Читать книгу Diana Palmer Christmas Collection: The Rancher / Christmas Cowboy / A Man of Means / True Blue / Carrera's Bride / Will of Steel / Winter Roses - Diana Palmer - Страница 17

By the end of the second week after the accident, Maddie was back home, with a high-tech wheelchair to get around the house in.

Odalie and Cort had insisted on buying her one to use while she was recuperating, because she still couldn’t walk, even though the feeling had come back into her legs. She was exhilarated with the doctor’s cautious prognosis that she would probably heal completely after several months.

But she’d made her friends promise to get her an inexpensive manual wheelchair. Of course, they’d said, smiling.

Then they walked in with a salesman who asked questions, measured her and asked about her choice of colors. Oh, bright yellow, she’d teased, because she was sure they didn’t make a bright yellow wheelchair. The only ones she’d seen were black and ugly and plain, and they all looked alike. She’d dreaded the thought of having to sit in one.

A few days later, the wheelchair was delivered. It came from Europe. It was the most advanced wheelchair of its type, fully motorized, able to turn in its own circumference, able to lift the user up to eye level with other people, and all-terrain. Oh, and also, bright yellow in color.

“This must have cost a fortune!” Maddie almost screamed when she saw it. “I said something inexpensive!”

Cort gave her a patient smile. “You said inexpensive. This is inexpensive,” he added, glancing at Odalie.

“Cheap,” the blonde girl nodded. She grinned unrepentantly. “When you get out of it, you can donate it to someone in need.”

“Oh. Well.” The thought that she would get out of it eventually sustained her. “I can donate it?”

Odalie nodded. She smiled.

Cort smiled, too.

“Barracudas,” she concluded, looking from one to the other. “I can’t get around either one of you!”

They both grinned.

She laughed. “Okay. Thanks. Really. Thanks.”

“You might try it out,” Odalie coaxed.

“Yes, in the direction of the hen yard,” Cort added.

She looked from one of them to the other. They had very suspicious expressions. “Okay.”

She was still learning to drive it, but the controls were straightforward, and it didn’t take long to learn them. The salesman had come out with it, to further explain its operation.

It had big tires, and it went down steps. That was a revelation. It didn’t even bump very much. She followed Cort and Odalie over the sandy yard to the huge enclosure where her hens lived. It was grassy, despite the tendency of chickens to scratch and eat the grass, with trees on one side. The other contained multiple feeders and hanging waterers. The enormous henhouse had individual nests and cowboys cleaned it out daily. There was almost no odor, and the hens were clean and beautiful.

“My girls look very happy,” Maddie said, laughing.

“They have a good reason to be happy.” Cort went into the enclosure, and a minute later, he came back out, carrying a large red rooster with a big comb and immaculate feathers.

He brought him to Maddie. The rooster looked sort of like Pumpkin, but he was much bigger. He didn’t seem at all bothered to be carried under someone’s arm. He handed the rooster to Maddie.

She perched him on her jean-clad lap and stared at him. He cocked his head and looked at her and made a sort of purring sound.

She was aghast. She looked up at Cort wide-eyed.

“His name’s Percival,” Cort told her with a chuckle. “He has impeccable bloodlines.”

She looked at the feathery pet again. “I’ve never seen a rooster this tame,” she remarked.

“That’s from those impeccable bloodlines.” Odalie giggled. “All their roosters are like this. They’re even guaranteed to be tame, or your money back. So he’s sort of returnable. But you won’t need to return him. He’s been here for a week and he hasn’t attacked anybody yet. Considering his age, he’s not likely to do it.”

“His age?” Maddie prompted.

“He’s two,” Cort said. “Never attacked anybody on the farm for all that time. The owners’ kids carry the roosters around with them all the time. They’re gentled. But they’re also bred for temperament. They have exceptions from time to time. But Percy’s no exception. He’s just sweet.”

“Yes, he is.” She hugged the big rooster, careful not to hug him too closely, because chickens have no diaphragm and they can be smothered if their chests are compressed for too long. “Percy, you’re gorgeous!”

He made that purring sound again. Almost as if he were laughing. She handed him back to Cort. “You’ve got him separate from the girls?”

He nodded. “If you want biddies, we can put him with them in time for spring chicks. But they know he’s nearby, and so will predators. He likes people. He hates predators. The owner says there’s a fox who’ll never trouble a henhouse again after the drubbing Percy gave him.”

Maddie laughed with pure joy. “It will be such a relief not to have to carry a limb with me to gather eggs,” she said. The smile faded. “I’ll always miss Pumpkin,” she said softly, “but even I knew that something had to give eventually. He was dangerous. I just didn’t have the heart to do anything about him.”

