Deep in the Heart (19 page)

Walking down through the trees, Maggie thought about her shoes that first day, and she smiled. Two sizes too big. Just like this job. Still, somehow, it had come to fit her like the new white tennis shoes on her feet. Her thoughts stumbled back to a Wal-Mart, and a shopping cart, and him. Sad acceptance slid through her. They were good together—Keith and Dallas—that much was obvious.

As much as that hurt, she had to let him go because he’d chosen his life, and his life wasn’t her. Still a quarter mile from the guesthouse, she heard the familiar drone of the Dodge coming up behind her, and she couldn’t stop the smile.

“
Hey, stranger,” Keith said through the open passenger window. “What’re you doing out in these parts?”

She turned to him, and when she found the other side of the pickup empty, her heart nearly wouldn’t let the words out. “Rescuing my car from your barn.”

That brought a slice of worry across his face. “What? Are you escaping?”

“
Enjoying my day off.” Maggie was still walking, and he was driving very slowly next to her.

“
Day off? Wow. They actually let you out of prison?”

She laughed. “It’s not that bad.”

He drove a little farther. “You know, we are going the same direction if you hadn’t noticed. Why don’t you get in, and then you wouldn’t have to walk?”

“
I like walking. I’m showing off my new tennis shoes, remember?” She lifted her foot high, so he could see them.

“
Nice.” His face said he clearly did remember. “Well, before you wear them out…” He stopped and reached across the seat to pop the door open for her.

Maggie beat back every feeling of the wonderful familiarity of getting in his pickup. Once inside familiar had never felt so safe.

“
So, you’re going into town then?” he asked as the pickup made its way the last 300 yards to the turn beyond the guesthouse.

“
Yeah. I’ve gotta cash my paycheck so I can pay you back.”

Confusion dropped on his face. “Pay me back? For what?”

“
Gee, you have a long memory. Clothes. Wal-Mart. Shopping. Does any of this ring a bell?” It was so weird to be talking to him like this. With his beat up cowboy hat over the light blue bandana, she would never have guessed how he looked at the party on Saturday. It was like he wasn’t even the same person, or maybe that person wasn’t the same as this one. She couldn’t really tell how he could be both.

“
You don’t owe me anything.”

“
Hey now. That was the deal, remember? You buy them. I pay you back.”

The pickup bounced past the last knot of trees into the clearing where the barn stood.

“
Yeah, but…”

“
Besides,” she said, and she couldn’t stop the smile. “I got paid.” She held up the envelope with her check, so I don’t have to be a mooch anymore.”

When he looked at her and smiled, there was no condescension anywhere in it. “Good for you.” The pickup rolled to the barn, and he parked so her car would be able to get out. At the barn door she watched as he unlatched the bolt and pulled it down. He made it look so easy. The door swung open. “There you go. Safe and sound.”

“
Well, thank you very much.” She turned to him, and her heart did a flip-flop. “I guess I’ll see you tonight.”

The word slammed into Keith like a brick. “Tonight?”

“
Oh, yeah.” She hesitated for a second. “Dallas’s party? That is tonight, right?”

His thoughts swirled as if in a blender. “Oh. Y…yeah. That’s tonight. She asked you?”

“
No, Greg Parker called me. It’s the funniest thing. We just met the other night at the party, but he seems like such a nice guy. Besides, I figured he’s your friend, so how bad can he be, right?”

There was teasing in her tone and her eyes, but Keith’s brain was having a hard time getting past her being with Greg. “Oh, yeah. Right.”

For a full ten seconds no one moved. Then Maggie smiled. “Well, miles to go and not much time to get there. Be good. I’ll see you tonight.” And with that she got in her car, got it started, and backed out past him standing at the barn doors. With a wave she started off. Just as she got to the trees, he remembered.

“
Maggie!”

But she was gone.

When she came back, he would have to open the door for her. He wished he had thought to ask her when that would be. He wished he could just think logically about anything when she was around. Then the thought of her with Greg twisted through him. Greg was a nice guy. He would surely treat her right. That wasn’t the problem. It was worse than that. It was that he never wanted to see her with anyone else. Ever.

Maggie was so bad at this. Shopping was not her specialty. She didn’t know the first thing about what looked right together and what didn’t. Growing up she was just happy if it didn’t fall off and only had a couple of holes. Now, inexplicably, here she was trying to find something that would conceivably compete with all the other girls who were sure to be at this party.

She couldn’t out-do them. That was a given. All she hoped for was to not look like someone’s poor step-niece that nobody wants around. Rack after rack, she looked. She even tried a few things on, but the fits weren’t right and the prices were worse.

“
God, what am I going to do?” she asked the One who had become her best friend when there were no others around. She looked in the mirror at the off-shoulder lime green thing she was wearing. It was awful. Nothing about it looked right.

Quickly she checked the watch she had bought at the last store she couldn’t find anything at. “Great.” Now on top of not having anything to wear, she was going to be late. “Look, God, I know I have no right to ask for a miracle at this point, but I’m asking anyway. Please. What am I going to wear?”

It wasn’t until she was in her own clothes and pulling her white sneaker on that the thought occurred to her. The dress. The one from Wal-Mart. She’d hung it in her closet in the very back, thinking it was too nice to wear at work. Presumably it was still there. Her memory slid down it, and she decided that yes, it would work, provided it actually fit. Of course, there was no way to know that considering she’d never actually tried it on. It was the one she had figured on taking back the minute he put it in the cart.

“
Ugh.” Why? Why did every single train of thought always lead her right back to him? “Maggie, girl. You’ve got to put him out of your head. He’s taken. Dallas-taken. They are together. You are not. Stop thinking about him!” But that was easier said than done.

