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Prairie Springs for another curbside look at the house she
hoped might soon be hers. She wanted to see what it looked
like in the dark and was disappointed to find it& dark. No
lights had been left burning inside or outside the vacant
house. She could barely even see it from the street.
Disappointed, she decided to give herself a different kind
of treat. It was almost ten o clock, closing time at the
Creamery, but if she hurried, she might be able to purchase
the last ice-cream cone of the evening.
The closest parking space she could find was almost a
block away. She hustled down the sidewalk, past a man
sitting alone on a bench next to the store s entrance. He was
tucked back in a deep shadow, so she wouldn t have recog-
nized him if she hadn t noticed the cane propped against the
end of the bench. She stopped and turned, a little hurt that
he would have let her pass him without so much as a greeting.
Jake?
Hello, Madeline. The voice that came out of the
shadows was as deep and velvety as the night. Had it held a
note of resignation, or had she just imagined that?
She hesitated. If she went inside to get ice cream, would
he be gone by the time she got back?
Brenda Coulter 95
Probably.
She sat down beside him. It s a nice night.
Mmm-hmm. He stuck out his tongue and expertly
turned his waffle cone as he took a long swipe of ice cream.
Maddie couldn t think of anything to say. He was clearly
determined to avoid a romantic relationship with her, and she
was trying to accept that. But he was rejecting her friend-
ship, too. And that, she couldn t accept. Not when she knew
his history. He was a wounded warrior and he needed her
help, whether he believed that or not.
Aren t you getting any? Jake asked.
Yes, in a minute. As Maddie spoke, the lights went out
inside the store.
Jake glanced over his shoulder, then silently offered his
own ice cream to Maddie.
She was faintly shocked. Licking somebody else s ice-
cream cone seemed as intimate as a kiss. But she didn t
want to offend him and it wasn t as though she d have
minded kissing him so she accepted the cone.
Mmm, she said after an experimental lick. Peaches and
cream. Mr. Hopkins, you have impeccable taste.
I like to think so.
Maddie took a few more licks, then handed the cone back
to Jake and waited to see what he would do.
With perfect equanimity, he licked it.
You seem awfully mellow tonight, Maddie ventured.
It s a nice night. He was silent for a moment, then he
added, And I guess I m celebrating.
What are you celebrating?
Another silence. For a minute she thought he wasn t
going to answer, but then he said, The lump in my mama s
96 At His Command
breast was benign. She finally got the biopsy results this af-
ternoon. His voice dropped. We d been sweating that.
So that was the news he and his mother had been waiting
to hear. No wonder Jake had been so upset when Maddie
asked if Mrs. Hopkins was sick.
That s a wonderful answer to prayer, Maddie said. I
didn t know exactly what to ask for, so I just prayed that all
would be well with your mama.
Jake was still for a long moment, then whispered,
Thank you.
Without thinking, Maddie leaned her head against his
shoulder. An instant later she realized what she d done and
froze. But Jake didn t seem to mind. At least, he didn t
shrink away from her. So Maddie stayed right where she was
and asked, Wouldn t you rather be celebrating in Austin?
Just came from there. I took her back to that Japanese
restaurant.
Maddie lifted her head and grinned at him. Japanese
food twice in one week? Poor Jake!
You said it. He licked his ice cream.
She didn t know how long his laid-back mood would
last, so she was determined not to waste a moment of it. Re-
turning her head to his shoulder, she enjoyed the crisp feel
of his dress shirt against her cheek. She loved the comfort-
ing warmth that radiated from him. But it was his faintly
spicy scent that comforted her the most. She closed her eyes
and inhaled deeply.
A laughing couple walked past on the sidewalk. In the
street a car horn tooted. But back here in the shadows with
Jake, Maddie felt apart from the world, as though the night had
wrapped its warm, protective cloak around the two of them.
Brenda Coulter 97
She knew it wasn t going to happen, but for a few
moments she imagined what it would feel like to be even
closer to Jake. She pictured him turning his head and tucking
a finger under her chin and lifting her face, then settling his
warm lips against her mouth.
A loud crunch startled her out of her reverie. Jake had
eaten most of his ice cream and was now disposing of the
waffle cone in big noisy bites.
Certain that he would bring this strange and wonderful
interlude to an end the second he finished his treat, Maddie
saved him the trouble and sat up. She moved away a little
so he wouldn t feel crowded, and then she sighed quietly. I
should be on my way.
Jake nodded and took another bite of his cone.
She stood. I m glad about your mother.
He nodded again.
Maddie had been excited tonight when she d left the post,
but now as she walked back to her car, she became aware of
a crushing loneliness.
It wasn t an unfamiliar feeling. Sometimes at night she
would awaken in the dark and recall a dream so good that
its sweetness clung to her even after she became fully alert.
But the harder she tried to recapture those images, the faster
and farther they receded, until they disappeared altogether,
leaving her bereft.
Back there with Jake, she had dreamed something beau-
tiful. But she knew better than to reach for it, because it was
already fading.
Chapter Six
Saturday dawned gray and threatened to deliver scattered
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