“Providence did that for you,” Cort replied. He smiled warmly. Maddie smiled back but she avoided his eyes.

That bothered him. He put Percy back in the enclosure in his own fenced area, very thoughtful. Maddie was polite, but she’d been backing away from him for days now. He felt insecure. He wanted to ask her what was wrong. Probably, he was going to have to do that pretty soon.

Maddie went to work on her sculptures with a vengeance, now that she had enough materials to produce anything she liked.

Her first work, though, was a tribute to her new friend. She made a fairy who looked just like Odalie, perched on a lily pad, holding a firefly. She kept it hidden when Cort and Odalie came to see her, which was pretty much every single day. It was her secret project.

She was so thrilled with it that at first she didn’t even want to share it with them. Of all the pieces she’d done, this was her best effort. It had been costly, too. Sitting in one position for a long time, even in her cushy imported wheelchair, was uncomfortable and took a toll on her back.

“You mustn’t stress your back muscles like this,” the therapist fussed when she went in for therapy, which she did every other day. “It’s too much strain so early in your recovery.”

She smiled while the woman used a heat lamp and massage on her taut back. “I know. I like to sculpt things. I got overenthusiastic.”

“Take frequent breaks,” the therapist advised.

“I’ll do that. I promise.”

She was walking now, just a little at a time, but steadily. Cort had bought a unit for her bathtub that created a Jacuzzi-like effect in the water. It felt wonderful on her sore and bruised back. He’d had a bar installed, too, so that she could ease herself up out of the water and not have to worry about slipping.

Odalie brought her exotic cheeses and crackers to eat them with, having found out that cheese was pretty much Maddie’s favorite food. She brought more art books, and classical music that Maddie loved.

Cort brought his guitar and sang to her. That was the hardest thing to bear. Because Maddie knew he was only doing it because he thought Maddie had feelings for him. It was humiliating that she couldn’t hide them, especially since she knew that he loved Odalie and always would.

But she couldn’t help but be entranced by it. She loved his deep, rich voice, loved the sound of the guitar, with its mix of nylon and steel strings. It was a classical guitar. He’d ordered it from Spain. He played as wonderfully as he sang.

When he’d played “Recuerdos de la Alhambra” for her, one of the most beautiful classical guitar compositions ever conceived, she wept like a baby.

“It is beautiful, isn’t it?” he asked, drying her tears with a handkerchief. “It was composed by a Spaniard, Francisco Tárrega, in 1896.” He smiled. “It’s my favorite piece.”

“Mine, too,” she said. “I had a recording of guitar solos on my iPod with it. But you play it just as beautifully as that performer did. Even better than he did.”

“Thanks.” He put the guitar back into its case, very carefully. “From the time I was ten, there was never any other instrument I wanted to play. I worried my folks to death until they bought me one. And Morie used to go sit outside while I practiced, with earplugs in.” He chuckled, referring to his sister.

“Poor Morie,” she teased.

“She loves to hear me play, now. She said it was worth the pain while I learned.”

She grinned. “You know, you could sing professionally.”

He waved that thought away. “I’m a cattleman,” he replied. “Never wanted to be anything else. The guitar is a nice hobby. But I don’t think I’d enjoy playing and singing as much if I had to do it all the time.”

“Good point.”

“How’s that sculpture coming along?”

Her eyes twinkled. “Come see.”

She turned on the wheelchair and motored herself into the makeshift studio they’d furnished for her in her father’s old bedroom. It had just the right airy, lighted accommodation that made it a great place to work. Besides that, she could almost feel her father’s presence when she was in it.

“Don’t tell her,” she cautioned as she uncovered a mound on her worktable. “It’s going to be a surprise.”

“I promise.”

She pulled off the handkerchief she’d used to conceal the little fairy sculpture. The paint was dry and the glossy finish she’d used over it gave the beautiful creature an ethereal glow.

“It looks just like her!” Cort exclaimed as he gently picked it up.

She grinned. “Do you think so? I did, but I’m too close to my work to be objective about it.”

“It’s the most beautiful thing you’ve done yet, and that’s saying something.” He looked down at her with an odd expression. “You really have the talent.”

She flushed. “Thanks, Cort.”

He put the sculpture down and bent, brushing his mouth tenderly over hers. “I have to be so careful with you,” he whispered at her lips. “It’s frustrating, in more ways than one.”

She caught her breath. She couldn’t resist him. But it was tearing her apart, to think that he might be caught in a web of deception laced by guilt. She looked up into his eyes with real pain.

He traced her lips with his forefinger. “When you’re back on your feet,” he whispered, “we have to talk.”

