The Rancher's Texas Twins

by Allie Pleiter

  “That’s why I will,” said a voice from the crowd, and the gathering parted to see Harley hobbling up toward the stage.

  “Harley,” Gabe said, helping the poor man step up onto the stage. “There isn’t anything any of us can do.”

  Harold Haverman at least had the decency to look regretful when he agreed, “Not a thing. Cyrus’s terms were explicit.”

  Harley coughed. “That’s where you’re wrong.” He gestured toward the microphone, and Gabe stood back, but not before casting a curious glance toward Avery. She shrugged, having no more idea than Gabe did what Harley was up to.

  “Hi, everyone. I’m Harley Jones, y’all know that.”

  As revelations go, that wasn’t much of a start. A curious silence filled the room.

  “Y’all been looking for Theodore Linley. And now all kinds of sadness is happening because he couldn’t be found. And I was content to leave it that way, which is a stain on my part, because I’ve known all along where Theo was.”

  “Harley?” Gabe sputtered. Avery felt him stiffen beside her—and rightly so. To have gone through all he did when the solution was known?

  Harley held up his hand to silence whatever Gabe was going to say. The old man gripped the podium, and Avery noticed his hands were shaking. What on earth was going on?

  “Truth was, I thought it cost too much to tell you. Only today it’s pretty clear it’ll cost me much more to keep my mouth shut. The fact of the matter is that y’all have found Theodore Linley, and he’s in this room. On account of...well, he’s me.”

  The room buzzed with shock and disbelief. But as Avery stood looking at the two men, the resemblance jumped out at her. The jawline, the set of the eyebrows, the shape of their hands—he was kin to Gabe. And here she thought life in Haven couldn’t get any more surprising.

  “I ain’t been a respectable man. I done things I can’t be proud of, left when I shouldn’t have and, well, I expect you know most of that on account of your lookin’. Always seemed to me that Gabe was better off without me. Only I couldn’t stay totally away, so I signed on as a hand to my girl’s new husband so’s I could keep an eye on things—on my grandson—after she died.”

  He turned to look at Gabe. His eyes held such pain and regret that Avery nearly gasped. She felt Gabe tighten his hand on her and gave a silent prayer of thanks that she could stand beside him at a bombshell of a moment like this.

  “It was a coward’s way out, but then again, that’s what I am. I figured Theo Linley was no good to anybody, especially you. And then all this business happened, and it got harder to keep my mouth shut. I’d have to fess up to all kinds of things, and I didn’t think I could do it.”

  Gabe started to say something, but Harley—or was that now Theo?—held up his hand again.

  “Let me finish, son. I got a lot of silence to make up for.”

  Son. The word hit Avery like a wall, and she could only imagine what it did to Gabe. It was a wonder the man was still upright.

  “I made up my mind to stay away from today, to just let it all lie quiet and let Cyrus win whatever battle he’d claimed for himself.” Theo coughed, hard this time, and shifted his weight. Gabe was not the only man baring his soul today at great cost, Avery thought.

  “Only I couldn’t. The ranch had been there for Gabe when I was too much of a mess to be there for him. I came here thinking I’d fess up, then I lost my nerve.”

  Avery remembered that “Harley” had left the party in the middle of it—she’d just figured he was tired and went home. She hadn’t seen him come back in.

  Theo’s eyes returned to Gabe. “And I watched you come up here, strong and steady, and own up to bad news. Like a man ought to. Like the man I couldn’t be.”

  The old man turned his eyes to Avery, and the lump in Avery’s throat grew ten sizes. There was such a pained smile in the man’s eyes she felt her own eyes well up with tears. “Then you came up here, sayin’ what you said, and I realized I was even prouder than you were of Gabe. Of who he is, and the people who love him. Of you saying how you’d do whatever you could do to save the boys ranch, no matter what it cost. And here I was sitting on the only thing that could save it. So maybe, just this once, I figured I could step up and be half the man my grandson is today.”

  “You’re Theo Linley.” Gabe’s voice was thick with emotion. Stunned, but with shock, not hate. “You’re my grandfather.”

