In Search of the Long-Lost Maverick

by Christine Rimmer

  Time to get out on the floor again, do her job—and watch for any opportunity to speak briefly to Gabe. Chin high and shoulders back, she headed down the hall to the dining room.

  For the next hour, she kept an eye on Gabe’s table. When he excused himself and made his way to the short hall that branched off the one leading to the kitchen, she shamelessly detoured to follow him at a discreet enough distance that no one would notice—she hoped.

  She stood out of the way as he disappeared into the men’s room. When he emerged a few minutes later, she stepped up to him just before he could escape to the dining room again.

  “Gabe.” She sounded like a robot—stiff. And mechanical. He looked at her as though he had no idea who she was. “I would like just a minute of your time, please.”

  “Why?” His wonderful face looked carved from stone.

  A waiter carrying a serving tray brushed by her. She dared to touch Gabe’s arm. Even through the fine fabric of his jacket, she felt him flinch—and she also felt that special energy, an arc of heat and longing between them.

  Did he feel it, too? She couldn’t tell. His grim expression gave her nothing.

  “Over here.” Did she expect him to go where she guided him?

  Not really. But he surprised her and stepped back, closer to the wall, so they were out of the way. “What do you want, Melanie?”

  Melanie. Well, that was a clue as to exactly how he felt about her now.

  She forced herself to carry through. “Will you do one thing for me?”

  “What?” His eyes were hard, unreadable.

  “Meet me on the Ambling A, the spot by the creek where you found me that first day?” Our spot, she was thinking, but lacked the courage to say.

  “Why?”

  Her heart was a thousand-pound anvil inside her chest, weighing her down with regret and the sure knowledge that he was never going to give an inch. “Please, Gabe. This is neither the time nor the place. But I do want to talk to you privately. Tomorrow. Noon, at the creek. I’ll be there. I hope you will, too.”

  “Is that all?” His voice was as cold as his icy eyes.

  She was not going to burst into tears right here where she worked. She kept her head up and her spine straight. “Yes.” And she whirled and strode blindly up the hallway to the kitchen again, so she wouldn’t have to watch him turn away first.

  * * *

  Between that moment in the hallway and noon the next day, Mel second-guessed herself at least a hundred times. She decided there was no point in showing up at the creek—and then she decided that, even if he didn’t show, she had said she would be there, and she wouldn’t go back on her word. However, five minutes later, she would realize anew that there was no point in going, after all. It went on like that, her heart, her mind, her very soul seesawing back and forth between going and not going.

  She hardly slept at all.

  But she was going. She had no choice, really. She would despise herself forever if she didn’t put her heart on the line for the man she loved.

  Her first plan had been to bring a picnic. But last night, he’d hardly seemed in a picnic kind of mood. She would be lucky if he even showed. He was going to want to know what she had to say and very likely tell her to forget it, he was done with her.

  So, then, scratch the picnic. She wouldn’t even take a blanket. She would stand there on the creek bank and wait for thirty minutes. If he didn’t appear, well, at least she’d shown up as she’d said she would.

  She drove out to the ranch, certain she was heading for an exercise in futility and crushing disappointment.

  It shocked the hell out of her to see his pickup sitting there by the road when she drove up. She pulled in behind the truck, turned off the engine, rested her forehead on the steering wheel and forced her breathing to slow to a less frantic rhythm.

  Well, okay. He was here. At least she would get a chance to say what she had to say.

  Her legs were shaking as she climbed the hill. At the top, she looked down, and there he was, in old jeans and a chambray shirt, facing the hill where she stood, watching her from under the brim of his dusty hat. She met his shadowed eyes, her pulse racing again, her breath sawing wildly in and out.

  He was everything, all the best things—a cherished dream she hadn’t let herself believe in. Gabe, the lonesome cowboy. Just like that first day.

  Somehow, she managed to descend the low hill with measured steps. She stopped a few feet from him. He took off his hat—because even though he didn’t look happy with her, his mama had raised him right.

  “Okay, I’m here,” he said. “What’s this about?”

  She opened her mouth to tell him what was in her heart—and no words came. Her stupid lip was trembling. She bit the inside of it to make it quit doing that.

  And...something happened in his face. The carved-in-granite look softened. His eyes weren’t quite so icy cold. “Go ahead, Mel,” he said, almost gently. “Say it.”

  Her face got hot and her eyes were burning with tears she refused to let fall. Her racing heart seemed to stop. A ridiculous little bark of a cough escaped her. “Mel. You just called me Mel.”

  One side of his mouth quirked up. “Talk.”

  Hope. This was hope. Filling her heart. Making it beat again. “Well, ahem. As you know, I came to Bronco as an interim stop in my life.”

  “I am aware,” he said quietly in that deep, rich voice she loved.

