Wild Dakota Heart (4 page)

“When I became a police officer here in Rudolph, I never thought I’d be going on a domestic violence call to a house where the guy involved is someone I played in Little League with.”

“When did you play Little League?”

“The year my dad coached.”

“You’re talking about Pete and Janice Avery?” When Ethan shrugged uncomfortably, she added, “It’s okay, you don’t have to say anything else. I know Janice.”

“This storm has been rough on a lot of people. When the roof caved in on the manufacturing plant where Pete worked, everyone thought insurance was going to cover it and they’d be back to work by now.”

“I know. It shocked a lot of people when the owners decided to take the insurance money and relocate the operation to another state. No plant. No jobs. No money.”

“Money problems are causing lots of arguments these days. But thanks to Regis, at least the Wounded Veterans Center will have what it needs to rebuild.”

“Regis is Hawk’s fiancé, right?”

“Did you meet her at the clinic?”

Maddie shook her head. “Regis and Hawk came in to MW Oil to give the news of their engagement to your father. They look like a nice couple.”

“Yeah, Hawk’s real happy. And Regis is a peach. Sometimes I think she gets a little overwhelmed with all of us McKinnons crowding around her. But she fits in with us fine.”

When Ethan pulled into the parking lot of George’s Auto, Maddie saw her car sitting out front. Ethan pulled his SUV into the parking space next to her car.

“Looks as good as new. Well, at least as good as it did.” She put the papers Ethan had given her on the seat next to him. “I found my pen. These are all signed.”

“Thank you.” As she got out of the car, he added, “You’re going to be at the Wounded Veterans Center tomorrow, aren’t you?”

She peered into the car at Ethan, torn. “I…don’t know.”

“You wouldn’t be doing it for me. It’s for Ian. Regis, too. She’s worked real hard to get all the funding together so we could finally move forward. There are going to be a lot of people there. Sort of a like an old fashioned barn raising. Except, we’re not raising a barn. We’ll mostly be painting and building some walls and—”

She put up her hand to stop him. “I get it.” Standing in the sun on the hot tar outside of a gas station was weighing her down. Or maybe it was just Ethan’s relentlessness.

“I’ll think about it.”

Wide smile. Damn him. She didn’t remember him being
that
handsome when he smiled. And she’d forgotten about that dimple on his cheek that only showed itself when he was really happy.

“Then maybe I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Maybe.” She turned and walked to George’s office without turning back. She didn’t hear the purr of the SUV’s engine firing up or the sound of tires on the pavement. That could only mean one thing.

Maddie refused to turn around to see Ethan watching her walk away.

# # #

For the better part of the morning, Ethan and the rest of the crew continued to haul all of the supplies needed to work on the Wounded Veterans Center that day. Looking at the work needed and the supplies, there were already more volunteers than Ian and Regis had hoped would show up. That left Regis, and Logan’s fiancé, Poppy, searching for more brushes and rollers for painting. A lot of people who showed up brought their own tools. Ian was acting as foreman for the project and if all went well, they’d get a lot of work done before the day was through.

The delivery of materials the center had been waiting for arrived midmorning. Ethan, along with his brothers, Logan and Hawk, and several other volunteers, worked to bring in all the materials they needed. He was already sweltering from the heat of the sun by late morning, so he pulled off his shirt and used it to wipe the moisture off his face.

That's when he saw a white minivan pull into the dirt parking lot. His heart pounded in his chest. Ethan had a feeling all along that Denny's parents would show up to help because Maddie’s mother had talked to his mother at the diner earlier in the week. But seeing Maddie climb out of the back of the minivan was a surprise Ethan had hoped for, but didn’t think he’d realize.

"You made it," Hawk said, holding the bundle of fresh two by four boards snugly on his shoulder.

Dave Newton walked up to them, keeping in step with his wife, Julie. Maddie trailed behind the two of them and looked less than thrilled to be there. But she
did
come. Ethan chose to take that as a good sign.

“It looks like the whole town showed up,” Dave said.

