Kelly didn’t confirm that Noel was indeed his. Probably didn’t have to since her precious baby seemingly hadn’t inherited any of her DNA and all of Gabe’s. The chocolate-brown hair and warm blue eyes.
That was even his smile on Noel’s round baby face.
And though Kelly hadn’t actually told anyone in town other than Janine that Gabe was the father, everyone was obviously aware of it now. Especially when the two were in the same room to do a face-to-face comparison.
“Gabe, you’re looking a little sickly there, boy,” Delbert mumbled. “You need somebody to rescue you? ’Cause you don’t want to be throwing up on those pretty wings, now, do you?”
Kelly figured it wouldn’t be a good idea to curse Delbert. Not with the baby in her arms and with the children looking on while she was wearing a Mrs. Santa suit. Hardly a fitting image for the assistant librarian. Still, she glared at him.
“We need some privacy, please,” Kelly insisted, remembering at the last second to add the please. “Just give us a few minutes to settle some things.”
Okay, maybe it was wishful thinking that she could resolve a life-altering situation in a matter of minutes, but she might at least be able to get some things under control.
Which could also be wishful thinking.
It was going to take much more than talk or maybe even time to get that stunned look off Gabe’s face. Heck, maybe he did need to be rescued.
She didn’t wait for the TV crew or mayor to comply with her request. Kelly used the door to push them back, especially Delbert, and then closed it in their privacy-invading faces.
“That’s my baby,” Gabe repeated.
Another groan followed. He did more head squeezing, too. He’d no doubt faced down plenty of combat situations that hadn’t knocked him off his feet like this. Kelly had had a similar reaction when she’d seen that little pink plus sign on the pregnancy-test stick, but thankfully the shock hadn’t lasted long.
Maybe it’d be the same for Gabe.
More wishful thinking?
Definitely.
“She’s yours,” Kelly confirmed. “Ours.” Mine, she silently added. “Her name’s Noel Hope, and she was born—”
“Three months ago,” he interrupted, getting to his feet. “Nine months after we had that one-nighter that we were supposed to forget.”
Yes, as if they could ever forget.
Even if she hadn’t gotten pregnant, Kelly would have remembered it in perfect detail. After all, she’d lusted after Gabe for years.
Still did, apparently.
Why did he have to look so hot in that uniform?
She couldn’t dismiss the ribbon of heat that slid right through her again. Head to toe. But then and now, Gabe was forbidden fruit, since it would have caused a rift the size of the Rio Grande between Ross and him. It’d also caused a rift between Gabe and her, too, when they’d stumbled into bed a year ago.
The news about Noel wouldn’t do much to mend that rift.
“Why—” he paused, his mouth tightening, no doubt choosing his words, ones that didn’t involve too much profanity or shouting “—didn’t. You. Tell. Me?”
At least this was an easy answer, though it had taken him a while to get the question out. “Because you were deployed on a dangerous assignment. I didn’t want you to learn about it that way.”
“And this was a better way?” Gabe flung his hand toward the hall, where the TV crew was waiting.
“No. Not this. I’d planned on telling you in private after you finished your deployment. Ross figured that’d be a day or two after Christmas. I hadn’t counted on you coming here, not after what happened between us, so I was planning to tell you while you were on leave in San Antonio.”
But not today.
Not like this.
This time, Jack Daniel’s wouldn’t have been involved, either.
“How did you even know I’d be here?” she asked.
“I did an internet search and saw that you’d be doing the children’s program at the library. Thought it would save us both time if I just came here. I had no idea I’d be walking into this.”
Since Gabe was obviously hurtling right toward that anger stage, Kelly went on the offensive. “I figured you’d want to know,” she said. “But I also figured this wouldn’t be welcome news. I mean, fatherhood’s never been in your career plan.”
Considering she’d had nearly a year to work out how to say that, she did an awful job of it. Even though it had to be true. Still, judging from the way Gabe’s nostrils flared, he wasn’t happy with her pointing that out to him in such a blunt way.
“She’s my baby,” Gabe said, though she wasn’t sure how he could speak with his teeth clenched like that. “You should have told me when you found out you were pregnant.”
However, the teeth clenching extended only to her.
When Gabe’s attention drifted from her to Noel, the muscles in his face relaxed. After several long moments anyway. He reached out his hand, his fingers aimed at those baby curls on Noel’s head, but it was Noel who stopped him. She caught his index finger and offered another of those gummy baby smiles that could have melted every glacier on the planet.
It had a similar effect on Gabe.
“A baby,” he repeated. “My baby.”
The my riled her a bit. Gabe hadn’t been there for any part of this except the conception. That hadn’t been his fault, of course. In fact, it’d been the way Kelly had decided it would be. Still, it felt as if he was storming in, ready to claim Noel.
Since it appeared that the initial shock was quickly wearing off, Kelly got on with what she had to say. “I know family’s never been important to you and that the Air Force is what you love and want. I’d never stand in the way of that.”
