The Heiress and the Sheriff (19 page)

“Both,” she said.

He slipped his hand around hers. “Are you ready to go back to the ranch and give the Fortunes the good news?”

Smiling she nodded. Then, just as quickly, the smile was gone and a frown puckered her forehead. Seeing it, Wyatt asked, “What is it, Gabrielle? Lord, your amnesia isn't coming back, is it?”

“No. Actually, I was wondering…what will I do if the Fortunes don't believe me? You do, but that's because you love me. They might think—”

He broke in before she could go any further. “And you think the Fortunes
don't
love you?” He chuckled with disbelief.

Her head swung back and forth. “I'm not sure how they feel. They're basically kind, generous people. But when they hear about Miranda, they might believe she sent me
here to try to extract money from them. If they think that…”

Seeing the turmoil on her face, he gathered her against his chest and stroked the back of her head. “Darling, whatever they think, just remember I'm standing firmly behind you. But I promise, they aren't going to judge you by your mother's behavior. And speaking of mothers…I talked to mine earlier tonight,” he said happily. “She's coming to town next week.”

Gabrielle's head reared back from his chest and she stared at him with shock. “You talked to your mother? How?”

He smiled. “I'll tell you all about it on the way to the ranch,” he said. “But right now we need to get going. We have a lot of news to give the Fortunes.”

 

As Wyatt had predicted, the Fortunes greeted Gabrielle with open arms and generally made a happy fuss over her. None of them doubted her amnesia or the sudden return of her memory. Instead, they were all eager to hear about her life in California. Especially Ryan, who was overwhelmed with emotion to learn that his sister was alive and well.

“You must call her,” Ryan insisted as everyone sat around the great room drinking coffee Rosita had made and served.

The housekeeper had gotten out of bed in the wee hours of the morning to come to the ranch house to see for herself that Gabrielle was all right. Gabrielle would always be eternally grateful to the woman for the dream she'd had, and for calling and alerting Matthew. Otherwise, she would have caught the bus, gone back to California and deliberately severed her ties here in Texas.

Gabrielle glanced at her uncle. “Are you serious? Ryan, I've been trying to tell you how Miranda is. Apparently she
hasn't changed since she lived at home with you and your brother and parents. She's unpredictable and self-absorbed and she loves men. I can't count how many times she's been engaged.”

Chuckling, Ryan glanced over at his sister-in-law. “She sounds like a true Fortune, doesn't she?”

Mary Ellen laughed with him. “Totally,” she agreed, then smiled reassuringly at Gabrielle. “Ryan is right, Gabrielle. You must call her and persuade her to come here to the ranch.”

“Come here!” Gabrielle gasped. She turned to Wyatt, who was sitting close by her side on the couch. “What do you think?” she asked him.

“My mother is coming. You want yours to be at our wedding too, don't you?”

His question brought a roar of happy surprise from the whole group. After everyone gathered around the two of them and offered congratulations, Mary Ellen pulled Gabrielle to her feet and guided her across the room to the telephone. “No more wasting time,” she said firmly. “Call her. It sounds to me like we've got a wedding to plan—and not a minute to waste.”

The hour was late, even for the Pacific coast, but Miranda finally answered the phone on the eighth ring. Her voice was full of sleep, but when she realized it was Gabrielle on the other end of the line, she came wide awake.

Quickly Gabrielle related the events of the past few weeks. Miranda was shocked, but relieved that her daughter was all right. Yet she refused to agree to come to the ranch. She was certain the whole family had disowned her by now and she felt she didn't have a right to be a Fortune after all these years of neglecting her relatives.

“Let me speak with her,” Ryan said, already reaching to take the phone from Gabrielle's hand.

Gabrielle was more than glad to hand it over to her uncle. Miranda had needed her family for a long time, even though she didn't know it yet. But Gabrielle felt certain Ryan would eventually be able to show his sister they all needed each other.

During the phone call, Wyatt had left his spot on the couch to stand quietly by Gabrielle's side. Now that Ryan had taken over the task of persuading Miranda to come to Texas, Wyatt took Gabrielle by the elbow and led her out the glass doors and into the dark, quiet courtyard.

“This has been quite a night,” he said as he pulled her into his arms.

“I'll never forget it,” she agreed as she slipped her arms around his neck.

Wyatt's arms came around her waist and he pressed her body tightly against his. “Guess what I've been thinking for the last thirty minutes?”

Her lips tilted into a sexy smile. “I don't have to guess. You've been thinking you want to get me alone.”

“Hmm. We're not even married yet, and you already know me.”

Unwittingly her hips pressed even more tightly against his, and moved in a provocative motion that caused him to groan with pleasure.

“That's because I was thinking the same thing,” she admitted with a low, lusty chuckle. “Do you know how long it's been since we made love?”

The memory of that short passionate explosion in her bedroom coiled his insides and burned through his mind. “Too long, Gabrielle,” he whispered. “Much too long.”

Bending his head, he covered her lips with his, then quickly speared his tongue between her teeth. She reciprocated by rising on her tiptoes and pressing her breasts against his chest.

They were both becoming lost in the embrace when one of the glass doors opened.

“Wyatt? Gabrielle? Where are you?”

Hearing Ryan's call, they reluctantly broke apart and stepped out into the light so he could see them.

“Oh, there you are,” he said with a happier smile than Gabrielle had ever seen on his face. “I just wanted to let you two know, Miranda is coming back to Texas. My sister is finally coming home, and she's bringing your brother Kane with her. My grandson is gone, but getting you all back is—well, it's the best thing to happen to this family in a long time.”

“Don't give up on Bryan,” Wyatt urged him. “We'll get your grandson back, and then the family will be complete.”

Ryan shook his head. “Not entirely. Teddy has been missing for years. And we were hoping Miranda might know something about him, but she says she hasn't heard from him and has no clue where he might be.”

Wyatt and Gabrielle exchanged puzzled glances. “Who is Teddy?” Gabrielle asked Ryan. “I didn't realize there were more Fortunes missing!”

“Our father was married once before being wed to our mother. He had a son—Teddy. When he was a baby and our father was away at war, his maternal grandfather stole him. Dad was never able to find our half brother and get him back.”

Gabrielle gave him an encouraging smile. “Well, he was never able to locate Miranda either, but now she'll be back in the family. Maybe the same thing will happen with Teddy.”

“I hope you're right,” Ryan said, then bent and kissed her cheek. “They're breaking out the champagne inside.
We've got a reunion and an engagement to celebrate. Are you two going to join us?”

Before Wyatt or Gabrielle could answer, Ryan grinned and waved away the question. “Forget I asked. Just go back to doing whatever you were doing before I came out here.”

Once Ryan had left them and reentered the house, Wyatt stepped up behind Gabrielle and slipped his arms again around her waist.

“Now there's a smart man,” he said against her ear. Before she could guess his intentions, he bent and picked her up in his arms.

“Wyatt! What are you doing? What about the celebration?”

With her safely cradled in his arms, he began walking across the courtyard, away from the main part of the house and down to the door that opened into her bedroom. “We have our own celebrating to do right now,” he answered in a voice husky with love. “We'll join the others later.”

Gabrielle couldn't have agreed more, and once they reached the dark seclusion of her room, she whispered against his lips, “Is it always going to be like this with us, Wyatt?”

His teeth gleamed white and taunting as he grinned and covered her breast with his hand. “What do you think?”

A sigh of pleasure whispered past her lips as her body began to melt against him. “I think we're going to be celebrating every day for the rest of our lives.”