by Tina Leonard
Ben had mumbled how sorry he was that she had to take him to the hospital when she was supposed to be leaving for a wedding in Las Vegas. Laura comforted her father, telling him that everything would work out eventually. She didn’t want him upset.
Gabriel strode into the hospital, coming straight to her to close her in his embrace. She allowed herself to be enveloped in his strong warmth, appreciating his caring. “He got sick all of a sudden.”
He stroked her hair. “He’ll be fine.”
She wasn’t certain. “I hope so.” Through the small window, she could see her father being wheeled down the hall. “It just came on so quickly.”
“They’ll get him fixed up.”
She looked up at Gabriel. “Sorry about the wedding.”
“Las Vegas has weddings every day. We can reschedule.”
“Like a business meeting,” she murmured.
He stroked her cheek. “Ben was sleeping in the old foreman’s shack. He may be getting too old to live the life of a gypsy.”
“How do you know where he was sleeping?”
“I found him there. I tried to ask him for your hand in marriage, but it wasn’t the most encouraging conversation.”
An old, painful memory slid forward. “Oh?”
“Yeah. I can’t say he exactly gave me his blessing, but I made it clear how much I wanted to marry you. We left it at that.”
Laura doubted anything had been left. Ben had refused his blessing when Dave had asked him, as well. And now Ben was in the hospital with sudden chest pains. Was a short-term marriage, a year of life with Gabriel, worth going through this again? She should have seen this coming. Ben was uneasy about the Morgans and he definitely wasn’t going to give her away to them without a fight. “Was he upset?”
“No more or less than usual. At least he didn’t take another shot at me.” He turned her chin up so he could look into her eyes. “Ben’s illness is not because we plan to get married.”
She hated how worried she’d sounded. “I’d like to wait until he’s better before we…before we do anything.”
“I agree.” Gabriel nodded, gently releasing her. “Where are the children?”
“Mimi’s looking after them.”
“I’ll swing by and grab them, if you want. I can keep them while you’re here with your father.”
She looked at him, her blue eyes a bit guilty. “Are you sure you’re ready for that? They can be a handful.”
He grinned. “I think I can handle your crew.”
He certainly seemed to look forward to the challenge. “I hope you know what you’re signing on for.”
He shook his head. “I’ve enlisted before. This will be a piece of cake. Call me if you need anything.”
He went off, not the least bit bothered by her hesitation to marry him, not worried about Ben’s non-blessing. Dave had been bothered by it, but she had the sudden impression that Gabriel was not the kind of man who would give a damn. He’d love the blessing, but if not, he sure wouldn’t lose any sleep over it.
Maybe Ben had a simple case of heartburn, and then none of this would matter. Perhaps Gabriel had misunderstood her father’s reticence about their marriage.
She knew Gabriel had misunderstood nothing.
“Mrs. Adams?”
She turned to face a doctor. “Yes?”
“I’m Dr. Carlson. I understand that you’re your father’s only relative who can see to his care?”
“I am.” Chills suddenly ran through her.
“He’s had a mild heart attack. Nothing severe, but we’re going to keep him here overnight. We’re evaluating his condition and need to run some tests. We’ll look for a blockage, or other issue that may have caused this.”
“Thank you.” She felt ashamed for wondering whether her father had staged a heart attack to keep her from marrying Gabriel. “Can I see him?”
“For a minute. Then I want you to go home and get some rest.”
She nodded, following the doctor into her father’s hospital room. “How are you doing?”
“I’m fine,” Ben said. “These doctors need to let me out of here.”
She patted his hand. “Stay calm, Dad. Don’t get excited.”
He sighed. “I am not a good patient.”
She nodded. “Most people aren’t. But the doctor says I can only stay a moment.”
“Guess I messed up your wedding.” He didn’t look too unhappy about that. “I told Gabriel I didn’t think he deserved you.”
“I know. He told me.”
Ben twisted his lips. “Guess I worried myself into a little chest pain.”
Guilt jumped inside her. “You shouldn’t have. I’m a big girl, Dad.”