She managed a smile. “Okay.” Because she knew that, by then, she’d find a way to ease his guilt, and Odalie’s, and step out of the picture. She wasn’t going to let them sacrifice their happiness for her. That was far too much.

He kissed her again and stood up, smiling. “So when are you going to give it to her?”

“Tomorrow,” she decided.

“I’ll make sure she comes over.”

“Thanks.”

He shrugged and then smiled. “She’s going to be over the moon when she sees it.”

That was an understatement. Odalie cried. She turned the little fairy around and around in her elegant hands, gasping at the level of detail in the features that were so exactly like her own.

“It’s the most beautiful gift I’ve ever been given.”

She put it down, very gently, and hugged Maddie as carefully as she could. “You sweetie!” she exclaimed. “I’ll never be able to thank you. It looks just like me!”

Maddie chuckled. “I’m glad you like it.”

“You have to let me talk to my friend at the art gallery,” Odalie said.

Maddie hesitated. “Maybe someday,” she faltered. “Maybe.”

“But you have so much talent, Maddie. It’s such a gift.”

Maddie flushed. “Thanks.”

Odalie kept trying, but she couldn’t move the other girl. Not at all.

“Okay,” she relented. “You know your own mind. Oh, goodness, what is that?” she exclaimed, indicating a cameo lying beside another fairy, a black-haired one sitting on a riverbank holding a book.

Maddie told her the story of the antique dealer and the cameo that had no family to inherit.

“What an incredible story,” Odalie said, impressed. “She’s quite beautiful. You can do that, from a picture?”

Maddie laughed. “I did yours from the one in our school yearbook,” she said, and this time she didn’t flinch remembering the past.

Odalie looked uncomfortable, but she didn’t refer to it. Perhaps in time she and Maddie could both let go of that terrible memory. “Maddie, could you do one of my great-grandmother if I brought you a picture of her? It’s a commission, now…”

Maddie held up a hand. “No. I’d love to do it. It’s just a hobby, you know, not a job. Just bring me a picture.”

Odalie’s eyes were unusually bright. “Okay. I’ll bring it tomorrow!”

Maddie laughed at her enthusiasm. “I’ll get started as soon as I have it.”

The picture was surprising. “This is your grandmother?” Maddie asked, because it didn’t look anything like Odalie. The subject of the painting had red hair and pale green eyes.

“My great-grandmother,” Odalie assured her, but she averted her eyes to another sculpture while she said it.

“Oh. That explains it. Yes, I can do it.”

“That’s so sweet of you, Maddie.”

“It’s nothing at all.”

It took two weeks. Maddie still had periods of discomfort that kept her in bed, but she made sure she walked and moved around, as the therapist and her doctor had told her to do. It was amazing that, considering the impact of the car, she hadn’t suffered a permanent disability. The swelling and inflammation had been pretty bad, as was the bruising, but she wasn’t going to lose the use of her legs. The doctor was still being cautious about that prognosis. But Maddie could tell from the way she was healing that she was going to be all right. She’d never been more certain of anything.

She finished the little fairy sculpture on a Friday. She was very pleased with the result. It looked just like the photograph, but with exquisite detail. This fairy was sitting on a tree stump, with a small green frog perched on her palm. She was laughing. Maddie loved the way it had turned out. But now it was going to be hard to part with it. She did put part of herself into her sculptures. It was like giving herself away with the art.

She’d promised Odalie, though, so she had to come to terms with it.

Odalie was overwhelmed with the result. She stared at it and just shook her head. “I can’t believe how skilled you are,” she said, smiling at Maddie. “This is so beautiful. She’ll, I mean my mother, will love it!”

“Oh, it’s her grandmother,” Maddie recalled.

“Yes.” Odalie still wouldn’t meet her eyes, but she laughed. “What a treat this is going to be! Can I take it with me?” she asked.

Maddie only hesitated for a second. She smiled. “Of course you can.”

“Wonderful!”

She bent and hugged Maddie gently. “Still doing okay?” she asked worriedly.

Maddie nodded. “Getting better all the time, thanks to a small pharmacy of meds on my bedside table,” she quipped.

“I’m so glad. I mean that,” she said solemnly. “The day you can walk to your car and drive it, I’ll dance in the yard.”

Maddie laughed. “Okay. I’ll hold you to that!”

Odalie just grinned.

Cort came over every day. Saturday morning he went to the barn to study the charts he and John Everett had made. John had just come over to bring Maddie flowers. She was sitting on the porch with Great-Aunt Sadie. As soon as John arrived, Cort came back from the barn and joined the group on the porch. The way Cort glared at him was surprising.

“They’ll give her allergies,” Cort muttered.

