by Zoe York
“Favorite or not, it’s my duty as his sister to make sure any woman thinking of getting involved with him knows what she’s getting into.”
“Is that to protect her… or him?”
“Him. He deserves a woman who’ll love him for everything he is.”
The first flakes of wind-driven snow spiraled around them, and Annemarie shivered as a few tickled her exposed neck. She turned up the collar of her coat and zipped it all the way to her chin before stuffing her unprotected hands in her pockets. With a start, she realized that the branding was done and the calves had all been turned loose to rejoin their mothers in the pasture. Gabe was almost to the fence where she and Delilah stood gossiping about him, and with those long strides, he reached them in no time. He climbed over the fence like it was nothing and dropped to the ground on the other side of his sister with equal ease. Tucking an arm around Delilah with a casual affection that made Annemarie miss her brother even more, he glanced between the women.
“You two seem to be getting quite friendly.”
“What can I say? I like her. She may be a bit young for you, though, old man.” Delilah winked at Annemarie. “I’m not sure you’ll be able to keep up with her.”
“You are barely a year younger than me,” Gabe retorted. He inspected his sister’s satiny dark hair. “Is that a gray hair I see?”
“No, it is not, you jackass.”
Gabe chuckled and gave his sister a squeeze.
“In all seriousness….” Delilah swiveled to face him, and with her wrists crossed behind his neck, she leaned back in his arms and smiled sweetly. “You know I love you, but if you hurt her, I will castrate you myself.”
She said it with that same innocent grin still firmly in place. Then she rose up on her toes and leaned around her big belly to kiss his cheek before she sauntered off to join Ruth and the kids.
Gabe stared after her for a moment, then turned to Annemarie with a brow lifted. “What was that all about?”
“Let’s just say your sister is as easy to talk to as you are.”
“Uh-oh. Should I be worried?”
“I don’t think so. We talked about your family and her husband and baby-to-be… and about me… and you. She told me a little more about Leigh. Sounds like she didn’t just go digging for gold but found quite a bit.”
“That’s a polite way to put it.” His jaw clenched briefly and his eyes hardened, but then he sighed and the anger drained from his face.
“How did she do it? Steal the money, I mean.”
“Her brother was the assistant manager of the bank where I had my accounts.”
“How much did she take?”
“Close to a hundred thousand.”
“Oh, my God, Gabe. Did you get it back?”
“Nope. By the time she was caught, there wasn’t anything to salvage. It took me four years to pay off the credit card, and I’ve only recently finished paying the money back to my savings.”
He kicked at a clump of dirt with the heel of his boot, and it was close to half a minute before he met her gaze again.
“You think you were dumb to get involved with Tom? Believe me, I have you beat in the dumb department. She made it pretty clear that she didn’t love me as much as I loved her when she headed off to college and dumped me within a month, but six years later, she came crawling back to me fresh from a divorce. She claimed her ex had abused her, told me if she’d just said yes when I asked her to marry me at graduation, we could’ve been living happily ever after and she never would’ve married her asshole ex. And like a fool, I fell for it and took her back.”
“Was it true? About her ex?”
“Like I said, I was a damned fool.”
Annemarie shook her head. “She played you. Just like Tom played me.”
“If you say so.” Gabe turned fully to her and rested an arm on the top rail of the corral. “I’m sorry I’ve been ignoring you and Cody. I’m sure you didn’t expect to be dragged out here just to be left to fend for yourself against my family.”
“There’s nothing to apologize for, Gabe. I knew you were coming here to help out, and Cody’s having a blast with your mother and your nieces and nephews. It isn’t often that he is so free to just be a kid.”
Frowning, he searched her face, and she quivered a little inside, both nervous and intrigued under his intent perusal. She felt exposed and vulnerable but also secure and valued.
“And how about you? Are you doing all right? I know my family can be a bit….”
“Overwhelming?”
“Yes, that.”
“They were, at first. There are just so many of them, and none of them are at all shy.”
