Maggie's Mountain (20 page)

“Is that a…?”

“A dog,” he told her and chuckled. “I made a call to the rescue shelter before we had dinner last night and picked him up this morning. Mac is a trained watchdog, aren’t you, boy?”

The animal looked up at Hale with adoring eyes and wagged his tail harder. Maggie rolled her lips together and tried not to laugh. Obviously the two males were in complete simpatico. With the way he was rubbing the dog’s head they could have been inseparable since childhood.

“Mac is two years old, a border collie and Australian sheepdog mix. In other words a scruffy mutt. He’s also housebroken, so there’s no problem with him staying inside. He’s had all his shots, too.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Are you trying to sell him to me?”

Hale’s grin was infectious when he turned his attention back to her. “I got him for you, Maggie. As much as I want to be here twenty-four hours a day, I can’t. He’ll be good company and he’ll warn you if anyone shows up.”

“But I…I don’t have any bowls, or—”

“I picked up everything you’ll need at Lyons General and put in an order for slatted fencing at Ace. That should be in this weekend, so we can start putting it up Saturday afternoon.” He looked so utterly pleased with himself that she could only chuckle.

“Hale, this is…it’s too much.” Even though she mouthed the words there wasn’t any real heat in them.

He didn’t reply, only moved to her, took her hand in his, and let Mac sniff their entwined fingers. The dog became so ecstatic that his body quivered with delight. Maggie looked down into chocolate brown eyes filled with anticipation and unbridled affection and felt her heart dissolve. In that moment she fell in love with her new pet. She stroked his soft fur and grinned when his lolling tongue lapped at her wrist.

“You thought I wasn’t coming back.”

His statement was quiet and tinged with frustration and sadness. She took a moment to absorb his words and the obvious disappointed he had in her assumption, feeling both defensive and guilty at the same time.

“I know I can’t be the center of your world.” She scratched behind Mac’s ear, unable to meet Hale’s eyes. “You have a lot to deal with, things that have to be done, and I…I understand that. What happened between us—”

“Was incredible and way past due.” He hooked his finger under her chin and forced her gaze up. “And it’s something that’s going to happen every night for as long as I can physically manage, which will probably be about five minutes after I’m stuck in the family graveyard.”

Her thoughts melted down until all that echoed in her head was his intent to make love with her every night of his life. The idea of it, the thrill of it, sent her heart into a wild tattoo of dizzy delight. A lifetime with Hale was almost too much to contemplate.

“I do wish I could stay all day with you, preferably in bed, preferably naked, but I have some business I need to take care of.” His gaze was warm and tender as he watched her. “I’ll only be gone a few hours then I’ll be back here to spend the night. Speaking of which, I picked up your mail.”

She sucked in a quick breath as he slid the small pile of envelopes onto the side table. The top envelope slid to the floor, gaining his attention.

“Brylon Enterprises? They’ve been sniffing around our land, too,” he said conversationally.

Maggie barely heard what he said. She was still stuck on his plans to return. Tonight. “You're coming back here? You can’t…I mean, I guess you can, but it’s not—”

He dropped a quick, firm kiss on her lips and gave her a look that brooked no argument. “Yes, I can, and yes, it is. Don’t make me go over all of this again, Maggie. Besides, Sharon would never forgive me if I didn’t give her something really juicy to gossip about.”

She didn’t know what to say or how to reply, so she simply nodded. Hale Warrick was making himself very much at home in her life, whether she liked it or not. Or maybe he understood just how much she
did
like it, that having him here wasn’t just what she wanted, but what she needed. Her heart tightened, sending jolts of tangled emotions through her system.

“You get breakfast set up while I unload Mac’s stuff.” He nipped her earlobe this time before passing over the food and the leash line.

She watched him hurry back outside into the cool morning, shaking her head as Mac’s nose smacked against the bottom of the plastic bag. “It might kill me when he leaves, but right now I guess I’ll just enjoy the rollercoaster ride.”

The dog gave a snuffle that sounded like an agreement. Laughing, she released the lead from his collar and went to the kitchen to put their food out.

