Heat Wave (Riders Up) (18 page)

Maggie leaned over
to brush it away with the tip of a finger. “I know you didn’t. Mel told me. If
you had, I wouldn’t be here.” She gave him a weak smile. “Despite what you may
think Ed, I didn’t save you. You saved yourself.”

Even with cracked
ribs, he let out a huge sigh. Gazing up at the tear-streaked woman, he managed
a trace of a grin. “You’re right, Maggie.”

He saw her lips
thin. Then she took in large gulps of air. She squeezed his fingers too tight,
but he wasn’t about to tell her stop. He knew she was measuring what to say
next.

“You should know
that I’ve done a lot of thinking—about us,” she said softly. “I love you, you
battered oaf.” Her declaration sounded almost defiant.

She stopped
speaking to pull the blanket up tighter over his chest. “You need to know that.
I don’t know what you will do. But you gotta know. But maybe then you’re not
ready for a strong woman in your life.”

Closing his eyes,
Ed tried to feel nothing. He failed miserably. His lungs expanded and he felt a
deep urge to cry. Why did she have to name it? Why couldn’t she let things be? No,
not Maggie. She wouldn’t settle for anything less than the sun, the moon, and
the stars. She wanted it all, including him.

“I want you to come
back,” Maggie pressed on not waiting for a reply. “The kids and I will help you
heal. You’ll continue to help me build a racing stable. And I promise…” Her
voice rose, faltered and caught in her throat. “I promise,” she sobbed, “that I
will not seduce you again. If we are to be together in that way, you’ll have to
take the lead.”

Ed slouched back on
the pillows, deeply gratified by the effort Maggie was making to place all
their lives back on some sort of even keel. How could he resist?

He nodded at her. “Okay,”
he whispered, frowning. “I don’t know what to do with you.” He flashed her a feeble
smile. “You deserve so much more.”

Maggie remained at
his side, shook her head and tenderly stroked his hand.

He waited several
moments, reveling in her touch, before asking, “But what about the bad guys?”

“Let’s just take it
one step at a time. They may give up.”

“They won’t give
up.”

“Well, neither will
we. We’re survivors, Ed.” Maggie brushed the tips of her fingers across his
cheek. “Somehow, we’ll make it.”

He’d never grow
tired watching Maggie’s emotions skip so vividly across her bright blue eyes. He
found her strength contagious; she gave him an emotional transfusion.

Still groggy, Ed
drew in upon himself. He could no longer see her, but Maggie’s presence was no
less powerful. Grudgingly, he acknowledged that love was a much more powerful
force than drink. Love was demanding, requiring patience and much more than he
ever thought was possible. In the long run, though, love endured. He had heard
of such a truth, but never before had he experienced it.

So why did he still
feel like a fake waiting for her to see through the illusion?

CHAPTER TWELVE

Johnny gawked at Ed
lying on the bed in the loft apartment.

Ed squinted back at
the boy and managed a lopsided grin. The fear and disappointment writ so
clearly on Johnny’s crestfallen face troubled Ed. He regretted bringing more
danger to the lad and to his family. But Maggie was probably right: they were
in danger, with or without him.

“Gosh, you look
terrible,” the boy mumbled, not able to take his eyes off Ed’s multicolored
welts. “How did you let them beat you up so bad?”

Chagrined by the
boy’s shaking faith, Ed understood Johnny’s disappointment. Clearly, his hero
now had clay feet. “They surprised me, and they were huge,” Ed grunted in
response. “Wait ‘til next time.”

“Okay.” Johnny
grinned broadly and gave Ed a high five.

“You look sort of
like a Picasso. Somber colors mixed with purple and yellow, lines sharp, bold
even in defeat,” Carolyn said. A hint of a smile crossed her lips.

Appreciating the
girl’s attempt at humor, Ed chuckled softly. Damn, the ribs still hurt when he
laughed. “Don’t think anyone has described me better. How are you doing, girl? Are
you keeping the horses exercised?”

“Of course. What
did you expect?”

“Nothing less.” He
grinned. She sure was plucky—she’d turned out to be a first rate hand. Good
natural horse sense and patience could take her a long way in this business, if
she wanted. Maybe she’d be a racetrack veterinarian.

“Hey,” he said,
catching Maggie’s eye. “Looks like your daughter is trying to gain some weight.

Both mother and
daughter frowned and looked at Ed as if his medicines were making him nutty.

“Sure, isn’t that a
lot of new metal in the ear?”

“Oh,” Carolyn
responded. “Do you like it?” She giggled, bending her ear closer for him to
inspect. “Mom doesn’t. But then she’ll just have to get used to it.”

Ed scowled. “I’m
not going to get in the middle of that one. I take it this is a cry for
independence.”