“Fathers worry. That’s what we do.”
She shook her head. “You need to let go.”
He nodded. “I guess it was just a shock. I felt like you and I had just patched things together, and then suddenly I needed to keep you to myself. Felt like I had to fight for you. You know I don’t trust those damn Morgans.”
“This is my decision, Dad. Gabriel’s a good man.”
“You say that about Josiah, too, and he’s a scoundrel.”
She laughed and kissed her father lightly on his forehead. “He’s not the only scoundrel in Union Junction.”
Ben grunted.
“I’m leaving before your blood pressure skyrockets.”
“I think it already did,” he said, in a bid to get more attention.
She smiled. “I’ll be back tomorrow.”
He looked at her, his eyes big and sad. “I wish you could stay my little girl.”
She blew him a kiss and backed away, feeling like the worst daughter in the world.
* * *
GABRIEL SMILED WHEN MIMI opened the door. “Hello, Mimi.”
“Come in, Gabriel. How’s the patient?”
He looked around the big, welcoming entry of the house at the Double M ranch. Gabriel could honestly say he wouldn’t mind having a place like this one day, where little feet could run and play, and he and Laura could raise their family.
He seemed to think about Laura and the life he wanted with her all the time. “Nice place, by the way.”
“Thank you.”
“The patient isn’t pleased to be a patient,” Gabriel said.
“I wouldn’t expect Mr. Smith would be happy to be in the hospital.” Mimi ushered Gabriel into the kitchen. Through the window, he could see Penny and Perrin playing with Mimi’s brood. Though Mimi’s children were a bit older, they included Laura’s children in their activities. There was a large swing set and fort, a sandbox and a couple of Hoppity Hops littering the lawn.
He remembered having a Hoppity Hop. Jack had been the best of all of them when it came to racing on them; maybe it had been good early training for the rodeo.
Mimi glanced over her shoulder at the children. “They make me smile, too. Laura’s done a great job with her kids.”
“Yeah.” He couldn’t wipe the smile from his face.
“So I hear congratulations are in order?”
He dragged his gaze away from the children. “I hope so. When Ben gets well, congratulations will be in order.”
Mimi smiled. “Laura sounded happy about marrying you.”
That shocked him. If anything, she’d seemed reluctant to him. “Glad to hear it.”
“She asked me not to tell anyone what you were planning, but she felt like you two are very comfortable despite only knowing each other a short while. I take it you want a low-key wedding?”
He nodded, not certain what Laura would want if the circumstances were romantic rather than advantageous.
“I know you’d planned for an elopement,” Mimi said carefully, “but I also know you were having to plan spur of the moment. So Mason and I were wondering if perhaps—when Ben gets well, of course—if you’d like to get married at the Double M.”
He blinked, instantly able to see Laura in a pretty dress on the wide green lawns of th
e Double M. It was the kind of wedding she deserved. “That’s very generous of you and Mason.”
Mimi smiled. “It would be our wedding gift to you and Laura. Then Penny and Perrin could be at the wedding, and by then Ben will be well enough to give his daughter away.”
Gabriel wasn’t sure Ben would be up to the task. Laura would have to be pried out of his grasp.
“You know he didn’t get to give her away before.”
Gabriel shook his head. “I didn’t know that.”
“Ben was so dead set against Laura marrying Dave that Laura ended up eloping. Coincidentally, they married in Vegas. She said it wasn’t what she’d wanted, but she’d had no choice.” Mimi put some biscuits on the counter and covered them with a plaid napkin. She set some fresh fruit out in a bowl, and the washed fruit shone in the light. “Laura may feel differently, and my feelings won’t be hurt if you don’t take Mason and me up on our offer, but it does seem that a woman should have one hometown wedding in her life. Don’t you think?”
He certainly agreed. In fact, he wanted no reminders of Laura’s first wedding. “Thank you, Mimi. I’ll see if I can budge her on the matter.” He wasn’t sure what Laura would say. Pieces of the future were fitting together in his mind, and the more he thought about a traditional wedding, with vows spoken in front of family, and Penny and Perrin there, the more he knew he wanted this moment to feel like forever.