Gabe chuckled. “I probably should’ve warned you, but I didn’t think they’d be quite so obnoxious. I’m sure you’ve figured out that teasing me about being the only unmarried and childless sibling is a family sport.”
“I have, and I’m glad you didn’t warn me because I might have backed out of coming and missed this. It’s nice to talk to people who aren’t clients, and it’s even better to hear them laugh… and to laugh with them. It gets lonely out at our cabin.” She lowered her eyes to hide the shy smile that lifted her lips. “Of course, it hasn’t been nearly so lonely out there lately.”
“Don’t let my family hear you say that or they’ll be a hundred times worse.”
“Um, Gabe?”
“Hmm?”
“What are we doing?”
“I’d say we’re getting to know each other better.”
“Obviously… but why?”
“Because we’re friends?”
The way his voice rose to make that simple statement into a question sparked hope. Breathlessly, she asked, “Is that all we are?”
“For now.”
His expression gentled even as his eyes lit up with a delightful sparkle, and the way he shifted his body closer made her heart trip over itself. The things he could do to her pulse just with a subtle shift in his expression….
“But I would like to take you out sometime soon.”
“When?”
The question popped out of her mouth so fast that she blushed at her own eagerness.
“I was thinking next Sunday after I finish wiring your cabin.” Gabe chuckled. “I guess that answers the question of whether or not you’re interested.”
He stuffed his stained leather gloves into his pocket and gingerly took one of her hands, pressing their palms together. The heat of his skin chased the chill from her fingers and spurred her heart into a gallop. Her hands looked so tiny and delicate against his despite the layer of calluses and fine scars she’d accumulated since taking over Garrett Ranch. What would those long-fingered, capable hands of his feel like gripping her hip or stroking down her back?
“I know it’s been a long time since I gave a relationship a chance, and I suspect it has been for you, too,” he was saying. The timbre of his voice had changed, roughened. “Maybe it’s time we both took a chance.”
She let out a small gasp when she met his gaze. A heady blend of vulnerability and confidence and hope filled his eyes, and instinctively she leaned into him, letting that emotion saturate her. Unable to trust her voice, she only nodded.
He threaded his fingers around hers and pulled her over to where his mother and the kids were finishing with the bum calves. He let go of her hand just long enough to hoist Cody to his shoulders—ignoring the pleas of his nieces and nephews for a piggyback ride—before taking it again. Annemarie gazed up at her son, noted his king-of-the-world grin, and gave Gabe’s hand a grateful squeeze. Cody needed this. Needed to know that he could trust someone other than her and her family and that people outside their family could appreciate his beautiful soul.
“Are you still enjoying your stay?” Ruth asked as she joined Annemarie, Gabe, and Cody and walked with them after shooing her grandchildren into the house.
“Immensely, but it’ll probably be a while before I can remember everyone and stop calling your ki
ds and grandkids by the wrong names,” Annemarie replied honestly.
“Don’t worry about that. We’re used to it.” Ruth took Cody’s hand and squeezed. “How about you, Cody? Are you having a good time?”
“Oh, yeah! It’s fun bottle-feeding the calves. And the baby chickens and turkeys are so cute!”
“Well, you can come out here any time you like to feed them. Might be good for our herd of hooligans to have a gentleman such as you around more often. I know Jessen and Cole have been on their best behavior with you here, trying to earn some brownie points from Nana and Granddad. You’re doing a great job with this boy of yours, Annemarie.”
“Thank you,” Annemarie said, “but he makes it pretty easy.”
“I bet he does. Would you mind giving us girls a hand in the kitchen for a bit? The boys finished earlier than we expected, and we could use some help finishing dinner.”
“I’d love to.”
“I can help, Mom,” Gabe said.
“No, you can’t. You can look after that boy you got on your shoulders for a bit longer. I’m sure Annemarie will agree with me that he could use some boy time.”
The knowing look Ruth gave her son and then turned on her made Annemarie think she was setting her up for a chance to see how Gabe interacted with Cody. As if she needed any more confirmation that they got along fabulously. Of course, with the possibility of a romantic relationship out in the open now, things had changed, and it might be that it was time to evaluate him not just as a friend to her son but as a prospective father.
