by Lori Foster
“She’s not shallow!”
Just as Gabe had ignored Sawyer’s annoyance, Sawyer ignored Gabe’s. “I have a question for you.”
“You’re getting on my nerves, Sawyer.”
“Have you let Elizabeth know that you’d like things to continue past the summer? Or is she maybe buying into that awesome reputation of yours and thinking you want this just to be a summer fling?”
The rustling of big doggy feet bounding excitedly through the grass alerted Sawyer and Gabe that they were being joined, and judging by the heavy footsteps following in the wake of the dog, they knew it was Morgan and his massive but good-natured pet, Godzilla. Gabe twisted to see his second-oldest brother just as Morgan snarled, “Let me guess. Sawyer is giving you advice on your love life now, too?”
“Too?” Gabe lifted a brow, then had to struggle to keep Godzilla from knocking him over. The dog hadn’t yet realized that he was far too big for anyone’s lap. Gabe shoved fur out of his face, dodged a wet tongue and asked, “Sawyer gave you advice?”
“Hell, yes.” Then: “Godzilla, get off my brother before you smother him.” Morgan threw a stick into the lake and Godzilla, always up for a game, scrambled the length of the half-built dock and did a perfect doggy dive off the end. All three men watched, then groaned, knowing they’d get sprayed when Godzilla shook himself dry.
“That damn dog has no fear,” Morgan grumbled. Gabe made a face.
“He must get that from you.”
Morgan returned his attention to Gabe. “Sawyer fancies himself an expert on women just because Honey walks around with a vacuous smile on her face all the time.”
Sawyer’s grin was pure satisfaction. “Just because Misty prefers to give you hell instead—”
“She gives me hell because she loves getting me riled.” Morgan chuckled. “She claims I’m a wild man when I’m riled.”
Gabe muttered, “You’re always a wild man,” then had to jump out of the way when Godzilla ran to Morgan and dropped the stick at his feet. Morgan was wearing his uniform, but the shirt was unbuttoned and his hat was gone. He quickly threw the stick again, this time up the hill toward the house and dry land.
“So what’s the answer here, Gabe? Does your little redheaded wonder know you’re in this for the long haul?”
Sawyer leaned around Gabe to see Morgan. “He told her he loved her.”
Morgan raised a brow. “Is that so?”
Gabe wanted to punch them both, but instead he muttered a simple truth. “She’s never returned the sentiment.”
“Hm.” Morgan and Sawyer seemed to be putting their collective brains together on that one until Morgan’s cell phone beeped. He took it off his belt and flipped it open. “Sheriff Hudson.” He grinned, and his voice changed from official to intimate. “Hi, babe. No, I’m just trying to straighten out Gabe’s love life. Seems he’s not going to finish my dock until I do.” Morgan waited, then said, “Okay, I’ll tell him.”
To Gabe’s disgust and Sawyer’s amusement, Morgan made a kissing sound into the phone, then closed it and clipped it on his belt. “That was Misty.”
Sawyer laughed outright. “I never would have guessed.”
“Gabe, it seems your little woman is headed over to see Jordan, only Jordan told Misty he had to make a house call for an injured heifer and would be away from the office for a bit. Jordan wants you to go over and make his apologies for him.”
Sawyer looked at Gabe. “Why is Elizabeth hanging around with Jordan?”
With obvious disgruntlement in every line of his body, Gabe shoved himself to his feet. “Lizzy has some hare-brained notion that Jordan is different, somehow nicer than the rest of us.”
Morgan and Sawyer looked at each other, then burst out laughing. Gabe ignored them and snatched up his dirt-and sweat-stained T-shirt before Godzilla could step on it. Sitting on a large rock, he shoved his feet into his unlaced sneakers. His brothers were still laughing. “It’s not that funny,” he told them, then grinned when Godzilla threw himself into Morgan’s lap, his tongue hanging in doggy bliss. Morgan made a face, resigned, and rubbed the dog’s shaggy ears.
Sawyer wiped his eyes, damp from his mirth. “Elizabeth doesn’t know Jordan very well, does she?”
