“Let’s go find a place to sit, and I’ll get us some food,” he grumbled, and led her to one of the tables closest to the campfire. Several of the cowboys were already seated, and Jake Owens slid into the empty spot on the bench next to her, an amused look on his face. Gabe handed Logan back to her, and excused himself.
“Da-da,” Logan called loudly, pointing his hand at Gabe’s retreating form.
Jake’s eyebrows shot up.
“Is there something I should know about?” he asked, a rakish grin on his face.
Morgan rolled her eyes at him. “It’s Logan’s way of saying desperado, not what you’re thinking.”
“Uh huh.” Jake rubbed at his chin. “Desperado? That’s quite an endearment.”
“Yeah, well, it fits him. He thinks he’s such a bad man,” Morgan shot back.
Jake laughed, and thankfully changed the subject. He introduced her to some of the cowboys sitting at the table, then leaned closer to her.
“Rachel told me about the mustang sanctuary you’re trying to help.”
Surprised, Morgan raised her eyebrows. “Yes, they need a new place, at least temporarily, until they can find a permanent home.”
“How many horses do they have?”
“I think somewhere around a hundred.”
“We’ve got some rangeland that isn’t being grazed at the moment. It wouldn’t be long-term, and they’d have to be supplemented with hay, but it’s available.”
“Oh, Jake, thank you.” Morgan smiled brightly, and squeezed his arm. “That’s great news.”
Jake grinned. “Get in touch with the owner, and we’ll arrange to get them here.”
“That’s the best thing that’s happened to me in weeks. Longer.” Morgan’s heart ignited with excitement.
Jake laughed. “You sure about that?” He motioned with his chin. Gabe was heading their way, a plate in each hand, piled high with food.
“Okay, you got me,” she confessed. “But there’s not much happening where he’s concerned.” Hopefully she sounded impassive.
“Some guys don’t want to be lassoed. For others, it just takes the right girl.” Jake winked at her.
“And how does a girl find out if she’s the right one?” Morgan asked, scooting to the side when Gabe reached the table. The answer to her question would have to wait. Gabe set a plate in front of her, and slid onto the bench next to her. His thigh bumped against hers. Morgan glanced at him, smiling when his body tensed.
“I didn’t know what you like, so—”
“So you got me a bit of everything?” Morgan stared at the mountain of food. “Thanks, Desperado.”
Logan reached his hand out, and Gabe quickly slid the plate out of his reach before little fingers were buried in his coleslaw.
“McFarlain.” Jake leaned around Morgan. “Do you know anything about mustangs?”
Morgan’s head shot to Gabe.
“Some,” he said, darting glances from Jake to her.
Morgan gaped at him. He had experience with wild horses? How was that different than working with other horses, and why hadn’t he ever said anything whenever she’d brought up the sanctuary?
“I think we’re gonna be getting about a hundred head sometime soon. I’m putting you in charge of getting them settled here on the ranch.”
“Why me?” Gabe looked equally as stunned as Morgan.
Jake grinned. “I have a hunch they’ll be in excellent hands.” He didn’t wait for a reply, but stood from the table. “I’d better go find my wife, and see what she’s up to,” he said, and gave a parting nod of his head.
Wordlessly, Gabe dug into his plate. Morgan ate a few bites, and offered bits of her food to Logan. She glanced at Gabe until he looked up and met her eyes.
“Looks like Jake Owens values you already, and is putting a lot of trust in you. You must really know your stuff.”
“I know horses. I told you that.”
Gabe dug his fork into the potato salad, and lifted it to his mouth. His eyes remained on his food, cutting into the large steak on his plate. He was obviously not going to elaborate.
“Telling me you know horses isn’t telling me anything, Gabe.” Morgan glared at him.
“There ain’t nothing to tell.” He shot her a hasty look, then focused his attention back to his food.
She mentally counted to ten. Extracting even a single word from his mouth was like pulling teeth. What on earth did she see in this man? What had made her fall in love with him? That wall he’d built around himself seemed to be impenetrable, but there had to be a way to chisel through it.
