"You're Dalton Wheeler's daughter, is that right?"
Maddie gripped Boone's arm tightly, but drew herself up very straight. "Yes, I am." Her tone dared the woman to say anything derogatory.
"Hmmmph," Emma Ruth muttered. "Sam created a mess for Boone."
Boone saw Maddie swallow and struggle for composure. When she spoke, her tone held a bite. "My father didn't kill anyone, Mrs.—?"
"Rodgers. Ms. Rodgers." Emma Ruth's tone broadcast her doubts. "Everyone has known for years that—"
"My father did a noble deed," Maddie interrupted, her silver eyes flashing fire. "He took the blame for something he didn't do so that his mother wouldn't go to jail for defending herself."
"The Caswells are a respected family around here."
Maddie's jaw jutted. "I can't respect a man who beats on women."
Emma Ruth's nostrils flared. Her color rose. She opened her mouth to retort, but Boone stepped in.
"It's true, Ms. Rodgers. Dalton didn't hurt anyone. Folks were wrong in what they thought. He took the blame and exiled himself to keep his mother safe."
Boone saw Maddie's startled glance, the look of gratitude in her gaze. He turned back to see Emma Ruth's frown.
"Surely you can't condone what your father did, giving your house to a—"
In another situation, Boone would have laughed at how Maddie puffed up like mama hen, prepared to defend Sam. Instead, he stepped in to defuse the situation.
"Ms. Rodgers, I can't control what my father did or didn't do. All I can do is deal with it. Ms. Collins is caught in a bad situation and is doing her best. Now if you'll excuse us, I believe Ms. Collins has promised me this dance." Then he turned and led Maddie away.
She was fuming. "That old biddy. Is that how they all feel? Like I'm an interloper? The daughter of a murderer who's come to feed off the remains like a vulture?"
He pulled her into a dark corner, then grabbed her shoulders and turned her to face him.
Tears welled in her eyes, and he couldn't stand it.
"She doesn't matter, Maddie. People talk. Around here, they don't have much else to do."
"It does matter. I can't stand that they're thinking about my father that way. He did nothing wrong. He gave up everything that mattered to him. I don't know why he would love this place, when people are so ready to believe the worst of him. It's not right. I have to defend—" She turned away, ready to head back toward Emma Ruth.
He gripped her tightly and pulled her against him, cupping her cheek with one hand. "Listen to me."
Maddie's face held mutiny, but slowly, she lifted her gaze. The hurt he saw there touched him.
"We know the truth, you and I. What does it matter to you, when you'll be leaving? They're just a bunch of country people who will never set foot in one of your restaurants. Why do you care?"
Tears leaked from the corners of her eyes. "I care. For the sake of my father and grandmother, I care. They would have cared. These were their neighbors. They would have been mine, too, if—"
Boone stroked her jaw. "No, they wouldn't have. If Dalton had stayed, you wouldn't have been born."
Maddie glanced away, her head shaking slowly from side to side. "I don't belong here," she whispered.
He knew that, only too well. But he had to do something to ease her pain. "I'll make them understand, Maddie. I'll make sure they know what your father gave up."
She turned a look on him so luminous and grateful that Boone stood, transfixed. For a long moment, she studied him as if trying to understand him.
"Why would you do that?"
"It's only fair."
"I've caused you a lot of problems. I know you'll be glad for me to leave."
Tempting words stuck in his throat. You don't have to leave. You could stay. If only he didn't know better, know what it would cost her in the long run.
"You didn't make this situation. Neither of us did."
She smiled sadly. "A few more weeks and it's over." She sounded relieved.
Boone dropped his hand and stepped back. "Yeah. Not that long." Not long, hell. Eternity. When viewed through the glass of time spent trying to resist Maddie, the days stretched out forever.
Twenty-five days of too much...and not nearly enough.
She turned away and watched the dance floor, where the band was tuning up again. She drew in a deep breath, then shuddered, seeming to arm herself.
Finally she spoke, her voice wistful. "Did you mean that about the next dance?"
