A Willing Wife

by Jackie Merritt

  “Maggie, you have to understand where they’re coming from. They’re worried about you and Travis living alone in a big city like Houston.”

  “Are you worried about it, as well?”

  “Well, no. Personally, I believe you can take care of yourself.”

  “So this talk we’re supposed to have is based strictly on Mama and Papa’s worry. Cruz, Travis and I lived alone in Phoenix for a year after the divorce, and to be perfectly honest, we were alone most of the time before the divorce. Craig was rarely in town, and even when he was home he was running all over Phoenix. You must remember the night I called home to tell the family about Craig wanting a divorce because he’d fallen in love with someone else, because you got on the phone and threatened to come to Phoenix and beat him into the ground.

  “Well, just how do you suppose I lived through all that? I wasn’t a coward then, Cruz, nor am I one now. I am not afraid of starting a new life in Houston, and while I respect Mama and Papa’s concern for their children, they have to realize that I haven’t been a child for a very long time.”

  “I’m sorry I let Papa involve me in this, Maggie,” Cruz said gently.

  “Yes, well, it’s obvious that it was their last-ditch effort to make me see the error of my ways. Tomorrow when I get home they’ll greet me warmly and act as though nothing happened. I’ll act the same, and everything will be fine. The last thing I could ever want is a break with my family. You’re all—” Maggie’s voice cracked “—very important to me.”

  They rode the rest of the way to Red Rock in silence, and when they arrived at the bus stop and got out of the truck, Cruz hugged Maggie.

  “Good luck tomorrow, Maggie,” he said with emotion. “I mean it.”

  She smiled, if a bit weakly. “Thank you, Cruz.”

  Rosita was frantic. “I’ve called Dallas’s house a dozen times, and all I keep getting is his answering machine. Ruben, you have to go out and find him.”

  “It’s Sunday, Rosita. He could be anywhere.”

  “He’s somewhere on the ranch, I know it. Please take a ride and look for him.”

  “Did you try calling the big house?”

  “Yes, and I left a message for Dallas to contact me if he should show up there.” Rosita looked at the clock on the wall. “Maggie’s already on the bus for Houston. Ruben, time is rushing by. Dallas should know what she’s doing, and he won’t know anything if we don’t find him.”

  “Rosita, maybe we’re sticking our noses into Maggie’s business a little too much. And into Dallas’s. He might not appreciate what we’re trying to do.”

  “Ruben, he’s in love with our Maggie,” Rosita said firmly. “And she’s got so many screwy ideas in her head about his being a Fortune and her not being good enough for a man like him that she doesn’t realize that she’s in love with him, too. Should you and I sit by and do nothing, when we know they are perfect for each other? You agreed to help with my plan, and we each must do our part. Right now your part is to go out, find Dallas, and ask him to come and talk to me. Once he’s here, I’ll do the rest. You won’t have to say a word, I promise.” She hugged and kissed her husband. “Go, sweetheart. I know you’ll find him.”

  Ruben smiled. “You still know how to twist me around your little finger, don’t you?”

  “And may I never forget it,” Rosita said with a teasing laugh. She might be a few months past sixty, but she still knew how to be a woman for her man.

  Dallas had spent the day outdoors, most of it on horseback checking the water level in creeks and ponds. On his way back to the ranch in late afternoon, he decided to stop by the Perez home and say “hi” to Travis. Maggie might not like him, but her son did. And Dallas liked Travis. He was a wonderful little boy, full of the devil at times and so sincerely sweet and innocent at others.

  And he never failed to greet Dallas with a big grin. “Hi, Dallas!” Travis called out when Dallas and Vic rode up.

  “Hi, yourself.” Dallas dismounted and left Vic to fend for himself. “How’re you doing, Trav?”

  “I’m doing fine, Dallas. So is Baron.”

  “Has he gotten you into any more trouble?”

  “Nope. He’s the best puppy ever.”

  Dallas laughed and bent down to pet the squirmy little pup. “You know, he’s going to grow up to be a pretty good size, Trav.”

  “That’s okay. He’ll always be my dog, no matter how big he gets.”