He could see wanting Laura for the rest of his life.
Now that his father had returned, and the deal was off, he didn’t need a one-year marriage. He didn’t need to get married at all. He could go back to being as unattached as he was before.
But that wasn’t what he wanted, not his freedom nor a one-year marriage. Suddenly, he was grateful that Ben’s heart condition had slowed everything down. Somehow he needed to convince Laura that he had changed—she could trust him for something deeper than a fast fix.
Chapter Twelve
Gabriel drove Penny and Perrin to his house, feeling pretty good about how excited they’d acted to see him. Of course, Perrin didn’t show his enthusiasm quite like Penny, but the baby definitely seemed pleased. He’d debated whether to take them to Laura’s house where they’d be among familiar things, then decided he’d head over to Josiah’s. His father would enjoy seeing the kids—it might even soften the old man up a bit.
Penny and Perrin might be the only way to put a smile on Josiah’s face. Penny saw Josiah on the front porch and ran to be enveloped in his arms.
“This is a surprise,” Josiah told Gabriel. Josiah’s eyes glimmered gratefully at Gabriel. In that moment, Gabriel knew he was going to spend extra energy trying to connect with his father. It could be his father lying in that hospital. As cranky as Josiah was, he didn’t want to shortchange their relationship.
“Didn’t figure you’d mind,” Gabriel said.
“Nope. Come out here, kids. I have something to show you.”
The four of them walked to a south paddock. A small white pony stood grazing, glancing up at them before returning her attention to the grass.
“Horse!” Penny exclaimed. “Can I ride her?”
Josiah laughed. “As soon as she gets settled in, you may ride her. Perrin, too, when he’s old enough. I bought that pony for you kids.”
Gabriel raised a brow at his father. “You bought them a pony?”
“Every child should have a pony. At least every child who wants one, and who has a little land.”
Gabriel watched as Penny held out a piece of grass to try to lure the pony to her. “You never bought us a pony.”
Josiah grinned. “You boys were too busy rappelling out your bedroom window to need a pony. You got plenty of exercise.”
“So you cut that limb off on purpose?”
Josiah nodded. “Just hadn’t figured on the rope ladder.”
It felt good to talk about the past. The moments of ease that peeked into their relationship felt healing.
“So, how’s my thin-skinned farmhand doing?”
Gabriel snorted. “Ben’s tough.”
“I didn’t need you hiring half a man to work this place.”
Gabriel looked at his dad. “You weren’t supposed to be here. So I made an appropriate hire. The man has plenty of experience. Not to mention that you ran off two able-bodied sons.”
“I didn’t run them off. They deserted.”
“You didn’t make them feel welcome.” He didn’t feel welcome, either, but he had Penny and Perrin to think of.
“What was I supposed to do? Buy them a pony?” Josiah asked.
“You’re supposed to just be nice,” Gabriel said. “It gets you what you want. Especially after you’ve gone to the trouble to gather everybody around.”
Josiah grunted.
“You might as well tell me,” he said, helping Perrin to put his feet on the bottom of a wood rail, “why you went to the trouble of scheming to get us all home.”
His father picked Penny up, kissed her on the cheek. “So did Ben ruin any chance of you and Laura getting married? You know he’s pulling this sickly routine on purpose.”
“I don’t know that to be true.”
“Ah, hell, yeah, Ben was probably one of those kids who threw fits.”
“Shh, that’s their grandfather,” Gabriel cautioned.
Josiah shrugged. “It’s true. Anyway, here comes Laura. We’ll ask her how the hypochondriac is doing.”
“I wouldn’t phrase it that way,” Gabriel said, making Josiah laugh.
“Hi,” Gabriel said, when Laura walked to the fence. “How did you know we were here?”
“Where else would you go?” She looked up at him, her eyes dark with fatigue. “This is your home.”
True. He didn’t glance at his father. “How’s Ben?”
“Fine, for the moment,” Laura said. “Still, he needs a change in diet and an improved lifestyle. The doctor feels he’s under too much stress.”
