Western Spring Weddings

by Lynna Banning

  Brody crouched again, ready to fight, his dark brows drawn together in concentration as he circled, angry as a hornet.

  The kid was too scrawny to have much of a punch in him, but Gabe would oblige if that’s what it took to get him back to the ranch with Riley. Might even be good for him to release some of that pent-up frustration he seemed to be carrying around. Gabe stepped closer.

  “I ain’t scared of you.” Brody lunged and threw his fist—a wild swing of the arm, too far from his body to have any power behind the punch. His knuckles glanced off Gabe’s shoulder with the same thud of an acorn falling from the sky.

  Gabe stifled a laugh, which Brody heard anyway and which spurred him on even more. He came back with a stronger punch to Gabe’s chest. This one was solid.

  Something about the boy—the defiance on his face and in his stance when he had started to fight—tugged at Gabe’s conscience. He knew the moves Brody would make before he made them. Was it just coincidence? Just who was Brody’s father? With each passing moment, he had the sneaking suspicion that he already knew.

  In prison, Gabe’s large size made other’s wary of fighting him. Apparently Brody was so upset he wasn’t even registering that reality. Although Gabe seldom had to defend himself, he had done it enough to learn a few things about intimidation. He smiled slowly. “My turn now.”

  Brody’s eyes widened at that and he took a few steps back. Gabe figured he would just haul the boy over his shoulder and walk down the hill with him. That should be humiliating enough. He took one step...

  “Uh...Gabe?” Riley called softly.

  The distinct sound of a rattler shaking its rings made him freeze.

  Chapter Five

  “Don’t move, Riley. Not a muscle.”

  Gabe’s smooth words registered somewhere inside. She could barely breathe. Her muscles tensed and yet her legs trembled. She didn’t see the snake, but it was near...in the tall grasses? Under the shade of the boulder? Where? She wanted to burst away but that might make the snake strike and she knew she was not quick enough to escape its fangs.

  She chanced a look up. Gabe stood atop the largest boulder and searched the ground for the snake. Brody had climbed up beside him.

  “Ma!” Brody breathed out with fear mounting in his voice. He started forward...

  “Don’t. Move.” Gabe thrust out his arm to stop her son and slowly slid his knife from his belt, his entire body tense. “It’s in the grass right behind you,” he said, his voice low and quiet.

  Suddenly the knife whistled through the air.

  It hit, and the snake revealed itself in a violent jerk. Riley broke away and dashed toward Gabe, her only thought was to get to safety.

  With catlike grace, Gabe jumped to the ground and pulled her against him. “It’s okay. You’re okay.” But his arm shook even as he tightened it around her. He held on as she doubled over and gasped for air.

  She straightened and stared at the snake. It writhed in its final death throes. The knife’s sharp point had sunken deep into the snake’s hide just behind its head. Finally it quit moving.

  Brody jumped from the boulder and rushed to her. “Ma! You coulda been killed!”

  She blinked. Her heart still pounded. “I’m all right. I’m all right.”

  Brody stared at Gabe with something akin to hero worship.

  Gabe let go of her and strode over to the snake. Carefully, he raised the snake’s carcass, allowing it to dangle to its full length. It had to be at least four feet long.

  “It’s a beaut. Let’s see if Rosaria will cook it up.”

  At that, Brody bent over and tossed up his breakfast in a small clump of weeds.

  It was a small price to pay for having their lives saved. She was amazed Gabe’s aim was so accurate. And she was grateful.

  Gabe laid the carcass across a flat rock and carefully cut off the head. “Even after a rattler is dead you want to stay clear of the head,” he explained to Brody. “The poison is in glands in the head and that can still bite you.” He sliced the snake from neck to tail and quickly gutted it. Then he wiped his knife on the grass and sheathed it. “What if we hadn’t come after you? That snake blended right into the grass. I wouldn’t have noticed it except that it moved to coil. Looks like your ma had good reason to worry.”

