by Sara Orwig
“Good. Now, on to a more vital matter—let’s marry soon. If you want a big wedding, that’s fine with me. Big or small, I don’t care. I want it to happen. Pick a date this morning.”
“Under the circumstances, I want a small wedding. Only our family and our very closest friends. That’s all. Less than fifty people if we can keep it to that number.”
“We can if that’s what you want.”
“I know you told Jake and Caitlin about Rebecca, but you still have to tell your parents.”
“I haven’t told my parents yet because I wanted things worked out between us first. Otherwise, that’s an open invitation for my dad to step in and try to take charge.”
“I hope that doesn’t happen,” she said, having no intention of letting his parents run her life.
“He’s always concentrated on Jake. With grandkids, I think both Mom and Dad will stop interfering so much, so don’t worry. I want to stay here a few more days and get to know Rebecca better. When we go back to Texas, I’d like to take her with us, but also when we go, I would like her to know I’m her father.”
“I’m still waiting for the right time to tell her.”
“Whether you tell her before we go or after we get there, I know you’ll choose the best time. When we return to Texas, we’ll stay at my place. You can make your calls there and work on getting your house ready. I’ll send a cleaning crew over, Maddie, and they’ll have the place in fine shape. I can do the same for a yard crew and you’ll have the place ready for sale.”
“Thanks, that would be wonderful and save me a lot of work,” she said, relieved, yet at the same time aware it would mean she would be free to return to Florida sooner.
“If you ever decide you want to give up your career, I can easily afford for you to do that. I’ll set up an account for you, so you’ll have your own money.”
“I have my own money,” she said with amusement. “I have a good job.”
“So do I, Maddie, as you know. I’ve been dabbling in investments for a long time now. I’ve done okay. Better than okay. I’m approaching billionaire status.”
Surprised, she raised up on an elbow to look at him. “I knew you were wealthy, but I didn’t realize how wealthy!”
“If you have any money you want me to invest, I’ll be happy to do it. I think I told you that I handle investments for Jake and a couple of his friends. I’ve actually thought about expanding my business slightly.”
“That is very impressive, Gabe. You’re multitalented.”
“So are you,” he said, swinging her down to kiss her.
Then thoughts and worries were gone as she focused on Gabe.
For the next two days, Gabe gave his full attention to Rebecca.
On Thursday, Gabe showered and went to the kitchen to cook breakfast while Maddie dressed. By the time she appeared with Rebecca, he had breakfast ready and he waited, sipping a glass of cold orange juice.
In blue cotton slacks and a pale blue, cotton, sleeveless shirt, Rebecca was ready to travel. She held her white teddy bear under one arm.
“Don’t you look pretty this morning,” Gabe said. “We’re going on a big airplane today to fly a long way to Texas. Do you have your bag packed?”
“Yes, sir,” she answered. “Gabrel is going to fly, too.”
“I think Gabrel will have a lot of fun on his trip,” Gabe said, smiling at her.
“Rebecca,” Maddie said, pulling a chair closer to Gabe’s and lifting Rebecca to her lap. “See what Mr. Benton gave me,” Maddie said, showing Rebecca her engagement ring.
“That’s pretty,” Rebecca said, touching the ring lightly. “It’s beautiful,” she said in her childish voice. She looked at Gabe and smiled.
“I love your Mommy, and I love you,” he said.
“Rebecca, Gabe has asked me to marry him.”
For the first time, Rebecca’s sunny countenance disappeared. “Are you going to leave me?”
“Heavens, no!” Maddie said, hugging Rebecca. “Not at all.”
“Rebecca, I want your mommy to be my wife and you to be my little girl,” Gabe said, meaning it with his whole heart.
Rebecca smiled broadly, and Gabe’s heart skipped a beat. He leaned closer to her. “Will you let me be your daddy?”
Big blue eyes gazed into his while he held his breath. He only took a breath once before she smiled again. “Yes,” she said shyly. Relief and warmth washed over him.