“Just about,” Ethan replied. “We even got extra carpenters coming in from Fort Pierre. If we’re lucky we’ll get most of the painting finished in the upper level so we can start working on the construction of the recreation room and the kitchen downstairs where the flood really caused some damage.”

Maddie’s mother frowned. “I see most of you McKinnons. Where’s Sam?”

“Fire season is in full swing,” Ethan said. “Being a Hotshot, Sam is pretty much on call all the time. Right now he’s working in the Black Hills doing some prescribed burns.”

Julie shook her head. “I don’t know how your mother sleeps at night.” Then she smiled, extending her hands. “Well, where are the paint brushes? I got my old clothes on and I’m ready to get started.”

Logan called out to her. “Follow me. Poppy and Regis have all the paint and supplies ready inside.”

Dave propped his fists on his hips and laughed. “Looks like I showed up at the right time. All the heavy lifting is done.”

Hawk laughed, still holding the two by four boards on his shoulder. “There’s still plenty of that to go around inside. Why don’t you come with me?”

Maddie didn’t even look at him. She started to follow her father until Ethan caught her arm with his hand.

“Hold on a sec.”

She turned and lifted her eyes to him and suddenly he couldn’t find the words he wanted to say.

“I’m glad you decided to come today,” he finally said.

She held his gaze for a lingering moment. The warmth of her skin beneath his fingers reminded him that he was still holding her back. He let go of her arm. But instead of saying anything, she turned on her heels, leaving Ethan to watch her walk away with that fiery determination he’d never realized she had until now.

He watched until she reached the open door of the Wounded Veterans Center and wondered how he never noticed the slight sway of her hips as she moved, or the way the sun kissed her high cheekbones when she was fired up.

He and Denny had given Maddie plenty to get fired up about when she was younger. But the Maddie Newton he’d known had grown up to become an exquisite woman. That same temper that he and Denny used to laugh about was still there. But now there was an elegance about the woman that replaced the kid he used to tease.

She had always been a pretty girl. But the fact that Ethan was seeing Maddie Newton as a woman, and not Denny’s kid sister, suddenly made Ethan uncomfortable. He had no business thinking about Maddie in that way. If Denny were here today, seeing Ethan’s reaction to Maddie just walking away, Ethan would be down on the ground with his face buried in the dirt. And he wouldn’t blame Denny one bit for doing it to him.

* * *

They spent at least three hours inside the unairconditioned building putting up trim, painting walls and trim in the upstairs rooms, and hauling debris outside to the dumpster. Despite not wanting to come, Maddie found herself having a good time. It’d been a long time since she held a paint brush in her hand. Granted, this wasn’t the kind of paint brush she used to love using. But it was still nice to see a blank wall and transform it into something beautiful.

There were people at the Wounded Veterans Center that she hadn’t seen in years and working together made each task go that much faster because of the good conversation. But inevitably someone would mention Denny or she’d see Ethan across the room or down the hall, and all Maddie wanted to do was hide.

Grabbing a paint can, some rollers and a tray, she found a small office that no one had worked in yet and decided to tackle it by herself. She’d made pretty good time, getting three quarters of the room painted before Ian came up behind her.

“This is looking real good,” he said. “Ethan tells me you were quite the artist when you were younger. Is that true?”

Ian’s words caught Maddie off guard.

“It’s just primer. It’s hard not to look better than it was. What did Ethan tell you?”

“That you were a talented artist and could probably help us out.”

“Help you with what?”

“Regis and I were thinking that it might be nice to have a mural on the wall of the recreation room. I’d love for you to take a look at it. The walls are still being constructed downstairs and we still need to do some work down there, adding the kitchen and the bathrooms, so we probably wouldn’t need you to start painting until September.”

Maddie dropped the paint roller into the tray. “I really haven’t done much painting in years. I’m not sure that I’m the right person for something like this.”

“It doesn’t have to be anything fancy. We’re pretty much open to any ideas you have. Why don’t you come take a look to get a feel for the space?”

