Page 9 of The Maverick’s Forever Home (Montana Mavericks: Behind Closed Doors #2)

I t was a terrible time for Maggie’s phone to start ringing.

She scanned the recipe—again—to make sure everything was right.

It certainly didn’t look right. There was a very high likelihood that her first attempt at homemade pudding was going to result in a goopy chocolate mess.

She’d been whisking and whisking but the lumps weren’t going anywhere.

“Hello?” She hadn’t meant to snap. It was the pudding’s fault.

“Maggie?” The voice was gruff and unfamiliar.

“I’m not interested in whatever it is you are selling.” She eyed the mounting bubbles with concern.

“Um, no, Maggie. I’m not selling anything. This is Braden.” He cleared his throat. “Braden Parker. We met Tuesday at the kids’ school?”

Braden? Heavens to Betsy. He’d called. He’d actually called. She was so startled she dropped the whisk. It spun, end over end, as it fell to the floor, spattering hot, chocolate goop all over the floor—and her feet. “Ouch!” It had been boiling so of course it was hot. Really hot. “Oh, damn.”

“You okay?” There was an edge to his voice.

“Fine.” Except for the sting on the top of her feet, she was alarmingly…

giddy. Pull it together, Maggie. She bent, wiping at the chocolate with the kitchen towel she’d draped over her shoulder.

“Sorry.” But bending over had the phone sliding free—and landing in a puddle of pudding.

“Dammit.” She grabbed the phone, did her best to de-pudding it and held it up to her ear. “Braden?”

“I’m still here. Is this a bad time?”

“Oh… Well…” She stood, blew at the hair that had fallen into her face and surveyed the damage.

“I’m only cooking.” She would much rather talk to Braden than cook.

She took a deep breath to steady her nerves.

It didn’t work. “Rather, I’m trying to cook.

So far, Cody’s birthday cupcakes are my only success—and that had taken several batches.

From the looks of the concrete-like concoction simmering on the stove, it appears that edible pudding will also take several attempts.

” She froze, horrified by the words that had come pouring out her mouth. “That was way more than you asked for.”

His chuckle warmed her insides.

There was no stopping her smile. She leaned against the kitchen counter, her burned feet and the congealing pudding still bubbling on the stove all but forgotten. “How’s your day going?” Which was such an unoriginal thing to ask she might as well have mentioned the weather.

“It’s looking up.”

“Oh?” She paused. Did he mean…because of her? No, no … She could not read things into everything he said or did. That was the quickest way to disappointment. At the school, he’d made it very clear why he wanted her number. “How are things going with Delilah?” That was why he was calling.

“We had a good morning today so I’ve got no complaints.”

“Boy, do I get that.” She did, too. If she could fast-forward in time enough for Cody to stop pushing and testing her, she’d seriously consider it.

“I wanted to thank you again. You got me through a rough patch.”

“You don’t have to thank me.” Her heart rate was in overdrive.

“You and Cody made a big impression on Delilah.”

“A good one, I hope?” Was she flirting? Was she as terrible at it as she thought she was?

“I’d say so.” He chuckled again.

If she kept smiling like this, her cheeks were going to hurt. “That’s nice.”

There was a moment’s pause before Braden said, “Montana is still pretty new to Delilah. I was thinking about taking her on a hike. Would you and Cody be interested in coming with us this weekend?”

Maggie was clutching the chocolate-stained kitchen towel to her chest now, pure anticipation flooding her insides.

This phone call was making her far too giddy.

“This weekend?” Did it matter if it was this weekend or next weekend?

She had zero plans on this month’s calendar.

Next month was pretty free and clear, too.

As long as she paced herself, a hike would be good for her.

“If that works for you. If not, I understand.” He cleared his throat again. “You can think about it first—”

“Would Saturday morning work? Around ten?” Why take time to think this through rationally when she could just spit out the first words that popped into her head? And there was no way he’d missed the excitement in her voice.

“Saturday at ten works.” He gave her detailed directions on how to get to the park. “I know it’ll mean a lot to Delilah to see you and Cody. She’s been asking for a playdate since we met.”

She had no reason to feel a twinge of disappointment.

Braden was handsome, really handsome, but that didn’t change her reality.

She knew, with 100 percent certainty, that she was in no way ready for any sort of romantic entanglement.

From what she’d seen and heard from Braden, he was in the same boat.

“We probably shouldn’t call it a playdate in front of Cody. He’s too old for that.”

