The Cowboy Code (15 page)

Still, in her heart she wished that Joe would tell her that he loved her. That maybe somehow, some-way they could work out a compromise.

It wouldn't—couldn't—happen. So Maggie would just enjoy the week that she had left and make memories that would last her through whatever life held in store for her.

A
week later, they all divided into four vans for dinner at the Mountain Springs Steakhouse for a last meal together.

It was a beautiful day, but Joe was in a gloomy mood. He didn't like when Cowboy Quest ended, because he'd miss the kids. This time he'd miss Danny and Maggie the most.

Maggie was at his side in the front seat. Danny, Brandon and Cody were in the back. The three had be come real friends, and he was happy about that. He heard them exchange email addresses and phone numbers, and he gave Maggie's hand a clandestine squeeze when they talked about “working the
Cowboy Code.” She squeezed his back and gave him a dazzling smile, yet he could see shadows under her eyes.

He wished he could take away her fears about Danny, but as long as Danny and she continued in a positive direction, they would be fine.

They drove slowly through the tiny village of Mountain Springs, which looked just like its name—a little oasis in the middle of two large mountain ranges.

“What an adorable town!” Maggie said. “It's so quaint. And look at that beautiful old theater! Please let me off here. I have to check it out.”

He pulled over to the right. The theater was on the left. It looked historic with its saloonlike façade. The only way anyone would know it was a theater was by the huge, modern marquee on the front of the building.

“Be careful crossing, Maggie. With all those yellow taxis speeding up and down the street, I don't want you to get hit,” he joked. There wasn't a vehicle coming for miles.

“Oh, no. Look.” On the front of the grassy lawn leading up to the theater, someone was pounding in a For Sale sign.

“I hear that a developer from Aspen is looking to divide it into stores with apartments above where the practice rooms are,” Joe said.

“What a shame to tear down this lovely old
theater,” Maggie said. He could hear the pain in her voice.

“It is a shame, and it's breaking George Adams's heart to sell it to a developer, but he's moving to be closer to his daughter and grandchildren.” He watched her closely for a moment.

“Maggie, we'll wait for you at the restaurant. It's only over there.” He pointed to a rectangular one-story building with floor-to-ceiling windows and dark brown trim. “Take your time.”

“Thanks.” She got out and crossed in front of the van. When he looked back, she was talking to the person putting up the sign.

But he couldn't wait for Maggie at the restaurant. He didn't want to be away from her one more minute than necessary.

“Boys, go ahead and order without us. I'm going to the theater and wait for Maggie.”

When he walked in, he found her sitting in the third row, watching a rehearsal of
Chicago.
A sign in the lobby stated that the performance ran every weekend during the month and was to benefit the local library.

It looked to him like the theater needed a benefit of its own.

He took a seat next to Maggie.

“Joe, do you know that Lillie Langtry, the Jersey Lily, played here? And look at these other names.”
She held up a pamphlet. “Helen Hayes, Ethel and John Barrymore, Mary Martin.”

She kept rattling off names. “It'd be a shame if it was made into condos or shops.”

She tapped her feet and moved to the music, humming along with the chorus.

He could tell that she felt the music in every part of her body, and even in a whisper, she sang like a well-polished star. He could listen to her forever.

He'd wanted to ask Maggie and Danny to stay on his ranch indefinitely, but he couldn't do it. Nor could he ask her to marry him. He could see how she came alive in the theater. She'd never be happy on his ranch, in his life. She belonged in New York, on Broadway, not in this little town where the only theater they had was for sale.

She'd be leaving tomorrow, and he'd let her go. He had no choice—he knew it was for the best.

The piano suddenly stopped. “Maggie McIntyre?” A man with reading glasses perched on his nose and a clipboard in his hand hurried down the stage stairs to where they sat.

“It's really you. You're Maggie McIntyre!”

“I am,” Maggie said with a smile. The man scooped up her hand and shook it warmly.

“Hi, Joe,” he said, not taking his eyes off Maggie.

