The Cowboy and the Bride

by Thomas, Marin

  “Annie wanted to include Wiley.” Her smile was brighter than the noon sun.

  He wasn’t eating next to a tombstone. “I know a better place. One where there’s no skunk stench.” He loved watching her cheeks turn pink. For a woman who strutted around with a sassy, bold attitude she sure did blush a lot.

  She wrinkled her nose. “It doesn’t smell that bad anymore.”

  He laughed and patted the horse’s neck. Yesterday, she’d taken Annie into town and bought her a plastic play pool. They’d had a grand time sitting in that thing, drinking Kool-Aid and eating snacks all afternoon. But they’d forgotten to empty the water out and clean up the food. This morning the backyard looked like a local watering hole. The house stank, the yard stank—Jeez, even the horses had protested when he’d brought them out of the barn this morning.

  Quicksilver bumped his shoulder with his nose and Jake turned his attention to the animal. “Okay, big fella, time to play.” He walked the horse into the corral and led him to the gate on the opposite side, which opened to a pasture. He flipped the latch, and the intelligent animal nudged the gate open with his nose.

  He stood for a moment watching the powerful horse race the wind, relishing his freedom. The stallion crested a small hill, then reared, pawing the air with his forelegs. Jake laughed. “Yeah, I know. Screw me, right?”

  He latched the gate, gathered the ropes and other equipment he’d used throughout the morning and returned them to the tack room inside the barn. As much as lazing on a blanket with Madeline and his daughter appealed to him, he didn’t have time for a picnic. He came out of the barn and made his way to where Madeline waited. He’d just opened his mouth to decline the lunch invitation but caught sight of Annie slumped on the bottom porch step, drawing lines in the dirt with a stick. A stab of guilt pricked him. Since his talk with Madeline, he hadn’t spent as much time with his daughter as he’d intended.

  He’d make time for her now. “Meet me at the truck in ten minutes,” he said over his shoulder as he headed back inside the barn to wash the smell of horse from his hands.

  Twenty minutes later, Jake pulled the truck to a stop near a small spring-fed pond off one of the three roads dissecting the ranch. As soon as he opened the door, Annie piled out and sprinted toward the water.

  Madeline scooped up a blanket and headed for the piñon tree several yards from the pond. She spread the quilt under the shade of the tree, tugged her boots off, cuffed her jeans and went after Annie. “Is it cold?”

  Amused, he stood by the blanket, watching the two females kick up enough water to rival a broken fire hydrant. He set the basket on one corner of the blanket, then eased down, using the tree trunk as a backrest. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, feeling the tension slip from his body. Jake tugged his Stetson over his eyes, but not too low that he couldn’t watch the girls gallivanting through the pond. After fifteen minutes, Madeline returned to the blanket and plopped down near him.

  “Look, Daddy, I caught a frog!” Standing in the water, Annie lifted her cupped hands in the air.

  “I see that. Now, don’t squish him.” Jake chuckled.

  “I won’t, Daddy!”

  He felt Madeline’s gaze on him, but kept his eyes on his daughter. “It’s so damn good to hear her laugh.”

  Madeline reached for the picnic basket. “Hasn’t she always been this bubbly?”

  “No.” His daughter had gone through a lot when her mother had died, and he hadn’t been much help. He’d handled Sara’s death by throwing himself into the ranch, working until exhaustion took over and he wasn’t capable of thinking, much less dealing with his emotions. But Annie hadn’t been so lucky.

  “Talk to me, Jake.” Madeline’s softly spoken request ate away at his defenses. He guessed it wouldn’t hurt to confide some things in her.

  “After Sara died, Annie suffered nightmares, calling out her mother’s name in the middle of the night.”

  “I would think that’s pretty normal under the circumstances.”

  He plucked a blade of grass and twirled it between his fingers. “Then Annie quit talking. The doc said the silence would only last a couple of months. Thank God he was right. One morning out of the blue, she woke up and chatted my ear off at the breakfast table.”

