Someone To Watch Over Me (Harlequin Super Romance) (14 page)

Gabe noticed a pensive expression on her face as he handed her a cup, then took his seat across from her. “Is the coffee that bad?”

“No. It’s tasty.” Isabella wished the Amaretto was more than flavoring so it would anesthetize her jumpy stomach. “I heard you’re a lawyer. Is that true?”

“I’m a CPA, but I have a law degree, as I told Joe earlier.”

“Do you have access to a law library?”

“No, but I did a bit of work with Summer Quinn’s attorney in Callanton. Larkin Crosley has an extensive library. I imagine he’d make it available to me. Is there something in particular you need?”

Isabella opened her mouth to ask if Gabe would help her track cases similar to hers, but someone pounded heavily on the kitchen door.

Gabe yelled, “It’s unlocked.”

Isabella was the only one who was shocked to see Rick Navarro’s scowling face thrust through a narrow crack in the door. “Papa sent me to walk you home, Bella.”

“Are you psychic?” she mouthed to Gabe. “We just
sat down to have coffee, Rick. Thank Papa for his concern, but I’ll stay to finish my cup.”

Rick flung open the door and stepped inside.

Gabe half expected the burly man to sling his sister over his shoulder and march off with her. He didn’t. Rick pulled out one of the chairs and wedged himself between Isabella and Gabe. “The coffee smells good. Think I’ll join you in a cup. That way you won’t have to walk home alone, Bella.”

Hiding a smile, Gabe rose to fill another cup. The ball was back in Isabella’s court. Gabe didn’t envy her; he’d observed Rick’s calculated moves in
pelota
today. The man wouldn’t be out-maneuvered easily.

And Isabella didn’t try. She appeared completely impassive.

It wasn’t until he and Rick were both yawning over their coffee that Gabe realized Isabella was sipping hers so slowly she’d actually orchestrated the final move to suit herself in dragging out her visit.

Rick knew it, too. Gabe was careful to not crack a smile until after he’d finally seen them out and made his way to the bedroom. If all families were such a pain in the ass, maybe he hadn’t missed anything by growing up without one.

The hell of it was, he
had
missed out. And for so many years he’d carried around a load of hatred for Russ Poston. He thought he’d let go of the anger, but in spending these several days with the Navarros, he was again reminded of everything Russ had stolen from him.

Aching and bleary-eyed, he stood gazing discontentedly at a room that was impossible to sleep in. Given his lack of even a couch, he elected to go back to the Inn until he was able to make this place livable.

I
SABELLA RAN OUT
of the house to nab Gabe the next morning. Out of breath from her dash down the steps and across the yard, she thrust a lunch sack and bottle of water into his hands without any greeting.

“Good morning to you, too,” he teased, recognizing the sack as similar to yesterday’s lunchtime offering.

She rubbed at the goose bumps peppering her arms. “You probably think I should’ve stood up to my brother last night.”

“I think Rick got your point.” Gabe slipped off his jacket and draped it around her shoulders. “I’m on my way to the house. You shouldn’t have run out without a coat.”

Pulling the jacket warmed by his body heat around her, Isabella averted her eyes. “I wanted to follow up on something we started to discuss last night. And I’d rather the others didn’t overhear. Barely knowing you and all, I hate to impose—but I’ll trade cleaning your house for a chance to spend time in a law library with you, reading up on cases similar to mine. I’d ask Summer to introduce me to her lawyer, only she’s got her hands full between the ranch and morning sickness.”

“Morning sickness? Summer and Coltrane are going to have a baby?”

Isabella clapped a hand over her mouth. “Your friend didn’t tell you? My gosh, maybe no one’s sup
posed to know. She’s playing it low-key, but I can tell she’s walking on air. Anyway, that’s why I’d rather not bother her at the moment.”

“What will you gain from plowing through old cases?”

“I’m only interested in cases the state won. Reading the transcripts, I may come across necessary information this prosecutor hasn’t asked me to provide.”

