Gabe looked up and saw the waitress coming with his food. He moved his coffee mug aside and nodded thanks in her direction as she set the platter down in front of him. She refilled their cups and left. Pouring ketchup on those fries, he said in jest, “Bet you’d never met a woman like Andy before.”
“In some ways,” Dev said, “you’re right. But in others, over those five days, I saw a lot of my Irish mother in Andy. She was strong, confident, resilient, a leader.”
“Bingo,” Gabe said, biting with relish into the half-pound hamburger.
Dev saw the pleasure come to Gabe’s face as he slowly chewed the burger that had lettuce, tomato, onions and crispy bacon with cheddar cheese melted between the buns. “I guess where you’re at, there’s not a hamburger stand nearby.”
Wiping his mouth with a napkin, Gabe shot him a sardonic look. Setting the napkin aside, he said, “I was in Guatemala. It’s nothing but a green hell filled with poisonous insects, snakes and drug soldiers. If bullets don’t end your life, there’s always that deadly centipede crawling around on the floor of the jungle, or a Fer-de-Lance pit viper who’d like to finish you off with their venom. And where I was, getting antivenom was impossible. I’d die from the bite. We call this viper terciopelo, which means velvet in Spanish.”
“Why velvet?”
“Because once those one-inch fangs sink through the leather of your boot and inject their poison into your foot, it’s all over. Most people die within hours of being bit. The venom is so powerful and you don’t realize it until it’s too late. It’s like drinking whiskey: goes down smooth and velvety in your mouth but burns a hole in your belly at the other end. We lost at least a dozen drug soldiers where I was in Guatemala to that viper.”
“And I’m sure what you’re telling me isn’t something your family knows about.”
Giving him a mirthful look, Gabe muttered, “No way in hell. My family worries more about me than they do themselves.”
“They know you’re undercover?”
“Yes, but that’s all. They don’t know I’ve been in Tijuana for a while.”
Frowning, Dev said in a soft voice, “We were briefed by Sheriff Sarah Carter and the FBI that there’s a new drug ring moving into our area in the southern part of our valley.”
“Yeah, the cartel I’m working undercover with.”
Swallowing his surprise, Dev couldn’t help but stare at him. “And you know this?”
“Yes,” he said abruptly, picking up a fry slathered with ketchup. “I’ve worked my way up to what I term middle management in the cartel. I was sent into Tijuana to head up a small ring that’s forming. My job is to link with the drug soldiers on the American side of the border.”
Shaking his head, Dev said, “Your family would go nuts if they knew that.”
“I’m telling you for a reason,” he said, locking onto Dev’s gaze. “Andy has never spoken about a man the way she speaks about you. I think she likes you more than a little. And that’s new for her; she’s never allowed herself to get close to anyone.” He grimaced. “Being abandoned puts a hole in your heart that will never be healed. She doesn’t allow herself, nor does Sky, to get to really trust a man, let a relationship not only blossom but deepen. They keep everyone at arm’s length.” He hesitated. “I’m very protective of Andy and Sky. I grew up with them. I watched them struggle with the fact that they were thrown away like milk cartons, that they meant nothing to the women who birthed them. Living is damned painful down here on this planet of ours. I can’t tell you how many times Andy would start to trust a boy in high school, and then he’d try to take advantage of her, breaking what little trust she’d given him.” He flexed his fist. “I got into a number of confrontations with the so-called boyfriends of my two sisters. They’re both very attractive, and they had gaggles of boys following them around, wanting to take something from them but never giving anything to them in return. That’s what they learned the hard way, over and over again.”
“Reinforcing the same pattern of being thrown away, or at least, by those boys not seeing them as human beings. Just something to be used.”
Gabe stared hard at Dev. “You get it.”
“Andy’s said I’m the first twenty-first-century man she’s ever met. She told me she hoped there was one out there, despite the billions of Neanderthal males around.”
Giving a dry laugh, Gabe said, “That’s my sister Andy all right. She doesn’t suffer fools gladly, especially not any guy whose approach is just about sex. She nails them.”
