Learning to Ride (8 page)

The all-caps text
message that Madeline received from her boss back at corporate may as well have been tattooed to the back of her eyelids.

WESTERFIELD HAS BROKEN THE CONTRACT. WHERE ARE YOU?

Where had she been when they'd called her a dozen times and sent no fewer than six emails? She'd been staring moony-eyed at a sweet-talking cowboy with a lazy smile and way-too-kissable lips. She'd been a million miles away indulging a fantasy that she knew was off-limits.

The whole ride home, she cursed the decision to ride horseback, wishing she could spur the horse into a gallop, but too damn afraid to despite the dire circumstances. It was almost two hours before she reached the office and learned exactly what had happened.

How had she missed the signs? How had she not seen that Westerfield was getting cold feet about giving up his life's work to a cold corporate entity thousands of miles away? She'd worked hard for weeks, for God's sake! She'd been so damn cocky that she had everything under control, but really Westerfield was just humoring her, all the while quietly undermining the entire deal.

Her day was utterly hellacious after that. Call after call, dozens of pages of legal documents, months of work raked over with a fine-tooth comb. There was nothing anyone could find that showed that she had done something wrong, and yet…

The buck stopped with her.

She'd failed to see the merger through to completion. It didn't matter that Westerfield had exploited a loophole that the legal team should have buttoned up in the contract. It didn't matter that that particular part of the deal had been worked on prior to her taking over. She was the acquisitions manager, and she had somehow managed to
un
aquire the one project she was in charge of.

It was after nine when she finally dragged herself home, numb and hollow. She felt she'd hardly slept ten minutes when her phone rang the next morning. The red letters of her clock read seven twenty-one as she jerked upright and grabbed it before it went to voicemail. She grimaced when she saw her boss's name flash across the screen. Straightening her shoulders in an effort to shake off her exhaustion, she accepted the call and pressed the phone to her ear. “This is Madeline.”

“Madeline, it's Franklin. Sorry to call so early on a Sunday morning, but I wanted to catch you before you went in.”

“No, no, it's fine,” she said, trying to smooth the sleep-roughened quality of her voice.

“Listen, the company has accepted that this is a total loss situation, and, well, I don't want to drag this out for you.”

It wasn't an unexpected call. The company wouldn't want to waste another dollar by having her remain down here in Texas when the deal was dead. “I understand completely, sir. I can be back at corporate by Wednesday.”

It would be brutal, packing up and driving all the way back in less than three days, but she wasn't about to appear lax after this whole disaster. She had a feeling she was going to be making up for this black mark on her record for years to come.

There was a beat of silence on the other end that made the hair at the back of her neck stand on end. In those two seconds, dread washed over her.

“The point is,” Franklin said hesitantly, “I'm afraid your current position has been made redundant with this deal falling through.”

She blinked, trying to digest the words. “I…I see. Well, that makes sense, I suppose. If the company feels I should step down to my old assistant position again, I will of course do so.”

A demotion was almost unthinkable, but she could work her way back up eventually. The promotion had been practically a fluke, anyway. It would be a bitter blow to her pride, but she could handle it.

She closed her eyes, trying not to think of her parents' reaction to the news.

“No, Madeline. The thing is, the CFO's nephew has settled in rather well in your old position. Mr. Kennedy intends for Jeremy to continue.” He paused, and she could almost hear him swallow. “I regret to inform you that with the company's changing needs, we are going to have to let you go.”

It took less than three hours to pack up her things in her rental house. She'd never intended to stay for very long, after all—so much of her stuff was still in storage in New York. On Monday, she called the moving company and scheduled a time for them to pick everything up, informed the property management company of her intention to break the lease, and got in touch with the receptionist to meet her at the office before heading in.

She didn't want to see Laurie Beth, or Westerfield, or any of the people she had worked with. She was an utter failure, and the thought of seeing the pity in their eyes was too much to bear. Mrs. McLeroy was the only one she could think of who would be professional and somewhat discreet. She was also the only one who'd never given her a knowing glance when it came to Tanner.

Tanner.

She couldn't even think about him right now. Her heart was already fractured—she didn't need the added stress of dealing with him. She'd been so stupid to get caught up with him in the first place. What had she thought would happen? That she could have a fling with a local while biding her time here? She'd let herself get carried away when she should have been 100 percent focused on her work.

