Like Lightning (5 page)

But Trey had drawn the short straw when it came to women like Maddie Brooks, and what she didn't know was that if he acted on his impulses both of them would come out the loser. Trey wouldn't forget that.

“Are we close?” she asked, her eyes probing through the darkness for signs of the injured animal.

He pulled to a stop and searched the area where the barbed-wire fence needed repair. “It's right here,” he said, getting out of the truck and coming around to the passenger door to help Maddie down. She handed him her medical bag and then jumped down unaided.

Stubborn.

Trey held a butane lamp and guided Maddie to where the heifer lay wounded in the ground.

“Hey there, little one,” Maddie said softly as she bent to see the extent of the injury. Trey sat down cross-legged and placed the Hereford's head in his lap while Maddie opened her medical bag. “Looks like you have a deep gash here.” She stroked the heifer's withers softly as seconds became minutes. Under Maddie's patient loving touch, the frightened animal soon relaxed, and Trey sensed a bond of trust developing, as crazy as that might seem.

Maddie glanced up at Trey. “Most of the time the cuts heal on their own, but this is a three-corner tear and needs clipping or it won't heal properly.”

Trey watched as Maddie worked diligently, cutting away the flap of skin hanging as well as the surround
ing hairs. She cleaned the area with a solution and applied an antiseptic with tender care. “There now,” she said, finishing up. “We need to keep the wound clean and dry. The antiseptic is a fly repellent as well, but I'd feel better keeping an eye on her for at least a week. Do you think we can get her into the back of the truck?”

Trey nodded. “Let me get a blanket and lay it down in the bed.”

Maddie stayed with the animal, soothing her with kind words and stroking her head while Trey prepared the bed of his truck. When he returned, he found the heifer standing upright, nudging her nose into Maddie's leg. He chuckled. “How did you do that?”

“Do what?” she replied with an innocent expression.

“I didn't think she'd be able to stand. I couldn't get her up when I found her out here earlier.”

“Oh, she and I have come to an understanding,” Maddie said with a smile. She moved toward the back of the truck and the wounded heifer followed. Maddie climbed up first and Trey had no trouble, heavy as the heifer was, lifting her up and placing her inside the bed. She immediately walked to Maddie's side and lied down next to her on the blanket.

Trey shook his head and closed the tailgate. “Damn amazing.”

He drove slowly back to the ranch, trying to avoid as many ditches and bumps as possible, for Maddie's sake. He still hadn't gotten over knocking her down and almost out. Trey had never hurt a woman in his life. Not physically, anyway.

But he'd hurt one or two emotionally and he was dead set against allowing that to ever happen again. He'd been engaged once, and they'd almost married,
which would have been a bigger mistake. But then Trey had been ten years younger, less experienced and a bit naive regarding the “Walker Curse.” He'd let everyone close convince him marriage was what he'd wanted. What had ensued afterward had been a disaster. He'd hurt his fiancée and nearly alienated everyone he cared about in the process.

Trey glanced through the back window of the cab noting Maddie sitting with head bent, speaking to the heifer. “Damn amazing woman,” he said, with a shake of his head.

Amazing
with animals.

Amazing
to look at.

Amazing
to touch.

Lord only knew what other amazing things Maddie could do.

And then his father's dying words rushed into his head in haunting fashion. “Don't make the same mistakes I made, son.”

Trey was immediately reminded of his solemn vow to steer clear and keep their arrangement strictly business.

And no matter how amazing he found Maddie to be, Trey would honor that vow.

M
addie immersed herself in her work, having little time to do much else but fall into bed at night. She'd been on the ranch for five solid days now and things were finally settling into a routine. She and Trey had a polite, but distant relationship. She believed Trey admired her talent as a competent veterinarian, and she knew him to be an expert rancher. They had mutual respect for one another, but they made sure not to let things get too personal. Over their brief dinners at night, they'd speak about their work, his livestock and her cases, the weather, the newest reality show. But they shied away from any private subjects.

