Deep in the Heart (7 page)

Tenderness touched his heart. “So, you do that every night… pray with him?”

It took her a long moment before she nodded. “It always helps me, so I figured it couldn’t hurt with him.”

True admiration for her tilted his head to the side. “They’re lucky to have you.”

She tried to meet his gaze but couldn’t hold it. “I wish I could do more. They’re great kids.”

If he could’ve thought of something to say that would’ve kept her there, he would’ve said it. However, for some reason his brain wasn’t cooperating with his mouth.

“
Well, ‘night.” She turned, opened her door, and stepped inside.

“
Yeah, ‘night.”

And then she was gone. Keith closed his eyes and shook his head. Why she had this effect on him, he couldn’t clearly tell. This was completely crazy. He was, after all, engaged to be married. Engaged. That meant you weren’t up at all hours of the night, standing in darkened hallways with some woman in her pajamas. He needed to call Dallas if for no other reason than to douse the guilt slashing its way through him.

Okay, there are certain things in this life a girl just shouldn’t have to deal with. Changing flat tires for instance. Radiators overheating, yes. A busted pipe. Programming the remote control. But being blindsided like that wasn’t fair at all. When the door closed between them, Maggie forced herself to breathe in a deep inhale. It did nothing at all to stop the swimming of her thoughts or the racing of her heart, but at that point anything was worth a try.

Showing up in the kitchen at breakfast for no reason was one thing. Showing up when she was in her oldest pajamas with the rip on one side was quite another. Her hand went up to her hair, and she raked her fingers through it extra hard. There was no telling how she looked, but how he looked? Wow, was he easy on the eyes. Not to even mention how heart-stoppingly handsome he was minus the hat and the bandana. Dark hair, cropped extra short, and that face, and that smile. Ugh. It just wasn’t fair.

She rolled her eyes so she was looking up at the ceiling in desperation. “God, listen to me. I do not need to fall for this guy. I don’t need him to keep showing up like this. Please. Please. I’m asking You…”

“
Good morning,” Keith said brightly the very next morning as he strode into the kitchen, bandana on, and hat in hand. Apparently her prayers all night long had had no effect.

Maggie sighed in consternation and planted a patient smile on her face. “Morning. There’s Cheerios.”

“
Cool.” He sat down between the two kids and grabbed the box and a bowl from the middle of the table. Maggie had been wondering why Inez had set an extra one out. Now she knew.

“
Did you sleep well?” he asked.

“
Good. You?”

“
I’m going to have to go get my own pillow from my place. These extra fluffy things are about to do me in.” He leaned his head first one way then the other.

“
Ike’s heading out this morning?” she asked, pulling her shoulders up to her ears as wrists to elbows she straightened on the little window seat.

“
Ten. I’ve got to get over there as soon as I can. They’re gonna be wondering where I am.” He ate a bite and then looked over at her, which did nothing to calm her stomach. “You don’t eat breakfast?”

“
Oh. I had a muffin earlier.”

“
A muffin.” He lifted his chin skeptically. “Well, that’s one plus in your favor. Helga got canned because she ate too much.”

Maggie swallowed at the implication. “Helga?”

“
She was the nanny… what? A year. Year and a half ago. Something like that.”

If he was trying to make her feel better, it wasn’t working. “So, they go through a lot of nannies. Huh?”

Keith shrugged as he finished off his Cheerios. “About one every couple months or so.”

“
Oh.” It was all she could get out.

“
Well, I’m off to the races.” He stood and grabbed his hat from the table. When it was on his head, Maggie had to force herself to think. Then he smiled and all the remaining thoughts scattered along with their counterparts. “Or to get ‘em ready for the races anyway. Y’all have a good day.”

“’
Bye, Keef,” Isabella said through her mouthful of food.

“”
Bye, baby doll.” Keith bent and kissed her forehead. “See ya, slugger.” He waved at Peter, and with that he strode out of the kitchen.

The air she hadn’t realized she wasn’t breathing escaped in a rush. He had to quit doing that. He was going to kill her before they had a chance to fire her.

