window at a fast-food joint than a professional demolition expert. Not much risk of being blown up handling hamburgers and fries, she added drolly, and was rewarded by a chuckle.
Maggie had been briefly engaged to Eb Scott just after Cord married Patricia. Now, she could admit that it had only been an engagement of friends, one of so many futile attempts to get over Cord. She and Eb had never been really attracted to each other physically. Cord had assumed that they were sleeping together, which explained his stark horror at Maggies innocence years later, on the night Mrs. Barton died. But Maggie had never been able to think of any man except Cord intimatelyat least, until they were intimate. Now her older, more frightening memories of things sexual were intermixed with new ones of discomfort and embarrassment. Why, oh, why, couldnt she get him out of her heart, her mind?
Youve known Cord a long time, havent you? Red mused.
Since I was eight and he was sixteen, she murmured, getting drowsy, lulled by the soft motion of the truck on the smooth pavement of the highway that led into Houston. That old saying that brothers and sisters fight like cats and dogs isnt so far off, you know, she murmured. Even foster ones.
Really? he said, almost to himself.
Really. She yawned and his next comment fell on deaf ears. She drifted off into a brief oblivion.
* * *
IT WASNT A long drive, but it felt as if theyd just left the ranch when Maggie was brought awake by a tap from Daviss hand. She opened her eyes and noticed that theyd already reached the city limits of Houston.
Sorry to wake you, but were in town now. Do you have any idea where you want me to take you? Davis asked gently.
To a nice, comfortable, cheap hotel, she murmured dryly. Im living on my savings until I get another job, and they dont amount to much.
He grimaced. You should have told him.
Oh, no! she disagreed. She smoothed her pink-tipped fingernails over her white purse. Im not his responsibility. I only wanted to take care of him. Funny, isnt it? He doesnt need anybody. He never has. She turned her eyes out the window. She wasnt a weepy sort of person. She was strong and spirited and independent. The hard knocks of her life had made her strong. But she was tired and sleepy and she felt Cords cold rejection deeply. She was momentarily weak and she didnt want Davis to see it.
Davis mumbled something under his breath. It sounded like damned idiot, but Maggie wasnt rising to the bait.
It isnt right, he said angrily. Letting you out the door without even knowing if you had a way back to town.
Dont you dare tell him about the suitcase or the trip, she said impatiently when she saw the look on his face. Dont you dare, Red!
I wont tell him about the suitcase, he agreed, mentally crossing his fingers. Theres a good hotel downtown, not expensive, where my mother stays when she comes to see me, he added quickly. Youll like it.
She nodded. Okay. Thatll do. I think I could sleep for a week.
I dont doubt it.
Tomorrow, Ill get a newspaper and find a job. She yawned again. Things will look bright tomorrow.
Im sorry you had such a rough day, he told her as he pulled up in front of a nice, but nondescript hotel downtown.
Theyre all rough days, lately, she murmured with a smile. Life is trial by fire, didnt you know? Its an obstacle course. If you survive it, you get to wear wings and float around feeling sorry for the living!
Think so? he teased.
Of course, when I think about Cord, I want to come back as a stump and trip him twice a day, she commented drily. She turned toward him. Thanks for the ride, Red. Thanks a lot. It would have been a long walk.
No problem.
He went around and got her suitcase out for her. She walked into the hotel dragging it behind her. Davis thought hed never seen such poise, and the thought grace under fire came unwillingly to his mind. And Cord Romero could turn his back on a woman like that! The man had to be nuts.
Maggie checked in, went up to her room, locked the door, took off her pantsuit and fell into the bed. She put Cords handsome face out of her mind firmly and closed her eyes. She was asleep seconds later.
* * *
BACK AT THE ranch, Cord was sipping coffee and going over ledgers on his computer. Hed spent a lot of time away in recent months, and it was tough catching up on business.
He wondered sometimes why he didnt just sell the ranch and move into an apartment. He was all on his own, and he never planned to marry again. Life would be less complicated if he lived out of a suitcase, as hed done most of his adult life except during his
brief marriage. But he loved his cattle, and the pair of Andalusian horses hed purchased on his last visit to his cousin in Andalusia, in the south of Spain not too long a drive from the Rock of Gibraltar.
He leaned back and stared blankly at the black type on the computer screen. He couldnt get Maggies eyes out of his thoughts. When shed first seen him, before he spoke, those green eyes had been alive with concern, with pleasure, with tentative affection, with joy. So soon, theyd faded to dullness and the joy in them had eclipsed into a sadness that was painful to recall, although shed quickly hidden it.