Because Olivia needed her.
And then she reached out and touched his upper arm. Offering the same.
Because...he needed her.
Their eyes met and held. His insides churned like he'd ridden a whirly carnival ride. She did that to him. Discombobulated him until he wasn't sure which way was up.
But she also comforted him in a way no one else could.
She touched him, when no one else did.
He couldn't be...falling for her. Again. Could he?
He bent his head down over Olivia, the brim of his hat breaking the fragile connection of their gaze.
His heart was thundering now, he was sweating more than the baking sun really called for.
He wasn't falling for her. He couldn't be. She was just Katie's old friend. Now Olivia's friend. She'd helped him comfort Olivia, and he was grateful. That was all.
Right?
Chapter 5
"Are you going out to the Michaels' place today?"
Several days after the emotional scene at the cemetery, Haley settled in the floral-covered chair next to her aunt's bedside. The lunch she'd brought on a tray earlier lay on the bedside table, mostly untouched. She would take it back to the kitchen in a minute, but as long as Aunt Matilda was awake, she would sit and talk for a bit.
"I don't know."
Haley couldn't get Maddox off her mind. He and Livy were making strides from where they'd been at the beginning of the summer, when she'd come back into their lives.
He'd been calling the little girl every night from the road on the harvest crew.
And the last two nights, he'd called Haley. They'd talked for close to an hour each time, about her job as a marketing assistant for a big firm in Oklahoma City. About Justin and the accident and his recovery. About Livy.
But Maddox held back about himself.
"Am I getting too involved?" she asked her aunt. It was somewhat of a rhetorical question. "I started the summer wanting to help Livy with her ice cream business and maybe show her uncle what he was missing out on..."
"And now you've met the real man."
And she was afraid she was falling in love with him.
"I'm glad," Aunt Matilda smiled and patted Haley's hand. "I was afraid you were going to be hung up on that awful Patrick forever."
"Paul," Haley corrected gently. "And I've been over Paul for a while."
After spending time with Maddox this summer, she wondered if what she'd felt for the other man had been real love. In the beginning, she'd been infatuated with him. But as their relationship wore on, sometimes the things he said made her feel uncomfortable. He didn't think she was outgoing enough. Always wanted to go to more parties, when Haley would be perfectly content to stay home for a quiet dinner. They'd been together for two years and she'd been expecting a proposal. Instead, he'd left her behind for an out-of-state job. She'd thought she'd been heartbroken.
But if she'd loved him, why didn't she go with him? He hadn't asked, but what had stopped her from suggesting it?
She didn't know the answer to that question.
And she didn't know what to do about Maddox.
"Open your heart," Aunt Matilda said. "Don't be afraid to fall in love again. Life's too short to miss your second chances."
Coming from her aunt, the words were a bittersweet reminder.
The doorbell rang.
"Expecting someone?" her aunt asked.
"No."
When she pulled open the front door, there were Maddox and an effervescent Livy on the front stoop.
"What are you doing here?"
Livy's answer was a hug that Haley gratefully accepted. A step behind, Maddox held up a hand-packed quart of ice cream in each hand.
"New flavor, and we thought we'd better check on you and Mrs. Matilda."
It was thoughtful...and unexpected.
"Can I take it in to Aunt Matilda?" Livy asked, bouncing on her toes. Bubbling with energy, as usual.
Haley agreed. "Grab a spoon from the kitchen," she called after the girl.
Maddox relinquished the carton to her and trailed her into the kitchen. They passed Livy on her way to Matilda's room.
Haley fished a pair of spoons out of the silverware drawer and offered one to Maddox.
"I shouldn't," he said, but he took the spoon anyway. "I had a taste at home already." He patted his stomach, and she rolled her eyes.
"It would take more than a taste to fatten you up. You work too hard."
A shadow flickered in his eyes, but he only smiled.
"So what flavor do we have here?" Haley dipped her spoon in what looked like a swirl of vanilla and caramel, but was... "Pumpkin bread?" she asked in surprise after the first bite.
"Yes, and it's addictive."
She sighed as she swallowed a few good bites. "This was just what I needed today." Both the ice cream and the visit.
"Glad we could oblige." His voice was a rumble of laughter, and Livy's giggle from the bedroom was an echo of the same.
He set the spoon down in the stainless steel sink. "Do you want to come to a rodeo this weekend? Like a... date?"
The tips of his ears had turned that endearing red.
"I thought you were on the road again."
"The kid I'm splitting shifts with needed to switch our days. I'll get back out there next week. Plus, I wanted to spend a little more time with Livy. School will start soon."
Their eyes met, and she read his sincerity. He was really trying with Livy.
He'd even changed his schedule.
Maybe he was figuring out that you never got back that lost time.
And she realized she didn't want to lose any time, either. No matter the risk.
She agreed in a whisper. "All right."
Chapter 6
Two days later, the realization that Matilda didn't have much time left finally became real for Haley.