  “That he will,” Dallas agreed.

  “Mama’s gone away, Dallas.”

  Dallas froze. “Your mama went away? Where did she go, son?”

  Travis shrugged. “For a bus ride…I think.”

  Dallas’s mind raced, and something cold and clammy seemed to be gripping his spine. Slowly he rose. “Is your grandma in the house?”

  “Yeah, she’s watching me.”

  Dallas glanced at the house. “Right now?”

  Travis giggled. “No, I mean she’s watching me.”

  “Oh, you mean she’s taking care of you. Trav, I think I’ll go and talk to your grandma. You stay out here, all right?”

  “Sure, Dallas.”

  “I’ll see you again later.”

  “Okay.”

  Heading for the front porch, Dallas stumbled over nothing and nearly took a fall. He caught himself in time, but as numb as he felt the near tumble didn’t surprise him. Where would Maggie go? And how long was she going to be gone? My Lord, had she gone away for good and left her son with her parents? But Rosita had a job. Was she planning to quit working and assume full responsibility for the care of her grandson?

  Feeling as though something had ripped a gigantic hole in his gut, Dallas rapped on the door. Rosita opened it.

  “Dallas! Did Ruben find you?”

  “Is Ruben looking for me?”

  “Yes, for a couple of hours now. Oh, do come in.”

  Dallas went in and Rosita shut the door. “You didn’t see Ruben at all?”

  “No. Rosita, Travis said that his mama went away. For a bus ride, he thinks. Where did she go?”

  Rosita splayed her hand at the base of her own throat, conveying concern. “She went to Houston, and I wanted you to know. That’s why Ruben’s out looking for you. Please have a seat. Would you like something to drink?”

  “Nothing, thanks. Is Maggie coming back?” The anxiety he felt over the answer to that question showed on his face.

  “This time, yes. Dallas, please sit down.” Rosita sat on the sofa.

  Dallas finally sat, opting for a chair. “What do you mean by ‘this time’?”

  “She has a job interview at a bank tomorrow morning. If she gets the job, she and Travis will be moving to Houston.”

  “I see.” Dallas fell back against the chair. Why was he so damn shook up? Hadn’t Maggie told him her visit to the ranch was only temporary? He should have believed her. But he could tell from Rosita’s agitation that she hadn’t believed Maggie, either.

  He needed to get the facts straight. “Her interview is not until tomorrow but she went to Houston today?”

  “Her appointment is at nine in the morning, and she didn’t want to risk being late. Which—” Rosita gave a long, drawn-out sigh “—makes a certain amount of sense. As far as I’m concerned, her good sense stops there. Dallas, how do you feel about her leaving the ranch and moving to Houston?”

  “I’ve been trying to figure that out,” Dallas mumbled. Unable to sit still any longer, he got up to pace the floor. “Did she tell you I asked her to marry me?”

  Rosita gasped. “No, she did not! Oh, I knew talking to you was the right thing to do. Ruben was worried about us sticking our noses into your business, but goodness, if you told her you loved her and wanted to marry her, how could she possibly have—? Wait a minute. When you proposed to her, what did she say?”

  “She said no,” replied Dallas, but he was thinking about what Rosita had just said about him having told Maggie he loved her. He knew he’d said no such thing, and he wondered ho
w he could have been so stupid. He did love her. Why in the devil hadn’t he told her that, instead of reciting all sorts of trumped-up reasons for them to get married?

  You didn’t say it because you didn’t know it then, you damn fool!

  He suddenly felt sick to his stomach and more than a little weak in the knees. Moving back to the chair, he sank down on it.

  “She must be planning to stay somewhere in Houston tonight,” he said anxiously. “Do you know where she’ll be?”

  “I have the name and phone number of the hotel written down,” Rosita said triumphantly. “It’s in the kitchen. I’ll go and get it.”

  The trip between Red Rock and Houston seemed interminable to Maggie. The bus stopped at every little burg along the way, and the chain of interruptions made Maggie so impatient that she got a tension headache. The tension reached far inside her and made her whole body feel like a clenched fist, which puzzled her. Why couldn’t she just relax and enjoy the ride? So what if she wasn’t on an express bus? The only thing waiting for her in Houston was a hotel room, for goodness’ sake.

