by Lois Richer
“I like your dress. It suits you.” He fingered the delicate silk petals sewn over her shoulder, tracing a line to her waist. “It looks simple, but even I can see that it’s really quite complex. And very delicate.” His fingers traced the ethereal silk chiffon. “It’s like you.”
“I’m not that complex. Not really.” Blair shook her head, curls bouncing. “And I’m not delicate at all. I’m pretty tough. But thank you.”
“Are you glad Willie insisted on a traditional wedding?” He grinned at her fingers squeezing the bouquet he’d flown in. “Complete with orange blossoms.”
She rolled her eyes. “That was your idea. All I wanted was to be married in a church by a minister with my family nearby.” She glanced at the branch hanging over them. “And now it’s apple blossoms.”
He joined in her laughter, content to share the joy of the moment.
“Everything else about this wedding sort of mushroomed. Mostly because of Willie. She’s wanted to do this for ages. I just couldn’t stop her.”
Gabe glanced to where the older woman stood talking to a group of women, who craned their necks in his direction every so often. Great-Aunt Willie was clearly bragging about her nephew-in-law. He felt a surge of pride suffuse his heart.
“Well, boy. You did it!” Mac bustled toward them, his leathery face wreathed in smiles. “You’re glad I sold you that land now, aren’t you, son?”
“Yes, sir,” Gabe agreed softly, his eyes on his wife. “I’m very glad.”
Blair was immediately claimed by Clarissa and Briony, her attendants. They seemed eager to discuss the origins of her dress. Since Gabe knew very few of the locals and even less about wedding dresses, he walked away from the crowd, anxious to snag a few minutes on his own. He shoved his hand into his pocket and felt the sheaf of papers his lawyer had sent for Blair to sign.
Somehow, in all the fuss and confusion, Gabe had forgotten to ask her if she’d sign them.
No, he reminded himself, that wasn’t true. He hadn’t asked her because he hadn’t wanted to remember the past, hadn’t wanted to go through it all again. Hadn’t wanted to tint this perfect day with the ugly memory of another wedding day.
Gabe let his mind go back to that morning in his penthouse seven long, empty years ago. He remembered the way the incandescent shimmer of joy had drained out of Blair’s eyes as she’d read the papers he asked her to sign. He remembered how she’d carefully set down the pen, pressed the thick wad of legal papers on top of it and walked away from him toward the door.
“You don’t trust me, Gabe.” The hurt on her face still got to him. “You think that by signing that prenuptial agreement I will somehow prove to you that I’m not out to get you, that I won’t ever hurt you.” She’d shaken her head, that glorious hair tumbling around her shoulders. When she spoke again her husky voice was cracked and broken.
“I can’t promise that, my darling. I probably will hurt you. Oh, I won’t mean to. But one day I’ll do something that will really cut deep and then you’ll start to wonder if I’m just pretending, if I’m really after your company or your money. That’s what it’s all about, Gabriel, isn’t it? Your precious money?” One small hand dashed away the tears that dimmed her telltale eyes. “You love your money more than me.”
He’d denied it, of course. Tried to reason with her, to tell her that he cared for her. But Blair was adamant, and just as stubborn as he. She would not accept his argument that he was only following legal advice.
“I don’t care a fig about your money,” she’d insisted. “But nothing I can do is ever going to prove that. You have to trust me, Gabe. You have to take me as I am and believe that I want only the best for you. I won’t go into this marriage with a way out already in place, with the steps to divorce already outlined. I won’t start off expecting to fail. When I get married, it will be for life, to the one person who feels about me as I do about him.”
She’d waited for him to say something then, but Gabe had no words. The fear was like a big cannonball lodged in the depths of his stomach. What if she was like all the others in his life? What if it was all an act, a way to get what she really wanted—not him, but his money? He’d have nothing again. He would have reverted to that sniveling little boy who had always disappointed his father.
“You have to start this marriage with faith, Gabe. That’s the only way I’ll ever be your wife. Think about it. I’ll be waiting. If I don’t hear from you, the wedding is off.”