  Brody swallowed hard. “Yes, sir.”

  Riley’s mouth went dry. Gabe was acting like...talking like...a father. And her son was listening. She backed up, looking from one to the other.

  “We are going to walk out of here slowly and carefully now,” Gabe said, his voice tense and commanding. “Understand? That one snake means there are likely more.” When he tilted his head, indicating Brody was to get going, her son started down the hillside.

  She followed, hesitating only a second when she felt Gabe’s grip on her upper arm as they maneuvered down the steep slope. Despite her cotton sleeve, under his touch her skin tingled. Knowing he would not let her fall, she was surer in her steps. When they reached the horses, he let go immediately. He pulled a burlap sack from his saddlebag, dropped the snake carcass inside and cinched it. The palomino pranced sideways, nervous at the scent of snake. Gabe quieted her with a calming hand before tying the bag to his saddle.

  Her heartbeat finally back in a regular rhythm, Riley knew she had to say something. “Thank you, Mr. Coulter.”

  His lips pressed together the moment she used his surname. He gave a hard nod, then helped her mount her horse.

  She had slipped up a time or two—enough that he probably knew she thought of him as Gabe even if she wouldn’t call him by his Christian name. It was her way of keeping her distance—protecting herself—but she could hardly tell him that.

  He untied the palomino and mounted, and then held out his arm for Brody to latch on to. Without hesitation her son scrambled up to sit behind him.

  On the way back to the ranch Gabe rode ahead of her. Riley stared at his broad shoulders and the proud way he held himself on his horse and tried to meld the man before her into the memory of the youth she had once loved.

  What would their lives have been like if her parents had allowed Gabe to court her instead of whisking her off to Philadelphia once they learned of their relationship? She would never know, and she supposed it was foolish to wonder now, but inside her, things were changing. The more he was around, the more she wanted to be with him. Before he’d been hot-blooded, and moody and, oh, so passionate. She closed her eyes, suddenly on fire at the image of his strong arms caressing her.

  He had matured so much since then. He was just as strong, but now he was tempered in a way she couldn’t explain. Did the old Gabe still lurk below the surface? Perhaps. Maybe that was the danger he spoke of. All she knew was that when he was around she felt safe. And that made her at once content, but also nervous. She mustn’t allow herself to be swayed by him again. She knew, with a certain sense of fate, she would never recover from a second betrayal.

  When they arrived at the lane leading to the ranch, Gabe pulled back on his reins and stopped the palomino in the shade of the tall pine at the corner. He helped Brody slide to the ground. “Your ma will be along directly. I want your word you won’t run off again. And I expect you to keep it.”

  “All right,” Brody promised, but he glanced at her, a question in his eyes.

  She nodded. “I’ll be there soon.” Apparently Gabe had something to say, and after all he’d done, he had earned that much from her.

  Brody started down the lane at a brisk jog. When he was far enough away that he wouldn’t be able to hear them, Gabe spoke. “Up there on the hillside—that could have cost you your life.”

  “It is over now. And I’m safe. All thanks to you.” Her words didn’t have the reassuring effect she’d hoped for. Gabe still seemed agitated.

  “I shouldn’t have egged Brod
y on like that—encouraged him to fight. I thought he needed to blow off steam. All it did was put you in harm’s way. When I think of what could have happened...” His jaw tightened. “Instead of walking down the hillside I could have lost you again.”

  Lost me again? Just what did that mean?

  “Did he do this back east? Run off?”

  She wanted to deny any problems she’d had with Brody. Paint a rosy picture of their relationship. Anything less would be admitting she couldn’t take care of her son. But after all that Gabe had done for her today, she couldn’t. “Sometimes. If he didn’t want to do chores...or was angry. I’m sure all boys run off a time or two in their lives.” You did, she felt like saying, but didn’t. “I can handle my son. He’s...adjusting. He’ll get through this.”

  Gabe’s silence revealed a lot more than if he had answered her.

