Chapter 26

Downstairs Maggie checked the refrigerator and cupboard. Bare, just as she expected. She should have stopped when she drove through town but she'd been so anxious to get to the ranch - to get home - that she bypassed all the stores. No problem. She'd just go into town, get some barbecue takeout for tonight and whatever necessities she needed and wait until Lisa arrived and they could shop together. Maybe look for a Christmas tree.
A Christmas tree. Oh, God.
They always had a big tree. No, make that a huge tree. Her father would get it himself from the tree farm and set it up in the big window in the living room. Then her mother would make hot punch and popcorn and they'd listen to carols while they all decorated the tree. She just didn't know if she could stand it this year, without them there. Even the thought of getting the tree was daunting.
She dropped into a kitchen chair, tears misting her eyes. Their first Christmas without their parents. How would she get through it? How would she ever fill the empty place in her heart? Years and years of memories came flooding back, along with the tears she couldn't control.
The heavy banging on the back door jarred her out of her misery. She wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her sweater and went to open the door. A huge evergreen filled the doorway, blocking everything else out.
What on earth?
"Is there someone behind there?" she asked.
A hand separated branches and Zach's face peeked out at her. "I got this yesterday at Merriman's Tree Farm," he told her. "I've had it in a bucket out in the barn until you got here. I know how important Christmas is to you and I figured without your folks this year, well..."
Ridiculously Maddie burst into tears. She backed through the utility room into the kitchen, practically falling into a chair at the kitchen table, tears running down her face and a sharp pain stabbing at her heart.
"Hey, hey, hey." Zach wrestled the tree into the house. "Just give me a minute to set this up in the living room. I'll put it by the window, okay?" When Maddie didn't answer him, he said, "Okay, then."
She sat in the chair wiping futilely at her eyes and her nose, wishing at the moment she was anyplace but here. Then Zach was back, crouching down in front of her, taking her hands in one of his large ones, using his handkerchief to wipe her face with the other.
"I'm sorry, Maddie. I sure didn't mean to make you cry."
"I'm fine." She batted at his hand. "Thank you."
But the tears came cascading down again. Maddie wished the floor would open up and swallow her. The last thing she needed or wanted was to fall apart in front of Zach. Especially when he lifted her from the chair, then sat down cradling her in his lap. She was so wrapped up in her own misery that she completely forgot who she was with and how she felt about him. All she wanted was comfort, someone to make the pain of loss go away.
When she felt warm lips nuzzling her cheek she turned into them and let her mouth be captured. She even welcomed the tongue that probed between her lips and teased at her own. Beneath her she felt the hard ridge of an erection swelling and pressing into her ass. She wriggled against it, feeling her cunt fluttering, responding to the pressure.
A warm hand slid under her t-shirt and cupped her breast and heat washed through her body, centering in her womb, with tendrils of flame stabbing at the walls of her pussy. The pain fell away under the twin assault of hands and mouth as ten years of sexual desire exploded from its hiding place and fogged her brain.
"Darlin' Maddie," a voice crooned, as lips slid away from her mouth. "I knew you couldn't turn me away forever."
The words were a bucket of cold water, dousing the heat as effectively as a rainstorm. Maddie's eyes flew open, anger replaced the agony she'd been feeling and she pushed so hard at Zach she fell off his lap onto the floor. Her rear end hurt where she landed on it but not as much as her pride. What the hell had she been thinking, falling into his arms like that. Letting him think...
Her face burned as she imagined what he must be thinking.
"Maddie?" His voice was tentative. "You all right? Let me help you up."
He reached a hand down to her but she scooted away on her rear and pushed herself to her feet.
'You can forget what just happened," she told him, hands on hips. "Thanks for the tree but now you can leave. And don't knock on the door again."
She fixed her gaze at a point over his head, not wanting to see the hurt and bewilderment in his eyes. Hurt? What did he know about hurt? She'd cornered the market on it.
"Maddie, I don't understand." He reached for her and she backed away. "I just wanted to make you feel better. You were sad and..."
"And you took advantage of me. Just like you always did."
"Aw, hell, Maddie. I didn't mean - "
"She held up her hand. "Don't say another word. You haven't changed one bit in the last ten years. Take what you want and the devil be damned."
"Maddie, please, just listen."
"If you thought you could buy me with a tree you're very much mistaken. I'm keeping the tree because I think it's the least you can do for me and because I want my sister to enjoy it, but don't think this earns you any points. I've already called Ty Blackwell and told him hell will freeze over before we sell one acre of Flying W land to you or anyone else."
A closed look came over his face and his eyes were hard as flint. "Fine. If that's the way you want it. But we've got unfinished business, Maddie and I'm not going to let you run away from it."
"Like you did ten years ago?" she yelled as he headed out the door.
He just shook his head and shut the door firmly behind him.
Maddie leaned against the wall, digging for some sort of control. Emotions at the moment represented a burgeoning hurricane, all mixed and swirled together until she couldn't sort one from the other. What on earth had she been thinking of to respond to Zach Brennan that way?
But she knew the answer and that was worse than the question. She just hoped her sisters got here soon so she had the buffer she needed.
Letting out a long breath, she went to wash her face and comb her hair. She needed to go into town and getting away from the house right now seemed like a very good idea.
Shopping in town had been a mixed blessing. Maddie was happy to see people who'd been missing from her life for a long time except for brief visits home. They welcomed her warmly and fussed over her as if she was their own child. But they also talked about her parents, offering their sympathy and hoping she and her sisters would be able to get through Christmas. And that made her want to burst into tears all over again.
As she trudged along the streets, eyeing the angels with trumpets clinging to the lampposts, the decorations in the store windows and listening to Christmas carols playing through open doorways, she wondered again how they'd all handle it.
Well, she had a few things in mind that she hoped would help rather than make things worse. As soon as she got home she was going to haul all the Christmas decorations out of the closet where they were stored and decorate the tree and the house. She wanted a holiday welcome for Liza whenever she got there. Maddie's heart pinched for a moment remembering Jenna wouldn't be with them, off in some far country instead on a wild adventure. She allowed herself one tear, then forced her mind back to her plans.
After she finished decorating she was going to find the cookbook with the recipe for her mother's cinnamon rolls and bake up a storm. Her sisters had a sweet tooth for those rolls and kneading the dough and mixing the ingredients would be good therapy for her. And keep her mind occupied.
When she pulled up in front of the house, she saw three of the hands just leaving the biggest barn. They waved at her as she got out of her car and called greetings to her. The building was lit up, as well as the stable behind it, so obviously more of the men were still working in there. She waved back, wondering where Zach was and if she could get into the house without him waylaying her again. She still hadn't unpacked her car and didn't want to take the time to do it now, in case he wandered along. The faster she got out of his range of sight, the better.
Grabbing her shopping bags she ran up the steps to the porch and shoved her key in the lock. She had just pushed the door beside the porch open when she sensed more than saw a horse and rider approach. Her heart skipped a beat and a combination of panic and need gripped her. But Zach just tipped his hat, then wheeled his horse and rode off toward the nearest pasture.
Maddie managed to get to the kitchen and put the bags on the counter without dropping anything. She reached inside her for the anger she'd been fueling since she found out about the sale of the ranch but all she felt was heat of another kind. One glance at Zach and her nipples hardened, her pussy wept and her thighs trembled. Her traitorous body remembered the feel of his cock sliding into her tight flesh, the warmth of his hands as they fondled her breasts, the sweetness of his mouth as he tasted her everywhere.
Oh, God. She was in such big trouble.