“I hope so. I love you and your mommy. I want you to come to Texas and see my house.”
She nodded and looked at Rebecca. “You and Mr. Benton will have a wedding.”
“Yes, we will, and you’ll be part of it. We have to let Grandma know this morning. We’ll go tell her together.”
Gabe sat patiently while Maddie broke the news to her mother and Rebecca played with her teddy bear. Mrs. Halliday seemed even more impressed with the engagement ring than Maddie had been, studying it at length and giving him a faint smile. “So, Maddie, where will you live?”
“We have things to work out, Mom,” Maddie said easily. “I’ve told you before.”
Her mother nodded, giving him another inscrutable look, but there was more triumph in it than worry, and he wondered what Maddie and her mother had discussed.
They were soon on their way to the airport. When the plane took off, Gabe enjoyed watching Rebecca’s enthusiasm for the flight. She was buckled securely in her seat, but she was excited, looking out the window and commenting on everything she saw.
Gabe reached over to take Maddie’s hand, holding it and smiling at her. “She’s happy. I hope you are.”
“I am,” she said, but her words weren’t convincing. The worry was back in her brown eyes, and he wondered what lay ahead for them.
In the limo on the way to Gabe’s ranch, Rebecca held her teddy bear up to the window, telling him about the land around them.
Finally, they reached Gabe’s mansion. Men were working on the unfinished wing. Rebecca was curious about everything she saw.
Gabe gave Rebecca a tour of the finished part of the house. When they put their bags in the bedrooms, he stepped into one and turned to Maddie. “Your bedroom will adjoin this one, which will be for Rebecca. You can start planning how you want to redecorate. When we marry, you can do this over into a room for her, and you and Rebecca can discuss what she would like to have in here.”
“Gabe—” Maddie started to say, and then closed her mouth, turning away while he talked to Rebecca to tell her this would one day be her room. Maddie wondered if Gabe had assumed she would come around to what he wanted. Rebecca would visit him some, but Maddie had no intention of spending a lot of time on the ranch.
When they were together in the kitchen after putting away their suitcases, he set out steaks to thaw.
“Rebecca, I have a horse for you. She will be your very own. Do you want to go see her?”
“Yes,” she said, her eyes larger than ever and wonder in her voice.
“Maddie, why don’t you come with us?”
She shook her head. “I’ve calls to make. You take Rebecca and show her the horse,” she said, watching the two of them.
Gabe swung Rebecca up on his shoulders. As they left the room, Rebecca had her fingers wound in Gabe’s hair. He held the little girl carefully and both of them laughed.
As they disappeared from her view, Maddie looked down at the huge, glittering diamond on her finger. She suspected she was in for a bigger hurt than she’d had six years earlier.
She had a wedding to plan, but it would be heartbreaking because she knew their marriage was not going to be the way she had dreamed it would be. No matter how she parsed it, there didn’t seem to be a way they could compromise on their lifestyles.
Gabe was ever the optimist and accustomed to getting what he wanted. This time he wouldn’t be able to. She tried to focus on the list of calls she needed to make. Sell the house and furniture, finish the deal with Jake and go back to Florida. Except leaving now meant tha
t half of her heart would be left behind in Texas.
Through the week, they stayed in Texas. Tuesday night Maddie sat in the large family room while Gabe played a game with Rebecca. He was on the floor, making her laugh as they played, her constant giggles keeping a smile on Maddie’s face. Rebecca had bathed and dressed in pink pajamas covered with panda bears. Her eyes sparkled.
The hall clock chimed. “Rebecca, it’s story time and then bedtime, so you two wind up that game.”
In minutes, they were finished and Gabe picked up Rebecca. “I’ll carry you to your room and read one story to you. How’s that?”
“Good, if you will carry Gabrel, too.”
