He had loved his wife in his fashion, but as the years wore on, she had become a queen at the ranch, untouchable in many ways. He'd learned to rely on Helena for things. During that time, he had fallen in love with her.
He knew the feeling was mutual. She'd become his wife in every way but one. Now it was time to do the honorable thing and marry her. But Ben might never know how much he loved her, nor how long.
Now at long last they would have their time together as it should be. How could he tell Ben without upsetting him? Ben would naturally think it too soon to marry after his wife's death.
His plan to get Ben and Gabby together worked beautifully and he couldn't be happier. They would make a wonderful family together and the ranch would come alive again with children. Nothing suited Jason better than knowing that.
He wondered if Ben had rescued Gabby yet. He hated that Gabby had suffered so much of her life, but he also felt that better times for her were ahead too. Especially since Ben had fallen in love with her.
He didn't have to wonder long, he saw a figure coming in the darkness. He raised a lantern he had brought but he still couldn't see him.
"Wyler?" Colby called to him before he got close to the light.
"That's right, Jason Wyler, at your service."
"You got the money?" Colby yelled.
"I got it…"
"Where is it?" Colby sounded puzzled.
"I'm sitting on it." Jason made a striking figure sitting on the suit box full of money. He wore regular work clothes and a big hat on his head. He looked all cowboy.
Colby seemed to size him up real fast.
"Well get up and move away swiftly." Colby instructed.
Jason stood up, trying to get a good look in his direction. Why hadn't the sharpshooter shot him yet? This was supposed to be simple.
"Move away," Colby walked closer. Close enough to see that he had Gabby tied to his wrist.
That's why they hadn't shot.
Gabby was with him!
"Let her go!" Jason demanded in that authoritative voice.
"Not just yet, Wyler. I want to see the money. Open the box up." Colby directed.
Jason complied, and opened it up. The money was there and Colby's eyes rounded on it.
"When you gonna turn her loose?" Jason's gaze landed on him with a huge frown.
"Back off Wyler. You go stand down the hill." Colby directed him.
Jason began moving down the hill a good distance. "Alright, turn her loose. You've got the money now."
Ben and Pedro had caught up to Doyle and his shooters, but the shooters couldn't get a clear shot, so nothing had happened.
"We've got to do something?" Ben whispered.
"Not yet. We can't." Doyle informed him.
Colby reached down for the money, but he couldn't get it, and keep hold of Gabby. He turned to look at her in distress.
Suddenly, he raised his gun and shot toward Jason. Gabby yelled out and jerked him over the bridge. They both fell into the water hard.
Ben didn't waste any time, he jumped into the water to save Gabby. He'd seen through the shadows of light that her hands were tied to Colby's. He took out his knife and put it in his teeth and swam out toward them.
Gabby was still tied to Colby who was splashing around, pulling her with him.
The money was on the ridge and Colby cursed realizing that the Sheriff had collected it and ran to check on Jason.
Realizing his dream was gone, he made an attempt to escape, taking her with him.
But Ben had caught up to them and he cut the rope that Colby had tied around her wrist and pulled her toward him as two sharpshooters had their guns trained on Colby at the edge of the water now.
"Come on out, Colby, its over."
Ben pulled Gabby to him, but she had obviously hit her head on something and was out of it now. Blood ran down her forehead. He kissed her but she didn't wake up.
"Hey sweet lady, wake up." Ben prodded her, but her eyes didn't open.
It hit him that she was unconscious and he pulled her against him and swam to shore.
Colby was dragging himself out of the water, with his hands held high the rope dangling from his wrist. "I almost got away with it."
"Almost ain't good enough, Colby." One of the shooters laughed. "Let's go."
"Where to?" Colby asked.
"Jail, where else?"
Ben carried Gabby to the banks, and laid her down. He noted how cold she was and that she hadn't woken up yet.
"We got to get the doc for her," Ben hollered.
