Bound by Trust (6 page)

Wonderful, how much water
will be on the floor in the morning?

She
continued to hum, trying to will herself to ignore the raging storm and go back
to sleep. When that didn’t work, she began to quietly sing the score she’d been
humming. Trying to imagine herself anywhere else, she felt a cold plop on her
nose, then another and another until a stream of cold wetness was dribbling off
her face, all over her pillow. Wanting to cry, she got up, took the dry pillow
from the other side of the bed, and made her way into the living room.
Tiptoeing so as not to wake up her sentry, she felt her way to the big chair,
climbed in it, and curled up, hugging the pillow to her chest.

“So,
you’re awake too,” Rafe’s deep voice broke through the heavy darkness.

“Yes,
I hate storms and I was getting wet. The roof leaks in my room, too.” Madi
sighed and hugged the pillow harder as another clap of thunder echoed.

She
heard Rafe shift and sit up on the couch, then she felt his hand run over her
arm and take her hand.

“Come
here,” he said quietly, tugging on her hand.

Resisting
the urge to hop up, jump in his lap, and grip him instead of the pillow, she
sat, not moving a muscle.

“Come
on, Madi.” He tugged gently on her hand again. “There’s no need in sitting over
there shaking by yourself.”

Another
flash of lightning sent the room into a frenzy of blue-white flashes, reminding
her of a strobe light fun house she’d been in once in high school at the fair.
Without further urging, she jumped up and planted herself beside Rafe, with her
knees drawn to her chest and her arms wrapped tightly around them. There were
definite perks to not being alone.

Chapter 5

Big
chunks of sunlight fell across the couch Sunday morning, warming Madi’s face
and pulling her from another sound night’s sleep. She didn’t have any idea what
time they had fallen asleep. All she remembered was him finally convincing her
to let him lay down, too, and with his arms locked around her, he’d held her
through the worst storm she’d seen in years. When the raging weather had
calmed, she’d stayed in his arms and drifted away in silent bliss.

With
the music room primed and the promise of having it painted by the end of the
day, it was there she found him after retrieving the coffee he’d left for her
in the kitchen. She sat in the middle of the floor where the sun was streaming
in through the open doors and just watched him work for the longest time in the
silence.

Knowing
she was there, Rafe kept painting. He could feel her watching him, but didn’t
want to break the pleasant quiet that fell between them. Just feeling her
presence in the room was enough to satisfy him. He wished he could figure out
some excuse to keep sleeping on her couch. Seeing her in the mornings brought
him tremendous joy and he wasn’t looking forward to giving that up.

“Rafe,
where are you from?” She sipped her coffee, admiring his biceps and the way
they roped up with each even stroke of the brush in his hand.

“Montana.
Just north of Great Falls, a little place called Big Sandy.” He didn’t turn or
stop moving.

“What’s
it like there?”

“It’s
beautiful. Green fields, the mountains on the horizon, clean air. Winters there
are harsh, not for the faint of heart, but they are good for snuggling in front
of fires.” He put the brush down and turned to look at her then.

She
was sitting cross-legged with her long t-shirt pulled down over her knees. Her
green eyes glowed. He’d like to snuggle her through one winter in Montana, get
her good and pregnant, and marvel at her raising their children. Snuggling?
Pregnant? Children? What the hell was he thinking?

Twirling
a strand of hair around her forefinger, she continued questioning him. “So,
what is your family like?”

“Well,
both my parents are still living, my grandmother lives with them. She’s as big
a piece of work as CeCe was. She is half Shoshone, and has the answers to all
life’s questions. I have four sisters and two brothers. They all live within
minutes of Mom and Dad. I’m the only one who strayed from the flock.”

“Wow,”
she said with one eyebrow cocked up, “That’s a lot of estrogen in one house. No
wonder you aren’t married—that would be enough to scare any man into just
saying no.”

“Yeah,
and to think I have all the necessary training. I know enough about that time
of the month to have written one of those yellow books—
Everything a Man Needs To Know About Periods for Dummies
.”

A
giggle erupted from her, turning into a full-blown laugh, exposing all her
perfectly straight teeth. “Geeze, and you clean, cook, and do manly chores.
What more could a girl want?”

“I
wish you would tell me so I could do it for you.” He wanted to take it back
before he even finished saying it, God only knew what her reaction would be,
but it was too late.