John gave him a stunned look, and waved around the yard at the blooming crepe myrtle and jasmine and sunflowers and sultanas and zinnias. “Are you nuts?” he asked, wide-eyed. “Look around you! Who do you think planted all these?”

Cort’s dark eyes narrowed. He jammed his hands into his jean pockets. “Well, they’re not in the house, are they?” he persisted.

John just laughed. He handed the pot of flowers to Great-Aunt Sadie, who was trying not to laugh. “Can you put those inside?” he asked her with a smile. “I want to check the board in the barn and see how the breeding program needs to go.”

“I sure can,” Sadie replied, and she went into the house.

Maddie was still staring at John with mixed feelings. “Uh, thanks for the flowers,” she said haltingly. Cort was looking irritated.

“You’re very welcome,” John said. He studied her for a long moment. “You look better.”

“I feel a lot better,” she said. “In fact, I think I might try to walk to the barn.”

“In your dreams, honey,” Cort said softly. He picked her up, tenderly, and cradled her against his chest. “But I’ll walk you there.”

John stared at him intently. “Should you be picking her up like that?” he asked.

Cort wasn’t listening. His dark eyes were probing Maddie’s gray ones with deep tenderness. Neither of them was looking at John, who suddenly seemed to understand what was going on around him.

“Darn, I left my notes in the car,” he said, hiding a smile. “I’ll be right back.”

He strode off. Cort bent his head. “I thought he’d never leave,” he whispered, and brought his mouth down, hard, on Maddie’s.

“Cort…”

“Shh,” he whispered against her lips. “Don’t fuss. Open your mouth…!”

The kiss grew hotter by the second. Maddie was clinging to his neck for dear life while he crushed her breasts into the softness of his blue-checked shirt and devoured her soft lips.

He groaned harshly, but suddenly he remembered where they were. He lifted his head, grateful that his back was to the house, and John’s car. He drew in a long breath.

“I wish you weren’t so fragile,” he whispered. He kissed her shocked eyes shut. “I’m starving.”

Her fingers teased the hair at the back of his head. “I could feed you a biscuit,” she whispered.

He smiled. “I don’t want biscuits.” He looked at her mouth. “I want you.”

Her face flamed with a combination of embarrassment and sheer delight.

“But we can talk about that later, after I’ve disposed of John’s body,” he added, turning to watch the other man approach, his eyes buried in a black notebook.

“Wh-h-hat?” she stammered, and burst out laughing at his expression.

He sighed. “I suppose no war is ever won without a few uncomfortable battles,” he said under his breath.

“I found them,” John said with a grin, waving the notebook. “Let’s have a look at the breeding strategy you’ve mapped out, then.”

“I put it all on the board,” Cort replied. He carried Maddie into the barn and set her on her feet very carefully, so as not to jar her spine. “It’s right there,” he told John, nodding toward the large board where he’d indicated which bulls were to be bred to which heifers and cows.

John studied it for a long moment. He turned and looked at Cort curiously. “This is remarkable,” he said. “I would have gone a different way, but yours is better.”

Cort seemed surprised. “You’ve got a four-year degree in animal husbandry,” he said. “Mine is only an associate’s degree.”

“Yes, but you’ve got a lifetime of watching your father do this.” He indicated the board. “I’ve been busy studying and traveling. I haven’t really spent that much time observing. It’s rather like an internship, and I don’t have the experience, even if I have the education.”

“Thanks,” Cort said. He was touchy about his two-year degree. He smiled. “Took courses in diplomacy, too, did you?” he teased.

John bumped shoulders with him. “You’re my best friend,” he murmured. “I’d never be the one to try to put you down.”

Cort punched his shoulder gently. “Same here.”

Maddie had both hands on her slender hips as she stared at the breeding chart. “Would either of you like to try to translate this for me?” She waved one hand at the blackboard. “Because it looks like Martian to me!”

Both men burst out laughing.

Cort had to go out of town. He was worried when he called Maddie to tell her, apologizing for his absence.

“Mom and Dad will look out for you while I’m gone,” he promised. “If you need anything, you call them. I’ll phone you when I get to Denver.”

Her heart raced. “Okay.”

“Will you miss me?” he teased.

She drew in a breath. “Of course,” she said.

There was a pause. “I’ll miss you more,” he said quietly. His deep voice was like velvet. “What do you want me to bring you from Denver?”

“Yourself.”

There was a soft chuckle. “That’s a deal. Talk to you later.”

“Have a safe trip.”

He sighed. “At least Dad isn’t flying me. He flies like he drives. But we’ll get there.”

