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the drill sergeant, blushing. Would wonders never cease? Boone mounted the stairs with tired steps, still wondering what the two of them were hiding.
    But not sure he really wanted to know.
    * * *
    Maddie thought she'd choke to death on her iced tea at the look on Boone's face when he saw the radish roses decorating his plate. She wanted to laugh so badly it hurt, but she was afraid it would hurt Vondell's feelings. Vondell fidgeted in her chair, waiting for his reaction. She'd tried to throw them in the compost crock, but Maddie had stood guard over them before she could succeed.
    "Well, don't just sit there like a bump on a log." Vondell went on the offensive. "Eat your supper before it gets cold."
    Boone cleared his throat. "What are these?"
    Vondell colored. "How did you get to be thirty-two years old and you can't recognize a radish? I thought you injured your back, not your brain. They're radish roses. You can eat 'em or not."
    He shot a look at Maddie. Maddie gave him no help. He cleared his throat again. "They're, uh, real pretty, Vondell. Kinda decorates the plate."
    "Aw, go ahead and laugh. You know you want to."
    He frowned. "I do not. I just don't know quite what to do with them."
    "You eat 'em, you big galoot. Just like you eat any old radish."
    Boone took a cautious bite. His eyebrows lifted. "Don't taste any different."
    Vondell harrumphed. "Damn fool idea. Don't know why you didn't let me throw them out, Maddie."
    "You said you wanted to learn how to do them, and you did a superb job." She shot him a glare that would have melted lead. "Didn't she, Boone?"
    "They're, uh, real pretty." Affection for the older woman shone from his eyes. "And they taste just fine."
    "Aw, get on with you. Just eat your chicken-fried steak," she grumbled, but her cheeks were flushed again. She rose from the table and headed toward the sink. "After all these years of cooking for men, don't know why I ever wanted to try such a thing."
    Boone shot Maddie a glower like this was all her fault. Maddie simply shrugged her shoulders and popped another radish in her mouth.
    "This meal is wonderful, Vondell," she said.
    "Too plain for what you're used to, I'm sure."
    Boone spoke up. "You don't ever have to apologize for your cooking. I used to dream about it."
    Vondell turned, eyes shining. Maddie took a new look at Boone.
    "Is that right?"
    He nodded, finishing another huge bite. "Sometimes I thought if I could just have one more slice of your chocolate cake or one of your biscuits, I could die a happy man."
    "Flatterer," Vondell protested, but her pleasure shone from her face. "You're just wondering if I made your favorite chocolate cake."
    All of a sudden Boone looked about fifteen years old. His blue eyes sparkled, and Maddie wondered where this Boone had been hiding. "Did you?" Hope flared in his smile.
    "Of course I did. Think you can stay awake long enough to eat some?"
    Then Maddie finally looked, really looked at Boone, seeing that though his golden hair still glistened with moisture from the shower and his angular face was clean shaven, exhaustion lined his face and settled heavy on his frame.
    "It's close to two days now since you left to come here, right? A body can't live on catnaps taken on airplanes. Bet you've been outside working, too, haven't you?"
    "I'll make it fine." His tone said he didn't need mothering. "I used to have to stay awake longer than this when the seas were stormy." But then the smile flashed once again. "But I do believe I'd sleep a lot better after a slice of your chocolate cake."
    Glowing with pleasure, Vondell turned away to get him a piece.
    And Maddie tried not to wonder how it would feel to have him smile like that at her.
     
     

Chapter Three
     
    What was that?
    Maddie stirred, disoriented, wondering why there were cattle in her apartment. Tempted to go right back to sleep, she suddenly remembered.
    She wasn't in New York.
    Good grief. She was actually here, in Texas.
    Stretching, she yawned, then