Josiah turned away with Penny in his arms. Gabriel thought he’d seen a grin on Josiah’s face. “Glad he’s going to be all right.”
“Gabriel, can I talk to you?”
“I’ll take the kids in for a snack,” Josiah offered. “Good news about your father, Laura.”
“Thank you.” She pushed her hair back, though the early-morning breeze pulled it forward again. “Gabriel, maybe we were moving too quickly.”
He watched her intently. Damned if Ben didn’t appear to be winning the battle. “Maybe. Maybe not.”
Laura looked uncertain. “I don’t want to cause my father any stress.”
“Of course not.” Gabriel shook his head in sympathy.
“Since you and your father appear to be getting along better, you probably don’t need my help any longer.”
“Your help?”
“By marrying you,” Laura said quickly.
“Oh.” Her face was so drawn that Gabriel realized it was Laura who was stressed, maybe more than Ben. She was afraid. Afraid that her relationship with her father might be forever on hold if he suddenly died. She was afraid that marrying against her father’s wishes a second time might be too much for him to take. “I understand your position.”
“Thank you,” she said on a rush. “I’ve got to get back to the hospital.”
“Leave the kids here,” he said quietly. “Dad and I are enjoying them.”
“Dad?” she said. “Not Pop?”
He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. You go on. I’ll take good care of the children.”
“Thank you so much for understanding.”
“Yeah. I’m just that kind of a great guy,” he said as she got into her small seen-better-days car. He waved as she drove away, though it was hard to pull off the lightheartedness. The pony neared the fence, eying him curiously. “There went my bride,” he told the pony. “She has no idea I want to marry her for real. I’ve fallen in love with her, and I don’t think she sees me quite the same way.”
It hurt. And he was pretty sure
that a gentleman would back off and be an understanding kind of guy. He could do that, in fact, would do that, since she’d asked it of him, but he recognized it was going to take a chunk of his soul to act like he was good with it.
At least he still had Penny and Perrin. He was pretty sure they liked him. He headed inside to find out.
Penny and Perrin were riding on Josiah like he was an energetic horsey. For his part, Josiah seemed to enjoy the game as much as the kids. He neighed, pawed the air and generally acted silly. “I can’t remember you doing that for us,” Gabriel commented.
Josiah let out a gleeful neigh, his white hair shaking as he pretended to be a horse. “Where do you think I got these skills?”
“I thought Penny and Perrin conned you into being a substitute for the pony you bought them. Does Laura know you did that?”
“We need not share that just yet.” Josiah carefully rode Perrin across the “creek,” a swath of the den where the furniture had been pushed away. “She was in a bit of a hurry to get back to Ben, wasn’t she? Think he’s really all right?”
“I guess so.” Gabriel went into the kitchen to make tea and grab some of the cookies the church ladies had recently left. The realization that Josiah was in town and bearing gifts had brought many containers of delicious treats to their house. It was too bad Pete and Dane had elected to leave—the eats were fantastic. Gabriel munched on a double chocolate chip cookie from a box labeled Thank You For Everything, Mrs. Gaines.
“What’d you do for Mrs. Gaines?” He set the cookie tray on the table and pulled Perrin into his lap. “No cookies for you, sir. You get something more delicious, like one of these meat stick thingies your mom left you. Ugh. Probably better for you, but still.”
“She’s the town librarian. They had a wish list last Christmas that asked for a new reference set. Times have changed, you know. Nobody hardly wants the big fat books as much. They want the CD versions, or the website subscriptions, and that takes updated technology. I left a little money to cover the technology.” He swiped a cookie, set Penny beside him, stuck a napkin in her hand—the picture of a happy grandfather. “It’s especially important for the high schoolers who want to study in the library. Not everybody has a computer in their home.”
“Yeah, Dad, about that.” Gabriel sipped at some iced tea, carefully moving Perrin’s hand away from the cookie tray and giving him an animal cracker instead. “I know kids don’t always remember everything their parents did for them, but it does seem that you’ve entered a new, more benevolent stage of your life. One we aren’t familiar with.”