  “Oh, Jake, that must have been so hard on you both.” Madeline scooted forward and shared the tree with him. He should have inched over and given her more room, but he liked her shoulder pressing into his arm, so he stayed where he was.

  They sat in silence and he wondered at the contentment filling him. This is what it would feel like if the three of them were a real family. Whoa, where did that thought come from? He wasn’t fit husband material. Madeline had already been hurt by one jerk; he didn’t want to be the second.

  Annie squealed and came dashing out of the water straight for the blanket.

  He shifted sideways. “Hey, you’re dripping all over me.”

  “Here, Daddy. It’s for you.”

  Jake held out his hand and Annie dumped a small frog in his palm.

  “Eeeuu!” Madeline leaned away, wrinkling her nose.

  Jake grinned. “Go catch some more, Annie. We’ll have frog legs for supper.”

  “You can’t eat frog legs, Daddy.” Annie scurried back to the pond.

  “She certainly likes frogs.”

  “Sara bought her a frog book when she turned two. Ever since, she’s been in love with the amphibians.”

  Madeline smiled, then clasped her hands in front of her and stared off into space. He couldn’t stand that she might be thinking about her ex-fiancé. Suddenly feeling ornery, he warned in a hushed voice, “Don’t move, Madeline.”

  Her head snapped toward him. “What’s wrong?”

  “Shh. Don’t move a single muscle.”

  “Jake, you’re scaring me.”

  “There’s a black widow spider clinging to your ponytail.”

  “Jaaake. Get it off me!”

  “Stay calm.”

  The blood drained from her face, leaving her skin a pasty white. For all of one second he considered coming clean. Then he remembered she was the cause of the constant state of arousal plaguing his body since he’d unhooked her from his fence. He shifted, bringing his face inches from hers. “Sit tight, honey. It’ll crawl away in a minute.”

  “Can’t you flick it off or something?”

  “No, black widows are fast little devils. It would sink its fangs into my hand before I even felt the bite.”

  “I don’t think I can sit still any longer.” Her worried green eyes beseeched him.

  “I’ll distract you.” Leaning closer, he whispered, “Remember that morning in the kitchen when I kissed you?”

  Two bright pink patches dotted her cheeks. Good. At least he knew she wasn’t thinking of the lawyer. He lowered his voice. “I swear I can still feel the softness of your lips, the satisfied sigh you exhaled into my mouth.”

  Her eyelashes fluttered and her breath shuddered against his face.

  “Am I doing a good job of distracting you?”

  “Real good.” Her whispered response made him smile.

  “Then I slid my hand under the shirt and touched your bare hip.” He nuzzled his lips against her ear. Catching a whiff of tantalizing perfume and Madeline’s own body heat, he needed all his concentration to keep from tossing her down on the blanket and falling on top of her.

  “Is Annie okay?”

  He glanced at the pond. “She’s busy hunting frogs. Now, where was I?”

  “Your hand was on my hip.”

  Jake chuckled. “That’s right. I touched your hip, ran my fingers up the length of your smooth, silky thigh.”

  The quiet moan that rumbled through her chest indicated she was just as aroused as he was. The gentlemanly thing to do would be to come clean and confess there was no spider stuck in her hair. But he was way past gentleman, bordering on rogue.

  He cupped her chin and turned her face toward him. Her breath mingled with
his. “Have you any idea what you do to me?” He settled his mouth on hers. Gentle. Chaste. The kiss could be nothing more. Not with Annie nearby and his body wound like a toy top.

  She pulled back first. “There is no spider, is there, Jake?”

  He rubbed an imaginary speck from her cheek. “Nope. I lied.”

  “If you wanted a kiss, all you had to do was ask.” Her eyes twinkled, and suddenly the joke was on him.

  “Are you kissing Ms. Madeline, Daddy?”

  Jake bolted off the blanket, nearly knocking Annie to the ground. “No. We’re not kissing.”

  Madeline sputtered and coughed. Jake glared at her. “You’re not helping.”

  She burst out laughing, clutching her stomach and doubling over.

  Annie smiled. “What’s so funny, Ms. Madeline?”

