Kendra swallowed. She didn't know which scared her more, the prospect of letting Hutch slip past her inner barriers again-he was bound to score, eventually-or the thought of him riding two thousand pounds of crazy bull, risking life and limb.

And for what? A fancy belt buckle and prize money that probably didn't amount to the cash he routinely carried in his wallet-if he won?

He was wild and reckless, a kid in a man's body. Mentally, she added bull-riding to the long list of reasons why Hutch Carmody was her own personal Mr. Wrong.

She made the turn, headed toward the community center.

Glancing into the rearview mirror, she saw Daisy standing with her paws on the back of the seat, gazing out the rear window as the fairgrounds disappeared from view.

"Does Daisy get to go to the rodeo, too?" Madison queried, from her safety seat.

"That wouldn't be a good place for her, sweetheart," Kendra explained. "She could get lost or hurt somehow and, besides, all that noise would probably scare her."

"Won't she be scared if she's all alone at home?" Madison fretted.

"She'll be just fine," Kendra said gently.

They'd reached the community center by then, and a little girl immediately broke away from the crowd of children on the gra.s.sy playground, running to greet them.

"That's Becky," Madison said, delighted. "She's my best friend in the whole world!"

Kendra smiled, watching as Becky, a small dynamo with blond pigtails, dashed in their direction. The little girl wore jeans, a ruffled cotton blouse and a pair of neon pink cowgirl boots-possibly the same pair Madison had appropriated-along with a broad grin.

Evidently, all was forgiven.

Madison wriggled out of her car seat and jumped to the ground while Daisy, excited, barked and scrambled around inside the Volvo.

"This is my mommy," Madison told Becky, indicating Kendra, who stood beside the driver's door in her working-mother outfit, a trim beige pantsuit, expensively tailored. "Mommy, this is Becky. She's six already, but she likes me anyway, even though I'm only four."

Becky stopped, looked up into Kendra's face, squinting a little against the bright sunshine and said, "My mom is going to call you on the phone. She says both of you have to get to know each other a little before there can be any sleepovers for Madison and me."

"I'll look forward to hearing from your mom," Kendra said, offering a hand. Privately, she thought Madison was still too young for sleepovers, but she didn't want to cast a pall over the girls' day by saying so now.

The child shook Kendra's hand without hesitation. "Mom says," she went on cheerfully, "that for all you know, we could be a family of ax-murderers."

Kendra chuckled. "I doubt that," she said, though she was a little taken aback by the graphic visual that came to mind. Becky's family must have moved to Parable recently, because she couldn't place them.

Madison waved at Daisy, who had wriggled into the front pa.s.senger seat at some point and was pressing her nose against the inside of the windshield, and waited politely while Kendra bent to give her a see-you-later kiss on the forehead.

"Be a good girl," Kendra said.

Madison, young as she was, actually rolled her eyes in what appeared to be comical disdain. "I will," she replied. "Mostly."

"Try to do a little better than mostly,' please," Kendra instructed, folding her arms and tilting her head to one side, letting her eyes do the smiling while her mouth pretended sternness.

Madison and Becky clasped hands, giggling, and ran toward the throng of children and playground attendants up ahead.

Kendra watched until they were safely enfolded in the group, then got back into her car, told a fretful Daisy that everything would be all right and drove off.

Deputy McQuillan was waiting on the sidewalk in front of her office, once again in full uniform.

Daisy growled at him, at the same time cowering a little.

"Good morning," Kendra said with a businesslike smile.

McQuillan looked down at the little dog-for the briefest moment Kendra thought he might try to kick Daisy, there was so much distaste in his expression-then turned his attention back to her. "I've decided to get another real estate agent," he announced bluntly. His eyes fairly snapped with suppressed fury.

Kendra shifted her keys from her left hand to her right and unlocked the office door, gently urging Daisy inside. The pup took refuge under the desk Joslyn used when she came in.

"That's certainly your prerogative," Kendra said with cool dignity, setting down her purse and keys. She took their listing agreement from her in-box and handed it across to Deputy McQuillan.

He tore the doc.u.ment into two pieces and threw them at her, before stalking out of the office and slamming the door behind him.

"That certainly went well," Kendra told Daisy ruefully as the dog low-crawled out from under Joslyn's desk, now that the coast was clear.

For the next hour, Kendra busied herself with routine tasks-reading and replying to emails, initiating and returning phone calls, and surfing the web for for-sale-by-owner listings in the surrounding area.

She came up dry that morning, though, and was thinking about locking up the office and playing hooky for the rest of the day when Walker Parrish came in again.

Daisy went right over to him, and he laughed as he bent to ruffle the dog's ears in greeting.

