by Tina Leonard
“Because you say so?”
Laura tried to edge in front of Gabriel but he held her back.
“Because I say so,” Gabriel confirmed. “I’d be going if I was you, or you’re not going to be in one piece to do it on your own.”
Ben’s face wrinkled with hate. “You haven’t heard the last of me, Morgan.”
“I’m certain of that.” Gabriel shut the door, waiting until he heard Ben’s boots leave the porch before he turned to Laura. “I’ll fix this pane before I go. I can tape it tonight, and then get some glass tomorrow at the hardware shop.”
She straightened her five-foot-two frame. “Don’t ever fight my battles for me again. Don’t assume I can’t take care of myself.”
“It wasn’t about you,” Gabriel said, “it was about my father and his schemes.” He glanced around the room. “I’ll be sleeping here tonight.”
Chapter Five
Gabriel’s pronouncement clearly didn’t suit Laura, but he hadn’t expected it would. She gave him a determined stare. “You will not be sleeping here tonight, or any other time.”
“Mommy?”
Gabriel turned to face a tiny blue-eyed, blond version of her mother. Penny stood in the hallway, rubbing sleepy eyes.
“Yes, honey?” Laura said, going to her.
“I heard a loud noise.”
Laura shot Gabriel a warning glance. “A pane on the door accidentally broke. Don’t worry about a thing.”
In the background, Perrin began to cry. Gabriel focused on the sound. If he had to guess—and he had zero experience with infants—it was a comfort me cry.
Laura went down the hall to Perrin. Penny looked solemnly at Gabriel. “Who’s going to fix the window?”
“I am,” he told her. “Tomorrow morning.”
“No, you’re not,” Laura said, entering the family room with Perrin, who was happy now that he was being held. “And you’re definitely not—” she glanced at Penny “—you’re definitely not staying here,” she said in a low voice.
“Either I stay here or your family comes to my ranch. You can’t stay here with your father in a hotheaded state.” Protective emotions inside him rushed to the surface. Laura looked vulnerable with her two children in her arms. She was trying to be tough but her eyes held confusion. He knew she had to be scared. No woman wanted to sleep in a house with a broken window. If Ben came back—and he probably was watching to see when Gabriel’s truck left—he’d simply reach through that pane and unlock the door.
To Gabriel’s mind, any battle Ben wanted to put up should be with Gabriel, not Laura. He was after money, pure and simple. The easiest way to get it was to panhandle his own daughter.
“I’m going to put my children back to bed.”
Laura turned and went down the hall. Penny followed with a backward glance at Morgan, her face somber. His heart lurched, twisted. Despite his vow to never want children of his own, Penny’s big eyes and soft voice saying his name stole his heart. Perrin’s plump cheeks and soft hair made him want to see the little boy have his chance at growing up safe and strong. Actually, he would have loved to hold the baby if Laura would let him—but he knew she would not. She had definitely warned him off her deceased husband’s territory. He couldn’t blame her for that. But she did need some help, whether she wanted to admit it or not.
Maybe Pop hadn’t been so crazy after all.
Laura walked into the kitchen with Penny, getting the little girl a drink of water. She held her daughter in her lap, singing softly to her, ignoring Gabriel. That was fine with him. Frankly, he’d never seen anything so beautiful as Laura comforting her daughter.
Then he heard Perrin crying again, an inconsolable sobbing. Gabriel started to mention to Laura that the baby was upset again, then thought better of it. Penny was enjoying her mother’s attention. Gabriel quietly went down the hall in the direction of the crying—three bedrooms, bathroom on the hall to the left—and found the nursery.
Perrin had wedged himself under his tiny pillow and flailed a blanket over himself, and was not happy about his predicament.
“Hey, little guy.” Gabriel removed the blanket. The baby stared up at him. “Don’t be so upset, dude. Your mom’s trying to calm your sister down, and they just need a moment together. You’ve got this soft bed, and everything’s going good for you, right? So calm down.” He reached into the crib, stroking the baby’s cheek. Perrin watched him with big eyes. Gabriel couldn’t stand it any longer. Laura would not appreciate this, but the lure was too strong.
