Page 14 of The Maverick’s Forever Home (Montana Mavericks: Behind Closed Doors #2)

“A re we done with snack?” Maggie started shoving things back into the backpack, trying to rein in her panic.

When she got home, Mike was getting an earful.

And Cody? What on earth made him think it was okay to blurt out something like that?

He hadn’t meant any harm, but the lingering awkwardness between her and Braden was thick and heavy and all too real. “And don’t leave any trash.”

“Trash makes fishies and aminals sick.” Delilah handed over her granola bar wrapper and half-empty water bottle. “Thank you, Cody’s mom.”

“You are welcome, sweetie.” The more time she spent with Delilah, the more precious she became. “You can call me Maggie if you want to.”

“I can?” Delilah’s grin was blinding. “Maggie, Maggie, Maggie .” She sing-songed Maggie’s name over and over before dissolving into giggles.

Precious . Maggie giggled right along with her.

“You ready?” Cody stood in front of them, watching them.

He’d seemed irritated since she’d shut down the whole dating-Braden declaration. But why? He’d never shown any interest in her dating before so where was this coming from? Did he think she was unhappy? Was that it? She’d make sure to reassure him that wasn’t the case when they got home.

“Ready!” Delilah hopped over to him. “Hi, Cody.”

Cody rolled his eyes. “You are so weird.” He headed for the path.

“Cody is funny.” Delilah was undeterred by Cody’s less than jubilant attitude.

Poor Delilah. It was obvious the little girl had developed a case of hero worship for her son. She wasn’t sure what to do about it, either. Cody would never be outright mean to Delilah—but he wasn’t exactly careful with his words. As was made perfectly clear with the whole dating conversation.

They’d been on the trail for about ten minutes when Cody came to a stop. Delilah, who’d been closely following him, slammed into his back, wobbled, then landed on her rear.

“Ouch!” Delilah reached around to rub her bottom.

“Are you all right?” Maggie helped Delilah stand and swiped at the dust covering the back of her jeans.

“I’m real sorry, Delilah.” Cody’s concern was sincere.

“It’s okay, Cody.” Delilah’s smile was like a ray of sunshine. “Do not worry.”

Braden sighed and shook his head. The minute Braden realized she was watching him, his features smoothed and the corner of his mouth kicked up.

And, for the ninety-ninth time that day, Maggie was forced to endure tummy flutters, tingles and heart palpitations.

It would get easier in time. She’d become immune to his charm and good looks and he’d never need to know how much he rattled her.

“Ma, look!” Cody called out.

The nervous edge to her son’s voice had Maggie tensing. She did a quick sweep of the area, searching the trees and underbrush for any threat but found nothing. To be safe, she turned to Braden. A bear? she mouthed.

Braden shook his head. But then the corner of his mouth kicked up and time stopped.

More tingles. Dammit .

“Ma.” Cody waved her forward. “I see something.”

Right . While she was being giddy and ridiculous over Braden Parker, a grizzly bear could be coming at them—right this very minute. She hurried to her son and crouched beside him. “What is it?”

It took a minute for Maggie to see what Cody was pointing at. All she could make out was a long white object partially obscured by shrubs, dead leaves and undergrowth. “A big stick.”

Braden crouched beside Cody, his eyes narrowing as he peered in the direction Cody pointed. His brows rose and he sat back on his heels. “I’ll go check it out.” He ran a hand over Delilah’s messy pigtail. “Stay here with Maggie, okay? I don’t want you getting into any poison ivy.”

“’Kay, Daddy.” Delilah nodded.

“Can I go with him?” Cody asked, tugging on the hem of her sweater. “Please, Ma.”

“I don’t mind.” Braden turned to her as he spoke.

Crouched as they were, he was close, too close.

Unnervingly so. He could probably hear her heart hammering its way out of her chest—that’s all she could hear.

Taking a deep breath didn’t do a thing to calm her, either.

Then she thought he glanced—for a handful of seconds—at her mouth.

Which wasn’t likely. Why would he? He wouldn’t. He didn’t.

“Your call.” Whether he looked at her mouth or not, he was definitely looking at her. He leaned forward and whispered, “If it is what I think it is, Cody is going to be over the moon.”

What was more dazzling? His eyes or his smile? Or was it just…all of him?

“Maggie?” The way he said her name was all rough edges and temptation.

Breathe . And ignore the fact that she was breathing in his scent. She swallowed down a frustrated groan.

“Ma?” Cody’s impatience was as effective as a cold shower.

She stood up quickly, almost knocking heads with Braden in the process. “Yes, sure. Go.” She kept her hands fisted at her sides and hoped no one would notice how badly they were shaking.

