She knew she looked tough, but having him point it out rubbed wrong. “You think working on a ranch is any easier? Up before dawn. Feeding twenty hungry men three times a day during the season? Taking care of orphaned calves in my kitchen. Shoveling snow just to get from the house to the barn? You think that’s not any more tiring? More wearing on a person?” Her voice rose because even as she said it all, she knew in her heart that it was those things that she excelled at. Those things that had soothed something in her soul.
The more agitated she got, the more still he seemed to become. She snatched a clean glass from the dish drainer and filled it with water that she didn’t drink. He was just there. Watching her. Always watching. And though there was a time when she’d thought she understood the shadows and light in his curiously silver eyes, she understood nothing about Daniel Clay anymore.
Except that she was pregnant with his child. And he was demanding marriage.
Wasn’t the marriage demand supposed to come from the woman? She set the glass in the sink, quelling the panic that seeped around the edges of her sanity. Think, Maggie. Think. It was just so hard to do when he stood so close to her that she imagined she could feel the water evaporating from his shirt.
Daniel was acting out of shock. He had to be. After a few weeks he’d calm down. Realize that he was going to unreasonable lengths.
Her child deserved his—or her—rightful place in the Clay family. Maggie knew that. Daniel could have his place in the child’s life. It would take a lot of adjusting. But marriage—
It was simply out of the question, that was all. Out of the question.
“I know how you are about keeping your promises,” he said, almost as if he could read her thoughts. “I’m not leaving until you promise to be my wife.”
It was no declaration of love. Of undying devotion. Not when it was said so matter-of-factly in his husky, low-pitched voice. But she didn’t want a man’s supposed everlasting love. It was fine for people like Jaimie. Or Emily.
Maggie, however, had no reason to trust those words. Her mother had said “I love you” to every male in the small Wisconsin town where Maggie grew up. She’d said “I love you, Margaret Mary,” before she’d walked out, one cold winter morning, on Maggie and her father. Even her father, who kissed her on the forehead with a sincere “I love you, Margaret Mary,” had drowned his unhappiness over his wife’s abandonment in one too many scotches before attempting to drive home in a winter storm. And Joe...
It was just as well that Daniel didn’t claim to love her. But that didn’t mean she’d be fool enough to tie herself in the ropes of matrimony. Daniel would chafe at those ropes within weeks. She was sure of it. Look at how rapidly he’d escaped after their one night of loving.
She started when his long arm reached out. “Who are you calling?”
He continued lifting the telephone, and started punching numbers. “Matt. Tell him that I’m going to be staying here for a while.”
She pressed her finger against the disconnect button so fast, so hard, that her fingernail chipped. “No.”
“Then give me your promise.”
“I don’t think I like you anymore.”
His lips twisted, his eyes so grim she wanted to cry. “You don’t have to like me. You’ve only got to stand in front of a judge and say ‘I do.”’
“But we’d be—”
Again he seemed to read her thoughts. “Living as husband and wife. I’ve been called a fool a time or two, Maggie. But I’m no idiot. We will be married. With all that that implies.” His eyes, so startling with those lush dark lashes surrounding the gleam of silver, focused on her mouth. She cursed the fact that he made her breath quicken. So easily. “You don’t have to like me to be satisfied in my bed, either. We’ve already proven that.”
Mortification swept through her like wildfire because she knew it was true. She’d found more satisfaction with Daniel during those hours alongside the swimming hole than she had in a decade of marriage.
“We both want what will be best for this baby. Think about how hard you had it with J.D.”
“Exactly.” She latched on to that. “Daniel, I’m only...well not very far along, obviously. What if—” the painful possibility plagued her as it had since the moment the doctor had told her she was pregnant “—I did miscar—”
“You won’t. You miscarried before you had J.D., I know. But this tune you won’t.”
Her head dropped back and she closed her eyes, praying for...she didn’t know what. “You don’t know that.”
“You’ve been to the doctor?”
“Yes.”