  Staring out the window, absorbing very little of the passing countryside, her thoughts became even more troubled. When it struck her that she was beginning to doubt the wisdom of her decision to work and live in Houston, she caught herself, and immediately took up a mental argument against doubt of any kind. Her decision had not been a hasty one, she reminded herself. In truth, it had been made in Phoenix, before she’d even come to Texas.

  But it was made before you met Dallas again. Before you made love with him. Before you fell in love with him!

  Was this the way her life was going to be from now on, Maggie wondered grimly, with memories of Dallas constantly needling her?

  No! She was not going to let memories destroy her future. She was going to make a good life for herself and Travis in Houston, and she was going to forget Dallas Fortune. Forget everything about him: his good looks, his kindness to Travis, his…kisses.

  Maggie’s heart suddenly felt shattered.

  The hotel room was nice, Maggie decided. When checking in, she had explained that she didn’t require child care in the morning, as she’d thought when she had made her reservation. The clerk had been pleasant about it, and Maggie had taken her key and walked to her room.

  After hanging the dress she’d brought for tomorrow in the closet, Maggie laid down to take a nap until dinner time. After she awoke, she went to the restaurant next door. She wasn’t really hungry, but she figured she should eat something, so she ordered a chef’s salad. She was in the restaurant about forty minutes, and when she returned to her room she checked the time: it was after eight. She decided to take a shower and get ready for bed. Even if she didn’t immediately fall asleep, she thought, she could watch TV until she got sleepy.

  It struck her that this was the first time she’d spent a night without Travis since the day he’d been born, and she wished that she’d brought him with her. He was her sidekick, the one and only extension of herself, and she missed him terribly. But she supposed he was better off with her mother, and tomorrow he would not have to stay with a strange sitter. Yes, it’s best that he’s at the ranch, she told herself while stepping into the tub for her shower.

  Ten minutes later she dried off, applied lotion to her skin as she always did after a bath or shower and then pulled on a nightgown. She brushed her teeth and left the bathroom. Turning down the bed, she switched on the television set with the remote control and then clicked through various stations until she landed on one broadcasting a movie.

  She stacked the pillows and lay down. After a few minutes, she reached out to the lamp on the nightstand and turned it off. The changing images on the television screen cast eerie reflections around the room, and Maggie felt a surging loneliness.

  Sighing, she forced herself to stare at the TV.

  Grim-lipped and tense, Dallas drove like a bat out of hell from the ranch to Houston.

  He had the address of the hotel with him, and once in the city it didn’t take long to locate it. With his heart in his throat, he parked in the hotel lot and turned off the ignition. Which of those many rooms was Maggie using? And was she registered under Perez or Randall?

  Well, there was only one way to find out. He would try both names. Climbing out of the car, Dallas headed for the hotel entrance. At first the front desk clerk was uncooperative. “I’m sorry, sir, but we cannot give out the room numbers of our guests. I could phone Ms. Perez and let you speak to her, however.”

  Dallas produced a hundred-dollar bill. “I’m a very good friend of hers, Chuck,” he said, reading the young man’s name tag. “She isn’t expecting me, and I’d like to surprise her.”

  Chuck eyed the bill longingly, then gave Dallas a thorough once-over. Obviously he decided that this tall Texan wasn’t dangerous, because he quickly snatched the bill from Dallas’s hand and slipped it into his own jacket pocket.

  “She’s in room 140. That’s just around the far corner of the building, ground floor.”

  “Thank you, Chuck.”

  Walking toward the room, Dallas shook his head over his own behavior. He’d never bribed anyone before but he guessed that he would do just about anything to see Maggie tonight, to surprise Maggie tonight. And a phone call from the clerk would have ruined everything. Dallas knew Maggie well enough to know that she wasn’t above refusing to see him—and he couldn’t take that chance.

