She had wanted Luke to have the best Christmas possible. Now she knew she had ruined it for him. But he was a strong, handsome man, and would find a woman deserving of his love very soon. And she would make do with her lot in life and carry on with what her parents’ wishes were, no matter how much it hurt.
Luke couldn’t get to the hotel fast enough. He couldn’t get away from the Torres home fast enough. He couldn’t escape fast enough.
He’d been duped. He’d been lied to and betrayed, and he should have seen it coming. But he had been so smitten with Gabby he had let his guard down. Hell, his guard had been down before he had even seen her. Being with the large Torres family and being a part of their everyday lives, he had begun to believe that the images he had only glimpsed through windows could be true. A happy, loving family could exist.
But it had all been a lie. Gabby had toyed with his heart, with his emotions, and there was nothing more he wanted than to be as far away from her as possible. In the morning he would gather what he needed and ride to Austin. He didn’t intend on going fast, he would take his time and arrive at the gala just in time. If he arrived in Austin any sooner, he may go drown himself in the nearest bar he could find.
Chapter Fifteen
Gabby arrived home to find the house dark. She knew she had been gone for a long time, but was surprised that first, everyone had gone to bed, and, second, that Raphael or someone else in the family hadn’t come searching for her.
She was actually relieved, because she didn’t want to face any of them, least of all her brother who seemed very happy to meet Dominic. He couldn’t have known that she was falling in love with Luke. They had actually tried to make it seem to everyone that they were merely becoming good friends.
Drawn to his room by habit, she opened the door and saw her things on top of the bed in the moonlight. So her husband-to-be had been given the glamorous quarters of the cellar. Sighing heavily, she walked over to the bed and pulled a pillow to her face. It still smelled of Luke. It felt as if he was in the very room with her.
She closed her eyes and could feel the warmth of his chest under her cheek, the rumble of his voice as he spoke to her, and then the soft, gentle kisses they had shared. Her hand went to the cut on her side and she felt the dressing he had put there. Dear God, she missed him so much it was as if there was a hole in her chest where her heart should be.
She lit a lamp in the room and carefully arranged putting up her things in the small space available. She didn’t know what time it was, and she didn’t care. Everything that had happened during the course of the night kept playing over in her head, and she felt ill to her stomach. She shouldn’t have been as rude to Dominic as she had been. After all, he was the man she would be spending the rest of her life with.
She lay in bed, hugging Luke’s pillow tightly to her chest until she could vaguely make out the first shimmer of daylight. She freshened up quickly and put on a new shirtwaist and skirt, after realizing that she still wore her green cotton gown.
Finally, drawing a deep breath, she headed out to face the family. Much to her surprise and frustration, Olivia stood in the kitchen, with one hand supporting her lower back as she prepared coffee to boil.
“Olivia,” Gabby said in an irritated whisper. “What are you doing up? You’re supposed to be in your bed!”
Olivia turned to look at her, a hesitant smile on her face. “I thought I could help with just a few things. Just a few things here and there. Won’t that be fine? I promise I won’t overexert myself.”
“You’re absolutely right. You won’t overexert yourself because you’re going straight back to bed. We’ve got this, Olivia. We’ll take care of it.”
“What about all of the cleaning? We were all so tired and confused after last night that the place is still a disaster. At least let me help clean.”
“I’ll hear no such thing. Don’t worry so much. We’re big girls. We know how to take care of things.” Gabby took Olivia gently by the shoulders and began to guide her back towards her room. “All we care about is you and that babe,” Gabby finished softly.
Olivia leaned forward around her large belly and kissed Gabby’s cheek. “I’m sorry last night was so disappointing for you. I know you’ve come to care for Luke...but Gabby, how could you when you knew you were to be married to another man?”
Gabby smiled weakly. “I’ve been asking myself the same question all night long.”
“I can tell,” Olivia said, lightly brushing her fingers under Gabby’s eyes, and Gabby was certain she looked like a total mess. But she would power through the day. And the next. And the one after that. For the rest of her life. And perhaps someday, somehow, she could come to care for Dominic.
After making sure Olivia was once more secure in bed, Gabby returned to the kitchen where she began to prepare the dough for pan dulce and empanadas. It didn’t take long to make, as the kitchen was laid out so perfectly for the assembly of the items, and she was soon making the small round globes to be flattened into tortillas.
Angie came in next, her expression flustered. “I must admit,” she said as she pulled on her apron, “I didn’t know if you would be here this morning or not.”
“Where else would I be?” Gabby asked in confusion.
“Either over at the hotel or halfway back to Corpus,” Serena answered for Angie as she, too, entered the kitchen.
Gabby nearly choked on a piece of dough she had been nibbling on. “You think I would have gone to the hotel? Do you really think that little of me?”
“We just know how much he means to you,” Angie said. “We knew you had become close friends. We just missed the signs that it was something far more than that.”
“Speak for yourself,” Serena said. “I could tell they were falling in love. It was obvious. They spent practically every moment of the day together. And the way she looked at him made it perfectly clear how she felt about him.”
