She could sense him holding himself back as
he stopped at the edge of the gravel lot. He was going to let her
go without further argument. Amazing. “Good night, Maddox.”
“Good night, Beth. See you tomorrow.”
Well. Her peaceful night disappeared with
that reminder.
Maddox opened the side panel of his fifth
wheel and retrieved his tackle box and rod and reel. He hadn’t been
fishing in years—hadn’t had time—but the scent of the lake in these
early hours drew him, despite his late night. He closed the panel
gently so he didn’t wake his neighbors, tugged his hat lower on his
eyes over the glasses he’d found in the silverware drawer, and
headed toward the lake.
He’d lived in Nashville too long, because the
Minnesota June morning held a chill. He’d warm up in the sun, and,
since he’d been raised in the state, refused to go back for a
jacket. He’d never hear the end of it.
As he crested the rise overlooking the water,
he saw many of the boats had already left their slips. The sun rose
early this far north, and though it was only six a.m., the lake was
dotted with small boats.
A man moved with familiarity nearby, working
a boat loose from its mooring. As Maddox approached, he saw it was
Quinn, the owner of the bar and grill. The other man straightened
in surprise when Maddox approached with his gear.
“Heading out?” Quinn asked.
“Yeah, I rented a boat for the week.” Maddox
nodded to the end of the dock, a simple motor boat that would serve
his purpose.
Quinn gestured toward his own boat, pretty
nice for a bar owner. “This one’s already stocked with food and
drinks. If you don’t talk too much, I can show you some nice spots
for wall-eye.”
Maddox lifted his eyebrows. The bar owner
didn’t seem the type to be swayed by celebrity. Maddox had thought
to go out on his own, but, “What kind of food?”
Quinn grinned. “Sandwiches, chips, water,
soda.”
“Soda.” Maddox handed over his gear. “So
you’re not a native.”
“From Kansas.”
Maddox hopped on board, and wondered a moment
what he could do, or if he should do nothing since this wasn’t his
boat. “What are you doing up here in the Great White North?”
Quinn started the engine once Maddox was
seated. “Fishing.”
Maddox nodded, getting the unspoken message
as Quinn guided the motorboat out of the slot and onto the open
water. He shivered as the wind hit his bare skin. Stupid to have
been too proud to go back for that jacket.
Once they were out of the shade of the trees,
the sun offered a little warmth, but Quinn picked up speed and sent
them skipping over the surface of the lake. The roar of the motor
bounced off the houses on the shore. Quinn grinned over his
shoulder and Maddox willed his teeth not to chatter. Finally, Quinn
pulled back and they coasted, Quinn circling the boat until he
found the perfect spot. Then he killed the engine, opened his
cooler and tossed Maddox a bottle of water.
“Blood thinned living down south?” he
asked.
“Little bit.” Maddox uncapped the drink and
took a pull. “This your spot?”
Quinn nodded and reached for his gear. Maddox
attended his own, and both men cast, one on either side of the
boat. They fished in silence for a while, Maddox’s shoulders
relaxing as the sun warmed his skin, before Quinn said, “So what
was going on with you and Beth last night? I’ve never seen her back
go up like that.”
Maddox took a minute to process the question,
especially because it came from Quinn. “What, with the tray?”
“I thought she was going to take the broom
and start smacking you with it.”
“We have a history. I used to spend my
summers out here when I was a kid. She waitressed at the diner, I
thought she was cute, we spent a lot of time together.” He’d wait
for her outside the diner and they’d drive up north, to a secluded
part of the lake, sit on the hood and talk—or make out—until almost
dawn. She’d had no desire to go home, and no one had noticed if she
did or didn’t, except for the tips she added to the family
finances. He still couldn’t figure out how she’d managed to save
enough for his Gibson. What had she sacrificed?
“Beth doesn’t strike me as the type to hold a
grudge. You didn’t leave under the best circumstances?”
Maddox shrugged. “Everything was fine. I was
going to Nashville, she was going back for her senior year. She
gave me a guitar and wished me luck. I admit I probably should have
called her, but like you said, she’s not the type to hold a
grudge.”
“Something had her panties in a twist last
night.”