  She blew out a breath. “All right. There have been...difficulties of late. That is why I came home. So that my father could help with him.” The mare she rode seemed as restless as Gabe. From the saddle, Riley repositioned the reins and turned her mare around.

  Gabe reached out as she passed and grabbed the bridle. “Where was Brody’s father when you were having this trouble back east?”

  Her entire body tensed. “He wasn’t around.”

  He narrowed his gaze on her. “The timing is right—fourteen years. And he moves like me—even acts like I once did. In my boots, what would you think about all that?”

  She didn’t answer. He had put two and two together just fine without any help from her.

  “The alternative is that the moment you left me, you jumped right into someone else’s arms. I didn’t think you were that kind of girl.” His tone held a touch of meanness. “Were you, Riley? Were you that kind of girl?”

  Shocked, she slapped his cheek. Hard. “How dare you say such a thing! How dare you cheapen what happened between us.” Her mare pranced sideways and tossed her head. “Let go of the bridle!”

  “Not until this is settled.” His dark eyes hardened to obsidian. Without releasing his grip on her horse, he dismounted. “Get down.”

  Her heart raced, and along with it her breath came in deep angry draws, but she didn’t dismount.

  “I deserve to hear it from you.” His gaze raked over her, leaving a swath of blistering humiliation in its wake. “Why did you never send word that I have a son?”

  Her heart told her one thing—that he had every right to be assured he was Brody’s father and she should have gotten the message to him long ago—but she couldn’t forgive him for deserting her. He had left her on her own to answer to her father’s anger and her mother’s criticizing. Gabe used you! Mother had cried. He only wanted revenge and the easiest way to get it was to ruin my innocent daughter! The memory froze her response.

  In that moment of silence his jaw tightened further. “You really are a Rawlins. I’m not good enough, is that it?”

  She couldn’t bear the condemnation in his eyes...his beautiful, moody, brown eyes. “That’s not it at all!”

  Gabe’s teeth clamped together and he let go of the bridle, suddenly setting the horse and her free. “Think I’ve had enough of you Rawlinses. Just go. Get out of here.” He slapped the mare soundly on her rump which, with a jerk, sent her galloping down the lane toward the ranch. It was all Riley could do just to hang on.

  He had completely misinterpreted her silence. He was wrong! All wrong! The words screamed inside. All except for the fact that Brody was his son.

  In the yard, she dismounted and left her horse in the corral. Anxious to be alone, she raced to her room. She couldn’t face him again—not now. She’d yell or pummel him or, worse, cry. She had to get hold of her emotions before confronting him. What right did he have to question her actions after what he had done?

  But he was right. She was a Rawlins—and a Rawlins did not resort to histrionics. Ever.

  She paced the room, unable to calm down. What would he do now? Would he tell Brody? Would he try to take her son away? She had believed that coming back home would fix everything. But this wasn’t the new beginning that she had imagined at all! Things were only getting worse. Everything was falling apart.

  * * *

  Gabe could barely breathe. Brody was his son. His flesh and blood.

  It was written all over Riley’s face and in her actions. He had wanted the truth, but he hadn’t meant to be cruel. He rubbed the sting from his cheek. Guess he got what he deserved.

  He had a son! He blew out a long breath.

  Why hadn’t she told him when she first knew? He would have made a life for them. He didn’t have much back then...mostly guts and foolishness when he thought about it, but... He sank down on the boulder that marked the end of the lane. Who was he kidding? He’d had nothing back then. Certainly not enough to take on a wife and baby.

  He thought back to the last time he’d seen her. They’d only made love once, and without hesitation he was sure it was love on both their parts. He’d been furious after seeing Rawlins leave his cabin and then his ma so distraught. He’d wanted to charge after the man right then but was scared of the rage inside and that he couldn’t control it. He knew Riley waited for him at the waterfall...and so he’d gone to meet her. She had talked him down from his anger only to have one act of passion exchanged for another. Her sweet, tender kisses had absorbed his pain and his first attempt at loving her had been a release of pent-up need and desire. It was afterward that he had told her he loved her.