The last thing he needed was to hold Maddie in his arms, but he'd just have to hope the next dance was a fast one. No matter what he knew was smart, he couldn't refuse her. "Sure."
Her smile blinded him. "You like to dance?"
Boone shrugged. "I get along."
Some of Maddie's sparkle flared. She grabbed his hand and pulled. "Well, come on, cowboy. Let's dance."
Despite his better sense, Boone gripped her hand and headed for the dance floor. When the band struck up a quick two-step, he wasn't as happy as he should have been. But it didn't take long to start enjoying himself. Maddie was a graceful dancer and quickly fell in step with him. Soon they moved together as if from long experience. "You ever done this before?" he asked.
Maddie shook her head, eyes shining. "No, but I love it."
"Hick music not too boring for you?"
She batted his shoulder. "Don't be a snob, Boone."
"Me?"
"Yes, you. I know Helen was from the city and I'm sorry she didn't like it, but you think the only people who can appreciate this place are those who were born here?"
"Don't try to tell me you like this place."
"I do like it."
"But you won't stay."
Maddie met his gaze. "I don't have to stay to like it. I'd—I'd like to come back and visit sometime." Her gaze turned hesitant. "Would that bother you?"
Hell, yes, it would bother him. Saying goodbye to her and knowing she might pop back in, anytime she pleased? That he'd get used to having her around, then she'd disappear whenever the mood took her?
She saw his reaction. Her face reflected her disappointment. "That's okay," she said casually. "It was just an idea. I probably won't get much time, anyway. I usually try to make it to Europe once a year to keep up on developments there."
Dancers around them were complaining loudly because they were holding up progress. Boone shot glares all around, but began to move across the floor once again. He didn't look at Maddie as he answered. "I hadn't thought about it. It might be all right."
"Please—don't be so enthusiastic."
"Hey, I never thought about it, all right? I don't know how I feel."
"Do you ever let yourself really feel, Boone?" she asked, her eyes soft and searching.
The music slowed and segued into a waltz. Boone found himself reluctant to take her off the floor and let her go. Instead, he moved into the new steps and Maddie moved effortlessly with him.
"I don't know what you want me to say, Maddie."
Maddie looked at him with sad eyes, and he knew he'd disappointed her. "I want you to say what's in your heart. To let go and just feel."
She didn't, though. Not really. If he once let go of his control, she wouldn't like what she saw. Boone didn't much like it himself. He was a man who had loved one woman badly, who had never earned his father's love. He'd lost a child who should have had a chance if he'd just done things right.
He'd been good in the dark arts of killing and war. He could track an enemy to extinction, could find a grain of sand in the desert. None of those were skills Maddie would admire.
She was a creature of light, and he was darkness. She might think she wanted to know him, but she was wrong.
Since Boone had no answers Maddie would want to hear, he didn't even try. Instead, he pulled her close and let the music fill the silence.
She held stiff for a moment, but he didn't relent. Soon she stopped resisting and swayed against him, and Boone knew a moment of painful longin
g.
Maddie had weapons of her own.
A soft, tender heart.
A ready smile.
A soul that shone brighter than the sun.
Maddie took the whole world to her bosom and cherished it. A part of Boone wanted to step into the magic circle and inhale Maddie's cheer, her never-say-die optimism, to hold it as a talisman against the darkness inside him.
But Boone knew his own power. His darkness would snuff out her light, and the world would be poorer.
So Boone simply held Maddie close until the music faded.
And then he thanked her, turned her over to the line of men waiting for the belle of the ball—and walked away without looking back.
* * *
MADDIE WATCHED HIM go, so tall and handsome in the starched white shirt, knife-edged crease in his jeans. She wondered when she'd ever learn to keep her thoughts to herself. Hadn't she warned herself that it wouldn't work for her to come back to visit? He hadn't answered her, which was answer enough in itself.
When she left Morning Star, she would not return.
"You ready to dance, pretty girl?" The cowboy asking the question smiled beneath his straw hat and stepped forward.
An adventure, Maddie. Remember, it's just an adventure. You were having fun until Boone showed up.
