Maddox’s heart dropped into his shoes. Every year since that rich guy, Noah Elliott, had set up the charity tree, Maddox had driven to Kalispell or over to Missoula and bought one of the latest toys or gadgets that the boy or girl he’d chosen wanted.

He knew Danny. The kid was about eleven, in trouble a lot. His mother, who held down two low-paying jobs to make ends meet, didn’t have time to deal with a handful like Danny. Maddox helped out when he could by taking Danny fishing or camping, teaching him to ride and work with horses. Danny liked the horses and stayed out of mischief when he was around them.

Haley’s hair brushed Maddox’s hand as she leaned forward to read the card. “Poor kid,” she said. “What happened to his dad?”

“Disappeared a few years ago,” Maddox said woodenly. “As in, he blew town without making a secret of it and headed down the highway, never coming back.”

“Asshole.” Her brown eyes flashed with anger that matched his own.

She didn’t elaborate as she took the card, her chest lifting with a long breath.

Maddox had lost his parents and that had been a terrible, terrible time. But at least his mom and dad had loved him to the end, and Maddox felt that love still, twenty years later. Danny’s dad had been a total screw-up. He hadn’t abused his wife or Danny, thank heavens, but he’d been a shithead who probably wouldn’t do Danny any good if he came back.

But every boy wanted his dad. Maddox would have done anything to have his dad and mom come home, say it had all been a mistake, and that they were fine.

“What do I do with this?” Maddox asked, mostly to himself. “Anything I come up with will be a big let down for Danny.”

Haley ran her thumb over the card. Her hands were slim, nails trimmed but not decorated in the fancy-ass way women often had them.

“We’ll think of something.” Haley sounded intrigued.

“So you’re staying then,” Aunt Jane said to her.

Haley looked up. “I don’t have a choice, for now. Might as well help out. If I can get through on the phone or text I can have my PA find something really nice for him.”

PA. She had a personal assistant, for crap’s sake. “I’ll take care of it,” Maddox said abruptly.

More anger flashed in Haley’s eyes. She held on to the card when Maddox tried to take it back. He tugged. She tugged. For some reason, Aunt Jane was smirking.

Haley didn’t let go. “Why don’t you want me to help?”

“A gift should be personal,” Maddox growled. “Not what your assistant picks up on her lunch hour.”

Haley’s brows slammed together. She was pretty when she scowled, but Maddox wasn’t about to tell her that. “Your assistant is bringing my bags,” she said. “Are you telling me you never have him run errands for you?”

She had a point, damn it. “Not one like this.”

Haley glared at him, her fingers clamped to the card. “We’ll give my assistant some ideas, she’ll find appropriate things, and we’ll narrow down the list. I do it all the time. My dad always loves what we come up with.”

“Good for your dad. I bet he’s used to gifts from high-end department stores. This is an eleven-year-old boy who picks fruit after school to help his mom make ends meet.”

“All the more reason to find him a great present. Something his family would never be able to give him.”

Maddox clenched his teeth. She got his blood up, that was certain. “I said, I’ll take care of it.”

Her scowl remained, a challenge in her eyes. She wasn’t going to give in easily.

Maddox was surprised at himself. He didn’t usually argue with women. He took them out, bought them dinner, cuddled up with them, and then the two of them went their separate ways. Women didn’t want a long-term relationship with a man who was up to his knees in horseshit most of the time, and Maddox wasn’t ready to settle down. Or so he told himself.

Haley had both irritated Maddox and made him laugh from the moment they’d met. He’d scared the shit out of her when he’d peered through her snowy car window, which had been funny. Now she was busy pissing him off.

He did not need a rich daddy’s girl coming into his small town and telling the backwoods cowboy what to do, and neither did a desperate kid like Danny.

On the other hand—could Maddox justify not letting her help find Danny something truly special because his pride was hurt?

He growled, let go of the card, and said, “Fine. We’ll try it your way. I appreciate it.” Every word was hard.

Haley folded her arms, which pushed up her breasts in her clingy sweater. “That is the crabbiest concession I’ve ever heard. But I’ll take it.” She sighed and dropped the card to the table. “Not that I’ll be able to contact my PA. How do you live without your phones working?”

“Because we know everyone around,” Maddox said. “We just go to their houses if we want to talk to them.”

“And our phones usually work,” Aunt Jane put in. “The snowstorm has knocked out some lines, I guess. Ease off, Maddox. She’s stranded and upset. But don’t worry, dear.” Aunt Jane patted her arm. “I’m making us a nice big supper to take our minds off our troubles.”

