Heart of Texas Volume 2: Caroline's Child. Debbie Macomber

“Were you able to reassure Maggie?” He’d felt bad about leaving her to make the explanations, but feared any effort on his part wouldn’t have come out right.

       “She understands.”

       “But does she approve?”

       Caroline’s eyes avoided his, which was answer enough in itself. “It isn’t up to Maggie to approve or disapprove of whom I kiss.”

       He exhaled slowly and would have said more except that he couldn’t stop looking at Caroline. She was so damn pretty, any coherent thought didn’t stand a chance of lasting more than a second or two. It was her eyes, he concluded, a deep rich shade of chocolate. No, he decided after a moment, it was her soft brown hair. He remembered the silky feel of it bunched in his hands when he’d kissed her. He remembered a whole lot more than the feel of her hair….

       “So you’re coming to see Savannah this afternoon?” he asked, trying to redirect his thoughts. If he continued in this vein much longer, he’d end up kissing her right then and there just to prove how real last night had been.

       “No.”

       Grady’s disappointment was sharp. “You’re not? But I thought—”

       “I’m coming to see you.”

       His heart, which had gone sluggish with discouragement, sped up, and he could feel his pulse hammering in his neck.

       “Hi, Grady,” Maggie said, joining her mother. She clung to her mother’s arm and looked up at him with a slight frown.

       “Hi, Maggie. I hear you’re coming out to the ranch this afternoon.”

       The child continued to stare at him, and although she made no comment, Grady saw the way she moved protectively close to her mother.

       “Did Savannah tell you about the new colt we have?”

       She nodded.

       “He’s only a few days old, but he’s already handsome. I bet you’d like to see him.”

       Again she nodded.

       Grady glanced at Caroline. “Do you think Maggie’s old enough to visit the colt?”

       “I can, can’t I, Mommy?” Maggie twisted around and gazed up at her mother with imploring eyes.

       “I think it should be all right, as long as you stay with Grady.”

       “I will, I will,” she promised.

       “That new colt needs a name,” Grady added. “Maybe you could help us decide what to call him.”

       Her eyes got huge. “Could I really?”

       “If you can think of a decent name for such a handsome boy. We’ll let you take a gander at him first, pet him a few times and then give you the opportunity to think up a name.”

       “That’s kind of you, Grady,” Caroline said.

       They walked toward the parking lot, in no particular hurry. “What time will you be by, do you think?” he asked, restraining himself from saying she should come right that minute.

       “Maggie needs something to eat and a nap first.”

       “She can have Sunday dinner with us—you both could—and then Maggie could nap. Savannah’ll be more than happy to watch her.” After she finished wringing his neck for inviting company without consulting her first. “While Maggie’s resting, perhaps you and I could…” For the life of him, he couldn’t think of a single respectable thing for the two of them to do.

       “Go riding,” Caroline inserted. “I’ll borrow some jeans from Savannah.”

       She could have suggested mud wrestling and he would’ve agreed.

       “Well…I suppose we can alter our plans just a little,” Caroline said, smiling softly.

       It took a moment for the words to sink into his consciousness. “You could? Great.”

       “Are we going to Savannah’s?” Maggie asked, tugging at the sleeve of her mother’s dress. “Are we leaving now?”

       “It looks that way,” Caroline answered.

       Maggie clapped her hands, celebrating the good news.

       “I’ll see you there, then,” she said to Grady, opening the passenger door for Maggie. Her daughter leaped inside, eager to be on their way.

       Grady opened the driver’s side for Caroline. “Drive carefully.”

       She got in and assured him she would.

       Grady stepped away from the car when she started the engine; he watched her back out of the parking space and turn out of the driveway before he realized that he’d attracted a number of curious stares. In particular, he noticed Edwina and Lily Moorhouse studying him.

       The two sisters were retired teachers, as prim and proper as the spinster schoolmarms of nineteenth-century Promise. They smiled approvingly in his direction before they leaned toward one another, heads close enough to touch, talking up a storm. He’d been in their classes as a boy and could well recall the speed with which those two could chatter. Two hundred words a minute, he guessed, with gusts up to four fifty.

       Their tongues were wagging now, but frankly, Grady didn’t care. He was about to spend the afternoon with the woman who’d dominated his thoughts for months. The woman who dominated his dreams.

       Grady arrived back at the Yellow Rose less than five minutes behind Caroline. He found her in the kitchen with Savannah, preparing Sunday dinner. She paused when he entered, then glanced around her.

       “Did you see Maggie?”

       “Maggie?” He shook his head.

       “She wasn’t on the porch?”

       “Not that I noticed.” He stuck his head out the door and couldn’t see her.

       “I told her not to leave the porch.” Caroline sighed with impatience. She set aside the tomato she was slicing and reached for a towel.

       “She came to me for a carrot not more than a minute ago,” Savannah said.

       “She probably went into the barn to see the new colt.” Grady blamed himself for that.

       “She knows better,” Caroline murmured. “It’s not safe there.”

       “Don’t worry, she’s only been gone a minute,” Savannah said reassuringly.

       “I’ll get her,” Grady offered, eager to prove to Maggie that he could be as charming and wonderful as Richard.

       “Are you sure you don’t mind?” Caroline asked.

       “Not in the least.” Grady headed toward the barn, whistling as he went. The interior was dark after the bright sunlight, and he squinted until his eyes adjusted to the change in lighting.

       “Maggie,” he called out.

       No answer.

       “Maggie,” he called again.

       A soft almost mewing sound followed. Grady whirled around. The noise came from Widowmaker’s stall. When he looked inside, Grady’s heart froze. Maggie was huddled against the wall, her face white with terror.

       Just then, the ill-tempered stallion thrashed out with his hooves, narrowly missing the child.

       5

      GRADY KNEW THAT HE HAD TO MAKE HIS move fast or Maggie could be seriously hurt. Widowmaker snorted and began to paw the floor. Unwilling to give the stallion an opportunity to get any closer to the child, Grady threw open the stall door, grabbed Maggie and literally swung her out of harm’s way.

       Maggie let out a scream. With his heart pounding,