She curled in a ball on the living room sofa and cuddled beneath one of Aunt Matilda's afghans, idly flipping through a photo album. She had rarely seen her aunt during her childhood, with her father moving the two of them around often. Until her senior year of high school, when Aunt Matilda had asked her to stay. They'd become close, almost as close as the mother she'd missed for years. Even when Haley had gone to college and made her life in Oklahoma City, they'd kept in touch with frequent phone calls and Matilda's visits to the city.
Unlike Haley's father, who had grown more and more distant. She might talk to him once every three months. At Christmas. Aunt Matilda had become the parent Haley needed.
What was Haley going to do without her? She still thought of Aunt Matilda's house as home, even after a decade away.
It was after nine when the soft knock came. At first she thought she'd imagined it.
But when it came a second time, she knew that whoever was out there wasn't going away. She peeked out the peephole to see Maddox's strong features and opened the door without thinking. It was when he blinked, visibly surprised, that she remembered she was wearing her painting sweatpants and rattiest T-shirt, she hadn't had a shower, her hair was tucked in a messy ponytail, and she probably had bags under her eyes.
It had been that kind of day.
His eyes softened when he saw her.
She tried to smile, but the weight of the day filled her eyes with tears.
She raised a hand to cover her face or ward him off—she hadn't completely made up her mind which—but he took her elbow in one of his big hands and tugged her forward.
He wrapped her in his muscled arms, and she sank into his embrace. She let him take her weight, buried her face in his chest, and breathed in leather and horse and cowboy.
"Bad day, huh?"
His words were a rumble under her cheek and hot in her hair and she hung on tightly.
She nodded, the top of her head bumping his chin.
"She's hanging in there?"
She nodded again. "Getting weaker," she said against the collar of his T-shirt.
&nbs
p; "Still doesn't want to go to the hospital?"
This time she shook her head. Tears burned her eyes. The end was nearing for her aunt, but Haley wasn't ready to let her go.
He held her, giving her his strength. She knew she couldn't have him, not really. He was firmly anchored here in Redbud Trails, and she was eventually going back to her life in Oklahoma City. But she could have tonight.
When she'd settled a little, his hands moved to her waist, clasping her loosely.
She let go of him and raised both hands to wipe her cheeks.
Then he tipped her chin up, used the pad of his thumb to catch the tears she'd missed.
As she looked at those infinite brown eyes, shadowed in the darkness, he slid his palm against her jaw and leaned in.
And kissed her.
Minutes later—Maddox couldn't tell you how many—they sat together on the porch swing. He'd given Haley the quart of ice cream Olivia had sent, and she'd brought out two spoons, but he'd barely tasted the half-melted sweet. He wanted to remember the taste of Haley, not ice cream.
"How'd you know I needed this tonight?" she asked. Her head lolled on his shoulder, and his arm rested around her.
They fit perfectly together.
Just like at her senior prom.
Except for the fact that she was leaving, and he was stuck here in Redbud Trails, trying to save the family farm, trying to keep his brother afloat, trying to be a father to Olivia.
"Olivia saw me heading out the door and wanted you to try it. Sorry if it's melted."
"I'm not." The smile in her voice made him smile, too, and he squeezed her shoulders.
"What's she calling it?"
He wanted to ask her about her aunt again, but he knew how sometimes when you were so deep in something, you just needed to think and talk about the silly little things in life.
So that's what he gave her.
"She said 'peach cobbler'."
"Mmm. I like it. I predict it will be popular."
He shook his head. "You'd predict that about any of her creations."
"I would not. Not the bad ones."
Haley's early predictions about the business had been right. Things were taking off. Orders kept coming in, and Olivia spent hours running her machine. She was talking about maybe needing a second deep freezer. And she was thrilled about it.
Finally finished, Haley set the quart on the floor near their feet, and when she straightened, she turned so they were almost face-to-face and laid her palms on his cheeks.
He jumped from the cold.
She giggled. "Sorry."
But she wasn't really. He took her cold hands in his and rubbed them, providing friction, and he hoped, warmth. He was certainly warm enough for the both of them.
"Can I ask you something?"
"Yeah."
"How come you've never talked about Katie? With Livy, I mean."
He breathed in deep. "After she died, Livy was so little. Mom couldn't bear to talk about her. Those first months were hard on all of us. Then mom had her stroke and just gave up, and Justin and I didn't talk about anything. We were focused on surviving.
"I guess I never realized Livy needed it. Not until you came along. Now she wants to hear about Katie all the time."
She smiled against his shoulder.
"Has Justin picked out any classes for the fall?"
"Yeah. But he still has to go to the school and register."
Maddox wasn't ready to believe that his brother would do it. But Justin was at least talking about getting back to having a life instead of moping around in that recliner all day.
It was an improvement, if a small one. Haley had made her mark there, too.
The tip of his boot dragged on the porch floor. Their swing barely moved. She didn't seem to mind.
"Don't forget about our date Saturday. Do you still think you'll be able to come?"
"Unless Aunt Matilda gets much worse. She's looking forward to hearing all about it."
"Good."
He tucked her close again and rested his chin on top of her head. He liked being with her like this. He could imagine spending all their summer nights together, talking about their days and just being together.
