Untamed Fire (5 page)

“Then you know that she isn’t as ill as they
claim?”

“Of course I do. She mourns for her late
husband.”

“Yes, she does,” Gaby said, lifting the
tray. “And do you know the best medicine for that?”

Lupe’s earthy brown eyes widened
questioningly.

“Another man,” Gaby laughed and walked out
of the room.

~~~

Gaby bumped Don Maria’s bedroom door open
with her hip. She backed in and turned with a flourish as she sang
out, “Good morning!” She stopped abruptly as her glance fell on Don
Rafael.

“Good morning, Gaby,” Dona Maria said,
noticing the irritated expression on her son’s face.

“Your breakfast,” Gaby said walking past
Rafael and ignoring the way his eyes remained focused on her bare
feet. She placed the tray on the table near the wide open window
and pulled out the chair, readying it for Dona Maria.

“My mother has her breakfast served to her
in bed,” Rafael said.

“Not anymore. She sits by the window so she
may enjoy the morning sun as she eats.” Gaby picked up Dona Maria’s
robe from the end of the bed.

She remained where she was as Rafael rose
from the chair beside the bed. He glanced from his mother to Gaby,
then walked over to Gaby and took the robe from her and returned to
his mother’s side.

“May I assist you, Mother?”

Dona Maria smiled with relief. She had so
wanted to sit at the table and feel the warmth of the sun on her
face, but she had not dared to countermand her son’s orders. “Yes.
Yes, by all means do help me, Rafael.”

Gaby wasn’t surprised by the protective
tenderness Rafael showed toward his mother. It was easy to see how
very much he loved her and was only doing what he felt was best for
her.

Rafael guided the chair beneath the table as
Dona Maria sat down. He kissed her gently on the cheek. “I’ll see
you later, Mother. Gaby, I wish to speak with you when you are
finished attending my mother.”

“
Si
, Don Rafael,” she said, wondering
how long she’d be able to avoid him. She busied herself with her
duties, trying to ignore the image of Rafael that persisted to
haunt her. He was sinfully handsome. His dark hair appeared rumpled
and unkempt. It marked him with an air of danger, as though he had
just fought a wild animal or perhaps tamed one.

“Sometimes he appears a tyrant, but he is a
fair man,” Dona Maria said patting Gaby’s hand.

“I think stubborn is more accurate,” she
said.

Dona Maria carefully placed a linen napkin
over her lap. “His tyranny or stubbornness has cause. It isn’t easy
running a ranch this size. There are over one thousand acres to
look after and several hundred workers. Rafael takes his
responsibilities seriously as well he should.”

Gaby remained silent, having learned the
first day she had met the woman that Rafael was everything to her.
It was almost as if she had transferred her love and dependency
from her late husband to her son.

“Rafael has suffered much heartache. It is
time for him to find happiness.” Dona Maria lowered her voice. “He
needs someone. Everyone needs someone.”

Gaby heard the sorrow in her voice. Sorrow
for her son and for her own loneliness.

“I want to see my son happy and married,
with children to fill this place with laughter and love. Many
children,” she said quietly.

Gaby smiled at the thought of a pint-sized
Rafael running around the hacienda dictating orders. He would be
handsome just like his padre.

“Your smile is contagious, Gaby,” Dona Maria
said. “I have smiled more in the last few days than the last two
years.”

“Padre Jose told me that when I was a little
girl my smile was touched by the angels. He claims that is what
attracts people to me and forces them to respond in kind.”

Dona Maria nodded. “He is right. But it
isn’t only your smile. Your beauty intoxicates and draws people to
you like a bee to the flower’s nectar.

Gaby laughed. “You are too gracious with
your compliments, Dona Maria. I am but a simple woman with simple
looks.”

The woman stood, shaking her head. “You are
stubborn, but you will learn. Now help me dress and then go to
Rafael’s study and get the writing paper from his top left drawer.
“I have no paper left and I wish to send an invitation.”

Gaby did as directed, hoping Rafael wasn’t
about. She entered his study hesitantly and with cautious steps
until she was sure it was empty. She hurried over to the large desk
sitting in the middle of the room like a king’s throne, and for a
moment feared the thought of touching it.

She had been directed to collect the paper,
had the right to be here, but still she felt as if she was
trespassing. Her hand reached out and slowly opened the drawer.
There were several sheets of paper with writing on them. She picked
