Chapter Twenty-One
The breeze ruffled Maddie’s long ponytail. She gently smoothed part of Blue’s mane over to the left side. The horse was practically asleep beneath her. She had no idea how long they’d been standing on this little rocky outcrop overlooking the windmill, but the sun was starting to creep toward the high noon position. Soon it would be hotter than hell and she’d have to go back to the ranch. For now, it felt good to let the sun warm her as she sat on Blue’s broad back.
She rested one hand on the horse’s haunches and dropped the reins. It wasn’t exactly the smartest thing to do. There was always the chance of a prairie dog or something else startling her horse and causing him to take off. But Blue was as steady as they came, and Maddie was enjoying just lounging there on his back. It had been so long since she’d done this. Why hadn’t she come back? New York seemed so far away right now. She hadn’t talked to any of her clients or her boss in at least forty-eight hours. Somehow it was more tempting right now to just stay here on the ranch and raise her baby in a much simpler lifestyle.
Blue’s head dipped low, and he cocked one hind foot. The dip of his haunch made Maddie’s body weight list to one side. She rebalanced herself and sighed. It was time to go back to the ranch and face the music.
“No,” she told the gelding. “Not true. There isn’t any music to face. I didn’t do anything wrong. And if he’s going to treat me like that, I’m going to have the ranch hands throw him off the property.”
Maddie picked up her reins. She felt resolved. Blue lifted his head and sighed, but when she squeezed him with her calves he moved off obediently. She headed him down the side of the rocky hill while bracing one hand on his shoulders to keep herself from sliding right down his neck. Thankfully he was about as surefooted as a goat. They reached the bottom without incident, and she reined him back down the path toward the ranch.
She passed several of the ranch hands on her way back. They were mounted and heading out to check on cattle for the morning rounds. Each of them waved or tipped his hat to her, and Maddie realized that she got more friendliness and belonging here than she ever would have in New York. The thought brought a smile to her face. She could only imagine trying to wave to everyone she saw on her way to catch the subway each morning. They’d look at her like she was insane right before they shoved her out of their way. New Yorkers were always in a hurry and usually pretty grumpy to boot.
Blue’s walk got a little faster the closer they got to the barn. No doubt the old horse was ready for some hay and a nap. She kept him to a walk and stroked his neck to calm him down. She wondered what was going to greet her when she got back. Would Alex be waiting with arms crossed and foot tapping?
“A little dramatic, aren’t I?” she commented to Blue.
The gelding didn’t seem to have an opinion, and it made Maddie laugh to realize that she was so used to having people around that she was apparently determined to talk to her horse if there was nobody else available.
The house came into view. Maddie admired the way the sun glinted off her aunt’s two stained glass windows. The old rosebush patterned glass had been part of the house since it was built four generations ago. Maddie had always loved the feeling of connection she had when she saw them. This was the house her ancestors had lived in. Now it was her aunt’s, and when she was a kid Maddie had always assumed she’d be the next Castillo to own the place. When had that changed? When had she changed?
Maddie and Blue returned to a deserted ranch yard. Maddie actually paused for a minute because she was absolutely certain it was some kind of trick. Surely Alex was hiding out somewhere waiting for her to dismount so he could yell at her. Right?
Except there was nobody. Maddie frowned a little, but then she dismounted. Her immediate response when her feet hit the ground was to groan. It had been far too long since she’d been on a horse. Her riding muscles were out of practice, and her inner thighs and lower back were screaming a reminder that she’d been neglecting exercise of pretty much every kind lately.
“Let’s get you back to your stall, boy,” Maddie murmured to Blue. “If you don’t mind, I’m just going to hang off your neck until I’m sure I can stay upright.”
If horses could laugh, Maddie was pretty sure Blue would have been chuckling to himself as she hobbled her way back to his stall. She put him in the roomy box stall and then pulled the bridle off over his ears. He shook his head and turned immediately to the pile of hay in the corner. Obviously their ride hadn’t affected the old guy one bit.
Maddie had a little smile on her face as she went to wipe off the bridle and hang it in the tack room. So Alex was going to wait for her up at the house to yell. Fine. She could take whatever he had to dish out.
***
“AH, AH, AH!” Lori wagged her finger at Alex, causing him to glower at her. “You promised you were going to play it cool. Remember?”
“I remember you told me that if I didn’t promise to do just that, you were going to send me on an errand to town with Lefty,” Alex retorted.
