Facing the Fire Page 6

  The last thing he had wanted to ever do was cause her to leave him.

  Which was exactly what his stupidity had made happen. Well, Clint liked to think he learned from his own mistakes.

  To his shame, he had seriously thought she'd just fall in line once he got her home. That it would be easy. Maggie was normally quiet and laid back and easy-going. Compliant.

  He'd expected her to be compliant.

  He should have known better. Clint was going to have to work for what he wanted. Needed.

  He needed that woman like he needed breath.

  That was something else he'd figured out along the way during those dark five months.

  She’d spent most of the day before helping get Violet resettled into the ranch house, buying baby supplies online—and avoiding Clint whenever possible.

  He knew what she was up to.

  The sound of baby babbling came down the hall, along with the light footfalls of the woman he wanted.

  Clint tensed.

  Maggie was dressed in a pretty flower-printed maternity top and jeans. Her red-gold hair was pulled up in the ponytail he was used to seeing. But she wore make-up. Actual make-up. And she carried her bag. Panic threatened.

  She only wore makeup when she was leaving the house. She could have changed her mind about staying. There was nothing he could do to stop her. "Where are you going?"

  He had at least kept the panic out of his tone.

  "I made an appointment at Dr. Kedrik's office today. She had a last minute cancellation. She's going to be my obstetrician." She shifted Violet to her left side awkwardly. His daughter babbled something incomprehensible and grinned. "If you're busy, Marin has offered to babysit Violet during my appointment. I haven't seen her yet since I got back, and we're going to do lunch before my appointment."

  "Can I go with you?" The words slipped out before he thought them through. "To the appointment, I mean?"

  Maggie hesitated.

  "It's just an initial consult. To catch the doctor up on what has happened so far—and for me to see if I like her. We're not doing an exam today. Not really. No ultrasound, or anything like that."

  He nodded. "Do you want me to go with you?"

  She shook her head. "Not really. I'm used to going in alone. When there are ultrasounds scheduled, if they are, you're more than welcome to come. But...it's less awkward if I do it alone."

  Because she had distanced herself from him since last night. It stung. But no less than what he'd expected.

  Clint had stayed awake far into the night after she'd left his bedroom. Planning. Strategizing. It had been too soon to kiss her last night, but he couldn’t regret it.

  He wanted to kiss the woman in front of him again. And again.

  He had never set out to convince a woman to love him before. It had just sort of happened for him with Miranda and with Amy. They'd grown together over time.

  Well, he and Amy had. They’d been neighbors for years. With Miranda, he would almost swear that woman had planned it—then seduced him.

  With Amy and Miranda, it had just been simple. Easy.

  It wasn't like that with Maggie. Far from it.

  Maggie meant fire.

  He’d burned for Maggie since the night he’d stumbled into her coming out of the bathroom after she’d worked for him about a month. She’d been in nothing more seductive than a tank top and flannel pants. That was all it had taken.

  He must have seen her in the same thing four dozen times by then—but they’d bumped right against each other. Chest to chest. He’d wrapped his hands around the soft skin of her arms and just…held her. Wondered what she’d do if he leaned down and kissed her. If he pulled her close and just tasted the smile that seemed to always be on her lips.

  Violet had only been four months old at the time.

  Amy had been dead four months and he’d been lusting after another woman.

  He’d been so damned angry with himself, telling himself he’d acted as if Amy hadn’t existed at all.

  Clint had kept things professional between them after she’d first hired on, for that first month or so.

  That was as long as he’d lasted. Everything she'd done had damned well fascinated him from that night forward. Every time she'd brushed against him in the hall or in the kitchen, his body would go on full-alert. Every time he'd smell her damned shampoo in the only working bathroom in the house he’d turn into an horny idiot.

  When she'd laugh at something his daughter had done, he’d want to scoop her into his arms and just taste that laughter because she made him feel again.

  He’d wanted to feel so damned much after burying Amy.

  He had adored how she had cuddled Violet close, obvious love for his daughter in her eyes. Violet had been three months when Maggie first started working for him.

  The way Maggie had fussed over Clint when he'd had a difficult day at work had made him feel like he mattered to someone again. That…he had needed that. He wasn’t ashamed to admit it.

  She had been soft perfection, right there in his world. Right there in front of him. Just down the hall. Tempting him.

  Everything he had ever wanted.

  She had terrified him. He'd known he wasn't good enough. He’d kept his distance for almost four long months.

  But one night he’d been a fool...he'd been stupid.

  Amy had always joked that she'd probably never see thirty. Said she was too reckless and crazy and too tragic of a figure—she'd always been melodramatic—to live a staid perfect small-town life.

  She hadn't been joking when she'd been diagnosed. Far from it.

  Amy had been terrified.

  She'd made him promise to live the kind of life she wouldn't have. For her. For their daughter.

  Amy had made him promise to keep on living without her. He hadn’t known how.

  That night he had been hurting. Grieving. Because Amy hadn’t lived to see her thirtieth birthday.

  And Maggie had been there that night instead.

