“How do I get word to you if they ride into these parts?” Gabe offered a ladle of water to Bass, watching his expression. But as usual, the marshal gave nothing away.
Bass peered over the top of the ladle, looking Gabe square in the eye. Right then and there, in the brief moment, Gabe knew he wasn’t going to like the answer.
“I’ll require you to ride with me. I already spoke to Walter Cook. He’ll be nearby and send word should you need to return.” Bass re-tightened the cinch then handed the empty feed bucket and ladle over to Gabe. “Gabe, we could be on their trail for several weeks. I want to get them before that stage gets too far into Indian Territory.”
Gabe swallowed the lump in his throat, one of his greatest fears coming to fruition. His mind raced to find a reason, any reason, for him to stay. A reason to decline a request from his fellow lawman and found none that would make him out to be anything less cowardly.
If he used Abby and the baby as a reason to stay behind, he’d be seen as that coward and it would pose more danger than not. The way Gabe saw it, he had no choice but to go with Reeves.
“How long do I have before we leave?” Gabe glanced toward the house, feeling Abby’s gaze upon him.
“Out of respect for Mrs. Hawkins, whom I’ve grown fond of, the morning will be soon enough.” Bass remounted the gray, adjusting himself in the saddle. “Say your goodbyes, I’ll be back at sunrise.”
Gabe nodded, “Fair enough.”
“Well then, until the sun rises.” Bass rode off, leaving Gabe with a hole in his gut.
The time he thought he’d have with Abby until their son was born now gone, Gabe turned toward the cabin to find her waiting for him on the porch.
“Lord, give me the strength to leave my love in her time of need,” he muttered, then strolled across the yard.
“You’re leaving,” Abby stated, folding the clothes as she pulled them from the rope one by one.
“Yes.” Gabe looked away from the fear in her eyes, his steadfastness waning.
“How soon?” Abby dropped the last of the day’s wash into the basket.
“Sunrise,” Gabe stated, watching her shoulders draw back.
Abby smiled despite the tears he saw welling in her brown eyes. “Then come inside. We have much to do before we say a proper farewell,” she said, extending her hand to him.
Gabe leapt upon the porch, pulling her into his arms. The scent of lavender lingering in Abby’s hair filled his mind until it was stamped firmly into his memory. The swell of her belly where their child lay in wait against him was a stealth reminder of his reasons for whom he’d become to Abby. To himself.
The woman made him a better man. The love of his life made him face his fears with love, understanding, and courage. Abby, his wife, his everything.
And now he silently called upon her to show him the courage within to leave her and their unborn baby. To ride off in the morning. To answer the call of duty to protect those unable to protect themselves.
“Abby,” he whispered into long brown strands of hair cascading over her shoulders. He found her mouth with his, kissing her with passion he didn’t know lived within him.
With a hand in hers, Gabe allowed her to take him through the cabin door and across the floor to their bedroom. Slowly he undressed her, his hands skimming lightly over her heated skin. Their child moved beneath his hand as it danced inside her belly.
Abby worked the buttons on his jeans, then slid them just past his hips. Gabe kicked off his boots, then yanked his jeans completely off, leaving them in a clump on the floor before lying next to Abby.
Gathering her into his arms, Gabe held her close, her softness kissing his work-worn skin, igniting his senses.
Gooseflesh prickled her body as his lips traveled a path over her face, down her long, silky neck, and over breasts swelling with nourishment for the baby. Her fingertips tracked lines over his back, sending jagged edges of desire through him.
No words of love were needed.
No false promises spoken aloud.
Only the promise of love, need, want, and desire between a man and his wife.
In the early morning hours before the sun rose in the east, Abby rocked slowly back and forth in the porch chair, reflecting on the past several hours. Their lovemaking during the night had been sweet, even lustful at times, but it might be the last time she would feel Gabe next to her. Somehow, she’d have to come to terms with it. She’d have to be strong, not let him see her worries.