Trey employed four ranch hands, all of whom lived off the ranch with their own families. On occasion, the foreman named Kit would stay to fix supper and chew the fat with his boss. Maddie had come to know Kit
Carver from her visits to 2 Hope in the past and considered him more friend than acquaintance now.

But tonight Trey and his foreman had taken off after the evening meal. Maddie had offered to clean the kitchen, and now she found herself alone, enveloped in the silence of this big sprawling house. Most nights she found solace in the quiet, but tonight she wandered around in restless disarray, not quite ready to turn in, not quite sure what she wanted to do.

When Maddie heard Storm causing a ruckus outside, she decided to investigate. She exited the back door and headed to the corral.

Storm kicked up a big fuss. The stallion rounded the corral's perimeter at breakneck speed, snorting, his breaths loud and labored. When he caught sight of Maddie approaching the fence—his fence—he stopped up short and stared at her.

“Hey Storm,” she called out. “Are you restless, too?”

Storm continued to stare at her, edging up closer to the fence one careful step at a time. Maddie too edged closer, keeping her eyes trained on Storm. “Don't be afraid.”

Storm came closer still, until he stood three feet from the fence. “Thata, boy.”

Maddie hummed a slow easy tune, the melody catchy enough to gain the stallion's attention. She knew better than to force the situation. She stood her ground, not daring to move any further. Patience worked hand in hand with trust.

Low lying clouds and dim moonlight cast Storm in ominous shadows making the noble horse seem somewhat sinister, but Maddie knew that not to be the case at all. Storm wasn't what she'd call tame, but he had a
good heart. He was prideful and intelligent and in time he would come around. “I know you,” she said softly. “You think you're fooling me, but I know you.”

Maddie headed back to the kitchen and grabbed a handful of sugar cubes. It was the oldest trick in the book, but the method was tried and true, working successfully for years. It wasn't so much a treat she was offering, but a way to gain Storm's trust.

She set the cubes on top of the fence post, leaving Storm to wonder what she had done. “See you tomorrow, boy.”

After entering the kitchen, Maddie stood by the window and waited. She stared at the obstinate horse for fifteen minutes, until finally, he approached the fence post and licked it clean.

“Thata boy,” she whispered and Maddie knew she had a challenge on her hands.

She might not be able to get through to Trey Walker, but Storm was a different matter. Determined now, Maddie made herself a promise not to give up on the feisty stallion.

One way or another, she would gain Storm's trust.

 

Trey entered the house by the back door, Kit having dropped him off minutes ago. They'd gone into town tonight to have a few beers and listen to honky-tonk music at Tie-One-On, the local bar. Recently married, Kit missed his wife, who was visiting her relatives in Houston. He'd needed a diversion, a way to pass the time, so the two had headed into town.

They'd sat at the bar having drinks, Kit fending off the advances made by hopeful females. Trey envied Kit's commitment to his wife. He envied the man his fu
ture, one filled with the love of a good woman and the promise of a family. Those things seemed so far out of Trey's reach that he'd put them completely out of his mind. He resigned himself to his life at 2 Hope, having been happy for most of his time here. That is, until one perky redhead came to live with him.

Tie-One-On was a place to help a man forget, a place to loosen up and have a good time. Half a dozen women had approached Trey. He'd danced with a few, held them in his arms, but his mind kept going back to Maddie. Thoughts of her filled his head and he found himself sitting at the bar with his friend, amid a crowd of fun-loving people, feeling lonelier than he could ever remember.

Trey grabbed a beer from the refrigerator and headed to the parlor. He plopped down on the sofa, kicked up his boots on the table and clicked on the television set. He finally settled in when he found an old John Wayne movie.

The scent of raspberries drifted by and as he turned his head around, he saw Maddie making an about face. “Maddie?”

“Oh, hi,” she said, tightening her white robe around her. “I didn't know you were out here. Don't let me disturb you.”

“Can't sleep?”

“Not really. Guess I'm a little restless tonight.”