  Maggie had been so damned alive in front of him. While Clint hadn't felt alive in eight months. Longer. He hadn't felt alive since the moment Amy had been diagnosed and they'd known she wouldn't survive to see their daughter. At the end...at the end they'd kept her alive on life support just for Violet's sake. To give Violet more of a chance at life.

  He would never forget how that had felt.

  "I...Ok." Hell, he'd probably go into the doctor's office with Maggie and make a total fool of himself. Demanding answers to questions he couldn't even articulate yet. "Just...you're ok? Healthy? Nothing is going to happen to you?"

  "I'm fine. This pregnancy is no riskier than any other pregnancy. Everything is going as it should. I promise."

  He just nodded.

  He knew the truth—the fear would never fully go away. Not until the baby was born and Maggie was fully recovered. Until he knew she would be safe. "That's good. Can...you text or call when you get there? When you're on your way home? I have some things to go over with the manager at Jay’s ranch this afternoon. I can take Violet with me..."

  "Have you considered doing the interviews for my replacement?" She looked at him directly. "For when I leave?"

  Clint's blood ran cold. "I haven't thought about it."

  Because if he had his way she was never leaving. But...she wouldn't want to be responsible for cleaning up after him now. Not anymore. She’d made it clear she wasn’t his housekeeper any longer.

  He had to respect that. Maggie wanted her career, too. That was going to have to be something he worked around. Respected. She deserved to have her own dreams, too.

  He was never going to stand in the way of that.

  But he wasn't going to lose her either.

  "You probably should. We...you'll need time to train her before I leave. Need time for Violet to adjust."

  She was so damned determine to leave. "You're just going to run. To not even try, aren't you?"

  "I don't see it as running. I stuck for two mo
nths after that night. If you had truly wanted to change your mind, you would have long before you found out I was pregnant. We both know it's some archaic code of honor making you do this now, say you want more than what you insisted you ever could months ago. What am I supposed to think about that?"

  Clint didn't have an answer for that. He just shook his head. He didn’t have the words. He wasn’t good at the words. "That maybe almost losing you and Violet made it damned clear where I stood. And what I really want. I can't lose you, Maggie. I won't."

  "You never really had me. I was right here in front of you for two months after that night. Actually, it was eight weeks, and three days. You couldn't run away fast enough. Now, with hindsight, I'm glad we didn't do anything stupid. Anything else stupid, anyway. I will never regret that night. How can I? I love the baby so much. But if we had...if what had happened that day hadn't...I'm still figuring that out." She put Violet in her high chair and then turned. "Find another housekeeper, Clint. I'm not doing it any longer. I'm staying long enough to be certain Violet will be ok, and then I'm gone."

  With that, and a kiss on Violet's blond head, she just...left. Walked out of the kitchen, greeted the dog on the porch, and kept going until she got to the small SUV waiting that he recognized as belonging to Miranda’s younger sister.

  Clint stood on his porch next to his big yellow dog and watched her ride away.

  He didn't know what he was going to do now.

  12

  Jasper stepped into the diner, looking for his favorite Talley girl immediately. He was feeling good about things now, for the first time in months.

  And he’d wanted to see her tonight before he went home to bed—where she’d probably star in his dreams again. She did most every night, after all.

  Marin was nowhere to be seen.

  Maybe, when this was over, he'd ask her to dinner anywhere but the diner. Just as friends. To celebrate ending that horrible chapter of his life. Just him and a beautiful woman, for one night.

  Jasper wanted a few hours of Marin's attention just on him.

  He was far too old for her, of course, but what would a harmless dinner hurt?

  Marin's younger sister was the hostess today. He had always found her a sweet girl when their paths had crossed. She was nothing like her older sister; the confidence that characterized his Marin was just not there in the girl. He'd heard somewhere she had autism, but hadn't asked anything more.

  Details of her life wasn't a part of his business, after all.

  He studied Meyra quietly while he waited for her to finish seating the couple in front of him. She looked more like her father than she did her mother, though the tall thin build was her mother all over again.

  The quiet grace, as well. He’d always found that attractive, when their paths would cross.

  She shared that with her older sister. There was an even older sister somewhere in St. Louis, he believed. He knew of her, but hadn't interacted with her much in the last ten years or so. A redhead, as well, he thought.

  Marin had a handful of cousins spread throughout the diner that he could see. Most of them were blond. Something they had gotten from their grandmother. Beautiful family of women.

  He pondered them a while, wondering why neither of his sons had ever brought home a Talley girl. As far as he knew, Calloway and Cadell hadn't even dated a Talley. He didn't understand it. Unless it was the familiarity of it all. His kids had known the Talleys their entire lives.

  As if he'd conjured him out of thin-air, Cal walked into the diner at that exact moment. Jasper studied his oldest, a rush of pride filling him.

  His boy was tall and strong and a damned fine businessman.

  Cal had taken over his grandfather's ranch four miles south of Masterson and turned it into a damned fine business. Then he'd gotten his real estate license and gone on to build his own empire with a subdivision of all things.

  His boy had done well for himself. As had his brother. Cadell was the best attorney in the county, handling just about everything. Of course, he was starting to run himself ragged at times. Boy needed to hire himself an assistant before he worked himself into a heart attack.