She hated the idea of feeling cornered and wouldn’t you know Ethan was behind it all. But the fact that he remembered her love of art at all gave her mixed feelings. She followed Ian to the stairs and watched as he slowly took each step down until they got to the bottom hallway. She had heard from Kate McKinnon that Ian had survived a bombing in Afghanistan and lost his leg. He was still getting used to walking with a prosthetic limb.

After all he’d gone through in his military service, the Wounded Veterans Center was important to Ian. Because of that, Maddie felt compelled to at least give him some ideas of what he could do.

As Ian mentioned, the recreation room, which was to house an open space for families to get together, have meetings, and to have the occasional special occasion, was still being constructed. Insulation had been put between the studs in the wall and some of the Sheetrock had been hung. Plumbing pipes were exposed as was newly run electrical wire. Looking around, Maddie decided that Ian’s September timeline might be too soon.

Ethan was standing at the far end of the room with his father, Hawk, Logan and a few other people Maddie didn’t know. On the floor were two by fours arranged in parallel lines. At the top, there were more two by fours loosely placed on the floor and the crew was getting ready to nail. Her father was standing inside an area that was already framed in, nailing the studs into place.

“I was thinking it might be nice to have a mural on the wall near the windows.”

Maddie looked around, thinking as she rolled a thin strand of her hair between her thumb and fingers, trying to imagine what the finished room would look like. “I don’t think you want a mural on that wall. I would just paint the walls by the windows white so you don’t compete with the beautiful view from these magnificent windows.”

Regis came up behind them. “See? That’s exactly what I told him.”

Ethan was watching her. He tried to hide it. But every time Maddie looked in that direction, their eyes connected before he quickly turned away. Realizing what she’d been doing with her hair, she combed her fingers through her hair, then tied it back, securing it with a clip she kept in her pocket.

“If you are going to do a mural, I would do it on this back wall,” Maddie said, walking over the long, inside wall. But I don’t think you need to fill it completely. Just add something to give it interest.”

Regis smiled. “I like that idea. What about you, Ian?”

Before Ian could say anything, Maddie added, “But I don’t think I should be the one to do it.”

Ian looked at her, puzzled. “Why not?”

“I told you I haven’t done any artwork in a very long time. I wouldn’t even know where to begin.”

Ethan walked over to them. “Then why not start here?”

Maddie glared at him. “Because I’m not.”

She then realized she’d raised her voice. Everyone in the large room seemed to stop what they were doing and look at her. Her eyes connected with Ethan’s father. Terrific.
All I need is to make a fool of myself in front of my boss.

She forced a smile she didn’t feel and said, “You know the high school has been struggling with art funding. You could use something like this to bring attention to the importance of art by bringing in some of the high school students to do it.”

Ian sighed, crossing his arms over his chest as he thought. “I still like the idea of you doing the artwork. Maybe you could direct the kids using your vision.”

Maddie sighed, suddenly uncomfortable with all eyes on her. Turning her attention to something other than herself, she pointed to the old pipes strewn about in a pile on the floor. “What’s all this?”

Don wiped his hands on a rag as he walked towards them. Her father walked behind him. “Those are old pipes the plumbers pulled out of the walls. Normally they haul all that away but they left it for the center. They’ll fetch a good price down at the scrap yard.”

“Looks like that heap of motorcycle parts in those boxes in our garage,” her father said.

Ethan’s eyes widened. “Do you mean Denny’s bike?”

“If you can call it that. It’s just a bunch of metal pieces.”

“We used to go down to the junk yard all the time. Every time he saw a motorcycle part, he took it.”

“And left it in my garage. He was always tinkering with something. I even found some of it in his room.” Dave shrugged, a flash of pain crossing his face. “Can’t seem to bring myself to bring it down to the scrap yard, even after all this time. You know how it was. For months before Denny died, all he did was talk about building a motorcycle and bringing it to Sturgis. I was never one for motorcycles myself. But something in me always wanted to see that motorcycle completed.”