Trey studied her appearance. Her face was washed clean of the little makeup she wore, her hair fell in waves around her shoulders as if she'd just brushed through it and her bright green eyes held a certain shyness. Of all the women Trey had spoken with tonight, of all the women he'd danced with and had briefly considered going home with, only Maddie Brooks appealed to him.

Both of them were restless tonight.

Both needed companionship.

He knew better than to ask, but he asked anyway. “Do you like John Wayne?”

Maddie smiled. “Love him.”

Trey patted the sofa next to him. “Pull up a seat.”

A short while later after sharing a movie, a bowl of popcorn and a few lingering looks, Trey stretched out and continued to listen to Maddie's soft, soothing voice. “And so after my folks passed, my Grandma Mae and I moved to this little apartment in the heart of New York City. I knew immediately that I wouldn't do well in a big city. I needed space and freedom and animals. For one, you don't see too many animals in New York, unless you go to the zoo.”

“So you knew early on that you wanted to work with animals?”

With a subtle tilt of her head, Maddie responded, “I know this sounds corny, but it wasn't so much what I knew inside. I was drawn to it, like a magnetic pull. I know what it means now when people say that they met their life's calling. Being a veterinarian was my calling. It's as if I had no choice in the matter.” She smiled softly. “Does that make any sense?”

“More than you know,” he agreed. Trey knew there were greater forces out there, working either for or against you. At this very moment there were forces working against him ever being with Maddie. It was something Trey just plain understood. “Sometimes, choices are taken from you.” He scrubbed his jaw a moment. “It worked out for you, though. You're doing exactly what you were meant to do.”

“And what about you, Trey? Are you doing what you're meant to do?”

Trey shrugged. “Ranching's in my blood, I suppose—2 Hope has been around a long, long time. We've had some rough patches, but we're hanging on.”

“I'd love to know how 2 Hope got its name,” she said. “Or is that one of the stories not fit for polite company?”

Maddie wiggled closer on the sofa, her robe parting slightly. Trey caught a glimpse of thin silky pajamas underneath. Her exposed skin shone like polished porcelain and that necklace she wore caught his eye. The damn thing dangled right smack in between her breasts.

Trey drew in oxygen and glanced back up to her face. He wasn't immune to her wholesome charm, not in the least. He figured he was better off looking into pretty green eyes than lusting over soft creamy skin.

“Now that's a story I
can
tell you,” he said. “Legend has it that my great-great-granddaddy was down on his luck when he arrived in Hope Wells. Didn't take him long to figure out what he wanted. A ranch and my great-great-grandmother. Only problem was, my grandmother was Rachel Hope, the daughter of the richest man in town. And Will Walker didn't have two nickels to rub together. But he found a way. He won the ranch in a poker game and shortly after,” Trey said, with a smile he couldn't hide, “he won Rachel. Seems my grandfather's opponent in that famous poker game had drawn a full house. He made no bones about it. He'd told everyone what he held in his hand. Poor old Will thought he was done for, all he had was a pair of two's. Was too much to hope for—another pair of two's, but dang it all, if he didn't draw them. He won the hand with four of a kind—four two's.”

Maddie smiled, a distant winsome expression on her face. “Two Hope. That's a lovely story, Trey. It must be
nice knowing about your ancestors. You have such a deep foundation here, a sense of belonging.”

“When things get rough around here, and I think I'm ready to chuck it all, I recall the way the ranch got started.”

“That's admirable, Trey.”

“There's nothing admirable about it.”

“What do you mean?”

Trey shook his head. He hadn't meant to blurt that out, yet he felt he didn't deserve her compliment. He wasn't that noble. Lately he'd been feeling resentful—hating the traits he'd inherited that made him lack a sense of commitment. If Maddie only knew how many times he'd been tempted to sell off the ranch, to rid himself of the headaches and make a fresh start somewhere. If she only knew how much he'd wanted to be more solid, more stable. He'd messed up enough in one lifetime. He had bad genes to thank for that. His father, and his father before him, hadn't set the best example. Neither of those men were anything like Will Walker. Will had had staying power. Will Walker had had the guts to see things through.