“George.” Joe offered him his hand, but he
only had eyes for Maggie. “Maggie, this is George Adams. He owns this theater.”

Maggie shook his hand. “Nice to meet you, George. I see that this beautiful landmark is up for sale.”

He nodded. “The missus and I are moving to Utah. We want to be near our grandchildren.” He turned to Joe. “Darlene had triplets.”

“Yeah, I heard,” Joe said. “Give Dar my best.” They'd gone to school together, and Darlene had been Miss Rodeo Queen for all four years of high school.

“Miss McIntyre,” George gushed, “it really is an honor to have you here. Would you like to stay and watch us rehearse? The cast would be honored.”

“I'd love to, but I have a restaurant full of cowboys waiting for me to join them. I just stopped in to check out this beautiful theater.”

“It is beautiful, isn't it? You don't see balconies like these much anymore. And all that marble in the lobby, it's as beautiful as the day it opened. We've taken good care of the old place since the '50s, but Darlene needs us.”

“Well, I hope that whoever buys it doesn't change a thing and keeps it in just as good condition.” Maggie stood, and the actors on the stage gave her a round of applause.

“Break a leg,” she called.

As she left the theater with Joe, she stared at the For Sale sign, then shook her head sadly.

They joined the others at the steakhouse. Joe noticed that Maggie was unusually subdued during dinner.

He should fight for her, dammit. He
wanted
to fight for her. But he had nothing to offer her, only life on a ranch—a ranch that could never be enough to make her happy, and that wouldn't be the same when she was gone.

He had asked her to run the Cowboy Quest talent show twice a year, but she didn't even entertain the question. To ask her to marry him…he thought of Ellen and decided he didn't want to be hurt again.

 

After their last campfire together, Joe called for lights-out and disappeared into the bunkhouse with the rest of the cowboys. But in the wee hours of the morning, he appeared at her bedroom door.

“Maggie? Are you awake?”

She opened the door, greeted him with a sad smile.

“I'm not sleeping, Joe. Just thinking…”

I was thinking about how much I want you to ask me to stay.

“I just came to say goodbye to you.”

Her heart sank.

“I wanted to say goodbye to you, too, but it's going to be hard,” she said. “And I want to thank
you. You've done so much for Danny and me—for all the kids.”

She wanted to make love with him one last time, but he wasn't moving from the doorway.

“I'm going to miss you,” she added.

“I'll miss you, too.”

“I asked Ronnie to take us to the airport in the morning.”

That startled him. “Why don't you want me to take you?”

“Because it's hard enough saying goodbye to you now.”

He crossed the room to her bed. She moved over, and he sat on the edge, took her hand.

“Are you worried about Danny? Putting him back into the same situation?”

“He seems to have changed, but I won't know until I get back. I'm still a working parent, and that's not going to change.”

“You told me before that you'd love teaching, and that you've taught kids before,” Joe said.

She nodded. “But Danny is my first priority right now.”

“Of course,” Joe said. “You know, Maggie, Danny could come to the theater with you on occasion. He could do his homework there in a quiet spot instead of at home. Maybe he could even help you learn lines. And I've been thinking that Danny
might want to tutor younger kids. That would give him a positive experience.”

Joe was silent for several beats. Finally, he said, “I hope we can see each other again.”

Her heart soared, and she could barely speak. This
wasn't
goodbye! It was an “I'll see you later.”

She touched his cheek with her palm. “I hope we can see each other again, too.”

Ask me to stay.

But Joe went silent again, and her heart took a nosedive.

He dropped her hand. “Maybe you could arrange to join us at the end of every Cowboy Quest, maybe put on another talent show. That was such a good experience for the kids.”

“I thought of doing something like that in New York. That theater in Mountain Springs gave me an idea. Maybe I could buy an old theater, and…”

“In New York?”

He still wasn't asking her to stay—nor was he telling her that he loved her.

“Yes. A theater in New York,” she answered.

Joe took a deep breath. “When will we see each other again?”