****

Hale knew he was in for a firestorm the minute he walked through the front door. His mother’s high heels sounded like muffled gunfire against the padded stairs as she rushed down to follow him into the study. He took a deep breath and mentally braced himself for her onslaught. It wasn’t long in coming.

“Hale Jefferson Warrick, how could you?” She didn’t slam the door shut—it would have been uncivilized. “You
know
what that family has done to us, what they did to your father.”

He propped his backside on the heavy desk and crossed his arms over his chest as he faced an indignant Cordelia. “I don’t recall Maggie ever doing anything to deliberately hurt you, Mother. As a matter of fact, from what I’ve seen, she’s done her best to avoid all of us.”

“Not all of us, apparently. All she had to do was swish her tail at you like a mare in heat and off you went.”

Hale ground his teeth together and counted to ten. “Mother, your speculation only makes you sound petty and jealous.”

“Petty and…and…” Her sputtering came to an abrupt halt as her cool features flushed a deep crimson. “How dare you. How dare you come to my house after spending the night with that trash and accuse me of such a thing.”

His words were hard and adamant when he replied. “I’m not accusing, I’m stating facts. And by the way, this isn’t your house anymore, it’s mine, deeded to me by my father’s will. He left you the house in Nashville and the vacation home in North Carolina.”

He watched her as she struggled for control, smoothing down her blue silk shirt and tan pants, lifting her chin in defiance. She might accuse Royce Warrick of passing on his temper to Hale, but there were rare times he could see that he’d gotten an equal measure from his mother.

“I suppose you want me to move there. Pack up my things and move away from my friends and family, as far away as you can get me. I suppose that would make it easier for you to carry on with that hussy.”

He narrowed his eyes and had to work to keep his posture relaxed. “Watch what you say about Maggie, Mother. If I have my way, she’s going to be around for a while.”

The silence was deafening for one blessed moment. “Have you lost your mind? I will
not
tolerate this, Hale! I will
not
allow that mountain trash to come into my home—”

“Then I suggest you decide where you want your things sent, Nashville or North Carolina.”

“You can’t mean that. You wouldn’t kick your own mother out.”

He was on the verge of telling her he could and he would when he saw the sheen in her eyes. The sight of the hard Cordelia Warrick on the edge of tears was a jolting shock to his system. He’d only seen his mother cry a handful of times, and every one of them had been because of his father. Now she was about to break down again and it was because of her son.

Hale let out a long breath and dropped his hands to his sides. “Mother, I love you.”

“If you truly loved me you wouldn’t do this,” she retorted.

“And if you loved me you would understand.” He ran a rough hand over his face and prayed he could find the right words. “Maggie didn’t chase me; to be honest I was the one who chased her. She’s told me over and over again that we shouldn’t be together, and do you know why? Not to get money out of me, not to win my sympathy, but because it would hurt me…and because it would hurt you.”

Her chin wobbled but she didn’t relent. “Lies, all lies to draw you in.”

“No, Mother, they weren’t.” He shook his head sadly.

“She just wants what’s mine, just like her mother did. That’s what all of this is about. Rebecca Cooper couldn’t get Royce, or his money, or his children, so she raised Maggie to go after it.”

Hale’s eyebrows shot down into a tight V as realization struck. His mother was afraid. She was fearful of losing everything she herself had been bred and trained to expect. She was terrified that she would lose not only her standing as the Warrick widow, but as a mother to the next generation.

He thought of what he should do and say in these circumstances, of what his mother needed from him. Reaching out, he grabbed her and tucked her into his arms. She stood utterly still, probably from astonishment, before a small tremor ran along her fine boned body. Though she didn’t embrace him, Hale felt her relax a fraction, a token of acquiescence.

“You will always be my mother. You’ll always be welcome here. Never doubt that.”

Cordelia gave a lady like sniff and shook her head against his chest. “She’ll hurt you.”

He gave in to a small half-smile. “Not intentionally, just like I’ll probably hurt her sometimes without meaning to. Ah, Mom, I want you to be happy. I want you to smile and laugh and be as outrageous as you want. Someday I hope you can let go of some of that pain you hold onto so you can get on with your life.”