“You hold on to Gabrel and to me.” Gabe swung her up onto his shoulders and she grabbed fistfuls of his hair as they left for her room. Maddie followed, watching Gabe, thinking he was everything she’d ever wanted in a man. Intelligent, generous, fun, confident—and handsome. Right now he looked great in a knit shirt and jeans. He was also a cowboy at heart and wanted his ranching life as much as she wanted the life she had built in Miami. Florida was her home, just as this Texas ranch was Gabe’s home. Irreconcilable differences.
She turned down the bed and tried not to rehash the same worries she’d had since meeting Gabe on that long stretch of highway two weeks ago. She watched while Gabe and Rebecca looked through books and Rebecca selected two for him to read. He sat in a rocker and pulled her onto his lap. Rebecca settled against him, looking at the pictures as he read.
Soon she yawned, then grew still and quiet. Locks of his brown hair had fallen over Gabe’s forehead. His deep voice was soft, low as he read to his daughter.
When could she tell Maddie that Gabe was her real daddy?
Sunday night, Maddie was in Gabe’s arms after making love. She caressed his throat, gazing into his eyes in the faint light from a small bedside lamp.
“Gabe, the ranch and house have been sold to Jake, so that responsibility is gone. Rebecca and I leave tomorrow for Florida. You and I haven’t set a wedding date. At first I wasn’t sure it would even happen.”
“It’s going to happen. I’ve been thinking about our wedding. I’d like to have a bigger one. We both have family and close friends nearby, Maddie. I want them there when I marry you.” Her heart pounded with his words. He toyed with strands of her hair. “We can marry in church. Having a ceremony will mean more to Rebecca, too.”
Maddie nodded, glancing at her ring that sparkled in the dim light. “A church wedding—it’s becoming real. A church wedding will push the date a little farther away because it will mean more planning.”
“It’ll be worth it.”
“Gabe, my feelings about going home haven’t changed,” she said, worried that he thought these days on his ranch meant she was beginning to accept life here.
“I know, but I still want to have the wedding very soon. The sooner the better.”
“I agree. It will be easier to tell Rebecca that you’re her real father then.”
“Can you take a week for a honeymoon?”
She knew she could. She could rearrange her schedule and make arrangements with an agent to cover for her. But did she want a week alone with Gabe to become addicted to spending so much time with him? She looked into his blue eyes. “Yes, I can take a week.”
“You leave tomorrow. Come back next weekend.”
“You come to Florida. Then I’ll fly here later.”
“All right,” he said, sounding reluctant. They couldn’t stop time, and they couldn’t change their deepest desires and feelings.
“I’ll pay all expenses, Maddie. Don’t argue.”
“Thank you,” she said, trying to imagine that their marriage would be about more than just heartache and constant goodbyes.
Her fears were compounded the next day when she stood in the airport near the walkway for the big commercial jet that she had insisted on taking home. They still had no long-term plans for when she would return to Texas, or when Gabe could come to Florida, nothing beyond the next weekend. Maddie held Rebecca’s hand and the little girl held her white teddy bear.
“Come back weekend after next,” Gabe urged her. “I’ll fly you here in my plane. I’ll come get you and Rebecca Friday night and take you home Sunday.”
The offer was tempting. “Will that be our relationship—only a few days together at a time?”
“I don’t know, but I’ll take what I can get. I want to be with you and Rebecca.”
“I’ll see, Gabe,” she said, her spirits sinking. Now they faced the reality of their future. It was nothing like she imagined it would be.
When he kissed her goodbye, he held her long and tight.
When Gabe let go of Maddie, he picked up Rebecca and kissed her cheek. “See the big plane you’ll be on. It’s even a bit bigger than the one you flew on to come here.”
“Come see us,” Rebecca said.
While his heart lurched, he looked into her big blue eyes. “I want to visit you more than anything, and I wish you didn’t have to go home now. Someday we’ll have a home together, Rebecca, because I’m marrying Mommy. When I do, I’ll be your daddy.”
“Can I call you Daddy?” she asked shyly, making his heart clench again. He looked into Maddie’s brown eyes and then back at Rebecca.
“I would love to hear you call me Daddy. You can start right now.”
