Kissed by a Cowboy by Lacy Williams

nodded, unsmiling.
    "I'm not ready," she said softly. "To say
goodbye." To the house, to her aunt's memory.
    But especially to him.
    #
    Maddox
fisted his hands in his jeans pockets, the muscles in his arms
aching from wanting to reach for her.
    He kept his jaw clenched to
hold back the tide. Words like, please
don't leave me . Words like, I love you .
    She deserved better than a cowboy who was
fighting for every paycheck.
    His dad had given up, failed the family,
nearly lost the farm.
    But Maddox refused to do the same. Even if he
was one overdue mortgage payment away from losing the place, he
couldn't give up.
    And that meant a lot of hard work.
    How could he commit to—how could he ask Haley
to commit to—a long-distance relationship when he knew he couldn't
commit to it himself? He couldn't. His focus had to be on keeping
his family afloat.
    He'd watched his mother get beaten down by
life and a husband who'd ultimately failed the family. He couldn't
ask Haley to do the same.
    Or worse, start a relationship with her and a
year down the road, have her decide to ditch the loser who was
still working his butt off for a chunk of land.
    He'd die if she walked away from him. He felt
about like he was dying now. Like a big ol' bull had stepped on his
chest cavity.
    The best he could hope for was in a few
months to have made some good money, put another nest egg aside,
and when he'd proved he could support his family, call her. With
any luck, she wouldn't fall in love with someone else.
    All those words settled in
his heart, tucked away. "Drive safe." He didn't add, call me when you get there or I'll miss you .
    He couldn't bear the uncertainty in her eyes,
so he turned away, yanking open her car door. She slipped under his
arm, silent. Watchful. Waiting.
    But he couldn't give her what she needed, so
he said nothing.
    And she started the car and drove away.

 
    Chapter Nine
     
    "Hello?"
    "Is this Maddox Michaels?"
    "Speaking. Who's this?"
    "Dan Crane."
    Hearing the junior high principal's voice on
the phone pulled Maddox up short. He was on a three-day weekend
back from the harvest crew, driving to town to make Olivia's weekly
ice cream delivery to the restaurant that acted as a consignment
agent for her, but now he stopped his truck on the side of the
state highway.
    "Dan. I've been meaning to return your
calls."
    He took a deep breath and decided to come
clean.
    "Actually, I haven't," he said. "Been meaning
to call."
    "Look, Maddox, we need you. There's no one
else around qualified to coach—"
    "I'm not qualified to teach," he said. And
that shut the other man up. "I never finished my degree. I was a
year short. I let everybody around here think I was done because I
was too chicken to admit I was so much like my father."
    His free hand clenched the bottom of the
steering wheel.
    There was a beat of silence before Dan spoke.
"I wish I'd known this sooner."
    Yeah. No kidding.
    More silence and Maddox wanted to get out of
the uncomfortable conversation. "I'll let you go—"
    "Hang on a minute, Michaels. I'm thinking.
You know, if we can get you enrolled..."
    "What?"
    While Maddox listened in shock, the other man
outlined a plan for Maddox to finish his degree and get certified
to teach—by Christmastime.
    He wasn't even sure what he'd agreed to by
the time the call ended twenty minutes later, but he did know that
in one phone conversation, hope had come back to him.
    But having a job didn't make up for losing
Haley.
    Every time he breathed in deeply, it felt
like knives slicing through his lungs. He missed her so much.
    It had been almost three weeks, and he'd
heard nothing. Not that he'd expected to—he'd made his wishes clear
that last day. But now, he was dying inside, a little each day.
    He was still mulling the new job offer over
when he got home with the boxed meal the restaurant manager had
pushed on him.
    Only to find Justin on his feet, wrestling
with the old brown recliner.
    "What're you doing?" Maddox dumped the