Carolyn ignored him,
jutting her chin out just like her mom did when she was upset with him. Maggie
had mentioned that she thought a boy might be entering the girl’s life. Problems.
Maybe. She might not have as much time for horses. But at least in the short
run, a boy would help boost her confidence. Closing his eyes, he hoped she wasn’t
as passionate as her mom, at least for another decade.

Finally, Ed said, “Guess
the horses won’t be bothered by your new jewelry.”

“Thanks, Ed,”
Carolyn murmured. She squeezed his fingers lightly. “Thanks for understanding.”

“Why don’t you and
Johnny run along now and finish the evening chores?” Maggie instructed, getting
up from a chair. “I’ll be along after I’ve had a chance to see how much of this
chicken soup our patient can handle.”

As her kids hurried
down the stairs two steps at a time, Maggie leaned over and plopped a wet kiss
on Ed’s forehead.

“Hey,” he gasped
brusquely. “Thought you said no more seduction on your part.”

Maggie raised her
eyebrows. Placing her hands on her hips, she announced, “Mr. Harrington, by now
you should know me well enough to understand that a little buss on your hard
head is no attempt at seduction.” She snaked a finger down his bicep. “If I
were in the seducing mind, you’d know it, and we wouldn’t be standing her
conversing like we’ve got all day. Nope, that was just good nursing skills. Didn’t
your momma ever kiss you on the forehead when you were sick?”

Shaking his head, trying
not to laugh, he teased in a low, sexy voice, “You’re right. I forgot. If you
were seducing me, you’d have that blouse undone and you’d be pulling on a taut
nipple. Your blue eyes would glaze over like a high mountain lake. And that
rosebud mouth of yours would be puckered in a bewitching pout. Your other hand
would be sneaking its way inside your jeans.”

Maggie slapped at
his hand. “Enough. Now who’s seducing? And you not able to do anything about it
even if you wanted to.”

“Ah, Maggie,” he
groaned, inching himself up into a sitting position, “you look good enough to
eat when you get your dander up.”

He saw her make a
face, but he ignored it. “We’re safe for the moment; you’re right about that. You
know, you are an enigma. How does someone who can hardly stretch to five feet
get to be so brassy?”

It was Maggie’s
turn to laugh. “You never knew my dad.”

“He must have been
quite a character.”

“Apparently, more
than I ever realized.”

“So he made you
think you didn’t need balls to get what you wanted.”

 “It never mattered
to him that I was a girl.” Maggie chewed on her lower lip before continuing. “He
always said I could do whatever I wanted as long as I didn’t turn my back on
the values of the land.
Work hard,
he’d say,
and the land will reward
you. Try to stay in step with the seasons—time marches on, you can’t hold onto
it, you can only go with it like trying to ride a horse. Put your trust in the
land and it will repay you like you were a princess. It may rip you apart with
hail, or flood, or drought, but in the long run it is more dependable than any
damn human ever will be.”

Sighing, Maggie
glanced out the window at the parched lawn and premature drying of the trees. “I
hope he’s right. This heat wave is a test of our commitment to the land.”

Maggie held out the
soup spoon towards him. “Life has not been easy, that’s for sure.” She
hesitated. “I imagine the land tempers a person, like the old timers used to
work a plowshare on an anvil. Besides, I’m not as strong as you think. If I
were, how come you can turn me inside out by just touching me? Or just saying
those sexy words to me?” She blinked. “Why can’t I just let you walk out of my
life? Now
that
would be strength.”

“You may be right
about that,” he admitted, separating his lips for the proffered spoon. “I’ve
certainly given it a lot of thought, and I sure don’t understand why you insist
on keeping me around. You’d be much better off if you’d just send me packing. I’ve
endangered your family by coming back here.”

“Would you stop
saying that? Please,” Maggie countered quickly. “We’re in danger as long as I
don’t fold up and sell out. You just got in the middle of things. You’d be out
of trouble entirely if you hadn’t come back. Maybe I was unfair insisting that
you return to the farm. Maybe I’m too selfish.”

“Nonsense. I couldn’t
just walk away leaving you vulnerable. Might not have come back to the farm if
you hadn’t been so damn stubborn about it, but I never would have left the area
until this thing was settled.” Ed touched the swelling under his left eye. “When
someone gives you a beating like I got, things become personal in a hurry.”

Grimacing, she
removed the empty soup dish and sat on the side of the bed. “Here you are
hovering about trying to protect me,” she said, “and I hardly know you.”

Ed smirked
sheepishly. “I’d say you know me better than most.”

“I don’t mean in
that way,” she scoffed, brushing back a clump of hair from his brow. “Who are
you? You call me an enigma, but you’re the real enigma. How did you get into
horse racing?” Glancing away, she whispered, “Why should I trust you?”

“Do you always
close the barn door after the horse has dashed off?” Ed scowled. He wasn’t one
who liked revisiting the past. The past was best buried. But he also knew that
once Maggie got her claws into something, she hung on until she was satisfied. He
didn’t have the reserve energy to fight her.

