The Rancher & Heart of Stone (10 page)

“That’s going to be a tall order,” the other woman said with a gentle smile.

“If there was a fault, it was Pumpkin’s and mine,” Maddie said doggedly. “He ran out into the road and I chased after him without paying any attention to traffic.”

Odalie sat down in the seat beside the bed, her face covered in guilt. “I have a confession,” she said heavily. “You’re going to hate me when you hear it.”

“I couldn’t hate you after all you’ve done,” came the soft reply. “It isn’t possible.”

Odalie flushed. “Thanks,” she said in a subdued tone. She drew in a deep breath. “I drove by your place deliberately. Cort had been talking about you when I got home. I was jealous. I wanted you to see me with him.” She averted her eyes. “I swear to God, if I’d had any idea what misery and grief I was going to cause, I’d never have gotten in the car at all!”

“Oh, goodness,” Maddie said unsteadily. But she was much more unsettled by Odalie’s jealousy than she was of her actions. It meant that Odalie cared for Cort. And everybody knew how he felt about her; he’d never made any secret of it.

But Maddie had been hurt, and Cort felt responsible. So he was paying attention to Maddie instead of Odalie out of guilt.

Everything became clear. Maddie felt her heart break. But it wasn’t Odalie’s fault. She couldn’t force Cort not to care about her.

Odalie’s clear blue eyes lifted and looked into Maddie’s gray ones. “You care for him, don’t you?” she asked heavily. “I’m so sorry!”

Maddie reached out a hand and touched hers. “One thing I’ve learned in my life is that you can’t make people love you,” she said softly. She drew in a long breath and stared at the ceiling. “Life just doesn’t work that way.”

“So it seems...” Odalie said, and her voice trailed away. “But you see the accident really was my fault.”

Maddie shook her head. She wasn’t vindictive. She smiled. “It was Pumpkin’s.”

Odalie felt tears streaming down her cheeks. “All this time, all I could think about is the things I did to you when we were in school. I’m so ashamed, Maddie.”

Maddie was stunned.

“I put on a great act for the adults. I was shy and sweet and everybody’s idea of the perfect child. But when they weren’t looking, I was horrible. My parents didn’t know how horrible until your father came to the house with an attorney, and laid it out for them.” She grimaced. “I didn’t know what happened to you. There was gossip, but it was hushed up. And gossip is usually exaggerated, you know.” She picked at her fingernail, her head lowered. “I pretended that I didn’t care. But I did.” She looked up. “It wasn’t until the accident that I really faced up to the person I’d become.” She shook her own head. “I didn’t like what I saw.”

Maddie didn’t speak. She just listened.

Odalie smiled sadly. “You know, I’ve spent my life listening to people rave about how pretty I was, how talented I was. But until now, nobody ever liked me because I was kind to someone.” She flushed red. “You needed me. That’s new, having somebody need me.” She grinned. “I really like it.”

Maddie burst out laughing.

Odalie laughed, too, wiping at tears. “Anyway, I apologize wholeheartedly for all the misery I’ve caused you, and I’m going to work really hard at being the person I hope I can be.”

“I don’t know what I would have done without you,” Maddie said with genuine feeling. “Nobody could have been kinder.”

“Some of that was guilt. But I really like you,” she said, and laughed again sheepishly. “I never knew what beautiful little creatures you could create from clay and paint.”

“My hobby.” She laughed.

“It’s going to be a life-changing hobby. You wait.”

Maddie only smiled. She didn’t really believe that. But she wanted to.

* * *

C
ORT
CAME
BACK
later and Odalie went home to freshen up.

Cort dropped into the chair beside Maddie’s bed with a sigh. “I saw your doctor outside, doing rounds. He thinks you’re progressing nicely.”

She smiled. “Yes, he told me so. He said I might be able to go home in a few days. I’ll still have to have physical therapy, though.”