He scooped the baby up and cradled him to his chest.
There was nothing, he decided, quite like the smell of a baby. The feel of a baby. And this one…this one was so rotund and squeezable… Gabriel closed his eyes as the baby laid his head against his chest. He felt like he was holding one of those fat cherubim he’d seen in paintings in the Louvre.
The baby had gotten himself agitated with all his wailing. Gabriel swept back Perrin’s tiny curls from his forehead. “Little man, you’ve got to learn to chill. There’s nothing quite as annoying as getting yourself wrapped up in your blanket, but you’ve got to learn to think your way out of your predicament.” He leaned his cheek against the baby’s head. “When you’re older, of course. Right now, you have the luxury of having a good wail on the world. When you’re my age, you learn to suck it up.” Gently, he placed Perrin back in his crib, and quietly hummed a Texas cowboy lullaby he’d learned long ago. Soothed, the baby curled into his sheet, opened his eyes once more, then shut them peacefully.
Gabriel backed away from the crib, yet kept his eye on the baby, kept humming. That hadn’t been so bad.
“What are you doing?”
Gabriel turned. “He was crying.”
“I can take care of my own family, Gabriel.”
He looked at Laura. “I noticed. Relax. Where’s Penny?”
“In bed.”
He nodded. “Guess I’ll head to the sofa and do the same.” Brushing past her, knowing the storm of protest was brewing at his back, he almost smiled. Laura was independent, she was in a bad spot and there was nothing like the combination to make a woman like her mad.
“It’s inappropriate for a man to stay in a house with a newly widowed woman and her children. What would my neighbors say?”
“Folks’ll understand when they hear about your visitor.”
“I won’t understand!” She had her hands on her hips and was building anger. He gave her credit for stubbornness.
“Suit yourself.” He nodded. “I’ll be back tomorrow to fix the window.”
“I’ll call a handyman.”
She sure didn’t seem to like him. It hurt his feelings a bit since she’d been so fond of his father. Or had she? Had her affection been a ruse for his money?
It didn’t matter—all those answers would come in time. “Good night.” He headed outside, got in his truck and made himself comfortable.
Ten minutes later, she was at his truck window.
“What are you doing?” she demanded.
He turned down the radio, which was playing soft country tunes. “Watching out for the boogeyman.”
“I don’t need you to protect me.” Laura shook her head. “What’s it going to take to get that through your thick skull?”
“Something more than you’ve got, lady, because I’m not convinced you don’t need a little help. And as long as I’m out here, and you’re in there, I’d say your virtue is safe.”
She gave him a glare that would have curdled milk.
“What’s the problem?” he asked reasonably. “I’m not bothering you.”
“You’re the problem. Go away.”
He got out of the truck, considering her. “I’m slowly starting to figure you out.”
“You are not.”
“Yeah. I am. Here’s my offer. I’ll stay out here until I’m satisfied you’re safe. In the morning, you call the handyman, or Mason, and I’ll go.” He put his hands on either side of her, capturing
her against the truck. “And in the meantime, I’ll be a gentleman. I promise.”
Then he kissed her.
Gently, but he kissed her all the same.
At the moment, it felt awesome. For days afterward, he’d wish he hadn’t.
* * *
SHOCKED BY GABRIEL’S KISS, Laura pushed his arms away. She stared at him, trying to figure out why he’d done it—hadn’t he just said he’d be a gentleman?—then stalked inside her house, locking the door.
She let out her breath and waited for her thundering heart to still. He was everything Josiah Morgan had said his son was: arrogant, opinionated, stubborn.
Nothing like Dave, who’d been gentle, kind, nurturing.
And she’d been lying when she’d told Gabriel she didn’t need him standing guard. She was indeed afraid, mostly for Penny and Perrin. Her father wouldn’t hurt her children, but it was nerve-racking and wearying when Ben was drunk like that.
Yet no woman wanted to be a responsibility. She knew Mr. Morgan’s bequest made Gabriel feel he had to have a part in looking after her and her children.