  Madeline pointed to Jake. “Your father.”

  Jake tried. Tried like hell to keep from busting up. But Madeline’s laughter was contagious. Then Annie joined her on the blanket and started to giggle. Madeline kept wiping her eyes, and damn it, he couldn’t hold back any longer. He gave in to the hopelessness of the situation, fell down on the blanket and let loose a bellyful of raucous laughter.

  After several minutes the three of them quieted, with only an occasional hiccup between gasps of air. “How about some lunch? I’m so hungry I could eat a—” he grabbed Annie and tickled her ribs “—little girl.”

  Annie squealed, and another five minutes passed before they settled down for the second time. Jake lay back on the blanket and grinned up at the cloudless sky. A moment later, Annie curled up at his side. “I love you, Daddy.”

  Holding her was a little awkward, but he managed to get his arm around his daughter’s shoulder and hug her close. “I love you, too, Annie.”

  “Okay, no more lazing around. Time to eat.”

  Jake sat up and watched Madeline set out the food. With hands that weren’t quite steady, he accepted a plate. He wanted to thank her for this picnic, for giving him this moment with his daughter. But the words stuck in his throat. Her gentle smile and the light touch of her fingertips against his cheek told him she understood.

  They ate in silence. As soon as Annie finished her half sandwich she scurried away to collect rocks. He helped Madeline put the food back in the basket, barely able to keep his eyes off her.

  “I hope you’re not mad at me for pulling your leg about the spider.”

  “I should be, but I’m not.”

  He removed his hat and set it aside, then stretched out on the blanket and crossed his arms beneath his head. “I don’t usually behave this way. But you’re different.”

  She playfully punched his shoulder. “Different? I don’t know whether to be insulted or amused.”

  He grabbed her arm and tugged until she lay next to him. Talking without having to look into her beautiful green eyes would be easier. He cleared his throat. “I like being with you. You’re fun.”

  “Not the most romantic thing I’ve heard, but I’m in no position to be picky.”

  He grinned. “That’s what I mean. You don’t take things too seriously.”

  “Was Sara pretty serious?”

  “Yeah. But it wasn’t her fault. She couldn’t help it.”

  “Tell me more about her.”

  “I don’t know where to start.”

  “Start at the beginning.”

  “Sara and I met our senior year of high school. I was new in town and we got to know each other in study hall. We became friends. Nothing more.”

  “Why didn’t you ask her out?”

  “It wasn’t like that between us. Sara was soft-spoken. Quiet. Smart. She’d earned a scholarship to college and had planned to be a teacher. After graduation I drove off down a different road.”

  “What did you do?”

  “Rodeoed. Worked some as a ranch hand here or there. Sara and I lost touch. Then four years after high school my parents were killed in a car accident.”

  “Oh, Jake, I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be.” He expelled a frustrated breath. “I suppose they tried, but mostly they stunk at being parents.” From as far back as he could remember, his dad had gone on drinking binges, then lost whatever job he’d had. The pattern hadn’t ended until his death. His mother had steered clear of his dad by working two jobs, so Jake had seen little of her at home. In the end, he had fended for himself.

  “I came back to make the burial arrangements. That’s when I found out Sara was pregnant and had dropped out of college a month earlier.”

  He’d never told a soul about Sara’s past. The sudden need to share it with someone, with Madeline, was unsettling. “Turns out she’d been raped in her dorm room.”

  Madeline’s gasp went straight to his heart. “Sara’s parents were religious zealots. When they found out she was pregnant, they disowned her and kicked her out of the house. I found her living in a dumpy one-room hovel above the convenience store where she worked. I told her I’d marry her.” He shrugged. “The guy who’d hit my parents had been drunk. I’d threatened to sue. We settled out of court, and I used the money as a down payment on the ranch for Sara and me.”

  “What a heroic thing to do, Jake. Sara must have loved you very much.”

  His laugh sounded bitter and cold. “I’m no hero, Madeline.” He rubbed the small scar that was hidden in the hairline above his forehead…a reminder of just how unheroic he’d acted in the bedroom with his wife.