He wanted it. Wanted it so bad he could taste it.
And that was just plain dangerous.
But it didn't stop him.
Haley was wide-awake when Maddox left a half hour later. She needed sleep, but instead of climbing into bed, she stared out the window where his taillights had disappeared.
She was in love with him.
Forget about a teenager's crush on her friend's handsome older brother.
She'd seen the real man. Someone who worked his butt off to take care of his family. Someone who held her, not asking for anything. Giving comfort.
Someone real.
Not the dream she'd imagined for so long.
How was she going to go back to her old life after this was all over?
Chapter 7
Saturday came, right on the heels of a new pile of medical bills. Maddox had thought they'd gotten through all of them, but a phone call to their insurance company revealed the truth—here was another stack waiting to be paid.
He'd gotten complacent these last few days, talking with Haley on the phone. Kissing her.
Thinking that they might have some kind of future together.
What had he been thinking?
He had a kid, a brother, and a farm to take care of, and bills out the wazoo.
Later that night, when Haley joined him and Justin and Livy at the rodeo arena one town over, those thoughts kept him company. He couldn't get past them enough to make polite conversation.
She noticed. Of course.
Sitting next to him on the crowded bleachers, she bumped his knee with hers, smiling sideways at him. Livy was on her other side, and Justin took up another seat past her. Maddox had been shocked when his brother had asked to ride along. He hadn't wanted to get off the farm at all, and now he wanted to attend a rodeo?
But Maddox had helped him load his crutches into the truck without a word.
"Did you ever want to do rodeo as a child?" Haley asked.
"For a few weeks," he admitted. He squinted down at the action in the fenced-off, dirt-packed arena. A bell rang and a horse took off from the starting gate at one side, its rider clinging to the reins and urging it on as it raced around three barrels in a triangle, then back out the gate where it had started.
"What happened?" Haley asked after the barrel rider had finished her loop.
"Took a ride on a sheep. Fell off, and decided football was safer."
"That's my brilliant brother," Justin put in from Livy's other side.
Maddox let Justin take the conversational reins, talking about their childhood and Katie riding barrels.
Until Haley bumped him again. "Wanna take a walk? I'll buy you a pretzel."
He considered her. She was wearing a cute pair of jeans, boots, and a black Stetson he'd never seen before. It made her look right at home in this crowd. "This is my date. I'm buying."
She met his gaze squarely. "I'm glad you remembered," she teased softly.
She was right. He'd let his worry about the medical bills take over his thoughts.
But it was also his life. He had to support his family. He refused to do what his dad had done and give up.
She followed him down the bleachers, and when he started off to the food trucks, she slid easily under his arm. Her boots put the top of her head level with his chin, and she felt right there. Again.
One of Justin's friends called out to Maddox, and he waved, a flop of his hand on her shoulder.
"Wanna tell me what's wrong?" They stood in line behind a few people with the same idea about the pretzels, and she looked up at him with slightly raised brows, waiting for an answer.
"Nothing for you to worry about," he said. "You've got enough going on with your aunt." And being broke wasn't exactly something he wanted to own up to. He had
a little pride.
"That's true." Her chin lifted toward him. "But I can still listen."
He shook his head slightly. Not tonight. His problems were still too raw.
She looked off into the distance. "Once I get back to Oklahoma City, maybe you could drive down for a visit..."
Haley continued to speak, but he heard very little. He'd known she would be leaving, knew this was only temporary, but how could she speak of it so casually? Her words, the very thought of her leaving, felt like a punch in the gut.
It had taken Haley so long to build up the courage to ask him to visit her in the city, and then...nothing. No answer. No response whatsoever.
She'd thought...
She'd hoped his kisses meant something. That his arm around her shoulder, the way he'd comforted her the other night, meant his feelings were growing. Growing to match what hers already were.
And here they were, on a date. A date he'd requested. Not a let's go as friends thing, but a real, honest-to-goodness date. And yet...
Had she been kidding herself?
Was he just enjoying a summer romance? Was he being a courteous cowboy, or simply returning her kindness to Livy?
They inched forward in the pretzel line. She took a deep breath, steeling her courage, and looked up at him. He met her gaze, his eyes dark beneath the brim of his hat. He didn't smile, but the corners of his eyes crinkled.
And she knew.
He cared about her.
But something held him back.
The gal behind the counter cleared her throat, and Maddox placed their order. He bought her a paper-wrapped pretzel and a bottle of water and led her away from the crowded line.
"So that's a no?" she asked tentatively.
He shook his head slightly. What did that mean? Was it no, that his non-response hadn't meant no, or just no to her question in general?
He led them clear of the crowd, stopped, and faced her. "I'm going to have to pick up some extra work," he said. "I doubt I'll have time to come down, even if it's for a weekend."
Oh. After what he'd said the other night, she'd thought he might be cutting back on extra work.
"Livy needs you," she said in a small voice.
Kissed by a Cowboy 1 & 2: Sweet Cowboy Romance (Redbud Trails) Page 6
