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“It was Abe. He wanted to let me know that we’re going to have company tonight.”
“Is that all? From the look on your face I thought a tornado was about to hit. Who is this company anyway? Someone interesting?”
Maura did her best to wipe all expression from her face. “You might think so. It’s Quint Cantrell. Abe’s grandson.”
“Mmm. I saw him not too long ago in Ruidoso,” Bridget said thoughtfully. “I was pulling into a parking space on the street and he was coming out of the Blue Mesa. I have to admit he looks sexier now than he did when we were in high school.”
Like a jolt of loud, unexpected thunder, jealousy shook Maura. “Then maybe you should join us for dinner,” she quipped. “I’m sure you’d be more than welcome.”
Unaware of her sister’s reaction, Bridget playfully wrinkled her nose. “No thanks, sis. Quint obviously isn’t into redheads with freckles. Actually,” she added in a more serious tone, “I don’t think he’s into women. Period. Not after the wringer Holly put him through.”
For the past few days that was exactly what Maura had been telling herself. The man didn’t want a woman in his life. Yet during that short time she’d spent with him on the Golden Spur, he’d touched her, looked at her as though he’d actually wanted to be close to her. Or had that only been the twisted imaginings of a lonely divorcée?
One way or the other, Maura supposed she would find out tonight. And she wasn’t ready for the answer.
“Maura? Are you all right?”
As Bridget touched her arm, Maura’s thoughts jerked back to the present and she turned a strained look on her sister.
“Sure. Why wouldn’t I be?”
Her gaze shrewdly studying Maura’s face, Bridget shrugged. “I don’t know. You tell me. Is something going on with Quint that you haven’t told me about?”
Setting her jaw, Maura quickly turned and started toward the door. “Don’t worry, little sister. If I see that Quint Cantrell is back into women you’ll be the first to know.”
Chapter Four (#u8604a1f9-c492-5802-bb46-74e1e372fc68)
An hour later, when Maura arrived back at Apache Wells, she was surprised to find Quint’s pickup already parked next to Abe’s old Ford. But once she entered the small ranch house, neither he nor Abe was anywhere to be found.
But before she could get to her room to change out of her revealing dress she heard voices on the porch, then footsteps entering the house.
“Maura! Where are you, girl?”
Abe’s yells had her groaning as she turned from her room. Quint would just have to see her like this and she’d have to appear as though she was comfortable with exposing plenty of skin to his sharp gaze.
“Here I am,” she announced as she stepped into the cozy living room.
Abe, who’d been reclining in his favorite leather chair, plopped his boots on the floor and let out a low whistle. Across from him, sitting at one end of a long couch, Quint stared at her. Maura found it much easier to focus her gaze on the elder Cantrell.
“Ooooeee! Don’t you look pretty!” The old man glanced over at Quint. “Look at her, boy. Have you ever seen anything so pretty around here?”
Quint’s shocked stare couldn’t decide if it wanted to settle on Maura or his grandfather. “Grandma wasn’t exactly ugly,” he reminded a grinning Abe.
Abe’s grin turned into an impatient frown for his grandson. “Been many a long year since your grandma was with us. It’s high time we had another pretty woman in the house.”
Across the room, Maura cleared her throat and like a magnet Quint felt his gaze drawn to her slender image outlined by the open doorway. The flowered dress she was wearing made her look all woman and then some. His male ego wanted to think she’d worn the sexy garment for his benefit, but he knew otherwise.
“You should have warned me earlier that Quint would be here for supper,” Maura said to Abe. “I would’ve gotten back sooner. It will take me a while to prepare something and—”
“Forget about cookin’, honey!” Abe interrupted. “I didn’t hire you as kitchen help! Jim has already fixed things. All we have to do is heat it up.”
She looked surprised and Quint got the feeling that his grandfather probably manipulated his nurse as much as he tried to maneuver him. He could only wonder how long Maura would be willing to put up with the old man and what it would do to him when she flew the coop.
Maura said, “Oh. Well, I usually prepare our meals. You—”
“Tonight you’re gettin’ a rest,” Abe interrupted again. “So don’t worry about it.”
A smile fluttered around her lips. “All right.”
Abe motioned for Quint to get to his feet. “Go find us some of that blackberry wine and pour us all a drink, Quint. I feel like celebrating tonight.”
Quint rose from the couch and ambled toward the doorway where Maura still stood. “What do you have to be celebrating?” he asked his grandfather.
“Bein’ alive. Ain’t that enough?”
Quint exchanged a pointed look with Maura and this time when she smiled the expression was genuine.
“I’ll help you find some glasses,” she told him.
He followed her down a short hallway and into the small kitchen. Along the way, he caught the rosy scent of her perfume as his eyes watched the folds of her dress move to the sway of her shapely hips.
Lord, it was no wonder Abe was behaving in such a goofy manner, Quint thought. Just looking at this woman was enough to send a man’s temperature skyrocketing.
“I think the wine is over there,” she said while pointing to a white metal cabinet situated at the far end of the room. “If you’ll look for it, I’ll find the wineglasses.”
