Here Comes the Bride (25 page)

Rosa laughed and reached beside her chair for her stack of outdated magazines. “You look,” she said, pointing to the inside pages. “You pick.”

Gabe at least had the decency to blush a little. “Later. I need some stuff for the house, too.”

“Like what?” Bart snickered. “A new room with a built-in tub ain’t gonna be enough? I don’t think Tess’ll really care what the hell’s inside the house as long as you’re there.”

“Maybe.” Gabe nodded. “But I’m going to make damn good and sure there’s everything in that house she could ever want. And then some.”

Bart sobered. “She won’t leave you, Gabe. You don’t gotta try and win her by flashin’ around all yer money.”

“I know, and it’s
our
money. The ranch is part yours.”

“Now hold on there just a second, Gabe,” Bart said, rising to his feet. “I ain’t earned one red cent of that money and you know it. If anyone deserves part of this stupid ranch, it’s Miguel. He’s the one worked it all these years.”

“Sit down for crying out loud,” Gabe sighed. “I know damn well who this ranch belongs to, and if anything should happen to me, Tess gets my third.”

“Your
third
?”

“Of course,” he answered a little impatiently. “Had a lawyer draw up papers years ago putting the ranch in all three of our names—you, me, and Miguel.”

“Does he know?”

“Of course he knows! Mad as a peeled rattler when I told him, but he knows.”

The three of them laughed together for a moment, then Gabe spoke again.

“So are you two going to help me?”

“Perhaps it would be better if Miguel took us home,” Collette said when Bart and Gabe returned a while later.

“I’ll take you,” the brothers chorused in unison.

Collette laughed softly, but it was Tess who answered.

“No, Collette’s right. Mr. Langman wouldn’t be very receptive to having either one of you on his land again this soon.”

“I don’t give a . . .”

“Bart.” Tess’s voice was low but firm. “Please.”

“All right,” he grumbled. “I’ll go find him.”

Collette followed him out into the yard, leaving Tess alone in the house with Gabe. Consumed with guilt for her shameless act earlier, she could not bring herself to look at him.

“You sure you’re okay?” he asked softly, keeping his distance from her.

Tess nodded. “Yes, thank you. I’m sorry for all the trouble. It seems to follow me around, doesn’t it?”

Gabe chuckled. “So it would seem.”

From the corner of her eye, she spotted Miguel leading the team of horses from the barn.

“Well,” she said, swallowing hard. “I guess I’ll be going now. Thank you again for . . . for today. If there’s anything I can ever do for you or Bart, you will ask, won’t you?”

“Oh, yeah,” he answered, that silly grin spread across his face again. “I’ll be sure and ask. Probably sooner than you think.”

Tess’s eyes shot upward, locking on his.

“I don’t understand,” she said.

“You will.” He stepped out the door, holding it open for her to pass. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?”

“You are going to church tomorrow, aren’t you?”

“Y-yes,” she answered, “but . . .”

“So I’ll see you there. If you need a lift into town, send word and I’ll come pick you up.”

Tess stared agape for what felt like hours. Gabe smiled and went to talk to Miguel. Bart had already handed Collette up into the wagon and then turned to help a still stunned Tess.

“Don’t bother tryin’ to figure him out,” Bart said, shaking his head slowly. “I ain’t figured him out yet and I’ve known him a helluva lot longer than you have.”

Tess sat down beside Collette. “Bart,” she said softly, reaching for his hand, “thank you for your help today. If there’s anything I can ever do for you . . .”

A dazzling glint flashed in his brown eyes. “I think you already have, Miss Tess. We’ll call it square, okay?”

Tess released his hand and asked with feigned innocence, “We’ll see you soon then?”

Bart laughed as he and Gabe waved them off. But then they did the most curious thing; they picked up the axe and saw at the barn door and headed off to the area of dense tree growth directly behind the house. What on earth were they doing? Even Tess had noticed how much firewood was stacked beside the house—they certainly wouldn’t be needing any more for weeks to come.

They rode back to Langman’s ranch in relative silence, although several times Tess caught Miguel looking at her in the most peculiar way—almost as if he knew something about her, but what? She pushed the thought from her mind and tried equally hard not to think too much about church services the next morning. She should be looking forward to going to church so she could hear the Lord’s word, not because Gabe was going to be there. But still, it did add a little more to the day knowing he would be.

Miguel helped them both down from the wagon and bid them farewell with a short bow and a broad smile.

“Something very strange is going on,” Tess mused. “Very strange indeed.”

She did not have a moment to ponder the situation. The moment they opened the door to the house, they were met head-on by Wyatt Langman and three of his sons. One was Stupid Frankie and the other one she remembered was Evan, but the third one she couldn’t remember—Garth or Clint?