“If you mean, has she ever seen his temper,” Gabe asked, “the answer is no. I got the feeling she doesn’t think Jordan has a temper.”
Morgan choked, but there was admiration and pride in his voice when he said, “Jordan is so damn sly. He hides it well. Most women don’t realize that he’s only civilized on the outside.”
“As long as you don’t mess with his animals, or anyone he cares about, he keeps it together. But get him on one of his crusades…” Sawyer shook his head in wonder at the way his middle brother could handle himself when provoked.
Even Gabe grinned at that. Jordan gave the impression of a quiet peacemaker—and to some extent, he was. But when quiet tactics didn’t work, he was more than capable of resorting to what would. “He does seem to like championing the underdog, doesn’t he?”
Morgan stroked Godzilla’s wet back. “Literally.”
After yanking on his shirt, Gabe faced his brothers. He had his hands on his hips and a nervous chip on his shoulder. “I’m going to ask Elizabeth to give us a chance. I’m going to tell her how things’ll be.” He pointed an accusing finger at both of them. “But if this backfires on me, I’m coming back and kicking both your asses.”
As Gabe strode away, Sawyer yelled, “Good luck.”
Morgan muttered loud enough for Gabe to hear, “Never thought I’d see the day when Gabe would have women troubles.”
Gabe sincerely hoped today wasn’t the day, either, because he just didn’t know what he’d do without Ms. Elizabeth Parks in his life.
* * *
GABE FOUND LIZZY pacing outside the front of Jordan’s clinic. Her hands were clasped together, her expression frightened. Not knowing what had happened, Gabe left his car in a hurry and trotted toward her. Lizzy looked up, saw him and relief flooded her entire being.
She ran to him. “Gabe, something’s wrong!”
Gabe reached for her shoulders, but she pulled away and sprinted toward the clinic door. “Listen to the animals. They’re never that noisy. They’re all making a racket.”
Gabe could hear the whine of dogs, the screech of cats. He frowned. “Jordan always keeps them calm, but Jordan isn’t here.”
Lizzy put her hands to her mouth. “Something’s wrong. I just know it.”
Gabe considered her worry for only two seconds, then said, “Okay, just hang on, hon. I’m going in.”
“How?”
For an answer, Gabe picked up a rock and tapped the glass out of a window. The howling and crying became louder with the window open—and then they smelled the smoke.
“Oh, God.” Gabe jerked off his shirt, wrapped it around his hand and safely removed the broken glass. “Quickly, Lizzy. I’ll go in and unlock the door. Use the cell phone in my car to call Morgan. He’ll send people here. Hurry.”
Lizzy ran off and Gabe carefully levered himself over the windowsill. The smoke wasn’t very thick yet, but he could smell the acrid stench of burning plastic and paper. Gabe ran to the door and unlocked it, then pushed it wide open. He wasn’t really given a chance to see what was burning or why, not with so many animals calling for attention. He hefted the first big cage he came to and hauled it outside.
Lizzy was back. “Morgan’s on his way. What can I do?”
“Just pull these cages away from the house as I bring them out.”
“But there’s too many of them!”
“Just do it, Red. We don’t have time to talk about it.” Gabe didn’t know how sick the animals were, if it was safe to open the cages…He raced inside and hauled two more out. He almost tripped over Lizzy. She had a big empty cage that she was dragging over the threshold. She had to pry open the double doors before it would fit through. Gabe frowned at her. “What the hell are you doing?”
The smoke was thicker, filling the air while frantic animal growls and cries echoed off every wall. Gabe hadn’t seen any signs of an actual fire, but then the smoke tended to mask things. He had enough trouble just breathing. As Gabe struggled to release an older German shepherd, he tripped over a pile of feed and went down. His head hit the edge of a metal cage, and he saw stars.
“Gabe!”
As if from a distance he heard Lizzy calling him, and panic engulfed him. Was she hurt? He tried to raise himself, but everything spun around him. And then she was there, her arm supporting his head. She coughed several times before she was able to say, “Gabe, you have to stand.”