“I sensed that, but on our run to save our hides, there wasn’t time to explore the personal side of ourselves with each other.”
“Well, you have time now. Are you married?”
“No.” Dev gave him an amused look. “But I have a feeling you’re going to check me out very thoroughly in the DEA office, and run a background check on me.”
“Roger that,” he said, taking another big bite of his hamburger.
Dev sat back, smiling to himself, liking Gabe a helluva lot. While Andy could handle herself with any man now, it was okay that her younger brother was protective of her. And he had a hunch that if he were home, like the rest of the grown children wanted to be, Gabe would certainly be checking out any male who showed an active interest in her. But he was out in the field, undercover and in a dangerous cat-and-mouse game where his life was on the line every day without fail.
* * *
“Gabe!”
Andy’s call floated across Kassie’s Café as she practically ran across the long room toward her youngest brother. When Pete had told her, as she dismounted the Black Hawk, that Gabe had just dropped by forty-five minutes earlier, Andy practically ran to her car to drive over here. She was in her one-piece, dark-blue flight suit and flight boots and didn’t care. She saw Gabe’s handsome, brooding features light up. He rarely smiled, but as he scooted out of the booth and turned in her direction, he had the biggest, most loving smile on his face for her alone. Her heart burst wide open. It had been two years since she’d last seen him. Of all the children, his life wasn’t his own. Working for the DEA, he couldn’t take two weeks or a month off, even though he wanted to. She’d missed him so much!
“Oh, Gabe!” and she threw herself into his open arms, drowning in the love glistening in his gray eyes. Of all the kids, he was the one who had been silent, buried deep within himself, his thoughts to himself, but despite his Scorpio demeanor, Gabe had been her and Sky’s chivalrous knight in shining armor throughout high school. He’d been their big, bad guard dog. Throwing her arms around his broad shoulders, he whispered her name, choking up, crushing her against him, burying his head beside hers. Tears leaked from her eyes, but she couldn’t help herself, even knowing Gabe hated to see a girl or woman cry. He had such a soft spot for babies, young children and women. The air whooshed out of her, and she felt him kissing her hair and then her wet cheek.
“Ah, mi hermana, my sister, don’t cry, don’t cry . . .”
Smothering Gabe’s face with kiss after kiss, her hands bracketing his high, sharp cheekbones, Andy heard him begin to laugh. It was a light, joyful laugh, and she began to laugh with him. They stood sagging against each other, hugging, holding, kissing each other’s cheeks, a Latino custom for those within a family or a best friend.
Dev stepped up and offered the white linen handkerchief he always carried in his back pocket. Gabe gave him a grateful look. Andy was sobbing and couldn’t stop. He pulled his sister beneath his arm and held her close as she buried her face against his chest, her arm tight around his narrow waist. Gently, he daubed one of Andy’s reddened and damp cheeks, the other pressed against his shirt, wetting it, but he didn’t care. He wished this hadn’t happened in a public place; several tourists were staring at them with odd, questioning looks. He urged Andy toward their booth.
“I-I’m sorry, Gabe,” she whispered, sliding into the black leather booth.
“It’s okay,” he whispered, his voice off-key. He handed her Dev’s
handkerchief. “Here . . .” he said awkwardly, sliding in after she gave him room to sit down next to her.
Taking it, Andy gave Dev a look of thanks as he moved into the booth opposite them. Pressing it to her eyes, she felt like so much jelly inside. When Gabe slid his arm around her shoulders, it was the best feeling, one of safety. Only Dev’s near proximity gave her that same kind of sense of protection, of profound and sincere care. Sniffing, she blew her nose several times.
Kassie, the owner, came over. “Andy, are you okay? Is there anything I can do?”
Looking up through tear-beaded lashes, she choked out in a whisper, “I haven’t seen Gabe in two years, Kassie. That’s a long, long time . . .” She gave Gabe a loving look. “I’ve missed you so much. I’ve missed our talks. I could tell you anything and you were like a rock to me, Gabe.”
