Murmuring her thanks, Madelyn allowed him to help her into her coat.
Reminding himself yet again that he wouldn’t be helping matters any by letting her get to him, Gabriel took a deep, steadying breath. He could stomp around in anger and frustration all he wanted once-she was gone. But for now, he was going to have to mind his manners.
“Ready?” he asked, moving to the door as Madelyn finished buttoning her coat.
“As I’ll ever be,” she quipped with a slight smile.
Admiring her spirit in spite of himself, Gabriel led the way across the courtyard. She was certainly proving capable of holding her own. Which did nothing to put his mind at rest. Were she a meeker, humbler sort, he would have had a much easier time dealing with her. Unfortunately, it didn’t seem as if he was going to be that lucky.
He unlocked the cottage door, reached inside and flipped the light switch, then ushered Madelyn and Cullen into the large L-shaped room that doubled as both bedroom and sitting room, a freestanding fireplace separating the two areas. Dustcovers had been draped over the few pieces of furniture, and with the heater turned down, it wasn’t much warmer inside than out.
“As you can see, the place has been closed up for a while,” Gabriel pointed out.
Madelyn gave the room a cursory look, then crossed to the galley kitchen. Standing in the doorway, she eyed the compact area with interest.
“You don’t use it?” she asked.
“Not me,” he retorted.
“Why not?”
Her attention obviously caught by the bitterness that had edged into his voice inadvertently, Madelyn paused in the bathroom doorway and glanced at him.
Mentally cursing himself for not being more circumspect, Gabriel shoved his hands in his pockets as he shifted from one foot to the other. A simple “no” uttered nonchalantly would have sufficed. Instead, he’d let his feelings show. Now he was going to have to offer some sort of explanation to satisfy her curiosity, or run the risk of being rude... again.
“I’ve never felt it was mine to use,” he admitted, opting for honesty.
“But I thought you said it’s part of the property.”
“It is,” he assured her.
“Then why...?” she prodded, a frown creasing her forehead.
“Ethan’s father worked as a photographer, too, but his specialty was portraits. He had the cottage built to use as a studio. After he died, it sat vacant for several years. Then, about the time he turned sixteen, Ethan moved out here. He said he needed some space. He’d been such a pain in the butt, our mother didn’t argue with him, even when he declared the place off-limits to all but a chosen few.”
“And you weren’t among them, huh?” Madelyn asked, a mischievous glint in her eyes.
“The pesky younger brother?” Gabriel snorted derisively. “Not hardly.”
“But that was years ago,” she chided quietly.
Evidently, she found it hard to believe he had been influenced by Ethan’s dictates so far into adulthood. Of course, there was much more to his avoidance of the cottage than that. But he wasn’t about to go into the details with her.
“Hey, what can I say?” he retorted. “I learned to give this place a wide berth early on, and some habits are harder to break than others.”
“And I thought my brothers had sibling rivalry down to an art form,” she murmured as she turned to peer into the bathroom that had been set up to double as a darkroom.
“You have brothers?” Gabriel asked.
After the way she had snapped at him when he’d asked her how she’d hooked up with Ethan, he had been hesitant to question her further about her background. Now he couldn’t resist jumping into the opening she had given him. He figured the more he could find out about her, the better it would be for him in the long run. And he would just as soon turn their conversation away from his relationship with Ethan.
“Two—both older, both married with children and both as determined as ever to prove they’re numero uno every chance they get,” she replied.
“What about you?”
“I learned at a very young age to keep my mouth shut and stay out of their way. As luck would have it, the only thing they’ve ever agreed on was making sure I remained low man on the totem pole.”
“Two against one, huh?”
“Yes, two against one.”
“What about your parents? Didn’t they intervene?”
“Not really. I was just a girl, after all, and in our house that meant second-class citizen.”
Surprisingly, Madelyn didn’t sound resentful. In fact, Gabriel got the impression she had resigned herself to the situation for as long as she’d thought she had to. And then Ethan must have come along with a job offer that promised to take her away. Had he been in her shoes, Gabriel wouldn’t have had to think twice about what to do.
