Here Comes the Bride (20 page)

“Hell and damnation!” Gabe bellowed. “What the hell is she thinking taking up with the likes of Stupid Frankie Langman?”

“I don’t know, boss, but it can only mean trouble. What if . . .”

Gabe was already heading back to the barn. “Bart! Bart! Come on, I’m going to need your help on this one.”

“What’s up?” Bart rounded the corner as he spoke. His color still wasn’t what it should be, but it was a lot better.

“Seems Tess has taken up with Stupid Frankie. Miguel saw her getting in his buggy. I’m going over to the Langman place to get her. You coming?”

Color and life flooded back into Bart’s face.

“You bet yer ass I am.” He grinned. “Let’s go.”

Gabe had Zeus saddled and moving inside of two minutes with Bart right behind him.

“Stupid Frankie?” Bart said, shaking his head. “
Stupid Frankie
?”

“Will you shut up already!” Gabe snapped. “I need to think.”

“Okay, okay,” he muttered, more to the wind. “But Stupid Frankie?”

The Langman place was almost upon them and Gabe still had no idea what he was going to do when he got there. Most likely he’d be shot out of his saddle before he knew what hit him anyway.

Around the corner, the house loomed larger and larger with various horses and wagons tied randomly to whatever was closest. Gabe rode Zeus right up to the front steps and dismounted, almost tripping over Bart as he did.

“Watch it!”

“Sorry,” Bart said, ducking his head slightly. “Now what do we do?”

“I don’t have one damned idea,” Gabe muttered as he banged on the door.

“Good,” Bart snickered. “I like a well thought-out plan.”

Before Gabe could fire back, the door opened and there stood Collette Langman. Gabe hardly noticed her—or his brother—as he craned his neck to look past her into the huge foyer.

“Is Tess here?” he demanded.

“Yes,” Collette answered politely, her eyes never leaving Bart’s. “Would you like to come in?”

Gabe didn’t answer, just pushed through the doorway, barely remembering to remove his hat as he did.

“Hello, Bart,” Collette said, a soft blush finding her cheeks. “How are you?”

“Collette.” He grinned back. “I’m ’bout as healthy as a hound dog now.”

“It’s nice to see you again.” Her left hand wrapped itself around her tiny waist while her right hand fiddled idly at her neck.

“I been meanin’ to come by an’ see you,” he said, a heated flush climbing up his neck.

“Yes, Tess told me what happened. You were very lucky—”

“Where is she?” Gabe broke in unapologetically.

Collette pulled her eyes from Bart’s. “I’m sorry?”

“Where is Tess?”

Collette’s face softened. “She’s getting settled in her room upstairs. She . . .”

“She’s what?” This time he did bellow.

“She’s getting settled . . .”

“Gabriel? What on earth are you doing here?” Tess appeared at the top of the staircase, her eyes scanning the room. Suddenly a smile lit across her face. “Bart. I’m so glad you’re here. How are you?”

“Couldn’t be better.” He grinned foolishly. “You?”

“I’m just fine, thank you for asking.” She turned her attention back to Gabriel who stood frozen in his place. “Did you need something, Gabriel?”

Gabe’s mouth clamped shut, his fists bunching his hat between them. She’d moved into the Langman house. That could only mean one thing. His heart was ready to explode right there in the foyer. How could this have happened? How could she be so goldarned stupid? How could he?

“Perhaps we should step outside,” Tess said. She didn’t wait for him to agree or disagree. He simply exhaled loudly and followed her out the door, slamming it behind him.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“Please, Gabriel, keep your voice down.”

“Don’t tell me to keep my voice down!” he yelled. “I’ll damn well yell if I want to yell, and damn it, I
want
to yell!”

“Very well,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest. “Go right ahead, but if we’re suddenly surrounded by a whole herd of Langmans, all armed to the teeth, that will be one thing you won’t be able to blame me for.”

Gabe resisted the urge to take her by the shoulders and shake some sense into her.

“What are you doing here?” he asked again, his voice considerably lower this time.

“Isn’t it wonderful?” Tess asked, her eyes dancing with excitement. “Collette has offered to let me stay here with them until I’m able to buy my own place. She’s such a dear girl.”

“Collette?” Gabe’s brow furrowed. “But I thought . . . Miguel said . . . what about Stupid Frankie?”

“Stupid Frankie?” she repeated. “Honestly, Gabriel, I hardly think that’s a neighborly thing to call the man. He was kind enough to drive Collette and me home this afternoon and . . . oh, I see.”

