“He’s a world-class stud. After you left, what was the point?”
Maggie had never heard Rafe’s voice so cold. She glanced at the horse again and remembered the story he’d told her about the car wreck. She knew then that this was the stallion that had been kicking up a fuss in the trailer that night during the hailstorm. Maggie couldn’t really blame Rafe for not being able to stand the sight of it.
His expression was still set in grim lines when he carried Maggie to the house. Ryan followed, carrying Jaimie. They entered into what Ryan called the mudroom but was actually a huge atrium laced with stone walkways and beds of greenery. At the center was a bench-encircled fish pond with a waterfall.
For a long moment, Rafe stood just inside the door. Maggie suspected he had mixed emotions about this homecoming and was remembering his family.
After a moment, he smiled down at her. “You’re right. It’s big.”
Maggie relaxed slightly, glad that the moment had passed. When she sensed his sadness, she wanted to comfort him. Not smart, under the circumstances. She would be inviting trouble. She’d seen the possessive gleam in Rafe Kendrick’s eyes and knew it wouldn’t take much to make him amorous.
He struck off for a set of sliders at the opposite end of the vaulted enclosure. She tightened her hold on his neck as he bent at the knees to open the glass door. He stepped into a huge country kitchen with copper-bottomed pots hanging from hooks over a butcher-block work island. One entire wall was dominated by a stone fireplace. A cheerful fire crackled in the grate, and two well-worn wooden rockers sat before the hearth, inviting tired souls to sit back and kick up their feet. Across the room from the hearth was a long plank table with crossbuck legs. Individual stools were positioned haphazardly around it.
At the sound of the door opening, a hefty woman with a wavy cap of gray hair turned from the sink. When she saw Rafe, her green eyes filled with tears. She wiped her wet hands on the starched white apron covering her brown dress.
“Rafael!” She lumbered across the room and launched her sizable self at him, sandwiching Maggie between his hard chest and her soft, ample one. A plump arm hooked Maggie around the neck, forcing her face against Rafe’s jaw as it squeezed. “Oh, my boy! Praise the Lord. It’s a miracle. I prayed and prayed you weren’t dead, and now here you are, real as life!”
“Careful of Maggie, Becca,” Rafe cautioned with a laugh. “She’s still a little sore.” He dipped his head to kiss her wrinkled cheek. When he straightened, he grinned. “What’s to eat? I’m starving.”
Becca stepped back and cupped her pudgy hands to her cheeks, her gaze fixed on his dark countenance. Then her face dissolved and she started to cry in earnest. “I didn’t think I’d ever hear you ask me that again.”
Rafe flashed Maggie an apologetic look and deposited her on one of the rockers. He went to take the older woman in his arms. Hunching his shoulders, he bent his head to kiss her temple.
“I never meant to put all of you through such a bad time,” he said gruffly.
She ran her hands over his broad back as if she couldn’t believe he was real even as she launched into a scolding. “Taking off without a word, and then never calling home. I’ve a good mind to warm your seat with my spatula!”
“Later,” he said with a choked laugh. “I’m not grabbing my ankles in front of Maggie. It’s not dignified.”
Becca sobbed and then chuckled. “Well, then, you’d better straighten yourself up! Any more nonsense out of you, and I’ll tan your hide right in front of her, mark my words. What you’ve put your mama through! For shame, Rafael! And your daddy, bless his heart. I’ve never seen that man shed a tear, mind you, and he cried like a baby the other night when he called to tell me!”
“I’m sorry. So sorry.”
When Ryan stepped into the kitchen, Maggie held up her arms for the baby. He shook his head. “I think you’re heading straight for bed.”
Overhearing his brother’s comment, Rafe pulled away from the housekeeper. Becca patted her cheeks dry and tugged at her dress and apron. “My, yes! What am I thinking, letting you sit there, Maggie? Forgive me.”
“I’m perfectly fine,” Maggie assured her.
