Madison forced herself to look away from Callum and his sexy grin and focus on her brother. She took a breath and ventured a question, hoping it didn’t ignite another of his volatile responses.
“Did you have a good day?”
He gave her one of his familiar shrugs, only this one wasn’t as dismissive or tinged with anger. “It was okay.” He looked over at Callum.
“Go on, ask her,” Callum said.
Jason swallowed and met her eyes only for a moment. “Callum said he’d give me a job if it’s okay with you.”
“A job?” This was the last thing she’d expected, and suspicion flared that Callum was using her brother to get to her. But when she looked at him, he didn’t seem to be in full-on flirt mode.
“I told him that I had to start working at fourteen to save up enough for a down payment on a car. Took me every bit of those two years to do it, too.”
That surprised Madison. She knew that Elly and her brothers all had jobs on the Cottonwood and Callum worked on his family’s ranch, but she would have expected the well-to-do Codys to provide vehicles for their children. That they hadn’t, at least not for Callum, spoke volumes about how they’d raised their kids. It made her feel better about having Jason around Callum. If she couldn’t get through to her brother, maybe a man could. That thought made her heart ache, but that was less important than getting her brother back on the right path.
“What would you be doing?”
“Glamorous things like mucking out horse stalls, ” Callum said with laughter in his voice.
When she glanced at Jason, he was looking at Callum with admiration in his eyes. As much as it hurt to acknowledge that a stranger might be able to do what she’d failed at for months, she nodded.
“Okay.”
“Dex and Dusty should have some old stuff you can wear to work,” Callum said. He nodded toward the collection of barns behind the homestead. “I bet you can catch one of them before they call it a day. I’ll be by to get you at seven in the morning.”
Jason just nodded and took off around the house.
“I can’t believe he didn’t moan about the time. He usually sleeps half the morning.”
“He probably will complain in the morning. I still do.”
Madison looked back at Callum, who’d come to stand next to the porch, propping his outstretched arm against one of the support posts.
“Thank you, for whatever you said or did.”
“Wait until he’s shoveled some horse poop before you thank me. He may decide I’m the devil tomorrow.”
“But for now he seems to be interested in something other than going home and hanging out with the wrong people.”
“Well then, you’re welcome.”
“Did…did he say anything to you?”
“Not much. He’s not much of a talker, at least not yet.”
“He used to be.” Madison gripped her hands in her lap. “Before our parents died, he was such a bright, happy kid, always talking about something new he’d learned or e-mailing me funny YouTube videos. But when they died and he had to come live with me, he just…” She shook her head. “He changed.”
Callum sat on the edge of the porch and propped one leg up on it. “People deal with grief in different ways. I know it’s hard now, but I have a feeling he’ll get past it.”
“I hope so. I’m out of ideas of how to help him.”
“Maybe he’s to the point where he needs to help himself.”
She met his gaze. “Or have someone new try.”
“I’m not really doing anything, Madison, just giving him something to do, someplace to go so he has something else to focus on. You know that’s what all the bad stuff probably was, him trying to find something to make all the hurt go away.”
“Deep down, I know that. I just feel like I’ve failed him.”
Madison didn’t realize how close Callum was sitting to her until he reached out and took her hand in his. She didn’t pull away. His big, warm hand felt too good. She felt so much support in that touch that she nearly gave way to the tears she seemed to always be holding back.
“I think this job might be good for you, too,” Callum said.
“How so?”
“I’m guessing you haven’t had any time to do your own grieving, or healing. Take it now, when you have the chance.”
Madison squeezed his hand in return. “There’s more to you than meets the eye, Callum Cody.”
“That’s what I keep telling everyone,” he said and winked at her.
She laughed and shook her head.
“That’s a pretty sound, you laughing.”
Madison blushed and gently pulled her hand away. It would be oh so easy to fall under Callum Cody’s spell, to believe that there could be something between them. But she didn’t think she could handle any more heartache, and that’s what she’d get if she gave in. Because maybe sooner than she’d like, she’d be headed back to Phoenix, back to preparing lesson plans and working on academic papers on westward expansion, back to staring into the eyes of the college students in her classes instead of those of the most handsome, intriguing man she’d ever met.
“One of these days, you won’t pull away,” he said.
When she looked up and got caught in his gaze, she was afraid he was right.
…
The next morning, Madison was up at the crack of dawn. She used the items she’d gone to the grocery to buy the night before to make Jason’s lunch and a batch of cinnamon apple muffins for her brother and Callum. She felt she had to do something tangible to show Callum how much she appreciated what he was doing, even if he did brush it off as no big deal. To her, it was a very big deal.
When she heard Jason coming down the hallway, she turned and was stunned to see her brother looked like a real cowboy.
“Well, you look ready to ride the range.”
“I’m just doing grunt work,” he said. He noticed the paper bag on the kitchen island. “You made me lunch?”
She smiled. “Yeah.”
He stared at the bag long and hard, and it finally dawned on her what she’d done. Every morning, her mom had made lunch for her father and had it ready for him in a paper bag when he’d headed for the office. She opened her mouth to say something, but the sound of a vehicle outside drew her attention.
“That’s Callum.” Jason grabbed the bag and headed out the door.
Madison stood in the kitchen for several seconds before she picked up the container of muffins and walked outside.
“I thought you might be avoiding me,” Callum said where only she could hear him when she walked up next to the truck.
“No.”
“Hey, what’s wrong?” He reached for her hand, but she lifted the muffins to provide a buffer between them. “What’s this?”
“A thank you.”
“That wasn’t necessary.”
“It was for me.”
Callum placed his fingers beneath her chin and lifted it, forcing her to look him in the eye. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I just did something that reminded Jason of Mom and Dad. Long story.”
“Then when I bring him back this afternoon, you and are I are going for a long walk.” When she started to object, he wouldn’t let her. “No arguments.”
Her heart beat a couple of times. “Okay.”
As she watched Callum and Jason disappear down the drive, she was already looking forward to that walk even though she dreaded the conversation.