“How can I get on with my life when you’re intent on bringing that…girl into our lives?”

That girl. It was a step up from trash and floozy, he supposed. “Have you ever thought that my father could have lied about it all?”

She jerked back and stared at him with round eyes. “What? Now she has you thinking Royce lied to me about Rebecca’s shameless pursuit?”

“Not thinking, mother, knowing.” He gave her shoulders a gentle squeeze. “Consider it. You remember how selfish he could be. What if he decided he wanted a woman, but that woman didn’t want him back?”

“That’s…that’s just absurd.” Her back went ramrod straight. “There is no reason he would have made something like that up.”

“Not even to control you? To control her?”

“You’re living in a fantasy world, Hale, trying to make your affair with Maggie seem reasonable.”

He tilted his head and pushed his hands into his jeans pockets. “Did you actually hear Rebecca Cooper proposition him? Did you ever hear a conversation between them?”

His mother blinked and swallowed. “Well, I…no, I never did, but I didn’t have to. I saw her approach him on more than one occasion.”

“And she couldn’t have been telling him to leave her alone, to stop harassing her and her family?”

Her mouth opened, closed, opened. “She sent letters—”

“Begging him to stop. I know. I’ve read them.”

She gasped, her hand going to her throat. “No. That’s ludicrous. If she had the letters she would have shown them to me. They’re fakes. They have to be.”

So Maggie had been right; his mother’s mind had gone directly to forgery. “I know my father’s handwriting. He sent her notes back with responses, most of them telling her that she was his and if she didn’t get used to the idea he would force her to.”

His mother shook her head adamantly. “I don’t believe it. I won’t believe it. It’s some sort of scam. Royce would not have done that to me. He couldn’t have possibly hurt me like that.”

Hale held back his sigh. “Whatever you chose to believe, mother, it doesn’t really matter. Maggie isn’t going to make the letters public knowledge, so you don’t have to worry about dealing with people’s pity. I just think it’s time you worked past it. Leaving this house might be the best thing for you.”

Cordelia didn’t say a word as she stared at him. The tears in her eyes had dried up, but in their place were clouds of doubt and renewed pain. He hated seeing them there even as he knew there hadn’t been a choice but to tell her the truth. Now it was up to her to accept or deny it.

“I have a meeting with the Garden Club. The next time you decide to spend all night with
her
, have the decency to park your car out of sight.”

He watched her leave, her posture so straight that he thought he heard her muscles straining. There wasn’t a single outward sign that she was in emotional distress. No one who saw her would think she was hurting in any way. All they would see was the always impeccable, controlled Cordelia Warrick. Pride, he thought, could sometimes be as much a salvation as a sin.

****

Maggie opened the dining room door and quickly stepped aside, avoiding being trampled by Mac’s enthusiastic dash. She had marked off a good portion of the area around the back porch for fencing, making sure there was more than enough room for Mac to run in when she let him out. Though, to be honest, she wasn’t sure if he really needed to be fenced in. He had seemed content to make laps around the small meadow, never going so far that he couldn’t see her, and coming back to dance around her feet every few minutes. Still, she couldn’t keep him cooped up all day if there were times when she couldn’t go out.

“Hale is going to put your doggie door in after we have the fence up. It won’t be too long before you’ll have some personal freedom.” She bent down to ruffle his neck and he went into ecstatic spasms. “You are a sweetheart, do you know that?”

He gave her a look that seemed to say, “Of course I do.”

She was laughing when Mac’s body became tense. A second later he barked and turned to run to the front door. A few moments passed before she heard a car come to a standstill. A spear of fear shot along her nerves and she struggled to tamp it down. Taking a deep breath, Maggie flicked the corner of a white lace curtain open a bare half inch. Her terror deflated when she recognized the truck.

“Mac, it’s okay. It’s just Brian.”

She took hold of the dog’s collar as she unlocked the front door. Her friend stood on the other side, his hands up as his gaze skated down to the black and white canine still carrying on.

“I’d ask if you’re okay, but it looks like you have a new protector.”

She couldn’t help but laugh at her friend’s chalky face. “Hale got him for me. He said Mac would be good company.”