“Nothing. Forget it, Maddie.”

“But—”

Loud howling coming from the barn interrupted Maddie's thoughts. She stopped speaking to listen. “Sounds like Maggie and Toby.”

Trey sat upright and listened carefully to the dogs' barking. “Something's got them upset. I'd best go check.”

Maddie rose quickly. “I'm coming, too.”

They raced outside toward the barn, Trey searching the area with sharp probing eyes. He wished he'd
thought to grab his rifle as he yanked the barn door open. The dogs' barking simmered some. Maddie swooped down next to Toby, the black and white border collie she'd been nursing from a car accident.

“Oh no. Toby's ripped open his stitches. He's bleeding, Trey.”

“What can I do?”

“Stay with him while I get the supplies I need.”

Maddie rose but Trey grabbed her arm. “Be careful. It might have been a coyote scratching to get inside. He's probably long gone by now, but I'm not sure.”

“I'll be careful.”

Trey stood and watched Maddie enter her office space, keeping a vigilant eye out for whatever culprit caused the animals to get into such a ruckus. He only relaxed when he saw her running back toward him, her arms filled with the supplies she needed.

“Okay, Toby,” she said softly to the injured collie. “Looks like you're not going home tomorrow, after all.”

An hour later, Trey escorted an exhausted Maddie to her bedroom door. Together, they'd worked on Toby, Trey holding the dog while Maddie administered to the freshly opened wound. Maddie wouldn't leave until the dog finally calmed and had fallen back asleep.

“Hazards of the barn,” Trey offered by way of apology. “We get all sorts of wild animals out here.”

Maddie shrugged. “I think Toby will heal just fine. And using the barn to practice is a far cry better than having no place at all.”

“True enough,” Trey said. “But maybe we should change the name from 2 Hope to Last Chance Ranch.”

“After that wonderful story you told me, don't you dare.” Maddie reached for Trey's arm, her subtle touch
searing his skin under his shirt. She'd shed her bathrobe in the barn, and both had been too caught up with their task to notice, but now, Trey noticed. The soft silky tank top left little to the imagination; her perfect breasts stretched the material in ways that made his mouth go dry. And her cotton drawers, decorated with blue and white clouds, hugged her hips below her navel, accentuating her delicate curves. “I really do appreciate being able to practice here, Trey. I know it isn't the perfect situation, but I'm grateful for everything. Including your help tonight.”

Trey wasn't sure who'd received the most benefit tonight. His evening had livened up the moment Maddie had entered the parlor. He'd been unsettled and lonely and as soon as he'd seen Maddie, everything had changed. In truth, Trey couldn't remember having a more satisfying and enjoyable evening.

“I'm glad to help out.”

“Thank you,” she said, staring into his eyes.

He stared back, captivated by this pretty, petite woman. She was warm and kind and sweet, and Trey realized he wanted more than a bed partner in Maddie, he wanted to be her friend.

He bent down and touched his lips to hers softly. “Good night, Dr. Maddie.”

“Good night, Trey,” she whispered, leaning her head against the door.

Trey backed up quickly, and turned away from the longing he witnessed in her eyes, the surprised smile on her face. He turned away from the tempting woman, turning away from every single instinct calling him back.

 

“Damn it all, Uncle Monty.”

Trey cursed so darn loud, Maddie nearly spilled her
morning coffee. She sat in the kitchen, reading the newspaper, trying to fully awaken after getting in so late last night. It had been worth the lack of sleep, spending one of the best evenings of her life. With Trey. And then, contrary to what he'd preached, he'd kissed her again.

The kiss seemed different this time, less passionate, but somehow more intimate. As if they'd somehow created a bond. Maddie knew Trey wasn't playing with her heart. The way he'd kissed her had been innocent and spontaneous, as unplanned as Texas heat, making it all the more special.