“Odalie and I will take turns bringing you here for it,” he said, answering one of her fears that her car wouldn’t stand up to the demands of daily trips, much less her gas budget.

“But, Cort,” she protested automatically.

He held up a hand. “It won’t do any good,” he assured her.

She sighed. “Okay. Thanks, then.” She studied his worn face. “Odalie’s been amazing, hasn’t she?”

He laughed. “Oh, I could think of better words. She really shocked me. I wouldn’t have believed her capable of it.”

“I know.”

“I’m very proud of her,” he said, smiling wistfully. He was thinking what a blessing it was that Odalie hadn’t shown that side of herself to him when he thought he was in love with her. Because with hindsight, he realized that it was only an infatuation. He’d had a crush on Odalie that he’d mistaken for true love.

Maddie couldn’t hear his thoughts. She saw that wistful smile and thought he was seeing Odalie as he’d always hoped she could be, and that he was more in love with her than ever before.

“So am I,” she replied.

He noted the odd look in her eyes and started to question it when his mother came in with Heather Everett. Both women had been visiting every day. This time they had something with them. It was a beautiful arrangement of orchids.

“We worked on it together,” Heather said, smiling. She was Odalie, aged, still beautiful with blue eyes and platinum blond hair. A knockout, like dark-eyed, dark-haired Shelby Brannt, even with a sprinkle of gray hairs.

“Yes, and we’re not florists, but we wanted to do something personal,” Shelby added.

Heather put it on the far table, by the window, where it caught the light and looked exotic and lush.

“It’s so beautiful! Thank you both,” Maddie enthused.

“How are you feeling, sweetheart?” Shelby asked, hovering.

“The pain is easing, and I have feeling in my legs,” she said, the excitement in her gray eyes. “The doctor thinks I’ll walk again.”

“That’s wonderful news,” Shelby said heavily. “We’ve been so worried.”

“All of us,” Heather agreed. She smiled. “It’s worse for us, because Odalie was driving.”

“Odalie has been my rock in a storm,” Maddie said gently. “She hasn’t left me, except to freshen up, since they brought me in here. I honestly don’t know how I would have made it without her. Or without Cort,” she added, smiling at him. “They’ve stopped me from brooding, cheered me up, cheered me on...they’ve been wonderful.”

Shelby hugged her tall son. “Well, of course, I think so.” She laughed. “Still, it’s been hard on all three families,” she added quietly. “It could have been even more of a tragedy if—”

“I’m going to be fine,” Maddie interrupted her.

“Yes, she is,” Cort agreed. He smiled at Maddie. His dark eyes were like velvet. There was an expression in them that she’d never noticed before. Affection. Real affection.

She smiled back, shyly, and averted her eyes.

“Odalie wants you to talk to one of our friends, who has an art gallery in Dallas,” Heather said. “She thinks your talent is quite incredible.”

“It’s not, but she’s nice to say so...” Maddie began.

“They’re her kids,” Cort explained to the women, and Maddie’s eyes widened. “Don’t deny it, you told me so,” he added, making a face at her. “She puts so much of herself into them that she can’t bear to think of selling one.”

“Well, I know it sounds odd, but it’s like that with me and the songs I compose,” Heather confessed, and flushed a little when they stared at her. “I really do put my whole heart into them. And I hesitate to share that with other people.”

“Desperado owes you a lot for those wonderful songs.” Shelby chuckled. “And not just money. They’ve made an international reputation with them.”

“Thanks,” Heather said. “I don’t know where they come from. It’s a gift. Truly a gift.”

“Like Odalie’s voice,” Maddie replied. “She really does sing like an angel.”

Heather smiled. “Thank you. I’ve always thought so. I wanted her to realize her dream, to sing at the Met, at the Italian opera houses.” She looked introspective. “But it doesn’t look like she’s going to do that at all.”

“Why not?” Shelby asked, curious.

Heather smiled. “I think she’s hungry for a home of her own and a family. She’s been talking about children lately.”

“Has she?” Cort asked, amused.