“Thank you,” Haley said, her voice softening. “I truly appreciate all your help.” She switched her glare back to Maddox. “That’s how you show gratitude.”

“Don’t push it, sweetheart,” Maddox said. Movement caught his attention out the back window. “I see Buddy on his way. You make yourself at home, and I’ll go tell Buddy he’s just been promoted to my PA.”

Haley rolled her eyes, but she turned to Aunt Jane, sweet as sugar. “Is there anything I can do to help you, Ms. Howard?”

“You come on in the kitchen with me,” Aunt Jane said. “Let the men be cold. And call me Aunt Jane, dear. The whole town does.”

* * *

Buddy asked Maddox about Haley, curious after fetching her bags and handing them off to Aunt Jane through the kitchen door.

As the two of them fed and bedded down the horses for the night, Maddox told him about finding Haley and bringing her home. In the morning, more of the crew would be there to take care of the half dozen horses Maddox was currently training and get them some exercise, snow or no snow. Horses didn’t know it was the holidays.

“She’s a poor little rich girl from Seattle,” Maddox finished. “Happy to get the hell out of here as soon as she can.”

Buddy grinned at him as they shut the last stall, which happened to be Sammy’s. The bay horse leaned his white blaze nose over the partition as though wanting to be part of the conversation. “I take it she’s good looking?” Buddy asked.

Buddy was five years younger than Maddox, but heavy drinking that started in his teens plus a few years in prison made him look older, his skin leathery from Montana sun and weather. He was sober now and straight, but his hard living had taken its toll.

“Sure, she’s cute,” Maddox said with a shrug. Haley got under his hide but he had to admit she was attractive. “Why’d you ask that?”

“Because she wouldn’t piss you off so much if she wasn’t. You’d be nicer to her if you didn’t think she was good looking.”

Buddy’s eyes twinkled, which only made Maddox more irritated. “What the hell is that supposed mean?”

Buddy shrugged and patted Sammy’s nose. “Means it’s been a long time since you had a woman.”

Maddox fell silent. He could snap at Buddy that it was none of his business, but Maddox had been interfering in Buddy’s business since they were kids. Trying to keep him straight and clean. Telling him to come and work for him when no one wanted to hire an ex-con. Buddy could get away with saying things to Maddox other people couldn’t.

“Yeah, well,” Maddox said after a time. “I doubt anything’s going to happen there. She’ll be out of here when the roads are cleared, back to her penthouse.” He shook his head. “I’m more worried about what I’m going to get Danny.”

He’d told Buddy about that too. Buddy nodded. “That’s rough. I knew Danny’s dad. He could be a total son of a bitch. Kid’s probably better off without him.”

“I know.” Maddox adjusted his hat, bracing himself to leave the warmth of the barn for the blast of cold between here and the house. “But I remember being Danny’s age and wishing like hell my parents would come back. I wanted a miracle. I know what he’s going through.”

“So what are you gonna do?” Buddy asked.

Maddox patted Sammy’s neck, saying good night. “Probably take Haley’s offer to help me buy him a good gift. It won’t compensate, but I gotta get him something.”

Buddy’s grin returned. “Then I guess you’d better be nice to the rich girl.”

“Yeah.” Maddox pulled his coat tighter and headed with Buddy for the door. “I feel bad for her, getting stuck out here, but for some reason I can’t help sparring with her. She knows how to push my buttons.”

Buddy let out a bark of laughter. “I bet she does. Let her push whatever she wants.”

Maddox shook his head. “It’s nothing like that. Thanks for bringing her bags, though.”

“She sure has a lot of them. But women, you know?”

Maddox agreed, though Aunt Jane could go on a two-week vacation with one overnight bag. “Aunt Jane’s fixing supper. Want to stay?”

They exited the barn, bending their heads to the wind. “Nah,” Buddy said. “But thanks. Mary and Will are expecting me back.” His voice warmed as he spoke the names of his wife and three-year-old son. Buddy’s reform had come not so much from Maddox helping him out, as it had from the birth of little Will. Buddy had been a changed man from the night he’d held his son for the first time.

“Got it,” Maddox said. “Give them my love.”

“Will do.” Buddy adjusted his hat and moved off down the hill toward his house. The path he’d beaten on the way up was already filling with snow.

Maddox watched Buddy hunker into the wind and march determinedly home before he turned and made his way to his own back porch.

Laughter sounded inside as he reached for the kitchen door. He saw through the glass the warm glow of the room, Aunt Jane glancing from the stove to Haley. Haley had a towel pinned to her waist as an apron and was chopping vegetables on a board. She joined with Aunt Jane in laughing about whatever was the joke.