The plural went right over her head. She laughed. She’d heard stories about King Brannt’s driving. “It’s safer than driving, everybody says so.”

“In my dad’s case, it’s actually true. He flies a lot better than he drives.”

“I heard that!” came a deep voice from beside him.

“Sorry, Dad,” Cort replied. “See you, Maddie.”

He hung up. She held the cell phone to her ear for an extra minute, just drinking in the sound of his voice promising to miss her.

While Cort was away, Odalie didn’t come, either. But even though she called, Maddie missed her daily visits. She apologized over the phone. She was actually out of town, but her mother had volunteered to do any running-around that Maddie needed if Sadie couldn’t go.

Maddie thanked her warmly. But when she hung up she couldn’t help but wonder at the fact that Cort and Odalie were out of town at the same time. Had Odalie gone to Denver with Cort and they didn’t want to tell her? It was worrying.

She rode her wheelchair out to the hen enclosure. Ben was just coming out of it with the first of many egg baskets. There were a lot of hens, and her customer list for her fresh eggs was growing by the week.

“That’s a lot of eggs,” she ventured.

He chuckled. “Ya, and I still have to wash ’em and check ’em for cracks.”

“I like Percy,” she remarked.

“I love Percy,” Ben replied. “Never saw such a gentle rooster.”

“Thanks. For what you did for Pumpkin’s grave,” she said, averting her eyes. She still cried easily when she talked about him.

“It was no problem at all, Miss Maddie,” he said gently.

She looked over her hens with proud eyes. “My girls look good.”

“They do, don’t they?” he agreed, then added, “Well, I should get to work.”

“Ben, do you know where Odalie went?” she asked suddenly.

He bit his lip.

“Come on,” she prodded. “Tell me.”

He looked sad. “She went to Denver, Miss Maddie. Heard it from her dad when I went to pick up feed in town.”

Maddie’s heart fell to her feet. But she smiled. “She and Cort make a beautiful couple,” she remarked, and tried to hide the fact that she was dying inside.

“Guess they do,” he said. He tried to say something else, but he couldn’t get the words to come out right. “I’ll just go get these eggs cleaned.”

She nodded. The eyes he couldn’t see were wet with tears.

It seemed that disaster followed disaster. While Cort and Odalie were away, bills flooded the mailbox. Maddie almost passed out when she saw the hospital bill. Even the minimum payment was more than she had in the bank.

“What are we going to do?” she wailed.

Sadie winced at her expression. “Well, we’ll just manage,” she said firmly. “There’s got to be something we can sell that will help pay those bills.” She didn’t add that Cort and Odalie had promised they were taking care of all that. But they were out of town, and Sadie knew that Maddie’s pride would stand in the way of asking them for money. She’d never do it.

“There is something,” Maddie said heavily. She looked up at Sadie.

“No,” Sadie said shortly. “No, you can’t!”

“Look at these bills, Sadie,” she replied, and spread them out on the table. “There’s nothing I can hock, nothing I can do that will make enough money fast enough to cover all this. There just isn’t anything else to do.”

“You aren’t going to talk to that developer fellow?”

“Heavens, no!” Maddie assured her. “I’ll call a real estate agent in town.”

“I think that’s…”

Just as she spoke, a car pulled up in the yard.

“Well, speak of the devil,” Maddie muttered.

The developer climbed out of his car, looked around and started for the front porch.

“Do you suppose we could lock the door and pretend to be gone?” Sadie wondered aloud.

“No. We’re not hiding. Let him in,” Maddie said firmly.

“Don’t you give in to his fancy talk,” Sadie advised.

“Never in a million years. Let him in.”

The developer, Arthur Lawson, came in the door with a smug look on his face. “Miss Lane,” he greeted. He smiled like a crocodile. “Bad news does travel fast. I heard you were in an accident and that your bills are piling up. I believe I can help you.”

Maddie looked at Sadie. Her expression was eloquent.

Archie Lawson grinned like the barracuda he was.

“I heard that your neighbors have gone away together,” he said with mock sympathy. “Just left you with all those medical bills to pay, did they?”

Maddie felt terrible. She didn’t want to say anything unkind about Odalie and Cort. They’d done more than most people could have expected of them. But Maddie was left with the bills, and she had no money to pay them with. She’d read about people who didn’t pay their hospital bill on time and had to deal with collectors’ agencies. She was terrified.

“They don’t say I have to pay them at once,” Maddie began.

“Yes, but the longer you wait, the higher the interest they charge,” he pointed out.

“Interest?”

“It’s such and such a percent,” he continued. He sat down without being asked in her father’s old easy chair. “Let me spell it out for you. I can write you a check that will cover all those medical bills, the hospital bill, everything. All you have to do is sign over the property to me. I’ll even take care of the livestock. I’ll make sure they’re sold to people who will take good care of them.”