  Her mind went blank. She blinked and shook her head and ordered her brain to get back online. “It, um, just never occurred to me that I might fall deeply in love. After the disaster of epic proportions that was Todd, I was so...anti-love. He was a cheater. I had chosen a cheater. I realized I couldn’t trust my own judgment. I decided the best course was not to give any guy a chance. I never imagined I would end up with the possibility of real happiness staring me right in the face—and Gabe, I can’t believe I was such a thoughtless fool, I really can’t. I can’t believe I called making love with you rebound sex. I can’t believe I freaked and ran when you tried to tell me how you felt about me. I’m an idiot, I know it. But I can learn. I really can. And I have learned. I’ve, um, learned that it’s you, Gabe. You’re everything to me. I love you. I do. I was so stupid and wounded and blind. I only hope it’s not too late.”

  He dropped his hat and took her by the shoulders. “Mel.” His eyes—they were summer-day blue again. “Mel.” It was all he seemed to be able to say. And it was more than enough.

  Especially when he gathered her close and lowered his beautiful mouth to hers in a long, searching, perfect kiss.

  She melted into him, there beneath the clear sky, by the rushing creek, in the very spot where they had first met.

  When he lifted his head, he asked gruffly, “Does this mean you’re going to let me say it now?”

  She nodded up at him, a tear escaping, gliding along her temple and into her hair. “Please. Yes. Say it now.”

  He cradled her face in his big, rough hands. “I love you, Mel. You’re my one. My only. There never was another. My whole life, I’ve been waiting. Just for you.”

  “Oh, Gabe.” Now she was crying and laughing at the same time. “Oh, Gabe, I’m so glad. I was so afraid I’d lost you. I... I love you. I really, really do.”

  He laughed then, a rich, joyous sound. And then he captured her lips again and kissed her slow and deep.

  When he lifted his head that time, he said, “Let’s go.” He bent and scooped up his hat. Rising again, he wrapped an arm across her shoulders. They headed up the hill, kissing as they went.

  When they reached the vehicles, they stood at his driver’s door for a half hour or so, holding each other, kissing each other, whispering promises they both knew now they were bound to keep.

  “You work tonight?” he asked eventually.

  “I’m on at five, yes.”
r />   “Follow me to my house now?”

  “Yes.” She grabbed his gorgeous face between her hands. “Yes, yes, yes!”

  * * *

  At Gabe’s, after Mel took a minute to greet Butch properly, they went on to the master bedroom where they stayed for an hour and a half, celebrating their love in the most elemental way.

  Later, they took Butch for a walk. George must have spotted them from the main house. He came running out—to say hi to Mel, he said. He’d read the diary and declared himself one hundred percent certain that Gramps had written it. He was all fired up to make plans to find out what had happened to Beatrix.

  “We’re on it,” promised Gabe.

  “Good, then. I was going to let your grandfather read the diary, if that’s all right.”

  “That’s fine,” said Gabe. “Then we’ll talk about the next step.”

  “That’ll work.” George tipped his hat at Mel. “Good to see you, Mel. Drop by the main house for dinner soon, won’t you?”

  “I will, definitely,” she promised.

  “Excellent.” With a nod, George headed off in the direction of the stables.

  Back at Gabe’s house, Mel shared what had happened during her visit to Rust Creek Falls.

  Gabe said he understood her reluctance to approach Winona about the diary until they could learn more about the lost Beatrix.

  “As for Todd,” he added, “I would love to rearrange his face for him, but he’s paying for being a cheating fool. He lost you—and his loss is the best thing that ever happened to me.”

  “Oh, I do love you,” she whispered, lifting her eager mouth to welcome his kiss.

  At four, she had to return to her apartment to get ready for work.

  That night, Gabe showed up at closing time. He followed her to her place and slept over. In the morning, they spoke of the future. Mel would be going to work for DJ’s as CFO. For now, she would keep her apartment.

  But they both agreed she would be moving in with him at the Ambling A sometime in the next few months. Stark naked, he got down on one knee and officially asked her to marry him.

  She couldn’t say yes fast enough. Laughing with happiness, she threw herself into his arms.

  Gabe said his grandfather had read the diary. Alexander was as eager as George to get going on the search for Beatrix.

  Mel had an idea. “Amanda is amazing. She can find just about anyone or anything online. I was thinking we might hire her, give her the diary and what information we have, see what she can discover about what happened to Beatrix.”

  Gabe agreed. “It’s a shot. Let’s talk to her, see if she’s up for playing online detective.”

  “That sounds good.”

  “And I was also thinking we should have a look up in the attic of the main house. There are years’ worth of documents and keepsakes stored up there in trunks and dusty boxes. Might be something about Beatrix somewhere in all that stuff.”

  That night, when he showed up at DJ’s, Gabe brought the diary with him. He also reported that he, his dad and his mom had spent several hours in the attic of the main ranch house searching for clues to the mystery.

  “So far, nothing,” he said glumly.

  She longed to grab him and kiss him—but the kisses would have to wait until after work. She folded her arms across her middle to keep them from reaching for him. “It’s good that you looked, though. We need to follow every possible lead. Something is bound to turn up, eventually.”

  He grinned at her. “I do like your attitude lately.”

  She laughed with sheer happiness. “Must be love giving me a whole new outlook on life.”

  Monday morning, they knocked on Amanda’s door. She was all smiles just to see them together. She offered coffee and they told her the story of Josiah and Winona and their lost child.