“Who knows your history?”
She swallowed. Nodded. She’d called the doctor the day after he’d told her she was pregnant.
“And?”
“And who knows? This pregnancy could be completely different.” She folded her arms around her waist. “Or it could be worse. The first trimester is the most...iffy.” It wasn’t the greatest explanation, but he got the gist.
“And you’re nine weeks along.”
She wasn’t sure why it hit her so hard. The fact that he knew exactly—without having to think one moment about it—how far along she was. Joe had never...
Oh, God. She was comparing them.
Daniel took up far more than his fair share of the narrow kitchen. She slipped past him, sinking into a chair at the table because her knees were getting shaky. “I’ll give you an answer when I’m four months along.” He’d have time to realize he was not thinking clearly. They’d come to some other arrangement.
He shook his head. “You’ll give me an answer now. I want you at the Double-C as soon as possible. You won’t even have to go to Gillette for a doc. You can go to Rebecca Morehouse in Weaver.”
Maggie realized she was seriously considering Daniel’s outrageous demand. She propped her elbows on the table and lowered her forehead to her palms. Her mind whirled. “What would we tell everyone?”
“Something wrong with the truth?”
She moved her shoulders impatiently. “Like mother, like daughter,” she murmured to herself.
“What?”
“Nothing.” She sighed and lifted her head. “What about J.D.?”
He finally turned his searing gaze away. “What about her? She’ll thrive on the ranch. She already thinks horses were invented just for her.”
“If I agree—”
“You will.”
“Then I have some conditions of my own.”
“You’ll be under my roof, Maggie. In my bed. Nonnegotiable.”
“Yes, you’ve made that abundantly clear.” And her face felt hot because she simply wasn’t used to a man being so...blunt about it. “I’ll agree to marry you, if we can wait until I’m in my second trimester. No one but you and I need to know until then.”
“I’ll ask again. Why hide it?”
“Because too many people will be hurt when—” His eyes met hers and she couldn’t finish the statement. When you change your mind. “I’d rather we keep it to ourselves for now, that’s all.”
“You’ll come to Wyoming now.”
She held her breath, telling herself she wasn’t going to agree to this insanity. She wasn’t. She really, really wasn’t. “Yes.” She exhaled the word, feeling dizzy.
“I’m building my own house,” he said. “It’ll be ready to move into soon.”
“Oh.” Her teeth nibbled at her lip. She had to clear her throat. “Where?”
“Not far from the big house. I bought out Donna Blanchard’s place. Razed the old house and started fresh. Combined the land with the Double-C.”
She remembered the spread. Donna Blanchard had been the woman who owned a small piece of land bordering the Double-C. A few years older than Daniel, she’d been divorced and had been hanging on to the land by her fingernails. She’d wanted to move to the city three years ago. It was nice that she’d finally gotten her wish. “We, um, don’t say anything about our plans though, until December.”
He shook his head. “Third week of November.”
“Last week.”
“Thanksgiving. Your other conditions?”
She swallowed. “Just one.” She looked down at her hands. “That you never leave again without saying goodbye.” She looked up in time to see his jaw tighten at the pointed remark “Agreed,” he said with finality. “We’ll be married right after Thanksgiving.”
“Agreed,” she parroted. Then blinked. Realizing she’d just bargained herself into an agreement of marriage with Daniel Jordan Clay.
But a lot could happen in a month.
A month during which Daniel would surely come to his senses.
He scooped up his hat and jammed it on his head. “I’ll make the arrangements.”
Flagrant panic exploded in her chest. “Arrangements?”
“You’ll want to move your stuff, won’t you?”
“Oh...right. Um,” she looked blindly at her small apartment. “This is a furnished apartment. We just have our clothes and...personal things. Toys. My saws.”
His eyebrows rose. “Saws?”
She brushed at her drooping hair, finally tugging the hairpins free. “I know they’re old, but—”
“Maggie, what are you talking about?”