“I
wish I knew. I wish I knew what would make me begin to believe I am capable of
trusting again.” She got up and left him then. Even with the comfort of
sleeping in his arms, without any kind of pressure, she wasn’t ready for things
to get so serious.

The
doctor had told Madi she needed to take it easy for a few days. Knowing she was
headstrong and probably would do whatever she wanted when he wasn’t there to
prevent it, Rafe wondered that afternoon what to do when he had to go back to
work. Remembering Meredith was off on Mondays, he called her and arranged to
have her come spend the day with her sister to make sure she didn’t do anything
like climb a ladder to the roof and try to fix that alone as well.

“So,
what am I supposed to do if she insists on doing something?” Meredith drilled
him.

“I’ve
moved the dining table, you can help her sand that room so I can prime it and
paint it this week.” Rafe paced on the porch, hoping Madi didn’t catch him
instituting her help. “She doesn’t know it yet, but I’ve already arranged a ‘community
service day’ on Friday. A bunch of students and instructors are coming over to
help me fix the roof on the house. I figure we should have it done by Saturday
evening with as many guys who are coming.”

“Are
you serious? You know she might have a fit if she thinks you’re trying to give
her charity.”

“Well,
she better get used to having help because I’m not going anywhere anytime
soon.” Rafe peeked in the window to see she was still dusting her piano and
looking quite happy. “And one of these days I’m going to convince her I’m
perfectly safe to go out with.”

“Right,
good luck with that.”

*
* * *

After
putting a skillet to heat on the stove, Madi took a pound of sausage and a
dozen eggs out of the refrigerator. She knew she was a good cook, but had never
considered herself a domestic expert, and certainly never saw herself as the
type to cook a man breakfast. Gage had been more a cold cereal person. But over
the weekend, she’d discovered Rafe enjoyed breakfast, in fact relished it.
Something about outlasting the winters in Montana on a full stomach, although
she believed it probably had more to do with retaining enough energy to keep
snuggling to stay warm. Whatever the reason, she’d remembered she liked it too.
Particularly sausage and tomato sandwiches, like CeCe used to make her when she
was a little girl on Sunday mornings.

She’d
finally convinced Rafe to go home and sleep, but had promised him she would
make him breakfast before he went to work. Secretly she wanted him to stay, but
she knew getting too used to him being there every morning was a bad idea.
She’d determined having him over for breakfast was the next best thing. Although,
him not being there all night had interrupted the happy sleeping pattern she’d
established since Friday, and that made her unhappy. Before she could finish
scrambling the eggs, a knock on the door called her away from her task.

“Meredith,
what in the world are you doing up at this hour?” She was shocked to find her
sister on her doorstep before noon on her day off.

“Oh,
I thought you could use a hand today.” Meredith winked at Rafe who was stirring
the eggs with one hand and busily devouring a sausage and tomato sandwich from
the other. “Well, don’t you two look all Ozzy and Harriet.”

“Meredith,
must you be such a smart ass?” Madi poured her sister a cup of coffee and
handed it to her. “Would you like something to eat?”

“No,
I had my usual cranberry orange scone from the coffee shop on the way.”

As
soon as Rafe left for work, Madi showed Meredith the music room. The walls were
now the gorgeous light café au lait she’d picked out, she’d found some ivory
curtains in a box that fit the French doors, and her symphony paintings were
hung. Her instruments were all displayed on their stands along one wall and the
piano stood proudly awaiting the first student. The only thing left to do was refinish
the floor, but Rafe had promised to get to that as soon as all the walls were
painted.

“By
the way, Nev will be here tomorrow after school for her first lesson.” Meredith
sat on the bench and ran her fingers over the polished ebony.

“I
didn’t know Nev was interested in learning to play.”

“Well,
she actually wants a harp. But I told her she had to learn to play piano first,
and that only Aunt Madi was qualified to give the lessons.” She rose and looked
out the doors. “That was seven months ago. Now you’re here, and I have to make
good on my promise. The problem is, Chad hasn’t been paying his child support
again and I can’t afford a damn harp.”

“Oh,
Meredith.” Madi hugged her sister’s shoulders. “Did you ever think we’d be like
this, poor and without love in our lives?”

“No,
but you have a chance at it.”

