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loved him.
"I'll be stopping by the hospital on my way out and I'll spend time with her, but she's on the mend
now so she doesn't need magic as a crutch." He launched himself into the saddle and gathered the
reins. "I'll stop in to square things away at the lodge before I go."
Before Maddy could ask if they could at least try to talk things out, Dimitri turned Tut's head in
the direction of the trail to the cabin and set out at a gallop. And Maddy realized Dimitri had made
their decision for them, and there was nothing more to say.
On the verge of tears, but still too numb for them to flow, she was startled when Adam came out
of the stable. Looking at him in annoyance and embarrassment, she said, "Have you been here all
along?"
"Yes. Dimitri wanted to ride so I rounded up Tut."
"Then I suppose you heard everything," Maddy said.
Adam nodded. "I'm sorry, kid, but it's for the best. Once we get your arena built you'll be focused
on that and you'll have your life back on track."
"I'm not a kid, Adam, and what just happened isn't for the best," Maddy said, "at least not for me,
but you can't possibly understand what I'm going through right now. You've lived in your isolated little
world with Emily since you were in high school."
"You're wrong," Adam replied. "You were too young to know what was going on, but when I was
in high school I was living in hell, and when Emily dumped me to marry her old boyfriend, I packed
the mule and headed to the mountains and didn't come back for two weeks because I needed to sort
through things and figure out how to get my life back on track without Emily, so I do know what it's
like to love someone who doesn't love you in return."
On hearing Adam say the words that she was feeling, tears filled Maddy's eyes, and her world
seemed to be literally falling apart. "But Dimitri did love me," she said, in a sob-filled voice. "I
know he did. I just don't know what happened, and Dimitri won't say."
Adam pulled Maddy into his arms and said, against the top of her head, "Honey, if he loved you
he'd figure out a way to make it work. I was ready to leave the ranch and take Emily to Mexico to
keep her and Jesse safe from her ex-husband, and Grandma was willing to give me the money to do it,
and we all know what Jeremy gave up to be with Billy."
Maddy allowed herself to be held in Adam's strong arms, which were again familiar to her, but it
had been years since he'd played big brother the way he was now. "Grandma was going to help you
leave here?" she asked, her voice muffled by Adam's chest. But after she asked the question her
grandmother's words came back&
If he truly loves you he'll be willing do whatever it takes to be with you& that's the kind of
love you wait a lifetime to have. That's the kind that will never falter...
"Grandma knew that's what I had to do because Emily and Jesse were my whole life," Adam
said. "But back when I packed the mule and headed for the mountains because I thought I'd lost Emily
for good, I chopped down a tree with an ax and split the wood, just to get rid of my anger and
disillusionment, but maybe it would be better for you to cry it out instead. My chest is broad, and my
shirt is cotton, so it can mop up a lot of tears."
Adam's words had Maddy laughing and crying at the same time, but they were also an invitation
to get rid of a whole lot of pent up grief. But after she'd shed some heavy tears, she backed out of
Adam's arms, mopped her eyes and dabbed her nose with the cuff of her shirt, and said, "I don't want
Mom or Dad or anyone to see me like this. I need to go somewhere."
"Come on then," Adam said.
Maddy looked at Adam through blurry, tear-filled eyes. "Where are we going?"
Adam took her by the arm and started in the direction of his truck. "To the building center to
order the materials for your arena."
CHAPTER 20
Nine Lives Lounge & Casino- three months later
Dimitri knew he had to get a handle on things. Ever since he arrived in Las Vegas he'd been
snapping at everyone, including his assistant, and when she told him, in no uncertain terms, that if he
didn't stop acting like a dictator with a mid-life crisis he could find another assistant, that was the
moment reality hit him in the head.
There was no other assistant for him, except the one he'd left behind. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]