Deliah shrugged and watched me examine a pile of pink fabric on one of the seats. “Your mom is teaching me how to sew a sundress. She has a pattern for my size, and she thinks it’ll fit you too. She’s making the same one for your sister and Emmie. Brianna picked the color. Pink is so last year, but who am I to disappoint her.”
I spotted my mother’s sewing machine on a bench in the hallway along with a mountain of boxes. The house was already overcrowded with Mr. Halden’s storage bins from Texas. My stuff had to be around somewhere. I lifted Emmie onto my lap. She was sucking on a block.
“I think she’s getting more teeth,” I said. The drool pooled on the floor in front of me.
“Babies are gross,” Deliah commented. “I’m never having one. You see what they can do to people. I think she misses Eli.”
“We all miss him. You know your family’s kind of unusual. It’s not always like this. Most people get married and have kids and there’s no question about the parents.”
“Not my best friend, Shelly. She’s adopted,” she said. “Her parents couldn’t give away her sister Rachel so they got another kid.”
The back door opened, and Meggie walked in. “Hey, kiddo. Are you looking for Valerie? She and your sister are stopping by to visit your dad at work after they take a look at a house that’s not even on the market yet. Your poor mom’s been through three real estate agents already. There’s just no place to live out here.”
“We already ran into them. Have you been out to see the HalRem Tower? It’s enormous.”
“Oh, you betcha I’ve seen it. You kiddos must be busy on that ranch if this is the first time Gabe took you out there,” she replied. “Is that what we’re all calling it now—a tower?”
“Gabe set me up. He wants me to be Lane’s office manager or secretary.”
“I’ll be darned—that’s a marvelous idea. You need the work now that I’ve got your mom here to help with the coop. Lane needs a gentle kick in the pants. Poor fella. He’s been so lost this week. I can’t imagine being separated from my child like that.”
“Ask Joel how it feels. He’d know,” muttered Deliah.
“I don’t need the work, Aunt Meggie. I’m helping Gabe on the ranch.”
“Gabe will be fine. Jud’s always pulling tricks out of his hat. They’ll get things done.”
“I thought he was poor,” Deliah said.
“Gabe already hired a boy to replace me.”
I hoisted Emmie into Meggie’s arms. Deliah looked up from spelling the word SOS with the blocks. “What boy?”
“Trent. No, maybe it’s Travis. He’s Troy Ingarson’s brother. You know, the kid from the band Gabe plays with. He let him into the cabin to fix our roof. I was practically naked.”
“Naked nudey!”
We all shot our eyes at the front hall when Brianna stumbled in with her sandals flapping like flippers. She was always bursting through doorways.
“Come here,” I told her as I stood up. Her toes were stuck outside the straps.
Deliah shook her head and laughed. “She cracks me up.”
“Who’s nude?” asked my mother as she set down her purse and a bag of groceries.
“Gabe hired a boy to work on the ranch. He caught me topless,” I explained.
“He saw her boobies,” Deliah said and made Brianna laugh.
“Meg, jury duty?” My mother waved the letter from the counter and ignored me. Meggie placed Emmie in her highchair and set a bottle in front of her.
“It’s a questionnaire,” I said.
“I can’t imagine I’ll get selected once they figure out I live with the oil tsar.”
My mother pinched her features into a scowl and grabbed her sister’s hand to hold up the massive diamond engagement ring. She was making a point that there was still no wedding band.
“I would have loved to personally put Hunt Barrett behind bars,” I said.
“At least Joel had a hand in that,” Meggie added.
“Speaking of Joel,” said my mother with a slight edge to her voice. She wanted nothing to do with discussing Hunt Barrett or his father, Brigg, after she found out what happened to me and Gabe last summer. “Has he mentioned his birthday? It would be the perfect opportunity for you to get away.”
“Halden-Remington headquarters is priority numero uno this summer. There won’t be any going away until every brass doorknob on every office door is polished,” she said. “I see him less than I did when he lived in Texas.”
“My birthday’s next month,” said Deliah.