Well, he’d started this one with faith, though his lawyer would go crazy when he found out. He was taking a risk, of course. Blair might end up cleaning him out, taking everything he’d worked so hard to achieve.
Gabe shook his head. The idea was preposterous. She hadn’t allowed him to pay for any part of the wedding.
“The bride’s family pays for the wedding,” she’d insisted.
Gabe let a tiny smile curve his mouth. Willie had proven a valuable ally. She’d been his eyes and ears, as well as a worthwhile asset, ensuring Blair wasn’t forced to do without anything she wanted. He’d have to remember to thank her. Privately, of course.
Gabe perched on a rock by the creek, his finger rubbing against the band she’d placed there just a half hour before.
“The best man wants to know if the groom finally got cold feet.” Jake’s laughing voice penetrated his thoughts as his big, beefy arm thunked Gabe on the shoulder. “It’s a bit late now.”
“No cold feet, buddy. This is the first right thing I’ve done in a long time.” Gabe waited while Jake found a rock to land his bulky body on. “You know I’ve been praying for an answer, and then God sent me here, thanks to Mac.”
“‘All things work together,’” Jake reminded him with a grin. “I must say she’s a beauty. And that kid of yours is a real heart-tugger. You’re going to have to be on your toes to live up to all that admiration.”
“Don’t I know it.” Gabe felt the fear snake up his spine. “I haven’t got a clue how to do that.”
“Who does?” Jake shrugged. “Most men learn as they go, though they usually start with a baby and work their way up.”
Gabe felt the heat singe his face. He grimaced. “Don’t remind me,” he muttered. “I know all about my sins.”
Jake burst out laughing. “If God can forgive, I think you can, don’t you?” He waited a moment, then reminded Gabe, “And if He’s on your side, the battle’s already won.”
“It’s just that I’m afraid Daniel will wake up one morning and realize that I’m as big a phony as my old man.”
Jake frowned. “I don’t know what you mean. You’re nothing like him. I’ve seen you with Daniel, don’t forget.”
Gabe swallowed. “You know my problem, buddy. I’m not the type of guy who needs people. In fact, I function better without them. Nobody gets disappointed that way.”
“How do you know? Ever stick around long enough to find out?” Jake shook his head at Gabe. “I know, I know. You think you’re not capable of love. That it’s not in you. That it got killed or something when you were a kid.” He snorted. “That’s a bunch of hooey.”
“A bunch of what?” Gabe blinked at the vehemence in his friend’s voice.
“Hooey. Malarkey. Garbage, pal. Pure and simple. God doesn’t make people like robots or computer chips. He makes them with a heart and soul. Your heart isn’t dead or frozen or any of those other things you keep thinking.” The assurance in Jake’s voice rang pure and clear.
“God is your real Father, Gabriel. He’s not going to let you miss out on one of the best experiences a human can have. Just relax, enjoy your new family one day at a time. The time will come when you’ll wake up and realize that somehow, some way, love got rooted inside of you and it won’t let you go. You’ll realize that the only person you want by your side for the rest of your life is Blair. Every moment you spend with her will seem like a miracle.” He grinned at Gabe’s surprise.
“What do you know about it, Jake?” he demanded, pessimism nigglin
g into his brain.
“A pastor learns these things.” Jake winked. “Sometimes it pops up in front of you so quick it knocks you off your feet, and sometimes it takes a while to push through the hard rocky soil. It’ll come. Just have faith in God’s leading.”
“Easy for you to say.” Gabe eyed him suspiciously. “Anything you want to confess, buddy? Somebody special knocked you off your feet?”
Jake ignored the question. “You can’t control love, Gabriel. God’s in control, and things work best when you don’t apply for His job.”
“Who is it?” Gabe leaned forward, intent on guessing. “The pianist? Marion something?” He chuckled at the glimmer of light in the other man’s eyes. “I knew you two had something going.”
“We do not have something going.” Jake glared, his cheeks bright red. “She tolerates me. That’s about it. And we’re not talking about me, we’re talking about you.”
