“You’re kidding yourself if you think your mama didn’t raise no fools.”
“Well, hello to you, too,” Tanner said, dropping a kiss on his scowling grandmother’s cheek. He and the hands had been riding fences all morning, and he was exhausted. It didn’t help that he hadn’t slept worth a damn the last few nights.
She rolled her eyes even as she handed him a tall glass of iced tea. “Lunch is on the table. And don’t think you can change the subject. I’ve a bone to pick with you.”
Settling into one of the kitchen chairs, he sighed and said, “What did I do this time?”
He honestly had no idea. He’d been working like a dog this past week in an effort to forget about the pretty little blonde who had swept in and out of his life like a hurricane. There were so many things he wished he’d said to her, but in the end, he doubted it would have mattered.
“After all these years, you finally meet your match, and you just let her waltz right out of your life without raising a whiff of protest.”
His eyebrows inched up his forehead. “Meet my match? What are you talking about?” As far as Grandma Letty knew, he’d had little more than a passing acquaintance with Maddie.
Madeline, he mentally corrected.
Her hands went to her hips as she leveled an exasperated glare on him. “You must think I’m either blind or missing the sense God gave me, ’cause only a fool would miss the way you looked at that girl. And only a stubborn fool would miss the way she looked at you.”
He just about choked on his tea. “What do you mean, the way she looked at me? You only saw her the one time.”
It was clear from the get-go that he was much more invested than Madeline ever was. She was attracted to him, sure, but she saw him as nothing more than some sort of a diversion. A way to kill time until she could go back to New York.
His grandmother’s face softened as she came to sit beside him. “I may be old, but I can spot love at a hundred paces. Plus, from what I heard, it sounded like you two really hit it off when you first met.”
Her knowing look made him groan. Clearly the gossip had made its way to his grandmother’s ears after all. “You weren’t supposed to know that.”
“And you weren’t supposed to let her get away. But I suppose you got your stubbornness from me.”
He sat back, digesting what she was saying. Truth was, he missed Madeline like crazy. He couldn’t seem to let her go, and maybe it was because he didn’t want to let her go. His heart lifted with what he recognized as hope as he considered what his grandmother had told him. Was it possible that Maddie really liked him as much as he cared about her? She’d seemed so distant when she left, but she had just been dealt an awful blow.
Sitting here in his grandmother’s kitchen, it was impossible to know the answer to his question. A newfound resolve stiffened his back. He set down his glass and pushed to his feet. If he wanted to know if she felt the same way about him as he did about her, well, there was only one way to find out.
After all, that wasn’t the sort of conversation a man had over the phone.
His first call was to the airline, which had a flight headed to LaGuardia at three. He didn’t have a minute to waste. After a quick talk with Grandpa Jack—who grinned and told him to get the heck out of his barn and go get the girl—Tanner hopped in the truck and took off. Stopping only long enough to pack an overnight bag, he was on the highway in under half an hour.
From there he called Mack to ask him to look after the animals. His friend agreed after minimum ribbing. Next Tanner managed to sweet-talk Mack’s mother into giving him Madeline’s New York address, though she swore she’d have his hide if he divulged how he got it. Not that he was sure Madeline would actually be at that address. It was a long shot at best, but he’d cross that bridge once he got there.
When at last he made it to the airport, he parked his truck in the first spot he came to, slung his bag over his shoulder, and jogged for the entrance. This might be the craziest thing he’d ever done, but he knew better than anyone that if you wanted something in life, you had to be willing to take a risk.
The double doors whooshed open as he approached, and he was moving so fast he didn’t see the other person coming out until they almost collided. He came up short, but when he raised a hand to apologize to the woman, his heart jumped straight to his throat.
“Madeline?” he breathed in utter disbelief.
She was dressed in jeans and a black coat that was much too warm for Texas, with her hair in a messy ponytail and her beautiful face free of makeup except for a splash of pretty pink lipstick. Her golden-brown eyes were wide with the same disbelief that had his own mouth hanging open like trapdoor.
At the exact same time, they both said, “What are you doing here?”
He wanted to grab her and kiss her until neither one of them could breathe, but he had too much to say, and they were still smack-dab in the middle of the doorway, with people streaming in and out all around them.
