“Whitney.” Gabe stood in the archway between the kitchen and the living room. “It is Whitney, right?”
She glanced his way and smiled even brighter. “Yes. Whitney. Right.”
“I’m Gabe. Will you excuse us for just a minute?”
“Well, sure. Of course.”
“Mary.” He jerked his head in the direction of the back patio.
“Just a minute, then,” she said to Whitney, and followed him out.
He shut the back door and the storm door, taking care that they both latched before he turned to her. “Tell her you won’t need her after all. If you’re uncomfortable with doing it, I’ll tell her.”
He was right, of course. But his being right wasn’t the point. “It’s not your decision, Gabe.”
“You were going to send her away, weren’t you?”
“Gabe—”
“You were only going to wait until I left so I wouldn’t know and feel that I had to stay.” It really wasn’t fair. The man was always a couple of steps ahead of her. He came closer. So gently, he cradled her face between his hands. His palms were warm against her cheeks and he smelled of some light, tempting aftershave. “Well, I do know,” he said. “So you don’t need to wait until I’m gone.”
She wrapped her fingers around his wrists. At her slight tug, his hands dropped away. And something scary happened within her—a sadness, a longing. She wished that he would touch her again, deliberately, the way he’d just done. Tenderly. The way a man will touch a wife.
Or a lover…
Of course, he wouldn’t. They didn’t have that kind of friendship. And she wasn’t up for that sort of thing, anyway.
She stepped back. “I guess it’s pointless to put it off.”
“And end up signing all those papers she’s got and committing yourself to paying her, wasting poor Ida’s money?”
“Sheesh. Rub it in a little, why don’t you?”
“So you agree, she has to go. Do you want me to tell her?”
“No. I’ll take care of it.”
He ushered her in ahead of him. She marched straight to where Whitney, round-eyed, sat on the sofa with her hands folded in her lap.
Mary got right down to it. She knew if she didn’t, Gabe would do it for her. “Whitney, thank you so much for coming. But as it turns out, my mother-in-law will be here tomorrow to help me, so I won’t be needing you after all.”
An expression of purest relief crossed Whitney’s pretty face. She jumped up. “You’re sure?”
Mary nodded.
Whitney grabbed the papers she’d set on the coffee table and practically ran for the door. She hovered with her hand on the knob, her wide skirt swaying. “The truth is, I don’t know if I’m cut out to be a home care specialist after all,” she confessed in a guilty rush.
“I certainly understand,” said Mary.
Whitney pulled open the door and got out of there, racing down the front steps and out to her car, as though scared to death that Mary might change her mind and call her back.
As the girl drove away, Gabe said, “I’ll call the office.”
She turned to him. “No. I can’t let you—”
He didn’t let her get going. “Just don’t, all right? It’s one more day—a half a day, really. It’s not a big deal. Don’t make it into one.”
But it is a big deal, her heart cried. It’s a very big deal.
Two days ago, he’d been a stranger. He came from a world she didn’t even understand. She was starting to feel…things she shouldn’t, about him. She wanted to lean on him.
No. Scratch that. She’d already been leaning on him. The problem was, she wanted to go on leaning on him. Indefinitely.
And that just wasn’t going to happen. They weren’t from the same world. Soon enough, he’d go back to BravoCorp and his high-powered lifestyle—his bachelor lifestyle. And she would still be right here, on the land she loved. As she still loved Rowdy, even though he was gone. Here, with her good friends around her, with Ida to count on and her beautiful baby in her arms.
Gabe repeated, “One more damn day.” He sounded so determined. And a little angry.
And maybe kind of hurt.
And a calmness suffused her. He was right, as usual. One day, and that was all. Tomorrow, Ida would be here, ready and more than able to give Mary the helping hand she needed.
Gabe would be able to leave her with a clear conscience, knowing she would be well cared for. Their time together would come to its own natural end. She didn’t have to hurt him by sending him away when they both knew she still needed him.
