At His Command

“Please don’t,” she said quickly. She couldn’t let him apologize for last night’s date-that-wasn’t-a-date. Not when she had forced her company on him. “I wasn’t offended, Jake. Your leg was hurting and I’m sure you needed the rest.”

His eyes softened. “I enjoyed the meal. But it wasn’t right that you didn’t get to eat any of it.”

“Oh, I ate. I can’t cook without tasting, so by the time I sit down at the table, I’m usually not hungry anymore.” She grinned. “Although I did have my heart set on that black-cherry ice cream. It’s my favorite.” She thought she’d struck just the right note with that response; she had also left an opening for Jake to invite her to share the rest of the ice cream.

He just smiled. “It was good. Thanks for all you did.”

Maddie concealed her disappointment by giving Tripod another cuddle. When she looked up, Jake was pulling documents out of Anna’s envelope, his long hands moving gracefully as he sifted the papers. When he paused to read something, Maddie studied his furrowed brow and pursed lips and felt a little thrill at the realization that she was actually watching him work. She was incredibly proud of all he had accomplished. In her eyes he was even more heroic now than he’d been as a daring young helicopter pilot.

“Anna tells me you were a huge help in getting Ali to Texas,” she said.

“That was simple enough,” he said without looking up. “We just petitioned for a managing conservatorship and requested an emergency ex parte order. The judge granted it the same day.”

Maddie stroked Tripod’s back as she struggled to translate that. “So in plain English, General Willis is now Ali’s legal guardian.”

“No.” Jake tossed the papers aside. “In Texas guardianship is handled through probate court. As Guardian of the Person, the general would have to file annual reports to prove he was acting in the boy’s best interests. With a permanent managing conservatorship, we get out from under all that. Of course the general’s conservatorship is just temporary right now, but we’ll go back to court at the end of this month to finalize things.”

“And you expect that to go well?”

“No reason it shouldn’t. The judge has appointed an ad litem to discover what’s in Ali’s best interests and make recommendations to the court. But both parents are deceased, there are no other interested relatives, and anyone who knows the general knows he’ll take good care of Ali. So we’re fine.”

Jake unbuttoned his cuffs and began rolling up his shirtsleeves. “None of this is confidential, by the way. The general’s grateful to everyone who had a hand in delivering his grandson into his care, so he’s authorized me to answer any questions y’all might have.”

“That’s…very generous.”

Jake looked at her. “You sound surprised.”

“Not surprised, exactly.” Maddie didn’t like saying unkind things behind people’s backs, but concern for Ali forced her to speak up. “Granted, I’ve just seen the man a few times, but he strikes me as a little…gruff.”

She didn’t believe for a minute that the retired three-star general, a bear of a man even if he was older than dirt, would abuse or neglect Ali. But surely the boy needed a gentler hand. “It’s just that Ali’s such a timid child. And he’s only five.”

Jake finished his sleeve-rolling and linked his hands together behind his head. “They’re doing fine together. I saw them just the other day.”

Maddie hadn’t seen Ali in almost two weeks. She was just one of a crowd of people interested in the boy, so she worried about overwhelming him, especially as he was sick and also dealing with culture shock. “I hate to think of him being dragged into a courtroom,” she said.

“Ali?” Jake shook his head. “We won’t need him at the hearing.”

Jake’s assurances helped put her mind to rest, but Tripod comforted her also, Maddie realized as she continued to stroke his soft fur. She’d never been a cat lover, but the gentle vibrations of Tripod’s purring were oddly soothing.

Jake gathered up Anna’s papers and returned them to the envelope. “Just how serious is Ali’s medical condition?” he asked.

“Extremely.” Maddie sighed. “The bomb blast caused trauma to his heart, resulting in a ventricular septal tear. In other words, he has a hole in his heart. He’s being closely monitored, and as you probably know, Dr. Nora Blake is standing by to do the surgery in Austin.”

