Lauren nodded. She recalled her one visit to the Baxter ranch a year ago. She didn't know much about ranching, but from what she'd seen it was a well-organized operation. Plenty of ranch hands worked the spread. And the Baxter ranch house, two levels of white-fronted beauty, was a special kind of home. Gabe's parents had made Lauren feel welcome in every way possible, short of hinting that there was more to come between her and Gabe. But that wasn't to be. Not then and not now, she told herself. Glancing at Gabe, she hoped he realized that nothing would come of this. They were friends, linked by family. That was all.
Once again, Gabe's gaze drifted to the hills beyond the ranch, to the distant forests which ringed the valley. She knew how much he loved this country. This beautiful Montana paradise, as he called it. And, if she was being truthful, she felt a great affection for it herself. The previous times she'd visited Inspiration, when her uncle had been alive and running the ranch with Wyatt, had been happy occasions.
On those visits, she and her father had been accompanied by her mother, Marianne. But, after a sudden and brief illness, her mother had been taken home to the Lord two years before, just a year before Wyatt's wedding to Victoria. And, ever since then, Zacharias hadn't been the same man. Melancholy had struck him, making some days harder than others. Lauren had felt a duty to be by her father's side during his difficult times. He kept telling her that he couldn't have pulled through without the loving attentions of his daughter. His precious child. That admission always brought a flush of warm pride to Lauren's cheeks.
Now, her father was convinced there were opportunities to be had in distant lands to the West. And that he was still strong and young enough to seek them out to his advantage. She'd felt powerless to stop him from selling their possessions and heading for new pastures. There had been many moments in the last few weeks when she'd asked herself if she'd live to regret agreeing to go with her father.
Gabe shocked her with his next question. "Have you and your pa ever considered settling in Inspiration?"
Lauren glanced quickly at Gabe. He was gazing steadily at her. There had been nothing casual about that question, she realized. She could see the need to know written on his even features. "He hasn't talked about it, if that's what you mean."
"What about you?" he asked.
She narrowed her eyes. "I don't get your meaning."
Gabe shifted, turning to face her. "What do you want?"
Her gaze lowered instinctively as he moved. His body still possessed an easy grace, a carefully contained power. Gabe was a man of great self-control, she reminded herself. She recalled his perfect, gentlemanly conduct at Victoria and Wyatt's wedding. He'd been the model of courtesy and good manners.
"I haven't thought about staying in Inspiration. If that's what you mean. And I don't think it's what pa wants, either," she said, finally dragging her gaze away from him. She didn't want to see the disappointment she knew would be written on his face upon hearing her reply.
When she did look at him a few moments later, she saw him nodding thoughtfully. Finally, he said slowly and deliberately: "It seems reckless."
A stab of irritation cut into her middle. Frowning, she turned her head sharply to him. "Reckless?" she snapped.
Gabe nodded. "Especially when everything you'd ever need is here," he said gesturing with his hand in the direction of the distant rangeland.
"How do you know what my father needs?" she asked sharply.
"It's a big step," Gabe said. "I've heard plenty of tales about folks finding trouble in California. It's a dangerous place."
Lauren stiffened. "If it will make my father happy, then I'm willing to help him do it," she announced. "I'm sure he'll make the best of whatever opportunity he finds there." She sighed heavily and fixed Gabe with a stern look. "At least I have faith in him. Even if no-one else does."
Lauren stood quickly, not giving Gabe a chance to respond. Glancing down at him, she saw the thunderstruck look on his face. "I didn't mean to suggest he wasn't capable of looking after himself," he said apologetically.
"Or me?" Lauren snapped, lifting a brow. "That's what you really mean, isn't it. That somehow I might come to harm."
Gabe rose and stood facing Lauren. He thought for a long moment before responding. When he did speak, it seemed to her he was choosing his words more carefully. "I'm just concerned for both you and your father."
Lauren lifted her chin defiantly. "I thank you for your concern," she said haughtily. "But, my father's affairs are his own concern." She glanced down to the yard. "I seem to recall I'm needed in the ranch house."
She strode away from the tree. Her steps were heavy on the path. She heard Gabe racing to catch up with her. Finally they reached the yard. Gabe gestured in the direction of the stables. "I'll go see how Wyatt and Kyle are getting on."
"That's a good idea," Lauren stated. In the awkward pause which followed, all she could do was make sure she didn't look at Gabe. Still annoyed by his presumptuous comments, she didn't want him to see just how upset they'd made her.
"Fine, Lauren," Gabe said eventually. "I'll be seeing you around."
On hearing those words, she finally did fix him with a look. "I'm planning on being busy over the coming few days."
Immediately the words came out of her mouth, she saw Gabe's shoulders drop, but he disguised any disappointment with a steady nod of his head. "I understand." He touched the brim of his Stetson, said nothing more and then strode slowly away.
