when everything went bad for Dalton, but I know he would have hated to leave. People think he killed his stepfather, but he didn't. He confessed and then vanished to save his mother from the consequences of what she'd done. In my heart, I know he never felt at home anywhere else, and she never stopped missing him.

  Give it a chance, Maddie Rose. See if Texas whispers in your heart the way it always has in mine. This house was a happy place once, when Jenny was here, but it hasn't been happy in years. See if you can bring it back to life.

  Sam Gallagher

  When Boone finished, he stared at her for a long, long moment. Then his voice came, so low she almost couldn't hear it.

  "You can't mean to stay." His eyes...

  "No," she whispered back. "I won't be staying."

  Boone laid the letter down on the old scarred table. Then he pushed past Maddie, leaving the air stinging with anguish so deep it echoed in the room. The back door slammed behind him, and Maddie could only stand very still.

  Vondell crossed over and picked up the letter, reading it slowly. Then she heaved a big sigh and pressed one set of fingers to her forehead. "Curse you, Sam Gallagher. It never had to be like this."

  Maddie's chest ached. "I said I was going. If I could leave right now, I would, Vondell." She lifted her gaze to see the older woman's grim visage. "I won't stay a minute longer than I must. But surely he's not so mad he would want to lose the whole place just to get me out of here."

  "He's not mad at you, child. He's just got a hurt real deep, so deep it's never healed. Boone's a proud man, too proud to admit it. He was proud even as a young man, and he'd take a bullet before he'd admit how much he wanted his father to love him. The only happy memories Boone has of this place are from when Jenny was still alive. Hearing that Jenny loved a man we all thought was a murderer was bound to go down hard."