Maddie had no idea how many people had ultimately been involved in getting Ali to Fort Bonnell, but she knew strings had been pulled, red tape cut and favors called in. Even then, there had been some tricky legal issues to untangle, and that was where Jake had come in.
Maddie smiled to herself as she washed salad greens. Maybe Jake wasn’t sure he believed in God anymore, but God had certainly used him to accomplish His plan for Ali Willis.
After their long trip to Texas, Maddie had stuck by the little orphan’s side until she’d seen him comfortably settled in his room at the Fort Bonnell/Prairie Springs Medical Center. He had just been introduced to his grandfather, so Maddie waited until the uncertainty had disappeared from his sweet dark eyes and he was chatting comfortably with the general before kissing his velvety cheek and taking her leave.
Intent on finding a hot shower and a soft bed, Maddie had charged toward an opening elevator door, nearly mowing down a man with a cane who was attempting to exit. With a profuse apology on the tip of her tongue, she stepped back and looked up into a pair of startled brown eyes and wondered for an instant if she was already asleep and dreaming.
“Jake?”
“Hello, Maddie.”
He was smiling, but there was something guarded in his expression that kept her from throwing her arms around his neck. He hadn’t reached for her, either, so she wondered if he was feeling guilty about refusing her visits at the hospital all those years ago. He’d been shocked and grieving and in pain; she had understood that, so there was nothing to forgive.
“Somebody mentioned an army nurse named Maddie Bright,” he said as he stepped away from the elevator. “But I didn’t think they could be talking about you.”
“I finished nursing school and joined the army,” she blurted, then felt stupid for stating something so obvious.
A corner of Jake’s mouth quirked in amusement as his gaze traveled slowly down to her boots. “I can see that, Lieutenant.”
Maddie was suddenly self-conscious. This was their first meeting in years, and here she stood in baggy, wrinkled fatigues and clunky boots. She hadn’t showered since yesterday, and it had been months since her mouth had been anywhere near a tube of lipstick. Even worse, she’d sucked her last breath mint somewhere over the Atlantic.
She quickly decided that none of those things mattered. She’d have crawled through slime for this chance to see Jake and satisfy herself that he was all right.
“Mama and I were overjoyed when we heard you’d learned to walk again,” she said. “And when you started law school…oh, Jake, we were so proud.” Her voice cracked on that last word and her eyes had teared up, so she emitted a self-conscious little laugh. “Sorry. I’m exhausted.”
“Is your mother well?” Once again, Maddie detected an odd wariness in his expression.
“She’s fine.” Maddie grasped a lock of loose hair that had flopped against her cheek and tucked it behind her ear. “She’s still with the accounting firm, but she’s on a business trip right now, so it’ll be a few days before I head up to Dallas to see her.”
Jake’s broad shoulders dropped a little and he appeared to relax. “Please give her my best.”
“I will. I can’t wait to tell her I bumped into you. But what are you doing here?”
“Practicing law. My partner and I hung out a shingle in Prairie Springs just over a year ago.” He paused. “I’ve been representing General Willis in the matter of his grandson.”
“Ali? Oh, Jake this is wonderful!” Maddie knew she was grinning like a goof, but at the moment she was happier than she’d been in years. “I guess you’re the attorney everyone’s been talking about.”
His answering smile was wistful and brief. “The general asked me to stop by, and I don’t know how long he’s planning to be here at the hospital, so I’d better get in there.”
Maddie was reluctant to see him go, but she inclined her head. Since he was living and working right here in Prairie Springs, she’d have ample opportunities to see him.
“All grown up,” he murmured, shaking his head as though he could hardly believe it. “You look good, Maddie.”
She made a wry face. “Jake, I’m fresh off a plane from the Middle East. Although ‘fresh’ probably isn’t the best word choice. As I’m sure you remember, it’s a very long, noisy, uncomfortable trip in a C-17.”
Those words had proved to be conversation killers. They’d chased the warmth from Jake’s eyes and made his mouth tighten. “I remember,” he’d said, and then he’d mumbled something about the two of them having a long talk later.
Maddie was still waiting for that long talk. They’d come close to having it just a little while ago, but Jake had clammed up again.
Maddie dropped some sweet Italian sausage into a skillet to brown. She hoped Jake liked sausage, because if the way to a man’s heart really was through his stomach, maybe he’d relax over dinner and they’d finally have that talk.
Her conscience pricked her, but she ignored it. She had assured Jake this wouldn’t be like a date, but that was exactly what she was hoping it would turn out to be.
Seated in his leather recliner with his feet elevated and a stack of folders on the lamp table beside him, Jake silently acknowledged that he was a low-down skunk. No woman deserved to be treated the way he’d been treating Maddie.
His totally inappropriate attraction was his problem, not hers. She was just trying to be friendly and helpful. That was the way she was, the way she had always been. That was why she’d gazed respectfully at his mama’s awful paintings and petted his nuisance of a cat. And that was why she hadn’t told him off and stormed out of his apartment after she’d made that innocent joke about falling in love and he’d made her feel like a fool.
He wished he could take it all back and tell her…
Tell her what, exactly?
“She’s not for you, Hopkins,” he muttered under his breath.
Tripod leaped onto the chair and settled across Jake’s right thigh, as always avoiding his weak leg by some strange instinct. When Jake absently laid his hand on the cat’s long back and stroked a couple of times, Tripod began to purr.
“Glad one of us is happy,” Jake groused, tossing aside the contract he’d been pretending to read. He wasn’t going to get any work done with Maddie in his kitchen sautéeing onions—he could smell them—and singing along with one of his favorite CDs.
She had as pure and perfect an alto as he had ever heard, and she was going to be the death of him. Jake cocked his head and listened more closely, impressed that she knew all of the words to “I Cross My Heart,” a song George Strait had ridden to the top of the country charts a few years ago. As she sang about true love and lifelong devotion, Jake stared hopelessly at the whirling paddles of the ceiling fan above him.
If Madeline Bright had been put on earth with strict instructions to torture him, she couldn’t possibly be doing a better job than she was doing right now.
He wished she would just hurry up and go away. He wished it so hard that he was almost tempted to pray for it.
Which just went to show how desperate he was becoming.
She’d called him twice, but he hadn’t answered. Had he gone downstairs to his office? Maddie wandered out to Jake’s living area in search of him.
She spotted him beside one of the long windows, sprawled in a recliner, one hand resting on the back of the ugly three-legged cat draped across his right thigh. Head back, mouth open, Jake was snoring softly.
During her deployment, Maddie had heard plenty of snoring.