It didn't matter now. She'd continue to ignore his texts until she was safe and sound back in New York. Then she'd send a note apologizing for the delay, and wishing him a nice life.

“Well, I hate to see you go, Ms. Harper,” Mrs. McLeroy said with a kind smile as Madeline handed over her keys. “You may have felt like a square peg in a round hole at first, but I think we were just startin' to smooth out your corners.”

Having no idea how to respond to that, Madeline just smiled politely. “Thank you, Mrs. McLeroy. And thank you again for agreeing to meet the movers later this week for me. That's a weight off my shoulders.”

After nodding her good-bye, Madeline hoisted the last box and trudged out to the door, an odd reluctance settling in her chest. The last thing she expected to see as she headed to her car was Tanner leaning against her driver-side door, arms crossed and blue eyes thunderous.

She was too tired for this. Overwrought. Taking a fortifying breath, she nodded coolly before taking the box around to her passenger door and wedging it into the front seat. The rest of the car was already so full she might as well have had a brick wall in the back seat.

“Planning to leave without saying good-bye?” he said tightly, his voice accusing.

“I've got a lot on my mind. I was going to text you later.” Too curious not to ask, she added, “How did you know I was here?”

“My buddy, Mack McLeroy, thought I might like to know his mother had headed to the office straight from church yesterday to help tie up some loose ends before you headed out of town.” He shook his head, his eyes pinning her in place. “Heading back to your beloved New York without a word, huh?”

She came around to the driver's side, forced to confront him in order to get into her car. She didn't want to meet his eyes, to face the conversation coming, but there was no way to avoid it. “Yep,” she said, purposely flippant. “Since I no longer have a job, I need to get back ASAP to start the job search.”

His iciness gave way to something way too close to sympathy as he took a step toward her. “Aw, hell, Maddie—they fired you? That's ridiculous!” He sounded as outraged as she felt, not that it would do her a bit of good.

“They didn't so much fire me as declare my position redundant. Happens every day in corporate America,” she said, with a shrug that didn't even begin to scratch the surface of her emotions on the issue.

She reached for the door handle, but he grabbed her hand, stopping her. “Then what's the hurry? If you aren't rushing back to a damn fool company that doesn't know a good thing when it has it, why not take a few days to figure things out?”

Closing her eyes against the familiar comfort of his hand on hers, she tugged away and backed up a step. “What's there to figure out?” she said briskly, steeling herself against the hurt in his eyes. “I need to get home so I can dive into the job market again. I have an excellent resume, and there are hundreds of jobs in the city that I'd be qualified for.”

He shook his head. “But is that what you really want? Another job you don't care about at a nameless company that could just as easily sack you as keep you?”

She stiffened, angry that he managed to tap into the exact fear that had been rolling around inside her head all night. “I'm an excellent worker, thank you. My skill set is highly marketable, and I intend to use those skills to climb my way back up.” This was a temporary bump in the road; she wouldn't let it derail her lifelong plans.

Blowing out a breath, Tanner ran a hand through his already mussed hair. “Damn it, I didn't mean to imply you weren't a stellar worker. But what do you really want to do with your life? Where is your
passion?
”

She shook her head, running away from the question. “I want success. A good nest egg. We talked about this already.” Any doubts she had about the truth of that were merely because she was upset. It was natural, really. What person wouldn't be stung by the events of the last twenty-four hours?

“Maddie,” he said softly, stepping forward and sliding his hands over her arms, “it doesn't have to be like that. You could stay, you know. Grandma Letty sure likes having you around, after all. I don't think your company's half bad, either,” he teased gently.

No, she couldn't do this. She'd allowed herself to be distracted by him too much already, and look where that had gotten her. If she was going to succeed in piecing her life back together, she needed to focus. She'd already proven that when he was around, she couldn't even think straight.

Stepping backward very deliberately, she raised her chin and looked him in the eye. “My name is Madeline, not Maddie. And while it's been…
different
living here, I have to get back to my real life.”

Even as she said the words, her heart ached fiercely, but she refused to back down. When she got home, everything would feel normal again.

He stared back at her, and for a moment, she thought he might argue. But then his lips pressed together and he nodded, stepping out of her way. “Well, Madeline, far be it from me to get in the way of your ‘real life.' I sure hope you find what you're looking for.”

