He was just taking the last two steps to reach her when the President stepped right in front of him. “And who, my dear, are you?”
“Gabriella Torres,” she replied softly, taking his extended hand and dipping into a curtsy in front of him.
“Oh, no, dear, there is no need for that, Ms. Torres.” He brought her hand to his hips. “The honor is entirely mine. Now, where might your escort be, so that I can steal you away from him?”
“Right here, sir,” Luke said, his eyes never leaving Gabby. God, she’s stunning.
President Lamar turned to look over his shoulder and raised an eyebrow. “Ah, so you are. I don’t believe we’ve had the pleasure of meeting just yet.”
“Doctor Luke Davenport,” Luke said, nodding to the President in respect. But he wasn’t going to respect him much longer if he didn’t hand over Gabby, and soon.
“Doctor Davenport! What a delight. You certainly are no disappointment, nor is your young lady friend. I can tell that San Antonio is treating you well.”
Luke was surprised that the President remembered anything at all about him, let alone where he was assigned within the Republic. “Yes, sir. I’ve grown quite fond of San Antonio...” his eyes darted back up to Gabby “...and to the people.”
“I’m glad to hear it. I couldn’t have been more thrilled to have someone of your education joining our proud Republic.” His daughter came up to his elbow and pulled gently. “Ah. My daughter is reminding me that I have a party to tend to. Enjoy yourselves, and I certainly hope to see you off before you leave.” He winked at Gabby, nodded to Luke again, then turned to the group of people seeking his attention, as well as the attention of his lovely daughter.
Gabby moved towards Luke hesitantly, watching his face pensively. “Luke, I had to come find you. I never intended to disrupt—”
“Stop. Don’t say anything right now. Just let me...enjoy.” He smiled at her, taking half a step backwards, his eyes roving over her, before settling again on her face. “When I left you, I never thought I would see you again.”
Her smile faltered slightly. “I know. I know, Luke, and I handled that entire situation so poorly. Please forgive me...”
“Now’s not the time for this conversation,” he said, and began to guide her to the dance floor as the small orchestra started to play their music and couples made their way in the direction of the large ballroom floor. “Now is the time for me to finally have the dance with you that I wanted two days ago.”
A blush touched her cheeks and she followed him out onto the dance floor, smoothly sliding into his arms as he guided her in the dance. “Have I told you how beautiful you are?” he whispered.
“Yes,” she replied with her blush deepening. “And I don’t think I’ve thoroughly explained to you how bad I think your eyesight must be.”
He chuckled and shook his head, unable to take his eyes off of her. He had imagined how he would storm back to the cocina and demand to know the truth from her. To demand to know how she could have betrayed him so thoroughly. Never in his wildest dreams had he thought she would come to him. And it eased an ache in his heart that he had felt from the moment she had acknowledged the man who had interrupted their dance as her fiancé. But there were still so many questions to be answered. Yet, he didn’t want to focus on that at the moment. Instead he wanted to enjoy having this extraordinary woman back in his arms again.
Chapter Eighteen
Gabby couldn’t stop shaking, even though she was no longer cold. Far from it...she was warm from head to toe with Luke looking at her so intensely. She had felt his eyes the moment she had begun to descend the stairs with Rebecca Ann leading the way. She had searched the crowd for him, and when she saw his face looking back up at her, she had nearly stumbled and fallen.
He was just as handsome as she remembered. But she couldn’t tell if the storm in his eyes was one of pleasure or one of anger. Perhaps he would send her back out into the cold and sleet, regardless of her dress, regardless of her need to explain everything to him. But he hadn’t. Instead, he had claimed her as his, and she had felt as if she could breathe, if only a little, again.
“Why do you tremble, Vixen? Are you cold?”
“No. No. I just—I don’t know what to expect right now. I don’t know if you hate me or if you are willing to tolerate the mistakes of a foolish girl. I don’t know if I can repair the damage that has been done.”
They spun smoothly with the music, his eyes never leaving hers. “The mistakes of a foolish girl?”
“I should have told you so much more, and—”
“I don’t want to talk about this now, Vixen, but we will talk about it. I want to know when you left to come here? Was it soon after I left?”
“No, no. It wasn’t until after Abuela gave me this comb that I got my head straight and knew that I had to come to you.”
Luke’s eyes darted to the comb in her hair, then back to her. “This comb came from your grandmother?”
“Yes. Along with a story that I believe was actually the true story of her own love life. My grandparents have never been ones to talk about themselves or their courtship much. Instead, they talk about our parents, and then more recently they’ve been talking about Angie, Olivia, and Serena. But this story was so elaborate—it had to be personal. But don’t tell her I figured it out.”
He chuckled. “I won’t. And I’m glad you’ve finally stopped shaking.”
She realized it was true. In true Luke fashion, he had caused her to relax, and her mind was no longer occupied with the possible repercussions of her actions and betrayal to him earlier.
“So when did you leave? I’m sure it irritated a few people in the house.”
“Grandma is the only one who knows I left. I took our fastest horse and left in the middle of the night last night.”
“You did what?” he asked incredulously. “Do you realize how dangerous that was?”