Drawing in a deep breath, Quint tore his eyes off her backside and headed to the cabinet. “Gramps hardly ever drinks spirits. I don’t know what’s come over him—he’s acting strangely happy,” he mumbled as he pushed aside cans and jars on the jammed pantry shelf. “Is it okay for him to drink this stuff, anyway?”
He pulled out the bottle of blackberry wine and walked over to the cabinet where she was placing goblets on a silver tray.
“A small amount won’t hurt,” she said, then slanted a glance at him. “And why do you call Abe being happy strange? I’d think him being happy is a good thing.”
It would be a good thing, Quint thought, if his grandfather’s joy didn’t depend on a woman. He’d learned through the years that they were fickle creatures and more often than not slanted the truth to their own advantage. Before their breakup, he’d caught Holly in several lies, yet she’d insisted she’d kept the truth from him because she’d loved him. He’d heard the same excuse from his own mother when he’d discovered she’d been dishonest about her past. Women never separated right and wrong with a clear line. They always wanted to soften and blur the edges with emotions and reasons. As though that would keep a man from feeling hurt and betrayed.
“I just don’t want his bubble burst.”
After twisting off the cap, he offered the wine bottle to her. She took it and carefully began to fill each glass with a small amount of the dark liquid. Quint’s gaze fell to the shiny crown of her head and the dark red strands of hair lying on her bare shoulders.
“You think I’m going to do something to hurt your grandfather?” she asked.
He wasn’t expecting such a direct question from her, but then he probably should have. She had a blunt way of getting things out in the open.
“Not necessarily. Sometimes Gramps just expects too much out of people. And when they fall short he gets disappointed.”
She leveled her green gaze on him and Quint felt his heart pause, then jerk into a rapid thud.
“Have you ever disappointed anyone, Quint?”
What was the matter with him? Why did just watching her speak feel like an erotic adventure? Sexual starvation, he thought. And that was a fixable problem.
“Hell, yeah,” he answered. “Haven’t you?”
Something flickered in the depths of her eyes before they dropped away from his.
“Oh, yes. More than I’d like to think.”
She drew in a deep breath, then looked up at him one more time. “Whatever you’re thinking, Quint, I’m here to help your grandfather. Not hurt him. As long as you understand that, I think you and I can be friends.”
He wanted to be more than Maura’s friend. When he’d come to that realization, he wasn’t sure. Maybe just a few seconds ago when he’d looked at her moist lips. Or had it been minutes ago when he’d first looked up and saw her standing in the doorway, that dress hugging her breasts like the hands of a lover? Yes, he wanted to be more than Maura Donovan’s friend and the idea was shaking the fire right out of him. She wasn’t a casual sort of woman. But his body didn’t seem to care one whit about that fact.
“I believe you’re here to help Gramps. So let’s not rehash the issue, okay?”
A slow smile spread across her face and Quint stifled a groan. If he could just kiss those luscious lips once, maybe twice, then he could hopefully put these crazy urges behind him.
“I’m perfectly agreeable to that,” she said, then picked up the tray and offered it to him. “We’d better get back to Abe before he thinks we’ve deserted him.”
Smiling to himself, Quint took the tray and followed her out of the room.
Much later, as the three of them finished coffee around the dinner table, Maura quietly listened while Quint and his grandfather discussed the pros and cons of allowing Red Bluff Mining Company to reopen the Golden Spur. Maura’s knowledge about mining or taking gold from raw ore was practically nil, but from listening to their debate she could see that each man had good, solid reasons to back up his stand on the subject.
Throughout the meal, Maura had been a bit surprised to see that Quint wasn’t a yes-man to Abe on any subject, even though the elder Cantrell was the patriarch of the family and held the strings to a fortune in land and money. Clearly Quint respected his grandfather, but he wasn’t shy about speaking up when he didn’t agree with the old man.
Maura admired Quint’s spunk, but she was touched even more by the closeness and love she felt flowing between the two men. Gilbert had never shown much respect for his parents or tried to be a part of her family. She’d often voiced her disapproval about his lack of family connection and tried to make him see the joys he was missing, but her pleas had gone unheeded. One thing she knew for certain about Quint, he’d always be around for anyone he cared about.
“All right, Gramps, I’ll call them. Maybe not in the next few days. But soon. And I’ll get a rough estimate as to the initial cost to start things up. But that’s all I’m going to promise. I’m not interested in gold,” Quint was saying toAbe.
Maura smiled to herself as she saw Abe’s eyes begin to twinkle. Clearly he believed he was the winner tonight.
“Maybe not. But the gold will make it easier for you to be a rancher. And it sure as heck might be nice to leave to your young’ns.”
The muscles around Quint’s mouth tightened, but he didn’t make any sort of reply to his grandfather’s suggestion. Maura wasn’t surprised. When she’d brought up the idea of him raising children, he’d turned as cool as a frosty morning. Which could only mean he wasn’t interested in acquiring a wife, much less kids.