Gabe could tell she was crying, and it cut him deeply. “Lizzy?”
“Please, Gabe. Please.” She tugged on him and finally he managed to get his rubbery legs to work, leaning heavily against her. Something warm ran into his right eye, and he wondered vaguely what it was before Lizzy’s insistence that he move forced him to concentrate on her demands. It was slow going, the smoke so thick he couldn’t see at all.
Then blessedly clean air filled his lungs and he dropped to the ground. Lizzy knelt over him, her soft hands touching his face. “Oh, my God. You’re bleeding.”
Gabe said, “The animals…”
Elizabeth swabbed at his face with the hem of her dress, giving him a peek at her panties as she did so. “You’ve got a nasty cut.”
“I’ll be fine,” he muttered.
She ran off but she was back within seconds. “Here, hold this against your head. Can you do that, Gabe?”
She handed him a soft pad, and he realized it was from the clinic. He pressed it hard to his head to stem the flow of blood.
“Don’t you dare move, Gabriel Kasper.” Her voice shook, thick with smoke and, he thought, perhaps emotion. “And don’t you be seriously hurt, either.” He saw her wipe tears from her face with a soot-covered hand, and he tried to smile at her, but his head was pounding painfully. “I’ll never forgive you if you’re seriously hurt.”
Before he could reassure her she was gone and a new panic settled in. Dear God, she’d gone into the clinic! Gabe summoned all his strength to stand, to fetch her and keep her safe, and then he heard the sound of approaching sirens and knew Morgan was almost there. He’d take care of things. But Gabe was needed still; he had to help her….
Morgan’s big hands settled on Gabe’s shoulders. “Don’t move, Gabe.”
“It’s just a knock on the head. Stupid cage got in my way.”
Morgan pressed him down. “Damn it, I said don’t move, you stubborn fool!” Speaking to someone else, Morgan said, “Go ahead. I’ll take care of my brother. Get the animals out.”
“Lizzy?” Already Gabe’s head was starting to clear, even as a throbbing pain settled in. The sirens were blasting, not helping one bit, keeping the animals frenzied and his head pulsing. He glared at Morgan. “Get Lizzy.”
“She’s inside?” Morgan jerked to his feet, but at that moment Lizzy stumbled through the doorway, aided by two firemen. She had a box of mewling kittens in her arms, and she was a dirty mess. “Here she comes now.”
Morgan went to her and took the box of kittens. “Sawyer was right behind me. He’ll fix Gabe up good as new.”
Gabe watched her lean against Morgan for just an instant, then she straightened and hurried to Gabe.
“Shh. It’s all right, babe. I’m okay. I just got knocked silly.” He pulled her to his side as he carefully sat up. “Morgan! Shut the damn sirens off.”
Morgan barked a few orders, and one fireman rushed to do as he was told. When silence settled in, Gabe touched Lizzy’s blackened face. “Are you all right?”
She wasn’t listening to him. She’d spotted Sawyer and she ran to him, then practically dragged him to Gabe. He had Jordan with him, and Jordan looked frozen with shock.
“What the hell happened?” As Sawyer spoke he opened his bag and began swabbing off Gabe’s face. To Lizzy he said, “Head wounds bleed like the very devil. If he’s not hurt anywhere else then he should be fine.”
Gabe took pity on Jordan. “I’m fine, Jordan. Go check your animals.”
Jordan looked at Sawyer and got his nod of confirmation. “Looks like he’ll need a few stitches, but that’s all.”
“Thank God.” Jordan, still looking somewhat sick and so furious he could chew nails, headed for the clinic door.
An hour and a half later, everything had quieted down. There was a lot of smoke damage to the clinic, but very little had burned. It hadn’t taken a large investigation to discover that a pet owner who’d come in earlier had evidently thrown a cigarette into the trash can in the bathroom. The can was metal, so other than the walls and floor in that room being singed, the damage was mostly smoke-related. It would take quite a bit of work, and a professional crew, to get everything clean again and to rid the clinic of the smell. Jordan had a strict no-smoking policy. Gabe couldn’t remember ever seeing his brother look so ravaged, or so livid.