  But now Riley had become like her father.

  He wasn’t worthy. He was half Kumeyaay, he didn’t own any land and he didn’t have property, not even a horse, to his name. But the fact remained—he had a son! Reality quickly tempered his elation. He had a son who thought of him as the hired help and an ex-convict. A son who didn’t know squat about him or how to ranch or how to be a man. A son who should have known his father all along.

  Like barbed wire in a bundle, it was all a tangled mess.

  Slowly Gabe rose to his feet. He walked over and grabbed the palomino’s reins. It wouldn’t all be figured out in one day. He had some thinking to do and the bunkhouse was not the place to do it. He needed to get away for a spell.

  As he reined his horse away from the lane to the ranch the thoughts clamored inside of him, tying him up in knots of frustration and something more that he hadn’t experienced in a long time...hope.

  * * *

  “Brody! Where are you?” Riley called out, finally emerging from her room. He didn’t answer her. She found him lying on his bed, a sullen look on his face, tossing a work glove up at the ceiling and trying his hardest to ignore life.

  “Why did you bring me here, Ma? I don’t fit in. Out here everything is different.”

  She sat down on the end of the bed. “It will take you more than four days to adjust. Tell me what happened at school.”

  “One of the kids started in on me—saying I was living with a killer, saying I might be next. I didn’t think it was true so I lit into the kid. The teacher broke us up...said the stupid boy was right. That Mr. Coulter had been in prison.” He scowled.

  She lowered her shoulders, relaxing. “I couldn’t very well say it right in front of him. Brody... Mr. Coulter grew up on a small ranch with his folks not too far from here. Time changes a person. I haven’t been sure about him. That’s why I told you to keep your distance.”

  Her son snorted. “Well, he just saved your life. That counts for something.”

  “It does. And I’m glad he was there. Besides snakes there are cougars and coyotes and even bears here. Usually they will leave you alone, but not always. If you go away from the house I want you to have someone with you who can shoot a gun. Eventually, you’ll learn how to handle one yourself.”

  Brody’s demeanor perked up at that.

  She patt
ed his boot and rose to her feet. “I’m going to have a talk with your grandfather.” Glancing once more at her son, she then headed down the stairs in search of her father.

  She found him on the front porch. “I see Senor Padilla is gone. Did he buy the stallion?”

  “Yes.” He took a draw on his cigar and blew out the smoke. “Coulter find you?”

  She nodded.

  “Figured that’s what he was doing taking off like that.”

  “He saved my life. I was nearly bitten by a rattler.”

  Her father looked startled at that. “What happened?”

  She explained about Brody’s tussle with Gabe, the rattler and then Gabe’s deadly aim with his knife.

  “I better keep him on then,” he mused. “Seems Coulter is proving himself more and more every day.”

  “Proving himself? What do you mean?”

  “I hired him, thinkin’ he’d fail. I didn’t expect him to stick it out mor’n a week or two. But that evening when he challenged me about his family’s land, there was something different about him—a strength that hadn’t been there before. He was proud, demanding answers, yet there was humility, too. As much as he considered me a rival for that land, he thanked me for burying his mother. That took character...and a bit of gumption.” He rubbed his whiskered jaw. “Maybe it is time to set a few things straight.”

  “Things? What things?”

  He looked at her as if contemplating telling her more, but then shook his head. “Has he figured Brody out yet?”

  “You are changing the subject, Father.”

  His bushy gray brows drew together but he didn’t reply.

  Dismayed, she answered him grudgingly. “I didn’t say anything but...yes. I think he is pretty sure now.”

  “And Brody?”

  “He still doesn’t know. I don’t know if Gabe is going to say anything to him.” She hugged herself, rubbing her upper arms. “I have wanted to return here for so long. I thought this would be a fresh start for Brody—a fresh start for me. I sure didn’t expect Gabe. Now I don’t know what will happen.”