His for the Taking

Sixteen



Cole looked up from his desk just as his mother’s Lincoln pulled up to Coleman’s Landing in a cloud of dust. He got up slowly and strode outside to greet her, letting the screen door bang behind him. She’d been on a tear ever since Maddie and Noah had moved in with Miss Jennie for Maddie’s visit. When his mother frowned, he knew he was in for it.

“It’s hot. I could do with an iced soda,” she said coolly when he met her at the door holding a cup of coffee.

He led her inside and brought a soda to the den where she waited for him. “Why did you drive over here when you could have called more easily?” he asked.

“Because I can’t stand the way you flaunt your relationship with Jesse Ray’s girl so publicly, Cole.”

“Maddie’s my fiancée, Mother.”

“I’m sick of everybody telling me where they’ve seen her and that gaudy ring you gave her. Sick of the way people are laughing behind your back.”

“You’ve got a lot of influence on the women in this town. Tell them you won’t listen to another bad thing about Maddie, and a lot of them will shut up.”

Cole hated the way his mother and the people in the town acted toward Maddie, lifting their noses and staring at her coldly, even when she was on his arm and Noah was with them. It was as if they were more against her than ever—just because he planned to marry her. He’d had words with nearly everybody in town. “Maddie is an educated woman who spends her life trying to help the less fortunate.”

“I have no doubt about her ability to relate to such people. After all, she’s an inferior herself.”

“Adam likes her.”

“Because he’s jealous of you and wants to bring you down to his level. He sees that by marrying her, you’ll do just that.” Her eyes narrowed. “Besides, Adam’s a man.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means he probably finds her attractive…in that base sort of way men find women like her attractive. If you don’t watch them, they’ll end up in bed together.”

Bright, hot anger flared inside him. “I respect her more than I respect the people who are gossiping about her—and that includes you!”

“Because she’s using sex and that child to hook you. She’ll use the same appeal on Adam and on every other man she meets. Did you know he drops by Miss Jennie’s nearly every afternoon to see her?”

“He’s doing that to show his support for me.” But Cole’s gut clenched as he remembered how Maddie had slept with him and then sneaked downstairs to get her letters. How far could he really trust her? Trust either of them?

“Be careful what you say about her, Mother.” His doubts made his voice harsh.

“I saw Adam’s truck at Miss Jennie’s when I drove over here.” She arose. “Enough. I’ve done my duty. Don’t come running to me when you find her in some other man’s bed.”

“If that’s all, I’ve got work.”

He hated himself when he didn’t go back to the stack of papers on his desk after she stormed out his front door. Instead, he drove straight to Miss Jennie’s, where the sight of Adam’s truck parked out front made him go hot with fury. Instead of knocking on the front door, he stomped around to the back where he found Maddie, her face rapt as she stared up at Adam. Not caring that Bessie Mueller was probably watching, Maddie leaned forward to catch whatever Adam was telling her.

“Maddie! Adam!” Cole called.

As the pair sprang apart, Bessie’s window shade fell.

Maddie smiled guilelessly as she ran toward Cole. “Adam’s been playing football with Noah,” she said.

“Noah sure can pass a mean football,” Adam said. “But hey, I’ve got to get back to work—so I can rest from all the running outside in the heat. Your kid’s fast.” With an easy grin, he tipped his Stetson and strode past Cole.

Maddie watched him until he vanished behind the house. “Your brother’s so nice.”

Tension made a muscle tick in Cole’s jaw. “I hear he comes by nearly every day.”

“Noah looks forward to his visits. At least he’s on our side and trying to show people he supports us.”

Cole was careful to keep his voice neutral. “I’m not sure that’s how the town sees it.”

“What do you mean?”

“Never mind. Where is Noah?”

“Inside. Playing a computer game.” She paused. “What’s the matter? Did something happen?”

“My mother came over to tell me people are talking about you and Adam.”

Her expression darkened. “And she made you doubt me. So you came over here because…because you thought maybe I was as bad as they say I am?”

“No!”

Her brows knitted. “You still don’t trust me, do you?”

“I didn’t like hearing about you spending time with somebody else, even my brother. He and I haven’t had the easiest relationship. He resents being the bastard son, so that makes him resent me at times.”

“You don’t trust him either?”

“No, that’s not what I’m saying.” Then why was it suddenly so hard to meet her gaze as she studied him?