She nudged the block of cedar that he’d set on the table. “My saws. For my wood art. Did you think I just chipped away at it with my teeth?”
She pointed at the wall behind him and he turned, apparently noticing for the first time the narrow hanging The dark wood had been cut away until all that remained were delicate strands of wood depicting a rearing horse. “You made that?”
“Yes.” She also wished that she didn’t wait, vaguely anxious, for his opinion.
He lifted his hand, running his finger along the detailed mane. “Reminds me of Diablo.”
Maggie looked away, afraid he’d see the confirmation in her eyes. “My father taught me woodworking when I was in school,” she said. When her father had been sober, that is. “I took it up again when we settled here in Chicago. I found some equipment at an estate sale, and it reminded me of—” She broke off. It had reminded her of the pride in her father’s eyes when she’d so easily taken to a hobby that he, himself, had enjoyed. “I thought I could earn some extra money doing models for Ryker Interiors,” she finished.
“I didn’t realize you worked with wood so extensively. Apparently there are a few things we don’t know about each other, after all.”
She didn’t doubt that for a moment. She wasn’t certain there was a single thing she knew about Daniel for sure. Other than that his touch drove her to madness. And now they were paying the price for it.
He stopped in front of her. “Don’t look so dejected, Maggie. You’re going back to the Double-C. That, at least, should be something you can be happy about.” She thought for a moment that he’d lower his head and kiss her. But he didn’t. All he said was, “I’ll be in touch,” before he walked out the door.
Then she sat there, alone.
Her eyes burned suddenly, and she smoothed her palm over her abdomen. If she really were alone, she wouldn’t have just promised to marry Daniel.
A man she had no intention of loving. Because as soon as she did, he’d leave her, too.
Everyone did.
Despite Daniel’s confidence that Maggie and J.D. would be ready to travel with him back to Wyoming, they didn’t quite manage it, and Maggie and J.D. ended up flying several days after he’d left. There had just been too many details to tie up at the apartment.
Though Maggie suspected she was making a monumental mistake, everything else went smoothly with the move. How could it not?
Daniel hadn’t told her who would be meeting them at the airport Maggie assumed he’d send one of the hands. She knew he’d probably spared time he couldn’t really spare when he’d been in Chicago. That he was working flat-out on the house, determined to beat the coming winter.
She certainly hadn’t expected to see Daniel himself waiting at the gate when they walked off the plane.
Her feet dragged to a halt at the sight of him, and all her misgivings and doubts about what she was doing there came surging to the surface. J.D. had no qualms, however. She spotted Daniel immediately and tugged her hand from Maggie’s, darting across the exiting stream of people with a delighted squeal. “Dannl,” she cried.
Maggie’s breath caught as Daniel seemed to hesitate before pulling her up into his arms. After a moment he grinned back at J.D., but to Maggie it looked strained.
What had she done?
After what seemed a decade, they turned in the main entrance of the Double-C. The tires hadn’t even stopped crunching over the gravel drive when the wide front door flew open and Jaimie came trotting out, her long hair bouncing around her shoulders. She dashed over to the truck and yanked open the door.
Suddenly the two women were laughing and crying and hugging. Daniel just sat there, watching
At least he’d gotten this part right.
Matthew joined the women, hugging Maggie. J.D. protested from the back seat, and Daniel turned to help her out.
“Oh, my stars,” Jaimie cried when he rounded the truck with J.D. “We just saw you, and I swear she’s grown.”
“And look at you! You’re showing,” Maggie countered, laughing.
Daniel couldn’t tear his eyes from the sparkle in her blue-green eyes.
Jaimie had crouched down next to her niece, and he turned to see Matthew watching him, a knowing expression in his older brother’s ice-blue eyes. “Why don’t we take this inside,” Daniel suggested, ignoring his brother for the moment. “Where it’s warmer.”
Chattering away madly, the women headed toward the big house. J.D. hung back, her green eyes focused on the corral some distance beyond the house. Her little body fairly shook with excitement.