Again, he suffered a momentary pang of sympathy for her. Then, almost instantly, he realized how unwilling she must be to return to such a situation. Hit by the likely possibility that she could very well be thinking of staying in Santa Fe, Gabriel eyed her somewhat askance.
“Surely, it wasn’t that bad,” he said.
“Probably not,” she admitted, though her tone seemed sadly lacking in conviction.
“Seen enough, Ms. St. James?” Cullen interjected brightly.
He had been standing off to one side so quietly. that Gabriel had forgotten he was there. Now he glanced at the lawyer gratefully. They had dawdled in the cottage long enough as far as he was concerned.
“Yes, of course.”
With a sidelong glance at Gabriel, she headed out the door. Then, leaving him to lock up, she walked back to the house with Cullen. By the time Gabriel joined them in the kitchen, they had shed their coats in readiness for the remainder of the tour.
Looking at the clock on the wall above the refrigerator as he shrugged out of his jacket and tossed it on a chair, Gabriel realized he was going to have to make it fast. Otherwise, she would still be there when Brian got home.
“The bedrooms are this way,” he said, moving toward the hallway that opened off the far side of the breakfast room. “There are four altogether. The master bedroom, my son’s room, a guest room and my study, and two bathrooms—one off the master bedroom and one here in the hallway.”
Since he and Brian made their beds each morning and put their dirty clothes in the laundry hamper each evening, Gabriel hadn’t had much tidying up to do. The floor of Brian’s room was littered with plastic building blocks and an assortment of small-scale cars and trucks, and the desk in his study was buried under stacks of paperwork and professional journals. But since the clutter didn’t bother him, Gabriel hadn’t really cared what Madelyn thought of it.
He kept the house as clean as he could with a little help from his son, and twice-weekly visits from their housekeeper, Millie Richards. The place might be worth half a million dollars. But first and foremost, it was their home, and it was definitely lived in.
Obviously in no hurry, Madelyn looked into each of the bedrooms. A smile played around the corners of her mouth as she paused in the doorway of Brian’s bedroom, then again when she paused in the doorway of his study. She spent the least amount of time standing in the doorway of the master bedroom, as if her intrusion into his private domain made her uncomfortable. Though he did notice that her gaze seemed almost longing when she caught sight of the fireplace tucked in one corner.
Probably thinking of how cozy it would have been to curl up in front of it with Ethan, Gabriel thought sourly.
Almost instantly, a wave of guilt washed over him. Ethan was dead, and he hadn’t any right to resent the fact that Madelyn might be missing him.
Whether he liked it or not, she and Ethan had been together for two years, and obviously they’d had a close, personal relationship. One that must mean something to her still.
At least she didn’t come across as the gold digger he had initially imagined her to be. For which he was secretly sorry. She would hav
e been a lot easier to dislike if she didn’t seem to be such a nice person. Although they hadn’t talked money yet. Maybe she was waiting until then to show her true colors.
“That’s about it for the main house,” Gabriel advised as she moved away from his bedroom doorway. “There’s also a two-car garage and a workshop out back at the end of the driveway.”
“A workshop?” she asked, eyeing him with interest.
“I like to do carpentry in my spare time.”
“He’s being modest,” Cullen chimed in. “Actually, he makes furniture—lovely pieces like these.” As they returned to the kitchen, he gestured toward the round, gateleg table and four ladder-back chairs in the breakfast room. “Unfortunately, getting him to part with any of his creations is almost impossible. Believe me, I’ve tried.”
“It’s just a hobby, which is probably why I enjoy it so much,” Gabriel said. “I’m not so sure I would otherwise.”
“More’s the pity,” Cullen muttered.
“I have to agree with Mr. Birney,” Madelyn added. “Especially if the desk in your study and the wardrobe in the living room are your work, as well.”