He didn’t seem to realize that Maddie immediately connected Heather’s statement with Odalie’s changed nature and Cort’s pride in her. She added those facts together and came up with Cort and Odalie getting married.

It was so depressing that she had to force herself to smile and pretend that she didn’t care.

“Can you imagine what beautiful children she’ll have?” Maddie asked with a wistful smile.

“Well, yours aren’t going to be ugly,” Cort retorted. Then he remembered that he’d called Maddie that, during one of their arguments, and his face paled with shame.

Maddie averted her eyes and tried not to show what she was feeling. “Not like Odalie’s,” she said. “Is she thinking about getting married?” she asked Heather.

“She says she is,” she replied. “I don’t know if she’s really given it enough thought, though,” she added with sadness in her tone. “Very often, we mistake infatuation for the real thing.”

“You didn’t,” Shelby teased before anyone could react to Heather’s statement. “You knew you wanted to marry Cole before you were even an adult.”

Heather saw Maddie’s curious glance. “Cole’s mother married my father,” she explained. “There was some terrible gossip spread, to the effect that we were related by blood. It broke my heart. I gave up on life. And then the truth came out, and I realized that Cole didn’t hate me at all. He’d only been shoving me out of his life because he thought I was totally off-limits, and his pride wouldn’t let him admit how thoroughly he’d accepted the gossip for truth.”

“You made a good match.” Shelby smiled.

“So did you, my friend.” Heather laughed. “Your road to the altar was even more precarious than mine.”

Shelby beamed. “Yes, but it was worth every tear.” She hugged her son. “Look at my consolation prize!”

* * *

B
UT
WHEN
THE
women left, and Cort walked them out to the parking lot, Maddie was left with her fears and insecurities.

Odalie wanted to marry and raise a family. She’d seen how mature and caring Cort was, and she wanted to drive him by Maddie’s house because she was jealous of her. She’d wanted Maddie to see her with Cort.

She could have cried. Once, Odalie’s feelings wouldn’t have mattered. But since she’d been in the hospital, Maddie had learned things about the other woman. She genuinely liked her. She was like the sister Maddie had never had.

What was she going to do? Cort seemed to like Maddie now, but she’d been hurt and it was his car that had hit her. Certainly he felt guilty. And nobody could deny how much he’d loved Odalie. He’d grieved for weeks after she left for Italy.

Surely his love for her hadn’t died just because Maddie had been in an accident. He’d told Maddie that she was ugly and that she didn’t appeal to him as a man, long before the wreck. That had been honest; she’d seen it in his dark eyes.

Now he was trying to make up for what had happened. He was trying to sacrifice himself to Maddie in a vain attempt to atone for her injuries. He was denying himself Odalie out of guilt.

Maddie closed her eyes. She couldn’t have that. She wanted him to be happy. In fact, she wanted Odalie to be happy. Cort would be miserable if he forced himself into a relationship with Maddie that he didn’t feel.

So that wasn’t going to be allowed to happen. Maddie was going to make sure of it.

CHAPTER NINE

B
Y
THE
END
of the second week after the accident, Maddie was back home, with a high-tech wheelchair to get around the house in.

Odalie and Cort had insisted on buying her one to use while she was recuperating, because she still couldn’t walk, even though the feeling had come back into her legs. She was exhilarated with the doctor’s cautious prognosis that she would probably heal completely after several months.

But she’d made her friends promise to get her an inexpensive manual wheelchair. Of course, they’d said, smiling.

Then they walked in with a salesman who asked questions, measured her and asked about her choice of colors. Oh, bright yellow, she’d teased, because she was sure they didn’t make a bright yellow wheelchair. The only ones she’d seen were black and ugly and plain, and they all looked alike. She’d dreaded the thought of having to sit in one.

A few days later, the wheelchair was delivered. It came from Europe. It was the most advanced wheelchair of its type, fully motorized, able to turn in its own circumference, able to lift the user up to eye level with other people, and all-terrain. Oh, and also, bright yellow in color.