“What?”

“Miguel saw me get into the buggy, didn’t he?”

“I . . . he . . .”

“And he naturally assumed I was taking a ride with Frankie, is that it?”

Gabe slapped his hat against his thigh. “Thunderation, woman, what was he supposed to think?”

“That is completely irrelevant, isn’t it? The question I have is this: What business is it of yours if I did take a ride with Frankie or any other man, for that matter?”

“What?” His fury weakened slightly, his pride kicking him in the stomach.

“Well, honestly, Gabriel, I think you’ve made yourself fairly clear on the point that you are not interested in a future with me, so what do you expect me to do?”

“That doesn’t mean you should take up with the first idiot to come along!” The second the words were out of his mouth, Gabe regretted them. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that like it sounded.”

To his surprise, Tess was smiling at him.

“Why, Gabriel Calloway,” she said softly. “You truly are jealous.”

“I am not!”

“Then what on earth would possess you to come riding all the way over here, to a place you can’t even bear to talk about, never mind the people who live here?”

“I . . . I . . .” he fumbled, inhaled deeply, and set his jaw. “I was worried.”

“Worried?” she repeated.

“Yes,” he nodded. “You have no idea what these Langman people are like. I didn’t want you to get yourself into trouble is all.”

“I see.”

“But so long as I’m here, tell me. Are you and Stupid Frankie . . . ?”

“No, Gabriel, Frankie only drove us home. I’m here as Collette’s guest and nothing more. Are you happy now?”

Gabe scuffed his boots against the porch boards. “If you’re so hell-bent on living in Porter Creek, there must be somewhere else you can stay.”

Tess’s smile tightened. “Actually, no, there isn’t. Miss Hattie won’t have me, and I’ve stayed at the hotel for several nights now and I’d rather not do that again. So this is the only option left, and frankly, I quite like Collette.”

“What do you mean Hattie wouldn’t have you?” Gabe seemed to double in size right before her.

“It’s not her fault, Gabriel. She has a reputation to uphold, and if she let just anyone rent . . .”

“What did she say to you?” he demanded, towering over her.

“Nothing that hasn’t been said before, or won’t be said again, I’m sure.”

“Tess . . .”

She shook her head. “No, Gabriel. I have no one to blame but myself for the opinions people might hold of me. I was the one who arrived at El Cielo without a chaperone, knowing full well what the consequences might be.”

“I don’t give a damn . . .”

“I’m fine.” She turned her gaze away from him. She was still the worst liar he’d ever met. “I have a decent job, a nice place to sleep now, and pretty soon I’ll have enough money to buy my own place. You needn’t worry about me.”

“Easier said than done,” he muttered, then louder, “Why can’t you go back to Boston?”

Tess’s fingers fumbled at her collar, but she straightened upright and swallowed hard.

“I don’t want to. I want to be here.”

“Damn it, Tess . . .”

Before he could finish, tears rolled over her lashes.

“I don’t expect anything from you, Gabriel,” she said. “You’ve made yourself clear and I respect your feelings. I don’t mean to impose myself on you or your hospitality anymore, and I’m so very sorry for the grief I’ve already caused you. And Bart.” She swiped the back of her hand across her eyes. “But I will not go back to Boston. I have chosen to stay here and that’s exactly what I mean to do. How I feel about you has not changed, nor do I ever expect it to, but that certainly doesn’t mean you are beholden to me or are in any way responsible for me.” Her trembling hand rested against his chest as she choked out the words. “Please, Gabriel, please don’t ever feel you are responsible for me. I’m a grown woman and I’m fully capable of looking after myself. You certainly don’t owe me anything.”

Gabe’s huge hand covered hers, the reflection of his own breaking heart mirrored in her eyes.

“Tess,” he murmured, pulling her into his embrace. “God, Tess, don’t you see? As long as you’re here, I can’t help myself but look after you. It doesn’t matter whether I want to or not, I can’t seem to get you out of my system.”

He stepped back, locking her shoulders between his hands. Tears flowed freely down her face, her eyes already swollen.

“I can’t let myself love you, Tess,” he rasped. “God knows I want to, but I can’t.”

“I know,” she said, a forced smile trembling on her lips. “I know.”

“Tess . . .”

“I’m fine,” she lied again. “Really, I am. I don’t know why I’m crying, just tired I guess. I think I should go lie down for a while.”

Neither one of them moved for a long moment, Gabe’s eyes searching her face for something, but what?