“You don’t think he’s competent?”

“He’s swamped.” She linked her hands tight as they walked slowly toward her parents’ house. “Trini says he doesn’t care about my case. I wouldn’t go that far, but any way I can help him is better for me.”

Gabe considered her request. Could reading cases help? Or would they cause her flashbacks? That was definitely a concern. However, he wasn’t stupid enough to let an opportunity to spend more time with her get away from him. “Tell you what. I won’t have you killing yourself adding house-cleaning to your job. If Larkin Crosley okays our doing research at his office, I’ll help you in exchange for you advising me on the furniture I need to buy. I’ve decided to continue leasing my condo to skiers, so I can’t take any of my furniture.” He grinned. “Is it a deal?”

“Deal.” She had reached the first step leading up to the house, turned and poked her hand out through Gabe’s jacket. When their hands met, Isabella experienced an odd thrill. She pulled back fast, not wanting to believe it might be more than excitement over finally getting to study other cases like her own. She even shrugged off his jacket and hurriedly returned it to him.

“I told your dad I’d need my afternoons free to take care of loose ends involved with the move. I’ll try to connect with Larkin sometime today. How about meet
ing me in Callanton at the Green Willow around six? We’ll grab a bite to eat and work out a schedule I can take back for his approval.”

Isabella’s mind ground to a halt at the part about meeting him for dinner. “Why dinner?” she blurted. “Can’t you swing past the bakery with his answer?”

Gabe recognized the panic behind her reluctance to eat with him. “Eating’s part of the deal, Isabella. I can’t run on empty the way you apparently do.”

“Oh. Is that why you’re following me into the house? For breakfast?”

“I’m meeting the guys here.”

“They’ve been out with the sheep for an hour. Mama and Trini are the only ones still inside.”

“Holy cow! I thought I got here early.” Gabe immediately clattered back down the stairs.

“Don’t let Joe and Angel call you a slacker. And don’t tell them I kept you up last night. They probably got to sleep at least an hour before you did. I hope you zonked out the minute Rick and I left.”

“Are you kidding? I couldn’t find the bed for all the junk John Campos left stacked around. I ended up staying at the Inn last night.”

“Gabe, you didn’t! We have extra beds. Why on earth didn’t you say something?”

“To be honest, I thought it was a matter of shoving a few boxes aside. Frankly, all the mattresses in that house are disgusting. Hauling them to the dump is another item on my day’s agenda.”

“I should’ve guessed, based on the condition of the rest of the house. Ruby, Sylvia and I thought we shouldn’t poke around your bedrooms without your okay. I’m doubly sorry now for keeping you up—all
because I was annoyed with Rick. We can put off contacting Mr. Crosley for a few days.”

Gabe heard her disappointment. “It only takes a minute to make a phone call, or drop in and see if he’s amenable. But I repeat—skipping dinner is not an option.”

“Six o’clock, you said?”

“Yes, at the Green Willow.” Clutching the lunch sack between his teeth, Gabe waved her inside while he shrugged into his jacket. He didn’t give her time to reconsider and refuse, but literally ran out to the sheep pens.

Isabella turned away, commanding the flutters in her stomach to cease and desist. She reached for the doorknob, but the door flew open, almost knocking her off the top step.

Trini craned her neck, trying to see around her sister. “Did I hear you talking to Gabe? Why didn’t you invite him in for coffee? And what are you doing outside without a coat? Mama said that according to the thermometer by the kitchen window, it’s barely twenty degrees this morning.”

Isabella brushed by her. “Mama and I were upstairs making beds. She saw Gabe coming across the road and asked me to run out and give him his lunch. So I did. And you’re right. It’s chilly. Come in and close the door.”

“What did he say? Did he ask about me? I mean, did he ask why I hadn’t helped Ruby and Sylvia clean his house?”

“Why would he?”

“Because I asked Ruby to recommend me for the job. Gabe said he’s going to hire someone to clean a couple of days a week. Since Papa cut back on my
spending money, I need to find a way to earn some more.”