“They are,” Gabriel admitted, more pleased than he had any right to be by her recognition of his work. Then, after another glance at the clock, he turned to Cullen. “I’ve made an appointment to talk to one of the loan officers at the bank on Tuesday. That’s the soonest someone could meet with me. Until then, I won’t know exactly when I’ll have the funds available to buy out Ms. St. James’s half of the property.” Shifting his attention back to her, he added, “I’m sorry for any inconvenience that this will cause you.”
Gabriel wished he could settle up with her that very minute, but he didn’t have on hand one-tenth of the money he owed her. However, he was more than willing to mortgage his soul if that was what it took to hang on to his home.
“I’m not in a hurry, Mr. Serrano,” she replied.
“I thought you might want to get back to St. Louis.”
“Oh, really?”
“Cullen mentioned you’d been visiting your family there.”
“I had been,” she agreed. “But I’m not planning on going back anytime soon.”
“You’re not?”
He shouldn’t be surprised. Not after what she’d told him about her family. Yet he was. Surprised and somewhat dismayed. If she wasn’t going back home, where was she planning on living?
“I’ve gotten too independent for their liking,” she admitted with a hint of pride.
“So you’re going to strike out on your own? Maybe do some more traveling?” he asked, hoping she had chosen that alternative rather than the one he most feared she had.
“Actually, I’ve done all the traveling I want to do. At least for a while. I’m ready to settle down, and since I like what I’ve seen of Santa Fe—”
The chiming of the front doorbell echoed through the house, halting Madelyn in midsentence. As she looked toward the living room, the sinking feeling Gabriel had begun to experience as he got the gist of what she was considering deepened tenfold as he realized his son was home.
Excusing himself, he crossed the kitchen and headed down the hallway, aware of Madelyn and Cullen trailing along behind him. Since there was no way to get Brian past them, Gabriel girded himself for the worst.
Madelyn St. James didn’t seem like the kind of woman who would blurt out anything awkward or indelicate in front of a young boy. But he had learned long ago he wasn’t any judge of women.
He opened the front door, caught Brian in his arms as the boy launched into the entryway, then waved to Carol Murphy, mother of Donny, Brian’s best friend. Waving back, Carol shifted into reverse and backed down the driveway.
“Hi, Dad,” Brian said, returning Gabriel’s hug, then squirming to get loose. “Who’s here?”
“Mr. Birney and...a friend of your uncle Ethan’s.”
Aware that it wouldn’t be much longer before his son decided he’d outgrown hugs and kisses, Gabriel savored the physical closeness Brian still allowed, breathing in the crisp, cold air the boy had brought in with him.
“A friend of Uncle Ethan’s?”
Brian’s eyes widened with delight as he pushed past Gabriel and hurried toward the living room. Though he had never met Ethan, he knew all about his famous uncle. He also had albums full of Ethan’s photographs, as well as a budding interest of his own in photography.
Despite his animosity toward his half brother, Gabriel had felt duty-bound to make Ethan as much a part of the boy’s life as he possibly could. And, of course, the boy had been fascinated by him and the exciting life he had seemed to lead.
“Hi, Mr. Birney,” Brian greeted the lawyer.
“Hi, Brian. How’s it going?”
“Okay.” The boy shifted his gaze to Madelyn. “Hi.”
“Hi,” she replied, her voice barely above a whisper, staring at him as if she’d seen a ghost.
Pausing beside his son, Gabriel draped an arm over the boy’s shoulders protectively.
“My dad said you’re a friend of my uncle Ethan’s.”
“Yes, I was,” she said, her gaze still locked on the boy.
“Madelyn, my son, Brian,” Gabriel offered by way of introduction. “Brian, this is Ms. Madelyn St. James.”
Her expression one of utter confusion, Madelyn looked up at Gabriel. He eyed her steadily, willing her not to say aloud what she was so obviously thinking.
She blinked once, then again, as understanding slowly dawned on her. For just an instant, Gabriel saw a flash of sympathy in her gray-green eyes, sympathy edged with a compassion that caught him completely off guard. Then she turned her attention back to Brian and, offering him a gracious smile, extended her hand.