“Are you always this stubborn, Gabe McFarlain, or are you trying extra hard with me, just so you can push me away?”
She set her fork down, and squeezed out of the bench and away from the table. “I’m glad you’ll be the one to help with the sanctuary horses,” she said, clearing the hitch from her voice, then turned and walked off. She blinked back the sting of tears in her eyes, and adjusted Logan on her hip.
Get yourself together, Morgan. You have to socialize with the guests.
She gnashed her teeth. She just needed a few minutes to compose herself, somewhere away from everyone. She walked briskly through the yard, and headed for the road that led to the horse barns. The sun had already set, but it wasn’t completely dark.
“Let’s go see some of the horses, Logan. Maybe one will let you pet it.” She bounced her little boy on her hip, and forced a smile, wiping a hand under her nose. There was no sense letting Logan see that she was upset. It would only upset him.
She’d just reached the first corral fence, when Gabe’s familiar voice called to her.
“Morgan.”
She stopped, and turned. Inhaling a few deep breaths, she straightened her back. He was a lot closer than she’d thought. Not a second later, he stood in front of her. She stared up at him, and waited, her heart pounding in her chest.
Logan reached for Gabe, and he didn’t hesitate to take the baby into his arms. Morgan squeezed her eyes shut, forcing the tears back. She opened them when calloused fingers touched her cheek.
“I ain’t the man for you, Morgan,” he said, and stepped closer. “I’m the bastard son of a whore, a drifter, and not the settling kind. It’s the only life I know. You don’t want to be strapped to the likes of me.”
“Gabe,” she whispered, and gripped his hand that still caressed her cheek. “Don’t tell me what it is I want. I can make up my own mind.”
The last thing she’d expected was for him to open up to her. The only other thing he’d ever revealed about himself was that his father hadn’t wanted him. She stood on her toes and leaned toward him. Her lips brushed against his. Logan babbled into her ear, and she was about to pull back when Gabe’s hand slid to the back of her head, and held her to him. He parted his mouth, and took her lips with a sudden force that pulled all the air from her lungs.
Just as quickly as it had started, Gabe ended the kiss. He handed Logan back to her, and ran a hand across his jaw.
“You’d best get back up to the house before you’re missed,” he said in a raspy tone.
“And where are you going?” she whispered, trying to find her voice.
“I’ve got horses to look in on.” He turned to leave.
“Gabe,” she called quickly.
He stopped.
“Thank you, for helping me understand you better.”
“It don’t change anything.” He tipped his hat, and nodded, then headed toward the barn.
“Not yet, but it’s a start,” Morgan mumbled under her breath.
Gabe McFarlain could deny it all he wanted, but the guy had feelings for her. He was just too stubborn to admit it to himself, much less to her. She’d peeled back one of his layers this evening. She wasn’t a quitter. In time, she’d peel back the rest.
Chapter Eighteen
Gabe led the red-roan gelding he’d taken a fancy to from its stall and down the barn aisle, the horse’s shod hooves beating rhythmi
cally along the brick ground. He’d finished his morning chores early, and had the rest of the afternoon to himself. A long, solitary ride across some open range was what he needed right now.
Three days of throwing his back into mucking stalls, filling pot holes in the horse pens, and stacking bales of hay by hand when a fancy machine could do the job in much less time, hadn’t erased Morgan from his mind. Fact was, the work had given him plenty of time to think about her.
Kissing her again had been a harebrained thing to do, but he couldn’t have stopped himself any more than he could have stopped the sun from rising the next morning. Morgan had accused him of being touched in the head when they’d first met. She sure as hell was right about that now. And damn if she wasn’t the cause of it.
No matter what he’d done to try and get her out of his mind, she was stuck in his head but good, making him think crazy thoughts about what a future might be like with a woman such as her. He shook his head at the notion. Hell. He had nothing to offer her.
