Page 35 of Reckoning with the Cowboy
“Thanks.” He grinned, exposing that darned dimple again, and she felt herself weaken. They’d survived Roger Grimes. Wasn’t it possible that together they could survive even worse as long as they all stuck together?
“I’d better get to work and let you do the same,” he said. “Maybe we could have dinner one night.” He held up a hand to keep her from answering right away. “Just think about it.”
With that, he left her with her heart aching. Wasn’t this what she’d always dreamed of? Cordell coming home, settling here, making a life, being the man she needed in her life.
* * *
Goldie hadn’t beenallowed in to see Max.Family only.Those words broke her heart. After giving her statement to the state police, she went down to the café and began to clean up the mess Grimes had left. Max was going to live. She took strength in knowing that, even though she felt as if she were sleepwalking through her day.
The fact that he might not want to see her lodged itself in the back of her mind. She told herself she would visit as soon as she was allowed. She had to make sure he was going to be all right. At least that’s what she told herself. In truth, she wondered if any of what had happened had changed his mind about their being together.
Ronnie had suffered a concussion and would be back to work soon, she was told. In the meantime, his mother had volunteered to cook until her son recovered.
Maggie was already in the kitchen cleaning up when Goldie arrived.
“I didn’t expect you in today,” the woman called to her. “I can get my daughter Lindsey to work if you need more time off.”
Goldie shook her head. “I need to get back to work.” It felt surreal, what she’d been through. It had happened so quickly and ended just as fast, leaving her feeling off-balance. She couldn’t imagine how Josie was feeling since it had to be much scarier for her. The two of them had talked a little earlier, but both were still a little shaken.
Dry Gulch had always felt so safe. Hardly anyone she didn’t know came into the café unless a tourist had wandered in off one of the main highways in the state and gotten lost.
But now she knew she’d never feel safe here again. It didn’t help that she couldn’t see Max and that no one knew when he’d be back to work. The state police had left. Things should have felt normal again, but they didn’t.
Goldie felt as if she was waiting for the other shoe to drop.
“You okay?” Maggie asked.
Letting out the breath she’d been holding, she smiled at the older woman. She realized that she’d been standing staring at the mess, unable to move. “I will be,” she said, though she wasn’t sure that was true as she shook herself. “I just need to work.”
Across the street, she caught a glimpse of movement and stopped. Cordell was removing weather-grayed sheets of plywood from the front of the boarded-up abandoned Dry Gulch Hotel. Vaguely, she wondered what that was about before she went to get a broom and a dustpan.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Max thought he would feel less off-balance once he knew that Grimes was really dead this time. From what Cordell had told him, he had wounded Grimes enough he would have died but the fire and the explosion had finished him off.
He felt such a rush of pride in his brother. Cordell had stepped up in a way he’d never expected. Max couldn’t help but wonder if things would have gone worse had he been there. He would never know, but he was glad when his brother walked into the room later that afternoon.
“How’s it goin’?” Cordell asked as he moved to the side of Max’s bed and took his hand.
“The doctor said I’m going to live.”
“Was there any doubt?” his brother joked. “I told Goldie not to worry because you’re the strongest man I know.”
Just the sound of her name was a stab to his chest. He didn’t feel strong right now. He felt anything but. “How is she?”
“She went back to work today at the café.” Max nodded. “She wants to see you.”
“That’s not a good idea,” he said and felt his brother’s gaze narrow on him.
“I thought you’d be anxious to see her,” Cordell said.
He shook his head, unable to explain this awful feeling he had even to himself, let alone to anyone else. “I think she’s better off without me.”
“Is this about Roger? He’s gone. Nothing came out about our pasts. No one would care anyway. It’s over.”
So why didn’t it feel that way? Because he was sheriff and he’d be facing the next threat that came to town? Living in Dry Gulch, he’d never thought about how if he married Goldie, he might be putting his wife and children in jeopardy. But he did now thanks to Grimes.
“I’m staying at your house until you get out of the hospital and after that if you need me, but Max, you love Goldie. Don’t push her away.”
