Cowboy's Vow To Protect. Carla Cassidy

      “How much do I owe you?”

      “We’ll worry about all that later.” He opened the fridge door and began to put the vegetables inside.

      It was obvious she had showered and changed her dress. She now wore a loose-fitting pink sundress that complemented her dark hair and blue eyes.

      She not only smelled of minty-fresh soap, but also of a field of sweet wildflowers. A whisper of desire blew through him. It was as unexpected as it was inappropriate. He’d always found Maddy very pretty but that was the last thing he needed to be thinking about her right now.

      “I can at least help you put the groceries away.” She got up from the table and opened another bag.

      It took them only a few minutes to put the groceries away and then once again she sat at the table and he stood with his back against the fridge.

      “There’s a couple of things I wanted to tell you,” he said. “First of all, help yourself to anything you want and let me know if there’s something else you need that isn’t here.”

      “I can’t imagine needing anything more than what you’ve already provided.”

      He shoved his hands in his pockets. “I’d also like to ask you if it’s okay that while you’re here I can continue work here. I want to get a porch up and there’s more trim work to finish. Normally, I’m out here around five-thirty and I work until about eight in the evenings and then I go back to the ranch. Is that going to be a problem for you?”

      “Of course not,” she replied after only a moment’s hesitation. “I wouldn’t want to be responsible for you not getting your work done here.”

      “Did somebody hurt you, Maddy?”

      He could tell the question took her by surprise. She held his gaze for a long moment and then looked away. “Flint, I really appreciate what you’re doing for me, but please don’t ask me any questions.”

      She definitely had secrets...seemingly dark secrets, but she was here for only a short period of time and it was really none of his business.

      “All right, then,” he replied and straightened. “I need to get back to the ranch. I’ll see you again this evening.”

      “I’ll see you then.” She followed him to the door and the last thing he heard was her locking it after him.

      He was almost grateful she hadn’t told him what was going on. He didn’t want to know too much about her, especially given that unexpected touch of desire that had momentarily swept through him.

      Still, he couldn’t help but be curious. It was damned strange for a woman to take a knife to bed with her when she was sleeping. And he couldn’t erase from his mind that look of sheer terror that had been in her eyes when she’d jumped up from the sofa.

      When he got back to the ranch he pulled into the shed and then headed toward the barn to finish the cleanup. “Hey, Flint.” The deep voice came from behind him.

      He turned to see Mac hurrying toward him. “Everything all right?” Mac asked, a frown of worry across his forehead.

      “Yeah, everything is fine. Why?”

      “I came to help you in the barn, but you weren’t there. Then when I saw your truck was missing I just got a little concerned that something might have happened to you.”

      “Sorry to worry you,” Flint replied. “I had some personal errands to run. I should have told somebody I was leaving.” Of course, there had been no way to tell anyone what was happening because he’d promised Maddy he wouldn’t. And Flint wouldn’t break that promise.

      “As long as everything is okay, that’s all I care about.” Mac clapped him on the back. “Ready to knock out the rest of the barn?”

      “Ready,” Flint replied.

      Together the two of them went back inside where they stacked hay and talked about the hot weather, the work at the ranch and the health of the cattle and horses.

      The topic then turned to Mac’s music. “I don’t understand why you never wanted more than just entertaining a bunch of cowboys after a long day at work,” Flint said. “Hell, you sound better than most of the singers I hear on the radio.”

      “Oh, there was definitely a time I thought I’d sing in front of huge audiences and tour the country in a big RV. I’d be wealthy, and adoring female fans would throw their underwear on the stage.”

      Flint laughed. “All of that sounds pretty good except the underwear part.” He sobered. “So what happened?”

      “I grew up and I found my home here. The only audience I really want now is a special woman and eventually a couple of kids.”

      “Speaking of women, have you ever heard any gossip about Maddy Taylor dating anyone?”

      Mac looked at him in surprise. “Maddy from the grocery store?”

      Flint nodded, wondering why the heck he had even asked.

      “I’ve never heard any gossip of any kind about her. And, I’ve definitely never heard anything about who she might be dating. Why?” Mac looked at him in amused speculation.

      “I was just curious. I haven’t seen her at the grocery store for a while and I wondered what might have happened to her.”

      “Now that you mentioned it I haven’t seen her around lately, either,” Mac replied. “So what’s your interest?” His amusement was back sparkling in his eyes. “She’s a mighty pretty young woman.”

      Flint forced a laugh. “I’ve got no interest in her like that. I was just in the grocery store earlier and she popped into my mind and I realized I hadn’t seen her there for a while.” He really wished he hadn’t brought it up at all.

      Thankfully, the conversation turned to other topics. By four-thirty the barn was all cleaned up and the two men headed to their rooms to shower before dinner.

      As Flint showered, he couldn’t help that his thoughts remained on the woman in his cabin. Something had happened to her, something bad. She’d always been a bright ray of sunshine in the grocery store, but the sunshine was nowhere inside the Maddy who had jumped off his sofa and wielded a knife. What had happened to her?

      None of your business, cowboy, a little voice whispered over and over again in his head. She’d told him not to ask questions and he would abide by her wishes. Besides, her car had been towed and as soon as it was fixed she’d be out of his cabin and off to wherever she intended to go.

      He ate dinner with the other men and then left to head back to the cabin. He knew his time on the Holiday Ranch was drawing to the end. His aching body was like a ticking time bomb and he wanted the cabin to be completely finished when the bomb eventually went off.

      He was eager to get started on the porch. The concrete had already been poured and the posts were set. All the wood he needed had been delivered a week ago. So now all he had to do was lay the floor and build a roof.

      There were deer and all kinds of other wildlife in these woods and he could easily envision himself in the future sitting on the porch in the early mornings when the deer came out to wander and birds sang their musical songs.

      Even though he had only spent a couple of nights there, when he pulled up in front of the cabin there was a sense of homecoming for him.

      To his surprise Maddy opened the front door, apparently having heard his truck pull up. “Hey,” she said as he got out of the truck.

      She looked considerably better than she had earlier in the day. Her eyes were as clear as the blue Oklahoma sky and the smile she offered him appeared slightly tentative, but genuine.

      “I’m just going to work out here for a while,” he said as he pulled a toolbox out of the pickup bed and set it on the ground.

      “No