“Maybe I could visit you when I have time off, and you could visit me when you have time,” she offered. “But if I'm in rehearsal for a new show I can't leave. I'd have to stay for the run of the show. And Danny has school, and…”

This was impossible. They were talking in circles. There must be a solution.

“I suppose we could do that,” he said. “I'll be bringing my bulls to Madison Square Garden again for the Professional Bull Riders event in January.”

“See? That's only about eight months away.”

Who was she kidding—that was a lifetime away.

“I guess this is it then. See you later, Maggie.”

She couldn't swallow, couldn't breathe.

“Goodbye, Joe.”

He pulled her into his arms and kissed her gently, carefully, as if she'd break. Then he kissed her as if he couldn't get enough, slanting his mouth over hers, tongue sliding against tongue.

She hoped that he'd stay, make love to her one last time.

But he didn't. He tweaked his hat, and then he was gone.

And Maggie finally let her tears fall.

 

New York had lost some of its charm for Maggie. Instead of feeling the excitement in the air, she found herself thinking of the wide-open spaces of Wyoming. Every time she saw a horse on the street, she found herself thinking of Lady. She even found herself putting on her cowboy hat to go to the theater.

But above all, she missed Joe.

One day, in a melancholy mood, just for the heck of it, Maggie sat in the kitchen of her condo and called the real estate company in Mountain Springs that had the listing for the old theater.

“I'm sorry, it's sold,” the agent said.

“Oh…um…thank you.” She sighed, hanging up the phone, feeling deflated. She didn't know why hearing that it had sold devastated her so much.

She didn't know what had made her call, other than she'd been thinking about Cowboy Quest. If the theater could have a fundraiser for the library, why not have a benefit for Cowboy Quest? It would certainly help defray the costs for kids who couldn't afford clothes, or boots or hats, or traveling expenses. Or for Joe who might even need to buy more horses if the groups kept getting bigger.

She could have given dance lessons to local kids in those practice rooms upstairs, maybe even started a Cowboy Quest for kids who might be interested in theater arts, or a Cowgirl Quest just for girls.

But why was she thinking of Mountain Springs? She should be thinking of buying or renting places right here in New York.

She wanted to be near Joe, that's why.

But why was she even considering buying the old theater in Mountain Springs? She was in rehearsal now for a new musical. It had great songs, a Tony-winning choreographer and promising buzz.

Opening night was in a month.

Yes, things were going well.

Joe had sent a very complimentary report to Judge Cunningham, and Danny's charges would be dismissed if he stayed out of trouble for a year.

Danny had thrown himself into his schoolwork, had made some new friends in school and was ahead of his classmates, thanks to the Cowboy Quest teachers. He wasn't sneaking out, and they were talking more.

“What were you doing all morning, Danny?” Maggie asked as they sat down for lunch together.

“Emailing Brandon and the guys.”

“How is everyone?”

“Great. Really great. Brandon's in a school play, and I've been emailing Joe, too.”

Maggie tried to appear casual when she asked, “And how is Joe?”

“He's good. There's going to be another Cowboy Quest program in four months. They'll be moving the cattle from the summer pasture to the winter one.”

Maggie flashed back to the cattle drive. It seemed so far away, yet it also seemed like yesterday.

“You miss Cowboy Quest, don't you?” Maggie asked.

“Yeah. And I miss my horse.”

“I miss…everything, too.” She was just about to tell him that she missed Joe.

Joe had called her a couple of days ago, and
they'd talked for over an hour. It wasn't enough, but she liked that fact that he'd finally told her that he missed her.

“Things just aren't the same here, Maggie.
I'm
not the same without you.”

“I miss you, too, Joe. Maybe we can arrange to see each other again some time.”

“You never know,” he'd said.

She'd hung on to those three words. Was he planning a trip out here? Was he going to ask her to come for a visit?

Danny took a deep breath and looked at her.

“Something on your mind, Danny?”

He started to shake his head no, then changed his mind. “You know, Aunt Maggie, I wasn't very nice to you and Joe in the beginning. I thought you'd end up with him, and you wouldn't want me around.”

He made a funny face. “The guys ragged on me something awful about you two.”