Chapter 28

Maddie had put a thick vegetable beef soup on to simmer that morning. They had it for dinner along with a salad. Liza opened a bottle of wine she'd brought and they talked about everything except the elephant in the room. They had just gone to bed, settling in for the night, when headlights swept up the driveway. In less than a minute Liza was rapping on her door.
"Wake up, kiddo." Her voice was filled with excitement. "I think we have unexpected company."
Pulling on their robes, they hurried to the front door, Liza throwing it wide just as someone exited the ugliest station wagon Maddie had ever seen.
"Oh, my God!" Maddie shrieked. "Oh, my God. Oh, my God."
"No, not God," Jenna said. "Just your wandering sister. Sorry about the late arrival."
"Trust you to arrive in the middle of the night," Maddie said, laughing and crying at the same time."
"I can't believe you're actually here." Liza gave her an extra hug. "I thought you couldn't get back in time."
"It wasn't hard to figure out that Christmas with you two would be a bigger adventure than anything I could fall into on my own. Here. Give me a hand with this stuff."
They all struggled up to the porch with one of them lugging a huge canvas sack, another battered duffel bag while Jenna hoisted a backpack full of her gear. Inside the house they dropped everything on the floor and enfolded her in their arms again.
"Definitely better than Beirut," she told them, sniffing. "I can't believe we're all here together." She tugged them both into another hug, then looked up at the big window. "Ohmigod, the tree!" she squealed, staring at it, the lights twinkling in the darkened room. "It looks just like - "
"Don't say it," Liza warned. "We've already done the waterworks bit today." Then she smiled. "But it was a really great sight to come home to."
Then, while Liza and Jenna hauled the gear to Jenna's room, Maddie set milk heating for hot chocolate. She fixed a plate with some of her cinnamon rolls and the cookies with sprinkles and set them on the table. Call her dowdy but she always felt best when she was busy in the kitchen or doing some kind of chore. And tonight it took her mind off the conversation her sisters were having about her decision and what she wanted to do.
She had just finished mixing the hot chocolate when her sisters returned to the kitchen. Setting the full mug in front of Jenna, she poured extra cups for herself and Liza.
Jenna looked at the food, then at her sisters. "Yummy food but if you're cooking like this something's going on. 'Fess up. Is it something I can help with?"
Maddie's lips thinned. "I-I don't want to sell the ranch."
Jenna dropped the cookie she was holding. "What?"
"I'm not changing my mind," she said in a firm voice, looking first one and then the other straight in the eye. "You all made decisions about your lives. Now it's my turn. I don't want a partnership in a big law firm or a trip to Beirut, God forbid. I just want to keep the ranch and live here."
Liza and Jenna exchanged looks.
"No plotting," Maddie warned. I've made up my mind."
"Let's put this on hold until I see Ty tomorrow," Liza said.
"Good idea," Jenna agreed, picked up the cookie again and took a bite, a thoughtful expression on her face as she chewed..
* * * * *
Zach poked at the logs in his fireplace, flames leaping to life, sparks snapping. But all the flames in the world couldn't seem to reach the hard cold spot in his heart. The spot that only Maddie could warm.
Maddie!
He closed his eyes, remembering his first sight of her after all these years. Hair the color of dark maple syrup framing a heart-shaped face, clear alabaster skin and a slender neck. Her hazel eyes still had the ability to change color like a chameleon and a hint of a dimple still flashed at one corner of her mouth. Despite the worn jeans and baggy sweatshirt she'd worn he could see the lines of her body, lush now like a woman's, not still unformed like a girl's. No, Maddie was no girl any more, that was for sure.
At least once a day for the past ten years he'd kicked himself and cursed himself for a fool for the way they'd parted but he hadn't had a choice. The break had to be like a surgical cut, swift and clean, or he never would have been able to do it.
How could he possibly have explained to her the way things were then and asked her to carry his burdens with him? He loved her too much to weigh her down that way. No, the best gift he'd been able to give her was the chance to live her own life, fulfill her dreams. But God, it had hurt. More than he'd ever expected. Sometimes he almost welcomed the pain of the breaks and bruises on the rodeo circuit because for a while they could blunt the pain in his heart.
She still wanted him as much as he wanted her, no matter what she said. There was no mistaking the passion in her kiss, or the way her nipple had hardened in his hand when he'd touched her. It took all his restraint not to rip off her clothes and take her right there on the kitchen floor.
Just as every other night, the memories of their bodies together swept over him. Again he saw the moonlight shining on her skin, felt the clasp of her legs around him as he drove his cock into her and the grip of her wet, silken sheath. He always made her look at him when they made love, wanted to see everything in those expressive eyes. Hear her little gasps as her climax drew nearer and nearer and the scream as his hand reached between them and stroked her clit. He always knew just the right moment to do it, knew when she was near the edge and his touch could tip her over.
And afterwards, lying in each other's arms, the condom disposed of and his cock nestled against the heat of her cunt, her breasts pressed against his chest. Every night when he closed his eyes he could still feel the imprint of her body against his, the softness of her breasts, the wetness of her incredible pussy that he loved to stroke and fuck.
Why the hell did trouble have to decide to sit on his shoulders? He'd had it all planned out, what he and Maddie would do. And then life just kicked him in the head.
Shit!
He picked up the glass of whiskey he'd poured himself and slouched into the big leather armchair. He'd put a lot of thought into this situation, even when Ty had tried to talk him out of it. But he saw this as the last chance for them to be together. His heart had kicked over when she said she wanted to stay on the ranch, then dropped when she made it clear she didn't intend it to be with him.
He tossed back a swallow of the whiskey. Too bad. He was going to change her mind, that's all there was to it. When he brought in the Christmas tree for one brief moment she almost unbent but then she was Maddie-in-control again.
Okay. He had a lot of work to do. He'd better get to it.