'Really?' That surprised her.
'When Mom moved back to New Mexico, I started collecting Native American crafts, which spilled into art. Around here, it's an easy addiction to slip into.'
'I can see that it would be.' She nodded. 'Sounds like you'll make a perfect guide. So, lead on. I place myself in your hands.'
'Very well. Let's start with this place up on the right.'
Joining the flow of foot traffic, they made their way up the street and through the first of many doors. By the time they'd gone through the tenth gallery, she was on sensory overload. And more intimidated than ever. The art ranged from pastoral to whimsical to avant-garde, some of it bizarre, but all of it top-notch quality.
'I know the owner here,' Joe said as they entered yet another gallery. The place was a maze of rooms with thick white walls, wood floors that creaked, and track lights aimed at several large canvases. Somewhere in the distance she heard drum and flute music playing and a woman talking on a phone. Pinon incense drifted on the air.
Joe studied her. 'Would you like me to introduce you?'
'No!' she said too quickly, then released a breath to relax. 'No. I just want to look.'
'Are you sure?'
'No,' she said weakly. 'To be honest, I think I've seen all I can absorb for one day. Can we take a break?' She saw an argument spring into his eyes. 'Please. My head is spinning, and my feet are killing me.'
His jaw worked for a moment before he sighed. 'Fine. We'll have lunch, then see how you feel.'
'Thank you.' She sagged in gratitude.
If there was one thing Joe didn't miss about the Army, it was the food. Living in Santa Fe, with its
Mexican food and haute cuisine, was a welcome break from MREs, Meals Ready to Eat. Since Maddy looked in need of a complete change of scenery, he battled traffic into the heart of Old Town to take her to the Ore House, one of his favorite restaurants.
'This is fabulous,' she said as they stepped onto the second-story balcony that overlooked the plaza.
'I thought you'd like it,' he replied as the hostess laid two menus on a table against the rail.
The server came as soon as they'd settled. 'Can I get you something to drink?'
Joe ordered a locally made pale ale, while Maddy asked for a glass of white wine. Sitting back, he watched Maddy scan the menu he knew by heart. Midday sun slanted in, turning her hair to orange fire, all the more striking with the row of red chile
Although that had been easier to do while wandering the galleries. Sitting on a crowded balcony with nothing but a very small table between them, he felt a low hum of awareness start deep in his belly.
'So,' he said when she finally closed her menu, 'what do you think of Santa Fe?'
She laughed, tipping her head so the sun shone off her eyes. 'A part of me thinks I've died and gone to heaven.'
'And the other part?' He shifted sideways, creating more space between her legs and his.
'Is a little overwhelmed.' She turned as well, so they both looked out over the plaza. A child threw a ball for a Jack Russell terrier near the Civil War monument. Vendors from the various pueblos were out in force, selling their jewelry on blankets in front of the Palace of the Governors. The bell at St. Francis Cathedral proclaimed the hour of one o'clock. 'I never should have promised Christine and Amy I'd get a piece of my work in a gallery out here. I should have started off at one of the galleries back home and worked my way up to the big time.'
'Christine and Amy?'
'My two closest friends in all the world. You'd like them.' She wrinkled her nose in a playful manner. 'They're as pushy as you about wanting me to put my neck on the chopping block.'
'Maddy'-he shook his head-'I refuse to believe you're not good enough. You were fantastic back in high school, and you've had fifteen years to mature in your work.'
She sighed, and some of the tension he'd seen earlier returned. 'Do you think we could talk about something else over lunch, so that I have some hope of actually eating?'
'All right. What would you like to talk about?'
'You.'
He laughed dryly as he toyed with the salt and pepper shakers. 'A boring subject, I promise you.'
'Then bore me.' She shifted back to face him, folding her arms on the table as she leaned forward. 'Please! It'll get my mind off my nervous stomach.'
He stared at her eager face and felt a tug of need so strong it wiped all thought from his brain.
Fortunately, the server arrived and plopped their drinks down on the table. 'Here you go. Are you ready to order?'
Joe gave himself a mental shake. 'I'll have the Hatch green chile cheeseburger.'
'And you?' The woman turned to Maddy.
'Oh. Let's see.' Straightening, she opened the menu again. 'It all sounds so good.' Scanning the options, she struggled to make a decision. 'Okay, I'll have the soft chicken tacos. Can I have extra cheese? And the jalapenos on the side?'
'Absolutely.' The woman snapped her order book closed and moved away.
'Okay, where were we?' Maddy turned back to Joe, determined to keep the pleasant mood going. 'Oh yes, talking about you. Tell me about running the camp. Do you enjoy it?'
'Yes and no.' His gaze dropped to the finger she was running around the rim of her wineglass before he looked away and took a swallow of ale. 'No, because I miss the hell out of being in the Rangers. Yes, because…' He hesitated as color climbed up his neck. 'This is going to sound hokey.'
'What?' She leaned forward, remembering a time when he'd shared things with her that he would never share with others. She realized she missed that. He'd always had so many interesting facets once he opened up. 'Come on,' she coaxed. 'Tell me.'
He straightened the linen-wrapped silverware and turned the beer bottle so the label faced him. 'I like the kids. They give me hope.'
'Hope?'
'For the world. That's hard to hang on to sometimes with so much hatred out there. God, the things I've seen…' He shook his head. 'I miss being a part of the action. Not just the adrenaline rush of being on a mission, but feeling like I'm making a difference, like I'm doing something to make the world safer.' He gazed back out at the plaza, watched the little girl playing fetch with her dog. 'What I don't miss is looking into old eyes filled with mistrust in the faces of children. Or worse, the kids who are like children the world over, young, innocent, and happy one minute, maimed bodies the next. Jesus.' He scrubbed his hands over his face, shuddered, then rolled his shoulders. 'Sorry.'
'It's okay.' Maddy laid a hand on the table in front of him, wanting to touch, but not sure it would be welcome. 'You wouldn't be human if that didn't affect you.'
'Yeah.' He tried to laugh, but the sound held no humor. 'I guess it's taken me a while to decompress. Actually, strike that. I'm not sure a man ever decompresses from that. Or if he should. But when the camp fills up with children, most of who have never been touched by all life's ugliness… it feels good. Really good.'
He smiled that crooked smile of his. And when his dark eyes met hers, Maddy swore she heard a thud as her heart hit the floor. Just like that, she fell smack-dab in love with Joe Fraser all over again.
Startled, she sat back, her pulse racing. No, it couldn't be love. Love happened slowly, grew over time, and endured. It wasn't like a light switch that you turned on, then off, then back on again. Did that mean she'd never fallen out of love with him? Was this an echo from the past, or something entirely new?
She blinked at him, remembering the intensity of what he'd once felt for her. He'd actually overwhelmed her with it at times. Did a part of him still feel traces of that for the impulsive girl she'd once been?
Fortunately, their lunch arrived, saving her from saying something stupid.
'So… then…' Her hand trembled slightly as she spooned salsa into the tacos. 'You're happy running the camp?'
He shook salt and pepper over a mammoth burger heaped with chopped green chiles. 'During the summer, when the kids are there, yeah. The rest of the year it drives me crazy. There just isn't enough to do, and man does