She closed the distance between them. “Yes,” she stared up into those gorgeous blue eyes, even allowed herself to reach up and frame his face with her hands, as he had done to her out on the back patio. His cheeks were smooth and fresh-shaved against her palms. “You’re right, of course. As you always are.”
“Uh. I am?” He stared down at her, thoroughly bewildered by her change of heart.
She nodded. “Yes. Absolutely. I’m being foolish, to push you away when you keep telling me you’re willing to stay. I would be so grateful if you would stay until tomorrow when Ida gets here.”
He looked kind of stunned. “You would?”
She let him go, stepping back. It wouldn’t do to let the touch linger too long. “I would. You’re wonderful to me and I’m so grateful. Thank you.”
He cleared his throat. “Well. Good. It’s settled, then.”
“Yes. It’s settled. Call your office.”
Chapter Eight
Gabe had no idea what had changed Mary’s mind. He just knew she’d done the right thing, finally, and let him stay while she needed him.
The day went by very much like the day before. He worked at the kitchen table. Mary cared for the baby. In the afternoon, Gabe took Ginny and told Mary to go have a nap. She didn’t argue. She slept for two hours.
That evening, Donna Lynn dropped by again, with a cooked ham and a big plastic container of potato salad. Ida had called her, too, and told her that she would be back the next day.
While Donna Lynn was there, a couple of other friends from town stopped in. And Garland came early. They ended up sharing a meal with the food everyone had brought that day and the day before. It was fun, Gabe thought. Kind of a family feeling. Reminded him of times at Bravo Ridge, when they’d all sit around the big oak table in the kitchen, laughing and joking together.
Those times with his family didn’t happen enough lately. They were all grown up now, and busy with their own lives. Sometimes Luke, the family’s one born rancher, who lived at Bravo Ridge full time, complained that they all didn’t get home often enough.
That night, like the night before, he and Mary sat out on the back patio, her dog, Brownie, stretched out between them. The sky was overcast and the air heavy and wet with the promise of rain. They watched lightning fork and heard low rumbles of thunder.
He told her about Ash. “He’s the oldest. CEO of BravoCorp. He was engaged to marry Lianna Mercer.”
Mary laughed, low and sweetly. And then she put on a snooty voice. “You mean Lianna Mercer of the San Antonio Mercers?”
He sent her a puzzled glance. “How’d you guess?”
“Something in the way you said her name. I could hear money and power and influence—and you also said your brother was engaged to marry her. Past tense. So it didn’t work out?”
“Well, his plane crashed in the Sierras and he fell in love with the woman who rescued him. They were married in a little church in her hometown a month ago.”
“Do they live here, in Texas?”
“They do. She’s great. Tessa’s her name. Big-hearted, you know? We’re all half in love with her. And Ash is so happy.”
She slanted him a look. “You sound surprised at that.”
“You’d have to know Ash. Happy is not a word anyone would have used to describe him before. He was…driven. Ambitious. A lot like dear old Dad. But Tessa’s kind of mellowed him. She’s t
errific.” He dared to suggest, “You’d like her, I’ll bet.”
For that, he only got a smile. She asked, “So your brother broke Lianna Mercer’s heart, is that what you’re telling me?”
“Apparently not. Word is, Lianna broke up with him.”
“Then it worked out fine for everyone.”
“Yeah.” The first raindrops spattered the dry ground beyond the patio cover and pinged on the metal overhead. Lighting flashed again, so bright, closer than any of the strikes before, followed by a grumble of thunder that built to a roar.
Brownie got up with a nervous whine and disappeared around the side of the house, probably headed for the dog entrance in the side door. From the bedroom, Ginny started crying.
Mary went in. Gabe lingered for a few minutes to listen to the hard patter of the rain overhead, thinking as he had the night before that with a little loving care the Lazy H would be a great place.