“What
are you talking about?”

“The
love part. You haven’t seen the way Rafe looks at you?” Meredith touched Madi’s
cheek. “He has more on his mind than a quick roll between the sheets, sweetie.”

Madi
smiled and shook her head. How was that possible? They hadn’t known each other
two weeks and most of that time she’d spent being mad at him. “Don’t worry
about the harp, we’ll find a way. And don’t worry about the lessons for now,
she’s my niece for crying out loud, consider it my auntly duty.”

That
afternoon on his way home from the base, Rafe stopped by Lowe’s to order the
roofing supplies. When George, the paint man, found out he was there for Madi,
he showed him the pallet of paint that they had failed to deliver.

“The
delivery boys were so busy today they didn’t think a little bit of paint was a
priority and left it.” George was clearly distraught at the neglect. “Poor girl
paid extra to have it delivered too.”

“Well,
refund the charges and put it in my truck.” He then talked to the manager to ensure
the roofing materials would be there Thursday evening like they were supposed
to be. Not having materials Friday morning was absolutely not acceptable.

At
home, he found Madi wearing a path through the kitchen, giving someone at
Lowe’s hell over the failure to deliver her paint.

“What
is that supposed to mean? My money isn’t as good as the next person’s? Well,
that’s just dandy, how about I call the BBB on you people?”

Rafe
motioned for her to hang up and she angrily waved him off, continuing on her
rant.

“Or
better yet, how would you like this in the media? Hhmmm? How do you think that
would look?” She slammed the phone shut and stopped short of throwing it.

“Madi?”
Rafe approached with caution. “Honey, I have the paint.”

“You…what…have…you
have?” she stammered.

“I
had to stop and check on something and George loaded it up for me…I have the
paint.”

Groaning,
she put both her hands on her head and sat down. “So, I suppose I should call
back and apologize.”

“Well,
I wouldn’t. They needed chewed out for not doing their job. And, I must say,
you can hand someone their ass properly.”

“Well,
when you are left to fend for yourself most of the time, you learn to stand up
for yourself because no one else will do it for you.”

He’d
never considered that before. All the grief that military wives endured. He’d
never had a reason. They kept up with careers of their own, took care of a
household, raised children, and stood up for themselves when necessary for
sometimes months on end. All while enduring the loneliness. He realized then,
where her strength came from, the need to self-preserve. Leading that life,
coupled with her experiences with less than upstanding men, had driven her further
inside herself, relying on no one.

By
Wednesday, Rafe had painted the dining room, primed the living room and had
sanded the walls in her bedroom. With any luck, he figured he’d be able to
start the floors for her sometime around the middle of next week. In the midst
of beginning to strip the kitchen wallpaper off, he thought he should give her
a heads up as to what Friday would bring. He doubted her waking up to them
crawling all over the house like a bunch of ants would earn him any points
toward a good weekend with her.

“I
think I should tell you something.” He came down off the ladder he’d been on
and wiped his brow. “Friday, there’ll be about two dozen Marines here.”

“Excuse
me?” Madi stopped mid-rip and looked at him with her mouth agape.

“I
said there will be a bunch of Marines here Friday, and actually, they’ll be
back on Saturday.”

“For
what? A testosterone convention?” She stood with her hands balled up on her
hips.

A
nervous laugh escaped him. “Good one…but not exactly.”

Rafe
was not looking forward to the ass chewing he was about to get. He hadn’t
forgotten the way she’d talked to the Lowe’s representative on the phone.
Helping her paint was one thing, but the roof was a huge undertaking. One he’d
taken it upon himself to pay for in advance, and with her not wanting a man to
do anything for her, he may have stoked a forest fire.

“We’re
going to fix the roof.” He squinted his eyes and turned his head.

To
his surprise she started squealing, ran over and grabbed him around the neck,
and started jumping up and down. “Are you serious? Tell me you just said what I
thought I heard. Or is my concussion affecting my hearing finally?”

“Yes,
I’m serious, and I’m glad this makes you happy. I was a little bit worried
you’d send me packing over this.”

She
stopped jumping and a frown overtook her face. “Rafe, I can’t afford to fix the
roof.”

“For
now it’s covered, we’ll worry about that part later.” He reached up and brushed
a curl from the corner of her mouth.