Gabriel's Lady (Leisure Historical Romance)

by Charlotte Hubbard

  He read the last few paragraphs in a rush of anticipation. He needed to learn when Grace would be leaving, and then send Billy an immediate reply.

  Solace will get here middle of next week. She’ll train some of my horses, in exchange for the matched geldings I gave her last year. She’s never been one for book learning, and with Lily and Grace at the academy, I suspect she feels like a dried pea rattling around in a shoe box there at the Triple M.

  Gabe smiled. From what he recalled of sturdy, exuberant Solace, she was anything but a dried pea. She must be what—seventeen? Eighteen? Why hadn’t a rancher from around Abilene courted her away from home by now? Or perhaps they’d tried, and Solace had sent them packing. She had a mind of her own, that one.

  He blinked. When had his dark mood lifted? He suddenly had plans to make—a place to go and people to see. Though he’d never escape his wife’s death nor the grief that went along with it, the prospect of spending time with Billy, among his horses and children, suddenly seemed like the lifeline he’d been yearning for.

  And how like Billy Bristol to toss it to him.

  Gabe grinned for the first time in days. He stepped into the wide second-floor hallway, listening for Miss Vanderbilt’s presence. She usually taught in the mornings, then caught up on correspondence after the noon meal, so she could spend time among her charges during dinner preparations and vespers.

  Her door was ajar. Gabe heard quiet humming before the next crack of thunder announced another round of storms. He knocked only once before she summoned him into her front parlor.

  “Gabriel, how nice to see you, dear. I trust Billy’s letter has put that sparkle in your eyes?” She knew—just as she always had! But wasn’t that one of the reasons he loved this little woman?

  “Matter of fact, he’s invited me for a visit. He wonders if I might escort Grace to Richmond to become their governess,” he said in a rush. “When is the graduation ceremony? I—”

  “A mere week from today. Just time enough for your reply to reach Billy so they can properly prepare and so can you.”

  His laugh sounded out of practice. “I’ve never felt the need to be proper around Billy, but—”

  “Which is the perfect reason for going.”

  “—I can’t imagine living with three little children, and a wife who—”

  “I can’t imagine Billy living any other way. He adores children. I’m in constant awe of how easily he accommodates them. Did he mention his youngest, Bernadette, is mute? Grace has learned the manual alphabet and has done considerable extra study so she can teach the little girl to communicate.”

  Gabe’s jaw dropped. “Billy didn’t say a word about…oh, my. I can’t imagine having a child who’s unable to speak.”

  “But what better, more loving family for such a child to be born into?” The headmistress chuckled kindly. “Miss Grace will have her hands full, to be sure! And since she is accustomed to being the baby—the adored one—she’ll have an adjustment as she assumes this position. But, as you’ve surely learned, Gabe, life is one lesson after another. When we stop growing and changing, we stop living.”

  Once again this wise little woman had pointed out the obvious: the compass he’d lost sight of in his recent grief. He nodded, eager to be on his way. “I’ll go telegraph my reply, then. I’d like to talk with Grace after dinner, about her plans. Would that be all right with you?”

  “It’s more than all right, Gabriel,” she murmured fondly. “It’s the answer to my prayers.”

  When he returned from town, Gabe noticed Lily Malloy lingering in the shade of the academy’s back garden. Once again she looked so heartrendingly pretty…so much like his dear…

  Stop it! Go in the front door instead! Get to your room before…

  But Lily’s smile said she’d spotted him, and that she’d been awaiting his return. She walked toward him, looking serenely ethereal in her pink spring gown, and then extended her hand. “I understand you’re escorting Grace to Richmond.”

  Gabe found himself mirrored in Lily Malloy’s huge blue eyes, which left him speechless for a moment. “Yes, I—”

  “Godspeed and God’s blessings, Gabe.” Her voice thrummed, low and intense. “We’ll miss you! But you’ll find healing and laughter with Billy. A new sense of yourself as you live among his children.”

  “I hope I won’t be in the way.”