When he rode out in a few hours, she needed him to see that she loved him and would wait no matter how long.
The hours before dawn were cool and Abby pulled the knitted shawl tighter around her shoulders. A courting song of a robin sent chills down her spine. Much like Gabe in the moonlit night, the songbird sought out its mate with music—sweet and full of promise.
She shut her eyes recording to memory Gabe’s touch. How the roughness of his hands felt like silk upon her skin. The gooseflesh sprinkled across her body when he’d slipped her dress from her followed by the chemise.
The heat from his lips set her on fire with each touch. His whispered words of love upon her ear made her blood race with desire. Her fingers fumbling with the buttons of his blue denim pants in her haste to bed her husband before the morning came to take him from her.
His words soft as he spoke to their unborn child. Telling tales to the babe of his life before the War Between the States and life on a southern plantation. He told their child of how he’d been swept away the first time he’d seen her. How much he loved both Abby and the baby. That he wished the baby, if a boy, to be named James Gabriel Stewart Hawkins, after his father. He told the restless baby the importance of family, of standing up for what was right in the world, that above all else to be lawful and true to those around him. Of not being afraid to give his heart to the right woman when the time was right.
“One day our child must learn to read and write, and go to a university, Abby. He’ll travel to faraway places and experience life as we’ve never been able,” he told her, gazing onto her face with need for her to make his wishes come true. Abby had nodded her promise, tears sliding down her cheeks.
“I’ll be right here waiting for you no matter how long it takes.” She made the promise with more tears on the edge of her lashes and a small weak smile on her lips.
“The boy will need a father, Abby. Promise me you’ll find a good man with a loving hand to care for you and the child should I not return.”
“There’ll be no need as he’ll have no father other than you. There’ll be no other. I’ll not expect nothing less of you, my husband—my love and my life.” Abby kissed him with renewed passion in her body and fear of never seeing him again clutching her heart. “That I can be sure of, and I’ll not promise otherwise Gabe.”
He’d returned her kiss then and they’d made love by the moonlight streaming through the bedroom window until they both were spent and fell asleep wrapped around each other.
She brought to mind the song of his snoring as she lay awake, wrapped in his arms, tears staining her pillow. His fingers flexing around her arm as he slept, making sure she was still there. The murmurs from a dream he wouldn’t remember having come morning.
Abby planned on growing old with Gabe at her side. She’d dreamed of him playing with their child and grandchildren. Of Gabe teaching them how to ride bareback across the plains. Her child, their baby, might never be held by or know its father. How much he loved it. But she’d make darn sure their child grew to know him.
The baby stirred, drawing Abby from of her musings, reminding her there was much to be done before Bass Reeves returned at sunrise. Tears trickled down her cheeks as she stored her memories safely away.
Swiping back the tears of self-pity, she returned to the cabin and packed baked goods into a sack. She’d risen long before her husband to prepare the biscuits and small cakes for his journey. She wanted him to take a little piece of home with him.
9
“Abby,” he said in a sleepy tone, rolling over, wanting his wife when all he found was a cold empty space. Springing to his feet, he snatched his pants off the floor and up over his legs and hips, then ventured out into the front room buttoning his fly. Pausing for a moment he took in the sweet vision before him.
The white cotton gown left little to douse his growing desire. If it were at all possible, Abby was more beautiful at the simplest of times.
What was it about a woman first thing in the morning before the household moved about? Abby stirred a deep need in him. He yearned to take her in his arms and make love to her until Reeves came banging on the door. Until he had to leave her in her hours of need to hunt down a gang of outlaws. For the first time since arriving in Fred and Indian Territory, Gabe wished they were still in Dodge City where his jurisdiction didn’t include the entire territory of Kansas.
“Are you going to stand there all day, gawking like a silly schoolboy?” Abby turned, a smile on her face. In the moments it took him to cross the few feet to her, the gown lay in a pool at her feet. “Stop right there,” she commanded, a hand upon the swell where his son grew strong each day.