  “I am. And I’m beyond sorry for not telling you before this. I’ll never be able to make that up to you, I know.”

  “By gum, Theo, it is you,” Sam Teller shouted from his chair on the far side of the room. “I been trying to figure out why you looked familiar.”

  “You’re my grandfather,” Gabe repeated as if he couldn’t get his mind around the idea. Of all the crazy things to happen since Avery came to Haven, this one topped the list.

  “So now you found Theo Linley. You’ve saved the Triple C for the boys.” Theo offered a small grin. “And got the girl, to boot. Not a bad day’s work.” He shrugged. “I’ll go now and leave all y’all to celebratin’.”

  “You will not,” Gabe said, walking toward the old man. After so many years of being denied their relationship, Avery wasn’t sure what Gabe would say next.

  Tears slid down her cheeks and Gabe grasped the old man’s arm. “My grandfather isn’t going to leave this party. Because I didn’t save the ranch, Theo.” Gabe choked on the name, and for the first time Avery heard him utter it with awe, not frustration. “You did.” With that Gabe pulled Theo into a hug, sending the crowd bursting into applause.

  “Hey,” called Johnny, “that means we get to stay, right?”

  “That it does,” Harold Haverman announced.

  “I can hardly believe it,” Bea Brewster shouted as she hugged anyone within arm’s reach. “Who’d have thought?”

  Gabe was caught up in the moment with his grandfather, and Avery was glad for it, but then in a moment she found herself surrounded with well-wishers, too.

  “I’m so happy for you,” Josie said as she held baby Joy. “For both of you. For all five of you!”

  It was true. Out of nowhere, out of strife and sorrow and scheming, God had crafted this amazing little family for her. It was a wonder. It was wonderful. Avery couldn’t remember when she’d ever felt so happy.

  “So this will be our new home, Mama?” Dinah asked.

  “If Daddy says it’s okay. Is that okay with you?” Avery brushed back her daughter’s hair.

  “Yup, yup, yup!” Dinah’s head bobbed up and down gleefully with each word.

  “You, too?” Avery asked Debbie.

  “Twice as many yups!” Debbie proclaimed. “Even my broke arm says yup.”

  “Now there’s an endorsement if ever I heard one.” Macy Swanson came up, arm in arm with Tanner Barstow. “Tanner’s always said Gabe couldn’t hold out his bachelor status too much longer with all this matchmaking going on.”

  “Oh,” said Gabe as he came back to Avery’s side, “they tried on us. Didn’t realize it takes no arm twisting to coax me to Lila’s for pie.” He took Avery’s hand. “Some things a man just has to figure out on his own.”

  Avery looked up at him and felt her heart glow. I love him, Lord. And You knew that was coming all along. How can I doubt You’ll work the rest out?

  Chapter Eighteen

  Gabe smiled down at Avery. He could ponder the last thirty minutes for thirty years and still not grasp everything that had happened. Today was supposed to be one of the worst days of his life, and wasn’t it just like God to turn the whole thing on its ear in ways he never imagined?

  A thought struck him. “Do you think Cyrus knew what he was really doing?”

  Harold Haverman gave a doubtful smirk. “Let’s just say I’m of a mind that what Cyrus meant for orneriness, G
od meant for good.”

  Gabe looked at Harley... Theo—it’d take a while before that adjustment sunk in. His grandfather was talking in animated tones with Samuel Teller and Edmund Grayson. His grandfather. Right under his nose all these years. Suddenly, the powerful connection he’d always felt with Harley Jones made sense. Theo may have believed he could never be there for Gabe, but Harley had been there. In a hundred ways over the years. There was so much surprise and astonishment in his heart—especially now with Avery—that there wasn’t any room for judgment or resentment. Only love, and loads of it.

  Gabe pulled Avery to his side. “I love you,” he whispered into her ear despite the many people surrounding them. “Have I said that yet?”

  She smiled up at him with glistening, tear-filled eyes. “Not in words.”

  “I love you,” he repeated, finding a startling delight in uttering them. “In words, this time.”