Her panties had been in a twist ever since he
returned. He just hadn’t known to take responsibility for it.
“Is she seeing that older guy?” The question
was out of his mouth before he could stop it.
Quinn twisted around to look at him. “Are you
looking to repeat history?”
“No. Just curious. She deserves someone
who’ll treat her right.” Be there for her, but he didn’t add
that.
“She’s not seeing anyone, as far as I
know.”
The lump that had formed in Maddox’s chest at
the thought of another man’s hands on her eased when he knew she
belonged to no one. When had he become the jealous type? He
certainly hadn’t been celibate for the past fourteen years, though
it had been a while. Recovering alcoholics weren’t encouraged to
pursue relationships until they’d been sober for quite some
time.
“Her sister has her pretty twisted up,
especially with the baby,” Maddox pressed.
Quinn made a sound of disgust. “If I knew you
were going to talk this much, I would’ve brought Lily instead. At
least she’s better to look at. But yeah, that girl’s breaking her
heart. The plan was to give the baby up for adoption, then Linda
couldn’t do it. Beth has never been able to say no to her, so now
Beth is raising the baby.”
Maddox wanted to ask more questions, but kept
his mouth shut. He wanted to know if anyone helped her, if her dad
had ever come back, or if she was carrying all of this on her own.
He had a feeling she rejected any help that came her way. But he’d
already shown more of his hand than he’d planned.
“You coming to the movie night tonight?”
Quinn asked a couple of hours later when they pulled back to the
dock. Quinn had caught a couple worth keeping, but Maddox had
released the little fish he’d hooked back into the water.
“Movie night?”
“Yeah, Lily and Trinity set up this outdoor
movie thing during the summer months. They project old movies
against the side of Boysen’s, everyone comes out and brings a
picnic and watches.”
“I thought I’d be playing at your place.”
“If I make people choose between you and the
movies, I’ll never hear the end of it from the ladies. Go to the
movies, give the people a thrill, rubbing elbows with you.”
Maddox gathered his gear and rose. “Yeah,
maybe I will. Thanks again.”
“Any time, as long as you don’t want to
gossip.”
Quinn made no move to leave his boat, so
Maddox hopped onto the dock. “See you, then.”
He’d made a decision while out on the water,
when his mind could relax. Beth might not want anyone’s help, but
he wasn’t taking no for an answer. Maybe he wasn’t the best choice
to help her, a recovering alcoholic with relationship issues, a man
just passing through, but it looked like he was the only one
willing to try.
He could hear the baby crying when he got out
of his truck on the cracked pavement in front of her tiny house.
The windows were open and Beth’s off-key crooning floated on the
air. She never had been able to sing worth a damn. He walked the
five steps from the street to her door and knocked, then knocked
again. Just when he thought she might not be able to hear him over
the infant’s wails and reached for the handle, she snatched the
door open, one hand holding Jonas against her shoulder, and glared
at him. The look lost some of its power because her dark eyes were
shadowed with lack of sleep, her long black hair was in a messy
ponytail and spit-up stained her stretched-out Vikings T-shirt.
“Give me the baby,” he said when she opened
her mouth.
He reached out and plucked the tight little
body from her arms. Jonas’s legs and arms stiffened and his wail
grew more piercing, but Maddox turned him and placed him on his
shoulder.
“I got this. Go get some sleep.”
“I’m fine,” she said through her teeth.
“You got home at, what, two? What time did he
wake you?”
“Six.” The word was a sigh, and her shoulders
slumped in exhaustion.
“And where was your sister?”
“She had exams today. I told her I’d take
him.”
“So she’s at school?”
Her gaze sharpened. “I know you took her back
to school the other day. Maggie was more than happy to fill me
in.”
“I’m trying—”
“I know. But it’s not your responsibility.
It’s not your business.”
He waited for her to say it, that he walked
away. But she didn’t. Instead, she reached for the baby, trying to
back him toward the door. He held out a hand, turning slightly with
the baby away from her. Alarm flashed in her eyes.
“I’m not taking him anywhere, Beth. Go to
bed. I’ve got this.”