“Gawd, woman,” Gabe hissed, the temperature in his body rising like the heat of a summer day in July. “Do you have any idea what you are doing?”
“Take a long look my love. Draw my image to mind when you need to remember what waits for you at home.” Arms open wide, Abby pivoted on one foot then bent down, slowly drawing her gown over her nakedness. Walking back to the bedroom, she lingered long enough to place a hand where his heart thundered like a herd of mustangs. Smiling, she continued back to the bedroom closing the door behind her.
Gabe fought the urge to follow her. To make love to Abby as if it were for the last time. However, if he did, he knew in his heart that she’d look in his eyes and know he didn’t expect to make it back home in one piece, if at all. Staring at the closed door he debated throwing caution to the wind.
“Hell with it,” he muttered, mind made up. Stepping to the door, his hand raised to knock, asking for entry.
As his knuckles were about to rap on the barrier, the door opened. Abby stood in the gray light of day snaking through the window. She wore her best dress and her brown hair was piled upon her head. She looked as she had the day he’d fallen for her. The day she’d stood on the train platform in Dodge City.
“Are you going somewhere?” Gabe’s admiration quickly turned to suspicion. She’d not worn that dress since the day they were married, and she had her receptacle in one hand and the matching bonnet in the other. All that was missing was her travel jacket.
“Yes, I’ll need to go and get supplies at the trading post once you’ve left. You’ll be riding out soon and there is no way I’m going to wait for someone to bring what is needed.” Abby smiled, then walked past him to the table. “I’ve got some things—”
“You aren’t going anywhere! I’ll not have my wife walk a mile to the post and back with an arm full of provisions,” Gabe’s nostrils flared, and he bared his teeth. Gabe was furious with her. What possessed her to even consider wandering about unattended? Was she daft? Where has his levelheaded wife gone? She certainly was not standing before him.
“Be that as it may, I am not a helpless woman.” Abby smiled slightly, but he saw the fire in her eyes. “Walking is good for the baby and will make childbirth easier on both of us.”
“That’s a bunch of hogwash and you know it.” Gabe crossed the floor planks to her then stood over the table, hands spread out in front of him. If he kept them there, he might not grab and shake some sense into her. “There is a gang of ruthless outlaws heading this way. It’s far too dangerous for you, or Millie, to be prancing between here and the trading post.”
“And what do you think Millie did before the great lawman Gabe Hawkins came to town? Do you think for one minute she sat on the porch waiting for Walter to bring supper home?” Abby stood hands on hips, her head high in defiance.
Gabe knew that look on her face. She wouldn’t easily back down, even so he had to try and make her understand the element of danger that gang posed. She had to see going to the trading post could put her life in danger as well as his son’s chance to come into this world.
“If the Evans gang does come this way with no law around to fight them— well, it won’t be pretty. They’ll most likely loot everything at Cook’s,” Gabe stated coming around behind her. “Lord knows what they’d do to two helpless women and a young boy with only Walter here to defend you.”
“I’m not about to stay holed up in the cabin for Lord knows how long while you are out there doing your job. Do you really think by doing so it’s going to stop them from barging in our home if they want to? Or stop them from taking the mules? No, Gabe, it’s not!” Abby turned facing him, her gaze boring a hole into his soul.
“Mr. Hawkins, I’ll have you remember you were a lawman long before you were my husband. I’ll not have you forget that ever.” Abby fell into Gabe’s arms her tears on the edge of her lashes. “Don’t you dare treat me like a child with no sense of my own.”
“Mrs. Hawkins, I am now and always will be your husband and protector above all else. I’ll not have you forget that,” he said pressing her against him. His lips sought hers, kissing her hard with an urgency of a man fearful of never seeing his love again. “I’ll not have you forget how much I love you.”
Gabe held on a moment longer then willed himself to let Abby go. A tear slipped down her face. He brushed it away with the pad of a thumb.
