Brody (7 page)

 
An hour later, she headed toward the door
to unlock it, and saw Brody standing on the other side. She stopped in her
tracks and glared at him through the glass. He glanced away from her and she
was sure it was to hide a grin. Madilyn unlocked the door but blocked the
doorway.

“We’re
not open yet.”

“I
believe the hours on the door show you open at ten.” He glanced at the watch on
his wrist.
“And according to my watch.
It’s a minute
after.”

Sighing,
she held the door open for him. He strode in past her. She closed her eyes. He
smelled fantastic. “What do you want Brody? I have a lot to do.”

“I want
to buy some flowers.”

 
Her heart hit her stomach. He was buying
flowers for another woman already. She spun on her heel, moved behind the
counter, and picked up her pen. “What kind?”

“The
kind that
say
I was an ass and I’m sorry,” he said
quietly.

Her
head snapped up. “You’re going to need a lot of flowers for that.”

“Money
is no object. She’s worth it.”

Madilyn
moved around the counter and stood in front of him. “Is she?”

Brody
reached out and took a few strands of her hair between his fingers. “Yes, she
is.”

“You
had no right asking me such a question.”

He
huffed. “I know. It just came out.” He shrugged. “Thinking of you with him made
me jealous.”

“I’ve
never slept with Zach.”

“What?”
Brody narrowed his eyes at her.

“You
just assumed it. You know what they say about assuming.” Madilyn bit her lip to
keep from smiling.

“You
dated him for almost a year.”

 
“And not once did he make me feel the way
you do.” She ran her hands up his arms and around his neck. “No one ever has.
In all the time you’ve been gone, I haven’t been with anyone else.”

Brody’s
eyebrows rose.
“No one?”

Madilyn
shook her head.
“No one.
Can you say the same?”

“No,
but they didn’t mean anything to me. It was just sex. I’ve never loved anyone
but you.” He lowered his head and pressed his lips to hers. They sprang apart
when the bell over the door announced a visitor. They both looked over to see
Kaitlyn. Madilyn knew by the look on her face that something was wrong. Brody
must have seen it too since he kissed her forehead then smiled at Kaitlyn and
left.

Kaitlyn
moved behind the counter and picked up the order book. Madilyn could tell she’d
been crying.

“Katie?
I thought you weren’t coming in until later?”

Kaitlyn
didn’t raise her eyes. “I wanted to get started on the orders,” her voice
cracked.

Madilyn
moved toward her and touched her arm. “What happened? What did he do now?”

Kaitlyn
raised her gaze to her. “He didn’t come home last night. I know he was
with…her.”

“Katie,
you need to divorce him. He treats you like dirt.” Madilyn hated seeing her friend
hurt. Everyone in Clifton knew her husband had a mistress he spent more time
with than his wife.

“He
won’t divorce me and even if he did, I can’t support myself.”

“You
have Sam. He’d take care of you.”

Kaitlyn
shook her head. “I won’t ask Sam or my parents for help.”

Madilyn
knew it was the end of the conversation. Kaitlyn wouldn’t leave her husband
because she believed in her wedding vows although Kevin didn’t. He’d had a
mistress before he married Kaitlyn and although a good many people tried to
tell her, she refused to believe it, but she believed it now.

Madilyn
went to work in the greenhouse while Kaitlyn worked on flower arrangements.
Madilyn was sad her friend was hurting. They worked in virtual silence through
the day, only speaking when customers came in.

Although
Madilyn had lived through a lot of heartache, she couldn’t imagine what Kaitlyn
was feeling. Madilyn’s mother died when she was five years old, so she never
knew her. Her father had been her entire world until he’d brought home a rookie
officer for dinner one night. Brody Morgan stole her breath away. She fell in
love and he’d felt the same but when her father was shot and killed by a man
he’d pulled over one night, she lived in constant fear Brody would also be
killed in the line of duty. Madilyn begged him to leave the force but Brody
refused, saying the probability of it happening to him in the town of Clifton
was slim to none. He’d convinced her and they were happy until the night he
told her he was going to join the Marshals in Butte and wanted her to go with
him. She couldn’t do it and five years were wasted. Now her friend’s heart was
breaking and there wasn’t anything Madilyn could do to help her. Seeing Kaitlyn
in the emotional pain she was in tore her apart. If there was something she
could do to ease the pain, she’d do it in a heartbeat. Kevin Parker was scum
and Kaitlyn deserved so much better.