Noel kept her grip on his finger, and Gabe kept his attention on Noel. Except for a split-second glare that he shot Kelly.
“You should have told me,” Gabe repeated.
“And risk you being killed?” She didn’t wait for him to answer that. “If you remember correctly, the reason we slept together in the first place was because I was worried about Ross and you.”
That, and the old attraction. An attraction that’d started around the time she was fourteen and had noticed the fit of his jeans. That attraction had steadily simmered and churned like a potent witches’ brew. Of course, Gabe hadn’t given her a second glance since he’d already turned eighteen by then and was busy making plans to leave for college to study engineering, football and girls.
Lots and lots of girls.
Her not included.
Well, except for what happened at the prom. But that was a memory best stored away with the others.
Like the way Gabe had looked in her bed that night.
Yes, that memory had to go, too.
“I wasn’t deployed in a dangerous environment the whole year,” Gabe reminded her. “Ross and I spent four months in Kandahar, then we rotated the next four months in Germany before returning to the Middle East to finish out the deployment. You could have at least told me while I was in Germany.”
“I knew you were going right back out to CRO duty,” she argued. “I was eight months pregnant when you went from Germany back to the Middle East. Would you really have wanted that on your mind while you were trying to rescue people?”
“Yes!” he snarled, then grumbled something that she didn’t catch. “I needed to know,” he added.
Right. But it was her judgment call, and she hadn’t wanted to be the reason Gabe lost focus and got hurt. Or worse. Ditto for her brother since Gabe and he worked side by side.
“I did what I thought was best,” Kelly settled for saying, and she tried to brace herself for another snarl, snap or scowl.
That didn’t happen. Gabe quit volleying those gl
ances and focused solely on Noel.
“She’s so beautiful,” he said. There was a different kind of emotion in his voice this time.
“She is. Of course, I might be biased.” Noel was the most beautiful child who’d ever been born, and Kelly couldn’t have possibly loved her any more than she did. That love had started within minutes after learning she was pregnant, and it just kept growing.
“You went through the pregnancy alone,” he mumbled.
Kelly nodded and refused to think of how hard that’d been. “Janine helped me. Still does. She watches Noel on her days off from the bank, and Mrs. Saunders watches her other times. They even bring her here to work. We’ve converted this storeroom to a makeshift nursery.”
Gabe’s eyebrow lifted. “Old Lady Saunders, the woman who lives next door to you, watches her?”
Another nod. “She’s really good with Noel.”
Not ideal, though. Ideal would have been a day care nearby the library so that Noel could be with other babies, but Sugar Springs wasn’t exactly thriving when it came to services like that for kids and families.
Noel let go of his finger, only to grab it again. It was a game she liked to play with her toes, and she laughed.
“Oh, man.” Gabe practically staggered back. “She’s laughing. And smiling. Is she all right? I mean, is she healthy?”
“Very. She just had a checkup in Fredericksburg, and the doctor said she’s exactly at the weight and height she should be for a three-month-old.”
That kept him quiet a moment. Kelly could practically see him mulling that over, and then his gaze fired around the room as if trying to figure out what to do, how to approach this.
That was Gabe.
Always looking at battle strategy. You never wanted to go up against him whether it was flag football or Monopoly. Or even foreplay. He’d approached even that with the same attitude as everything else.
“I’ll cancel my trip to San Antonio,” he said.
Kelly had already anticipated that. “No need. Go ahead, take some time to think this over, and we’ll discuss things afterward.”
“We’ll discuss things now,” he insisted. “Well, not here at the library.”
Now it was her turn to mull things over. “Does that mean there’ll be yelling involved?”
“Possibly. Probably,” he amended just as quickly. His eyes were narrowed when they came back to her. “You should have told me.”
“Then, we’ll agree to disagree. Still, there’s no reason for you to cancel your holiday plans. Ross said you were spending time with…friends in San Antonio.”
Friends that no doubt included some of those busty, flavor-of-the-month blondes that Gabe preferred.
Friends that Kelly decided it was best not to think about.
Her reminder didn’t soothe his narrowed eyes. But Noel worked a small miracle with that. When she cooed at him, Gabe gave her hand a gentle jiggle.
And he also gave her a smile.
“I’m canceling the San Antonio trip,” Gabe repeated. “I’ll stay here so we can have that talk.”
Oh, she didn’t like the sound of that. Best to just toss this out there and let the possible yelling begin.
“For the record, I don’t expect you to give up your hard-earned downtime,” she clarified. “In fact, I have fairly low expectations when it comes to this. Yes, you fathered Noel, but I don’t expect you to be her father.”
He gave her another look. One that could have withered a healthy redwood forest.
“I am her father.” Gabe jabbed his left thumb against his chest. “And nothing we can talk about will change that. She’s mine, and I’ll be part of her life. I’m here and I’m staying put until we work this out.”
“Work what out?” Kelly tossed back. “You’ve always known that my roots are here. I’m not leaving Sugar Springs to follow you around the world. And I seriously doubt that you want to give up being a CRO and move back here.”