She accepted the outstretched hand and smiled her biggest smile. Not from the heart, but it had always been Maddie's belief that if you smiled whether you felt like it or not, you'd soon feel better. "Let's do it, Mr.—?"
"Call me Randy, ma'am."
"Then you call me Maddie."
"Here we go, Maddie. I like it fast."
"Good." She would concentrate on her feet and forget the heart Boone had bruised.
Twenty-five days and counting. The end couldn't come too soon.
* * *
Boone stayed outside for a long time, staring into the moonlight. He was lousy company; soon even Jim left him alone. He nursed the same beer he'd been holding since he'd walked off the dance floor, less interested in something to drink than having something to do with his hands.
He could still feel her soft curves against him, feel her warm breath on his chest where his shirt parted. He could smell Maddie's scent, unnamable and mysterious, rich and full of sex and sunshine and thoughts of sin.
Why couldn't he just take what she would give and enjoy it while she stayed? What was it about Maddie that made this so damn hard?
So what if she was leaving? He'd had affairs before, had left and been left, had enjoyed rolling on the bed and parting unencumbered. Why not with Maddie?
Because she's not a roll in the hay. Just that simple.
Maddie was more. If he played with fire, he would be burned, but with Maddie it would incinerate him. He knew it in his bones.
A shiver ran down his spine. Boone grimaced in disgust. Maddie's fanciful thinking was rubbing off on him.
Shoving off from the pillar on which he leaned, Boone drained his beer bottle on the grass and took it back inside to the bar. He planned to tell Jim he was leaving and make sure Maddie had a ride home.
Until he took one quick glance at the dance floor and didn't like what he saw.
Hank Caswell was Maddie's partner, and Maddie didn't look happy at all.
Boone and Hank went way back. Hank had a vicious streak. In school, Boone had been the only one around who would go toe-to-toe with him. Hank's crooked nose had come courtesy of Boone, and Hank had never forgotten it.
Boone cared nothing about their past. All he cared about was that Hank was holding Maddie way too close. He started through the crowd, watching carefully to be sure he wasn't mistaken. When Maddie pushed at Hank's chest and tried to back away, Hank jerked her back.
Boone saw red. He picked up speed, shoving through the crowd. But when he got close to them, he slowed down, remembering what he'd once seen Hank do to a reluctant girlfriend. He had to handle this carefully or Maddie could get hurt.
"Evenin', Hank," Boone drawled.
Hank kept a tight grip on Maddie but didn't look at him, only a short nod. "Gallagher. Heard you were back."
Boone shot Maddie a worried glance, then choked back a grin. If Hank gave her an inch to maneuver, he was going to find himself unmanned. Maddie wasn't scared yet—she looked mad as the devil.
But Boone knew Hank was truly dangerous. "Let's go outside and catch up on old times, Hank."
The glare Maddie shot him should have incinerated him on the spot. Impatience vibrated from her every pore. "Let go of me, you big, fat—oof!"
Boone grabbed Maddie's arm and turned suddenly, wedging his shoulder in between them. With practiced ease, he slid Maddie away and behind him. "I don't think the lady is enjoying herself."
Hank's little pig eyes narrowed. "She was dancing with me. We weren't finished."
"Well, you see, Hank, there's just one problem. I was never very good at sharing."
"She's not yours. You weren't here. You left."
"But I was coming back. And here I am." Boone kept his voice smooth. He didn't see how Hank could miss the implied threat. He wouldn't initiate the fight, but Hank couldn't have forgotten who had usually wound up on top.
He pulled Maddie close. "You go on and find yourself another girl, Hank. This one's taken." Turning away, he walked Maddie toward the outside.
They had almost reached the door when Maddie was wrenched from his arms. Hank jerked her to him and grabbed her hair, grinding his mouth down on hers.
Boone went blind with rage. He leaped toward them. Grabbing Hank by the arm, he jerked him away from Maddie. The solid connection of fist to jaw didn't begin to placate the roar in his head.