With a tip of his hat, he turned and walked back to his truck, his boots tapping a crisp beat on the asphalt. Drawing a slow, steadying breath, she opened her door and slid into the soft leather driver seat. She started the car, backed out of the parking slot, and eventually turned east onto the highway. As the rolling hills of Sunnybell gradually receded in her rearview mirror, she focused only on the road ahead.

Soon she'd be home, and this too-quiet place and all the nosy people in it would be little more than a memory.

“You're kidding yourself
if you think your mama didn't raise no fools.”

“Well, hello to you, too,” Tanner said, dropping a kiss on his scowling grandmother's cheek. He and the hands had been riding fences all morning, and he was exhausted. It didn't help that he hadn't slept worth a damn the last few nights.

She rolled her eyes even as she handed him a tall glass of iced tea. “Lunch is on the table. And don't think you can change the subject. I've a bone to pick with you.”

Settling into one of the kitchen chairs, he sighed and said, “What did I do this time?”

He honestly had no idea. He'd been working like a dog this past week in an effort to forget about the pretty little blonde who had swept in and out of his life like a hurricane. There were so many things he wished he'd said to her, but in the end, he doubted it would have mattered.

“After all these years, you finally meet your match, and you just let her waltz right out of your life without raising a whiff of protest.”

His eyebrows inched up his forehead. “Meet my match? What are you talking about?” As far as Grandma Letty knew, he'd had little more than a passing acquaintance with Maddie.

Madeline,
he mentally corrected.

Her hands went to her hips as she leveled an exasperated glare on him. “You must think I'm either blind or missing the sense God gave me, 'cause only a fool would miss the way you looked at that girl. And only a
stubborn
fool would miss the way she looked at you.”

He just about choked on his tea. “What do you mean, the way she looked at me? You only saw her the one time.”

It was clear from the get-go that he was much more invested than Madeline ever was. She was attracted to him, sure, but she saw him as nothing more than some sort of a diversion. A way to kill time until she could go back to New York.

His grandmother's face softened as she came to sit beside him. “I may be old, but I can spot love at a hundred paces. Plus, from what I heard, it sounded like you two really hit it off when you first met.”

Her knowing look made him groan. Clearly the gossip had made its way to his grandmother's ears after all. “You weren't supposed to know that.”

“And you weren't supposed to let her get away. But I suppose you got your stubbornness from me.”

He sat back, digesting what she was saying. Truth was, he missed Madeline like crazy. He couldn't seem to let her go, and maybe it was because he didn't
want
to let her go. His heart lifted with what he recognized as hope as he considered what his grandmother had told him. Was it possible that Maddie really liked him as much as he cared about her? She'd seemed so distant when she left, but she had just been dealt an awful blow.

Sitting here in his grandmother's kitchen, it was impossible to know the answer to his question. A newfound resolve stiffened his back. He set down his glass and pushed to his feet. If he wanted to know if she felt the same way about him as he did about her, well, there was only one way to find out.

After all, that wasn't the sort of conversation a man had over the phone.

His first call was to the airline, which had a flight headed to LaGuardia at three. He didn't have a minute to waste. After a quick talk with Grandpa Jack—who grinned and told him to get the heck out of his barn and go get the girl—Tanner hopped in the truck and took off. Stopping only long enough to pack an overnight bag, he was on the highway in under half an hour.

From there he called Mack to ask him to look after the animals. His friend agreed after minimum ribbing. Next Tanner managed to sweet-talk Mack's mother into giving him Madeline's New York address, though she swore she'd have his hide if he divulged how he got it. Not that he was sure Madeline would actually be at that address. It was a long shot at best, but he'd cross that bridge once he got there.

When at last he made it to the airport, he parked his truck in the first spot he came to, slung his bag over his shoulder, and jogged for the entrance. This might be the craziest thing he'd ever done, but he knew better than anyone that if you wanted something in life, you had to be willing to take a risk.

The double doors whooshed open as he approached, and he was moving so fast he didn't see the other person coming out until they almost collided. He came up short, but when he raised a hand to apologize to the woman, his heart jumped straight to his throat.

“Madeline?”
he breathed in utter disbelief.

She was dressed in jeans and a black coat that was much too warm for Texas, with her hair in a messy ponytail and her beautiful face free of makeup except for a splash of pretty pink lipstick. Her golden-brown eyes were wide with the same disbelief that had his own mouth hanging open like trapdoor.