Doyle brought Jason to the bank and sat him down. Jason was bleeding from his shoulder. Ben saw him and grimaced. "My God, are you alright, dad?"
"I'll be fine son, let's get her home."
Ben nodded.
~*~
Helena rushed to help both Jason and Gabby. She put them both to bed, and dressed Jason's wound. When everyone left his room, she looked into his eyes; her brown-eyed gaze went over him swiftly. "I'm so glad you are home. I've been so worried."
"I know…" He smiled at her as she patched him up and bandaged his arm.
"How's Gabby?"
"Concussed. But the doctor is on his way. Pedro went after him before he even came home." Helena smiled.
"How's Jimmy?"
"We've been reading stories and I rocked him to sleep. Probably a good thing, since his mother was hurt. It would just scare him more." Helena patted his on his good shoulder as she finished up.
Suddenly Jason leaned the distance to kiss her on the lips. Surprised but pleased, Helena wrapped her arms around him and kissed him back. It was long drugging moment before she came up for air. "I needed that." she whispered for his ears only.
"So did I." He smiled.
"I have to go check on Gabby. But I'll be back later, if you like."
"I like…" He smiled at her.
She sighed heavily and walked out of the room, winking at him as she left.
Ben was sitting on the side of her bed, when Helena walked in to check on her. "Has she opened her eyes or said anything yet?"
"No…not yet."
There was a noise downstairs and directly Pedro and the doc came in.
"Doc, she fell off the bridge and must have hit her head on something…" Ben explained.
"I'll take a look at her. Why don't you step outside Ben, while I examine her?" He suggested.
The doc was a tall thin man with little hair on his head and dark eyes that penetrated. When he was called he tended to take care of the patient before socializing.
"We'll be right outside." Ben whispered, as though she could hear him, kissing her hand before he left.
Helena looked at Ben and saw the worry wrinkle on his forehead. "They will be fine, Ben."
"It was a close call. And all the sharpshooters in the world couldn't have helped much. But we did catch Colby, and he's in jail." Ben assured her. He glanced around and then looked at her. "Where's Jimmy?"
"He's asleep. He was so worried, but I read him a story and rocked him to sleep."
"Thanks Helena. Probably better this way." Ben nodded glancing up the stairs at the bedroom where Gabby lay.
"Let's get some coffee." Helena nodded toward the kitchen.
"I'm just glad you are all home and no one was killed." Helena explained.
"Me too." Ben smiled.
As Helena poured him a cup of coffee, she motioned for him to sit down in the parlor. "It might be a while."
When a long silence ensued, Helena looked directly at Ben. "I'm in love with your father, Ben. I have been for a long time…"
"I know…" He nodded and looked up at her.
"You do? How long have you have known?" She gasped; shocked that he had a clue.
"A while. I've seen the expressions between the two of you for a long time. However, I didn't start putting it together until that day that I was supposed to meet Gabby on the stage. When I saw the look on your face, when I accused you of it. I knew for sure then." Ben s
miled, compassionately.
"He loves me too…" She barely uttered.
"Yeah, I think he does...." Ben continued to smile. "So when is he going to make an honest woman of you?"
"You don't mind?"
Ben set his cup down and contemplated what it might mean, and then he glanced up at Helena's worried face.
"Of course I don't mind." He took her hands in his and smiled at her. "Love isn't something you plan…it just happens. I should know." He confessed.
"I knew you loved Gabby…almost from the very first." Helena smiled warmly at him.
"If you and dad want to marry, it's fine with me, Helena." He wrapped an arm around her.
She sighed and looked at him with a warm smile. "Thank you…I've worried how you might take it."
"I'm happy for my father. Not many men get a second chance at love." Ben grinned at her. "But do me a favor and don't tell him how I feel too soon. I'd like to see him squirm a little." Ben laughed.
"That would be mean…" She whispered. "It's only recently that I noticed he returned my love."
"Funny, it's been pretty obvious for some time to me." Ben chuckled.