“It was worth it. No matter what the outcome.”
He sighed heavily and shook his head. “You take too many risks, Gabby. Far too many. I’m sure Raphael is livid.”
Gabby shrugged. “Let him be livid. It is my life, and I should be allowed to do as I wish. I’m tired of everyone else making decisions for me.”
Luke shook his head in frustration. “You must be the most difficult, most challenging woman I have ever met.”
Gabby smiled. “I just know what I want and I go after it.”
A slow, very male smile touched his lips. “Is that so?”
The music for the first dance ended and the couples started to leave the floor when the band began to play an up-tempo song, one that had Gabby’s feet itching to dance. Luke grinned at her and swung her around and back into his arms, where they began to move to the fast beat, interchanging with other couples around them until they were back in each other’s arms once again.
By the time the music stopped, Gabby was out of breath from both laughter and exertion. She was also beginning to sweat, and she wanted nothing more than to feel the cool air from outside on her skin.
Luke seemed to read her mind as he took her off the dance floor, one arm around her waist. She smiled at the feeling of having his arms holding her again, of feeling free and alive around him. But she still had to explain to Luke everything that had happened, and that sat in her stomach like a heavy rock.
President Lamar was also just coming off the dance floor with an attractive redhead, who beamed at everyone looking at her. But she didn’t look that thrilled when the President kissed her hand, thanked her for the dance, and left her on the side of the dance floor. He noticed Luke and Gabby and smiled and headed in their direction.
“You two are accomplished dancers, I see. How long have you known each other?”
Gabby couldn’t contain her laughter. “Less that a fortnight, sir.”
His bushy eyebrows lifted in surprise. “From watching the two of you together, I’d have thought you had been together for years. You better hold on to
this one, Doctor Davenport, or someone may try to steal her away from you.”
Luke’s grip on her waist tightened. “I don’t intend on letting that happen, sir.”
Gabby’s heart skipped a beat. What does he mean? He doesn’t know that the terms of my arranged marriage have changed.
The President nodded his approval and attempted to move on, but was stopped by a group of people coming to grab his attention. Gabby felt sorry for the man. He barely had room to breathe, and she didn’t see how he could be enjoying his party. But he smiled and laughed, and then asked one of the women in the group to dance with him as the orchestra began playing another slow melody.
Gabby moved towards the doors that led out onto the magnificent porch that surrounded the house. “Are you sure you want to go outside?” Luke asked hesitantly, looking down at her.
“Yes. I never knew that women wore so many skirts and undergarments to look like this. That and the dancing have made me very warm.”
Luke chuckled. “You should see the way it is in London. Most of the women put a powder on their faces that makes them even more ‘warm.’ By the end of the evening, some of them have streak marks on their faces from where their sweat has run down.”
“Oh, that sounds terrible!” Gabby shook her head, trying to picture such a thing.
“The women believe it makes them prettier.”
“It sounds more like they are trying to hide their faces to me.”
Luke threw back his head and laughed. “I think you may be onto something there.”
One of the men wearing white gloves opened the doors for them and they were instantly greeted by a strong blast of cold air. He kept his arm around her waist, steering her to a corner of the porch where they would be out of the wind and it wasn’t as cold. “Better?” he asked.
She tried to give him a brave smile. “Better.” The entire time she had been riding to Austin, she had been thinking of the moment, imagining when she would have him to herself and she could explain everything. But suddenly, she was at a loss for words as she stared into his eyes.
“Gabby...I shouldn’t have left you the way I did at the fandango. Not only was it unfair to you, but it was also unfair to the rest of your family for all they have done for me. I was just so...so angry and shocked I wasn’t thinking straight. Is your family angry with me?”
“No! Of course not,” Gabby said quickly. “But they are with me.”
Luke shook his head in confusion, his brow furrowed. “Why? What are they upset with you about?”
“None of them knew about the arranged marriage,” Gabby confessed quietly. She shook her head, trying to fight off the tears that burned behind her eyes. “I didn’t want anyone to know. I think it was partly because I didn’t want to believe it was true. I wanted it to magically go away. The terms of the agreement were going to end when I turned twenty, which is only a few weeks away. Since he hadn’t come for me, I didn’t think he was ever going to come, and the agreement would be null and void.”
“How could your family not know about it, especially your grandparents? Didn’t they make the arrangement for you?”
Now was the time for her to tell him the truth. He had certainly earned the right. She drew a deep, shuddering breath. “Dominic Esparza’s family owned the largest ranch next to ours. We had to fight hard to keep our land when the Revolution was over, but President Houston agreed to it. The only problem was that the Esparza ranch had no natural source of water. Their cattle were struggling, and with that, their entire ranch was struggling.
“In January, 1835, before my father went to fight in the Revolution, Dominic’s father came to my father and asked if there could be some arrangement made for them to have their cattle drink from the large water tank we have. My father was a very generous man. But he also wanted to make an arrangement. He knew that the ranch would be passed down to my brothers after his passing and would continue being a part of the family.
