The Mighty Quinns: Dermot-Dex. Kate Hoffmann

hair at her nape, pulling her toward him for a quick kiss. Maddie smiled, then sank back into the soft leather seats. How had life gone from worrisome to wonderful in just a few short days? She was happy, she was content. All the concerns that had plagued her last week had disappeared and she felt free for the first time since she was a kid.

      “So where are we going?” Kieran asked. “Besides south.”

      “Bitney,” Maddie said. “I want to see my grandparents. I’m growing tired of the road. And since you’re going to teach me to drive, I’m going teach you how to ride a horse.”

      He nodded. “All right. If we don’t stop, we can probably get there sometime after midnight. Do you need to call your grandparents and let them know you’re coming?”

      “That would require turning on my phone,” she said. “And I just don’t want to look at it yet.”

      “Then why don’t we find a place to stay tonight and we’ll surprise them tomorrow morning?”

      Maddie nodded. “Hey, I’m sorry I messed up your negotiations for the car. I’m sometimes a little impatient. But, I promise I’ll let you negotiate next time. I won’t say a word.”

      “I suppose I should just be happy that we didn’t buy six cars so you could try them all out before you decided which one you wanted.”

      “Ha, ha,” she said. “You think you know me so well, don’t you?”

      “There is one thing,” Kieran said, reaching out to grab her hand. He pulled it to his lips and kissed her wrist. “That card you gave me to pay for the car. It was for a Sarah M. Westerfield. And that’s the name you signed.”

      “I’m named after my grandmother,” she said. “My middle name is Madeline. My mother thought Sarah Westerfield wasn’t a good name for a country star so from the time I was fourteen, she’s been calling me Maddie West.”

      “Sarah,” he said. “I like that. But I think I’m going to have to stick with Maddie.”

      “My grandparents still call me Sarah sometimes,” she said. “I don’t always answer to that name though.”

      “Tell me about them,” he said. “Do they live near Bitney?”

      Maddie nodded. “About fifteen miles. It isn’t far. There’s not a lot in Bitney. A feed store, a few taverns, a post office. Oh, and Charlie Morgan’s place. It’s a roadhouse.”

      “And your grandparents have a horse farm?”

      “It’s not a regular horse farm, where they breed horses. Although, my grandfather used to train racehorses at the farm. But now, it’s more like a retirement home for horses.”

      Kieran glanced over at her, frowning. “A retirement home? I didn’t know there were such things.”

      “When a horse gets too old or is injured, there are only two places for it to go. The glue factory, which is a euphemism for something I refuse to talk about. Or a farm, like my grandparents’ place. They take horses that no one wants anymore. Those that are injured, they rehabilitate and then sell to people who want them for recreational riding. Some just live on the farm until they die of natural causes.”

      “Wow. That’s pretty amazing.”

      “My mother doesn’t know it, but I send them all my royalty money. The farm is ridiculously expensive to run, but they have plenty of money to buy feed and vet care.”

      “Your mom wouldn’t like that?”

      “She and my grandparents don’t exactly get along. They wanted her to go to college and she wanted to run off and start a singing career in Nashville. As soon as she was eighteen, she left home. But it didn’t go well for her and she ended waiting tables. Then, she got pregnant with me and came back to Kentucky for a while, but couldn’t leave the career behind. So we went back to Nashville. She got a job for a management company after I started school and things just grew from there.”

      “What about your dad?”

      Maddie paused. She’d been thinking about her father a lot lately. She wasn’t sure why. Maybe it was because she was finally free to track him down. “I never knew my father. I don’t think my mother really did either. I’ve always suspected that I was the result of a one-night stand, although she never really said for sure. She always wanted a career in music and when I came along, I ruined that for her. So she decided to make me into a country singer instead. Unfortunately for me, I was good at it. That’s how I ended up here.”

      “Did you ever think of finding your dad?” Kieran asked.

      “Not until recently,” she said. “But my mother gets really emotional when I ask about him. I’m starting to think she didn’t tell me the whole story. Maybe he’s married or maybe he’s just some lowlife.” She sighed softly. “When I was younger, I used to dream he was a big country star and I’d inherited his talent. Someday I’ll ask her to tell me everything.”

      “When was the last time you saw your grandparents?”

      “A couple years ago,” she said. “I call them on holidays and their birthdays, but they objected to me starting a career so early. They thought I needed to focus on school and have a normal life until I was eighteen. So things have been kind of tense between them and my mom. Sometimes it’s better not to rock the boat.”

      They continued to drive another two hours and just after ten, they pulled off the interstate and found a hotel room for the night.

      After checking in, they took the elevator up to the third floor, Maddie yawning as she watched the lighted buttons on the panel. “It’s been a long day,” she murmured. “Can you believe we started in Topeka this morning?”

      “It’s been fun,” he said, reaching out to pull her body against his. “But I’m not going to lie. I really just want to take off all my clothes and crawl into bed with you.”

      Maddie had been so afraid to face life on her own, so certain that she wouldn’t know what to do. But then she’d found Kieran and he’d changed everything. They’d settled into an easy relationship, with only the occasional silly conflict.

      Maddie had thought that falling in love was always fraught with emotional upheaval, yet, it was so simple with Kieran. Every moment they spent together convinced her that this was much more than just a passing infatuation.

      But how would they work out the details of a relationship when there was so much distance between them? He had a job, a family, in Seattle. And her life revolved around Nashville. Even if she did give up touring and recording, was she ready to pick up and move to a brand-new city?

      Kieran opened the door to the room and waited as she walked inside. She dropped the guitar case near the closet, then turned and took the bags from him, setting them on the floor at his feet.

      Without speaking, Maddie slowly began to undress him, unbuttoning his shirt and pushing it over his shoulders. Kieran smiled at her sleepily, unzipping the sweatshirt to reveal the pretty cotton dress beneath.

      This was all she really needed to be happy, Maddie mused. This man, his voice, his kiss, his naked body beside her in bed. Like breathing and eating, he’d become a basic need for her continued existence.

      Food, water, air, Kieran. She closed her eyes as he leaned forward and kissed her.

      As the kiss spun out, they worked at the rest of their clothes, shedding them piece by piece until they were both naked. He picked her up and wrapped her legs around his waist, then carried her to the bed. Holding her, he gently set her down on the mattress and stretched out above her.

      He really was a handsome man, she mused, staring into his pale blue eyes. He was smart and funny and sweet and kind. And he really didn’t care that she was famous or rich. He liked her for who she was.

      Maddie had never been able to trust another person completely. Not even the people who were supposed