  “And swings, and tea parties, and doctor visits, and tumble-down cabins...and a few rather persuasive kisses.” Her cheeks turned the most distracting shade of pink. “But the words are nice, too.”

  “Speaking of tumble-down cabins,” Haverman said. Gabe tried not to begrudge the attorney for horning in on his happy moment. “Miss Avery, I believe we have some unfinished business.”

  “The rest of Cyrus’s bequest,” Gabe added. In all of the drama, he’d half forgotten that the other portion of Cyrus’s will for Avery would be revealed if she stayed until today.

  Harold produced an envelope from his jacket pocket. “I’ve no idea what’s in here, miss. Don’t think I’ve been holding out on you.” He handed the envelope to Avery, who took it with an expression that seemed half curiosity, half apprehension. Gabe didn’t blame her one bit. Based on Cyrus, and today, Gabe was ready to think just about anything could happen.

  Avery opened the envelope and unfolded the single sheet of paper. Gabe longed to read over her shoulder, but stood silently in front of her. After a moment, however, neither man could show much more patience, and Harold said, “Well?”

  “He’s made me beneficiary of a three-hundred-thousand-dollar life insurance policy in addition to the cabin. ‘Enough to make a home and a life in Haven if you choose,’ he says.” She also shook the envelope to let a key slide out. “And this is to a safe-deposit box that’s filled with family photos and my grandmother’s jewelry.”

  She looked up at Gabe, blinking away tears. “I didn’t know any of that existed. I thought it all was lost. Daddy never talked about any of it.” She turned the key over in her palm. “When Rhetta gave me that one photo, it made me so lonesome for more—for any bits of my family. And now I have a whole bunch of them.”

  “And a nice little sum to set you up comfortably,” Harold added. “I know he could be a stubborn old goat, but I like to think Cyrus wanted to do good by you in the end.” Harold stared out at the party, still in full swing. “Look at them. Theodore, Samuel, Edmund, the boys in their new home, you two—could you ever think Cyrus could do so much good while putting us through so much trouble?”

  Gabe put his arm around Avery. “He always did have a talent for stirring things up.”

  “I suppose he’s having a good laugh right about now,” Avery said. Gabe reveled in the way her arm slipped about his waist. She felt so perfect settled under his arm—it made him wonder how he hadn’t noticed how empty his arms were before they held this marvelous woman.

  “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but thank God for Cyrus Culpepper.” True enough, Gabe did feel an honest sense of gratitude to God for what Cyrus’s crazy scheme had brought him. One look into Avery’s eyes told him she felt the same way.

  Suddenly, a burst of cheers went up in the far corner of the room. Harold, Avery and Gabe all looked at each other. “What now?” Harold asked, echoing what Gabe was thinking.

  Seconds later Marlene came up with a huge smile. “Well, that molasses of a man finally did what he oughta,” she declared.

  “Meaning?” Gabe asked.

  “Pastor Andrew finally found his nerve and popped the question to Katie Ellis. Just now in front of God and everybody.”

  Avery nodded her head toward the hugs and laughter bursting out of that corner of the room. “And she said yes?”

  Marlene chuckled. “Honey, I don’t even think she let him finish the question.”

  Gabe watched as several men clasped the pastor on the back. “Some days I think that reverend was the last person in town to realize how sweet Katie was on him.”

  Marlene gave Gabe a look. “Some men just take their time wising up to things, don’t they?”

  * * *

  A week later, Avery sat nestled against Gabe on the porch staring up at the brilliant collection of Texas spring stars. This had become their favorite time of day, when the house was quiet and the girls were tucked away in bed. “Well, that’s the last call. I’ve thanked them all for praying while I talked to Danny.”

  Gabe exhaled in relief. “With that many prayer warriors lined up, he didn’t stand any hope of saying no to your request.”

  “It didn’t take much convincing, actually. When I told him how happy I’d become here, how the girls loved it, he said yes. Almost right away. I treated him like Cyrus, Gabe. I turned him into some kind of monster based on how abandoned I felt. But he isn’t. He’s far from perfect, but he wants what’s best for the girls.” She looked at Gabe. “And that’s you.”