When Jake opened his mouth, Maddie anticipated his question. “She’s the best, Jake. She has a tremendous reputation.”

“But why is she stalling? Why hasn’t she done the surgery already?”

“Because there’s still a chance Ali’s heart might heal on its own, and that would be best. Dr. Blake wants to wait. And Ali’s not yet as strong as she’d like for the surgery, anyway.”

Jake frowned, and Maddie worried that he’d press her for more information about the surgery—specifically its mortality rate. She’d looked into that last month, and now wished she hadn’t.

She gave him a reassuring smile. “But even if he ends up having the surgery, there’s every reason to believe things will go well.”

“You always did look on the bright side of things.” Jake’s tone hinted at disapproval.

Maddie wondered what he’d think if he knew how the events of the past year had crushed her old optimism. “I’m sure he’ll be fine,” she said firmly, wishing that was the truth. “We’ll just have to keep praying.”

Jake’s frown deepened. “I prefer to deal in reality.”

So they were back to that. Maddie wondered just how far his doubts extended. “You don’t believe in prayer?”

He stared at her for several seconds before he answered in clipped words that discouraged further comment, “Not anymore.”

Maddie knew there was a world of pain behind that admission, so Jake’s bitterness didn’t really shock her. But he desperately needed to talk to someone, and if she could just figure out how to reestablish their old camaraderie, he might talk to her.

She checked her watch, then set Tripod on the floor and got to her feet. “I’m on duty at the hospital in a little over an hour, so I’d better get back to post and grab something to eat.”

There. She couldn’t have made it any clearer that she was available for a quick lunch. That made things nice and convenient for Jake, who was probably still feeling a bit guilty about last night.

To her dismay, he didn’t even nibble at the bait. He grabbed his cane and escorted her to the door, thanking her again for bringing the papers from Anna.

Disappointment lodged in Maddie’s throat, making speech difficult, so she just nodded and went on her way.

An hour after Maddie left his office, Jake was still having trouble keeping his mind on his work. He decided to make a few more notes on an immigration case, then go upstairs and clear his head with a long workout on his rowing machine. Maybe after that, he’d have some black-cherry ice cream.

Or maybe he would just throw the ice cream out.

He wished Maddie hadn’t told him it was her favorite flavor. The only thing he wanted to know about Madeline Bright was that she was safe and happy. Apart from that, he didn’t want to see, didn’t want to hear, didn’t want to think about her at all.

“Jake?”

He glanced up as Gloria Ridge strode into his office and pointed an accusing finger at Tripod, who had reclaimed his favorite chair after Maddie’s departure. “His Highness doesn’t like that fancy new food I bought.” Gloria rested her hands on her wide hips and looked at Jake expectantly over the tops of her glasses.

Jake calmly turned a page and made a note on his legal pad. “If he’s hungry, he’ll eat it.”

“Hah.” Gloria’s short gray curls bounced as she shook her head. “You were hungry yesterday, but did you eat that chili I brought in for you and Travis? No, you did not. You both turned up your noses because I put beans in it. And you like beans.”

“Not in chili. No self-respecting Texan does.” He couldn’t believe she didn’t know that. She might have been raised in Alabama, but that was no excuse. Not when she’d been married to a Texan—a retired rodeo cowboy, no less—for almost as long as Jake had been alive. Was Leland Ridge aware that his wife was going around putting beans in chili?

Gloria walked over to Tripod’s chair and bent down to stroke him, muttering, “You contrary thing.”

Unsure whether she was addressing him or the cat, Jake shook his head and made another note on his tablet.

Gloria turned a speculative gaze on him. “Travis says Maddie Bright came by while I was at lunch.”

Here it comes. Jake did his best to rein in his exasperation. Gloria was always pushing nice women at him because she thought it was a crime against nature for a man to be almost forty and still unmarried. Jake never talked about his past, so she didn’t know he was a widower.

“You’re interested,” Gloria guessed.