He stared at the tabletop and forced himself to drink the bitter coffee in his mug. The scalding hot beverage was nothing like the sweet European coffees he was used to drinking or the Russian coffee laced with vodka he often enjoyed while in Moscow. Right now the taste didn’t matter. The only thing that mattered was somehow finding a way to make things right with Maddie. If that meant he was going to sit here at this table and pretend that he wasn’t freaking out about her early morning ride, then he would pretend like hell.
“Here she is,” Lori said warmly as Maddie stepped into the kitchen through the back door.
“Just took Blue for a little ride,” Maddie told her aunt. “You know how nice it is down at the windmill in the mornings.”
“Did you go up the hill?” Lori asked. “You always used to do that when you were a girl.”
Maddie nodded and took a seat. She was moving stiffly, and Alex was fully aware that so far she seemed to be ignoring him on purpose.
Lori poured Maddie a cup of coffee and set it on the table. Then she dished up a good portion of bacon, eggs, and pancakes to put on the table for Maddie as well.
Maddie stared at Alex. “You’re not eating?”
“I already had my breakfast.” Why would she talk to him about food but not about anything important? She hadn’t even acknowledged him other than to ask why he wasn’t eating. Preposterous!
“Maddie, can we talk?” Alex ventured.
She picked up her fork and cut a big wedge of pancakes. “Not if you’re going to be bossy.”
He watched her shovel food into her mouth and realized she was probably famished. Perhaps letting her eat would make her more reasonable?
“I’m not trying to be bossy,” he said slowly. “I’m concerned.”
“You want to put me in a box and keep me in your pocket.” She waved her fork in the air and chewed until her mouth was empty once more. “I can’t do that for the next seven months or so.”
“That’s not what I want,” he said quickly. “Maybe we just need to understand each other better. If you see a doctor, that will make me feel a lot better. If your doctor says that you can run around the ranch with no saddle at all hours of the day, then so be it.”
“Do you have any idea how your tone sounds when you talk like that?” She narrowed her gaze on him. “You think you’re better than me. Smarter or something maybe. I don’t know. But sometimes I just want to deck you because you sound so superior!”
“Okay, that’s not at all what I intend,” he told her quickly. “But can we please work this out? I don’t want to give up on us. I care about you. I care about this baby. I’m not experienced with these things. Not with having children, and not with ranch life. It makes for an awful lot of awkward situations.”
Lori sat down across from him and offered him a smile. Alex was surprised at how supportive she had been so far.
“How about this?” She looked from Alex to Maddie. “How about the two of you go spend the weekend in Dallas? You can introduce Alex to the rest of the family and maybe spend some time in a nice hotel together. I believe Alex has to go into Dallas anyway later today.” Lori looked to him for confirmation. “So maybe Maddie can meet you there in two days? Would that be long enough to wrap up your business?”
Maddie’s head whipped around, and she stared at him with wide, dark eyes. “You’re going to Dallas by yourself?”
He did not tell her that she had made it obvious that she had no interest in being around him here at the ranch. That would have been throwing gasoline on the flames of her irritation.
Instead, he gave a very small nod. “I need to try and discover a way to get my mother off my back. I have a meeting with someone in Dallas tonight that might be able to help.”
“You know someone in Dallas?” she asked suspiciously.
“No.” He felt a bit mollified that she did not seem to like the idea of not knowing all of his business too. “However, it seems that the Dallas airport is a very short ride for several diplomatic officials that I know.”
Lori gave a sage nod. “Dallas is pretty much half a day’s travel from everywhere in the US.”
“So you’re just meeting them and then coming back here?” Maddie seemed to want clarification.
“Yes.” Alex glanced at Lori. “Although it seems you’re going to be meeting me in the city anyway.”
“That would be fun.” Maddie sounded as though she were giving it a lot of thought. “I could show you some of the clubs where I hung out when I lived there. You can meet my middle sister Ariane.”
Lori pursed her lips. “You’re not going to be able to avoid Jacey and Brad, you know.”
“I know.” Maddie sighed. “Maybe my older sister will have managed to get a life and forget the past.”
Alex could most definitely sympathize with that problem.
He reached hesitantly across the tabletop for Maddie’s fingers. “So will you come and meet me in Dallas then?”
“I think that would be a lot of fun,” she told him with a smile. “And since I’ll have seen a doctor by then, I can bring you a report that says I’m perfectly able to ride my horse at all hours with or without a saddle.”
Alex sighed and lifted her knuckles to his lips for a kiss. One hurdle at a time. That was all he could ask for.