* * *
*

Brody
sat at his desk filling out a report on a car accident. His mind was not on his
work. It was on Madilyn. God, he loved her. She’d always been in the back of
his mind in the years he was gone. Getting involved with other women did
nothing to make her fade away. He put the pen down, took his glasses off, and
rubbed his eyes. There was one woman in particular he never should have been
involved with. If she’d been honest from the beginning things would have turned
out differently. What a mess that turned out to be. His office phone rang.

“Deputy
Morgan.”

“Come
to my office,” Sam said in a clipped voice and hung up.

Damn it!
Brody knew time had just run
out. Sam wanted the details of his leaving the Marshals. Brody stood and headed
for Sam’s office. Brody knocked on the doorjamb of Sam’s office. When Sam
glanced up and waved him in, he knew it couldn’t be good.

“Come
in and close the door,” Sam told him.

No. It
wasn’t going to be good. Brody took a seat across from Sam and waited. It
didn’t take long.

“It’s
time you told me why you left the Marshals.” Sam sat back and folded his arms.

Shit!
Brody hated telling Sam about
this, but he also knew Sam could make a phone call and talk to Michael Holt,
Brody’s superior, and find out. He’d rather be the one to tell him. Taking a
deep breath, he began to tell Sam what happened.

“I was
involved with a woman for six months before I found out she was married.” He
stopped when Sam swore. “I should’ve known, but she hid it well.”

“Were
you in love with her?” Sam asked.

“No.
There’s only one woman I’ll ever love and that’s Madilyn. Thing is, I never
thought I’d see Maddie again and I wanted to get on with my life. I wanted to
get married and have kids.” He shrugged. “If I couldn’t have it with Maddie, I
needed to find someone I could have it with. I met Abby Bishop at a bar and we
immediately hit it off. She didn’t tell me she was married or I wouldn’t have
messed with her.” He shifted in his chair. “One night her husband, Wilson
Delgado, came to see me and told me to stay the hell away from her. I told him
I never knew she was married. Of course, he didn’t believe me and told me if I
didn’t stay away I’d regret it. I told him I was a U.S. Marshal. Hell, he
laughed and said it didn’t matter. Needless to say, I called her and broke it
off.” Brody ran his hand down his face. Sam didn’t say anything, just stared at
him until he continued. “She took it bad and swore she’d leave her husband. I
didn’t want to hear any of it. I knew she was lying. Christ, all she did was
lie
to me.” Brody swallowed hard and glanced away. “I have
better instincts, Sam. I don’t know how I missed it. She never wanted to meet
anywhere but at my apartment and we went to dinner out of town and she used her
maiden name.” He glanced back to Sam. “I should have seen it.”

“Go
on,” Sam told him.

Brody
took a deep breath. “A month later she was dead.”

Sam
leaned forward. “Why the hell didn’t you tell me all of this when you called
me?”

“I
wanted to get past it. I accused her husband. I still think he killed her but
we couldn’t find any evidence.
None, Sam.
They found
her body in Wyoming. Animals had gotten to her…” Brody cleared his throat. “I
couldn’t let him get away with it. I followed him. Everywhere the son of a
bitch would go, I followed. He reported me to Holt. You know how Holt is. He
exploded.”

“I’m
sure he did.” Sam shook his head. “You’re not telling me everything. Holt had
to tell you to back off before he went off. How long did you keep following
Delgado after you were told not to?”

“Another
week.
I
know, Sam.” Brody said before Sam could interrupt. “I kept telling Holt,
Delgado was guilty and of course without evidence I had no proof.” Brody shook
his head. “Holt told me I either stop harassing Delgado or I leave the
Marshals.” He gave a humorless laugh. “You see how that turned out. I couldn’t
let it go.”