“Fiddle. Rafael told me on the phone how sick you’ve been. Well, never you worry. The master suite is all ready for you. Rafael had the room completely redone before he left. You’ll be the first to sleep in there since—well, in a good long while. And I’ve prepared the nursery as best I can. All the furniture in there was—” She broke off and glanced at Rafe. “Well, never mind. Rafael will have to buy more, is all. I’ve borrowed a few things from the wives of the hired hands that will do us for now.”
“I’d prefer to have Jaimie in the same room with me,” Maggie said.
“Only if I have your promise that you won’t try to take care of him yourself,” Rafe inserted. “Doctor’s orders, remember? Complete bed rest.”
The determined glint in his eyes told Maggie that arguing would get her nowhere. She decided a half a loaf was better than nothing. “I remember.”
He came to lift her from the rocker. To Becca, he said, “She isn’t supposed to be on her feet for a week.”
“And she won’t be,” Becca said firmly.
“It’s probably all right for me to get up for a little while if I’m—”
“No arguments!” Becca said, cutting Maggie short. “I’d like to give you a bit of time to settle in before I take after you with my spatula. But I won’t hesitate if I catch you disobeying your doctor.” She waddled from the kitchen into a long hallway, speaking to Rafe who followed behind her. “I already called Dr. Kirsch, so he’s standing by. Did you bring all the medication she needs?”
“Got it.”
“I’ll want a list of instructions in her care. Don’t be forgetting and taking off to the stables before you give it to me.”
“I’m not taking off anywhere, Becca. You’ll have your hands full with Jaimie and the household.”
“Oh, pooh. I can accomplish more with a baby in one arm than three women and a girl.” She threw open a door and stepped inside a huge room with mauve carpeting and creamy walls, her broad hips almost touching the door frame at both sides. “The bed is turned down,” she said, scurrying over to a long bank of windows to draw the drapes against the late afternoon sunlight. “Just set her there on the edge.”
“Did you get the nightgowns?”
“I sent Delores to town after you called me. You forgot to give me a shoe size, so she bought stretchy-type slippers. The robe is a nice heavy velour.” She paused with one hand on a draw cord. “It’s all there at the foot of the bed.”
Maggie wanted to remind them she was an adult, not a sick child. They were talking back and forth as if she weren’t there. Rafe set her on the mattress, which was covered with taut sheets that looked as if they had been ironed. He crouched to untie her shoes just as Maggie bent forward to do it herself, and they bumped heads. She blinked away stars and grabbed her temple.
“Sweetheart, are you all right?”
Much more help, and they were going to kill her. She stared at him, rubbing the throbbing place. It usually took a lot to make Maggie angry, but she was quickly getting there.
“I’ll do it!” she said as he reached for her foot again.
“Don’t be silly. It hurts your back to bend over.” He unlaced one of her shoes and jerked it off. As he attacked her other sneaker, he glanced at the floral-print gown and burgundy velour robe at the foot of the bed. “Ankle-length flannel?” he said with a curl of his lip.
Finished with drawing the drapes, Becca ambled to the bedside table to flip on the light. “If you want negligees, go buy them yourself.”
Rafe winked at Maggie as he brushed her hands aside to unzip her coat. “Maybe I’ll just do that.”
Maggie started to peel off the jacket. He drew it down before she could move, trapping her arms at the elbows. As he tugged the sleeves off over her hands, Maggie got a bad feeling about this. Sure
enough, after tossing the jacket aside, he reached for the buttons of her blouse.
Maggie grabbed his wrists. “I’ll do it,” she said.
“Honey, don’t—”
Maggie’s temper snapped. She slapped at his hands. “Out! Both of you. I appreciate your concern, but I’m not an invalid.”
Rafe rocked back on his heels, looking mildly startled. Becca planted her hands on her ample hips. The two of them stared at her.
Maggie felt light-headed when she pushed to her feet. She grasped the ornately carved bedpost. “Out,” she said firmly. “When I’m done, I’ll holler.”
Becca and Rafe exchanged worried looks. “She’s just tired,” he said.
“Poor dear,” Becca said.
Maggie felt like pulling her hair. To her relief, though, they both left the room to afford her some privacy. She had just started to unbutton her blouse when Rafe opened the door and poked his head back in. She jerked her blouse closed. “If you need me, I’ll be right here in the hall. Don’t hesitate to call me.”