“I offered you extra hours at the bakery.”

“You didn’t tell Gabe that, did you? If you did, you probably ruined my chances,” Trini wailed. “Darn it, Bella! He’s the best-looking guy to show up around here in I don’t know how long. Everyone except you is drooling over him. After my advanced accounting class, a group of us stopped for a beer at White’s. Megan Ward bragged to everyone that Gabe likes her. She got positively snotty when I said he’d moved in across the road from us and is apprenticing under Papa. If I cleaned his house, I’d have the inside track. And Megan would be livid.”

Isabella knew Megan Ward by sight only. She was nearer Trini’s age. Megan was, however, a waitress at the Green Willow Café. And Isabella had already agreed to meet Gabe there at six tonight.

“Well, aren’t you going to say anything, Bella?” Trini followed her into the kitchen. “You have that look. You did screw it up for me, didn’t you?”

Luisa Navarro turned from where she was slicing cabbage at the sink. “Goodness, what are you girls fighting about? Bella, did you catch Gabe and give him his lunch?”

“Yes, Mama. Will you tell Sylvia and Ruby they’ll have to finish his house without me? I’ll be, uh…working late tonight. Oh, and tell them Gabe mentioned he’ll be replacing all the mattresses. So there’s no need for them to waste time airing out the ones John left.”

Trini inserted herself in front of her older sister. “You went to Gabe’s with Ruby and Syl?” Her jaw dropped. “You’re awfully well informed about our
neighbor’s future plans for someone who merely took him his lunch.”

“Oh, good grief! Ruby had errands to run. And I went over because things were dead at the bakery, so I closed early.”

“Things were dead yesterday, yet you’re working late tonight?” Trini crossed her arms and tapped her toe in irritation.

Isabella was tired of this sparring. She deliberately skirted Trini. Over her shoulder, she flung out casually, “I’m meeting Gabe in town tonight.”

“Ma…ma, I want a chance with Gabe and Bella—”

Luisa’s head whipped from one daughter to the other. “For heaven’s sake, Trini, you’re acting like a girl in junior high school.” Gentling her voice, she interrupted Isabella’s exit. “Bella, I sense this man has developed some kind of an interest in you. It’s not like you to lead anyone on. Nor is it your nature to deliberately hurt your sister. Ricardo is quite sure you’re playing with fire. Should I be worried?”

Isabella gripped the stair railing. She still had her back to Trini and her mother, since she’d started upstairs to her room. She wanted to deny that there was any type of personal relationship between her and Gabe Poston. She tried, but couldn’t squeeze the words past a stricture in her throat. “No, Mama, you shouldn’t worry.”

Once she’d forced out those words, Isabella found it easier to face her mother and sister. “I don’t know if Trini told you, but Gabe’s an attorney. I haven’t made any secret of the fact that I’d like to get my hands on transcripts from cases like Julian’s. Gabe has access to
a law library. He’s going to see if he can get me in to read old transcripts.”

“Well, why didn’t you say so?” Trini said, walking to the foot of the stairs. “Don’t I feel foolish now? But you made it sound so…so clandestine.”

“Did I? Or is that your immaturity showing, Trini? I said before and I’ll say it again. Gabe is too old for you.”

“Christina’s six years younger than Manny. Plus, she’s three years younger than me. No one jumped all over
him
when he asked Christina to marry him.”

Luisa calmly went back to chopping her cabbage. “I rarely take the side of one of my children over another,” she said in Euskera. “But Bella’s absolutely correct this time, Trinidad Lucinda. There’s at least twice the difference between you and Gabe as there is between Manuel and Christina.”

“Twice?” Trini yelped. “No way. That would make him almost as old as Ricardo.”

Luisa and Isabella both paused, each of them slowly arching an eyebrow.

“Get outta here,” Trini scoffed. “Before I go to class today, I’m walking right out to the sheep pens and I’m going to ask how old he is.”