Again that night they took turns with the baby. At three in the morning, Gabe lay on the sofa with Ginny on his chest, feeling her warmth against his heart, thinking that he was doing a fine job here.
Ida Mae Hofstetter had better do as well. She’d better take damn good care of this baby. And of Mary, too.
Gabe smiled as the baby gave a huge yawn, smacked her little lips and sighed in her sleep. How could a man fall in love with a baby?
He had no idea. But whenever he held Ginny, his heart seemed to expand in his chest. Sure felt like love to him.
Outside, the rain had stopped, though the ozone smell of it still hung in the air. The house was quiet except for Ginny’s soft breathing. He closed his eyes and drifted just on the near side of sleep, feeling so peaceful inside himself, feeling happy in a way he’d never known before.
Yeah, he knew he was getting way too involved here. He knew it was bound to end in a few short hours. But he pushed that knowledge from his mind. He fell asleep with a smile on his face.
In the morning, he got up and helped Garland with the livestock. Then they all three had breakfast together. Gabe enjoyed the meal, the easy conversation, the fond way Mary treated Garland and the old man’s gruff humor that couldn’t mask his affection for Rowdy Hofstetter’s widow.
When Garland left, Mary went in to take care of Ginny, who’d started fussing a little. Gabe straightened up the kitchen. Once the table was cleared and the dishes were in the dishwasher, he got out his laptop and pretended to work.
But he wasn’t working. He was waiting.
For Mary’s mother-in-law to get there. For the fast-approaching moment when he would be on his way.
The phone rang at a little after nine. Mary took it in the bedroom. He knew it was Ida. He heard the eagerness in Mary’s voice, heard her say, “I can’t wait to see you.” His own phone vibrated more than once. He ignored it. He could deal with it later. No big rush.
He’d have the rest of his life to answer the damn phone.
At nine-thirty, he shut down his laptop and put it in the briefcase. He gathered the few belongings he had lying around and stuffed them back in the small suitcase he’d brought from his place Monday night. He put everything by the front door. Ready to go.
And then he went into Mary’s room. He found her sitting in the rocker, nursing Ginny. She looked up from the baby and gave him a smile.
And he couldn’t stop himself. He went to her.
She gazed up at him as he approached, a thousand questions in those soft brown eyes. But all she said was his name on a rising inflection. “Gabe?”
He gave no answer. Except to bend down and press his lips to hers.
She gasped, a sweet, sharp intake of breath against his mouth. And then, for a brief, beautiful second or two, she opened to him. He tasted her, so sweet, so good…
And then, with a small, confused sound in her throat, she rocked back. He lost the warm taste of her.
She gazed up at him, stricken. “Oh, Gabe,” she whispered. “I’m so sorry. I’m just…” She ran out of words.
He demanded roughly, “Just what?”
And she said it, she left no doubt. “I’m not ready for anything like this.”
Chapter Nine
A few short minutes after Mary crushed all his wild, impossible hopes, Ida Hofstetter arrived. Tall and slim, with silver hair, a long, plain face and a square jaw, she had a capable look about her, strong and direct, both feet on the ground.
She brought two heavy suitcases in with her, one in each hand, the lean muscles in her long arms flexing beneath the short sleeves of her white shirt. And after she’d held her granddaughter and declared her the most beautiful baby in the world, she hugged Mary and told her how glad she was to be home at last.
“Oh, Ida.” Mary hugged her back, hard. “Me, too.”
Then Mary introduced them. “This is Gabe.” She smiled widely at her mother-in-law, but when she looked at him, her gaze slid away.
Ida extended a hand and Gabe took it. She wrapped her other hand around their joined ones. Her hazel eyes were full of honest warmth. If he’d doubted that Mary’s mother-in-law could remain unthreatened by finding another man in her dead son’s house, taking care of his wife and baby, he doubted no more. “I’ve heard all you’ve done for Mary and the baby. I don’t know what to say, except to thank you, with all of my heart.”
“Always happy to help.”