“I’m a flop in the people department.” Gabe sighed. “Yesterday I made Daniel cry. The day before that Blair nearly decked me. I don’t understand what makes them tick. Why didn’t God send me a robot? That I could understand, or tear apart until I did?”
Jake burst out laughing. “Life’s not nearly as much fun with a robot, Gabe. What did you do, anyway?”
“To Blair?” He shook his head, held his palms up. “I have no clue. I thought I was helping when I told her she should have finished her degree. She’s barely scraping by making the candles and honey, and she won’t expand because she doesn’t want to take on debt. She was holding a pail of honey at the time. I’m lucky I didn’t get to wear it, judging by the look on her face.” He yanked a despairing hand through his newly short hair. “How am I supposed to help her when I always say the wrong thing?”
“Idiot!” Jake backed off when Gabe glared at him. “Okay, sorry. But think about the past for a minute. She was pregnant—you were no help. What choice did she have but to quit school and go home to have her baby?”
“But after? You have no idea, Jake! She’s a fantastic teacher. She made chemistry so much fun when I saw her teach. She’s a natural.” When he remembered the lights going on in those brains all those years ago, Gabe couldn’t believe she’d walked away from it all.
Jake clapped a hand on his shoulder. “You’ve got to imagine yourself in her position. Okay, she had the baby. Now she’s got to feed him and herself and take care of her kin. She’s no doubt still upset, with herself and with you. But worse, she hasn’t got any money to go to school, Gabe. She probably even had a few debts, scholarships notwithstanding. You’re talking as if she didn’t want to go back, when it must have torn her apart to drop out so close to the end.”
Gabe shook his head, misery clogging his throat. “Money,” he whispered. “It always comes back to money.”
“No, it doesn’t,” Blair interjected as she reappeared. She stood behind Jake, her eyes soft as they met Gabe’s. “I wanted to watch Daniel grow, to be there for him. I chose that above college. Someday I’ll finish, but it’s not a priority.”
Jake bounded up from his stone and hugged her, completely disregarding the delicate fabric of her wedding dress. “You’re my kind of woman.” He chuckled. “Someone who doesn’t care about the cash a fellow has. We preachers never seem to have two cents to rub together.”
Gabe couldn’t say a word. He’d never told Jake about the prenup agreement. He wouldn’t now. He only asked himself why Jake was able to so clearly see into Blair’s heart when he hadn’t.
“Hey, Blair, want to know the most important thing to learn in chemistry?”
She grinned at Jake, her head wagging back and forth in admonishment. “Listen, sonny, I learned that the first day of my first year. Never lick the spoon.” She giggled at his downcast look. “Now I’ve got one for you. How is the world like a beehive?”
Jake frowned. “I don’t know anything about bees,” he muttered. “It’s an unfair question.”
“Poor baby! Then I’ll give you the answer. We all enter by the same door but live in different cells.” She burst into tinkling laughter at his disgruntled look.
“There are some who think that anyone who makes a joke like that should be locked in their cell.” Jake’s dancing eyes made light of the threat as he hugged her again.
Gabe knew it was time to step in. “May I remind you that this is my wife you’re hugging? Go after Marion what’s-her-name if you need someone to hug.” He wrapped his arm possessively around Blair’s shoulders. “I can do my own hugging, thank you.”
Jake’s face grew serious. “I know you can,” he murmured softly. “It’s nice to see you realize that.” Turning to Blair, he bowed gallantly. “I’m leaving you with him, but if you need help, just scream. I’ll be glad to dunk him.”
“You couldn’t,” Blair told him, her lips curving in a smile as she glanced at the stream. “It only comes up to his knees.”
“Guess I’d have to shorten his legs, then.” With that smart rejoinder, Jake ambled across the lawn to talk to Mac.
“I like your friend.” Blair turned in the circle of Gabe’s arms and met his steady gaze. “He’s nice.”
“He likes you, too.” Gabe studied her beautiful face, accented with just enough makeup to highlight her big brown eyes. Today they seemed even larger and more shimmery. “I’m sorry I said those things about your degree, Blair. Clearly I wasn’t thinking straight. It must have been very difficult to manage with a new baby and no income.” He felt a stab of regret, but stuffed it away. He couldn’t change the past, but he had now. And maybe, God willing, the future.