“You been spendin’ time with them Calloways again?” he demanded.

“Yes, Pa,” Collette said with a sigh, “but it’s not how it looks.”

“If it ain’t what it looks like, girl, then what the hell is it?”

“I hear’d y’all spent the afternoon over there,” said the unknown brother.

“An’ you.” Evan nodded toward Tess. “You was ridin’ ’round with the oldest one there an’ he weren’t wearin’ no shirt!”

“Please,” Collette said calmly. “Let us explain what happened. It was all very innocent.”

“Bullshit.”

Wyatt’s hand flew up and cracked Stupid Frankie on the back of the head.

“Won’t have no cursin’ in front of the ladies.”

“But Pa—”

“Shut up, Frankie.” He turned a pointed finger back at Collette. “You best get to explainin’.”

Tess put her hand out to stop Collette. “Please, let me.”

Collette began to protest, but Tess shook her head. Finally, Collette agreed.

“Mr. Langman,” Tess began, “the fault is mine. You see, before I moved to Porter Creek, I had the bad fortune of making enemies with a loathsome man who apparently thought it worth his while to track me down here. It’s a rather long story, but the gist of it is while Collette and I were walking into town this morning, this . . . er, man . . . rode up behind us and grabbed me. God knows what would have happened to me if your daughter had not made her way to El Cielo and told the Calloways what had happened. They immediately set off to find me, which they did, thank goodness, and now we are all home safe and sound.”

She took a deep breath, only just realizing she had not inhaled since she started her story. She braced herself for Wyatt Langman’s interrogation—surely he would question her virtue now, if he hadn’t already. After all, how many women made enemies with men who tracked them down like animals and kidnapped them?

“You walked into town?” Wyatt’s question wasn’t even directed at Tess, but at his daughter.

“Y-yes,” she answered. “It was such a nice morning, and Tess has never had the opportunity to . . .”

“You walked into town?” he repeated, his tone distinctly sharper. “Alone?”

“Yes, Pa.”

“Damn it all to hell, Lettie,” he shouted, apparently forgetting his own no-cursing and no-yelling rules. “How many times I gotta tell ya it ain’t safe?”

“Yeah, Lettie,” the unknown brother piped in, pushing more tobacco into his already swollen lip.

“Shut up, Clint,” Collette snapped. “Pa, I’m nineteen years old. For goodness’ sake, when am I going to be old enough to look after myself?”

“Never! ’Long as yer livin’ under my roof, I make the rules, ya hear?” He pointed his crooked finger at Tess. “That goes fer you, too, hear? I won’t have no daughter of mine keepin’ time with the likes of them there Calloways, so you jus’ stay as far away from them no good varmints as you can. Hear?”

“But, Pa,” Collette moaned, taking a step toward him.

“You hear?” he bellowed.

Collette and Tess nodded in unison and watched, blanched, as the four men stomped out of the house. Only then did poor Collette burst into tears.

“You see, Tess? What am I going to do? He hates Bart and Bart hates him . . . oh, it’s the worst!”

“No, it isn’t, Collette. Things can always be worse.” Tess smiled down at the poor girl who had crumpled to the floor. “Believe me, it can always be worse.”

Collette laughed through her tears, and they each retired to their rooms for the evening. Tess spent most of the night flat on her back, wide awake. Gabriel was going to be at church. He even offered her a ride if she needed one. What on earth was going on in the man’s head? As far as that went, what on earth had gone on in her own mind all day? Just thinking about how shamelessly she’d reached out and touched his bare chest mortified her all over again, yet even the memory of the touch made her whole arm quake as it had earlier.

Everything about the day brought on waves of emotions she couldn’t control. The terror when she realized exactly what Gribbs planned to do to her, the relief when Gabriel burst through the doorway, the need she had to touch him, to have him hold her. The touch of his hand against her cheek had been almost unbearable in its tenderness, so much so that even now it brought tears to her eyes and made her soul ache with wanting to be touched like that again. Just once.

She covered her wet face with her hands and sobbed quietly. Why couldn’t she let him go? He didn’t love her, he was simply being kind today. It was in his nature to feel responsible for everyone else, which was the reason he had chased after her and Gribbs. But why hadn’t he yelled at her? She’d been expecting it ever since Bart left them standing alone outside the shack, but it had never come to pass. Instead, he had been gentle, kind, and compassionate.

It made Tess nervous. Very, very nervous.

 

 

Stupid Frankie took them to church in the Langmans’ fancy carriage, with the parting instructions he would pick them up right where he left them. Collette stuck out her tongue at him and turned around, looping her arm through Tess’s as she did so. They ascended the first step when a familiar voice tickled Tess’s ear.