Her gaze dropped to the baby, who’d quieted a
little, probably more in confusion than anything he’d done. “He’s
been fed, and changed, and burped. I just don’t know.”
“We’ll figure something out. Go to bed.”
With one last look at the baby, she backed
down the hall and closed the door.
He glanced down at Jonas, who blinked at him
with big brown eyes. “Well. That was easier than I thought.”
Well, it would have been if she hadn’t come
out three more times to tell him where the formula was and where
the diapers were and to remind him to wake her if he needed
anything.
“If she comes out here one more time, I’m
going to lock her in her room,” he told Jonas as he sat on the
couch.
But when she didn’t return, he was
disappointed.
Beth blinked at the light slanting through
her blinds onto her bed. An odd angle. She sat up, frowning, and
looked at the clock. God, it was almost five.
Jonas.
She shoved back her covers and kicked her
feet free. She stumbled on sleep-relaxed legs and opened her door,
shoving her hair back from her face. A glance into Linda’s room
revealed no Linda, and no Jonas. Panic rose in her chest as she
hurried into the living room, and she stopped short.
Maddox Bradley was stretched out on her
couch, asleep, Jonas curled in a little ball on his chest, a tiny
hand fisted in Maddox’s T-shirt. Maddox’s long fingers held the
infant in place, and something inside Beth twisted, tugging her
toward the sleeping form, admiring the scruff on his jaw, the curve
of his lips. So not fair that he was better looking now than he’d
been fourteen years ago. So not fair that he was just as kind.
Jonas opened his eyes and made a soft
pre-wailing sound. She hurried forward, making a shushing sound,
and reached for him just as Maddox came awake with a grunt, curling
his body around the baby. He looked up into Beth’s eyes as she took
Jonas, quieting him, then he sat up. His gaze went instantly to her
bare legs and she remembered too late that she just wore her
T-shirt and panties. She couldn’t exactly turn away, so she backed
toward the kitchen.
“I’m sorry—I didn’t mean to sleep so
long.”
He looked toward the window, frowning. “What
time is it?”
“After five.” She backed to the refrigerator
and pulled out a bottle to start warming. “You can go. I mean, I
appreciate you letting me sleep, but I’ve taken up enough of your
time.”
Where was Linda? She should have been home an
hour ago.
Maddox stood and stretched slowly, his shirt
riding up, revealing a delicious line of skin above the waist of
his jeans. She snatched her attention away and backed toward the
stove, where a pot of water waited.
“He’s clean, or at least he was when I passed
out around three.” He scrubbed his hand over his eyes. “Didn’t mean
to do that, but I was up early fishing, and it was really
quiet.”
“Did Linda come in?”
“I didn’t hear her.” He crossed the room,
opened a cabinet for a glass and filled it from the tap, looking
for all the world like he belonged here. “You going to the movie
tonight? Quinn was telling me about this thing they do down at the
docks, showing the outdoor movie. Sounds nice.”
Was he asking her out? “I’ve heard it
is.”
He hitched his hip against the counter and
put the now-empty glass down, his fingers still curled around it.
“You don’t go?”
She placed Jonas in the bouncing chair on the
counter, buckled him in and tested the formula’s temperature on the
inside of her wrist. “Quinn didn’t figure out until a couple of
weeks ago that there was no point having the bar open while
everyone was at the movies, and I’ve been busy since.” She pressed
the nipple to Jonas’s lips just as his cries began to intensify. He
began to suck greedily.
“I imagine Linda’s been.”
His tone made her stiffen defensively. “She’s
just a kid. She deserves to have some fun.”
“She’s a mother who wanted to keep her baby.
She’s letting you do all the work.”
“I told her I’d help her if she decided to
keep the baby.”
“Why did you do that? From what I heard,
she’d already selected adoptive parents and changed her mind at the
last minute.”
She stiffened further. “I didn’t think you
were one to listen to gossip.”
“I was just curious about why you’re raising
a baby that’s not yours.”
“Because Linda is my sister and I raised
her.”
“So her mistakes are yours.”
The accuracy of his statement took her breath
away. She turned away, busying herself with unfastening the buckle
of the bouncing chair and lifting her nephew to hold him as she fed
him. “Yes,” she said simply.