Gabby drew a deep breath. “There’s no need to dwell on the past, now, is there? Yes, I cared for Luke, but I’d hardly say that it was anything more than that. I’ve come to respect him and his methods, and to my surprise, I see a doctor worthy of carrying the title.”
“Oh, yes. That’s what I saw in your eyes that whole time. Respect. How could I have possibly gotten that confused with love?”
“I don’t love him!”
“Are you talking about me or the other guy?” came a deep voice from behind them. All three women whirled around and Dominic stood there, his eyes fixated on Gabby.
“The other guy,” Gabby said instantly, then regretted acknowledging there was another guy at all. She wiped her hands on her apron and approached him. “We need to clean the dining space and prepare it for customers. Will you help me with that?”
He nodded curtly and stepped aside to let her pass. Even with him giving her the space to go by him, he was a large man, and she could feel his breath blow across her cheek as she passed. It reminded her of when Luke’s breath had caressed her cheek, and she instantly felt remorse. She had made far too many mistakes. Mistakes that she needed to start repairing immediately.
The dining area was a disaster. There were mugs and plates scattered on windowsills and in every nook that could possibly balance something. There were even plates on the floor, obviously discarded as someone went to join a dance.
“One thing I now know, the people of San Antonio certainly know how to throw a fandango,” Dominic said, shaking his head.
“It was our night to host the posada,” Gabby said, smoothing her hand over her hair nervously. “It can become a bit, uh, overwhelming.”
“Is that what happened between you and that other man? It became overwhelming?”
“I wasn’t expecting you to question me about these things so early in our conversation today,” Gabby said, irritated. “A gentleman should refrain from asking such things so abruptly.”
“And a lady should honor her promises. This goes both ways. I can wait and ask you things
later, giving you more time to justify in your mind why what you did was right. Or I can demand to know the truth now, and start fixing things.”
“Fixing things?” Gabby began to move around the room, picking up the plates and mugs, balancing them carefully on her arm. “What do you mean by that statement?”
He hesitated, holding several mugs by their handles in his giant fist. “I fix things. Broken things at the ranch. Broken equipment for a neighbor. I’ve even fixed fences with your brothers a time or two. It seems to be what I’m good at. So if I need to fix things between me and you, then that is exactly what I plan to do.”
Gabby’s heart ached. How could he possibly fix something that didn’t even exist? “Don’t you see? That’s the biggest problem of them all. There isn’t anything between us to fix.”
“Then I’ll just have to make sure there is something between the two of us. I’ll be damned if I’m going to have you pining away for that foreigner who speaks so sweetly in your ear without having a shot at you myself.”
Gabby shook her head in confusion. “I don’t understand what you are saying...”
“You’re a good woman. I’ve heard from your brothers how much you do. I didn’t mean to insult you last night, and calling you a witch was a vicious thing for me to do, and I’m sorry for it. In my mind, for the last four years you’ve belonged to me. I had thought—I had prayed you would want to marry me sooner. There is nothing more that I want than to have some kids running underfoot every time I walk in the back door and to smell a homemade meal, and be met by some sweet lips. And I always imagined they would be yours.”
Olivia closed her eyes tightly and tried to draw a deep breath. “Dominic, our agreement—”
“Yes, our agreement guarantees I’ll have some of those things. But not the sweet lips. Not willing lips attached to a woman who is just as hungry to see me as I’m hungry to see her. What I want is more than what our agreement guarantees.”
“Dominic, I don’t even know you. I’m so, so sorry that I’ve made a mess of things. But what if you hated me regardless? What if I’m not the right woman for you?”
“One thing you’ll learn about me real fast is that I don’t give up easily. I saw the most stunning woman in the room last night. And I knew immediately that she was mine, but she was smiling up into another man’s face. If I have to prove to you that I am just as worthy, if not more so, than that man...give me that chance.”
“What...what are you saying? Are you saying I have a choice in this in some weird, twisted way?”
He didn’t comment right away as they deposited the dishes in the kitchen then returned to the dining area. He caught her arm as she tried to pass him and he placed his large hands on her shoulders. “Yes, Gabriella. That’s exactly what I’m saying. Let me earn your respect. Let me earn your love as this other man had a chance to. Let me prove to you that I can be the man you want to have returning to your side every night.”
“And if you can’t?” she whispered.
“Then I’ll agree to back out of the agreement. I’ll step away and let you live the life you want. But that is only if you give me a fair shot. Only then.”
Gabby’s heart was racing. She had never imagined two men would pursue her. And after the previous night, Luke might not want to pursue her at all. But if what Dominic was offering her was true...if she had the chance to choose her own life, her own destiny...the possibilities were endless.
She looked up into Dominic’s eyes and was surprised to see genuine intentions. She had yet to really look into his eyes, she realized, and she prayed they reflected his honest feelings. “I don’t know how I’ll be able to do this,” she replied, matching his truth with her own.