Maggie felt guilty after he shut the door. He was only concerned about her, and here she was, biting his head off. Little wonder he was treating her like a child. She was behaving like one.
She finished undressing and slipped into the flannel nightgown before sitting on the edge of the bed. Taken separately, the things she was upset about seemed trivial. Not being allowed to hold her own glass. Having pills shoved in her mouth. Being packed around. Starting to do things, and having him stop her. It was a hundred little things. It was only when they were heaped together that they became something big. He was suffocating her.
Feeling drained, she slipped between the crisp sheets and fell back against the pillows. Scanning the large room, she took in the ecru walls and slightly darker drapes. There was no fire in the grate of the rock fireplace, a smaller version of the one in the kitchen, but Maggie could imagine the amber warmth, even so. In one corner, two easy chairs were cozied up around a small reading table. On a cold winter night, reading near a crackling fire would be nice, she guessed. It was just a little difficult to feature herself in here with a husband who might want to have sex with her after he closed his book.
She turned her face into the pillow, wanting to cry, which made no sense at all. She’d never been the weepy sort and had no patience with people who were. Postnatal blues? She’d read about the hormone imbalances women could get after having a baby. Was that what was wrong with her? She didn’t feel as if her system was out of whack. It was the world around her that seemed to be careening.
She heard the bedroom door open. Thinking it was Rafe returning to check on her, she didn’t look up.
“Maggie?”
At the sound of that sweet, familiar voice, Maggie’s heart leaped. She sat bolt upright and stared at the child standing just inside the room, her small hand still clasping the doorknob. “Heidi?” Maggie couldn’t believe her eyes. “Oh, Heidi! What—how did you get here?”
Her little sister gave a glad cry and came racing across the room. When she reached the bed, she bounded onto the mattress and flung both arms around Maggie’s neck. “Oh, Maggie, I’m so glad you’re here! It’s been lots and lots of fun, but I’ve been so awful lonesome for you!”
Maggie barely noticed the pain of being hugged as she caught her sister in her arms. Heidi. She ran her hands over the child’s back and pressed her face into her hair, breathing in the familiar, sweet scent of her. “Oh, Heidi. I’ve been lonesome for you, too. I had no idea you were here!”
“It was a surprise.” Heidi reared back, her big brown eyes dancing with excitement. “Guess what! Rafe and Ryan have horses. Tons of ’em, and Sly says he’ll teach me to ride.”
“Who’s Sly?”
“The ranch foreman. He’s really nice. You’ll like him lots. Just wait till you see him spit.”
“Spit?”
“Yeah. He chews.” Heidi wrinkled her nose. Then she brightened. “He says he can nail a fly at four paces.”
Maggie gave a startled laugh. “What an amazing accomplishment.”
“He says he’ll have me ready to barrel race at the rodeo next summer. Won’t that be awesome?”
“Barrel race? Heidi, you’re only ten.”
“That’s old enough. Sly says the younger I start, the better chance I’ll have to become a champion.” She giggled at the worried expression on Maggie’s face. “I won’t get hurt, Maggie. It’s so fun. There are fourteen horses, just in the stable. I helped muck stalls this morning. As soon as you say it’s okay, Sly says I can have my first riding lesson.”
Heidi had always wanted a horse. It was a wish that Maggie had never been able to grant.
“Say yes, Maggie. Please? I’ll be real careful, I promise.”
“Give me some time to discuss it with Rafe,” Maggie settled for saying. “If he says it’s safe, then I’ll give the go-ahead. But in case he doesn’t, don’t go getting your hopes up. He may recommend that you wait until you’re older.”
“Oh, he won’t!” Heidi assured her. Then with a giggle, she kissed Maggie’s cheek. “Thank you! Thank you! I’m so excited. Just wait and see, Maggie. I’ll be an awesome rider. Rafe says I’ve got a great build for racing because I’ll never weigh very much.”
Fantastic. “You mean he’s already said you can learn to ride?”
“Not until you say I can. But when I asked him on the airplane, he said he’d talk to you. He started learning when he was a lot younger than me.”
