Page 19 of The Maverick’s Forever Home (Montana Mavericks: Behind Closed Doors #2)

“Good grief, you’ve gotten heavy,” she said, trying to lift him. “I don’t know if I can carry you anymore.” It was enough to have her struggling with tears all over again. Her baby wasn’t a baby anymore. “Cody, honey. We’re home.” She ran her fingers through his curls.

“We are?” He opened one eye. “Okay.” He slipped from the car.

For the first time in a long time, he didn’t resist taking her hand. He let her lead him to his room, tug off his boots and help him get ready for bed. He didn’t even protest when she tucked him in and pressed a kiss to his cheek.

“Ma,” Cody murmured, his eyes barely open. “It was real cool how you took care of Delilah tonight.”

“It was real cool how you helped, too.” She smoothed his curls back. “Delilah’s only been living with Braden for a while now—that’s one of the reasons I want us to be their friends.”

Cody’s eyes opened wider. “Where’s her mom?”

“In heaven.” She swallowed. “You were a real helper to Braden tonight.”

Cody stared at her, then nodded.

“You get some sleep, okay?” She couldn’t leave. Even though she knew he’d resist, she leaned forward and gave him a quick hug. “I love you.” So much.

To her surprise, his arms slid around her neck and he hugged back. Tight. “You, too, Ma.” He let her go and closed his eyes.

“Sweet dreams, hon.” She hurried to turn off his bedside lamp and closed his bedroom door behind her.

If she didn’t hurry, she’d be sobbing in the hallway—and that just wouldn’t do.

Tonight had been a wonderful, awful, confusing night.

She didn’t know how to feel, only that she was feeling everything all at once.

Once she was in the safety of her room, she flopped onto her bed and tried to clear her head.

Better to focus on the known than flounder in the unknown. What she knew was this: Cody did love her, Delilah and Braden would be okay, and, right or wrong, she wanted Braden to be so much more than her friend.

* * *

Braden’s plan to get Delilah to bed, sit in front of his fireplace and enjoy some peace and quiet had gone out the window the minute his brothers started knocking on the door.

“What are y’all doing here at this time of the night? Is everything okay?” Braden couldn’t imagine them showing up this way if it wasn’t something serious.

“There was a guy.” Miles brushed past him and into the house. “They looked pretty close, too.”

“She went back to get her sweater and coat, and he walked her out to her car.” Hayes came inside, too, his brow furrowed.

“What? Is someone hurt? Everyone okay?” Braden stared out the front door, half expecting the rest of his family to traipse inside without his invitation. When it was clear it was just his brothers, he closed the door, quietly. “Why are you here? And what the hell are you two so worked up about?”

“Did you hear what we said?” Miles scowled at him.

He ran a hand over his face. “Not really. Something about a sweater.” Her sweater and coat .

They were talking about Maggie. He should probably offer to get her sweater cleaned.

Or burn it. If it was him, he’d burn it.

But he’d always been squeamish around throw up.

Anything else was no problem. “It’s been a long night, guys.

” Even though Delilah seemed okay, he was worrying over her.

Her being sick and him not being able to control it or stop it… He didn’t like it.

“How’s Delly?” Hayes asked. “Looked pretty bad.”

“Don’t bring that up. Please.” Miles pressed a hand over his mouth.

“She’s fine.” Braden sat in his favorite leather chair and rested his elbows on his knees. “She’s sleeping.” He ran a hand over his face. “Which is what I’m thinking about doing.”

“You’re not worried about Maggie and some other guy?”

Braden glanced up at Hayes. What was he talking about? “You lost me.”

“Maggie. I hate to tell you this but she might be stringing you along.” And Miles seemed pretty upset about it. “One minute she was making eyes at you and then she’s chatting with some other guy.”

“You seem awful calm about this.” Hayes sat on the worn leather chair opposite him.

Braden stared at the wood plank floor beneath his feet. “You two are upset enough as it is.” He sat back, eyeing each of his brothers. “Did he look familiar?”

“He was all bundled up. No idea.” Hayes shrugged.

Braden ran a hand over his face. “Was he friendly with Cody?”

They nodded, in unison.

“It was probably her twin brother, Mike. Or Mike’s partner, Danny. She said they were both there, too.” He yawned.

“Oh.” Hayes shoved his hands into his pockets. “I guess that’s a possibility.”