There it was again. That was the second time this afternoon she’d slid Gabe into that role.
“If you don’t mind, I’m sure Cody would love it.”
“I don’t mind in the least. C’mon, squirt. Let’s go ride herd on your new friends. Think you can help me keep them out of the kitchen so your mom and mine can finish dinner in peace?”
“You bet I can!”
Gabe took off for the house at a jog, and Cody’s laughter trailed after them. Annemarie’s lips curved.
“If you’re in the market for a daddy for Cody, Gabe’s great with kids,” Delilah quipped.
Annemarie squeaked and pressed her hand over her heart as if that could keep it from leaping out of her chest. “Good lord, Delilah. You scared the bejeezus out of me. For a woman due to give birth any day, you are remarkably light on your feet.”
Gabe’s sister laughed. “Or maybe you were just too absorbed by my brother.”
“Well, his list of appealing attributes is quite a long one.”
“Now, girls, you best not forget that that’s my son you’re talking about.”
Ruth said it with the same teasing tone her daughter had used, and when Annemarie replied, her voice was thick with laughter. “Yes, ma’am.”
The kitchen, when they entered, was already crowded. Gabe’s six sisters-in-law had everything under control, so Annemarie positioned herself beside the island that separated the kitchen from the main living area to watch Gabe, his brothers and brother-in-law, father, and older nieces and nephews indulge the younger kids. Gabe seemed to be the favorite uncle, and though it would’ve been easy for her shy son to be forgotten in the chaos of his nieces’ and nephews’ demands for his attention, his focus was on Cody. She knew her son adored him, but it was undeniable now that the feeling was reciprocated.
Annemarie let out a long, slow breath, and for the first time since her son’s birth, she opened herself to the possibility of something more than her lonely, financially precarious position, let herself pretend that this blissful sense of being a family with him and Gabe was her life.
Chapter 6
Gabe lounged in one corner of his parents’ giant U-shaped couch with his feet propped on the coffee table. Cody was curled against his right side and Annemarie sat on his left with her feet tucked under her and her knees pressed against his thigh. He was exhausted but more content than he’d been in a long time. Maybe ever.
Cody had been still for a while now, and glancing down at the young boy tucked against him, he was unsurprised to find the kid sound asleep. He shifted Cody’s head from his waist to his thigh—only a kid could doze off with his neck in that awkward position—and combed his fingers through Cody’s hair. He decided against alerting Annemarie just yet. She was too cute and too relaxed, and he was in no hurry to see the strain return to her eyes. Carefully, so he didn’t attract her notice, he tugged the afghan from the back of the couch and draped it over Cody.
The only sound that disrupted the quiet was the crackling of the merry fire in the big stone hearth across the living room. The room wasn’t silent because it was vacant. His parents and all seven of his siblings and their spouses were draped on the couches. The younger kids had been put to bed, and the teenagers and early-twenty-somethings had retired to the game room, but with eighteen adults, the room was still plenty full. It appeared that everyone else was as content to enjoy their drinks and this rare moment of peace as he was.
“Okay, I think I finally have everyone straight,” Annemarie said, breaking the silence. She sat up straighter and pointed to Gabe’s eldest brother. “Samuel was the first born.”
“Thanks for not calling me the oldest,” Sam quipped, raising his beer in acknowledgement.
“Your wife is Barb, and together you have Brandon, Joey, Mary, Jake, and Luke. Joshua—Brandon and Penny’s son—is your first grandbaby.”
“That’s our crew,” Barb replied, nudging her husband’s foot with hers.
“Then came Isaiah, who’s married to Deb. You two have Owen, Martha, and Charlie.”
“Hank is our eldest,” Isaiah corrected. “Owen is Ezra and Nancy’s.”
“Darn it,” Annemarie muttered. “Sorry. I’ll get it, I promise. Okay, so, Isaiah, you and Sam are the only ones who’ve stayed on the ranch.”