“This must have cost a fortune!” Maddie almost screamed when she saw it. “I said something inexpensive!”

Cort gave her a patient smile. “You said inexpensive. This is inexpensive,” he added, glancing at Odalie.

“Cheap,” the blonde girl nodded. She grinned unrepentantly. “When you get out of it, you can donate it to someone in need.”

“Oh. Well.” The thought that she would get out of it eventually sustained her. “I can donate it?”

Odalie nodded. She smiled.

Cort smiled, too.

“Barracudas,” she concluded, looking from one to the other. “I can’t get around either one of you!”

They both grinned.

She laughed. “Okay. Thanks. Really. Thanks.”

“You might try it out,” Odalie coaxed.

“Yes, in the direction of the hen yard,” Cort added.

She looked from one of them to the other. They had very suspicious expressions. “Okay.”

She was still learning to drive it, but the controls were straightforward, and it didn’t take long to learn them. The salesman had come out with it, to further explain its operation.

It had big tires, and it went down steps. That was a revelation. It didn’t even bump very much. She followed Cort and Odalie over the sandy yard to the huge enclosure where her hens lived. It was grassy, despite the tendency of chickens to scratch and eat the grass, with trees on one side. The other contained multiple feeders and hanging waterers. The enormous henhouse had individual nests and cowboys cleaned it out daily. There was almost no odor, and the hens were clean and beautiful.

“My girls look very happy,” Maddie said, laughing.

“They have a good reason to be happy.” Cort went into the enclosure, and a minute later, he came back out, carrying a large red rooster with a big comb and immaculate feathers.

He brought him to Maddie. The rooster looked sort of like Pumpkin, but he was much bigger. He didn’t seem at all bothered to be carried under someone’s arm. He handed the rooster to Maddie.

She perched him on her jean-clad lap and stared at him. He cocked his head and looked at her and made a sort of purring sound.

She was aghast. She looked up at Cort wide-eyed.

“His name’s Percival,” Cort told her with a chuckle. “He has impeccable bloodlines.”

She looked at the feathery pet again. “I’ve never seen a rooster this tame,” she remarked.

“That’s from those impeccable bloodlines.” Odalie giggled. “All their roosters are like this. They’re even guaranteed to be tame, or your money back. So he’s sort of returnable. But you won’t need to return him. He’s been here for a week and he hasn’t attacked anybody yet. Considering his age, he’s not likely to do it.”

“His age?” Maddie prompted.

“He’s two,” Cort said. “Never attacked anybody on the farm for all that time. The owners’ kids carry the roosters around with them all the time. They’re gentled. But they’re also bred for temperament. They have exceptions from time to time. But Percy’s no exception. He’s just sweet.”

“Yes, he is.” She hugged the big rooster, careful not to hug him too closely, because chickens have no diaphragm and they can be smothered if their chests are compressed for too long. “Percy, you’re gorgeous!”

He made that purring sound again. Almost as if he were laughing. She handed him back to Cort. “You’ve got him separate from the girls?”

He nodded. “If you want biddies, we can put him with them in time for spring chicks. But they know he’s nearby, and so will predators. He likes people. He hates predators. The owner says there’s a fox who’ll never trouble a henhouse again after the drubbing Percy gave him.”

Maddie laughed with pure joy. “It will be such a relief not to have to carry a limb with me to gather eggs,” she said. The smile faded. “I’ll always miss Pumpkin,” she said softly, “but even I knew that something had to give eventually. He was dangerous. I just didn’t have the heart to do anything about him.”

“Providence did that for you,” Cort replied. He smiled warmly. Maddie smiled back but she avoided his eyes.

That bothered him. He put Percy back in the enclosure in his own fenced area, very thoughtful. Maddie was polite, but she’d been backing away from him for days now. He felt insecure. He wanted to ask her what was wrong. Probably, he was going to have to do that pretty soon.