Watching Gabe's tall figure move languidly across the yard, Lauren asked herself if Gabe could possibly be right. Was the idea of going to California dangerous? If it was, then she had some thinking to do.
And some of those thoughts would undoubtedly involve what she had confirmed while sitting on the bench beneath the tree. The undeniable fact that Gabriel Baxter still harbored feelings about her.
CHAPTER SIX
"I won't be going to the Munro ranch tomorrow," Kyle declared as he and Gabe rode into the yard in front of the Baxter ranch house.
Gabe pulled on the reins of his mount, bringing his mount to a sudden halt. He frowned at Kyle who halted his own horse and stared defiantly at Gabe. "I think you will," Gabe declared, equally defiant.
Kyle shook his head and straightened in the saddle. Gabe saw his brother's jaw tighten. Kyle sighed, glancing toward the ranch house and then up at the darkening sky. Gabe remained silent for a long moment. Since riding away from the Munro place, the tension between him and Kyle had felt like a unspoken wall. Neither brother had spoken about what had happened today. It seemed that Kyle was still angry that he'd been maneuvered into spending the afternoon at the Munro ranch. That didn't bother Gabe. Apart from anything else, it had given Gabe a chance to spend some time around Lauren.
Kyle tipped up the brim of his hat and leaned on the pommel of his saddle. He squinted at Gabe. "You just don't get it, do you, Gabe," Kyle stated.
"Get what?" Gabe replied.
Kyle's eyes flashed with barely concealed frustration. "Ranching isn't for me. It never has been, and it never will be."
"That ain't true, Kyle," Gabe replied. "And you know it. You're still young."
Kyle scoffed. "I'm twenty-four."
Gabe smiled, but Kyle didn't smile back at him. For his brother, this was no laughing matter. "Old enough," Gabe said. "You've got plenty to learn. And now's the time to do it." Kyle scowled, clearly unimpressed with Gabe's judgment. Gabe gazed out across the rangeland. It looked beautiful in the twilight, he told himself. He couldn't imagine anyone not wanting to live and work in a place like this. Especially with his beloved brothers. "And this is the best place to do that learning," Gabe added with an appreciative sigh.
"For you, maybe," Kyle snapped. "But, it's not what I want."
Gabe lifted a brow. "Not even if it would make ma and pa happy?" Even as he asked the question, he knew the answer he'd get from Kyle. They'd had this same conversation too many times.
"Pa said it himself before he and ma left for the
East," Kyle replied. Kyle's brows furrowed. "There comes a time when parents have to let go of their children. Let them go free and find their own way in this world."
"He didn't mean for you to turn your back on your entire family," Gabe objected.
"I wouldn't do that, Gabe," Kyle retorted. His features tightened, brows furrowing into deep ridges. "You know that's not who I am."
"It would amount to the same thing if you don't accept ranching as what God placed you in this world to do," Gabe said.
Kyle dragged in a deep breath. "Why do you always have to make what I want sound so bad?"
"If it means getting involved with men like Murray, then I make it my business," Gabe retorted.
"Murray is nothing to me," Kyle complained. "He's just someone I met. He'll be gone soon enough."
Gabe nodded firmly. "I intend to make that happy day my personal mission."
Kyle's eyes widened. "What are you going to do?"
"I'm going to speak with Sheriff Cameron," Gabe admitted. "I've got a gut feeling about Murray."
Kyle grunted and shook his head. "So I have to work the Munro spread so you can keep me safe from Murray. Is that it?" Kyle's eyes narrowed. "Or is there some other reason? One you haven't told me about."
Gabe ignored that last remark. Thoughts of Lauren were still drifting around his mind, but he wasn't going to share any of that with his brother. He waved a hand. "Look at this place. It's beautiful. Why would you want to leave? Look what God has given us here, Kyle." Gabe peered imploringly at his brother. "Isn't is enough to know that God has placed you here for a reason? That this is His choice for you. The one place in the world where He truly wants you to be happy?"
Kyle's features turned visibly pale at the shift in the conversation. "Don't go bringing that up, again," he snapped.
"You don't want me to talk about God?" Gabe said almost incredulously.
Kyle's lips formed a thin, unresponsive line. He dragged his gaze away from Gabe. Gabe knew that in the last couple of years Kyle had been at church less frequently than when he'd been younger. That had disappointed their parents and Nathaniel Baxter, their father, hadn't taken too kindly to the change in his son. There had been heated discussions about this latest of Kyle's rebellions.
Occasionally, Kyle had given in and attended church but, this year, it seemed Kyle had found plenty of excuses not to attend. Gabe thought about Nick Murray. It was people like that, drifters and no-goods, as far as Gabe as concerned, who had turned Kyle's mind to other things. False promises about the world beyond the ranch. Beyond Inspiration.
