Burning with Desire

by Patricia W. Fischer

  With a very familiar smirk, Lillian raised a perfectly groomed eyebrow. “Touché, Gabriella, but I do want you to understand something.”

  “Yes, ma’am?”

  “My son is a passionate individual. He always has been. When he wants something, he works very hard for it and when he invests his heart, he doesn’t hold back.”

  Trinity returned with three plates and sat down after placing them each accordingly. “One for each of us.”

  “Thank you, dear.” Lillian stirred her coffee in lazy circles. “I pushed hard for him to leave Marietta and take over that Winston property. I almost had him convinced to leave, but then he met you.”

  “Me?” With trembling hands, she tried to drink her coffee but ended up splattering it on the brownie. “Good grief.”

  A giggle from her daughter as Trinity handed Gabriella a napkin.

  “It was like trying to push a bolder uphill. He found a way to keep the resort running profitably, fulfill his grandfather’s request, and stay here, with you.”

  Her heart melted, but his lies still hurt. “As much as I appreciate knowing this, I do worry that he’s like—”

  “His father?”

  “I mean no disrespect.”

  “He’s exactly like his father.”

  Lillian might as well have punched Gabriella in the gut. “And that’s a good thing? I’m a bit confused.”

  Wiping away a tear, she sniffed. “Patrick Cavasos was as good of a man as anyone could be. Other than my son, there’s no man who would even come close to measuring up.”

  As endearing and honest as Lillian’s words were, Gabriella worried. “But I thought Mr. Crowe was…”

  Shaking her head, Lillian picked up a brownie and nibbled the edge. “Jason and I made a mistake. It was a hard time for Patrick and I. We fought a lot. Money was tough. We had one child and I’d miscarried.”

  “I’m so sorry. Kyle never told me that part.”

  “I never told him. I’m sure I had postpartum depression, but no one talked about it back then and Patrick didn’t know what to do.” She casually lifted a shoulder. “I needed someone to talk to. Jason had always been a good friend, but we stepped over the line a couple of times before I realized I wanted to save my marriage as did he.”

  The woman’s confession pulled on Gabriella’s heartstrings. “But Kyle is his son. What if he’s more like Jason than he thinks he is?”

  “My son has done everything in his power to be nothing like Jason, but understand, Jason can be an upstanding guy, when he pulls his head out of his pants.”

  Gabriella bit her lip at the woman’s commentary. “When he talks of his father, he only mentioned Patrick. Always favorably. Always, lovingly.”

  Her eyes glistened. “If I could have cloned Patrick, I would have gotten no one better than Kyle. Not now, not in a million years. He’s Patrick in almost every way, but to be fair, Patrick had his flaws. Pride was certainly one of them.”

  The way she stressed almost hurt Gabriella’s heart. The loss of this one man had wounded all of them. “Kyle misses his dad terribly. I can hear it in his voice…and yours.”

  The corner of her mouth curled up. “My son is right to love you. You’re fiercely protective of family. I can see it in your eyes. When I talk to your brothers, sisters, parents.”

  That comment came out of left field. “Oh Lord. You talked to my parents?”

  She tapped the rim of her coffee mug. “You might want to fill it up. Your family gave me an earful.”

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  What am I doing here?

  Kyle stood outside Gabriella’s front door but didn’t knock.

  He didn’t know if he should, but he needed to see her. Being without her these past few days, he’d been lost. His heart ached, but he didn’t deserve her.

  As he turned to leave, the creak of the door stopped him in his tracks.

  “You just gonna stand on my porch all day like some guy from a John Hughes movie?”

  Turning, he sucked in a breath. Her natural beauty almost brought him to his knees.

  A slight smile on her face, she motioned for him to enter. “Come on. Sit down. You’re here for a reason.”

  He followed her to the kitchen without question as his gut twisted and the bitter taste of regret coated the back of his tongue.