“Good-bye, Gabriel.” She moved to step around him, but he caught her by the wrist and pulled her back.

“I’m sorry, Tess,” he murmured, gazing down into her still-damp eyes. “I . . .”

His hands cupped her cheeks, his thumbs rubbed along her cheekbones. Damn, she was irresistible. His head dipped, her eyes lowered, and suddenly he was kissing her, tenderly, slowly, hungrily, with an urgency that rocked him to his very core. Her lips responded instantly, molding against his. Her arms slipped around his back and held him as though he were her life support.

She was so soft, so fragile, so . . .

“No,” he muttered against her hair, pulling away. “We can’t.”

Tess stumbled back, unable to regain her balance for a moment. When her eyes opened, the blatant pain he saw there just about dropped him to his knees.

“You’re right,” she said. “We can’t. I can’t do this, Gabriel. I can’t let you kiss me like this knowing you will never want me the way I need you to.” Her head lowered, the tears falling straight to the porch now. “Please don’t ever kiss me again.”

Gabe swallowed hard, fighting not to take her back into his arms right there and then.

“Tess . . .” he choked out. “I . . .”

“Good-bye, Gabriel.” She moved around him and fled through the door before he could even catch his next breath. When he finally gained his senses, she had disappeared up the huge oak staircase, leaving him alone on the porch.

“What the hell happened?” Bart asked, barreling through the door. “What did you say to her?’

“None of your damn business.” Gabe jammed his hat back on his head and stumbled down the steps. “You coming?”

Bart glanced back at the open doorway, but Collette was already gone, having followed Tess up the stairs to her room.

“Yeah,” he grumbled. “I’m comin’. Waited this long, guess a little while longer won’t kill me.” Gabe had already disappeared around the bend before Bart even hoisted himself up into the saddle.

A bitter cold settled in the depths of Gabe’s soul. In his mind’s eye, all he saw was Tess, the trembling tears on her eyelids magnifying the raw misery she tried so valiantly to hide.

Damn it, he cursed silently, his shoulders slumping forward. Why did it have to be this way? Why did she have to be so honest, so unlike most women? If she’d try to force herself on him, make him feel guilty about pushing her away, he’d feel so much better. But instead, she accepted his rejection and forged on. He kept going back to her, kept kissing her, kept needing her.

Why the hell couldn’t he leave her alone? They’d both be better off.

“Gabe!” Bart barked, riding up beside him. “You listenin’ to me?”

“What?” he muttered, blinking his glazed over eyes again and again. “What’d you say?”

“Holy-oh-hell, Gabe, just go back there an’ fix it.”

“Fix what? There’s nothing . . .”

“That’s a load of crap an’ you know it. That girl’s ’bout as heartbroke as I ever seen and you ain’t lookin’ much better.”

“Doesn’t matter,” he said, his voice void of all conviction. “I can’t . . .”

“Don’t be such an ass! A’ course you can. Just turn that damn animal ’round and go back.”

“No, I can’t.”

“Why? ’Cuz yer damn fool pride won’t let you? Because you like bein’ miserable?”

“You don’t understand. . . .”

“Yer right.” Bart nodded. “I ain’t got a friggin’ notion what the hell’s goin’ on in that thick skull o’ yours, but if I was you, I’d be ridin’ fast as I could back to that ranch ’fore one of them other stupid gawkarses takes a likin’ to her. She ain’t gonna wait fer you forever you know.”

“I didn’t ask her to.” Gabe’s voice remained low, his stomach lurching with every word his brother spoke.

“No, you didn’t,” Bart agreed. “’Cuz somewhere in that little pea brain o’ yours, you think she’s better off somewhere else. Well, I’m tellin’ ya right now, brother, that little girl ain’t goin’ anywhere whether you like it or not. So these are your choices: get the hell back there right now and make her yours once and for all, or sit back and watch her marry up with one of the other jackasses in town an’ then you’ll have to watch her be with someone else for the rest of your life. You willin’ to do that?”

Gabe’s eyes never looked up once. His blind gaze remained on the saddle horn, and if it weren’t for Zeus’s own instincts and direction, Gabe probably would have ended up in Mexico. Not that he would have cared either way.

“Damn it, Gabe!” Bart snarled. “She loves you! Don’t that mean anything to you?”

“Doesn’t matter.”

“What the hell d’you mean it don’t matter? A’ course it matters.”

“No, it doesn’t.” Gabe’s head shook slowly. “She deserves better than this, she . . .”