“I don’t know,” Maddie faltered. She was torn. It was so quick…

“Maddie, can I talk to you for a minute?” Sadie asked tersely. “It’s about supper,” she lied.

“Okay.”

She excused herself and followed Sadie into the kitchen.

Sadie closed the door. “Listen to me, don’t you do that until you talk to Mr. Brannt,” Sadie said firmly. “Don’t you dare!”

“But, Sadie,” she said in anguish, “we can’t pay the bills, and we can’t expect the Brannts and the Everetts to keep paying them forever!”

“Cort said he’d take care of the hospital bill, at least,” Sadie reminded her.

“Miss Lane?” Lawson called. “I have to leave soon!”

“Don’t let him push you into this,” Sadie cautioned. “Make him wait. Tell him you have to make sure the estate’s not entailed before you can sell, you’ll have to talk to your lawyer!”

Maddie bit her lower lip.

“Tell him!” Sadie said, gesturing her toward the porch.

Maddie took a deep breath and Sadie opened the door for her to motor through.

“Sadie was reminding me that we had a couple of outstanding liens on the property after Dad died,” Maddie lied. “I’ll have to talk to our attorney and make sure they’ve been lifted before I can legally sell it to you.”

“Oh.” He stood up. “Well.” He glared. “You didn’t mention that earlier.”

“I didn’t think you thought I was going to sell the ranch today,” Maddie said, and with a bland smile. “That’s all. You wouldn’t want to find out later that you didn’t actually own it…?”

“No. Of course not.” He made a face. “All right, I’ll be back in, say, two days? Will that give you enough time?”

“Yes,” Maddie said.

He picked up his briefcase and looked around the living room. “This house will have to be torn down. But if you want some pictures and stuff, I can let you have it after we wrap up the sale. The furniture’s no loss.” He laughed coldly. “I’ll be in touch. And if your answer is no—well, don’t be surprised if your cattle suddenly come down with unusual diseases. Anthrax always comes to mind… And if federal agencies have to be called in, your operation will be closed down immediately.”

He left and Maddie had to bite back curses. “The furniture’s no loss,” she muttered. “These are antiques! And anthrax! What kind of horrible person would infect defenseless animals! Maddie went inside, a chill settling in her heart.

“Nasty man. You can’t let him have our house!” Sadie glared out the window as the developer drove off.

Maddie leaned back in her chair. “I wish I didn’t,” she said heavily. “But I don’t know what else to do.” She felt sick to her soul at the man’s threats. “Cort is going to marry Odalie, you know.”

Sadie wanted to argue, but she didn’t know how to. It seemed pretty obvious that if he hadn’t told Maddie he was leaving with Odalie, he had a guilty conscience and was trying to shield her from the truth.

“Should have just told you, instead of sneaking off together,” Sadie muttered.

“They didn’t want to hurt me,” Maddie said heavily. “It’s pretty obvious how I feel about Cort, you know.”

“Still…”

Maddie looked at the bills lying open on the table. She leaned forward with her face in her hands. Her heart was breaking. At least she might be able to walk eventually. But that still left the problem of how she was going to walk herself out of this financial mess. The ranch was all she had left for collateral.

Collateral! She turned to Sadie. “We can take out a mortgage, can’t we?” she asked Sadie.

Sadie frowned. “I don’t know. Best you should call the lawyer and find out.”

“I’ll do that right now!”

She did at least have hope that there were options. A few options, at least.

But the lie she’d told Lawson turned out to be the truth.

“I’m really sorry, Maddie,” Burt Davies told her. “But your dad did take out a lien on the property when he bought that last seed bull. I’ve been keeping up the payments out of the ranch revenues when I did the bills for you the past few months.”

“You mean, I can’t sell or even borrow on the ranch.”

“You could sell,” he admitted. “If you got enough for it that would pay off the lien… But, Maddie, that land’s been in your family for generations. You can’t mean to sell it.”

She swallowed. “Burt, I’ve got medical bills I can’t begin to pay.”

“Odalie and Cort are taking care of those,” he reminded her. “Legally, even if not morally, they’re obligated to.”

“Yes, but, they’re getting married, don’t you see?” she burst out. “I can’t tie them up with my bills.”

“You can and you will, if I have to go to court for you,” Burt said firmly. “The accident wasn’t your fault.”

“Yes, it was,” she said in a wan tone. “I ran out in the road to save my stupid rooster, who died anyway. As for guilt, Odalie and Cort have done everything humanly possible for me since the wreck. Nobody could fault them for that.”