* * *

M
ADDIE
WENT
TO
work on her sculptures with a vengeance, now that she had enough materials to produce anything she liked.

Her first work, though, was a tribute to her new friend. She made a fairy who looked just like Odalie, perched on a lily pad, holding a firefly. She kept it hidden when Cort and Odalie came to see her, which was pretty much every single day. It was her secret project.

She was so thrilled with it that at first she didn’t even want to share it with them. Of all the pieces she’d done, this was her best effort. It had been costly, too. Sitting in one position for a long time, even in her cushy imported wheelchair, was uncomfortable and took a toll on her back.

“You mustn’t stress your back muscles like this,” the therapist fussed when she went in for therapy, which she did every other day. “It’s too much strain so early in your recovery.”

She smiled while the woman used a heat lamp and massage on her taut back. “I know. I like to sculpt things. I got overenthusiastic.”

“Take frequent breaks,” the therapist advised.

“I’ll do that. I promise.”

* * *

S
HE
WAS
WALKING
now, just a little at a time, but steadily. Cort had bought a unit for her bathtub that created a Jacuzzi-like effect in the water. It felt wonderful on her sore and bruised back. He’d had a bar installed, too, so that she could ease herself up out of the water and not have to worry about slipping.

Odalie brought her exotic cheeses and crackers to eat them with, having found out that cheese was pretty much Maddie’s favorite food. She brought more art books, and classical music that Maddie loved.

Cort brought his guitar and sang to her. That was the hardest thing to bear. Because Maddie knew he was only doing it because he thought Maddie had feelings for him. It was humiliating that she couldn’t hide them, especially since she knew that he loved Odalie and always would.

But she couldn’t help but be entranced by it. She loved his deep, rich voice, loved the sound of the guitar, with its mix of nylon and steel strings. It was a classical guitar. He’d ordered it from Spain. He played as wonderfully as he sang.

When he’d played
“Recuerdos de la Alhambra”
for her, one of the most beautiful classical guitar compositions ever conceived, she wept like a baby.

“It is beautiful, isn’t it?” he asked, drying her tears with a handkerchief. “It was composed by a Spaniard, Francisco Tárrega, in 1896.” He smiled. “It’s my favorite piece.”

“Mine, too,” she said. “I had a recording of guitar solos on my iPod with it. But you play it just as beautifully as that performer did. Even better than he did.”

“Thanks.” He put the guitar back into its case, very carefully. “From the time I was ten, there was never any other instrument I wanted to play. I worried my folks to death until they bought me one. And Morie used to go sit outside while I practiced, with earplugs in.” He chuckled, referring to his sister.

“Poor Morie,” she teased.

“She loves to hear me play, now. She said it was worth the pain while I learned.”

She grinned. “You know, you could sing professionally.”

He waved that thought away. “I’m a cattleman,” he replied. “Never wanted to be anything else. The guitar is a nice hobby. But I don’t think I’d enjoy playing and singing as much if I had to do it all the time.”

“Good point.”

“How’s that sculpture coming along?”

Her eyes twinkled. “Come see.”

She turned on the wheelchair and motored herself into the makeshift studio they’d furnished for her in her father’s old bedroom. It had just the right airy, lighted accommodation that made it a great place to work. Besides that, she could almost feel her father’s presence when she was in it.

“Don’t tell her,” she cautioned as she uncovered a mound on her worktable. “It’s going to be a surprise.”

“I promise.”

She pulled off the handkerchief she’d used to conceal the little fairy sculpture. The paint was dry and the glossy finish she’d used over it gave the beautiful creature an ethereal glow.

“It looks just like her!” Cort exclaimed as he gently picked it up.

She grinned. “Do you think so? I did, but I’m too close to my work to be objective about it.”

“It’s the most beautiful thing you’ve done yet, and that’s saying something.” He looked down at her with an odd expression. “You really have the talent.”

She flushed. “Thanks, Cort.”