  Gabriella placed a mug, saucer, and spoon in front of a chair and filled the mug with coffee. “Sit down.”

  “Thanks.”

  Trinity began to pack her sketching supplies, but Gabriella motioned for her to stay. Her forehead furrowed, but she sat back down.

  Holding the mug in his hands, he said nothing. He had no idea where to start.

  Sitting next to him, she placed her hand on his arm. “Talk.”

  “Right after the trip Patrick and I took here, he was diagnosed with leukemia.” The strength in his voice faltered. “He was a candidate for bone marrow transplant. Of course all of us kids were tested, to see if we were a match. Everyone decently matched, but I didn’t match. I really didn’t match.”

  “That sucks,” Trinity blurted out, then slapped her hand over her mouth, giving a muffled, “Sorry.”

  “You’re right, T. It sucked.”

  Pulling his hand to her heart, Gabriella sweetly encouraged, “That’s how you found out? How old were you?”

  “Fourteen.”

  “What a terrible way to find out. I’m so sorry.”

  The grip on her fingers slightly tightened. “I remember sitting in the waiting room, hearing my parents screaming at each other. I kept thinking, ‘What could they be fighting about right now? We’re in a hospital.’” He didn’t move, but continued to sit, staring at his coffee mug. “Somebody at the hospital leaked the results to the press, then Mom confessed everything to a family friend. The friend turned around and did an interview for some scandal sheet.”

  “I can’t believe someone would sell out their friend,” Trinity mumbled.

  “You’d be surprised what people will do for money. Press.” He ran his finger along the rim of his cup. “When that made the papers, the shit hit the fan. Jason’s wife divorced him and did plenty of interviews about the ugly of it.”

  “As if your family needed anything else to deal with.” Tentatively, she rested her hand on his arm. “What happened to your parents?”

  “They stayed together. Worked through it, but I don’t think he ever made complete peace with her. Or me.”

  “Why you?” Trinity’s lips went thin as she patted his back. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

  The still subtle anger in his father’s eyes replayed in his mind. “I was a reminder of a time when they both failed each other.”

  “Still, you didn’t do anything wrong.”

  “That right,” Gabriella added. “You didn’t.”

  The more he spoke, the weight of the words fell off him. For the first time in a long time, his past didn’t hold the tight grip of regret around his brain or his soul. Looking up at Gabriella, he expected pity, but when he locked eyes with her, all he saw was love.

  Pure unconditional love.

  “I’m sorry I didn’t trust you enough to tell you everything.”

  She cupped his face. “I understand why you didn’t, but let’s not make a habit of that.”

  “I’d like that.” He pulled her into his arms. “I love you, Gabriella Marcos, and I want to spend the rest of my life not lying to you about anything.”

  “I would love that. And I love you, back.”

  Trinity jumped up and excitedly clapped her hands. “How cool!”

  Holding his arm out, he pulled the teen into their hug. “And you too, T.”

  Cookie cat ran in and jumped on the table as Belle leaned against their group, her wagging tail hitting his leg.

  He laughed at the chaos of it as the peace of having a family finally settled into his soul.

  Epilogue

  The Graff Hotel had never seen such an event before.


  The Men of Marietta Calendar guys, plus Duke, stood near the front of the beautifully decorated grand ballroom as the press, including celebrity reporters from Entertainment Tonight, Extra, Today Show, Vanity Fair, and Cosmo peppered them with questions, until Charlie Foster stepped in and worked as moderator.

  Despite the chaos, Kyle could easily see Gabriella and Trinity near his poster-sized print.

  Around the ballroom, each of the months had been strategically arranged to encourage traffic to all of those who’d donated their time and bodies for the benefit of Harry’s House.

  In the last month, the weather had warmed enough to thaw the ground and they’d been able to take care of the drainage and foundation issues a week shy of their deadline.

  As of tomorrow, Harry’s House would officially be open and serving the kids of Marietta and surrounding counties.