Silence. But those jaw muscles of his stirred and tightened as if at war with each other.
There was a soft knock at the door, barely a tap. “Kel, are you all right in there?” Janine asked.
“Fine,” Kelly answered at the same moment that Gabe said, “No.”
“Uh. Okay. You want me to take Noel while you two talk?” her friend pressed.
“No,” Kelly and Gabe answered in unison.
At least they could agree on something.
“We’ll be out soon,” Kelly told Janine, though that was possibly a whopper of a lie. However, she didn’t want Janine worried more than she already was.
Gabe groaned again, scrubbed his hand over his face. “Janine knows that I’m Noel’s father. She knows about our night together. And she couldn’t talk you into telling me you were pregnant?”
“She tried.” A lot. Especially after Kelly had spilled a few of the details of her and Gabe’s hot night.
Details that trickled back into her mind again. Why couldn’t she just stop remembering just how good he looked out of that uniform?
Just how good he looked now?
How good he always looked?
Something flashed through Gabe’s eyes, something that made Kelly’s mind snap back to where it belonged. And where it belonged was on this conversation and not on memories of sex with Gabe.
“Ross…” he said.
“Doesn’t know, either,” Kelly quickly assured him. “The only person in town who knows is Janine. Everyone else thinks Noel’s father is the guy I dated in college. And the town agreed to keep my pregnancy a secret so I could tell Ross in person when he got home.”
Gabe nodded, no doubt agreeing that if Ross had known, he would have almost certainly had a major blowup with Gabe. It would have made that assignment a lot more dangerous than it already was.
“I’ll tell him when he gets home next week,” Kelly offered. “But if you prefer, I can leave you out of this. I can tell him what I told the town, that Noel’s father is an old college boyfriend.”
“That’s not gonna happen.” Gabe’s voice took on a low, sharp edge. “She’s my baby, and we’ll tell Ross together. Besides, anyone who saw us just now knows that I’m Noel’s father.”
It happened in a flash. The thought went flying through her head, and she could see that it flew through Gabe’s, as well.
Oh, God.
“The camera,” he said.
He bolted across the room and threw open the door. Janine was there, her hand poised as if ready to knock again, but there was no one near her.
That got Kelly’s heart thudding again, and she went past Gabe and back into the children’s section. No children. The parents and grandparents were gone, too. They’d all no doubt cleared out so they could feed the gossip mill a juicy pre-Christmas tidbit of Ross Coburn’s kid sister and the high-flying bad boy, Gabe Brenner.
“Where’d Delbert and that reporter go?” Gabe asked Janine. But he didn’t just ask it. He ordered her to answer.
“They left a couple of minutes ago. The mayor, too.”
Gabe cursed, glanced back at Noel and no doubt bit off the remaining profanity that he’d planned to dole out. He also started running toward the front of the building, his combat boots slamming against the old floor. Kelly followed him, but there was no way she could keep up with Gabe under normal circumstances, much less while she was wearing the velvet dress and clunky shoes.
“Here, let me take the baby,” Janine offered, and this time, Kelly handed Noel off to her so she could try to catch up with Gabe and the TV crew.
Maybe it was the burst of energy she used for the run or else the raw fear at the thought of her brother seeing that baby bombshell captured on film. Either way, by the time she made it to the front door, Kelly was out of breath.
And she didn�
��t regain much of it, either.
Because there was no one in the parking lot. Certainly no TV crew.
“I’ll go after them,” Gabe insisted, hurrying toward a black Jeep.
Despite gasping for air, Kelly managed a “yes, please.”
If Delbert put that footage on TV or the internet, then Ross…
But Kelly couldn’t even finish that thought.
Ross couldn’t find out that way. He just couldn’t. One way or another, Gabe had to stop this situation from going from bad to worse.
For his sake and hers, Gabe couldn’t fail.
CHAPTER THREE
GABE FAILED.
And he really hated to have to tell Kelly that.
However, judging from the way her face dropped when he pulled into the library parking lot again, she guessed it before Gabe even stepped from his rental car. Janine, too.
Both Kelly and Janine had their faces pressed to the glass door, obviously waiting for him. Since there were smudges and breath blotches all over the glass, it appeared they’d been waiting there for a good part of the three hours that he’d been gone.
“No,” Kelly said, shaking her head as he stepped inside with them. “You needed to get that film.”
“Well, I didn’t fail from lack of trying.” Gabe had driven out of the parking lot, fast, headed after the TV van, but the darn thing had at least a ten-minute head start and had seemingly disappeared. “There was no sign of Delbert and the reporter on the farm road leading out of town. No sign of them on the highway, either.”
Kelly gave him a what the heck are we going to do now? stare while she rocked Noel in her arms. Noel was sacked out, sleeping like, well, a baby, and thankfully oblivious to the fact that all hell could break loose if Ross learned the hard way that he was an uncle.
Gabe figured whatever went down with Ross, he could handle it, but it’d be better all the way around if Kelly and he could tell Ross face-to-face.
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