Gabe was propped up against a tree, his head bandaged, watching the proceedings with frustration since Sawyer had flatly refused to let him help out. Lizzy had continued to work with Jordan until they had every animal accounted for and loaded into covered truck beds. Luckily, not a single animal had suffered a serious injury from the small fire, but they were frightened and skittish and Jordan was using his mesmerizing voice to calm them all. He looked like hell warmed over, but his tone didn’t in any way match his expression. It was lulling and easy and sank into the bones, reassuring even the most fractious animal.
Lizzy returned to Gabe’s side again and again, and each time he told her he was fine. Then she’d flit off to do more work. She had to be exhausted, but she kept on. He was so damn proud of her, he could barely contain himself.
As if she’d heard his thoughts, she glanced at him, then hurried to his side. “Do you need something to drink?”
On her knees beside him, she smoothed his hair and touched his cheek. Gabe caught her hand and carried it to his mouth. “Mm. You taste like charcoal.”
She grinned. “I imagine I smell like it, too.” She glanced at Jordan. “Sawyer recommended he move the animals into your garage until the clinic can be cleaned. It’ll take a few days. Poor Jordan. He looks devastated.”
“I know how he feels.” She faced him, her brow puckered in confusion, and he said, “You scared the hell out of me, Lizzy, when you ran back in there without me. For all I knew, the place was burning to the ground. I kept thinking about you getting hurt….”
“I was careful.”
“But what if you’d stumbled like I did? How the hell would I have gotten you out of there?” Her expression softened, and she leaned forward to gently kiss his mouth.
“I didn’t mean to worry you.”
“I love you.” He hadn’t said it again since she’d had her nightmare, and now he couldn’t keep the words contained. Her eyes widened. “What?” he asked, sounding a little sarcastic. “You thought I made it up the first time? Not a chance.”
“Oh, Gabe.” Tears welled in her eyes, and Gabe held his breath, waiting to see what she would say.
Then Jordan appeared, and he hauled Lizzy to her feet. “I’ve been so busy trying to see to things, I haven’t even thanked you yet.”
Jealousy speared through Gabe as he watched Jordan lift Lizzy onto her tiptoes and kiss her soundly. She blushed, but she didn’t pull away.
“This is going to be inconvenient as hell for a few days,” Jordan said, hugging her tight, “but at least all the animals are safe.”
&nb
sp; Lizzy finally pulled back. She smiled and started to say, “Gabe’s the real…” but then her words tapered off and she put a hand over her mouth.
Jordan raised a brow. “Real what? Hero? I’d say you both are. Not only did you get all twenty-three animals outside, you even managed to get my baby brother out with only a knock to his hard head. That took a lot of guts, sweetheart, and I want you to know how much I appreciate it.”
After Jordan walked away, Gabe took pity on Lizzy and tugged her down beside him. She was mute, her dirty face blank. Gabe kissed her ear. “How’s it feel to be a heroine? Will you add your own experiences to your thesis?”
She blinked owlishly at him. “But I didn’t…”
“Didn’t what?” He smoothed a long red sooty curl behind her ear. “Didn’t risk your life for those animals? Didn’t face injury without a thought? Didn’t do what had to be done almost by instinct?”
“But…” She sucked in a deep breath. “I was so scared.”
“For yourself?”
She stared into his eyes, bemused. “No, not at first. I was afraid for you, and for the poor animals. But now I’m shaking with nerves.” She held out her hand to show him, and Gabe cradled it in his large hand.
“Only a fool wouldn’t react after going through something like this. You think after that boating incident I wasn’t something of a wreck?”
“You said you weren’t afraid.”
“I was mad as hell at that fool for falling out of his boat. I wanted to tear something apart, and since I couldn’t get hold of him, I punched a hole in my wall, then had to repair it.” He gave her a sheepish grin. “It’s all just reaction. Anger, fear…I’ve even seen people start laughing and not be able to stop. You’re trembling. I got violent. We’re the same, sweetheart, but we’re also different. And what you did today is no less significant than what I did a year ago.”