  “Fear not,” she said, much like the angels in the Bible had prefaced their greetings. “I’d hoped to help you answer those soul-provoking questions about Letitia’s death, but a change of scene will benefit you, as well. You’ll be in good company with Billy and Eve—and our paths will cross again someday!”

  Before he knew what was happening, Lily threw her arms around him. He hugged her back, of course…an embrace of longtime friends that held more meaning than all the funereal condolences he’d received put together. Once again he was aware of how solid and healthy other women felt, compared to his Letitia, and yet…

  Did he sense an ulterior motive behind Miss Malloy’s unexpected blessing? Pretty Lily had always seemed more mature than her age…had a mystical presence that left others in awe.

  Was it awe that fogged his lenses? Or did this pretty blonde have something much more…personal in mind?

  “Thank you,” he rasped, easing out of her embrace. “I hope to see you again someday, too,” he continued in a halting voice. “Just as you’ve found your purpose here, at Miss Vanderbilt’s academy, I hope to find what lies ahead for me while I’m at the Bristol farm.”

  Her smile radiated a purposeful warmth. “God’s not finished with us yet, Gabriel. It’s no coincidence that you were named for an archangel—and that I’ve kept company with angels all my life.” With an enigmatic grin, she turned away.

  God’s not finished with us yet? What on earth did she mean by that?

  Chapter Four

  “Gabe! Gabe, it’s so dang good to see ya! But I’m so—”

  When Billy grabbed his hand, the grip stunned him because it was so strong from his years of working with horses, but also because it swung him into an unexpected hug. A choking sound made Gabe’s eyes go wet; for the first time, someone felt his pain instead of just giving it lip service. Billy Bristol’s arms clamped around his body like steel bands, yet he sensed that his friend—this blood brother of his childhood—would be the one to free him from his misery.

  When the redhead stepped back, his blue eyes sparkled with unshed tears. “It’s so good to see ya,” he repeated, “I don’t want to get to that other part. But it tore me up pretty bad to hear about Letitia. I’m real sorry for your loss.”

  Billy glanced toward the train then, where porters scurried to unload Grace’s belongings at the encouragement of her pretty smile. The platform was stacked with an impressive number of trunks and boxes. “Good thing I drove my biggest buckboard,” he remarked with a chuckle. “Can’t thank you enough for escortin’ Gracie, since any man with eyes’ll try to sweet-talk her. And she so obviously hates that!”

  Gabe laughed. “Yes, she could charm the socks off any fellow alive.”

  “Yeah, well it’s what those fellas’ll charm off her that scares me.”

  He stood back then, a rugged man in denim and homespun—clean but well-worn. Comfortable had always been Billy Bristol’s way, in clothing and behavior. His hair had turned a darker shade of auburn and he wore it a little longer now. Gabe tried to imagine him as a desperado, like his twin brother had been, yet the direct gaze of those blue eyes bespoke a man of utmost integrity. A man who’d earned his place in the world by the sweat of his brow and the strength of those broad, calloused hands.

  “It was a small favor, considering your generous invitation to—”

  “Well, how else could I get ya here? Been way too long,” Billy insisted. “It’s a shame it took a situation like yours to get us together again.”

  He sighed. “Yes, well…situations happen, don’t they?”

  “And we’ll
hash all that out after we get you home and outta these fancy city clothes. Gotta say I like that derby, though. Never owned one myself.” Billy plucked at the sleeve of his brown plaid suit. “Looks like you’ve done right well for yourself practicin’ the law, Mr. Getty.”

  “It’s what’s beneath the suit that’s taken the beating,” he replied with a sigh. “Appearances can be deceiving, my friend.”

  “And I want to hear whatever you gotta get off your mind, but meanwhile it appears our new tutor is ready to load up.” Billy grinned. “You were the perfect escort, Gabe. Professional, well-heeled air about ya—to discourage anybody else who might be givin’ her the eye. And lots of practice at totin’ a woman’s trunks, I bet!”

  “It’s amazing how much luggage one tiny female requires. Where would any of them be without men for pack animals?”

