Wild Western Nights

“I think that’s part of you talking to me. There’s still part of you who is happy to be with me.”

“True enough. But the part of me that is cautious about this reunion is the intelligent, reasoning part. The part that rules my life.”

He tilted her chin up and leaned close again. “Then watch out, Maddie, because I intend to cater to the other part, the emotional part that responds to me when we kiss.”

“It’s sheer foolishness that there are moments I can’t resist you,” she replied. His words had made her heart pound and now she was caught in his crystal blue gaze. Panic gripped her because she was tumbling rapidly into something she’d hoped to avoid. “We’re not going to rekindle what we had. We’ve both moved on and our lives have changed.”

“Some things haven’t changed at all,” he replied, running his index finger lightly down her cheek.

“I never thought we’d be having an intimate one-on-one dinner at your house tonight. You know what I expected.”

“Disappointed so far?”

“You know I’m not. I want to eat and talk and remain friends. I don’t want to return to being lovers.”

“You eat what you want. We have the whole evening.”

“I can see the plans in your eyes,” she said, and shook her head. “It won’t happen, Gabe.”

“What do you think you can see?”

“Seduction,” she stated bluntly. Her cell phone rang, and she saw it was a call from home, sending another chill down her spine. She didn’t want to take the call in front of Gabe. “Will you excuse me for a moment?”

He nodded and she got up to walk away, aware he could hear the first part of her conversation as Rebecca said hello.

“Mommy, I miss you.”

“Hi. What are you doing?” she asked, going into the kitchen. Her heart lurched with love at the sound of her daughter’s voice. She missed Rebecca and wished she could hold her.

“I’m talking to you.”

“I know you’re talking to me. Are you having fun?” Maddie asked softly, assured of the answer, because Rebecca loved to spend time with her grandmother.

Maddie heard a clatter and then her mother said hello.

“Sorry, Maddie, Rebecca got the phone and called while I was running her bath. She knows which number is your one-digit call.”

“That’s all right. I’m eating dinner. Is everything okay?”

“We’re fine. I’m getting her ready for bed. She wanted to talk to you. Now she’s getting out her bath toys.”

“It’s always great to talk.” Maddie checked over her shoulder, hoping Gabe could not hear her now.

“Are you through for today?”

“Yes. I’m out for dinner with Gabe,” she said, avoiding any mention of eating at his ranch.

“Is that wise?”

She wanted to answer no, it wasn’t smart at all, but she would never admit that she hadn’t been able to resist his invitation. Instead, she reported the events of the day to her mother. She glanced back outside at Gabe, who sat relaxed, sipping his drink, his profile clear to her. She turned her back on him.

“I’ll let you tell Rebecca good-night.”

“Night, Mommy. I love you,” Rebecca said.

Maddie smiled. “Night, sweet baby. I love you, too, and I miss you so-o-o much. Oodles of hugs to you,” she added in a low tone.

“Come home.”

“I will soon, I promise,” she said, feeling an ache. Rarely away from Rebecca overnight, she missed her daughter. She switched off her phone and returned to the table, seeing the curious expression on Gabe’s face.

“Call from a close friend?”

“My mother, actually,” she said, sitting to finish her dinner. “She expected to find me alone.”

“Do you live close to your mother?” he asked, and she noticed he was not eating.

“Very close. She’s next door.”

“That makes it easy,” he said.

“I heard your brother married Caitlin Santerre.”

“That’s right. Jake is very happily married as of this past winter. Caitlin is a freelance photographer with her own galleries. She’s very good. And, yes, she is a Santerre.”

“That was a shock. I thought maybe someone got it wrong. A Benton marrying a Santerre. End of the feud.”

“Unless Will Santerre returns to Texas, but he told Jake he never would. He sold the family ranch to Jake and now we’ve got an oil well.”

“Which I’m sure fell into your line of work.”

“Yes, it did. Jake was getting to be a menace to himself at work, he was so crazy in love.”

“Which you’ve always managed to avoid.”

“Maybe I was waiting for you to come home,” he said, leaning closer to run his finger along her cheek again.

She wrinkled her nose at him. “I know better than that, too. There’s really only one person in your life, and that is Gabriel Benton.”

“I’m a bachelor. It goes with the territory.”

“So when you decided to retire from the corporate world and live on the ranch, name the people you consulted about your decision?”

He shook his head. “You got me on that one. I didn’t consult anyone.”

“That’s right. Gabriel Benton is the only one involved. Enough said.”

“I don’t recall you being tough or cynical. I remember someone sweet as sugar.”