  His eyes glowed. “I love those girls. I love their mama even more.” He kissed her again, long and slow and full of wonder. The last of the obstacles had been removed, and the world was settling down into a perfect future for her and the girls.

  “I’ve been thinking about what to do with the money Grandpa Cyrus left me.”

  Gabe’s arm tightened around her. “Have you, now?”

  “Of course, I’ll need some of it to restart my decorating business down here. But I’ve been thinking about how different my life would have been if I’d have had a place like the ranch. So many boys’ lives have been changed. Why not girls’ lives? The cabin isn’t big enough, but the land around it is. Maybe there’s just enough to start renovating and expanding that old place.”

  Gabe’s gaze fell out over the land in the direction of the boys ranch. “I think it’s a great idea. I expect the league would donate toward the cause in a heartbeat.” He planted a tender kiss on her forehead. “The president is rather fond of you, you know.”

  “Well, yes, there’s that. And I rather like the idea of Cyrus doing even more good than he planned.”

  He carefully took both her hands in his as he slowly asked, “But if you give away the property for a girls ranch, where will you live?”

  She turned to look at him. She’d been trying to find a way to say this for a week now, but couldn’t work out how or when. “There’s only one place in Haven I want to call home.” She took a deep breath. “So you’d better hurry up, cowboy.”

  Gabe’s eyes took on a playful gleam. He had clearly caught her meaning, but pasted a puzzled look on his face and asked, “Hurry up and what?”

  She sat up and yanked on the hands he was holding. “You molasses of a man. Am I gonna have to call over a crowd of mystery matchmakers from the ranch to explain it for you?”

  “Well, I don’t know. What do I need with a bunch of meddling boys when I’ve got this?” With that, Avery watched Gabe slip one of his hands from hers and reach down under the wicker couch. His hand came back up with a small black box.

  Avery’s heart bubbled up like a fountain at the sight of the glistening ring inside. It sparkled like the starlight she loved so much in the sky above Five Rocks.

  Gabe’s eyes grew intense. “I know it’s quick, but I’m done waiting. I’d have done it even sooner but I knew you needed word from Danny. And now we’ve got that, and I don’t ever want you to
leave Five Rocks. Not for a day. So I figured I better make an honest woman out of you fast as I can.”

  “Gabe.” It felt so splendid to sigh his name. Yes, it was quick, but even the girls had sensed how things had settled down in perfect places. Gabe was an honorable man. If they waited, he would insist they move off Five Rocks, and she knew what he knew: no one wanted that. If putting plans in place to become a family—the family they had in many ways already become—meant moving quickly, then Avery felt they couldn’t move quickly enough. The girls deserved to stay where they were for the same reason she did: they loved it here.

  All of this was rushing through her heart so fast that Avery didn’t realize Gabe was staring at her. “Speaking of slow as molasses...” he said, raising one playful eyebrow.

  She’d already said yes so many times in her heart it had escaped her she hadn’t voiced the words. “It’s yes! It was yes before you ever asked.” She kissed him soundly, just to underscore her point.

  When they pulled apart, breathless with happiness, Avery thought of something. “How shall we tell the girls?”

  Gabe actually blushed a bit—something so endearing Avery thought her heart might actually burst. “Well,” he said, reaching into his shirt pocket, “I’ve been thinking on that.” He produced a little silk bag. “I figure I ought to ask them, too. And when I saw these in town, I knew just how.”

  He opened Avery’s hand and spilled the contents of the little bag into her palm. Two silver rings tumbled out with a jingle—tiny but real silver and inlaid with sparkly mother-of-pearl.

  In the shape of cowboy boots. “How else would Mr. Boots ask for their hand...hands?”

  “Oh, Gabe, they’ll just die of happiness.” She slid her arms around his neck. “I think I already have. If I didn’t want you all to myself, I might just go and wake them up right now.”

  Gabe’s eyes burned with the same glow that filled her heart. “It can wait. Right now, I just want to kiss my wife. My future wife.” And he did.