She smiled and hugged him, her thin arms wrapping around his neck as they called for passengers to begin boarding. “You’re my friend,” Rebecca said. “My daddy when you marry Mommy.”
Seeing the love between Rebecca and Gabe, and wanting her daughter to have something special as she faced her first separation from her father, Maddie said, “Gabe, this may be as good a time as any.” She moved closer and placed her arm around Rebecca so they stood in a tight group.
“Rebecca, Gabe is your real daddy. He’s come back to be with us,” she said.
Rebecca turned wide, blue eyes on him. “You’re really my daddy?” she asked.
Gabe’s heart skipped a beat.
“I’m really your daddy, darlin’, and I’m here now. I will always be there for you,” he said, feeling a knot in his throat.
Rebecca smiled again and kissed his cheek as she hugged him. He felt as if his heart would pound out of his chest. His gaze met Maddie’s, and he wrapped an arm around her. He didn’t care if they were in a busy airport or what was happening around them.
“I love you both more than anything else in my life,” he said in a husky voice.
“I love you,” Rebecca said. “I love Mommy.”
“I love you both, too,” Maddie said.
“We should go, Gabe, if we’re going to get this flight.” Maddie stepped back and he set Rebecca on her feet. She looked down at Rebecca, who was straightening a tie on her bear.
“That was easier to do than I thought it would be.”
“I’m glad. Now I can tell my parents and everyone else. Maddie, I do love you both more than anything else,” he said, hurting because they were leaving.
“Gabe—” She broke off as they announced boarding for her plane.
“It’s time for us to board,” she said. She hugged him and kissed him briefly. He held her tightly, kissing her until she moved away. “Goodbye, Gabe. We’ll talk.”
He watched them disappear down the walkway. Rebecca turned to wave at him and he waved back, and hurt. It felt too much like they were walking out of his life again.
Maddie was set about living life on her own terms and he didn’t think she would change. That determination was something he loved about her, but he hurt badly because he wanted them to come back. The past few days had been the best of his life. It shook him to realize that he felt that way. He was more in love with Maddie every day. And he loved Rebecca with all his heart. Love wrapped him in chains that bound his heart to theirs. He saw now why Maddie had not welcomed other men into her life. It would have been impossible, since she had truly loved him.
“Dammit,” h
e whispered, moving to the window to watch the plane. He wanted to run and escort them off, but he knew that would solve nothing. Maybe he could give up his life and move to Florida.
He could do investments full-time. He could work on a consulting basis for Jake, but he would always want to be back in Texas. He loved Maddie and Rebecca with all his heart, but his lifeblood was this place where he was born and raised. He couldn’t imagine giving it up completely. It might work for a while, but then he would want to return.
Was where he lived more important than the loves in his life? He wasn’t sure. All he knew was that he already wanted to be with them.
Heartbreak tore at Maddie. She fought back tears because she didn’t want to cry in front of Rebecca.
Rebecca looked out the window, holding up the white bear so he could share the view.
Maddie loved Gabe. If only she could change. If only Gabe could change.
But both notions were foolishness. He probably hoped the same thing. Their lifestyles were disparate, and she saw no hope of working out any satisfying solution.
She loved Gabe with all her heart. Always had and always would. Rebecca loved him now, too. He was in their lives, and they would see him, but truly living together? She couldn’t fathom how it would be possible.
As time passed and they moved back into their routine lives she just hoped they could stay as close as they had been these last few days.
A week later, Maddie still missed Gabe. He had planned to fly to Florida for the weekend and then business had kept him in Texas until it was pointless for him to try to come.
To her surprise, instead of learning to live without him, as she’d done before, she missed him more with each passing day. This time was even worse in many ways than that first big separation from him six years ago. Maybe she was more in love now. Maybe they were closer, now that they had both been fully honest about their feelings and mistakes.
Rebecca missed him and asked about him and talked each day to him on the phone. Maddie’s calls to him lasted for hours and added to the longing that consumed her. She planned a wedding with her fiancé much too far away from her.
