Texas Heroes_ Volume 1(42)

An unvoiced warning had surrounded her all day.

Keep away.

Maddie’s voice could have shouted it, but her posture made that unnecessary. She had brought him lunch as had become her habit, but nothing else was the same. Instead of peppering him with questions, her laughter quick and easy, Maddie had barely looked at him. Silent as a wraith, she had only spoken to tell him that she would be ready for her next lesson if he had time. That she even wanted to try surprised him.

It was obvious she didn’t understand why he’d pulled away from her last night, but nothing could be served by explaining. He had exactly the result he needed: Maddie had become a stranger again; unfortunately, this time one who didn’t smile.

He should be happy. He had the distance he needed.

He was happy, damn it.

Muttering savagely, Boone dismounted from Gulliver. He and Maddie had passed the time silently, each lost in his own thoughts. The only conversation had been what he’d needed to say to guide her on proper handling of her horse. Maddie’s responses had been short and to the point. Not rude or angry, just—

Not Maddie.

Keep away. He hadn’t realized how much he’d miss her sparkle.

He heard a car come up the road and stop in front of the house. Glancing at Maddie, he saw that she didn’t recognize it, either.

“Want me to see who it is or stay with the horses?” she asked.

The day was too hot. He’d unsaddle the horses first. “You go ahead. I’ll be right there.”

Boone made short work of unsaddling the horses and turning them out. With long strides he made his way to the house.

When he opened the back door, he heard the sound he’d been missing.

Maddie’s laughter.

The black-haired man looked up from his glass of tea, green eyes sliding from laughter to wariness.

“Boone,” Maddie spoke. “This is Devlin Marlowe.”

Marlowe rose and held out his hand. He was a few inches shorter than Boone, lean but with an air of muscles waiting to explode into motion. He reminded Boone of a boxer, and his nose attested to at least one break. But he hadn’t taken many blows to the head if he did box —his eyes held keen intelligence, looking at Boone with too much knowledge, too much advantage of who knew what conversations with Sam.

“Boone Gallagher,” he replied, taking Marlowe’s firm grip in his own.

Then they stepped back to their corners and each studied the other.

“Would you like some iced tea, Boone?” Maddie asked.

He jerked his gaze away and nodded. “I can get it.”

Maddie’s tone turned formal when speaking to him. “Just sit down. I have a glass right here.” She handed Boone his tea, then turned to Marlowe, offering the pitcher with a smile. “More tea, Mr. Marlowe?”

“Thank you. Please call me Dev, Ms. Collins.”

Maddie’s smile brightened. “Oh, let’s don’t stand on ceremony, Dev. Call me Maddie.” She turned to Boone and her eyes sparkled. “Dev was in my restaurant once, he tells me.”

Marlowe’s smile widened. “Best food I ever put in my mouth.”

“What did you have?” she asked.

They began discussing the menu as though there was nothing more important in life than fine food. It irritated the hell out of Boone how the two of them smiled and laughed like old friends.

He cleared his throat. “What do you need from me to find my brother?”

Marlowe appeared startled at the brusque interruption, casting a quick, apologetic smile at Maddie. “Anything you’ve got. I don’t always know until I see it. Your father just handed me what he thought I needed.”

The mention of Sam turned the atmosphere strained. Boone wondered exactly what his father had told this man about him. Nothing too good, from Marlowe’s manner toward him.

It didn’t matter. Sam was dead, and it was none of Marlowe’s business what had happened between Boone and his father.

“We’ll go through his office first, then you might want to go through the attic. There used to be boxes of stuff up there. I don’t know if there’s anything that could help you, but my mother never threw anything away, even items that were here when we moved in.”

Maddie’s quick gasp caught his attention. “Before you moved in? You mean, there might be something of my grandmother’s up there?”

Boone nodded slowly, sorry he hadn’t thought of them before. “I think I remember a trunk or something that was in the attic when we first started putting stuff up there.”

Maddie looked poised to race up the stairs that very minute.

Boone held up a hand. “Maddie, I don’t know if Sam kept any of it.”

Maddie rose. “I’d like to see.”