  Thinking about it still made him sick to his stomach.

  “How did Sara die?”

  The truth? No. He couldn’t bear to see the look on Madeline’s face if he told her the truth. Told her he’d run out on his wife when she’d needed him most. He’d stick with the prettied-up version. “Pneumonia.” He’d sat by her hospital bed for three days, holding her hand, urging her to fight, to stay alive for Annie. But deep in his gut, he knew she’d given up. And it was because of him. “Jake, I’m so sorry.”

  He sat up and watched his daughter wade through the water. “Annie might not be mine, but I’ve never regretted being her father.” Loving Annie, taking care of her, was his chance to make it up to Sara. Madeline moved closer and hugged his arm. “She’s a wonderful child. Any parent would be thrilled to have her for a daughter.”

  The silence between them grew uncomfortable. He shifted on the blanket and cleared his throat. Finally, he forced his thoughts of the past aside and screwed up the courage to finish. “Maddy—I hope you don’t mind me calling you Maddy—you scare me spitless.”

  He stared into her soft green eyes. “It’s a hell of a thing for a man to admit a woman rocks his world.” He resisted the urge to stroke the pink blush across the bridge of her nose.

  Shyly, she looked away. “Thank you for telling me that.”

  “Thank you?” His chest shook with silent laughter. “I expect most women would head for the mountains after a confession like that from a man like me.”

  “What do you mean, ‘a man like you’?”

  He shrugged. He couldn’t find the words or the courage to tell her he was a sorry excuse for a man. Even sorrier than her ex-fiancé, Jonathon whatever-his-name was.

  She got up on her knees and brushed at the cookie crumbs clinging to her jeans. He had to move away, or he’d take her in his arms and show her the kind of man he wanted to be if given a second chance.

  He checked his watch. Another half hour wasn’t going to throw him that far off schedule. “Hey, Annie!”

  She sprinted back to the blanket.

  “I’ve got a football in the toolbox. Want to toss it around?”

  She frowned. “Football?”

  “Football.”

  Annie shrugged. “Okay.”

  He headed toward the truck. “Two against one. Madeline can be your quarterback.”

  Madeline’s laughter caught up with him as he reached the truck. “Right, Montgomery. Like I know anything about football.”

  He thought of his attraction to her. “Ju
st catch it and run the opposite way!”

  “WHEN DO YOU gotta go, Ms. Madeline?” Annie snuggled deeper under the covers, clutching a stuffed pink-and-green frog.

  “Soon.” She smoothed a strand of soft brown hair from the child’s face, battling the ache squeezing her heart. “Today is Friday, June 20. I leave on Sunday.”

  Annie’s eyes widened like an owl’s. “I don’t want you to go.” The little girl deserved an Oscar for the heart-wrenching pout her mouth formed.

  How could this child have wormed her way into Madeline’s heart in such a short time? “We’ve had a lot of fun together. I’ll miss you very much.”

  The prospect of not being with Annie left a hole in her chest. Instinctively, she knew the child was destined for great things, and she would have liked to be around to cheer her accomplishments and hug away her disappointments. She kissed the tip of her freckled nose. “Sweet dreams, Annie.”

  “Ms. Maddy?”

  Madeline’s heart ached at hearing Annie use the nickname Jake had given her. She hesitated at the door, her hand on the wall switch. “What, sweetie?”

  “I love you just like a mommy.”

  A stinging sensation burned her eyes. Before she said something she couldn’t take back, like I wish you were my little girl, Madeline flipped off the lights and hurried to her own room. The last thing she wanted was to fall apart in front of Jake’s daughter.

  After tossing and turning most of the night, Madeline awoke Saturday morning to booming thunder, rain battering the bedroom window and jagged lightning splitting the sky. She thought of Annie and worried that the storm might have frightened her. She remembered too well what it felt like to be a little girl all alone in a bedroom with no one to hold her during a thunderstorm. She scrambled out of bed, hurried across the hall and peeked around the half-open door. Then froze.