“I know, but…”

“If I sell the ranch,” she argued gently, “I can pay off all my debts and I won’t owe anyone anything.”

“That’s bad legal advice. You should never try to act as your own attorney.”

She laughed. “Yes, I know. Okay, I’ll think about it for a couple of days,” she said.

“You think about it hard,” he replied. “No sense in letting yourself be forced into a decision you don’t want to make.”

“All right. Thanks, Burt.”

She hung up. “Life,” she told the room at large, “is just not fair.”

The next day, Ben came walking in with a sad expression. “Got bad news,” he said.

“What now?” Maddie asked with a faint smile.

“Lost two more purebred cows. They wandered off.”

“All right, that’s more than coincidence,” she muttered. She moved to the phone, picked it up and called King Brannt.

“How many cows does that make?” King asked, aghast.

“Four, in the past few weeks,” she said. “Something’s not right.”

“I agree. I’ll get our computer expert to check those recordings and see if he can find anything.”

“Thanks, Mr. Brannt.”

He hesitated. “How are things over there?”

She hesitated, too. “Just fine,” she lied. “Fine.”

“Cort’s coming home day after tomorrow,” he added.

“I hope he and Odalie have had a good time,” she said, and tried not to sound as hurt as she felt. “They’ve both been very kind to me. I owe them a lot.”

“Maddie,” he began slowly, “about that trip they took—”

“They’re my friends,” she interrupted. “I want them to be happy. Look I have to go, okay? But if you find out anything about my cows, can you call me?”

“Sure.”

“Thanks, Mr. Brannt.”

She hung up. She didn’t think she’d ever felt so miserable in her whole young life. She loved Cort. But he was never going to be hers. She realized now that he’d been pretending, to keep her spirits up so that she wouldn’t despair. But he’d always loved Odalie, and she’d always known it. She couldn’t expect him to give up everything he loved just to placate an injured woman, out of guilt. She wasn’t going to let him do it.

And Odalie might have been her enemy once, but that was certainly no longer the case. Odalie had become a friend. She couldn’t have hard feelings toward her….

Oh, what a bunch of bull, she told herself angrily. Of course she had hard feelings. She loved Cort. She wanted him! But he loved Odalie and that was never going to change. How would it feel, to let a man hang around just because he felt guilty that you’d been hurt? Knowing every day that he was smiling and pretending to care, when he really wanted that beautiful golden girl, Odalie Everett, and always would?

No. That would cheat all three of them. She had to let him go. He belonged to Odalie, and Maddie had always known it. She was going to sell the ranch to that terrible developer and make herself homeless out of pride, because she didn’t want her friends to sacrifice any more than they already had for her.

That developer, could he have been responsible for her lost cows? But why would he hurt the livestock when he was hoping to buy the ranch? No. It made no sense. None at all.

Later, with her door closed, she cried herself to sleep. She couldn’t stop thinking about Cort, about how tender he’d been to her, how kind. Surely he hadn’t been able to pretend the passion she felt in his long, hard, insistent kisses? Could men pretend to want a woman?

She wished she knew. She wanted to believe that his hints at a shared future had been honest and real. But she didn’t dare trust her instincts. Not when Cort had taken Odalie with him to Denver and hidden it from Maddie.

He hadn’t wanted her to know. That meant he knew it would hurt her feelings and he couldn’t bear to do it, not after all she’d been through.

She wiped her eyes. Crying wasn’t going to solve anything. After all, what did she have to be sad about? There was a good chance that she would be able to walk normally again, when she was through recuperating. She’d still have Great-Aunt Sadie, and the developer said that he’d let her have her odds and ends out of the house.

The developer. She hated him. He was willing to set her up, to let her whole herd of cattle be destroyed, her breeding stock, just to get his hands on the ranch. She could tell someone, Mr. Brannt, maybe. But it would be her word against Lawson’s. She had so much to lose. What if he could actually infect her cattle? Better to let her cattle be sold at auction to someone than risk having them destroyed. She couldn’t bear to step on a spider, much less watch her prize cattle, her father’s prize cattle, be exterminated.

No, she really didn’t have a choice. She was going to lose the ranch one way or another, to the developer or to bill collectors.

She got up and went to the kitchen to make coffee. It was two in the morning, but it didn’t matter. She was never going to sleep anyway.

She heard a sound out in the yard. She wished she kept a dog. She’d had one, but it had died not long after her father did. There was nothing to alert her to an intruder’s presence anymore. She turned out the lights and motored to the window, hoping the sound of the wheelchair wouldn’t be heard outside.

She saw something shadowy near the barn. That was where the surveillance equipment was set up.

