Jim frowned but didn’t argue.
Good thing, too. Boone didn’t trust himself too much right now. Seeing Maddie in Devlin Marlowe’s arms was something he guessed he should have been prepared for, but it had hit him like a ton of bricks.
It wasn’t as though the signs hadn’t been there, as if he hadn’t seen how well the two of them got on together. And it wasn’t like he hadn’t known all along that he and Maddie weren’t suited, but—
But nothing. He’d been a fool to think he had a chance. He’d let Maddie’s smile blind him, let her laughter give him hope. And in a weak moment while he’d been gone, he’d actually tried to figure out a way to help her buy The Dinner Bell—that’s how desperate he’d gotten to find a reason to keep her here.
Despite what he’d seen between her and Marlowe before today, he’d even given thought to asking her out on a real date. A mirthless grin twisted his lips. Seeing her in Devlin Marlowe’s arms had put paid to that idea.
Damn you, Sam. The next two weeks looked endless. He had new stock; he couldn’t just up and leave, no matter how painful it would be to have Maddie there and know that she preferred another.
Boone leaped out of his truck and unhitched the trailer beside the barn. Then, there where no one could see, he slammed his fist into the wall. The pain in his fist couldn’t hold a candle to the pain in his heart.
For Boone realized that he’d gone and done exactly what he’d sworn never to do.
He’d fallen in love, and fallen hard. For a woman he could never have.
Gallagher men love only once. And he’d done it with the wrong woman.
He wondered if Sam was watching him now.
If so, he must be laughing.
It was already dark when Maddie returned after driving the country roads for hours. When she saw Boone’s truck parked at the house, her heart gave a little leap, then a twist of nerves.
No lights were on in the house. Maybe he was so tired he’d already gone to bed. She hoped so; she wasn’t looking forward to keeping her feelings under wraps.
She was exhausted after running the gamut of emotions. Thrilled that she might have a sister, afraid that Dev might never find her or that when he did, she would want nothing to do with Maddie—or worse, that something bad had happened to her.
Then there were the nerves over Boone’s reaction when he found out. On top of that was the longing to see him, and beyond that, the qualms about whether or not she wanted him to have missed her.
Her head awhirl with too many thoughts, Maddie almost fell over the pile at the back door before she could hit the light switch.
“Don’t turn it on.” Boone’s voice, deadly calm.
“What’s wrong? What is all this?”
“It’s my stuff. I’m clearing out. Go ahead and move Marlowe in here. It’s your house, but I don’t have to stay and watch it.”
Maddie couldn’t process the words. “What? Why would I move Dev in here?”
“Don’t play innocent, Maddie. I know about you and him. I saw you in town today, in the park.”
Oh, no. What did he think he’d seen? “It’s not what you think.”
Boone’s harsh laugh grated on her hearing. “I’ve been there before. Oh, I never had to see my wife in the other man’s arms, but I know when a woman is pining after a man who’s somewhere else.”
“Pining?” He thought she wanted Devlin? “Oh, my word. You think—” What could she do? How did she explain without telling Boone what was going on?
“I don’t have to think. I saw.”
She heard the chair creak when he rose. She gazed at his outline in the moonlight spilling through the window.
“Did you follow me?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Like a fool, I was worried about you. I saw you take off just as I was driving up toward the cutoff. You were in such a hurry, I thought something was wrong.”
“You don’t have to leave.”
“I should have moved out to the barn the first day. It would have been easier all the way around.”
She wanted to throw something at him. “Just like that, huh? You’d convict me without even asking what I was doing with Dev.” In defiance, she flipped on the light.
Both of them blinked against the sudden glare.
“You’ve been sneaking around for a week, hanging up when I walked into the room, whispering when I was nearby. All you had to do was ask me to leave. It’s still your house.”
“You think I’m the kind of woman who sneaks around?”
“It doesn’t matter. We always knew your stay here was temporary. You have every right to conduct an affair wherever you want.”