Keith felt bad about mentioning the nanny situation, but it was only fair to warn her. More to the point, every time he saw her, he had to remind himself that this couldn’t last. She would be gone by the end of the month if she lasted that long. He had a life. His own life. And it did not include Maggie Montgomery.

“
So, you decided to grace us with your presence this morning?” Ike asked when Keith stalked into the barn.

“
I’m early.”

“
And happy about it, I see.” Ike was busy loading the horse equipment into the trailer. When he hopped from the trailer’s running board, his cowboy boots kicked up a puff of dust. “You see Maggie this morning?”

He didn’t want to answer that question. It did funny things to his heart. “Yeah. She was at breakfast.”

The trainer’s motion slowed to a stop, and he exhaled hard. “Listen, Keith. This is none of my business.”

Keith looked up at him and steeled himself. There was a challenge in his eyes and his voice. “But…?”

Ike shook his head slowly. “Look, I don’t have to tell you the score. You know it better than I do. But a spring fling with someone who will almost surely be gone before anyone knows she’s here is not worth risking what you have with Dallas. As good as it looks, as easy as it looks, it’s not worth it.”

Anger and embarrassment cracked into Keith. “Come on, Ike. I’m not that stupid. Besides, you know that’s not my style anymore. Maggie’s a friend, and not even that.”

“
Yeah, well.” Ike stopped toe-to-toe with Keith, his faded gray eyes as serious as Keith had ever seen them. “Keep it that way, okay?”

“
Dallas! Hey. How’s it going?” Keith put his elbow over the soft tan couch cushion as he sat back that night. He was safe and secure, locked in his own bedroom, far across the mansion from the kids’ wing.

“
Ugh. I’m about two seconds from cracking somebody’s skull against a wall,” Dallas said in typical, Dallas fashion.

“
Oh, why’s that?”

“
What’s it always? Studying as usual.” Her voice softened. “It’s good to hear your voice though. I need some sanity.”

“
Now I’m sanity?” He laughed. “That’s scary.”

“
Tell me about it. I’m so ready to get out of here, I could scream.”

“
Two weeks you’ll be back here, with me. No books. No studying.” He closed his eyes and could almost catch the feeling of her being right there with him.

“
Can I come now?”

His laugh was a breath. “’Fraid not. But I’ll tell you what. You buckle down and stick with it, and when you get here, we’ll throw you a big party.”

“
Ugh. Don’t remind me.”

“
What? You having second thoughts?”

“
No.” The sigh was soft, barely there. “But the planning and the parties and the crowds? Can’t we just elope?”

“
Oh, your dad would love that.”

“
Don’t remind me. Mom called today. They’re coming up for a visit. Well, it’s actually for a fundraiser, but that’s as close as I get to a real visit these days.”

“
The junior senator from Texas has higher ambitions?” Keith asked, amused.

“
Always. Him. Me. It runs in the family.”

“
Well, I can’t speak for him, but I’m very proud of you.”

“
Thanks. I needed to hear that.” She sighed, and he felt it run him through. “I’m so ready to see you.”

“
Me too.” Then he stopped himself. “I mean I can’t wait to see you. I see myself every morning.”

“
You’re crazy.”

“
Yeah, about you.”

They talked awhile longer, and when he hung up, Keith felt better. Ike was right. Being around Maggie was playing with fire, and he didn’t need that in his life. He’d done that enough and had been burned, repeatedly. No. In four days his parents would be back, she would probably be gone for reasons he still didn’t know. What he did know was that at some point things would go back to normal, and normal did not include Maggie Montgomery. Hanging onto that thought, he dug himself in the pillows and forced himself to stay there.

By the next morning Keith had come up with a solid plan. He wouldn’t go anywhere near her unless absolutely necessary. For breakfast he grabbed a Dr. Pepper out of Ike’s stash in the barn. If all went well, he would have lunch at his place and call to let Inez know he was going to be late for dinner tonight. He could show up after they had gone to bed. It was a great plan.