“Morning, ladies. Beautiful day, isn’t it?”

“Good morning, Gabe.” Collette smiled, tossing Tess a quick wink. “Yes, it is a glorious morning. Is your brother with you?”

Her eyes scoured the surrounding area in vain.

“No, Miss Langman,” he said. “I’m afraid it’s just me this morning. I’ve got Bart working on a project at the ranch.”

“Working on Sunday?” Collette mocked. “Honestly, Gabe Calloway, you’re asking for fire and brimstone, you are, making him work on the Sabbath. It’s sacrilege.”

Gabe smiled brightly. “I’m sure the good Lord will give His blessing to this, Miss Langman, don’t you worry. Bart’d be happy to have company for lunch, though, if you knew of anyone who might be interested.”

Collette scowled. “Yes, well, I’m afraid your brother will have to eat his meal alone today. And every day, unless I can figure out a plan.”

“We’ll come up with something,” Tess said, speaking for the first time. “It’ll work itself out. Somehow.”

“I wish I had your faith,” Collette muttered. “I really do.”

“Speaking of faith,” Tess said, turning to Gabe. “What brings you to church this morning, Gabriel? I got the distinct impression Sunday services were not exactly something you cottoned to.”

Gabe hooked his thumbs through his belt loops and puffed out his chest, grinning his strange grin. “I’m a changed man, Miss Kinley. I’ve come to do right this morning, and I mean to work a change in a number of other things as well.”

“Really?” Tess’s brow quirked cynically. “Like what?”

Gabe pulled open the door to the church and motioned them both inside.

“I’m afraid you’ll have to wait and see,” he answered.

He escorted them to the same pew they had occupied the week before and sat himself down right beside Tess, close enough to brush shoulders with her. If she didn’t already know what half the town thought of her, she might have asked him to move over a touch, but since they all thought she was of loose virtue anyway, she didn’t bother. Well, that, and she plain enjoyed having him so close.

Collette didn’t even try to hide her smirk and offered, in a hushed whisper, to change pews so they could be alone, but Tess swatted her arm and shot her a scolding look.

Almost two hours later, Tess hadn’t heard one word of Reverend Boswell’s sermon. In fact, she didn’t even remember which hymns had been sung, and that was always her favorite part of church services.

“Ladies,” Gabe said when they’d made their way back outside. “Would you like me to see you home?”

“That’s very kind of you,” Collette answered when Tess’s mouth fell open wordlessly. “But my brother will be here shortly, and I don’t think he or Pa would take very kindly to seeing us with you again.”

“That’s unfortunate.” He smiled. “I’ll tell Bart you said hello.”

“Yes.” She nodded eagerly. “Please do.”

“Tess? May I speak to you for a moment?” Gabe motioned toward the tree where Zeus was tethered and waited until she moved before he followed.

“How are you feeling?” he asked when they were finally out of range of most of the busybodies. “Did you get some rest last night?”

“A little,” she answered hesitantly. Her eyes narrowed, studying his grin for some kind of clue. Finally, she gave up. “What is going on with you, Gabriel?”

“What do you mean?”

“You know very well what I mean!” she whispered sharply, jabbing him with the end of her finger. “You’re being nice to me, you came to church this morning—something’s not right, now what is it?”

“Tess,” he laughed. “You worry too much. There’s nothing going on you need worry about. I told you, I’m a changed man and I’m looking to . . .”

Tess’s stomach lurched and her knees began to buckle. “Oh, dear Lord,” she gasped. “I’ve been making such a fool out of myself, haven’t I?”

“What are you talking about?” he asked, reaching to steady her.

She pulled out of his grasp and leaned back against the huge willow. Tears burned her eyes and throat, but she couldn’t let them loose, she
wouldn’t
let them loose. An icy knot tightened her stomach as the dull ache of foreboding filled her soul.

“You’re in love, aren’t you?” she asked in a voice so fragile it sounded as if it would shatter at any moment.

Gabe’s mouth dropped, then broke into that stupid grin again.

“Yes,” he said. “As a matter of fact, I am.”

“I see.” She cleared her throat and fought to remain on her feet. “Does she live here in town? Have I met her?”

“Yes,” he repeated. “To both questions.”

Stunned and sickened, she forced her eyes up to meet his and there it was, that strange, indescribable glow that had lingered over his magnetic gaze since yesterday. He was in love—madly, wildly, passionately in love with another woman. Twice she opened her mouth to speak and twice all she could manage was a barely audible squeak. Finally she was able to fight back the suffocating sensation in her throat and form a lie.