She didn’t look at Braden as he led Cody off the path. That wouldn’t be wise.

“What is it?” Delilah asked as she reached for Maggie’s hand. “I wanna know.”

“Me, too.” Maggie gave her hand a gentle squeeze. But now that Braden was walking off, she was feeling more herself. She was breathing and thinking—and had a semi-normal heart rate. All good things. If she didn’t want to make a fool out of herself, space was essential.

Mental note. Keep a physical distance from Braden.

The wind was on the cold side so Maggie knelt and buttoned up the front of the little girl’s coat. “Here.” She took off her scarf and wrapped it around Delilah’s neck and shoulders. “It’s a little big on you.”

Delilah tucked her chin into the folds of the scarf. “It’s comfy. Thank you, Maggie.”

“You’re welcome.” She sat on one of the large rocks lining the path. “I don’t like being cold, either.”

“Florida was nice and warm and sunshine-y.” She sat right beside Maggie, leaning against her as she said, “I miss my mommy and the beach a wot.”

Maggie slipped her arm around the little girl—for warmth and comfort. She didn’t know what the custody situation was with Braden and Delilah’s mother but she hoped it was amicable.

“Daddy says Mommy is way up there, watching me.” She pointed up into the sky. “An angel watchin’ over me.”

Her guardian angel? Maggie’s heart stuttered then slammed, hard, against her chest. Delilah’s mother had died?

She closed her eyes and resisted the urge to hold Delilah closer.

The little girl wasn’t crying or upset, she was sharing.

No matter how surprising and devastating the news was to Maggie, she wasn’t going to upset the little girl by getting emotional.

Braden really is doing this on his own. And knowing that put things in a very different light.

Instead of getting teary-eyed, Maggie scrambled for something to say. Before Delilah had shared about her mother, they’d been talking about missing home. How Delilah missed the beach and the crash of the waves…

Maggie stared up at the tall trees overhead. “It’s not the same as waves, but sometimes the wind blows through the trees and makes a nice sound.”

Delilah managed to crawl into Maggie’s lap. “The wind?”

Maggie wrapped her arms around the little girl, keeping her steady. “If you’re quiet, you might hear it.”

Delilah went completely still. For a minute, Maggie thought the little girl was holding her breath.

Finally, a gust of wind whipped through the trees. The branches creaked, the leaves rustled, and the faintest whistle sounded. She smiled when Delilah’s hands tightened on her arms.

“Whispers… Tree whispers.” Delilah was whispering, too.

“It does sound like they’re whispering.” Since the trees and Delilah were whispering, Maggie followed suit. “I’d never thought of it that way. It’s a gentle sound.”

“Yep.” Delilah leaned back against Maggie and yawned. “I wike it.”

Instinct had Maggie starting to rock. When Cody had been little, rocking was the surest way to help him drift off to sleep. If Delilah was tuckered out from the hike and needed a quick nap while the boys were off investigating, Maggie was all too happy to keep rocking and hold her close.

They stayed that way for some time. Between the whispers of the trees and the steady pattern of Delilah’s breathing, Maggie allowed herself a moment’s peace.

She wouldn’t think about work, her recovery, wonder how long it would take for her to be medically cleared to return to work, how to reconnect with her son or her son’s surprising stance on her and Braden dating.

Nope . All of that could wait.

Maggie was on the verge of dozing off when she heard Cody let out a whoop. She knew they were headed back because their voices were slowly getting louder, but she couldn’t make out any words. Cody was talking excitedly, his voice rising and falling, and Braden let out an occasional deeper mumble.

“Ma!” Cody waved, then started running to her. “Guess what! We found something, Ma.”

Maggie shifted so that Delilah was more secure in her lap. “Something good, I take it?”

“Uh-huh.” Cody kept glancing back over his shoulder at Braden. “It’s real heavy and real fragile so he’s being careful.”

“Can you tell me what it is?” Whatever it was, her son was practically vibrating with exhilaration.

“It’s a secret. Just wait.” He was sort of hopping from one foot to the other, impatiently waiting for Braden and the mystery object to reach them.

She, however, refused to watch Braden. At the moment, she was calm and in full control of her emotions, and she’d really like to keep it that way.

Now was not the time to analyze why Braden triggered unwanted nerves or jitters or flutters or heart palpitations.

Now was the time to ooh and aah over her son’s discovery.

“Look.” Cody pointed…at Braden, who was carrying the surprise.

It’s fine . She focused solely on what Braden was holding. “Is that a bone?” She was surprised.