Her face was half turned to Maddox, her eyes lit, her smile wide. She looked relaxed, her hair pulled into a sloppy ponytail, one hand on her hip, the knife in the other hand resting on the board.

Yep, Maddox said to himself, warmth stirring inside him. There’s no denying that Haley McKee is one good-looking woman.

Too bad that tomorrow she’d be gone, a memory.

In that case, his treacherous mind went. Better not waste any time …

* * *

Snow fell and light faded as Haley joined Aunt Jane and Maddox for supper at the dining room table. Maddox settled his aunt in her seat like an old-fashioned gentleman, then to Haley’s amazement, came around to her side of the table and pulled out the chair for her.

Haley sat, bewildered, then Maddox pushed the chair in. Only then did he take his seat across from her.

Both Aunt Jane and Maddox bowed their heads while Maddox rumbled a prayer over the food. He thanked God Haley hadn’t fared worse in her accident and that they were all safe to partake of the food Aunt Jane had cooked.

And she’d cooked a lot. There was a piece of steak waiting on each of their plates, a casserole heaped with roasted potatoes, another of roasted vegetables, a large salad, a bowl of peas with bits of ham in it, fresh baked rolls, and plenty of butter, salt, and pepper.

Haley hadn’t sat down at a table with this much food in a long time. Aunt Jane insisted Haley serve herself first, as their guest. Haley scooped out a few vegetables and a forkful of salad under Maddox’s sharp gaze.

“You have to eat more than that,” he said. He waited for Aunt Jane to dish out her own food then piled his plate high, his steak disappearing under a mound of green, white, and red. “Here, have some potatoes.”

Haley held up her hand as he thrust a steaming spoonful at her. “I really shouldn’t have too many carbs.”

Maddox barked a laugh and Aunt Jane smiled. “I was raised on carbs,” Maddox said. “Hasn’t hurt me. So was Aunt Jane. She’s tough as a nut.”

True, Maddox didn’t have any fat on him and Aunt Jane had wiry strength. If they ate like this every night, their metabolisms must be superhuman. Aunt Jane looked like she could run a few miles, wrestle a bear, and then waltz home to prepare another gargantuan meal.

Haley loved potatoes. Her mouth watered at the pile of oven-roasted spuds, glistening with hot oil and dusted with rosemary. “Well, maybe just a little.”

Maddox dumped the large mound onto her plate then dropped the spoon back into the casserole dish with a clatter.

Haley sliced a tiny piece from her steak and took a bite. She didn’t eat much beef, and she stopped in surprise when the meat nearly melted in her mouth, tender and smoky, with a bite of salt.

“This is good, Aunt Jane,” she said, trying not to sound too surprised.

Aunt Jane looked modest. “Thank you, dear.”

Haley glanced at the windows, which were black now, the winter day short. Snow slapped against the panes not sheltered by the porch, white grit in the darkness.

“It doesn’t snow in Seattle,” Haley said wistfully. “Drizzly rain and mist, but no snow.”

“Well, we get all kinds of it here,” Aunt Jane said. “And sunshine like you wouldn’t believe in the summer. It’s a beautiful place, Starlight Bend. You’ll see.”

Sounded like they expected her to stay a while. Haley hoped her dad wasn’t getting too worried.

But it was only seven-thirty, which meant six-thirty in Seattle. Dad was probably still in the office, going over new contracts, talking to the people Haley had gone to Chicago to butter up. He wouldn’t miss Haley until well into the next evening, maybe even the day after—he’d figure Haley would want some time off to rest from her trip.

The thought that she wouldn’t be missed right away gave Haley a strange, lonely feeling.

“What do you do here when you’re snowed in?” she asked brightly. “If you can’t go to town until the roads get plowed, how do you get groceries and things?”

Aunt Jane looked cryptic. “Oh, we manage.”

Maddox pinned Haley with a blue gaze at the same time he surreptitiously slipped Lance a chunk of steak. “We play checkers and drink sarsaparilla.”

“No, we do not,” Aunt Jane said sternly. “You can stop that right now, Maddox Campbell.” She turned kind eyes to Haley. “We enjoy ourselves quite well. Snowbound days help us come together as a community. In fact, our guests should be arriving soon.”

Haley blinked. “Guests?”

Maddox grinned, the smile lighting up his eyes and filing off his hard edges. “Sure. What we do when we’re snowbound is have a snowed-in party. Should be one hell of a night.”