I turned to look at her. “I thought you said it was in June. That would explain why we haven’t celebrated.” Then I suggested to Meggie, “How about having a party for Joel?”
My mother stopped unloading her bag and glared at me. “It’s a shame we’re not planning a graduation party right now.”
“I’m talking about a surprise party,” I told her. She would never get over the fact that I didn’t graduate with the rest of my class. “When’s his birthday?”
“He’ll be fifty on the fourth of July,” Meggie said.
“No way! He’s that old?” Deliah blurted. “He’ll be an old man in less than two weeks.”
“You betcha, kiddo. I don’t think he looks a day over twenty-five.”
“He does look good for his age,” I said.
“A surprise party would be hard to pull off. By golly, I’ll have to do e-invites right away. I absolutely love the idea. It would be a nice distraction from what’s going on with the boys and Molly and the empire.”
“I don’t think a party would work,” said my mother. “There’s no time to plan, Meg. Where would you do it?”
“Nonsense. I’ll do it here. I’ll blow his socks off. The girls will help me.”
I glanced out the window and caught Gabe and Caleb standing in the driveway having a friendly exchange beside Caleb’s pickup truck. My curiosity got the best of me when I saw them shake hands. Then Gabe poked Caleb in the chest and made him raise a hand like he was swearing not to do something. I excused myself to find out what they were up to. They continued to talk civilly as I skipped barefoot down the back steps.
“What are you scheming?” I asked when I reached them. Normally, one of them would have shoved the other one in the shoulder.
“Nothing,” Gabe replied as he ran a hand behind my back and drew me to his side.
“I saw you shake hands. Does this have anything to do with Molly? Are you going after her?”
Caleb grinned and flashed his perfect teeth and crossed his arms over his chest. “Legs, you’re looking perky. I hear you joined the dark side.”
“Are you buying the trailer?” I asked him. Then I addressed Gabe. “Is that why we left here so fast?”
Gabe cleared his throat, turned dramatically, and tightened his eyes. “No. You begged me to leave.”
“Do you need money that bad?” The thought of Caleb sleeping in our bedroom made me throw up in my mouth.
“We have landmen banging down our doors to get us to lease our minerals. You worry too much. Y’all are gonna be rolling in it,” said Caleb.
“I’m not living on land with an oil well,” I said firmly. “It’s not safe.”
“You know who she sounds like, little brother?” Caleb elbowed Gabe and laughed. “Meggie’s kicking me out of the coop. I’m rooming with Lane until I can get a builder out on my land.”
A man in a cowboy hat, with a pointy beard and a duffle bag, walked past us in the direction of the coop. He fished a key out of his back pocket and opened the door to Caleb and Gabe’s old room. A creepy feeling ravaged my nerves the moment he shot a glance over his shoulder to check me out. Gabe had no reaction to the guy’s obvious ogling. He seemed distracted.
“That’s not a good idea,” I said.
“Who made you the living coordinator of Williams County?” Caleb tapped my ankle with his boot. Gabe stood silently as we sparred.
“I know how he feels about Eli and everything else. He
doesn’t need you bringing whatever dysfunction you bring,” I explained.
Caleb tipped his head and rubbed his chin. “Legs, don’t you know by now? I put the funk in dysfunction. Heck—you don’t have an inkling how he feels. I’m just as spurned about the wee spawn as he is. She played me better than I ever played anyone.”
“What’s really going on here?” I asked Gabe.
“I told you, nothing,” he answered.
I huffed my frustration. “Exactly. You tell me nothing.”
When I returned to the kitchen with Gabe, my mother was preparing a vegetarian casserole, and Meggie and Deliah were giving Emmie a bath upstairs. My sister dragged Gabe into the living room to give him a tour of her dollhouse. I watched from the doorway while he pushed a hassock up to the toy house and situated Brianna on his knee. She peeked over his shoulder to make sure I wasn’t listening before she asked him if he had any candy.
“I heard that. He gave up candy,” I said. I stepped closer, and my sister scowled. “If Mommy and I take you to play bingo after dinner, you might get a lollipop.”
Gabe’s chin flew around and he glared at me. “B-I-N-G-O? Isn’t that for old ladies?”