Several sleepless nights later, and he was no closer to ridding his mind of her. He had no business pining after her. He couldn’t erase his past, and it was too late now to make amends to the people he’d hurt. He wouldn’t risk hurting Morgan, too.
Avoiding her had been his best strategy for getting rid of those bothersome feelings that swirled through his head for that woman. Unfortunately, those feelings hadn’t gone away. In fact, they’d only gotten stronger the less he’d seen her. Not to mention, that little boy of hers had worked his way under his skin, too. Whenever a child cried somewhere in the distance, he’d listened for the source.
What the hell did Morgan see in him? Nothing he’d said to her about his past, or the kind of man he was, had deterred her so far. He held little hope that the reverend would be coming for him to send him back to his own time, so the excuse that he didn’t want to court Morgan because he’d be leaving didn’t hold any water.
He cursed under his breath for even thinking about the notion of courting her. He’d never courted a woman in his life. He’d never wanted to.
Dammit! You don’t want to now, either. She’s too good for the likes of you.
Gabe patted the gelding’s neck, and led him out into the sunshine. He tightened the cinch, then swung up into the saddle. Guiding the animal across the yard at a walk, he followed the road past several corrals, a large riding arena, and a round pen that was used to teach folks who had never sat on a horse how to ride in an enclosed area. At least that’s what Daniel had told him when he’d asked what the point was of having folks ride around in small circles.
Women’s voices came from the direction of the pen. Gabe clenched his jaw. Those women wranglers were a burr under his saddle. Admittedly, they worked as hard as any of their male counterparts on the ranch, but if they weren’t teasing each other, they had it out for the men. He’d avoided them, as much as he’d avoided Morgan.
“Gabe.”
Gabe adjusted the hat on his head, and was about to turn onto the trail that led away from the ranch buildings and into the hills, when Jake Owens strode down the path. He raised his hand in greeting.
“Got a minute?”
“Sure.” Gabe reined his horse to a stop, and dismounted.
“The mustangs will be here next week.”
“Do you need help driving them here?” A good, hard horse drive might be just what he needed to get Morgan out of his mind.
Jake shook his head. “The guy at the sanctuary has a few volunteers who will round them up and transport them. They’ll be shipped on trucks. It’s too far for a horse drive like what you’re thinking. But, once they’re here, we’ll have to drive them to the pasture. The terrain isn’t suitable for those large shipping trucks. I’d like you to coordinate that with the other wranglers.”
Gabe nodded. “What are you gonna do with a herd of wild mustangs?”
“We’ve got several hundred acres of rangeland where we’ll turn them loose. Maybe you can ride out there in the next day or so and make sure the fences are intact.”
“I was planning a ride right now. Tell me where to go, and I’ll take a look.”
“Morgan is mighty happy about the mustangs coming here.”
Jake peered at him out of the corner of his eyes. Gabe clenched his fingers around the reins. Just hearing her name mentioned slammed him in the chest with those tender stirrings he’d been trying to ignore.
“Helping those horses is a big deal to her. She sure strikes me as the kind of person who really goes after something once she’s set her mind to it.”
Gabe grunted. In an effort to steer the conversation away from Morgan, he asked, “What did you imply the other night when you said you had a hunch I’d be good with mustangs?”
Jake grinned. “I was curious, and did some digging on Tyler Monroe. Seems like he used some pretty unconventional horse training methods for his time and made quite a name for himself. If you were his foreman, you must have used those same methods.” He narrowed his eyes. “Do you want to know more about what happened with your brother after you . . . left?”
Gabe clenched his jaw. “No.”
Jake studied him. “At least know that he and Laney had a long and, from all accounts, a happy life together.”
“Glad to hear it,” Gabe said. Was he glad his brother had done well, and that he and Laney had been happy? The anger that usually consumed him at hearing Tyler’s name, and the prosperity of the ranch his father had built, didn’t surface the way it had in the past. He should be furious with what Tyler had done to him, sending him to this time.