Sensing that she would say just the right thing, Gabriel released the breath he’d unconsciously been holding.
“I’m very pleased to meet you, Brian.”
Giggling, Brian took her hand and gave it a vigorous shake.
“I’m very pleased to meet you, too, Ms. St. James. Did you know my uncle Ethan a long time?”
“About two years.”
“I never got to meet him and now I never will,” Brian advised her, his tone suddenly somber. “He died, you know.”
“Yes, I know.”
“But I have lots of pictures of him.” He hesitated, then smiling once again, he added, “I look like him, don’t I? Just almost exactly like him.”
“Yes, just almost exactly like him,” Madelyn murmured, risking another glance at Gabriel.
Some of his tension seemed to have eased, but he still watched her warily, as if he wasn’t quite sure what she might say or do next. She wished there were some way she could reassure him without alerting the boy.
Granted, she had realized almost immediately that Gabriel Serrano wasn’t the biological father of the child he so proudly and protectively referred to as his son. Ethan Merritt had that distinction. But she wasn’t totally insensitive. She would never speak her supposition aloud. At least, not in the boy’s presence.
While Brian acknowledged his resemblance to his uncle Ethan, he obviously wasn’t old enough to question it... yet. But all too soon, he would be. Then what would Gabriel tell him?
Instinctively, she knew he wouldn’t want to hurt the boy any more than absolutely necessary. Yet she felt sure he’d be as honest as he could, depending on the circumstances.
And under what circumstances had Brian Serrano been conceived? Madelyn wondered. Had Ethan even known of his existence? And if so, why was Gabriel raising him as if he were the child’s father?
As if he had been reading her mind, Gabriel frowned warningly. Admitting that she’d probably never know the answers to her questions, Madelyn offered him what she hoped was a reassuring smile, then looked back at the boy as he spoke to her again.
“How did I meet your uncle Ethan?” She repeated his query, buying a few seconds to collect herself. “Well...”
For the third time that day, Madel
yn recounted how she had come to know Ethan Merritt. Brian listened with such obvious acceptance that she wanted to hug him. After the skepticism with which Cullen Birney and Gabriel Serrano had greeted her story, his reaction was a refreshing change.
“So, you’re a photographer, too?” he asked when she’d finished.
“I’m not nearly as accomplished as your uncle was, but yes, I’m a photographer, too. Unfortunately, I haven’t gotten to the point where I can support myself with the pictures I take. So I’m going to go back to teaching school until I can.”
“My dad used to be a teacher. Now he’s the principal of Nuestra Junior High School,” Brian stated with no small amount of pride. Then, not giving her a chance to comment, he veered off on another tangent. “Did you come to Santa Fe just to see us?”
From the corner of her eye, Madelyn saw Gabriel shifting nervously. She assumed he hadn’t told his son about her claim to half of the house they called home, and she could understand why. He wouldn’t have wanted to worry the boy. And neither did she. Though Gabriel didn’t seem capable of giving her that much credit.
“Actually, I came to Santa Fe so that Mr. Birney could help me take care of some personal business,” she replied, choosing her words carefully. “When. met with him, he told me about you and your dad. He asked if I’d like to meet the two of you. I said yes, of course, and...here I am.”
“Yeah, here you are,” Brian chortled agreeably. “How long are ya gonna stay?”
Madelyn made a show of glancing at her watch.
“Well, it’s getting late, so not too much longer.”
“No,” the boy protested. “How long are ya gonna stay in Santa Fe?”
“Oh.” Madelyn hesitated, shifting her gaze to Gabriel again.
He was watching her intently, waiting for her answer.
Somehow she had a feeling he wasn’t going to like it. But her mind had been made up before Brian had bounded into the living room. Seeing the boy had only strengthened her determination to stay in town.
More than ever, she believed Ethan had wanted her here for a reason. And she no longer thought that reason had anything to do with his having a last laugh at his half brother’s expense. Ethan had been a lot of things—some good, some not so good. But he had never struck her as being truly hateful.
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