At the exact same time, they both said, “What are you doing here?”

He wanted to grab her and kiss her until neither one of them could breathe, but he had too much to say, and they were still smack-dab in the middle of the doorway, with people streaming in and out all around them.

Grabbing her hand, he tugged her over to the empty bank of couches at one end of the terminal. His heart was hammering against his ribs as he pulled her close and drank in the sight of the woman he'd managed to fall head over heels in love with in a matter of weeks.

Shaking his head, he threaded his fingers with hers and said, “I can't believe you're here. I was just on my way to see you.”

Madeline's mouth dropped open as she gaped at him in astonishment. “You were coming to New York City? How? Why?”

He licked his lips and smiled that perfect little crooked smile of his. “Well, there are some things in life that a man needs to say in person. Like I'm sorry—for not being more understanding. And for not being more plain about wanting you to stay. And for not telling you how I really feel.”

Stepping closer, he released her hands and looped his arms around her middle, making her stomach dance with butterflies. “Damn it, Maddie, I want you to stay. I figured out I'm destined to love a city girl, and I hope like hell she's willing to love me back.”

Everything around them seemed to fade as she gazed into his eyes, overwhelmed and breathless. She shook her head, trying to think of the proper words to describe the joy of hearing him say he loved her, but failing completely.

He hurried on, his expression earnest, his voice sincere. “With all my responsibilities on my grandfather's ranch, I can't move to New York, but if you'd be willing to compromise—and I'm hoping like hell you will be—I'd be willing to move to San Antonio and commute. I know it's not
the
city, but it is
a
city, filled with bustle and noise and all the fancy restaurants you could want.”

Tears came to her eyes at his pronouncement. She knew exactly how much Sunnybell meant to him. Offering to move for her was quite possibly the sweetest and most romantic thing anyone had ever done for her.

Blinking back the moisture in her eyes, she shook her head. “Well, I hate to disappoint you, but I'm not moving to San Antonio.”

Draping her arms over the back of his neck, she said, “I wasn't back in the city two days before I knew that it didn't feel like home anymore. Come to find out, I prefer horses to taxis after all. I don't know how it happened, but somewhere along the way, my definition of home changed. The city seemed so noisy and impersonal, and all I could think about was the quiet haven I'd found all the way down in Texas…and the man who taught me to enjoy it.

“So, cowboy, I happen to have my heart set on Sunnybell, and on a certain little log cabin with gingham curtains. More than that, I have my heart set on you, Tanner Callen.”

He let out a whoop before claiming a kiss hot enough to singe her boots—boots that she had bought to commemorate her decision to move back to Texas. She never imagined she'd fall in love with a cowboy—let alone the small town he lived in—but she knew now that Sunnybell was exactly where she was meant to be.

For the first time ever, she could envision a life that made her happy, not just a life that checked off the boxes on the way to retirement. She never knew what she was missing until she found it and then walked away from it. This time, she was here because she
wanted
to be.

When he finally pulled back from the kiss, he shook his head and looked down at her with love and pride. “So you actually got on a plane for me?”

“I did indeed,” she said with a grimace, immensely glad to be on firm ground now. “Once I figured out what I wanted, I didn't want to wait a minute longer to get back to you.”

“I like the sound of that,” he said, waggling his eyebrows and making her laugh. “What about work? Sunnybell isn't exactly a corporate hotbed.”

“I know,” she said, since she'd already thought everything through. “But thanks to my parents' insistence that I save 15 percent of every paycheck I earn, I have what I need to chase a silly dream I refused to acknowledge until very recently.”

Once the idea had taken hold, she'd not been able to let it go. All of her business training would come in handy, only now she'd be using it for something she actually cared about.

His eyebrows lifted with interest. “And what dream is that?”

“Opening my own little bookstore. Lucky for me, I happen to know a sweet little town with lots of readers and not a single bookstore for miles.”

He nodded, admiration shining in his blue-green eyes. “That's the best idea I've heard all day.”

“Is it?” she said innocently, fluttering her eyelashes. “Because I have a few other ideas involving the two of us and how we should spend the rest of the day.”

His grin was slow and sexy and promised all kinds of delicious things. “Well, darlin', let's get you home, shall we?”

She laughed when he swept her up off her feet, shoulder bag and all. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she sighed and nuzzled in close. “Feels like I'm already there.”