He put the sculpture down and bent, brushing his mouth tenderly over hers. “I have to be so careful with you,” he whispered at her lips. “It’s frustrating, in more ways than one.”

She caught her breath. She couldn’t resist him. But it was tearing her apart, to think that he might be caught in a web of deception laced by guilt. She looked up into his eyes with real pain.

He traced her lips with his forefinger. “When you’re back on your feet,” he whispered, “we have to talk.”

She managed a smile. “Okay.” Because she knew that, by then, she’d find a way to ease his guilt, and Odalie’s, and step out of the picture. She wasn’t going to let them sacrifice their happiness for her. That was far too much.

He kissed her again and stood up, smiling. “So when are you going to give it to her?”

“Tomorrow,” she decided.

“I’ll make sure she comes over.”

“Thanks.”

He shrugged and then smiled. “She’s going to be over the moon when she sees it.”

* * *

T
HAT
WAS
AN
understatement. Odalie cried. She turned the little fairy around and around in her elegant hands, gasping at the level of detail in the features that were so exactly like her own.

“It’s the most beautiful gift I’ve ever been given.”

She put it down, very gently, and hugged Maddie as carefully as she could. “You sweetie!” she exclaimed. “I’ll never be able to thank you. It looks just like me!”

Maddie chuckled. “I’m glad you like it.”

“You have to let me talk to my friend at the art gallery,” Odalie said.

Maddie hesitated. “Maybe someday,” she faltered. “Maybe.”

“But you have so much talent, Maddie. It’s such a gift.”

Maddie flushed. “Thanks.”

Odalie kept trying, but she couldn’t move the other girl. Not at all.

“Okay,” she relented. “You know your own mind. Oh, goodness, what is that?” she exclaimed, indicating a cameo lying beside another fairy, a black-haired one sitting on a riverbank holding a book.

Maddie told her the story of the antique dealer and the cameo that had no family to inherit.

“What an incredible story,” Odalie said, impressed. “She’s quite beautiful. You can do that, from a picture?”

Maddie laughed. “I did yours from the one in our school yearbook,” she said, and this time she didn’t flinch remembering the past.

Odalie looked uncomfortable, but she didn’t refer to it. Perhaps in time she and Maddie could both let go of that terrible memory. “Maddie, could you do one of my great-grandmother if I brought you a picture of her? It’s a commission, now...”

Maddie held up a hand. “No. I’d love to do it. It’s just a hobby, you know, not a job. Just bring me a picture.”

Odalie’s eyes were unusually bright. “Okay. I’ll bring it tomorrow!”

Maddie laughed at her enthusiasm. “I’ll get started as soon as I have it.”

* * *

T
HE
PICTURE
WAS
surprising. “This is your grandmother?” Maddie asked, because it didn’t look anything like Odalie. The subject of the painting had red hair and pale green eyes.

“My great-grandmother,” Odalie assured her, but she averted her eyes to another sculpture while she said it.

“Oh. That explains it. Yes, I can do it.”

“That’s so sweet of you, Maddie.”

“It’s nothing at all.”

* * *

I
T
TOOK
TWO
weeks. Maddie still had periods of discomfort that kept her in bed, but she made sure she walked and moved around, as the therapist and her doctor had told her to do. It was amazing that, considering the impact of the car, she hadn’t suffered a permanent disability. The swelling and inflammation had been pretty bad, as was the bruising, but she wasn’t going to lose the use of her legs. The doctor was still being cautious about that prognosis. But Maddie could tell from the way she was healing that she was going to be all right. She’d never been more certain of anything.

She finished the little fairy sculpture on a Friday. She was very pleased with the result. It looked just like the photograph, but with exquisite detail. This fairy was sitting on a tree stump, with a small green frog perched on her palm. She was laughing. Maddie loved the way it had turned out. But now it was going to be hard to part with it. She did put part of herself into her sculptures. It was like giving herself away with the art.