some up and placed them on the desk, thinking the blank sheets were
beneath. They weren’t. She was about to return the other papers
when her attention was drawn to several words.

Dear Rafael... death of your wife and son...
tragedy... shame... you couldn’t have saved them...

She searched her memory, trying to recall if
she had ever heard of Rafael having a wife and child. It could have
been years ago when she was only a child. The
rancheros
had
a way of burying certain gossip and secrets if they wished. She
wondered what painful secret Rafael had locked away.

A noise outside the door startled her and
she quickly shoved the papers in the drawer and closed it.

Rafael appeared in the doorway and glared at
her. “There is nothing of value in there to steal.”

Gaby didn’t smile or make light of his
accusation as she would normally do. She was tired of being
referred to as a thief. “Your mother sent me for writing
paper.”

He walked slowly into the room. “She keeps
her writing paper in her own desk.”

“She has none left.”

She had answered so quickly that it gave him
pause to wonder what she was up to. Was she spying on him for the
padre? He dismissed the unlikely thought immediately since the
padre feared him more than the devil himself. Perhaps it was money.
She was poor and was receiving no wages.

Gaby didn’t like the way he examined her and
her intentions. He actually believed her a thief. A common thief.
She was emphatic when she said, “
I don’t steal
.”

“And you also don’t follow orders, which
leads me to believe you aren’t here under my mother’s direction.”
He sat on the arm of the solid wood chair near the desk and crossed
his arms over his broad chest.

He reminded her of a ruler who judged and
was ready to punish. But if he thought she would stand by silently
and not defend herself... he was wrong. “So, now I’m a liar besides
a thief?”

“The two are a matching pair, are they
not?”

“I see. A thief lies and a liar
thieves.”

“It does seem logical.”

“Only to a judgmental person.”

The muscles in Rafael’s chest tensed, the
tautness stretching the seams of his white linen shirt. “You feel I
judge harshly?”

“Unwisely.”

The word stung him like a hornet. He jumped
and marched over to Gaby, placing his palms flat upon the desk and
leaning much too close to her. “The only unwise judgment I’ve made
concerns you.”

Gaby chided herself for noticing the intense
blue of his eyes and the clean smell of sweet grapes that drifted
off him. “I can leave whenever you wish.”

Rafael stood straight. “No, you will serve
out your punishment for stealing Bella. And if I find you stealing
again, I will extend the punishment another six months.”

Gaby opened her mouth ready to defend her
innocence,

“Quiet!” he commanded.

She snapped her mouth shut and fought to
hold her tongue.

He smiled. “It would do well for you to obey
as I’ve repeatedly warned. You’ll find in the end that I always get
my way.”

Gaby attempted to speak, but his hand went
up. “When I give permission, you may speak.”

This time she bit her tongue to keep from
saying something that more than likely would get her into even more
trouble than she was already in.

Rafael realized that training a servant was
not much different from training a horse. Keep a firm hand and soon
she will obey without question, although he wondered if he’d miss
Gaby’s quick wit and challenging nature once she was tamed.

“Come here, Gaby,” he said and stepped away
from the desk.

She hesitated, though the stormy glint in
his eyes was enough to warn her yet again that she better obey.

He waited until she stood in front of him.
Then his glance traveled slowly down along her and settled...

Gaby wiggled her bare toes and smiled.

Her smile didn’t fade fast enough. When he
raised his head he caught traces of it slipping away. It wasn’t so
much the smile that irritated him. It was her small toes wiggling
defiantly in his face.

“Put your sandals on.”

“Or what?” she asked.

He stepped closer, his body faintly brushing
hers. “Or I will.”

He made the simple act of putting on her
sandals sound sinful. She thought of his long, lean fingers taking
hold of her foot, slipping on the soft leather, sliding the strap
around her ankle; innocent, yet intimate. She acquiesced with a
quick nod. “May I leave now?”

“Yes,” he said and stepped aside to allow
her to pass.

She was halfway down the hall when she heard
his voice call her name. She returned reluctantly.

Rafael held sheets of writing paper in his
hand.

Without a word, she took them from him, the
cynical glint in his eyes still accusing her of being a thief.