“Not by choice for some of us,” Ezra replied. “I would’ve stayed, too, and I think Abe and Gabriel would’ve, but there’s just not enough ranch for all of us. In fact, Michael, you’re the only one who never had any desire to stay, right? Lilah, you would’ve, wouldn’t you?”
Delilah shrugged. “I would’ve been happy to stay, but I’m just as happy running the bowling alley.”
“All right, let me get back to this. Ezra, you and Nancy have the all-boy crew—Owen, Ian, Liam, Tristan, and Sean.”
“That’s us,” Nancy remarked with a sigh. “One great big heap of testosterone, but as outnumbered as I am, I have no desire to try one more time for a girl.”
“You can borrow ours any time,” Emmanuel said.
“That’s right. You and Linda have all girls,” Annemarie said. “Izzy, Beth, and Katie. And you’re next after Ezra, right, Manny?”
“Yep.”
“Abe, you were next, and you and Cindy have Mark, Zach, Sammie, and Cole. Michael and Karen, you have Jessen, Hannah, and Gail.”
“Right you are,” Michael confirmed.
“Next up is you, Gabe.” She poked him playfully with a conspiratorial wink at his mother. “No wife or kids yet.”
He chuckled, too amused that she was already picking up on his family’s teasing to be annoyed. “That’s me, the odd one out.”
“And last is Delilah, who’s married to Andrew. You two manage Yellowstone Lanes in Cody, and your kids are Ryan, Christine, and Meghan with James due any day. And, except for Gabe—” she gave him a sidelong glance “—everyone’s done having kids already.”
“We were done after Meghan,” Delilah said with a laugh, tugging on the hem of her sweater, which had inched up her belly a bit. “And then, surprise! What about you, Annemarie?”
“I’ve only ever wanted one or two.”
“Gabe’s never wanted more than one or two, either. Of course, the rate he’s going, he’s more likely to end up with zero.”
Gabe rolled his eyes at the blatant hint.
“Let’s talk about why Gabe’s taking his sweet time,” Ezra said.
“Let’s not,” Gabe said sh
arply. “Annie already knows.”
“You’re shittin’ me. You already told her about Leigh? Well, hell, this is getting interesting.”
“Stuff a sock in it, Ezra, before you ruin my good mood. I’ve already talked about Leigh too much today.”
“No one here gives a rat’s ass about Leigh,” Sam said. “She’s right where she belongs, anyhow.”
“Where’s that?” Annemarie asked.
“In a prison cell for felony grand theft. For at least five more years. Hopefully longer.” Sam rose to his feet and looked pointedly at the rest of their brothers. “Before we put a sizeable dent in Gabe’s good mood, I’m going to call it a night. Annemarie, goodnight, sweetheart, and if I don’t see you and your boy before you leave tomorrow morning, it has been a delight meeting you.”
“Goodnight, Sam. The feeling is mutual.”
Sam reached across the coffee table and smacked Gabe’s foot. “Sorry if Ezra pushed it too far again.”
“He didn’t.”
The rest of his brothers and their wives vacated the living room soon after Sam and Barb, motivated by a stern look from Ruth. John waited a few more minutes before following his sons out of the room, leaving only Ruth, Delilah, Andrew, Annemarie, Gabe and a snoozing Cody to enjoy the peace that again descended. Andrew got up to toss another log on the fire in the big hearth. It was a particularly sappy piece, and it snapped and popped loudly. Or maybe it was just so quiet in the room that the sound only seemed loud.
“It was a good day,” Ruth murmured. “A good weekend.”
“Mmm,” Gabe agreed. “Feels good to be tired after a long day of branding.”
“I know I’ve said it at least a dozen times, Ruth,” Annemarie said, unexpectedly resting her head on his shoulder, “but thank you for having Cody and me. We’ve had a wonderful time, and I wish you would’ve let me help more so we weren’t such an inconvenience.”
“Next time,” Ruth replied. “The first time, you’re a guest. After that you’re family. Besides, with my crew, you and your boy aren’t even a big enough drop to make a ripple in the bucket.”
Annemarie laughed softly. “No, I guess not.”