"He has only recently quit mourning your mother…"
"Yeah, I learned that too. Only, all that teasing that went back and forth between the two of you for so many years…was just a playful way of falling in love with each other."
"I never told your mother how I felt. I wouldn't do that to her."
"That must have been hard."
Helena looked him in the eyes, seeing the compassion there. "Not really, I loved her too."
"I believe that too. And Jen."
"Yes, and Jen." Helena smiled. "I hope they are smiling down on us."
"I'm sure they are. They wouldn't want dad to be unhappy for the rest of his life." Ben acknowledged.
"You’re a good son, Ben."
Then the door opened to Gabby's room and the doctor came down to join them. Helena went to get him a cup of coffee.
"How is she?" Ben asked standing up.
"She's awake now. She has a concussion and she needs to stay in bed a couple of days, make sure she isn't dizzy, but she's young and she'll recover just fine." The doc assured him.
Helena handed him the coffee and smiled. "Then she'll be alright?"
"Yes, Jason too." He assured her. "I got the bullet out and he'll do just fine."
"Thank you…"
He nodded and sipped his coffee. Ben excused himself and flew up the stairs.
As he opened the door, Gabby gasped. "Ben…" she murmured.
"Gabby. Glad to see you doing better. You had us scared." Ben smiled gently at her as he came to sit beside her in a chair he pulled up to the bed.
"Much better, how's your father?" She asked with concern.
"He's doing fine. Doc got the bullet out and patched him up. He'll be good as new in a few days." He assured her.
Ben took her hand in his and kissed them. She smiled at the action.
His face became somber as he looked into her eyes. "You bring so much sunshine in this house with that smile. I've missed it. Missed you. There's so many things I want to say to you, but I get sort of tongue tied when I look at you. When you first came here, Gabby, I was in the bowels of hell. I let everything important go; because I thought, I'd lost all hope of a good life. My family means a lot to me. Now…you and Jimmy are my family, and you mean even more…I love you Gabby. I think I've loved you sine the minute you drove that buggy out of the barn and said you were leaving. Something powerful made me come get you, and bring you back."
She sighed, happily. "And I fell in love with a man who wanted to adopt my son, who married me even though he didn't want marriage. I never thought I'd find anyone who could love both me and Jimmy. I love you Ben Wyler."
He moved to kiss her tenderly.
When he rose up, he saw the sweet smile on her face.
"And Colby…what happened to him?"
"He's in jail." Ben assured her. "I sure hope he gets what is coming to him."
"Ben…sometimes people do things, for all the wrong reasons." Gabby looked pensive again, as though she were thinking.
"What are you saying?" Ben looked confused.
"I'm saying he's got a cancer…in his stomach. If he doesn't get treated he may die."
"A cancer?" Ben frowned.
"That's part of what he wanted the money for." Gabby told him. "I hope they go easy on him. He didn't ask for a fortune. He just wanted to get the operation and a grubstake. He knew the people in that dirty town too, Ben. He knew the greed, even when he had what he'd worked so hard to find, he couldn’t keep it. There was always somebody wanting to take it away from him. You say you were in the bowels of hell, well, I can tell you, that town we came from…was the bowels of hell."
Ben bowed his head, and considered her words seriously. "I guess your right about that." He sat there for a moment realizing that his wife had compassion for all the misfortunate people of the world, and he couldn't deny he loved her for that, too. She cared about people, and because she had lived in that town, she understood a lot of the pain of the world. In some ways that town had been a living hell for her, but it taught her compassion, and few people had as much as Gabby.
She was a wise woman, a lovely woman, his woman.
"Why didn't he just ask us for the money, instead of putting us all through this?" Ben shrieked.
Gabby squeezed his hand. "He probably didn't think anyone would care…"
Ben shook his head and stared into her eyes. "He was wrong, you do, don't you?"
"No one wants to die like that, Ben."