~~~

Padre Jose was busy replacing the candles
before the statue of the Holy Mother. Many women prayed to her
daily and the supply candles dwindled faster than those of the
other holy statues. He didn’t hear the man enter the church, so
when the stranger spoke it startled him, and he turned quickly.

His eyes widened, surprised not only by the
man’s gaunt appearance, but by the two silver guns in his double
holster. “Can I help you?”

“I’m looking for Padre Manuel,” the man
said.

Padre Jose wasn’t one to judge people
immediately, but something about this man frightened him. “I’ll
take you to him.”

The man followed close behind. The smell of
his horse combined with days on the trail clung to him and drifted
around the padre, causing him to hold the sleeve of his robe under
his nose so the stench wouldn’t choke him.

“Padre Manuel,” Padre Jose cried out as they
approached the garden that was the older man’s pride and joy.

The old priest was bent over picking off
dead buds and leaves. He straightened, but not much, since his old
frame was stuck in a perpetual stooped position.

“Jose, the lilies are blooming beautifully,”
Padre Manuel said and looked up. His eyes locked with those of the
stranger and he quickly motioned Jose to leave.

He obeyed reluctantly, entering the church
once again and staying close to the door in case he was needed.
Moments later he was summoned away by a young girl who insisted her
grandmother needed the padre,
pronto
.

Two hours later he returned, having spent
the time consoling the elderly woman who was ill. He hurried to the
garden calling out the padre’s name. There was no answer. He
quickened his pace. He came to an abrupt stop when he caught sight
of Padre Manuel lying face up in his flower bed, his stomach sliced
and a white lily clutched in his hand.

~~~

The hacienda was quiet. Dona Maria had
retired to her room directly after supper and Rafael was busy in
his study. Lupe was occupied in the kitchen making fruit pies for
the next day.

Gaby didn’t want to go to her room. It
wasn’t that she didn’t like her quarters. It was a small room, neat
and clean, and with a single bed and chest for her belongings. It
was nice, but lonely. She was used to a chorus of voices, laughter,
talk, and storytelling. There were also hugs and kisses and
emotions openly displayed in her home. Something she found lacking
in the Cabrillo household.

She took her thoughts and homesickness out
to the courtyard. The air was warm and fragrant from the multitude
of flowers that graced the surrounding area.

She sat on the lower ledge of the adobe
wall, removed her sandals and began to undo her braid. Her fingers
worked quickly having grown accustomed to the nightly ritual. She
shook her head when the dark strands were free, then ran her
fingers through the thick mass. Her long hair fell straight passed
her shoulders coming to rest just above her waist.

“Must I carry out my threat and put your
sandals on your feet as if you were a child and did not know how to
handle the task?

Rafael was prepared for a militant response,
certainly not for the engaging smile she turned on him. It struck
him in the heart with the force of a flying arrow.

“Forgive me, Don Rafael,” she said softly
apologetic. “My feet are not used to such confinement and begged
for relief. I could not refuse them.” She swung her feet out in
front of him and wiggled her toes. “See how happy they are. Would
you deprive them of such joy?”

Rafael couldn’t stop a smile from surfacing.
“I suppose they’ve earned their freedom after a hard day of
work.”

She wiggled her toes again. “See, they thank
you for your generosity.”

“But how will they feel toward me in the
morning when they must return to their confinement?”

“They will try to understand and not hold it
against you.”

Rafael walked closer to Gaby and sat on the
lower wall opposite her. “Is it so hard for them to
understand?”

Gaby placed her feet on the ground. She knew
they were no longer speaking of her toes. “At times, it is.”