"What about you, Gabe?" Kyle asked. "You planning on spending your whole life here? Finding a wife and settling down?"
Gabe froze for a moment, wondering how much Kyle knew about the contents of the letter still tucked safely in his jacket pocket. Or whether he'd noticed the attention he'd given Lauren earlier in the afternoon. "There's nothing wrong with being married. Maybe one day you'll realize that." Gabe squinted at Kyle. And sooner than you think, Gabe added silently to himself. It was time to drag Kyle's attention away from that subject.
He peered at the Baxter ranch house. It sat in the hollow of a wide valley and was surrounded by corral, stable, barn and bunkhouse. Everything a man would need to provide for a family. Two levels of white-fronted, solidly constructed perfection, Gabe told himself. A place to call home.
"How can you turn your back on this?" Gabe asked Kyle.
Kyle's gaze was suddenly penetrating and steady. "So, it's true what Josh and Wyatt were telling me," Kyle announced slowly, lifting his chin and peering at Gabe.
Gabe felt a stab of worry twist in his gut. "What have they been saying?" He wasn't sure he wanted to hear the answer. Maybe Victoria had been talking to Wyatt, in spite of Gabe's request that she keep the contents of the letter secret for the moment.
Kyle smiled. Despite his growing concern, Gabe liked the sight of his brother smiling. It had been the first time he'd seen Kyle doing that the whole day. "They think you and Lauren are still looking to step out with each other."
"What!" Gabe exclaimed. "That's ridiculous," he declared. Gabe shifted on his saddle. "What gave them that idea?"
Kyle shrugged. "Maybe the fact that she and her pa have come all the way to Inspiration, instead of just heading to California."
"There is a reason why they came," Gabe objected.
Kyle lifted a brow. "Yeah? What's that?"
Gabe frowned, desperately searching his mind for something he could say to Kyle that would explain why Lauren and Zacharias had appeared. He'd wondered about it all day and had come to the conclusion that, when it came to family, folks didn't usually need an excuse to come visiting. He knew that probably didn't fully explain their presence. Not really. But, he had to tell Kyle something. "They're family," Gabe said sharply. "Isn't that reason enough?"
"I guess so," Kyle said. He grinned. What was it about the prospect of Gabe and Lauren courting which made Kyle so amused? "I saw the way she was looking at you," Kyle added.
Gabe stared impassively at Kyle. He paused a moment and then said: "She could hardly have ignored me. I was standing right in front of her."
Kyle nodded and kept on grinning. "That's one way of looking at it."
Gabe heard horse's hooves thundering on the trail behind him. He turned and saw his brother, Landon riding toward him and Kyle. Relief surged through Gabe. He could put the subject of Lauren Munro behind him for now. Landon drew to a halt next to Gabe. "I've been wondering where you got to," Landon said looking from Gabe to Kyle.
Dressed in jeans, plaid shirt, jacket and Stetson, by the covering of dirt on Landon's clothing, Gabe could tell that his brother's day out on the range had been busy. He felt bad that Landon had been forced to deal with the work on the ranch with only the ranch hands to assist him. Gabe resolved to remedy that situation and stay with Landon once Kyle was settled at the Munro spread.
But, today had felt like a crisis. And Gabe had chosen to act instead of letting the situation with Kyle get any worse.
Gabe explained the situation to Landon who listened carefully, nodding as if he understood the need which had driven his eldest brother to seek out a solution to Kyle's dangerous wanderlust. Landon was well aware of Kyle's wandering ways. As Gabe spoke, Kyle peered impassively at his two brothers. Drawing to a close, Gabe realized just how much being with his brothers meant to him. He was determined to keep the Baxter family together. No matter what it took.
After Gabe finished explaining, Landon's dark brows knitted into a deep ridge. He and Kyle exchanged a solemn look. "You okay with this, Kyle?" Landon asked.
"No," Kyle snapped. All of Kyle's former good-natured teasing of Gabe had vanished. "It don't make no sense to me."
"The Munro spread is a good place to learn new skills," Gabe explained. "I figure it's a good idea to be neighborly to our fellow ranchers." He squinted at Kyle. "Maybe you'll get a different idea of what it means to be a rancher once you see how men like Josh and Wyatt go about things on a daily basis."
"They are family, after all," Landon agreed.
Gabe nodded enthusiastically. Landon's gaze met Gabe's. Landon usually understood Gabe's thinking when it came to family matters. The two brothers had always been close. They'd always found ways to work together for the betterment of the Baxter clan.
"Apart from anything else, I hear the Munro spread needs all the help it can get, right now," Landon said. "It won't do any harm helping out now, will it?" Landon added lifting a querying brow at Kyle.
After a long pause, Kyle shrugged. "I guess not," he admitted. He flashed a look at Gabe. "As long as it isn't for too long."
"They already working you hard over there, little brother?" Landon teased laughing quietly.
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