She touched a finger to her lips, still surprised that she remembered the way his kiss had felt.
She was afraid of feeling anything.
It hadn’t been long enough since her husband’s passing to feel anything. Hadn’t she promised to love and honor Dave until the day she died? Her heart would never forget him.
No other man should have a part in her children’s lives. Perhaps that’s why she’d felt so comfortable with Mr. Morgan’s affection for Penny and Perrin; it was grandfatherly and safe. Their own grandfather was rough around the edges; Dave’s family lived up north and sent presents at Christmas. Mr. Morgan had provided the love the children needed through Laura’s most devastating hours. She would not feel the same about Gabriel sharing their lives.
Yet he was out in her driveway, standing guard over them. She’d frozen when she’d heard him singing to Perrin; very few men would sing to another man’s children. She’d found that quiet act of his astonishingly sexy. Tingles sizzled over her skin, jolting her with a memory she’d shared only with her husband.
Yet those emotions were impossible. Ignoring the tug of desire she would never acknowledge, she went to put on her nightgown and go to bed.
* * *
“THEN WHAT HAPPENED?” Dane stared at his brother. Hot Texas sun rose to nearly overhead, indicating the noon hour. The steaming humidity was suffocating. “Did you kick Ben’s ass?”
“No.” Gabriel peered at the cracked rocky earth where the old dividing line had been, before Pop had bought Ben’s property. “I sent him on his way and then stayed to make certain he didn’t return.”
Dane knelt, watching Gabriel dig around in the soil. “So now what? What are we looking for?”
“I don’t know. Pop and his wild tale of oil under the land he bought from Ben. I don’t believe it should be causing this much trouble, because if there was enough oil to fight over, Pop would have had drillers out here by now.” He looked at Dane. “So what if it was one of Pop’s wild tales? What if he was trying to stir Ben up on purpose?”
“Why would he?”
“I just don’t trust Pop.” He couldn’t tell anything about the earth. The soil didn’t look any different to him, from the miles he and Dane had walked together. He didn’t really need Dane tagging along, but he couldn’t say it had been a bother. Pop had claimed he’d noticed a difference in the soil that led him to speculate that the land was holding a secret, but Gabriel was more inclined to believe a fairy tale had been dreamed up for all of them.
“Well, I will be damned,” Dane said, and Gabriel glanced up.
“What?”
“Look what the wind just blew into town.”
There wasn’t so much as a breeze to stir the humidity. Gabriel turned. “Pete,” he murmured, shocked. “I’ll be damned right along with you.”
Their brother rode up on a horse, a chestnut Gabriel recognized as one of their own. “It isn’t February.”
“Nope.” Pete got down. “But thanks for the trail you left for me.”
“Trail?” Gabriel stared at his brother, realizing that the years had left them all a little older, a little leaner, maybe a little meaner. Pete’s eyes were a hard dark granite; his cheeks sculpted by whatever demons secret agents battled. He was surprised that he was glad to see his brother. “We didn’t leave you a trail.”
“Tire marks to the side of the field, hay bent after that. Looked like a bear had crossed the field instead of two men.”
“We weren’t trying to hide where we were,” Dane said. “Good to see you, Pete. Didn’t know you were in the country.”
“You might have thought about hiding if you knew Ben Smith was at the house, hollering about wanting Gabriel to come out and take his punishment.”
“Oh, hell.” Gabriel winced. “He’s becoming a pain.”
“I sent him on his way, but he’s convinced we owe him money,” Pete said. “He shared that at the top of his lungs, over and over again. Do we?”
Gabriel shrugged. “I doubt it.” He glanced at the ground. “Think Pop’s got everybody all stirred up for nothing.”
“You mean this isn’t going to be the next King Ranch?” Pete asked, his hard gaze turning lighter for a moment. “Ben seems to think we’re sitting on a Spindletop-sized gusher.”
“Don’t think so.” Gabriel turned toward the truck. “Thanks for the warning, though.”
Dane followed, and Pete remounted, riding alongside. “We probably want to keep an eye on him.”