“Why
are you so sure Delgado killed her?”

“Abby
didn’t have any enemies and Delgado knew she was having an affair. I know he
did it. I know it with every fiber of my being. He’s like a crime boss but no
one can get him on anything.”

“I
trust your intuition on this, but you should have been thinking with the head
on your shoulders instead of the one between your legs when you met her.” Sam
sighed.
“All right.
I’m going to let it go. But I
better not hear of you going back to Butte to confront Delgado or you’ll be out
of another job. Is that understood?”

“Yes.
I’m done with it. He’ll rot in hell, that’s good enough for me.”

“It
sure as hell better be, Brody.”

Brody
stood and stuck his hand out. “You have my word, Sam.”

After a
slight hesitation, Sam shook his hand. Brody left the office and headed home.
Talking about it with Sam brought up all the bad memories. He couldn’t get it
out of his head again. Abby hadn’t deserved to die. Brody knew Delgado killed
her but he couldn’t prove it. She’d been shot execution style, in the back of
the head. Delgado may not have pulled the trigger but Brody knew he’d ordered
the hit. The man was a pig and deserved to go to prison for killing her. He
shook his head. He had to let it go. He lost a job he loved because of his
obsession over it. The thing was he needed to tell Madilyn about it. He wanted
no secrets between them. He pulled off the road and turned around to head for
her apartment.

Brody
knocked and waited. She didn’t answer and his heart hit his stomach. He pounded
harder. A door behind him opened.

“She
ain’t home. Quit pounding on the damn door,” an old man yelled from across the
hall.

Brody
sighed. “I didn’t mean to disturb you. I…need to talk to her.”

“Can’t
talk to her if she ain’t home.
It’s Monday. She works late on Mondays.” The old man
slammed the door.

“Yeah,
thanks,” Brody muttered. He walked to his truck and drove to the flower shop.
When he walked in, customers were everywhere. Kaitlyn waved her hand toward the
greenhouse so he strolled out there to find Madilyn. She was talking with a
customer. When she saw him, she smiled but continued to talk with the customer.
Brody leaned against the doorjamb and watched her. He could feel the sweat
rolling down between his shoulder blades. How the hell did she do this? It was
hotter than hell out in the greenhouse but Madilyn looked as if the heat didn’t
bother her at all. Finally, the customer left, and she moved toward him,
smiling.

“What
are you doing here?”

Brody
straightened up and cleared his throat. “Can we talk tonight?’

Madilyn
frowned. “Yes. Is everything all right?”

“I want
to tell you why I left the Marshals.”

 
“All right.
I’d
like to hear it. I don’t get home until around six tonight.”

“That’s
fine. I’ll bring a pizza. You still like mushrooms on yours?”

“Yes
and if you still like green peppers, do half of each.”
She smiled at him.

Brody
nodded.
“All right.
I’ll see you tonight.” He turned
to move away.

“Brody.”

 
He turned to face her. “Yes?”

“It’ll
be fine.” Madilyn tried to reassure him.

Brody
nodded. “I hope so, Maddie. I sure as hell hope so.” He smiled and walked off.

* * *
*

Madilyn
frowned as she watched him sauntering away from her. She didn’t have a good
feeling about what he was going to say and she hoped it didn’t change anything
between them. She shook her head. Nothing could change her feelings for Brody.
If the fact of him leaving her five years ago hadn’t changed anything then
nothing else could. She nibbled on her bottom lip. At least she hoped not. He
seemed a little uneasy about whatever he had to tell her. The butterflies in
her stomach were telling her it wasn’t going to be something she wanted to
hear. Maybe it would be better if he didn’t tell her anything at all. She’d
never seen him nervous before, not even the night he told her he was joining
the Marshals. He’d been confident, but now he seemed hesitant. As if he knew it
was something she wouldn’t forgive him for. What could he possibly have done to
make him think that way? He had to know she’d love him no matter what. Yes,
she’d love him, but would she stay with him?