"My friend's decided she'd like to take a firsthand look at your house," Walker told Kendra. Once again she thought how attractive he was, and marveled that he didn't do a thing for her. "Casey's on the road with her band until after the Fourth, but she says she could stop in for a quick look at the place late next week."

"Not Casey Elder?" Kendra asked, surprised to find herself holding her breath for the answer. She'd dealt with a number of celebrities in the course of her job, and she wasn't the type to be starstruck, but Ms. Elder just happened to be one of the biggest names in country music and Kendra was most definitely a fan.

"Well," Walker said sheepishly, "yeah. But I wasn't supposed to mention her name."

Kendra smiled to rea.s.sure him. "Your secret is safe with me," she said lightly, "but the minute Ms. Elder sets foot in Parable, everybody is going to know it. She is, after all, a superstar."

Walker chuckled. "She considered wearing a disguise," he admitted.

"A pair of horn-rimmed gla.s.ses with a big plastic nose and a mustache attached?" Kendra joked. Then, more seriously, she added, "It must be difficult, being so recognizable."

"Casey copes with her fame pretty well," Walker said, while Daisy sat gazing up at him in her usual adoring way. "And I a.s.sured her that while she has a big following around here, n.o.body's likely to mob her or anything."

That was true enough. People would be curious about her, especially at first, but if Casey Elder decided to become a permanent part of the community, she'd be welcomed with ca.s.seroles and supper invitations, like any other newcomer.

"I take it she liked the pictures you took when we went through the house the other day?" Kendra prompted, wondering about the connection between Walker and Casey and immediately deciding it was none of her business. She certainly wasn't about to ask.

"She liked them, all right," Walker answered, looking as though he wanted to say more but wasn't sure he should.

"You told her the asking price?"

"She didn't bat an eye," Walker said with a nod.

He still had that peculiar look on his face.

"Walker," Kendra nudged, "what is it?"

"Casey's from Dallas," he said uneasily. "I'm not sure she understands what it means to live in a small town, even though she writes and sings songs about it all the time."

Kendra folded her arms, tilted her head to one side and waited. What on earth was going on here?

"Casey and I-" Walker began, stopping to clear his throat. "We have a-complicated relationship."

So, Kendra thought, my hunch was right. They're more than just friends.

"No need to explain," Kendra said briskly.

Walker looked miserably determined to go on. "We were never married-never even involved, really, but-" He paused, swallowed visibly. "But Casey's kids are both mine."

Kendra barely kept her mouth from dropping open. What he'd said didn't surprise her as much as the fact that he'd said it at all. "I don't-" she began, and then gave up on completing the sentence.

"The thing is, they don't know it yet," Walker went on. "The kids, I mean. Casey and I want to break it to them gently, once they've gotten settled and everything."

"It's a secret, then," Kendra said quietly.

Walker nodded, shoved a hand through his hair, slapped his hat against his thigh once, lightly. "n.o.body else knows," he said. "Not even Brylee."

"Then why tell me?"

"I'm not sure," Walker said, looking fl.u.s.tered. It was odd, seeing him like this, when he was usually so self-possessed.

Kendra made a lip-zipping motion with one hand. "I won't breathe a word," she promised.

Walker's grin was appreciative and she could tell he was relieved. "Thanks," he said. "Casey will be calling you one day soon. To make an appointment to see the house, I mean."

"Great," Kendra said. "I hope she likes it."

"Me, too," Walker said very quietly. Almost, Kendra thought, wistfully.

She shook off the romantic notion. Ever since Hutch had kissed her down by Whisper Creek, she'd been p.r.o.ne to overthink the whole concept of love.

Walker started for the door, and Kendra returned to her chair behind her desk, smiled a goodbye when he looked back at her over one broad shoulder.

"Interesting," she told Daisy, once he'd gone.

Daisy went back under Joslyn's desk and was soon snoring.

Kendra fidgeted. The urge to call Joslyn or Tara or both of them at once to find out if either of them knew anything about Walker and Casey Elder was strong, but she never really considered giving in to it. After all, she'd promised not to tell what she knew, and if there was one thing Kendra Shepherd believed in, it was keeping promises.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN.

SAt.u.r.dAY MORNING ARRIVED right on schedule, although Madison had seemed certain it would somehow be postponed, if not canceled entirely.

The weather was warm and brilliantly sunny, the sky an achy blue that left sweetly tender bruises on Kendra's heart as she stood at the kitchen sink, her arms plunged into hot, soapy water, gazing out the window as she finished washing the breakfast dishes. By her calculations, two bowls, a couple of spoons and the pot she'd cooked the oatmeal in didn't justify running the machine and, besides, she needed to keep her hands busy.