“It was difficult,” she murmured, her hands moving to straighten his cummerbund. “But I’ll choose family over anything else every day of the week. That’s just the way I am.”
“I know.” He drew her into his arms and rested his chin on the top of her head. “I thank God for that every time I look at Daniel. You’ve done a wonderful job with him.”
He felt her take a breath.
“Thank you. I had good material.”
“I’ll try not to mess up, Blair.” To his surprise, she pulled back a few inches. Her eyes were darker than ever, her cheeks blazing.
“Will you stop saying that! You’re his father, you’ll make the decisions you think are proper for him. So will I. I trust you with him, Gabe.”
But you don’t trust me with you. You think I’ll hurt you again.
Gabe brushed his lips against her forehead, then drew her back where she belonged. “Thank you,” he whispered, his eyes closed tight as he accepted the tiny crumb of faith she’d just placed in him. It was a start.
They stayed like that for several minutes, the peace of the valley landscape surrounding them, the chattering voices only a few feet away drowned out by the gurgling brook and the babble of birds and squirrels.
“Gabe?” Blair’s voice was so soft he almost missed it.
“Yes?”
“Do you think you could kiss me, like a man kisses his new wife, I mean?”
Gabe’s eyes flew open in stunned surprise at her hesitant request. At that precise instant he realized their son was about to interrupt. Again.
He tipped her chin up so he could get a good look into her eyes. What he saw there made his stomach quiver.
“I could and I will.” He memorized each detail as he spoke, ensuring that she heard what he wasn’t saying. “But I’d rather do it when we’re alone and can’t be interrupted by—”
“Dad! Mom! Come on, Mac says it’s time to eat.”
Blair shrugged out of the lovely wedding dress and carefully hung it in its protective cover inside the massive cedar-lined closet of her new home. She slipped into her swimsuit, then pulled on her old favorites, a flannel shirt and soft, worn blue jeans. If Gabe wasn’t around, she intended to try out that pool.
Seconds later, her sandals clicked against the tile as she slipped out the patio door of the master suite. She paused in the fragrant rose garden and drank in its beauty. Overhead, a bl
anket of stars twinkled at her in friendly silence.
“How did he do it?” she marveled, walking around the perfectly planned garden.
“Sheer brute force. And threats. Lots of threats,” Gabe said, coming up behind her in the garden. “I don’t take no for an answer. Plus, most of it has been planned for a while.” His hands on her shoulders gently eased her to face him.
“I hope it didn’t embarrass you that the men I hired to transport everything put all your things in there. I thought we’d split the suite. I’ve been sleeping in the dressing room. I’ll stay there.”
She nodded, having already suspected this was his plan. Gabe was a proud man. He wouldn’t want anyone speculating on his private life. “Is Daniel asleep?”
“Totally conked out. He was in the middle of asking me another question when his mouth drooped and he was out of it.” Gabe laughed softly. “He’s quite a kid.”
“He certainly loves this place.” Blair grinned. “And why not? How many kids do you know who have their own private pool, not to mention that playground. He’s going to spend tomorrow racing back and forth from one to the other. You’ll have to teach him to swim.”
Gabe’s hands dropped away from her arms. The jerk of his body, the sudden chilly silence made her frown. What was wrong now?
“Gabe? What is it?”
“You’ll have to teach him. I can’t.” Ice shivered through the words.
“But I meant when you learn. I wasn’t…all right.” Blair wouldn’t argue. But something was wrong here. “Is there some reason you don’t want to teach him?” she asked carefully.
“A pretty good one, actually.” His mocking voice told her how upset he was. “I can’t swim.”
She vaguely recalled his past words. “Yes, I know. You were going to teach yourself. But, then, why such a big pool? A status symbol?” That explained it. Only the best for Gabe Sloan.
“No!” He exploded, his face contorted into a mask of fury. “I couldn’t care less about symbols.” He stomped down the path toward the stream that ran behind the garden, his shoulders hunched defensively.