Doubting her sister had the nerve, Isabella ran lightly upstairs, where she gathered her jacket and purse before heading off to the bakery. As she passed the bathroom, she took a last peek at her pale face in the mirror. Grimacing at the strained image that appeared before her, she pledged to take steps to get closer to her old self.

What that entailed she wasn’t quite sure. Step one
was probably to eat more. So it was just as well that Gabe had badgered her into meeting him for a meal.

T
HAT AFTERNOON
, Trini breezed into the bakery half an hour late. Isabella didn’t even realize she was late until she happened to glance up at the clock. So much for her vow to eat more regularly. She’d just worked through lunch again.

Tossing her backpack on a chair in the corner of the kitchen, Trini swiped a finger around the cake bowl Isabella was trying to pour from.

“Stop that.” Isabella smacked her sister’s fingers with the flat side of a rubber scraper. “Did you even wash after you handled all those textbooks?”

“Nag, nag, nag. You aren’t my
amachu,
” she said.

Isabella’s eyes lost all trace of light. She’d relished her role as mother to Antonia and Ramon. And she’d been good at it.

Trini knew at once she’d committed a grievous error. “God, Bella. I didn’t mean to remind you.” She snatched the heavy crockery bowl out of her sister’s shaking hands, and finished pouring the cake batter into the four tins. “I’m miffed because you and Mama were right this morning and I was wrong.”

“Wh-a-at?” Isabella shook away lingering thoughts of her children.

“About Gabe Poston being too old for me. You and Mama came closer to the mark than I did. He’s thirty-eight. Thirteen years older than me. Ugh.”

“You actually went out and asked him his age? Trini, for heaven’s sake! That’s rude.”

“Relax. He and Papa had gone out to test the various pastures for sweet grass. Joe’s the one who told me. He said he asked Gabe the same thing. So why is it rude for me but not for Joe?”

“It’s equally rude of Joe. Surely you aspire to better manners than our brothers.”

“You’re right. They can be gross. They’d lick this bowl clean.” Trini grinned as Isabella grabbed the bowl out of her hand and stuck it under a stream of water.

“Kidding aside,” Trini said, watching Isabella check the heat in the oven before she popped in the four tins. “The guy’s five years older than you, Bella. I don’t understand how he can still look so hot.”

The oven door slipped out of Isabella’s hand and slammed, making both women wince. “I guess that reveals your opinion of me.”

“I can’t even open my mouth but I stick my foot in it,” Trini complained. She threw up her hands, then spontaneously hugged her sister. “You had good reason to age in the last ten months. Get Julian’s trial behind you, and then we’ll worry about finding you new makeup and stuff.”

Isabella patted Trini awkwardly. It was still far from a compliment, and yet she knew the statement carried more than a grain of truth. In the months since she’d innocently walked in on a worse tragedy than she could ever have comprehended, she hadn’t given a damn about her appearance. Until now. Today, Trini’s careless remarks grated on her like nails screeching across a chalkboard.

Isabella tried not to think about her business meeting with Gabe Poston as anything other than that. Business. How she looked was irrelevant, she told herself staunchly.

Fortunately, she was quickly distracted from any thoughts of Gabe when Trini changed the subject with lightning speed.

“Elena Sancho’s papa bought her a new car,” she
said. “A blue Camaro with wire rims. Can you believe she’s mad because it’s not a convertible? Oh, and Orella Valdez broke up with Fernando. Again! For good, she says, like we don’t all know there isn’t anyone else who’d put up with all the crap she throws at him.”

Customers came in and Trini went out to help them. Ten minutes later, she returned and picked up where she’d left off. “Fernando always cries on my shoulder. I don’t know why, when I never sympathize. We all know he’s too good for Orella. Guess what? I saw Ramona hanging with a really cute guy this week.” Their cousin Ramona was a year younger than Trini. “No way is he Basque. If Aunt Carmen gets wind of it, she’ll shit a brick.”