Grabbing her hand, he tugged her over to the empty bank of couches at one end of the terminal. His heart was hammering against his ribs as he pulled her close and drank in the sight of the woman he’d managed to fall head over heels in love with in a matter of weeks.
Shaking his head, he threaded his fingers with hers and said, “I can’t believe you’re here. I was just on my way to see you.”
Madeline’s mouth dropped open as she gaped at him in astonishment. “You were coming to New York City? How? Why?”
He licked his lips and smiled that perfect little crooked smile of his. “Well, there are some things in life that a man needs to say in person. Like I’m sorry—for not being more understanding. And for not being more plain about wanting you to stay. And for not telling you how I really feel.”
Stepping closer, he released her hands and looped his arms around her middle, making her stomach dance with butterflies. “Damn it, Maddie, I want you to stay. I figured out I’m destined to love a city girl, and I hope like hell she’s willing to love me back.”
Everything around them seemed to fade as she gazed into his eyes, overwhelmed and breathless. She shook her head, trying to think of the proper words to describe the joy of hearing him say he loved her, but failing completely.
He hurried on, his expression earnest, his voice sincere. “With all my responsibilities on my grandfather’s ranch, I can’t move to New York, but if you’d be willing to compromise—and I’m hoping like hell you will be—I’d be willing to move to San Antonio and commute. I know it’s not the city, but it is a city, filled with bustle and noise and all the fancy restaurants you could want.”
Tears came to her eyes at his pronouncement. She knew exactly how much Sunnybell meant to him. Offering to move for her was quite possibly the sweetest and most romantic thing anyone had ever done for her.
Blinking back the moisture in her eyes, she shook her head. “Well, I hate to disappoint you, but I’m not moving to San Antonio.”
Draping her arms over the back of his neck, she said, “I wasn’t back in the city two days before I knew that it didn’t feel like home anymore. Come to find out, I prefer horses to taxis after all. I don’t know how it happened, but somewhere along the way, my definition of home changed. The city seemed so noisy and impersonal, and all I could think about was the quiet haven I’d found all the way down in Texas…and the man who taught me to enjoy it.
“So, cowboy, I happen to have my heart set on Sunnybell, and on a certain little log cabin with gingham curtains. More than that, I have my heart set on you, Tanner Callen.”
He let out a whoop before claiming a kiss hot enough to singe her boots—boots that she had bought to commemorate her decision to move back to Texas. She never imagined she’d fall in love with a cowboy—let alone the small town he lived in—but she knew now that Sunnybell was exactly where she was meant to be.
For the first time ever, she could envision a life that made her happy, not just a life that checked off the boxes on the way to retirement. She never knew what she was missing until she found it and then walked away from it. This time, she was here because she wanted to be.
When he finally pulled back from the kiss, he shook his head and looked down at her with love and pride. “So you actually got on a plane for me?”
“I did indeed,” she said with a grimace, immensely glad to be on firm ground now. “Once I figured out what I wanted, I didn’t want to wait a minute longer to get back to you.”
“I like the sound of that,” he said, waggling his eyebrows and making her laugh. “What about work? Sunnybell isn’t exactly a corporate hotbed.”
“I know,” she said, since she’d already thought everything through. “But thanks to my parents’ insistence that I save 15 percent of every paycheck I earn, I have what I need to chase a silly dream I refused to acknowledge until very recently.”
Once the idea had taken hold, she’d not been able to let it go. All of her business training would come in handy, only now she’d be using it for something she actually cared about.
His eyebrows lifted with interest. “And what dream is that?”
“Opening my own little bookstore. Lucky for me, I happen to know a sweet little town with lots of readers and not a single bookstore for miles.”
He nodded, admiration shining in his blue-green eyes. “That’s the best idea I’ve heard all day.”
“Is it?” she said innocently, fluttering her eyelashes. “Because I have a few other ideas involving the two of us and how we should spend the rest of the day.”
His grin was slow and sexy and promised all kinds of delicious things. “Well, darlin’, let’s get you home, shall we?”
She laughed when he swept her up off her feet, shoulder bag and all. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she sighed and nuzzled in close. “Feels like I’m already there.”