  For a fleeting moment he wondered how Cranks, the butler, spent his time now that he no longer accompanied Letitia on her shopping excursions. It was a good sign that such a thought didn’t depress him today; a better sign that he could laugh at himself for ever depending on domestic help.

  It felt good to shoulder those trunks with Billy; they’d worked together as boys, and it was only his bent for book learning that had sent him away from such a salt-of-the-earth existence. As he heaved Gracie’s trunks up to the buckboard, his muscles told him he hadn’t pulled his weight lately. Maybe this trip to rural Missouri would balance him…show him what he was made of, without stylish clothing and someone else’s mansion to live in.

  When they pulled into the Bristol driveway, lined with maple trees in their shiny spring leaves, Gabe’s heart fluttered. It was still the home place he’d envied when he came here for Billy’s wedding: the house glowed with fresh white paint and its pillars suggested Southern grandeur of a bygone era. Lilacs scented the breeze, and beyond the large red barn stretched miles of white plank fence. Beautiful grazing horses dotted the lush pastureland.

  He couldn’t have painted a prettier picture if he’d been Michelangelo.

  A dog raced toward them then, white with distinctive markings around his eyes and ears. Some of his fondest childhood memories returned: Billy letting him pick out a Border collie puppy born in the Monroes’ barn…their four dogs herding Texas longhorns that had cut across their Kansas farms. Those black and white collies were long gone, but Gabe still glowed, thinking about them. Everything about this family took him back to better days, and Gabe felt happier than he had in weeks. Maybe years.

  “Rex!” a loud voice called. “Rex, you ornery mutt! We’re not finished practicing!”

  Billy halted the horses while Grace sat taller on the seat between them. “Don’t tell me that’s Solace, riding without—”

  “Haven’t you ever seen your sister practicin’ her act?” Billy cut in. “She’s trainin’ her new dog, and he’s a handful.”

  “Mama would be having a—time and again she’s told Solace not to—”

  “Which is why Solace loves to come here.” Billy leaned his elbows on his knees to include Gabe in his grin. “You and Lily were cut from silk and satin, honey, and Aunt Agatha’s academy was the place you needed to be. But while you were away, how do you s’pose Solace entertained herself? She sure wasn’t perfectin’ her needlework.”

  Gabe chuckled. He gazed at the approaching figure in rapt fascination, for she was standing barefoot on the back of a bay gelding that cantered alongside the driveway. Solace Monroe wore old denim pants and a red plaid shirt, and with her dark brown hair flying behind her—and a daredevil grin!—she seemed like something from a dream. She balanced so confidently on the horse’s back that she appeared to be floating. Or flying.

  And then, a few feet before she reached the buckboard, Solace dropped down to straddle her mount as though these acrobatics were second nature to her. Such effortless grace bespoke hours of practice, and Gabe wondered how many times she’d tumbled off—how many bones she’d broken—to reach this level of performance perfection.

  “Gabe! Gabe Getty, it’s been way too long!”

  Her hands shot out and he grabbed them. A warm tingle of energy raced through his body when he felt the strength in Solace’s sturdy hands. Her face was flushed from riding and her breath came in exuberant bursts as she grinned at him. The little girl he’d danced with at his wedding was anything but a child now.

  “I was so happy to hear you’d be—” Her face clouded over then, but her brown-eyed gaze never wavered. “We were all so sad to learn about Letitia, Gabe. How horrible it must’ve been for you to—but you’re here now! Family again, like when we were kids!”

  His heart turned a cartwheel. When had anyone ever greeted him with such enthusiasm? Such all-embracing sincerity? He opened his mouth but it took a moment for the words to come out.

  “It’s good to be back,” he murmured. Grace and Billy watched him closely, so he gave them the best smile he could muster. “The past few weeks have been sheer hell. The Bancrofts blame me for Letitia’s untimely—”

  “How absurd!” Solace had no need for more details. She believed without question in the Gabriel Getty she’d known all her life.

  He swallowed hard. Her compassion nearly overwhelmed him. He wasn’t sure he deserved such outright confidence in his innocence. Those bold brown eyes unnerved him, too, yet the glow on Solace’s face drew him in and warmed his very soul. And she did all this as effortlessly as she’d ridden her horse standing up.