Something—maybe a fly—whizzed past Gabriel’s ear. He flicked at it, then realized the fly had been accompanied by a sound in the distance.
“What the hell was that?” Dane suddenly flattened Gabriel to the ground.
Gabriel heard hoofbeats rhythmically charging away from them. “Did that sorry sack of crap just take a shot at me?”
“Pete’s going after him. Lie low until we know Pete’s ridden him down.”
Hay crackled in Gabriel’s face and itched at his hot skin. He wasn’t too keen that his brother felt he had to protect him. “Get the hell off of me. I’m not china, and that goofball couldn’t hit the broadside of a barn.” Gabriel preferred to take his own hit—he didn’t need to rely on his brothers. Dane didn’t move, and Gabriel couldn’t hold back a snarl. “Get off, damn it!”
Dane rolled away. Gabriel jumped to his feet, making a primo target of himself in his red T-shirt and jeans.
“I’d get down if I were you until Pete signals. Who’s going to look after Mrs. Adams and the children if you’re gone?”
Gabriel glared hotly enough at his brother to scorch the hay around him. “Be very careful, brother.”
“Oh, hell. You always were the sensitive one.” Dane laughed, untroubled by his brother’s foul mood.
Gabriel ignored the desire to jump on Dane and whale him a good one. “I suppose you don’t think Pete makes a bigger target on the back of a horse.”
“Ben’s aiming for you, not Pete.”
Gabriel grunted. “I’m walking to the truck. If Ben could have hit me, he would have by now.”
“It just takes one lucky shot.”
He wasn’t going to cower on the ground while his brother fought his battle. If he got his hands on Ben, he was going to wring his skinny neck.
Then again, Ben was Laura’s father. Theoretically, he shouldn’t strangle the ornery little coward. Laura would probably say he’d bullied Ben, and she sure wouldn’t want any help solving her own family issues. Something round in the dry grass caught his eye. Gabriel bent to pick it up. “Not that I’m any happier about a BB, but at least I’m not going to have to kill him.”
They got in the truck and he and Dane drove back to the house in silence. Dane got out and glanced over his shoulder. “Coming in?”
He shook his head. “Got to get some glass for Laura’s window in town.”
Dane studied him for a long mom
ent, then nodded. “I’ll see what Pete found.”
Gabriel didn’t really care. All he was thinking about was Laura and the kids.
* * *
LAURA KNEW GABRIEL WAS out there. She knew when he drove into the driveway. She didn’t answer the door when he rang the bell. Holding her breath, she waited for him to leave, knowing she was being unkind, maybe even rude, by not thanking him for his care of her.
She didn’t want big, strong Gabriel Morgan pushing his way into her life, storming her heart. It could happen so easily. But she was going to fight the onslaught of his charisma with all her might, for the sake of her own sanity.
Would she even breathe until she heard his truck drive away? She didn’t think so; her chest physically pained her. He rang the bell again, calling, “Laura! Your door needs to be repaired!”
He wasn’t leaving until he did what he’d come to do. She opened the door silently, unsmiling. He tipped his cowboy hat to her, then puttied in the window efficiently and quietly, never meeting her gaze.
When he finished, he closed the door and went whistling down the porch. Now that he was gone, she could relax. Her house was safe again.
Except it wasn’t. There might not be a broken window anymore, but there was a very strong chance of a broken heart that had too few pieces left to risk shattering.
She locked the door.
* * *
LAURA THOUGHT SHE WAS free until she heard Gabriel’s truck pull back into her drive at eight o’clock that night. She tensed, waiting for a knock on the door, but none came. Burning curiosity tweaked at her. She peeked out the window. He’d simply shut off the engine and pulled out a newspaper.
An hour later she couldn’t ignore him any longer. She went outside to confront him. “This is not necessary.”
“Caution is a good thing. Besides, your old man took a shot at me this morning.”
She gasped, not wanting to believe him. The honest depth of his eyes made her realize he was being completely truthful. She felt sick over her father’s spiral into violence. “Did you call the sheriff?”