“Just be honest with yourself. I trust the right answer will come to you.” He winked at her. “At least I hope I can persuade you of that.”
She couldn’t resist her burst of laughter that bordered on tears. She wondered if she was possibly losing her mind. “You must be absolutely insane,” she finally gasped out.
“Probably,” he said softly, then touched her gently under the chin. “Don’t look now, but we have an audience.”
Gabby’s head whipped around and she saw Serena and Angie standing in the doorway, their mouths agape, watching her in stunned silence. All Gabby could do was shake her head and shrug, then she tried to shoo them away.
“We’d best get working if you plan on feeding any folk in here today,” Dominic called from behind her. “Like I said, San Antonio sure does know how to have a fandango.”
Luke was on his way to Austin while the rest of the town still slumbered. Or, at least most of the town. He couldn’t stop his eyes from drifting over to the cocina, where he could see lamplight slipping through the shutters.
Had she fallen asleep in his arms the previous night? Had she allowed him to kiss her delicately on the lips and taste her sweet essence? Had she allowed him to hold her so she wouldn’t get cold in the night chill?
He had been in shock when she had confirmed that she was the man’s fiancée. Was this truly the innocent woman who had been with him the last several days, teaching him the joys of family and Christmas, and slowly chipping away at the stone he had built around his heart? Was this really the woman who seemed to crave his kisses as much as he craved kissing her? The betrayal had cut him deep, and he hadn’t even been able to look at her as he had turned her over to her fiancé.
Her plea to let her explain herself to him was still ringing in his ears. She had looked just as shocked as he felt when the man had announced he was her intended. Did she think he had passed away and she was trying to move on with her life? Did she think the man had run out on her, never to return? Should he have stayed and heard her story?
With an angry shake of his head he turned his horse away from the cocina and away from town and urged him forward into the cold, misty morning. Never had his mind been so certain of his decision, and never had his heart doubted him more.
Dominic assumed the role the men all took—outside cooking. It was a very damp and cold day, and the customers were few, much to Gabby’s disappointment. Because she wanted nothing more than to take her mind off of the challenge she now faced.
All she could think about was Luke. Had he already left for Austin? Was he cold? Who had he decided to take with him, and was he relieved to be free of her? Had there ever been anything between them, or had she just imagined a good, strong, handsome man would actually want her?
The questions swirled through her mind, and she had no good answers. All she knew was that she cared for Luke very much. It was what she thought love felt like. Could it be she had fallen in love with him? But Dominic was an incredible man from what she could tell, and he was willing to fight for her. Luke had left. Of course, he had been asked to see the President of the Republic. His hands were tied. If he had even considered wanting her in the first place.
“At some point you have to tell us what he said to you,” Serena grumbled under her breath as she passed her with mugs of coffee for the few brave souls who were out in the miserable weather.
Gabby’s eyes turned towards the back door as Dominic entered, trying to shake the wet drops from his hat and duster just outside the entry. When he glanced inside, their eyes met, and a half smile kicked up the corner of his mouth, and she saw for the first time that he had a dimple.
Had she met Dominic before Luke, there might not be any problems at all. But she hadn’t, and in her mind, the storm raging behind Luke’s eyes was far more appealing to stare into than the olive green mystery that stared back at her right then. But she had to be fair. She owed it to herself. She owed it to Dominic. And—more than anyone—she owed it to Luke.
“Your abuelo is killing the fire now. He said no more business for today.”
Gabby smiled back at him. “He’s too old for the cold.”
“So he told me, though in a much more expletive way.”
Gabby sighed. “That’s Abuelo for you. He’ll always
tell you anything, especially what you don’t want to hear.”
Dominic stood in the doorway, stomping his feet and blowing on his hands as he watched her move about the kitchen. She glanced sideways at him and shook her head. “You need to realize that being a guest in this house is the same as being a family member. If you’re seen doing that, Cade will likely ask you to go cut more firewood since you’re already cold.”
He raised his eyebrows at her and shrugged. “What else should I be doing?”
Gabby dried her hands on her apron and frowned at him. “Follow me,” she said, and turned on her heel, not looking back to see if he was actually following her or not. She walked quickly to the hearth, then gestured for him to sit down. “This is where we come to warm up. It should help you thaw out some.”
“We were watching icicles forming outside. It is freezing outside, you know.”
She ignored him and once again gestured for him sit on one of the benches pulled up in front of the hearth. “Now, stay here and, uh, thaw out a little. I’ll make you a cup of warm coffee. That should help you.”
She began to turn away, but he reached out and caught her hand, pulling her back. “Perhaps talking with you will help even more.”
“We will talk, and soon. But let me get you that coffee first since your teeth are chattering too hard for you to talk anyway.” She forced a smile to her face and gently squeezed his hand, then turned back towards the kitchen.
As she turned she looked up to see Raphael standing in the doorway, one eyebrow raised. She narrowed her eyes at him and moved around him back into the kitchen. “So should I plan to see you wrapped in his arms in a loving embrace next?”
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