He’d been waiting for her to ask about Maybelle. Not so much because he looked forward to telling her what a fool he’d been, but because he wanted to get closer to her. And he’d learned enough from past experience to know that to get closer, a guy had to open up. He had to show a woman the things he was proud of—and the stuff he could have handled a whole lot better.
“Her name was Maybelle. Maybelle Butler.”
Vanessa frowned. “Her name’s familiar. Should I know of her?”
“Most likely. She’s a rodeo queen, a champion barrel racer.”
Vanessa drew in a sharp breath. “Petite, right? Acres of red hair? And really pretty?”
“That’s Maybelle. Beyond being a star, she’s also a fine horse trainer. Six years ago, at the end of the rodeo season, she showed up at the Double J looking for a winter job to tide her over. My dad hired her on the spot to work with the horses. He liked her. Maybelle’s a charmer. And he was a little starstruck, thattheMaybelle Butler had come to work for us. At his insistence, she took the foreman’s cottage not far from the main house. It was empty at the time. My mom liked her, too, and extended an open invitation to dinner with the family.”
“And what about you?” Vanessa asked that with a playful smile. “Let me guess. After Maybelle started working here, you spent a lot of time at the stables?”
“I did. And I went to dinner at the main house just about every night, because Maybelle did, too. What I didn’t know at the time was that Maybelle had had enough of eating dust. She wanted a rancher with a decent-size bank account. She wanted a chance to take things easy, live the good life. She admitted later, when it all fell apart with her and me, that she’d set her sights on me before she showed up on the Double J asking for work.”
“Wait. She went looking for a rich husband and decided you were it?”
“Yeah, but you make it sound so pretty calculated.”
“Jameson,” she chided. “Itispretty calculated.”
He gave it up. “You’re right. But you’d have to know Maybelle. She hadn’t had an easy time of it. She’d been raised in the Bronco area, on a few acres of dry grass and scrub brush ten miles from town—what some would generously call a ranchette.”
“So then, she knew all about you and she’d shown up looking for a job in order to get close to you, in particular. You’re saying that it wasn’t just any rich guy she wanted. She’d set her sights on you.”
“That’s right. She was open about that with me from the start. She said she’d had a crush on me back in high school.”
“You were flattered.”
“You bet I was.”
“Did you remember her from high school?”
“No.”
“Because you hung out with the Taylors and the Abernathys and the other rich kids on the big ranches and in Bronco Heights.”
He tugged on the lock of hair he’d wrapped around his finger. “Is that an accusation?”
“Maybe. A little. I was a poor girl, too. I sympathize with a girl like Maybelle. And please continue with the story. I’m through busting your chops just because you’re a rich guy—for now, anyway. Tell me more about Maybelle.”
“When she was seventeen, she ran away from home in the middle of the night driving the ancient pickup she’d bought from a junkyard and sweet-talked her mechanic boyfriend into fixing up. From her hard-drinking daddy, she stole a horse trailer and the only thing at that run-down ranchette that she loved, a pretty little paint named Fancy Lady.”
“She ran away to ride the rodeo circuit?”
“Yes, she did.”
Vanessa made a sound of approval low in her throat. “Maybelle sounds like a fighter. I like that.”
And I like you, he thought.So much. Maybe more than is good for me.
Twin lines formed between Vanessa’s smooth, dark brows. “Jameson, you look worried suddenly. What’s the matter?”
He shook his head and lied. “Not a thing—and yeah. Maybelle’s a fighter, and I liked that, too.”
Vanessa watched his face so closely. “You fell hard.”
“I did. Looking back, I can see all the ways she and I weren’t a good fit. At the time though, I wanted her enough to tell myself it was true. Essentially, I was ready to settle down, get married, raise a family. Maybelle said she wanted a family, too. So we tied the knot. I thought I had it all.”