“But I was the problem. He wanted me to have some land to hand down to my children one day. So he offered the use of the water tank to Dominic’s father—on the condition that Dominic marry me, ensuring that any of my children would have land handed down to them. Given that Dominic was their only son, there wasn’t much discussion on the matter. The agreement was made and then we were told about it after the fact.”
“How could you keep that from me? Why did you let me kiss you, hold you, and be with you the way a man pursuing you would be? You knew all this time, and you never told me anything.” The frustration across his face was obvious, and a vein pulsed at the base of his neck.
Gabby closed her eyes tightly, trying not to cry, but a tear slid down her cheek anyway. “I never meant to hurt you,” she whispered. “Never. I was too caught up in being with you, in the way you made me feel. I didn’t want to even remember that I had a fiancé. I had never even met Dominic until the night of the posada!”
Luke pulled back in surprise. “You never met him? You lived on the ranch right next to his. How could you never meet him?”
“Our ranches are very large. And after my parents died, I didn’t want to do anything unless it was with family. I stopped going to any of the fandangos in Corpus Christi, and I had my brothers to help get anything from town that we might need. So there really wasn’t any opportunity for us to meet.”
“And so why are you here now? Have you come to toy with my feelings some more? To draw me in to your tangled web that only seems to be getting more and more complex every time I see you?”
“No! No, Luke, please...please hear what I have to say. I know I’ve hurt you. I know I’ve caused you great pain. I would take it all away from you if I could. My heart is yours if you will have it. I cannot love another man—you are my one and only.”
He was breathing deeply as he listened to her, and she had barely finished speaking before he took her face in his hands and pressed his lips to hers, urgent and hungry for her returned affection. And she didn’t hold anything back. She slid her hands up into his hair, pulling him down tighter towards her as she raised herself on tiptoe, matching his urgency and hunger.
He slowly and reluctantly pulled his lips free, trailing them down her neck. “Sweet, sweet Gabby, I’ve been craving this from the moment I stormed away from your home. But how? How are we going to break this arranged marriage? You are betrothed to another man. And I cannot come between that.”
“Dominic is a good man.” Gabby managed to gasp out as Luke’s kisses were driving her to near madness. But fortunately he pulled away from her and listened to what she was saying. “He gave me a choice. He asked that I give him a fair shot at love and that if he wasn’t able to prove himself, then I was left to make my own decision. And I’ve made it. I choose you, Luke, if you’ll still have me. I choose you.”
“Gabby,” he whispered, dropping his lips to hers again and a happy tear slid down her face. Her heart was racing, aching with the need to be held by him, to be loved by him as unconditionally as she loved him. Would he accept her now that he knew the truth? Would he believe everything she had told him was true?
Suddenly there were several loud cries from within the home, and a few women screamed. They broke apart startled and turned together, running hand in hand through the doors and into the house. Just as they entered a man was being tackled to the ground and another man was beating at his arm with his jacket.
Smoke filled the air, and suddenly Gabby realized what had happened. “Oh, dear God,” she whispered, praying that the man wasn’t severely burned. There was a hysterical woman standing nearby, either his wife or his guest, but obviously someone who cared deeply about him.
“He was just standing near the fire and a spark hit his jacket... Oh, please, tell me he’s all right. Please!”
Gabby and Luke rushed forward. Gabby saw Susie hovering in the background, her face worried. Gabby released Luke’s hand and raced to Susie and asked her to fetch her medicine bag. When she turned back around, she was startled to see L
uke in a confrontation with a man she’d never met before.
“Keep your hands off of him,” Luke growled. “I won’t see him turned into another one of your casualties!”
“How dare you! Just because you think you are better than us—”
“I don’t think I’m better than anyone other than you. Your way of practicing medicine is archaic at best. Stay out of my way.”
The man’s face turned beet red and he stumbled backwards, stunned by the comments Luke had just made. Luke and Gabby shoved their way through the crowd of people and found the man lying on his back, his face pinched in pain, his right arm smoldering and shaking violently.
The hysterical woman wasn’t making things any easier. Gabby turned to a nearby older lady. “Would you mind soothing her at this moment? He is in distress and her cries are not going to help him. I’m sure your knowledge of staying calm through difficult times will help her.” Gabby’s attempt took root and the woman nodded solemnly, then corralled the younger woman and led her away from the scene.
Next, Gabby turned to one of the servants who was standing about nervously. “You, sir.” Gabby gestured to him, and his eyes widened, but he approached her anyway. “Will you please go collect some ice from the edge of the roof and put it in a bucket with water? I need the coldest water you can get me.” He nodded enthusiastically and took off quickly to do her bidding.
Luke had shed his coat and was already on his hands and knees next to the poor man when almost simultaneously their medicine bags were delivered to them. Luke raised an eyebrow at her, but said nothing as she joined him, kneeling next to the injured man.
“Scissors, please,” Luke said, and Gabby quickly presented him with a pair, then held the fabric out and away from the man’s skin as he began to cut through it. “Some of his jacket has melted to his skin,” Luke said softly, so softly only she could hear.
“I’m hoping the cold water will help with that,” Gabby replied softly.
He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. “Good idea.”
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