“There’s a twenty thousand dollar prize.”
He turned back to the dollhouse. “I don’t need a prize,” he laughed. “I already hit the jackpot, remember?”
“I thought it would be fun to check it out. They take Brianna all the time.”
“I thought we could stay in together. I’m leaving for Tennessee to fetch my Mustang in the morning.”
I grabbed the arm of the leather sofa and braced myself. The blood rushed out of my face. “You’re what?”
“Jud says we’re hitching a ride to Memphis on a private plane. Then I’m driving back, and he’s taking care of Deliah’s affairs. I’m stopping in Benjamin for a day or two.”
“You’re what?” My hands trembled, but I couldn’t stop them. We’d only been in the cabin one night.
My sister began singing, “B-I-N-D-O! B-I-N-Z-O!”
Gabe set Brianna down and stood up to face me. He placed his hands on my shoulders. I took another step back, but he didn’t let go. “It’s just for a few days. Five tops.”
“Five days? That’s almost a week. Why didn’t you tell me this before?”
“Why are you getting all bent out of shape? You knew I wanted to get my wheels from Tessa’s once we moved onto the land. Cars don’t drive themselves.”
“I’m not bent out of shape,” I barked.
“And I’m not going to the freakin’ moon,” Gabe snapped.
“Cowboy Gabe?” My sister waved a doll in the air. “Can you be the daddy?” Could she not see we were busy?
He took the doll from her hand but didn’t answer. I took the doll from his grip and pulled its head off.
“Av’ry, what the hell is wrong with you?”
* * *
Gabe yanked off his boots when I shut the bedroom door. I didn’t speak to him during the ride home from Meggie’s. He didn’t say anything as I stood with my back to the door and watched him. He set his black cowboy hat on a box of books and lifted his T-shirt up and over his head in a single motion. He found his hat at Meggie’s. He leaned back to unbuckle his belt buckle and unzip his fly. Then he looked up.
“Are you going to bed?” I asked. He gave no hint that he was planning an apology. He didn’t move as my eyes traveled around his muscular shoulders. Then I studied his tan chest, his well-developed arms. The way his throat bobbed and made me crazy when all he did was swallow. He grunted and ran his hand through his hair, pulling his bangs off his forehead. I was going to miss him so much it already hurt in the deepest fibers of my soul.
His shoulders fell, and he let his head drop forward. In a split second he was on his feet standing in front of me. I startled and hurried to the outer wall that was made of splintery logs. He followed and tried to trap me again.
“Don’t touch me.”
“Aw, come on,” he said with humor in his voice. “Never go to bed angry—stay up and fight.” He set his palms on the door beside my head. I ducked out of his arm cage. He grabbed my waist, and we fell onto the bed where he tried to hold me down. I wrestled my way out of his grip and stood up, panting. I smirked at my own cleverness.
Gabe jumped up and faced me, but I didn’t move. I didn’t want to fight him.
“Av’ry,” he hummed at the brink of my lips. “Why do you do this to me?”
“I’m not the one who’s leaving the day after we moved onto the ranch.”
“Come with me.”
I crumpled my eyebrows and paused to temper my irritation. “After you had me promise Lane I’d show up tomorrow?”
He set his finger on my heart and slowly slid the hand down to my stomach and hesitated at the waist of my shorts. His fingers got stuck in the elastic band of my underwear, and he said my name in the most agonizingly wonderful way. The electricity in his fingers was enough to burn me. I closed my eyes and held my breath when he freed his hand and locked me against the door.
“Can you drop the whole pouting act and kiss me?”
“You’re still leaving,” I whispered as he restricted my movement. “And you’re forcing me to work at HalRem, and you and Caleb are up to something.”
He blew out his breath on my shoulder and kissed the sensitive skin below my ear. His lips glided to my mouth and captured mine. When he was done torturing me with his mind blowing, kissing ability, he murmured, “Nobody’s forcing you, Av’ry. Man, you’re sweet.”
We’d become champions of simultaneous arguing and making out. “I know I shouldn’t have reacted like that,” I mumbled.