“That makes sense.” She could hear the amusement in his voice. “Delilah has been going on about how much older he is. Smart and tall, too.”

It was Maggie’s turn to laugh. “All that?”

“Like I said, you two made an impression.”

Meaning she’d made an impression on Delilah, too? That made her happy. “The feeling is mutual. I’ve never wanted to go buy some fun knee socks as much as I did that day.”

“She’d love that. But good luck finding any. Pretty sure I’ve bought every pair in Montana for her.”

“That’s a lot of knee socks.”

“You’re telling me. And every time I do laundry, one or two goes missing. Not that she’s bothered by wearing socks that don’t match.”

“It means she’s confident. That’s a good thing, believe me.

Encourage that. It’ll make life easier for her if she grows up knowing her worth.

Compliment her on what she does, not just how she looks.

If she wants to wear mismatched socks, don’t make a big deal out of it.

Tell her you like them. What the people we love most say has the biggest impact.

Cody will repeat stuff that I said years ago so I try to weigh my words before I say them.

” She broke off, mortified she’d gone on so long.

“Unlike now, apparently. I bet you’re regretting you called.

Ugh. That’s all the unsolicited parenting advice I’ll give you today. ”

“Maggie, don’t apologize. I’m listening… Hell, I’m taking notes.” He sighed. “I’m serious. I have a notebook.”

“You do?” Hearing that made her heart flip over before it went back to beating at the speed of light.

“Yes, ma’am. As you know, kids don’t come with manuals. Why is that, exactly?”

She laughed. “Wouldn’t that be nice?” She paused a second. “Well, I should let you go. I’ve kept you from work long enough.”

“There’s always work to be done, but you’re not keeping me from anything. I called you.”

“Right.” Like she could forget? “Well…”

“I appreciate your time, Maggie. And your advice. I’ll see you and Cody Saturday?”

“We will see you then, Braden.” She swallowed against the tightening of her throat as she set her phone aside. That’s when she realized she wasn’t alone. “Mike.” She sighed.

“Maggie.” He walked to the stove, peered into the pot and frowned. “Making some sort of spackle to patch up a wall or something?”

She flipped off the burner and put a lid on the pot. “You guessed it.”

“Uh-huh.” He picked up the pudding box, recipe side up. “You know, Mags, some folks aren’t meant to be cooks. And I say this with love.”

“Whatever.” She moved around to sit at one of the kitchen chairs. “Cody wanted pudding.”

“You can buy it already made at the store. It comes in handy-dandy individually sized containers—perfect for his lunch box.” He pointed at the pot and the mess on the floor. “I’m thinking that might be the better option.”

She peered down at her bare feet. There were a few dark red spots from where the pudding landed, but, as long as she didn’t touch them, they didn’t hurt.

“What did you do?” Mike came to stand by the chair. “Your feet look like connect-the-dots puzzles.”

She sat back in the chair. “If I tell you, you’ll only tease me some more.”

He sat in the chair beside her. “I can’t help it. If I get to tease you, it means you’re here. Think of it as my way of saying I love you.”

“Or you could just say you love me and not tease me?” She smiled at him. “That would be even better.”

“I’ll try.” He sighed then pointed at her feet. “Pudding? Do I want to know how you got pudding burns on your feet?”

“I dropped the whisk.” She frowned at the mess. “And now I need to clean up my mess so Mom doesn’t come home and freak out.”

“Hold on.” He put a hand on her arm. “On the phone. You were talking to that Braden Parker guy?”

She nodded. Thanks to the twin thing, Mike usually had a good idea of what was going on in her head.

If he needed extra help, her inability to control her face and tendency to blush over every little thing normally did the trick.

Meaning there was no way he’d missed how rattled she was by Braden’s phone call.

“And you made plans with him?” He sighed. “Was that before or after you dropped the whisk?”

He knew her so well. Maybe, if she tried really hard, maybe she could get her face to behave? It was worth a shot.

Mike’s brows slowly rose. “What’s going on with your face?”

“What do you mean?” She pressed her hands to her cheeks. “What’s wrong with my face?”

“You’re making a weird expression.” He frowned. “Your stomach bothering you? Are you feeling sick? Something’s not right.”

“No.” She glared at him. “I’m trying to control my face so you can’t read my mind.”

He chuckled, shaking his head. “Yeah, don’t do that. It’s not like I won’t figure it out anyway.” He put his hands on his hips. “What are you wanting to hide from me, anyway? That you’re interested in this Braden Parker guy? Now you’re going on a date with him?”