Kassie smiled softly. “Can I get you some water, Andy? Anything?”
“Thanks, I’d love some water.” She gave Kassie a fragile smile. “I’m sorry if I upset your customers or you.”
She lifted her hand and shook her head. “Don’t worry about it. I just wanted to make sure nothing bad had happened to you or your family. We’re all in this together, you know.”
Daubing the last of her tears away, Andy whispered, “Isn’t that the truth?”
“Something we can all count on,” Kassie agreed. “I’ll send the waitress over with water.”
“Thanks,” Andy said. She started to give the handkerchief to Gabe.
“Not mine,” he said, giving a nod toward Dev. “He gave it to me to give to you.”
Andy handed it across the table. “Thanks, Dev. Sorry I broke down. Hope I didn’t embarrass you tough warriors.”
Dev refolded the damp fabric and leaned over, sliding it into his back pocket. “Even warriors cry,” he told her.
“I like this guy of yours,” Gabe teased Andy.
Feeling heat rush into her face, Andy gave her youngest brother a playful elbow in his ribs. She absorbed his love for her, his arm resting on the back of the booth, so close she could feel the heat of his skin against her. “I know you don’t like tears.”
“One of my faults,” he agreed, apology in his tone.
“Tears are healthy,” she said, giving him a firm look. “I feel better now that I cried. I haven’t seen you in two years.”
“I know,” he answered. “It wasn’t on purpose, Andy. It really wasn’t. I missed you, too.”
“I don’t know what the hell you’re doing in DEA, but their vacation time sucks. Tell your boss that, will you?”
His lips lifted and he ruffled her chestnut-colored hair, which was drawn back into a ponytail. “I’ll do that.”
“I’m home for good, Gabe. Why can’t you be, too? Sky is looking into coming home, too.”
“What about Luke?”
“Him, too,” Andy said.
The waitress came over and gave her a glass of water filled with ice cubes, and Andy thanked her. She took several sips to clear her throat, feeling Gabe’s gaze lovingly embracing her. He had always been her favorite. Of all of them, Gabe was the “dark one.” The kid who was closed up, withdrawn and untalkative. Andy had reached out to him first by holding him, rocking him and being at his side, not wanting to leave him by himself. Now, at age twenty-nine, Andy understood that being left on the doorstep of a Catholic church in Yuma, Arizona, had hurt him the most deeply of all of them. But as a young child, she hadn’t understood all the psychological wounds that being given away by their mothers would change in them forever. Sometimes she wondered what all of them might have been like if their mothers hadn’t given them up for adoption.
She lifted her chin, seeing softness in Dev’s eyes, just sitting quietly, watching them and giving them time together. “How long have you been here?”
“Almost an hour,” he told her. “Are you hungry, Andy?”
Wrinkling her nose, she said, “No. Hey, I got two out of the four nicest guys, aside from our father and Luke, with me.”
“That’s a nice compliment,” Dev said. “I don’t know that I’ve earned that accolade, but I’ll take it.”
“Oh, you earned it years ago,” she said.
“I think fate brought you two together once more,” Gabe told her, holding her watery gray gaze. “What started years ago must come full circle.”
Snorting a little, Andy said as she gave Dev a wry look, “Half a circle? Don’t you think just seeing Dev again is enough?”
Patting her shoulder, Gabe’s mouth lifted. “Hardly, dear sister. This time, you’ll have a chance to see what might have been or what might be.”
Her cheeks blazed red again and she was at a loss for words.
Dev said, “Well, at least we’ll have more than five days to find out, won’t we, Andy?”
Grateful that he was digging her out of a place she didn’t want to go yet, she said, “Yes, more than five days.”
“That’s how many days I can be here,” Gabe told Andy. Her face crumpled and tears welled up in her eyes again. “I can’t help it. I’m sorry,” and he smoothed some tendrils of her hair that had become mussed when she buried her face into his chest. “Five is better than nothing, right?”
Trying to be strong for him, she whispered unsteadily, “If it’s five days, Gabe, we’ll make the most of it.” She gripped his hand, squeezing it hard, giving him a look that told him how much she loved him.