“There’s not much
to tell,” he began reluctantly. “I grew up above a crossroads grocery store
near Clarion. My ma ran the store. My dad traveled a lot, selling whatever he
could get cheap.” Ed halted.

“That’s it?” Maggie’s
eyebrows arched. “That’s not much of a story. Obituaries are longer than that. Did
you have brothers and sisters?”

“Yeah. One brother.
Last I heard he was in jail somewhere in the east. We don’t talk much.”

“Oh. So did you
work in the store when you were a boy?”

“Sure. That’s how I
got spending money, and Ma needed the help.”

“Didn’t your dad
help when he was home?”

Ed glanced away
from her intensity. “Seldom. He was too busying chasing around the bars.”

“Oh.”

“Are you finding
out what you wanted to know?” Ed mumbled sourly, folding his arms.

“Yes.” Maggie would
not be deterred. “I want to know who you are. We can’t select our families, you
know; they come with the package. However difficult things were, you’ve done
well for yourself.”

“Right,” Ed spat
out in disgust. “I’m just a shining example of success—poor boys rises to the
ranks of the wealthy only to piss it away through scandal and booze.”

Maggie’s eyes
blazed at him. “So, are your parents still alive?”

“Nope. Ma worked
herself to death by the age of fifty-five. Dad was quicker. By fifty-one he’d
drunk himself into the grave.”

Her face fell. “Damn.
I’m sorry.”

“No need to be. Like
you said, we can’t select our families.” Ed flashed a sarcastic grin. “Ma
taught me a lot about survival, and Dad taught me more than I ever needed to
know about escape. What else does a kid need to know?”

“Love.”

“Huh?”

“A kid needs to be
taught about love,” Maggie said, shifting her weight uneasily on the mattress. “How
to receive love and how to give love.”

“I suppose Ma loved
me,” Ed replied thoughtfully. “There just wasn’t much time for her to show it. Dad?
Dad was likely afraid of love.”

“And you’re not
afraid of love?”

Ed closed his eyes,
kicking himself for not seeing the trap the wily female was setting. He’d been
too focused on avoiding the past to realize the greatest danger sat right next
to him in the present.

Maggie pressed on. “Why
did you leave Clarion? How did you get to Chicago? I’ll lay odds it was a woman.”

Ed’s eyes sprang
open.

Maggie laid her
hand over his. “Tell me about her.”

“Why?” he grunted,
annoyed by her perceptiveness and persistence. “It’s ancient history. Nothing
good can come from rehashing it now.”

“I want to know,” Maggie
insisted, jutting out her chin stiffly. “You know all about me. I want to know
about you.”

“So maybe you like
to talk about yourself more than I do.”

She squeezed his
hand.

His eyes closed,
but he did begin to speak. “I was twenty-one; Amy was nineteen, the daughter of
a lawyer from a neighboring town. We met at the community college where we were
both taking some courses part-time. Her family wanted her to go to a private
school in the east, but her grades weren’t good enough. She was trying to get
her grade point up and I was just taking some courses in agriculture for the
hell of it. I was working for a hog farmer at the time who owned three farms. He
encouraged me to take the courses and planned on having me manage one of the
farms.”

“Really. You wanted
to be a farmer? And here you are.”

Ed frowned. “Please,
don’t bounce on the bed.”

Chastened, Maggie
muttered, “Sorry.”

He watched her sit
very still, pleading with her eyes for him to continue his story. “Anyway, it
was love at first sight. She was my dream girl: tall, long blond hair, former
cheerleader, zestful. And I guess I was her dream guy. It turned out to be a
nightmare.”

Ed paused. Maggie
held her breath until he went on.

“We decided to
marry. The day before the wedding, she telephoned to inform me that she couldn’t
go through with it. As a girl, she’d set her sight on someone higher than me. Amy
had gotten so wrapped up in the whirlwind of romance that she forgot what she
and her family wanted and had overlooked who I really was and what kind of
future was likely for us. In short, I wasn’t good enough for her.”

Ed shifted to his
side and placed a hand on Maggie’s waist. “Call it acute wedding jitters for
the bride or that her parents had finally gotten through to her—call it what
you want—the wedding was off. She had relatives already in the air coming from
all across the country to attend the ceremony. Instead of a wedding, her family
held a big party in the place where we were to have had our reception. They
celebrated Amy’s nerve to dump a guy that didn’t measure up before it was too
late.”

“How terrible,” Maggie
whispered, leaning over to brush her lips across his creased brow.

“Not looking for
sympathy. It happened a long time ago.”

“Just good nursing
skills,” Maggie reminded. “So you left for Chicago.”

“You bet. I left
the very next day. I only regret not being able to give Mr. Hobson enough
notice. He seemed to understand and wished me well.”

“How did you get
wrapped up with horseracing? That’s quite a leap, from hogs to horses.”