“Come now, I need to go to the lean-to. Spade needs his oats before I leave or he’ll be trying to eat every bush along the way.” Gabe smiled then turned to the door. Before he got half the distance, he was hit from behind by a shirt in the head. “I stand firm Abby; you’ll not leave this cabin for anything!”
“You may want to finish dressing first,” Abby hissed, slamming the bedroom door.
Gabe shook his head, pulling the garment down over his shoulders and walked out the door. The sun was beginning its rise above the eastern horizon. Reeves would be there soon, and he had things to do.
Spade ate from the bucket of oats as Gabe ran a brush over his back. “Damn woman! Does she think there’s a peace officer around every corner? This is not Dodge City, it’s Indian Territory. Unsettled and untamed. She’d can’t go strolling down the road as if it were a summer Sunday morning.”
Gabe tossed the horse blanket followed by the saddle over his horse’s back and withers. Spade tossed his head and stomped a foot. The black was ready to move on; he’d been confined to the two miles it took to get to the trading post and back. Gabe hadn’t gone far from the cabin or his family himself for the past three months. He wouldn’t be doing it now except…
Now he had an obligation to not only protect his wife, but to chase after outlaws hell bent on robbing a stagecoach. He doubted the outcome would be a good one.
Abby paced the floor of the bedroom, wearing a path on the planks leading to nowhere except from words raised in frustration. She shouldn’t have provoked Gabe, but she wasn’t going to let him ride away worrying about her. At least not any more than he already did.
A red ring was beginning to form around her wrists the more she rubbed them. Her body trembled as she tried to keep from bursting into tears.
“Lord, have I done the right thing?” she muttered, clenching her hands into fists then relaxing them. “What if he doesn’t come back and we’ve parted ways in anger? It’ll be all my fault if he dies thinking—”
Unable to hold back the tears any longer, Abby fell upon the bed where they’d made love through the night. The sweetness of that farewell now tainted by her trickery to make him believe she would be strong without him there.
In truth, she was scared. Scared of losing the man she cherished above all others. Gabe was the love of her life, she knew that now. She’d probably known it in her heart from the day she laid eyes on his face.
At one tim
e she may have been a strong woman long before she ever came to know him. Since falling under Gabe’s protection and love, Abby had let all that false strength slip away. There had been no need to pretend any more.
Until yesterday when she called upon the false strength once more for the sake of their child. To convince Gabe she’d be safe while he performed his duty as a lawman.
“Now what do I do?” Her gaze bounced across the room as if the answer were there hiding in wait for her to find it.
Abby stood, smoothing back a few loose strands of hair. “If I tell him of my false proclamation he’ll ride away worrying. That worry could cause his judgment to waiver. On the other hand, if I keep my secret he rides out angry with me, but hopeful I will be able to withstand his absence.”
Opening the bedroom door, she got her writing desk from near the fireplace and sat at the table. Lifting the lid, she removed a piece of stationary.
My Dearest Husband,
When I arrived in Dodge City to meet a man I’d been exchanging letters with, I did not expect to love you. Against the dark emptiness I thought was in my heart, I do love you more than I thought I would.
From the moment you stepped upon the platform I knew in my heart I was meant to be your wife. And though our wedding was in haste and under my silent protest, I have never been happier than to be at your side.
You have given me more in life than I could have hoped for, as I thought I’d never find someone to love again. You are a man who made me love you. You have given me a child I never thought I’d have. A family I’ve missed for far too many years.
I answered your advertisement to escape the daily reminder of my sorrow. I’d hoped, no prayed, that you’d truly have a kind heart. In these months I’ve learned that you have so much more.
You, my dear Gabe, are a man who loves deeply and completely. A man who faces his fears and resolves to not let them take you over. Do not let the fear of my welfare while you chase outlaws control you. You will control it. I have faith in you.
Brides Along the Chisholm Trail Boxset Page 19