  “Don’t mind my sister, Gabriel,” Gracie murmured. “She wants the best for you—as we all do. But she needs to rein herself in.”

  Anguish froze Solace’s face, and then Gabe watched a play of familiar emotions: despair and betrayal…the sense of being an outcast in her own family. And in that brief moment, he heard the cry of a kindred spirit. How often had he himself felt despised and belittled these past six years?

  “Now Gracie,” Billy began, “you shouldn’t doubt your sister’s intentions about—”

  “No, Billy, she hasn’t a clue about what anyone else might think or feel,” Solace huffed. “So nice to see you again, Saint Grace. How have we gotten along without you?”

  Before Gabe could offer Solace encouragement, she whistled. Her dog leaped onto the horse, in front of her, and Miss Malloy wheeled her mount in a tight circle. Then she charged full tilt toward the pasture, but the gate wasn’t open. He held his breath, wondering if…

  As though the horse were a part of her, flying on her will alone, it leaped up and over the white plank fence to land proudly on the other side. The dog was still seated, and so was Solace, who urged the bay into a breakneck gallop. Had he not seen it with his own eyes, he wouldn’t have believed it.

  “Show-off!” Gracie muttered.

  Billy’s sigh suggested that this rivalry had tried his patience more than once. He clucked to the horse. “We’re every one of us different, Grace,” he remarked quietly. “But we’re all created in God’s own image. I know Solace’s…talents try your patience, honey, but the kids you’re about to teach will exasperate you, too. They’ll need your grace and patience—just like your sister does.”

  The young lady beside him sat taller. Gabe noted the belligerent lift of her chin…the blaze of an untested mettle in her eyes. He’d seen this expression at the academy, when Grace Malloy believed she was right—and would prove it. While he was no expert on children, he sensed this young governess would be tested to the end of her tether once she took on the three Bristol kids.

  “I hope you’ll tell me if I’m in the way, Billy,” Gabe insisted. “I’d hate to disrupt—”

  Billy laughed warmly. “When aren’t we bein’ disrupted?” he replied. “If it’s not Olivia tattlin’ on Owen—because it’s in his best interest, of course—Owen’s pullin’ some stunt that gets his mother in an uproar. This makes Bernadette whirl around in circles ’til she tips over and lands in a heap, usually bawlin’ for attention.

  “How long can you endure all that commotion, Gabe?” His chuckle d
eepened the lines beside his eyes. “Olivia informed us last night that Owen’s found a pet garter snake, and he might slip it into your bed. So consider yourself warned—and welcomed.”

  Gracie sucked in a horrified breath. “If he pulls something like that on me, why, I’ll—”

  “You’ll either faint or scream, sweetie. I’ve seen you with snakes.” As he halted the horse in front of the wide front porch, Billy graced his new governess with a kind smile. “Ask Solace for help if that happens. She’ll likely drop that snake down Owen’s shirt and make him wear it awhile.”

  Gracie shuddered and clenched her eyes shut. After leading a sheltered, privileged life at the academy, she had as much of an adjustment coming here as Gabe did. Grace Malloy had been greatly loved—sought out by Miss Vanderbilt’s younger girls for her wisdom. None of them would have dreamed of holding a snake in front of her.

  Such thoughts vanished as the front door opened for an old black man with sprigged white hair. “Now here’s a sight to behold!” he said with a cackle. “Miss Gracie, it’s good to have you here, honey! And Mister Gabe, we’s glad you’s come to visit, son.”

  “It’s good to be here, sir.” He stepped down from the buckboard, extending his hand to the man who’d seemed a hundred years old when he was a kid. Except for his whiter hair and stooped shoulders, however, Asa still seemed spry. “When I heard you and Beulah Mae had tied the knot—”

  “That was the day my life began! A blessin’ the good Lord sent me in a bossy ole woman who don’t leave me no peace nor dignity!” Asa crowed as he pumped Gabe’s hand. “I ain’t never in my life been happier.”