She turned on all the outside lights, opened the door and yelled, “Who’s out there?!” The best defense was offense, she told herself.

There was startled movement, a dark blur going out behind the barn. Without a second thought, she got her cell phone and called the sheriff.

The sheriff’s department came, and so did King Brannt. He climbed out of his ranch pickup with another man about two steps behind the tall deputy.

Maddie rolled onto the porch. She’d been afraid to go outside until help arrived. She was no match, even with two good legs, for someone bent upon mischief.

“Miss Lane?” the deputy asked.

“Yes, sir,” she said. “Someone was out here. I turned on the outside lights and yelled. Whoever it was ran.”

The deputy’s lips made a thin line.

“Yes, I know,” she said heavily. “Stupid thing to do, opening the door. But I didn’t go outside, and the screen was latched.”

He didn’t mention that any intruder could have gone through that latched screen like it was tissue paper.

“Miss Lane’s had some threats,” King commented. “This is Blair, my computer expert. We set up surveillance cameras on the ranch at cross fences to see if we could head off trouble.” He smiled. “Looks like we might have succeeded.”

“Have you noticed anything suspicious?” the deputy asked.

She grimaced. “Well, I’ve had a couple of cows found dead. Predators,” she said, averting her eyes.

“Anyone prowling around the house, any break-ins?” he persisted.

“No, sir.”

The deputy turned to King. “Mr. Brannt, I’d like to see what those cameras of yours picked up, if anything.”

“Sure. Come on, Blair.” He turned to Maddie. “You should go back inside, honey,” he said gently. “Just in case.”

“Okay.” She went very quickly. She didn’t want any of the men to ask her more questions. She was afraid of what Lawson might do if he was backed into a corner. She didn’t want the government to come over and shut her cattle operation down, even if it meant giving away the ranch.

Later, the deputy came inside, asked more questions and had her write out a report for him in her own words. He took that, and statements from King and Blair and told Maddie to call if she heard anything else.

“Did you find anything?” she asked worriedly.

“No,” the deputy said. “But my guess is that someone meant to disable that surveillance equipment.”

“Mine, too,” King replied. “Which is why I’ve just sent several of my cowboys out to ride fence lines and watch for anything suspicious.”

“That’s very nice of you,” she commented.

He shrugged. “We’re neighbors and I like your breeding bulls,” he told her.

“Well, thanks, just the same.”

“If you think of anything else that would help us, please get in touch with me,” the deputy said, handing her a card.

“I’ll do that,” she promised. “And thanks again.”

King didn’t leave when the deputy did. Sadie was making coffee in the kitchen, her face lined with worry.

“It will be all right,” she assured the older woman.

“No, it won’t,” Sadie muttered. She glanced at Maddie. “You should tell him the truth. He’s the one person who could help you!”

“Sadie!” Maddie groaned.

King pulled Blair aside, spoke to him in whispers, and sent him off. He moved into the kitchen, straddled a chair at the table and perched his Stetson on a free chair.

“Okay,” he said. “No witnesses. Let’s have it.”

Maddie went pale.

King laughed softly. “I’m not an ogre. If you want my word that I won’t tell anyone what you say, you have it.”

Maddie bit her lower lip. “That developer,” she said after a minute. “He said that he could bring in a federal agency and prove that my cattle had anthrax.”

“Only if he put it there to begin with,” King said, his dark eyes flashing with anger.

“That’s what I think he means to do,” she said. “I don’t know what to do. The bills are just burying me…”

He held up a hand. “Cort and Odalie are taking care of those,” he said.

“Yes, but they’ve done too much already, I’m not a charity case!” she burst out.

“It was an accident that they caused, Maddie,” he said gently.

“I caused it, by running into the road,” she said miserably.

“Accidents are things that don’t happen on purpose,” he said with a faint grin. “Now, listen, whatever trouble you’re in, that developer has no right to make threats to do harm to your cattle.”

“It would be my word against his,” she sighed.

“I’d take your word against anyone else’s, in a heartbeat,” he replied. “You let me handle this. I know how to deal with people like Lawson.”

“He’s really vindictive.”

“He won’t get a chance to be vindictive. I promise.” He got up. “I won’t stay for coffee, Sadie, I’ve got a lot of phone calls to make.”

“Thanks, Mr. Brannt,” Maddie said gently. “Thanks a lot.”

He put a hand on her shoulder. “We take care of our own,” he said. “Cort will be back day after tomorrow.”

“So will that developer,” she said worriedly. So many complications, she was thinking. Poor Cort, he’d feel even more guilty.

“He won’t stay long,” King drawled, and he grinned. “Cort will make sure of that, believe me.”