He nodded slowly. Ben hung his head for a moment, realizing what sweet and compassionate woman Gabby was. "Alright, I'll tell the doc."
"Thank you…" Gabby stared into his eyes and smiled. "He didn't mistreat me, Ben."
He looked at her, returning all his attention on her. "Every time I want to do anything with you, something comes up, somehow."
Gabby almost laughed. "Maybe…maybe it's time for that honeymoon…" She cried shyly. "I mean…in a few days."
His head jerked up and he stared into her eyes. "You mean that?"
"Yes, the sooner the better…" She squeezed his hand this time.
"Can I kiss you?" He asked.
"Oh yes…I wish you would." She swooned, as he came closer and bent the distance to touch his lips to hers. However, she was so fragile he was afraid he'd hurt her. Tenderly he brushed his lips across hers, feeling her instantly melt into him.
"The day of the picnic…we almost didn't make it home that day…" Ben whispered lowly.
"I know…I almost wish we hadn't…" She sighed.
"My God…lady, you say the dangdest things at the dangdest times…" He laughed. "I want to crawl in that bed with you right now. But I won't."
She smiled.
"When we get back from San Antonio, we'll go to the judge in town and see about me adopting Jimmy, if that's alright with you."
She kissed him with her eyes, as a slow invading smile lit her lips. "That's very alright with me. And I love you all the more for it."
"Say that again…" He breathed against her lips.
"I love you, Ben Wyler." She sighed as his lips took hers gently.
"The whole state of Texas isn't big enough to hold the way I feel about you, woman!" He chuckled as he continued to kiss her.
"You think you might like more children?" She asked.
"A whole houseful won't be too many for me." He laughed. "Oh, and I have some news for you."
"What?" She pinked when he scooted her over and lay beside her on top of the bed.
"Dad and Helena." He looked at her as though that was all he needed to say.
"Finally, I'm so happy for them, Ben."
"Me too. And finally this house is going to be filled with all the love it can hold." Ben announced, as he kissed her solidly on the lips, down her nose, across her lashes, and back to her waiting mouth once more.
/> "But what can I give you as a wedding present?" He asked her long moments later when they came up for air.
She thought about it a long while, then batting her lashes at him and smiling impishly, she answered…"A little girl."
"Six boys…six girls, that might be enough…" He laughed and kissed her again.
"I can't wait until San Antonio." She whispered. "But what will we do with Jimmy?"
"I'm sure grandpa and grandma will know just how to handle that for us!" Ben laughed.
Just then, Jimmy came inside the room, wiping his eyes.
Ben picked him up and put him on the bed with his mother, enjoying the happy smile on his face. He curled up between them and went right back to sleep, and Ben went right back to kissing Gabby.
~*~
Years later, Gabby was sitting on the porch with her middle daughter and reading to her when her daughter looked up at her and smiled. "Tell me the story about how you met daddy, mommy."
"You've heard it a million times Amelia." Gabby smiled at her daughter, holding her close.
"After three children and another on the way, you want me to tell you about how your father and I met?"
"Please, mama, I love hearing the story, just the way you tell it too…" Amelia sighed in her arms, laying her head on her mother's chest and smiling as she watched Jimmy and his brother Mark helping Sarah learn to ride a horse. Katie the youngest was sitting on a horse with her father, watching.
Every time she looked at Ben, that same old feeling came over her. A womanly feeling, and she sighed. "Alright, once upon a time, there was this lady and her son, who came to the magic kingdom, called the Crooked W Ranch…" Amelia laughed and Gabby chuckled as she went on and on…
The End
About the Author
Rita has lots of books for your enjoyment. Rita has spent her life writing stories that come into her head. She loves writing, and spreading romance around the world.
She's a mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. She lost her soul mate back in 2006, but she keeps on writing.
Whether it is contemporary or western, or even historical, Rita loves to write romances. She's tried her hand at writing western thrillers and she writes children's books too.
Love As Big As Texas Page 21