How many times Keith had been up and down the road leading to the guesthouse that day, he had no idea. The excuses were endless, and by four o’clock, he was beginning to hope Ike wouldn’t catch on.

“
Man, I forgot to grab the extra ropes from my garage at lunch,” Keith said. “Tanner said he needed them for tomorrow.”

“
You know, I think Dallas must’ve fried your brain,” Ike said with a laugh. “You’re a mess.”

“
That’s one way to put it.”

“
Gee, I’d hate to see you after the honeymoon. You ain’t going to get any meaningful work done for a year.”

Keith shook his head at the implication. “I’m going to run over and get them.”

Ike waved him off, and Keith escaped from the office with a sigh of relief. Now if she would just show up so he could help her, he wouldn’t have to come up with some other lame excuse. Eventually Ike was going to get suspicious.

How he made that bolt look like it would slide through butter, Maggie had no clue. Sweat popped out on her forehead as she took hold of it with both hands and pulled. She had the feeling that even if she hung on the thing, she wouldn’t be able to get it to unlatch. “Grrr.”

Taking hold of it again, she yanked. Once. Twice. Just before she actually tried the hanging on it thing, she heard the drone of the Dodge, and her gaze snapped up the trail. Self-consciously she let go and backed up as she watched him drive toward her. When he stopped, his grin could’ve been no bigger.

“
You need some help?” He slid out of the pickup, looking every bit the rugged, hardworking ranch hand cowboy. Those arms, sleek and tan, bulged from beneath the dirt-stained denim shirt, and Maggie had to force herself to breathe.

“
That would be nice.” She shaded her eyes with her hand as she backed farther from the barn door.

He stepped in front of her.

“
Ike going easy on you these days?”

He twisted slightly. “What’s that mean?”

“
You’ve spent more time here today than working.” Then the thought of why scratched across her brain. “Oh, yeah. I bet Dallas has got you going crazy over the party. Huh?”

“
Oh. No. Not really.” He slid the bolt out of the holder with ease.

She put her hands on her hips. “Now how do you do that? I’ve been out here for ten minutes trying to do that.”

“
It’s not hard. You just have to know the secret.” He smiled at her wickedly.

“
Uh-huh. And you’re going to keep my car hostage by not telling me this secret?”

He leaned on the barn door and folded his arms across his chest as he sized her up. “Well, if you’re really nice…”

“
Hey, now. When have I not been nice to you?” She was teasing, but his face fell just the same.

He turned back for the door. “It’s easy. You just have to push the door in a little bit.” With one hand he pushed the door, with the other he slid the bolt up and down into the latch with no problem.

Maggie still wasn’t convinced. She stepped up into the space between him and the door. “Let me try that.” Reaching up with one hand, she took hold of the bolt. Then with the other and her hip, she pushed on the door. Sure enough the bolt slid free with nearly no effort. “Wow. That’s some secret.”

Keith felt like all the air in the meadow had evaporated. Three inches from him, she stood in her yellow top and three-quarter length pants, looking all smart and sassy. With everything he had, he wanted to reach out to her, put his arms around her and forget about everything else in his life.

She worked the bolt a few more times to make sure there wasn’t some catch. Then she let the bolt down and pulled the door open. “Ha. Now my car isn’t a hostage.”

Deflecting the feelings of wanting her, he crossed his arms again. “What makes you think it was a hostage to begin with? All you had to do was knock on my door, and say, ‘Keith, could you come help me?’”

She tossed her hair over her shoulder. “What like some little damsel in distress? I can handle things on my own just fine, I’ll have you know.”

“
Uh-huh. Like smoothie-on-the-ceiling fine?”

At first she looked hurt, but then her eyes glinted when she realized he was teasing. “That was a fluke.”

“
And falling down the stairs?”

Annoyance crossed her face. “Nerves.”

“
And being caught out in the rain with no umbrella?”

Her face scrunched. “I never did that.”

He grinned. “Give it time.”

“
Grr.” She reached out and whacked the side of his arm with her hand; however, in the next second she was yelping in pain. “Oww. What are you made of steel?”

At first he laughed, then the thought of how many problems that would solve crossed through him. “No. Unfortunately flesh and bones.”

“
Yeah,” she said, still shaking her hand. “Hard ones.”

“
Come on. Let’s get this car taken care of. I’ll run you back up to the mansion.”

“
Yeah. I’d hate to be late when Greg gets here.”

It was like a punch to the gut. “Yeah, we’d hate for that to happen.”

Maggie drove the car in and made a point of working the bolt herself when she came back out. It was not fair for a guy to stand around looking that good. It just wasn’t. She was having enough trouble getting her brain to think clearly as it was. Those muscles. That tan. That smile. They all called to her senses, threatening to take her places that she knew she could never go.

She jumped into the pickup, glad for the cool air of the air conditioner. When he slid in behind the wheel, she knew she had to say something, something casual and friendly—lest her mouth take her where her heart wanted to go. “You been out working today?”

He glanced over at her. That hat. The bandana. Her brain kept cataloging every single thing she liked about him.

“
Trying to get Dragnet ready for Oak Tree.” In his voice there was darkness lurking in the corners.

“
And that’s not going well?”

“
Oh, Dad just has no patience with the really important things. He gave us ‘til May to have him ready, and there’s just no way that’s going to happen.” After a moment he sighed and slid down in the seat as they crossed back onto the road. “Not that it matters to me much anymore.”

“
Why’s that?”

He glanced at her. “May. By June. I’ll be out of here, and it’ll be his problem.”

That whacked her backward in the seat. “You’re leaving then?”

It seemed he couldn’t get comfortable as he shifted side-to-side. “Dallas has this place picked out in the Woodlands. That’s a little too far to commute everyday.”