  Amanda had tears in her eyes when the story was through. She said of course she would help. “I’ll find out what I can.”

  Later that day, back in Mel’s apartment, as they sat at her little table eating ham and cheese sandwiches, Mel asked if Gabe would take her to Snowy Mountain Senior Care. “We need to tell Josiah that we’re together now, that we’ll be married. I just feel that he should know.”

  “I think he would like that.” Gabe pushed his empty plate away. “I didn’t tell you before, but that day he said to bring you to him, he also said that I shouldn’t give up on love.”

  Mel got up and went to his side of the table. He pushed his chair back so that she could sit on his lap. She rested her head on his shoulder. “Your great-grandfather is a very wise man. Thank you for giving me a second chance.”

  Gabe stroked her hair and whispered, “I love you, Mel. You’re mine and I am yours. I’m so damn glad you came back to me.”

  * * *

  In his small living room at Snowy Mountain Senior Care, Josiah sat in his recliner. He stared blankly into space as Gabe explained that he had found the only woman for him.

  Gabe took Mel’s hand. “I told you, when it comes to Mel, I didn’t have to ask. And I don’t, Gramps. I knew from the first.”

  Mel admitted, “I wasn’t so quick on the uptake, Josiah. I’ve had my heart broken and that made me wary and reluctant to give my trust. I was a fool. I almost ruined everything. But I finally saw the light. Gabe gave me another chance and, well, here we are. Together.”

  “Forever,” added Gabe.

  “And always,” said Mel.

  Josiah said nothing. He stared at the far wall.

  Mel and Gabe got up and went around the coffee table to hug him.

  “We’ll be getting married,” said Gabe. “And Thursday, on Mel’s next day off, I’m taking her to choose the ring.”

  Mel kissed the old man’s wrinkled cheek. “Tonight, we’ll tell George, Angela, Alexander and Malone that we’re engaged.”

  Gabe laughed. “Mom will be so happy.” He asked Mel, “Ice water?”

  “I would love a glass.”

  He got their drinks and they sat across from the silent, unmoving old man. Mel talked about the new job she would be taking with DJ. Gabe said he was still working on Erica to come for a long visit home.

  When they were ready to go, they carried their glasses to the sink and returned to the sitting area long enough to give Josiah one last hug.

  They’d both reached the door when the old man spoke from behind them in his gruff, rusty voice. “Glad to see you two together where you belong. Now find my little girl.”

  Mel and Gabe turned in unison. “Oh, Josiah,” Mel whispered, her eyes blurred with sudden tears.

  Across the room, the old man sat, staring straight ahead, still as a statue again.

  Gabe was shaken to the core. Gramps had just all but admitted that he and the Josiah of the diary were one and the same. He let the realization sink in and then spoke with calm assurance. “We promise you, Gramps. One way or another, we will find your little girl.”

  * * *

  Look for The Cowboy’s Comeback by Melissa Senate, the next book in the new Harlequin Special Edition continuity Montana Mavericks: What Happened to Beatrix?

  On sale August 2020, wherever Harlequin books and ebooks are sold.

  Keep reading for an excerpt from A Family for a Week by Melissa Senate.

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  A Family for a Week

  by Melissa Senate

  Chapter One

  Holding her twenty-seven-month-old son against one hip, single mom Sadie Winston—and thirty-eight of her relatives—walked around the outdoor petting zoo at the Dawson Family Guest Ranch.
Little Danny stared wide-eyed at the goats jumping on and off a short log in the hay-strewn pen. One with bristly black fur came over to sniff Danny’s sneaker. “’Oat, ’oat!” her son shouted with a giggle.

  The whole clan had arrived a few minutes ago for their annual family reunion, the barn their first stop after check-in. As Danny laughed and pointed at the goats, Sadie looked in every direction—ever so casually, she hoped—for a certain tall, black-haired, blue-eyed man named Axel Dawson. He and his siblings owned the guest ranch, and she’d heard he lived on the property now. She didn’t see him anywhere, and Axel Dawson would be impossible to miss.

  “’Oat, Mama!” Danny said again, pointing at a white goat chewing on a piece of hay. Sadie set Danny down, smiling as the goat came over to nudge his hand for a pat or a treat. “’Oat, ’oat!”

  She kneeled behind Danny and wrapped her arms around him, breathing in the baby-shampoo scent of his blond hair. She closed her eyes for a second, grateful. She’d almost lost him once. She had lost him—for over two hours. That she had him back was the whole reason her mother and aunt—reunion organizers for decades—had chosen to hold the event at the Dawson ranch. As a very expensive but priceless thank-you.

  Three months ago, on a beautiful May afternoon, Danny had gone missing during a family outing on a small mountain in Badger Tree National Park. One minute, he’d been right there, toddling between her aunt and mother as they all ambled and chatted their way up the easy incline to a wide expanse of forest where they’d planned to stop for a picnic.

  Sadie had been deep in conversation with Daphne, her pregnant cousin who was full of questions about impending motherhood, when she’d heard her mom say, “Where’s Danny?” A second later, “Danny? Where are you, sweetie?” The four women had looked at each other, each expecting Danny to appear, but he was nowhere to be found.