Hank had put his mouth on Maddie. Had hurt Maddie.
Boone never heard the shouting around him. He entered a zone of deadly silence, a savage place where forsaken skills had lain dormant. With brutal satisfaction, he punished Hank for daring to hurt Maddie's bright spirit, for endangering the light she had brought into his life.
"Boone, stop! Please—" Finally, Maddie's voice sliced through the rage.
He looked at her, her face drained of all color. Then he looked back at Hank, collapsed against the wall, chest heaving.
"You crazy sonofa—" Hank roared. "The bitch is the spawn of a murderer. You're welcome to her." He spat at her feet.
Boone charged toward him, but Maddie held on for dear life to one arm while Jim grabbed him by the other, stepping between him and Hank.
"Come on now, Boone. Back away. He's crazy and mean. You know that. Come on. You're scaring Maddie."
The last words broke through to him. Boone looked down at her and saw her eyes gone huge and dark.
Now he'd done it. She'd seen what lay inside him, the dark, howling beast that had been his salvation...and damnation.
He turned to Hank. "You're not fit to walk on the same ground as Maddie. If I ever hear you talking about her like that again, I'll—"
"Boone, please." Maddie's quiet voice settled him as nothing else could.
But he wasn't quite through. "You stay away from her, you hear me? You stay very far away."
Hank didn't respond. He turned and lumbered off, leaning on a friend.
Then Boone realized that his eye hurt like hell. He reached up and came away with blood on his fingers.
"I'll drive you home in your truck," Jim offered. "Maddie can come later with Velda."
Boone looked at Maddie, prepared for her revulsion. Instead he saw quiet strength.
"That's all right, Jim," she said. "If Boone can't see to drive, I can drive his truck. We'll be all right."
Jim glanced back and forth between them. "You sure about that, Maddie?"
His meaning was clear. Boone wasn't fit to be with her.
She nodded and clutched Boone's arm tightly. "Yes. I'm sure." Then she looked up at Boone. "Can you drive or would you like me to do it?"
He started to shrug her off. He was unclean, contaminated by the rage that had spewed from him. "I can get my
self home. No need for you to come."
She reached for a bar towel someone had brought over. Lifting it to his face with careful strokes, she mopped away the blood. Then she stared him straight in the eye. "Don't trip over that pride, Boone. You took care of me. Now let me take care of you."
Her quiet voice and matter-of-fact manner stirred his hope. Could it be that she wasn't frightened by what she'd seen? Boone studied her as carefully as she was watching him. Then he shook his head. "You always surprise me."
The smile that was never far away reappeared. "Good. Don't forget you said that." Then she clasped his hand. "Take me home, Boone."
For one quicksilver, impossible moment, Boone let himself imagine a life where those words could be ordinary.
Take me home, Boone.
They weren't real. He knew that.
But for tonight, at least, he was the man who had the right to take Maddie home.
He squeezed her hand and led her outside.
Chapter Seven
STUBBORN. A FRYING pan applied to the side of Boone's head seemed more attractive all the time. He'd insisted on driving, denying that he was hurt. Maddie tamped down her concerns, her thoughts still on what had happened.
Some women would have called it Neanderthal, Boone's reaction back there. Maddie tried to imagine a single man she'd ever known who would leap to her defense with such raw physical power.
None came to mind. She tried to picture Robert in that same situation. Robert would have used words or bouncers—or walked away.
Boone had defended her honor with his fists.
As a woman of the twenty-first century, she should have been horrified. Such brute behavior should have revolted her.
It hadn't. She wasn't.
Instead, Maddie was thrilled. She felt safe. Protected. Awed by what Boone had done.
Boone would have mashed in Robert's face for what he'd done to her. Boone would have dispatched the bullies who had taunted the gangly girl who never fit in.
She'd been angry at first, but Hank's strength had frightened her when he squeezed her tighter, spewing sour beery breath in her face. When he'd ground his mouth down on hers, she'd been more unnerved than on any dark New York street.
Then, like an avenging angel, Boone had charged to her rescue, his golden hair gleaming in the light.
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