Putting down his coffee cup, Abe stretched his arms over his head, then pushed back his chair. “Well, I’m gonna go watch a little news,” he said. “Quint, why don’t you take Maura down to the stables and show her the new stud. She’s not seen him yet.”
Fully expecting Quint to come up with an excuse to leave, Maura got to her feet and began gathering the dirty dishes. “That’s all right, Abe,” she said, not bothering to glance Quint’s way. “I can walk down to the stables another time. It’s almost dark anyway.”
“It’s at least another half hour until dark,” Quint spoke up. “We have plenty of time.”
Maura’s gaze jerked to the end of the table just in time to see him rising from his seat. Instead of a look of boredom, she was surprised to see a smile on his face.
“Are you game?” he asked.
“Uh—sure.” She glanced down at the plates she was holding. “Just let me put these away.”
“I’ll help you clear the table.”
Flustered by this turn of events, Maura hardly noticed Abe quietly leaving the kitchen.
“There’s no need,” she told him. “I’ll gather everything up later. We’d better not waste daylight.”
She put the plates in the sink, then turned to see he was waiting for her by the door. As she joined him, her heart began to pitter-patter like a rain shower threatening to turn into an all-out storm.
“The evening might get cool before we get back,” he suggested, his eyes sliding slowly over her bare shoulders. “Do you think you might need something to cover your arms?”
“You’re probably right. Hold on,” she told him, then hurried out of the room. By the time she fetched a shawl from her bedroom closet, she was breathless and silently berating herself for behaving like some besotted teenager. Quint Cantrell was merely being polite and friendly, she told herself. This was only a walk. Not a date.
Once the two of them were off the back porch and walking down the middle of the dirt road that led to the ranch yard, Maura breathed deeply and tried to relax.
“I really didn’t expect you to go through with this,” she said honestly. “I mean—Abe can be so obvious sometimes. And he doesn’t stop to think that you might have more important things to do than show me a horse.”
Except for the crunch of gravel beneath their feet, the night was quiet. When Quint chuckled softly, the sound wrapped around her like the warm night air.
“I think showing you a horse is far more important than talking about that damned old mine. I was glad for an excuse to get away.”
Smiling, she glanced at him. “Well, I understand you’re not keen on inviting that sort of mining hubbub onto your ranch, but I think you’re wonderful for listening to your grandfather’s dreams and taking them seriously.”
He shrugged as though he didn’t warrant her compliment. “He’s always listened to mine. And in spite of him being so cantankerous, he’s a very wise man. I’d be a fool not to listen to him.”
Too bad Gilbert had been so full of himself that he’d not looked to his family or anyone for advice, Maura thought. He’d believed himself to be smarter, slicker and savvier than anyone around him. And to a point, he had been, she thought grimly. He’d certainly fooled her for years. Was that what love did to a woman? Blinded her ability to see the truth, twisted her judgment? Until her love for him had begun to crumble, she’d not seen the real man.
“So how is your arm doing?” she asked after a moment. “I don’t suppose you went to the doctor and got stitches.”
“No. But it’s healing.”
It seemed the farther they walked, the closer he was drawing to her side. Maura tried not to notice, but that was fairly impossible to do when her heart was hammering in her chest.
“One of the best things I like about working for your grandfather is having time to be outdoors,” she said. “Before, putting in long hours at the hospital didn’t leave me much time or energy for walks outside.”
“Did you do hospital work before you moved back to Hondo Valley?” he asked.
Before her divorce, she thought ruefully. Clearing her throat, she gazed ahead at a stand of tall pines and the long, dark shadows slipping across the road. Beyond the distant mountains, the sinking sun painted a bank of clouds pink and gold and as she admired the beauty, she realized she was just now coming awake after a long, long sleep.
“No. I worked at a large health clinic. Which was hectic, but rewarding.”
“Forgive me if this sounds tacky, Maura, but we both know that you don’t have to work at anything. I mean—your family has made millions and you’re obviously wealthy. You could travel the world and be a lady of leisure.”
She looked at him, then burst out laughing. “Oh, Quint. That’s so funny. Me, a lady of leisure? I’d be bored out of my mind. And everyone has a reason for being, don’t you think? I like to be doing—to make a difference for others. Don’t you?”
He smiled and then his expression turned sober. “I guess I’ve never thought about it that much. I suppose from the time I was a boy I’ve been on a mission to keep the ranches going. As for making a difference for others—I must be selfish. I do what I do, because in the end, it pleases me.”
Her eyes softened as she studied his face. “That’s not entirely true, Quint. I don’t know you all that well, but I can see that you want to make a difference for your grandfather, your mother. That’s not a self-centered man.”
One corner of his lips tilted to a wicked little grin. “You’re wrong, Maura. I am selfish.” One hand reached out and wrapped itself around her shoulder. “Because right now all I’m thinking about is what I want.”
She shivered as heat rushed from the spot where he was touching her and shot to every particle of her body.
“And what is that?” she asked in a strained voice.
“To kiss you.”