It was the only possibility. Maggie wasn’t the type to string someone along or mislead anyone. He trusted her completely. Wait… He did? Yeah, he did. And it scared the hell out of him. “Is that all?”

“I guess.” Hayes stood. “I feel like an ass for coming in here like this.”

Braden could be upset that his brothers had been so quick to condemn Maggie or touched that his brothers were determined to protect him. Considering how tired he was, he picked the latter. “Y’all were looking out for me.”

“You sure you’re okay?” Miles hadn’t stopped frowning since he got here. “You seem… I don’t know…like you’re in love?” He started laughing then. “Watching you two tonight was like watching one of those made-for-TV romance movies. Hayes and I were feeling a little nauseous ourselves.”

“No one told you to come to the game to keep tabs on me.” Braden pushed up out of his chair. “You got your jabs in. You good now?”

“Um, maybe.” Miles was still laughing. “We’re your brothers. And, you know, we want to be part of your life, is all.”

Hayes chuckled, too.

“Just remember you said that. Since you’re so eager to be involved in my life, you two will be the first I call for help when Delilah starts throwing up again.” He walked over to the front door, pulled it open and stood aside.

“You’re no fun,” Miles mumbled, all but running out the door.

“Good one.” Hayes nodded. “But you’re not really going to call, are you?”

“Out.” Braden closed the door behind his brother and rested his head against the solid wood.

“Irritating sonsabitches.” But he was smiling as he turned off all the lights.

He didn’t normally lock up the place but his brothers normally didn’t make late-night house calls, either.

He doubted they’d come back but he turned the lock anyway.

Long before he’d known Delilah existed, he’d wanted his own space.

He loved his family, but all the lovey-dovey newlywed stuff his three siblings were experiencing was hard for him to stomach.

Since he and Delilah arrived in Tenacity, he’d spent every free minute he had getting one of empty foreman’s houses updated and move-in ready.

It’d barely been a week since they’d left the main house but this place already felt like home.

He was proud of it—proud that he had a place for Delilah to call home.

Before he headed to his room, he checked on her again.

Her skin was cool and her breathing was steady.

Hopefully, the worst of it was over. He dropped a kiss on her forehead, tucked the blankets around her and tiptoed from the room.

He made sure the nightlight in the hallway was on before going into his room—directly across the hall from hers.

He shrugged out of his shirt and tossed it in the chair as he lay down on his bed.

He was seriously considering skipping his shower and going to bed but the sound of his phone vibrating had him sitting upright. He’d plugged his phone in and left it in his room to charge after he’d put Delilah to bed—not giving it another thought. Other than family, no one texted him.

It was probably Miles or Hayes. They seemed bound and determined to give him as much grief as possible. He reached for his phone, fully prepared to block their numbers, only to see Maggie had texted him. As he read the text, he couldn’t help but smile.

I hope Delilah is okay.

Seeing she’d sent the text a half hour ago had him wishing he’d kept his phone on him. It was almost eleven. Was it too late to respond? He typed and deleted a half dozen responses before he finally hit Send.

She’s better and sleeping. Thank you for your help tonight.

It felt too short and impersonal. He ran a hand over his hair. He’d been so preoccupied with taking care of Delilah, he hadn’t been able to think about what had happened before his daughter got sick.

But now that she was sleeping peacefully, there was nothing stopping him from replaying every second that had stretched out between them. It could have been a minute, it could have been an hour—that part didn’t really matter. It’d been the way Maggie had responded to him…

He brushed his thumb along the tip of his fingers, almost as if he could still feel her there.

He pressed his eyes shut, but it didn’t blot out the way she’d looked at him.

It’d been a damn good thing he’d been sitting down because she’d basically knocked the ground out from beneath him.

He’d been so caught up in her. The shift of emotions on her face, her uneven breathing and flushed cheeks, the way she’d bit her lower lip when he’d stared too long at her mouth.

He’d never wanted to kiss someone the way he wanted to kiss Maggie. He’d ached for it—for her. And, damn it all, she’d wanted him, too. There was no denying they’d both felt it.

The question was, would she try? Would she want to pretend nothing happened and hold on to this “friends only” thing? And, if she did, could he go back and pretend he hadn’t damn near drowned in wanting her?

He almost dropped the phone when it vibrated. Maggie had answered.

I’m so glad she’s okay. You should get some sleep, too. You can’t take care of her if you don’t take care of yourself.