Ida beamed. “Well, you’re a lifesaver and we can’t thank you enough.” She let go of his hand and held out her arms for Ginny again. “Oh, let me hold her. I am just aching to hold her.”
Mary handed her over again. “I’ll bet you want coffee.”
Ida adjusted the baby’s blanket, her eyes only for Ginny. “Now you’re talkin’.”
Mary laughed. “Well, come on in the kitchen, then.”
Gabe saw the moment for what it was: time for him to go. He had to face reality now. He was no longer needed here.
And Mary’s words of a few minutes before wouldn’t stop echoing in his head. I’m not ready for this. She’d said it softly, not wanting to hurt him, but that didn’t make her meaning any less clear.
He spoke up before they could wander into the kitchen, “Great to meet you, Ida.” He turned to Mary. “Time I got out of here. There’s more than one meeting I ought to be at today.”
Ida did look up from the baby then. “Sure you can’t stay for a last cup of coffee?”
“I’d love to. But I need to get going.” He wanted to ask to hold Ginny one more time—but no. Holding that baby would only make leaving all the harder.
Better to cut it clean.
The damn ugly brown dog padded over and whined up at him, as if she knew he was out of there. He knelt long enough to give her a scratch behind the ear.
“I’ll walk you out,” said Mary.
“Suit yourself. ’Bye, Ida. Great to meet you.”
“You come back, now. Door’s always open.”
“Thanks.” He reached for his stuff.
Mary followed him outside, where the scent of last night’s rain still hung in the air and the big, blue sky was dotted with dark-bellied clouds. He went around to the driver’s side, yanked open the door and tossed his stuff across the passenger seat.
Mary was right there. She stopped with the door between them and cleared her throat. “I, um, don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t showed up here Monday morning, Gabe….” She did meet his eyes then. But in her gaze, he saw wariness. She didn’t reach out, didn’t edge around the door to get a little closer to him. The barrier it made seemed to suit her just fine.
“Glad I could help. You take care. And give Ginny a kiss for me.”
The wind toyed with her hair, blowing the shiny brown strands across her cheeks. He gripped the top of the door, hard, to keep himself from reaching out and guiding those strands out of her eyes.
She smoothed them back. “I will. Goodbye, Gabe.”
Goodbye. Not see you later or see you soon. Uh-uh. Goodbye. Didn’t get much clearer than that. Whatever
it was between them, it was over without ever really getting started.
He stepped up behind the wheel. “’Bye, Mary.” He pulled the door shut and revved the engine, giving her one last wave as he put it in gear.
She waved back. He couldn’t resist glancing in the rearview mirror as he left her behind. She stood there waving, the wind blowing her shining hair, ruffling the hem of the loose shirt she wore, until he turned the corner to go around the house and she disappeared from view.
She was gone when he headed back down the driveway to the road. He told himself it was for the best. Mary was still in love with her dead husband.
And Gabe wasn’t the settling-down kind anyway. Better to let it go. Too damn bad about that tight feeling in his chest, the strange ache that made him wonder if he’d just lost everything that mattered in the world.
As if a man could lose a thing he’d never had in the first place.
Gabe went to his big, modern house in Alamo Heights, not far from the house where Ash lived with his new bride. The place seemed empty as a politician’s promise. He thought with the weirdest stab of longing of Mary’s ugly mutt, Brownie.
Maybe he ought to get himself a dog or something.
He no sooner considered the idea than he rejected it. Between his killer work hours and his social life, a dog would die of loneliness waiting for him to come home.
He changed into business clothes and went down to his four-car garage. He took the Jag to the BravoCorp building.
Georgia, who was every bit as gorgeous as she was capable, granted him her cute dimpled smile when he got off the elevator at his floor. “You’re here. Great.”
“Give me five minutes. We’ll go over everything.”
“Got a month?”
“No, but I have faith in you. Work up a short version, just the main points.”
The Bravo Bachelor Page 9