The fact that Keith hadn’t been around didn’t stop Maggie’s heart from jumping every time there was a noise at a door. She had never felt so scattered or so flightly. The kids were great as usual. Through the soccer lesson and lunch, they were angels. For that Maggie was grateful because she was having a really hard time concentrating on anything other than when he might show up again.

Trying to come up with anything that might stave off insanity, she had a thought after lunch. “Hey, you two. What do you say we make smoothies and take them out to the playhouse?”

“
What’s a smoothie?” Peter asked.

“
Come on. I’ll show you.” She took them both to the kitchen, knowing Inez had gone into town to do errands and Patty Ann wasn’t due back until at least four. Careful to anchor her, Maggie set Isabella on the counter. With only two cabinet openings, she found the blender. From his spot on the floor, Peter watched her. “Here.” She stood him up on the chair. “You watch your sister.”

Obediently Peter put his hands on Isabella. Maggie went to the refrigerator and got out a few things. They wouldn’t be the most elaborate smoothies in the world, but she didn’t think the kids would care anyway. “This is going to be fun.”

She plugged the blender in and put several ingredients in—the strawberry yogurt, the bananas, the raspberries, and the ice. “Oh, milk.” In five steps, the refrigerator door was open in her hand. It was then that she heard the scream.

“
Izzy! No!”

On one whirl she was around, and her own scream joined Peter’s. “Izzy, no!”

The growl of the blender was cacophonous—like a jackhammer on concrete. Crushing, crunching, screeching—the blender flung the pink concoction in every conceivable direction. Who was screaming what, Maggie had no idea. All she knew was that by the time she got the blender shut off, there were pink splotches all over the kids, all over her, and most distressingly all over the kitchen. Pink was dripping down the white glass cabinets, off the white and navy curtains, and all over the grouted, gray tile floor. “Oh, my… No.” She put her head back to keep from crying. “No. No. No. No.”

Pulling patience to her with all her strength, she looked at the two children. Isabella was in the throes of an all out panic attack, and Peter was cowering away from her like he was about to be beaten.

She fought back her own distress and took a breath to try to calm herself. Carefully, gently, Maggie took Isabella into her arms and sat down on the chair next to Peter, oblivious to the pink squish underneath her. “It’s okay, baby. I shouldn’t have let you that close.” In her arms, Maggie rocked the inconsolable child slowly until her wails became whimpers. “My fault. That was all my fault.”

Peter’s sniff behind her brought her attention to him, and with tears crowding her own eyes, Maggie reached back for him. “It’s okay, Peter. It’s okay.” Her tenderness wrenched sobs of fear and guilt free from the little boy, and his wails replaced Isabella’s. “I shouldn’t have left you there like that. I shouldn’t have. It was stupid, but it was my stupid not yours. That wasn’t your fault. It wasn’t.”

Peter looked around the kitchen and shrank into the slats of the chair. “Inez will be mad.”

It was true. Maggie knew it in her bones as she looked around the yogurt-splattered kitchen. This could well come at the cost of her job. “Well, you let me worry about Inez.”

“
What? Did the Pepto-Bismol explode?”

Maggie spun so fast, she nearly sent all three of them crashing off the chair. He stood in the kitchen doorway, hands on hips, surveying the mess.

“
Keith.”

He’d only been by to talk to Jeffrey about the yard for the engagement party. He hadn’t even intended to stop in and say hi, but when screams erupt and you’re the one in charge, you come running. Behind him, he heard Jeffrey’s hard, disgusted sigh. However, whether she was thinking when she did it or not didn’t matter at the moment. What mattered was that all three of them looked like they were about to be thrown out permanently, and they knew it. They shrunk backward away from his presence. He stepped farther into the kitchen, toward the counter and shook his head in consternation. “What happened?”

“
It was my fault.” Maggie stood shakily, placing herself between him and the children. “We were going to make smoothies. I left them over here, and the blender got turned on. It’s my fault. I should’ve been watching them closer.”