At His Command. Brenda Coulter

so harshly. But rather than looking crushed, Gloria laughed at him, at which point Jake scrapped his plans for an apology.

      “What’s this?” Gloria’s mirth subsided as she stepped closer to Jake’s desk and bent down in front of it. When she bobbed back up, she held out a small gold woman’s watch for his inspection.

      “It looks familiar,” Jake said. “It might be Madeline’s.”

      Gloria pinned him with a look of intense curiosity. “Why don’t you call her Maddie like everyone else does?”

      “Because I’ve known her since she was seven years old.”

      Gloria snorted. “What kind of answer is that?”

      The only kind of answer she was going to get. She could take it or leave it. Jake pressed his intercom button. “Lexi, somebody dropped a woman’s watch in my office. Is it yours?”

      His secretary answered in the negative. He thanked her and looked at Gloria. “I’ll take care of it.” He didn’t want to call Madeline, but if he asked Gloria to do it, she’d wonder—out loud—why he was so reluctant to make a simple phone call.

      Gloria laid the watch on a stack of papers on the corner of the desk. “I’ve been getting to know Maddie at church. She’s perfect for you.”

      Jake studied the watch, so diminutive compared to his own, but that made sense because Maddie’s wrists were nearly as small as a child’s. Which reminded him: “She’s too young, Gloria.”

      “Hogwash. That girl has more maturity in her little finger than you and me and this cat put together. I repeat—she’s perfect for you.”

      Jake bristled at the heavy-handed matchmaking attempt. “She’s twenty-six,” he said evenly. “And I’m thirty-nine.”

      Gloria harrumphed. “What does that matter? She’s special, Jake. And a couple of the young men at church are interested, so I hope you get over your age fixation right quick. At least put an engagement ring on her finger so she won’t wander off while you’re waiting for her to get old and wrinkled enough to suit you!”

      The thought of marriage to Maddie caused Jake’s brain to stall out, so by the time a scathing retort rose to his lips, Gloria had already left his office.

      He tamped down his impatience. Gloria wasn’t the only person who wanted to see him married. His mama introduced the subject at every opportunity, usually as a prelude to some wistful comment about grandchildren. But even if Jake wanted to marry again—and he emphatically did not—the absolute last candidate he would ever consider was Madeline Bright.

      If she ever discovered what he had done, she might eventually find it in her generous heart to forgive him. But how could she ever forget?

      The kindest thing Jake could do for Maddie was stay out of her life.

      Two days later, Jake wryly reflected that staying out of Maddie’s life would be a whole lot easier if she’d stay on post where she belonged and not come into Prairie Springs every chance she got. He’d been ambling toward the drugstore when he stopped to get a better look at a torque wrench in the hardware store’s display window. A sixth sense warned him to look over his shoulder, and he spotted the beautiful bane of his existence tripping merrily toward him.

      Hurrying past the window, Jake ducked inside the hardware store. He flattened himself next to the wall so he wouldn’t be in the way of anyone entering or exiting, but could still observe the sidewalk and judge when the coast was clear.

      He waited for what must have been a full minute, but she didn’t appear. She might not have been coming this far down the street, although knowing Maddie—Madeline—she had probably just stopped to brighten someone’s day.

      Well. Since he was here, he might as well have a look at that torque wrench. He turned away from the window and found himself facing a willowy young woman with electric-blue streaks in her black hair.

      She smiled invitingly. “Welcome to Nail World.”

      “Nail World,” Jake echoed, uncomprehending as he looked past her. What kind of hardware store had mirrored walls and bubblegum-pink carpet? When he spotted a bored-looking woman with her fingertips immersed in a bowl of sudsy water, awareness finally seeped into his Maddie-dulled brain. He’d missed the hardware store and entered the place next to it.

      “Did you want a manicure right now or did you want to schedule one for another time?” the blue-haired female inquired.

      A manicure. Jake almost snorted. Wouldn’t Travis bust a gut laughing if he returned to the office sporting shiny pink fingernails?

      “Uh, I guess I don’t have time for a manicure, after all,” he said, backing toward the door. “Excuse me.” He turned and wrenched the door open. As he thrust himself outside, he nearly collided with Maddie.

      “Jake!” She beamed a smile that made his toes wriggle inside his shoes.

      “Madeline. Sorry. I wasn’t looking where I was going.” He made a mental note to have his prescriptions delivered to the office from now on. The streets of Prairie Springs were no longer safe.

      She looked bright and pretty in a short white skirt and a yellow T-shirt that fit her like a second skin but still managed to look demure because it was edged with ruffles.

      Amusement tugged at the corners of her mouth as she nodded toward the shop Jake had just escaped from. “Did you get a manicure?”

      “Not hardly. I was just, uh, visiting a client who works there.” He hated playing fast and loose with the truth, but what else could he say? Why did every interaction with this woman have to be so complicated?

      In the bright sun her blue eyes sparkled like the clear waters of a Hill Country lake. “This kind of heat shouldn’t be legal,” she said cheerfully, fanning her face with a slender hand. “I just heard on the radio that it’s over a hundred again, so I decided to treat myself to an ice-cream cone.” She nodded toward the Creamery, the old-fashioned ice-cream parlor next to the town’s green. “Want to come?”

      Of course he wanted to. But he wasn’t going to. “Sorry. I have to get right back to the office.”

      “Oh.” Her smile faltered and her gaze skittered away.

      “Another time,” Jake said, hating himself for stomping all over her sunny mood.

      She bit a corner of her bottom lip and nodded slowly, clearly unconvinced that the rain check he’d just handed her was bona fide. She was right to be skeptical, and Jake felt lower than a snake’s belly.