“You traumatized your poor sis and her dolly.”
“I know,” I laughed. “I’m sure I’ll hear about it for the rest of my life.”
“Why do you always gotta jump on me with all fours? I’m gonna pick up my wheels and swing by Benjamin to see my brother’s grave. I need to go there. I asked Caleb to keep an eye on the ranch and Travis.”
I pushed his shoulder back and stared for a long beat. He played with his mother’s diamond stud in my ear. “I get it. I know you miss your brother,” I replied quietly as he held me with his all-pervading eyes. “It’s just we haven’t been apart a single night in months. You could’ve told me you were going across the country so I could prepare myself for missing you. I don’t like that you’re leaving.”
“Don’t you think I know that? Jud sprung it on me this afternoon. I didn’t want to tell you. I figured this would happen. I don’t like the idea of you being out here alone. Heck, I don’t like the idea of you driving my truck.”
“I get to drive your truck?”
He made a grunting sigh.
“I guess I’ll survive. I’ll have a few days to help Lane out of his funk.”
“I liked it better when you were going to miss me to death,” he whispered as his fingers skated up my ribs and made me tremble. He closed his eyes and drew a deep breath through his nose, then opened his eyes and offered a look that unfurled alarm through my torso. “You got your work cut out for you.”
“In what way?”
“You can’t pull Lane out of this one. Molly checked herself into rehab.”
I pushed back on his shoulders. “For drugs?”
Gabe shook his head. His fingers ran up and down my spine causing my shoulders to twitch. “Naw—for psychiatric help. I had a feeling she’d end up like this.”
I pushed harder and held him at bay. “I didn’t see it at all. She seemed fine to me.”
“Fine? She couldn’t make up her mind about those two. She fooled around on both of them and hid the truth about who got her pregnant. And then it wasn’t even one of them.” He stopped to think. The story eerily mirrored his mother’s history with Judson and Joel. “Why are we still talking about this?”
“Wait a minute. Where’s baby Eli?”
Gabe ran his hand up my neck and let his fingers dig a path through my h
air. “That’s the kicker,” he drawled. “She told Lane she gave him up.”
Two
“Does he have to honk like that?” I asked Gabe from under the covers where I watched him squash T-shirts and jeans into a backpack that was already full of books. “He’s going to wake up the neighborhood.”
Gabe set down the bag, crawled onto the bed, and held himself above me. His breath blew a minty fresh scent that reminded me of my dentist office back home. “Jud likes to rile the prairie dogs. The closest neighborhood is miles away.”
“What am I going to say to Lane today? He’s already heartbroken. I can’t stop thinking about poor Eli living with strangers.”
“You’ll figure it out,” he answered as he dropped his weight on my middle.
“Don’t you care about what happens to the baby? He was almost your nephew.”
Gabe made the same face he always made when he wanted me to stop talking.
“Don’t go,” I whispered and hid under the sheet when he tried to pull the blanket away and expose me. If he couldn’t get a goodbye kiss, maybe he wouldn’t leave.
“The sooner I skedaddle, the sooner I’m back and we can repeat what we did last night...but in my Mustang.”
He bit my shoulder through the sheet.
“We were fighting mostly.”
“Bare-naked fighting,” he drawled.
“I don’t think the Mustang is big enough.”
“I’ll be the judge of that.”
I popped my head out of the covers. “Gabriel—I love you. Text me every hour but not when you’re driving and promise you won’t speed or do anything reckless like drive and read a book at the same time.”
I grabbed his face and made him kiss me. I wanted to make sure the sensation of his lips lasted long enough to get me through the week. I knew too well the agony of being separated. When he pulled back, I memorized the new freckles in his tan skin. He tugged my torn collar and snuck a peek down my shirt. I was wearing his yellow T-shirt. It had become threadbare and offered less coverage than a piece of tissue.
He looked up with appreciation painted across his features. “I love you too. Keep watch over my guitar. Baby my truck. Don’t touch my books. I’ll unpack when I get back.”
The Luxury of Being Stubborn (The Stubborn Series Book 4) Page 3
