'Now, there's a lot to be said for that carousel. That's what the Colonel aad I had. A sweet ride filled with contentment and few surprises. And thank goodness foR it, because you boys were a roller coaster, to be sure. It wasn't always fun. I won't lie to you-more than once I wanted to scream my head off. But in the end, I'm glad I had the whole amusement park, not just the carousel, and not just the roller coaster.'

'Personally, I'd rather have just the carousel.'

'I know.' Her face softened with understanding. Most people would show shock at such a statement coming from thrill-seeking Joe Fraser, Army Ranger, explosives expert, adrenaline junkie. But when it came to relationships, he'd ridden the roller coaster enough by the time he reached manhood to never want to climb on it again.

And that's where Maddy scared him. She was the biggest, brightest ride at the fairground, with flashing lights and clanging bells. She drew him to her with all the awe and fear, longing arid dread that drew a kid to a roller coaster.

'The thing is'-his mother leaned forward to pat his hand-'you don't always get to choose. Besides, you don't know how wild the ride will be until you get on. Maddy may surprise you this time around.'

'Or not.' He leaned back in his desk chair. 'Which is why I refuse to draw a bull's-eye on my chest and tell her to take her best shot. Kevlar vests were invented for a reason, you know.'

'Joe.' A scowl wrinkled her face. 'If you tell Maddy you'll only let her into your heart if she agrees to some list of conditions, then you haven't learned as much as I'd hoped you would about what it means to love.'

'God.' He covered his face with both hands. 'I hate it when you're right.'

'I know. Now about the art show…'

He dropped his hands and gave her a warning scowl-which she completely ignored.

'I'm hoping I can get a ride with you, since I don't enjoy driving at night the way I used to.'

That made his brows go up. 'You're admitting you're a hazard on the road?'

'I am not.' She straightened her birdlike frame. 'I said I don't enjoy driving at night.'

'Because you can't see at night.'

'I see just fine,' she insisted. 'And if you don't want to take me, very well. I'll drive myself.'

'Don't be ridiculous. Of course I'll drive you.'

'Good.' She beamed as she stood. 'Now, if you don't mind, I think I'll go watch the girls play until it's time for evening prayer.'

It wasn't until she'd left that he realized how seamlessly she'd manipulated him. Thirty-three years old, and Mama Fraser still knew how to push his buttons.

God love her.

Love. He frowned at the word. Did he have what it took to love the way she did? To give it freely, absolutely, unconditionally with no guarantee on whether it brought pleasure, pain, or a combination of both?

Picking up the invitation, he thought about Maddy, ached for her. Was he destined to love this one woman his whole life? Taking both the pleasure and the pain she brought? Why was there so little free choice involved in love? That really sucked. He didn't want to be in love with her.

Yeah, but you are.

The question was, what. was he going to do about it?

Marry her, idiot..

The answer popped into his head, knocking the breath out of his lungs. He'd already failed on that objective once. At present they weren't even talking to each other, so proposing was out of the question without laying some groundwork. A lot of groundwork.

What he needed was a plan. Yeah, he nodded as it took shape in his mind. The final objective was making Maddy a permanent part of his life. He'd have to get there, though, in phases.

Phase One: Get back to where they had been.

Phase Two: Get her to stay in Santa Fe.

Phase Three: Get a ring on her finger.

His heart pounded with memories of his past failure to accomplish that, but he'd been givea seemingly impossible tasks before. All he had to do was stay focused on the task at hand. And not project too far into the future.

The first step of Phase One was to dispel the awkwardness.

Maddy was sitting with Dana and a whole table of campers having lunch when she looked up and found Joe standing beside her, holding his lunch tray. The sight of him looking right at her jolted her so hard she nearly dropped her fork.

'Hey,' he said casually, as if days hadn't passed without them exchanging a single word.

'Hey,' she managed to respond.

He dropped his gaze briefly, then looked back at her. 'I noticed the invitation requested an RSVP.'

'Yes?'

'I just wanted to let you know, I phoned Sylvia and told her to expect both Mom and me.'

'Oh.' Hope-and relief-filled her in a rush, blossoming into a warm glow over her face. 'I'm glad.'

He nodded. 'I just thought you'd want to know.'

With that, he turned and walked away to find an empty seat at another table. She turned back to find Dana smiling at her.

'You go, girl.'

She released a laughing sigh, for once not caring that so many people knew the details of her love life. She'd offered an olive branch-and Joe had taken it.

Chapter 15

While success takes hard work, there's something to be said for taking the path of least resistance.

– How to Have a Perfect Life

The day of the show arrived with a flurry of activity that kept Maddy so busy she could almost ignore the butterflies in her stomach. Since Mama had agreed to take over at the Craft Shack, she had the whole day off to help the gallery staff get ready.

One of the back alcoves had been set aside to showcase her work. After stripping the walls, bare, she and Juanita started rehanging the area, filling it with her vibrant landscapes, jewel-tone wildflowers, and dramatic cloudscapes.

'Wow,' Juanita said, stepping back to admire the progress they were making. 'This looks great. I've already told you how much I love the pieces you brought in, but now that they're on the wall, they really pop.'

'Thanks. The guys in the frame shop did a fabulous job.'

'It's more than that,' the gallery manager insisted. 'You weren't kidding when you said you were good at displays.'

'That's why I offered to help.' Tape measure in hand, Maddy stepped around the framed pieces they'd laid out on the floor in an intricate grouping. Sylvia and some of the framers were working in the other alcoves, going through the same process. Tipping her head, she read off the measurements for the next nail placement.

'This is something the other artists rarely do.' Juanita wrote down the numbers on a scrap of mat board. 'Not that we mind. Their job is to create the art. Ours is to show it and sell it. To be honest'-Juanita lowered her voice-'most of them would muck this up if we let them try.'

'Hanging a gallery wall is an art form in and of itself.' Maddy pulled a nail from the pocket of the shirt she'd tied at the waist over a pair of tattered jeans.

'You got that right.' Juanita laughed.

As Maddy drove the nail in, she realized how much she'd missed this world-not just the art itself, but the showing and selling too. Leading customers through a gallery was so much more than quoting prices. It was a performance, with stories to tell about each artist, the history of each piece, its connections to other works; and

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