He also saved your neck from the hangman’s noose. If you hadn’t forced Laney back to the future, you wouldn’t be here now.
“If there’s nothing else, I’ll go check on those fences.” Gabe nodded to excuse himself, and turned to mount his horse. He raised his leg to step into the stirrup.
“What about Morgan?”
Gabe glanced over his shoulder at the surprise question. He dropped his foot and turned.
“What about her?” He faced Jake squarely.
“What are your intentions toward her?”
Gabe raised an eyebrow. “I ain’t got intentions where Morgan is concerned. First thing I’m gonna do on payday is give her back all the money I owe her. Other than that, it’s best we go our separate ways.” He stared off into the distance.
Jake laughed. “That’s what I thought. You’ve got it pretty bad for her, don’t you?”
“What are you talking about?”
Gabe gripped the reins in his hands. He had half a mind to tell Jake Owens to mind his own business, but kept his mouth shut.
“You care about her.”
“I just said we’d best stay away from each other.” Gabe glared at Jake, his patience about to run dry. If someone else could read him so easily, how was he going to keep his feelings hidden from Morgan the next time he saw her?
“Yeah,” Jake smirked. “I know how well that usually works out. I saw the way you were looking at her the day you two arrived, and at the barbeque. That little boy of hers has sure taken a fancy to you, too.”
Gabe pulled his hat from his head and ran a hand through his hair.
“Look, Owens, I can’t let feelings of the heart meddle with my mind. If the reverend comes back, and I can go home, I ain’t planning on taking a woman with me like you done.”
Jake nodded. “I get it. You’re a loner. Things don’t always work out the way we plan, though.” He paused, as if weighing his next words carefully. “I’ve got just one bit of advice for you.”
“What’s that?” he asked gruffly.
“Go and get yourself checked out.”
“Checked out?”
Jake Owens may have spent some time in the nineteenth century, and he was easier to understand than most everyone else, but right now he used terms that didn’t make sense.
“At the health clinic in town. Go and get yourself a clean bill of health.”
“What t
he hell are you talkin’ about? Clean bill of health for what? I ain’t sick.”
Jake cleared his throat. His stare didn’t waver, and there was nothing on his determined face that would indicate he was making light of something.
“It’s to protect Morgan, if nothing else. If you’ve done any whoring around, there’s a good chance that you might have . . . you know, caught something. The prostitutes back in the nineteenth century carried a lot of disease because of their occupation.”
Comprehension dawned as to what Jake was getting at. Gabe scoffed. He’d been well aware of the diseases that came with a working girl’s profession. He’d been raised by these women, after all. It had taught him to be cautious.
“I ain’t got the clap, and I sure as hell ain’t got plans to bed Morgan, if that’s what you’re gettin’ at.”
Jake smiled indulgently. “Even the best laid plans sometimes go to the wayside. I’m just giving you something to think about.” After a quick pause, he added, “Let me know about those fences.” He turned, and headed back up the road.
Gabe slapped his hat against his chaps, then mounted his gelding, more anxious than ever to get lost in the hills for a few hours. He gnashed his teeth at the sound of a woman calling to him. He didn’t have to look to see who it was. Abby waved to him from the middle of the round pen as he rode past. She had a little pony mare by the bridle. Next to her stood a woman and a boy no older than eight or nine. The boy adamantly shook his head, and the woman pushed him toward the pony.
Gabe guided his gelding to the pen. Abby led the agitated pony up to the fence.
“That kid is scared to death of getting on Cookie. I left my lunge line hanging in the barn. Would you mind getting it for me?”
“Sure.” Gabe sighed, and dismounted his gelding.
What good would a long line do for a skittish kid, or a skittish pony? Ponies could be more ornery than mules, but he kept that opinion to himself. He looped the gelding’s reins around one of the corral rails when the boy whined loudly from the center of the pen, and earned a scolding from his mother.
Diamond in the Dust (Second Chances Time Travel Romance Book 3) Page 17