“Cole, let’s get something clear. I enjoy your brother’s company…as a friend. He’s the only person besides Miss Jennie and a few of her elderly friends who’ve been at all supportive of me while I’ve been here. Several men have dropped by but…they—”

“They hit on you?” She didn’t deny it. “Damn it. Tell me who they are, so I can deal with them.” He let out a low curse. “For the life of me I can’t see why it is so all-fired important to you to stay here and expose yourself to more unjustified criticism by a bunch of dirty-minded gossips.”

“Maybe you’re right. Maybe I was wrong to come back here. As a kid, I had a fantasy. I used to hope that if people here saw that you cared about me, well, they’d finally accept me.”

“When are you going to figure out they don’t matter? You’re kind and hardworking. You’ve accomplished a lot. All that matters is that you and I are trying to make a life together for the sake of Noah. We can live in Austin.”

“I know. And we will. But Coleman’s Landing is your ranch. I want you to be able to come here whenever you like or need to and enjoy it without worrying about me. I want you to be able to bring Noah here, and for Noah to feel safe and accepted.”

“The ranch is just a place.” He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her hard. She turned into him and clung with a desperation that drove out his doubts, at least temporarily.

“All my life I’ve wanted to be accepted and loved. Even here. I’m just so afraid that the past and these people will find a way to make you regret marrying me.”

“That’s not going to happen. I’m not going to let it happen. When are you ever going to learn that other people’s opinions don’t matter all that much?”

“That’s easy for you to say, since you’ve always enjoyed their good opinions.”

Holding her close made his breath quicken. She’d been baring her soul, and suddenly all he wanted was her naked. He needed to make love to her so he could focus on what mattered instead of the town’s vicious lies about her. “Hey,” he murmured, “I was wondering if you think we could sneak off for a swim? Just the two of us?”

Her sparkling gaze lifted teasingly to his. “I’d have to ask Miss Jennie to watch Noah.”

“Do it.”

* * *

“Can we please get chocolate pudding for our picnic with Cole?” Noah asked as Maddie pushed their grocery cart down the aisle past a row of boxes of instant pudding.

“Pudding is not on Cole’s list.”

Noah scowled as he struggled to read a label on a box.

“However…he did put down chocolate chip cookies.”

“But can we have pudding, too? Please, can we?” Noah’s bright green eyes pleaded.

“Okay,” she said, smiling. “One. Just pick one.”

“Oh, boy!” Noah leaned closer to the puddings so he could concentrate on the words and pictures.

Maddie caught a whiff of all-too-familiar whiskey breath and looked up in alarm.

“Is that your brat?”

The woman who’d spoken was shuffling clumsily toward them. When she burst into rough laughter, Maddie felt an icy chill race down her spine. Kneeling, Maddie clutched Noah closer.

Caught off balance, he dropped a box of pudding and sent it sliding down the aisle straight at the woman.

“Hey, my pudding!” he cried and would have run after it if Maddie hadn’t held him fast.

“You’re a bad child!” the woman scolded. “Just like your mother was.”

“Pick another pudding,” Maddie ordered through clenched teeth even as she stood up and whirled her cart around to escape.

But the woman, who was faster, lurched toward Maddie and seized her cart. “You think you’re too good to speak to your own mother, do you? Because that fool Coleman gave you a big rock and says he’s marryin’ you? Well, you’re not, girlie. You’re no different than me. You should hear what people around here are saying about you. They say you snuck around…chasing him when you were a girl ’cause he was rich. They say you lucked out…havin’ ’is baby, keeping it a secret, so as you could make him pay for it later. If they play, make them pay. That’s what I taught you, baby girl, didn’t I?”

Maddie was desperate to get Noah away from this woman, who was kin to her biologically but in no other way. Several shoppers, who had frozen to watch their embarrassing exchange, were standing together in a tight little clump, their mouths hanging open. No doubt they’d heard every ugly word and believed every ugly lie and would repeat them to anyone who would listen.

Feeling the weight of their contemptuous gazes, Maddie’s mouth went dry. But it was her mother she most wanted to escape. Feeling queasy, it was all she could do not to abandon her grocery cart, grab Noah and race out of the store.

But she wouldn’t cower or give any of them the satisfaction of seeing how devastated she was, so, instead, she notched her chin higher and drew herself up straighter. Shoulders back, she marched toward the checkout counter where she waited patiently while Noah tugged at her jeans, begging for candy while the teenage checker with multiple piercings took forever to scan their groceries.