It had been a couple of days since she'd last seen Hutch, but he'd called once, said he'd pick her and Madison up for the rodeo and the other festivities around eleven-thirty, if that was okay with her. He'd sounded almost shy, but that was probably some kind of ruse.

Hutch Carmody didn't have a shy bone in his red-hot cowboy body.

She'd replied in a blase tone that eleven-thirty would probably be fine and been jittery every waking minute since, much to her private chagrin, wondering if this get-together qualified as an actual date or, since Madison was going along, just a friendly outing. Deciding what to wear wasn't a problem: a long-sleeved T-shirt, jeans and sneakers-she didn't own boots-would fill the bill just fine, for both her and Madison. But what about my hair? she dithered. What about makeup? She wanted to look her best, of course, but not as though she was hoping she and Hutch could slip away alone at some point and make their way up the mountainside to the magic meadow.

Was she a bad mother for even thinking such a thought? Madison had separation issues, though she seemed more secure every day, settling in well at preschool and in the new house and, anyway, there were only a few people Kendra would feel comfortable leaving her daughter with-Joslyn and Tara, certainly, and of course Opal. But they would all be busy with their own plans, wouldn't they? And, besides, any one of them, if asked to babysit, would instantly guess why Kendra wanted to disappear for a while.

Behind her, Madison and Daisy scuffled on the linoleum floor, Madison laughing with delight, Daisy barking exuberantly, as she always did when they played.

Kendra emptied the sink of water, rinsed her hands under the tap, dried them on her flowered ap.r.o.n, and turned to smile at the pair of them, girl and dog, raising her voice just enough to be heard over all that happiness. "We'd better get going," she said, "if we're going to drive Daisy out to Tara's place and get back in time to meet Mr. Carmody."

Tara had suggested the canine sleepover, reminding Kendra that it would be quieter out there in the country, far from the Fourth of July fireworks, and thus not so frightening for Daisy. Plus, Lucy would be there and the pups could keep each other company. In the morning, Tara could bring Daisy home or Kendra could pick her up on the chicken farm, whichever worked out best.

Madison, fairly bursting with excitement-new boots and a day with Hutch Carmody, would wonders never cease?-nodded hard enough to give herself whiplash. She'd been making a ruckus ever since they'd finished breakfast, trying to keep busy until it was time to go.

It was hard to say which event Madison was most excited about: choosing the promised cowgirl boots, watching Hutch ride a bull in the rodeo, going on rides at the carnival, or taking in the fireworks, which weren't even scheduled to begin until ten o'clock, when the sky would finally be dark enough to launch the first sprays of multicolored light against a black velvet background.

This would be a long day for Madison, Kendra thought not for the first time, when they were all in the Volvo, seat belts fastened. She bit her lower lip as she backed the car down the short driveway and eased carefully onto the street. It would be a long day for her, too, given that Hutch would be at her side for most of it.

What did they really have to talk about, she and Hutch, once they got past h.e.l.lo? Not the old days, certainly-how about all that steamy s.e.x we used to have?-and the present didn't offer a lot of topics, either.

And what if she just kept reliving that sizzling kiss by the creek the whole day and night? She'd be in a perpetual state of arousal, with nothing left of her but smoldering embers by the time it was all over.

"Can we buy Daisy a present at the rodeo?" Madison asked from her safety seat when they were well on their way to Tara's. "And for Leviticus and Lucy, too?"

Kendra knew the little girl was fretting about the dogs being left alone, thinking they might be lonely or scared, even with each other for company. "I think that's a fine idea," she said, smiling. "Tell you what-while we're looking for those boots of yours, we'll keep an eye out for something they'd like."

Madison cheered at that, and Daisy started barking all over again, sharing in the headiness of the moment.

Tara came out of the main chicken coop when they drove up, wearing work clothes and scattering indignant hens in all directions as she came toward the car.

"You're not going to the rodeo like that, are you?" Madison asked with great concern as soon as they'd come to a stop and Tara had opened the back door of the car to help her out of the seat. "You have chicken p.o.o.p on your shoes."

Tara laughed and shook her head, but before she could reply, Lucy came bounding down the front steps from the shady porch, barking gleefully. This, of course, got Daisy all worked up again and the canine chorus began.

"I'm not much for rodeos," Tara explained when the din subsided a little and Madison was out of the car seat. "But I'll be in town later for the fireworks." A pause. "Without the p.o.o.py shoes, of course."

By then, Daisy and Lucy were playing a merry game of chase, and Madison ran right along with them, transcendence in motion, the sunlight catching in her coppery curls.

Watching, Kendra felt literally swamped with love and grat.i.tude. She was so blessed, she thought. She had everything a woman could want.

Then the memory of Hutch's kiss sneaked up on her, as it had a way of doing, and heat swept through her in a fiery flood.