Rafe stepped into the open doorway just then. Loosely folding his arms, he leaned against the door frame, his gaze meeting Maggie’s over the top of Heidi’s dark head. He smiled slightly, then appeared to listen intently to the child’s excited chatter.
Maggie was dying to question him. For the life of her, she couldn’t imagine how he had managed to get Heidi away from Lonnie. Absently, she attended Heidi’s enthusiastic accounts of her experiences at the stable. When the child wound down, Rafe finally spoke.
“Heidi, I know you’ve got all kinds of catching up to do with Maggie, but Sly’s waiting for you. He says you asked to ride over to Ryan’s with him this afternoon.”
Heidi bounced off the bed. “To see the colt! Sly says he’s beautiful.” She whirled to glance back at Maggie. “Is it all right if I go? He’s a brand-new baby. His name is Lightning Dancer, and I want to see him so-o-o-o much!”
Maggie no sooner gave her permission than Heidi raced from the room. Rafe gazed after her for a moment, still smiling. Then he returned his attention to Maggie. “She thinks of you more as her mother than a sister, doesn’t she?”
Maggie nodded. “Mama’s so childlike that Heidi naturally looked to me. The feeling’s mutual. I’ve taken care of her since she was tiny.”
“I suppose you’re anxious to hear how I got her here.”
“Day before yesterday, when you came by the hospital to tell me you’d be gone all day ‘taking care of some business,’ that’s where you went, isn’t it, to get Heidi?”
“I did it in a way that didn’t upset your mom,” he hastily assured her, “just in case you’re concerned about that.”
Naturally that worry had occurred to her. She loved her mother, and due to Helen’s heart condition, the very thought of distressing her was terrifying to Maggie. “How did you manage not to upset her?”
He rubbed beside his nose, looking sheepish. “Well, actually, I lied through my teeth.” He explained about the fictitious honeymoon plans to Disneyland. “Amazingly enough, she fell for it,” he marveled. “There I was, a total stranger who popped up on her doorstep, and it never occurred to her to be suspicious.” He gave her a slow wink. “She kept patting my arm, saying, ‘It’s about time my Maggie found herself a nice young man.’”
“I told you, she’s not very—well, it doesn’t occur to Mama that anyone might lie to her.” Maggie searched his gaze. “How did you know how much she’s always wanted to take Heidi to Disneyland?”
“It seemed like a s
ure bet.” He sighed, bending his head and lightly scuffing the sole of his boot on the rug. “I would have told you what I was up to, Maggie, but I didn’t want to worry you. A lot could have gone wrong, and I figured the less you knew, the better, until you could see for yourself that Heidi was here, safe and happy.”
He launched into a detailed account of how he and Ryan had pulled it off. “Apparently she’s enjoyed staying here the last two days,” he concluded. “I’ve never seen a kid quite so wound up. She really loves horses, doesn’t she?”
“Yes. She always has. I could never afford to get her one.” Maggie smoothed a hand over the blanket that covered her knees. Her throat went tight when she met his gaze again, for she suspected that he’d glossed over the very real risk that he had taken in getting Heidi there. “If Lonnie gets Mama to file charges, isn’t there a good chance you could go to jail for doing this?”
His mouth quirked at the corners. “Hoping to get rid of me?”
A pang of guilt stabbed into her chest. “No, of course not.”
He pushed away from the door frame and stepped to the foot of her bed. “I’ve got my lawyer working on it. If I get my hand slapped, I get my hand slapped. The important thing is that Heidi’s safe.” His gaze held hers. “You may have to give a deposition, but my attorney feels we can present a strong case and that once we’re married, we can get temporary custody of her. When that’s accomplished, he’ll start to work on a more permanent solution.”
Maggie seriously doubted it was as cut and dry as that. Nothing that involved Lonnie Boyle ever was. “Thank you, Rafe.” Her voice came out sounding tight and a little shrill. “Having Heidi here—knowing she’s safe and happy—that means more to me than I can say. I don’t know how I’ll ever be able to repay you.”
His firm mouth tipped into a grin, and a mischievous twinkle entered his eyes. “I’m sure I’ll think of something.”