  Nope, tonight he was going to get things straightened out with Maggie. He had a lot to say to her. And he hoped that once everything was out in the open, she would have a lot to say to him.

  Reaching the door to room 140, Dallas drew a deep breath and knocked.

  Fifteen

  The droning of the TV had made Maggie drowsy. She heard the knocking, but since there was no reason for anyone to contact her, she assumed that it was someone knocking on the door of a neighboring room.

  But then it happened again, and she nearly jumped out of her skin. Someone was at her door! Why? Who? She sat up and nervously stared at the door. Every lock was in place; she was perfectly safe.

  Or was she? She stole a quick glance at the clock. It wasn’t quite ten—certainly not the middle of the night when fear might be justified.

  For the third time the person knocked. Gathering her courage Maggie asked herself if she was a woman, or a mouse. Good heavens, there were people in rooms on both sides of hers. Surely if someone was intent on doing her harm, they wouldn’t be knocking—they would be breaking in.

  Getting off the bed she tiptoed to the door and peered through the peephole. Dallas! Disbelieving her own eyes, she took another look and suddenly felt a rocketing joy. He was here! Was she really asleep and merely dreaming?

  When he knocked for a fourth time she knew this was no dream. “Just a minute!” she called, and after switching on some lights and turning off the television set she ran for her robe. It was as short as her nightgown, hitting her about mid-thigh. Since she’d thought she would be alone and had packed only one small suitcase, she had brought a gown and robe that wouldn’t take up much space.

  As hastily as she got her robe and put it on, it was enough time for Maggie to start thinking. Someone—undoubtedly her mother—must have told Dallas where to find her. Cruz driving her to Red Rock hadn’t been Rosita’s last-ditch effort. This was! Still, it didn’t make sense that Dallas would drive all that way to see her tonight when she would be back at the ranch tomorrow afternoon.

  Oh, my God, she thought as panic seized her. Something terrible had happened, and Dallas was delivering the news in person instead of doing so over the phone.

  The elation she’d felt at first seeing him through the peephole had completely vanished by the time she finally unbolted the door. Her first words were frantically spoken: “What’s wrong?”

  The sight of Maggie in that short, pink, silky thing addled Dallas’s brain. She was so damn beautiful…and sexy…and—and worried? He frowned. “The only thing that I know i
s wrong is your going off without so much as a hint of your plans,” he said gruffly.

  She blinked incredulously, even while feeling an enormous relief that he wasn’t here to deliver bad news. “I beg your pardon. Since when do I have to report in to you?”

  Ignoring her sarcastic tone and her question, Dallas pushed the door open and brushed past her to walk into the room.

  “Well, do come in,” she drawled. “Whatever you do, don’t stand on ceremony.” She shut the door.

  “I didn’t come here to beat around the bush about anything—least of all to stand outside for an hour while you decide whether you should or shouldn’t invite me in.”

  Maggie sniffed disdainfully. “Now why doesn’t that surprise me? Since you always do exactly as you please, I should have known you would bully your way into my room the second I saw you.”

  “I’m not here to fight with you.”

  “No, you’re here because my mother can’t seem to mind her own business.”

  “You are her business. All of her children are. I wish my mother were still alive to stick her nose into my business. Instead of finding fault with everything Rosita does, you should thank your lucky stars that you still have her.”

  “I do not find fault with everything Mama does! But sometimes she goes too far. She had no right to give you the name of this hotel.” Maggie was beginning to feel uncomfortable in her short gown and robe. Dallas’s gaze kept rising and falling as he studied her from head to toe, and he didn’t even have the courtesy to pretend that he wasn’t thrilled with what he was seeing.

  “You at least could have phoned ahead so I would be dressed,” she said angrily.

  “Let’s not forget that I’ve seen you without a stitch,” Dallas shot back.

  “Oh, sure, remind me again what a fool I am,” she snapped.

  Dallas heaved a weary-sounding sigh. “You’re not a fool. In fact, if there’s a fool in this room, it’s me. Maggie, the day I asked you to marry me—”

  “No!” she cried, and covered her ears with her hands. “I don’t want to talk about that.”