Gabe leaned over, kissing her cheek, and repeated, “Five days is better than nothing.” Andy swallowed her disappointment, so glad to see her quiet, deep, dark brother with his heart of gold. A heart that had never known love until Maud and Steve had chosen him.
“Listen, I’ve got to get back to the office,” Dev told them apologetically. “Why don’t you two stay here? I’ll pay our bill, Gabe.”
“Wait,” Andy said in a pleading voice as he stood up, “did anyone tell you that you’re invited to our family dinner on July third? The night before the ceremony? Please say you’ll come, Dev.”
He grinned. “Yes, I’ll be there.”
Andy saw something in his eyes, something wonderful but unspoken, and she felt showered by his eager reply, happiness mirroring in his features at the thought of being with her family. “Wonderful!”
“Do I dress up,” he teased, smiling into her shining eyes.
Her heart burst all over again. There weren’t many men she loved . . . Or even liked. Her father, Luke, Gabe and now Dev. Finding herself wanting to say the word “love” when it came to him, Andy tried to caution herself. Yet the look that Gabe gave her and then the one he turned to Dev, showed her that her brother had given Dev his blessing. That meant so much to Andy.
“Luke’s going to be delayed coming home,” Gabe told her. “Are you off the flight roster? We could meet him at the new airport. The first regional airline is coming in for its first time. Mom said he hitched a ride on it. They’ll be landing at eight a.m.”
“I didn’t know that,” Andy gasped. “That will save us driving to Jackson Hole airport to pick him up, or him renting a car there and coming down here.”
“Right on. Luke is a Gemini. He can talk himself into and out of anything,” and Gabe laughed.
Andy laughed with him, nodding vigorously. She reached out, gripping Dev’s hand for a moment, an intimate, nonverbal sign that she liked him. “Be there at five p.m.?”
“I will,” Dev promised.
Never had Andy felt so happy. She allowed her love to flow toward Dev. After fighting it for so long, Andy at last felt it was right to finally acknowledge what he meant to her. She hadn’t given it voice yet, but she saw his eyes soften, his expression change when she reached out and gripped his hand. And he’d returned that squeeze of caring. A long, wonderful handholding. Was she ready for the next step?
Chapter Eleven
July 3
Dev had brought a bottle of good red wine with him when he showed up at the Whitcomb Ranch at five p.m. His heart lifted when he saw Andy come do
wn the hall to the large foyer. The screen door allowed the eighty-degree breeze to filter into the house. Where he was standing, he could hear the family laughing heartily. It was a good sound to hear.
“Hey, Dev! I’m glad you made it,” Andy said, opening the door and standing aside. “Come on in! We’re all in the living room. My whole family is here and I want you to meet them.”
Her smile and buoyancy were infectious and he smiled, handing her the bottle of wine. “Sounds good. I wasn’t sure you were going to have wine, but here’s some, just in case.”
“That’s so thoughtful,” she said, taking it. “I’ll give it to Sally, who’s busy in the kitchen whipping up a wonderful meal for all of us.”
Automatically, his heart swelled with silent happiness as she took the bottle, their fingers touching. “Whatever she’s cooking,” he said, testing the air with his nose, “it smells great.”
“Mom’s favorite meal is prime rib with all the trimmings. Follow me to the kitchen, and then we’ll introduce you to my family.”
The air was alive with quiet excitement that Dev could palpably feel. The joy was infectious. Tomorrow at noon, the Nellie Tayloe Ross Regional Airport would officially be open for business. “Have your grandparents from New York City arrived yet?” he wondered. They were Maud’s über-rich parents.
“They’re coming in tomorrow morning.” Her face glowed. “And they’re landing in their private jet. We’ll all meet them at nine a.m. and come back here for brunch.”
“You can feel the excitement everywhere. I’ve never seen the people who live in Wind River Valley be so high. Everyone’s smiling. Over at Kassie’s Café, it’s crowded, full of happy noise and laughter. Everyone is celebrating what this means for your valley.”
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