  Jasper was going to have to say something to him again. Or see about hiring a competent assistant for Cadell himself. Surely someone in the county would work out. Or maybe the boys just needed women of their own. Women to make them see they couldn't work themselves to death like this.

  He would like grandchildren someday soon, after all. Five kids, and not a one of them had married yet. A crying shame.

  "Dad! Hey, great to see you."

  "Just in time to buy your old man lunch."

  "I can do that, but first..." the boy looked around. His eyes landed on the girl and lit. "I came to see Meyra. She owes me a date."

  Well. Apparently one of his son's wasn't blind, after all.

  Jasper smiled at the girl as her older sister came out of the kitchen behind her. Marin.

  His own heart started thudding.

  There she was. Now his day had gotten a whole lot brighter. He was going to put Clive Gunderson out of his mind for the rest of his life now. And just enjoy the rest of his night.

  13

  Brandt Barratt, one of the Texas Barratts, studied the small Wyoming town with a critical eye. It was about like he'd expected. A typical western town, complete with cowboys and cowgirls everywhere he turned. Horse trailers were a dime a dozen on the small highway leading through the Main Street. He slowed near the vet’s place, taking in a tall dark haired man and a small beautiful redhead unloading a horse trailer.

  The woman looked a bit like the woman Brandt was there to find.

  He waved. The couple waved back.

  He smiled at how simple life seemed here at first glance.

  The main street was littered with the small mom-and-pop shops generic to every small town he’d ever been in.

  He loved it.

  His hotel was visible in the distance. The Talley Inn.

  He'd heard all about Masterson, Wyoming. Good and bad.

  It had piqued his interest. When a possible development in the area had been mentioned, he'd paid closer attention than he normally would have. He was a Barratt—Barratts meant Texas, not Wyoming.

  Finley Creek and Barrattville, to be exact.

  That's where all of his family had built their own legacies.

  Brandt wanted more than Finley Creek, though. And wanted more than being a Barratt of Barratt County. He texted his twin sister Powell that he'd arrived. She was waiting for him to check in with an actual phone call, but Brandt wasn't stupid.

  The last thing he wanted to do right now was listen to Powell as she went on about how crazy his idea was going to be. She had her own empire to build—and she was leaving him and the rest of their cousins in her dust—except for Houghton—and should understand why he wanted to do what he was planning.

  Houghton was a tech billionaire, who had only built up the wealth he had inherited from his father—who had built on his own inheritance. Houghton would always be the unicorn amongst their herd.

  Brandt had four cousins and two brothers all older than he was—and he was tired of living in their shadows. It was time to make his own way now.

  Masterson was a good place to start.

  He had one more message to send, and he did it quickly.

  Maggie was his real reason for hopping a plane early this morning to Wyoming, so spur of the moment.

  He'd learned about Masterson from a woman he'd fallen hard for—as a friend. Maggie Tyler understood him. On an intrinsic level. He wanted to let her know he was around. She had been going through a hard time over the last year or so. It was how they had met in the first place.

  If it hadn't been for Maggie, he never would have considered Masterson. But this way, he got to build his own empire—and could check on Maggie in the process.

  She was the closest friend he’d had in a long, long time—since he’d lost his childhood best friend in an auto a
ccident ten years ago.

  He would always love Maggie for that.

  She replied back within minutes.

  Giving him directions to the diner—where she was going to meet him for lunch. Introduce him to the locals, apparently. Her friends.

  Brandt smiled, taking a deep breath of the cool Wyoming air. It felt different here, far different from his native north Texas.

  He could get used to air like this.

  He drove the rental SUV through the town, taking note of where the important buildings were.

  He had a plan.

  He needed ways to implement it.

  The Masterson Diner was his first stop. When he walked in, he had to smile. It reminded him of a favorite spot in Texas. Mamaw’s Place had the same dark brown booth seats, and similar décor.

  Maggie wasn't hard to spot. She and another woman, a beautiful blonde worth a second or third look, occupied a front booth. Brandt waved a brown-haired hostess away. He knew exactly where he was going.

  Maggie saw him coming and shot him a beautiful smile. She slid out of the booth seat awkwardly. "Brandt!"

  He wrapped his arms around her as best he could and hugged her. "I think you have gotten more beautiful since I last saw you."

  "Hardly. I've gotten bigger—in the three days since I’ve last seen you. Rounder, for sure." One hand dropped to her very obvious baby belly, ruefully. He found pregnant Maggie fascinating.

  In a purely platonic, hypothetical way. Barratts were family men, after all.

  "Every bit of you is beautiful." And he had been worried. Something about her made him care about her. It was a simple as that.

  Plus, Powell had practically adopted Maggie as their little sister.

  Brandt was terrified of his twin. It was best to go along with what Powell wanted.

  Or so he let her think. "You doing ok? Mel told me about you leaving practically in a heartbeat. How’s Rancher-cop Boy?”

  Maggie had shared just about every detail of what had happened between her and some cowboy with him months ago. He had his opinions.