“Horses, ” she breathed, as if she’d never seen them before. Her little sneakers headed in that direction.
Daniel stifled a sigh and followed, not terribly surprised when his brother did, too.
“Their flight go okay?”
“Yeah.”
“You okay?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
Matthew snorted softly. “I don’t know. ’Cept that you take off last week like a bat outta hell, and come back announcing that Maggie’s moving back, spouting about apartment buildings going condo and job layoffs.” He shrugged. “No reason.”
J.D. reached the wooden fence of the corral, and Daniel caught her before she could slip between the rails. She strained against him. “Dannl, horses!”
“I know. But if you go through the fence, you might get hurt.”
She gave him a disbelieving look. Daniel heard Matthew squelch a laugh, and he glanced at his brother.
“Jaimie gives me that look now and then,” Matthew muttered under his breath.
J.D. suddenly relaxed in Daniel’s arms, and she smiled her singularly sweet smile, taking in both men. “We ride the horses now?”
Daniel met his brother’s eyes over the little girl’s head. Matthew rubbed his jaw and shook his head wryly. “Man, you are in for trouble,” he said, and turned his head when his wife called him from the house that he had a phone call.
Over J.D.’s blond waves, Daniel watched his brother stride back to the big house and stop long enough to loop a long arm around Jaimie and drop a lingering kiss on her upturned lips. Then Sarah joined her parents, wrapping her short arms around her daddy’s long leg. Without releasing his hold of Jaimie, Matthew swung Sarah up into his other arm, and the trio disappeared inside the rear of the house.
Daniel sighed faintly and looked down at J.D., his arms tightening involuntarily around her petite little body. She looked up at him, her emerald eyes wide and innocent. Then she smiled that smile that was distinctly hers, and Daniel felt a slice of pain knife through him. He managed to smile back, but it was an effort. He didn’t want to remember that once, long ago, he’d wished this little imp had been h
is child. Didn’t want to remember that her real father had left her behind rather than stay and right his wrongs.
But then he had to wonder how much better than Joe he was, considering his own involvement in that and how he’d spent his last few years. How he’d failed another innocent child.
Maybe, just maybe, if he did a good enough job now with J D. his conscience would finally rest. At least on this one score.
No matter how much Daniel had hated Joe, how close he’d come to separating the man limb from limb for cheating on Maggie, he hadn’t expected Joe to run off the way he had.
“Dannl, I pet the horses?”
He looked into J.D.’s hopeful face. “Sure,” he said gruffly. He turned her around and set her on the top rail of the fence, keeping his arm securely around her squirming body, and whistled sharply. J.D. practically vibrated off the fence rail with excitement when two horses trotted over.
From the wide, uncurtained window in the kitchen of the big house, Maggie watched Daniel and her daughter. Her fingers curled tightly over the edge of the counter.
Jaimie came up beside her and they both watched as Daniel and J.D. petted the patient mare. Even from within the house they could hear J.D.’s excited laughter.
“I’m glad you’re back,” Jaimie said.
Maggie couldn’t tear her eyes from Daniel and J.D. She hurt inside from the sight, but she couldn’t stop watching. “Me, too.”
“He’s very good with the children,” Jaimie continued after a moment.
“Hmm?”
“Daniel. The girls adore him.”
At that Maggie finally turned and glanced at her sister-in-law. “They always did,” Maggie said drily, surprising herself with the unexpected spurt of humor.
Jaimie’s smile grew. “Ah, but this time it’s the little girls I’m referring to. Not the adult variety. Although, you must admit that the guy is pretty hard to look at I mean, those silvery-gray eyes and that bod? A woman has to have a lot of intestinal fortitude to be able to stomach watching him for more than a few seconds at a time. Frankly, I don’t know how we tolerate it.” Suddenly Jaimie threw her arms around her and gave her a heartfelt hug. “I’m so glad you’re home,” she said fiercely.
A Wedding for Maggie Page 8