  “Kyle! Kyle!” One reporter waved his hand.

  Charlie pointed. “Last question, folks.”

  The man stood and crossed his arms over his chest. “You took a big hiatus from the Hollywood lifestyle.”

  “If you call serving in our country’s military and then fighting fires for this community a hiatus, I’d hate to know what you call a vacation.”

  A low rumble of laughter filled the room.

  Kyle smirked, but the reporter’s forehead furrowed deeper. “What about your family’s business? What are your plans now that you’ve come back?”

  Gabriella’s eyes met his and she gave him a wink.

  He found this situation ironic since he’d done everything to avoid any press, but today, he couldn’t be more than happy to announce his news. “I plan to stay in Marietta for a good long time, raise a family.”

  “No plans to return to Hollywood and follow in your famous father’s footsteps?” The sharp indignation in the man’s voice could have cut glass. “Or your mother’s and manage one of the family’s hotels?”

  He shook his head. He still didn’t like the press, and he wouldn’t play this game. Not today. “No, my life is here. I’ve got a good life with good people. One of whom we’re honoring with the money we’ve raised from this calendar.”

  The reporter’s forehead furrowed. “Yes, but—”

  “Today isn’t about anyone but Harry Monroe. The man who left us too soon, but will live forever helping the kids of this community.”

  The other men nodded and applauded, which stirred everyone else to do the same.

  “You silk-tongued bastard,” Brett whispered as he slapped Kyle on the back. “That was brilliant.”

  “Thank you for coming, everybody.” Charlie waved her hands as the men found their families and significant others.

  Walking up to a smiling Gabriella, Kyle’s heart raced.

  As soon as he arrived, Freddie walked up, his hands shoved in his pockets. “Hey, Trinity.”

  “Freddie!” She threw her arms around him and he hugged her back but dropped his arms as soon as he made eye contact with Kyle.

  “Thanks for being here.” Kyle pulled Gabriella into his arms.

  She kissed his cheek. “I wouldn’t miss it.”

  “Mom, can Freddie and I go to Java Café?”

  With a nod, Gabriella replied, “Yes, but meet us at Harry’s House by four. We want to be there for the ribbon cutting.”

  As the kids walked away, Kyle glanced at the large picture of himself and cringed. “Now what are they going to do with that after all this is over?”

  “I don’t know, but it really doesn’t matter.”

  “Oh yeah? Why’s that?”

  She smiled up at him. “Because I have the real thing.”

  “You sure as hell do.”

  The End

  The Men of Marietta series

  When there isn’t enough money to make Harry’s House a functional afterschool center, the Montana First Responders decide they need to step up, and really turn up the heat. The Men of Marietta Calendar is created with pages filled of sexy guys willing to do just about anything for a great cause….

  Book 1: Tempting the Deputy by Heidi Rice

  Buy now!

  Book 2: Flirting with Fire by Kate Hardy

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  Book 3: Daring the Pilot by Jeannie Moon

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  Book 4: Falling for the Ranger by Kaylie Newell

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  Book 5: Burning with Desire by Patricia W. Fischer

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  About the Author

  Native Texan Patricia W. Fischer is a natural born storyteller. Ever since she listened to her great-grandmother tell stories about her upbringing the early 1900’s, Patricia has been hooked on hearing of great adventures and love winning in the end.

  On her way to becoming an award-winning writer, she became a percussionist, actress, singer, waitress, bartender, pre-cook, and finally a trauma nurse before she realized she needed to get her butt to a journalism class.

  After earning her journalism degree from Washington University, Patricia has been writing for multiple publications on numerous subjects including women’s health, foster/adoption advocacy, ovarian cancer education, and entertainment features.

  These days she spends her days with her family, two dogs, and a few fish while she creates a good story with a touch of reality, a dash of laughter, and a whole lot of love.

  Visit her at PatriciaWFischer.com

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