Love Inspired Historical March 2014 Bundle: Winning Over the Wrangler\Wolf Creek Homecoming\A Bride for the Baron\The Guardian's Promise (33 page)

Rachel looked into the too-serious eyes of her son, realizing for the first time that she and Gabe were not the only ones who would suffer from Sarah's spiteful tongue. Childlike, Danny saw only what his own limited perception perceived. How could she tell him that Gabe's liking had nothing to do with the reality of the situation?

She climbed up next to him, clucked to the horse and took off toward the house at a fast trot.

They were almost home when Danny asked, “How did Mrs. VanSickle know about me, Mama? I thought just you, me and Pops knew.”

An image of Sarah's gloating smile edged into Rachel's thoughts. She ground her teeth together. “Mrs. VanSickle is a very clever woman, Danny,” she said, trying her best to hold her fury in check. “I suppose she saw how much alike the two of you look and figured it out.”

“Do you think Gabe knew she was right? When I looked back at him, he just sort of stood there with his mouth hanging open.”

“Oh, he knew,” Rachel said with firm conviction. “Your father is very clever, too.” It was the first time she had ever called Gabe Danny's father...at least to his face.

“Well, at least now you won't have to wait for the right time to tell him.”

Danny actually looked pleased. She offered him a cynical half smile. “No,” she replied with a hint of sarcasm. “I suppose there is that.”

* * *

Anxious to close the store for an hour so that he could talk to Rachel, Gabe was debating whether or not to lambast Sarah for the misery she'd caused, or at the very least to ask her to leave, when she gave up the pretense of shopping and sashayed to the door, where she turned and gave him another sly smile.

“Well, I must say, Gabriel, this has been a most illuminating afternoon. I've learned so much.”

“Yes, it has, Mrs. VanSickle. I've learned a lot, too, like just because a person goes to church every time the doors are open doesn't mean their hearts are right.”

Looking as if she might have a fit of apoplexy, Sarah gave a mighty “humph!” and swept out. Gabe sighed, knowing he shouldn't have given in to his anger but feeling a certain satisfaction nonetheless.

With Sarah gone, he grabbed Rachel's box of supplies, turned the sign in the door to Closed, locked up and headed toward her house. Her buggy wasn't in sight, but Danny and Edward were sitting on the porch, which was edged with purple irises. Two pairs of eyes regarded him with thoughtful guardedness.

Gabe got down from the buggy and carried the box up the steps. “Danny. Edward.”

“Hey,” Danny said. Seeing the caution in his eyes, Gabe smiled. None of this was Danny's fault, and there was no reason for him to feel fearful or guilty. The tension in the boy's face relaxed.

“Good evening, Gabe. Have a seat,” Edward Stone said, indicating the rocker next to his.

“I brought Rachel's supplies. Is she here?”

“No. She said she was going to talk to the preacher.” He turned to his grandson. “Why don't you take that box into the office, Danny?”

He complied without a word.

“She told me what happened,” Rachel's father said once the child was out of earshot.

“Did you know before?”

Edward nodded. “All these years, she refused to breathe a word about what happened or with whom, but when Simon brought you in and I saw how she reacted to you, it didn't take a genius to figure out why. My daughter isn't one to be so...hard and unforgiving.”

It was Gabe's turn to nod. “Danny knew, too?”

“Yes, but only recently. I told Rachel she should tell him before something like today happened without him being prepared.”

That explained a lot about the way he often caught Danny staring at him and the way he hung around wherever Gabe was. What must Danny—his son—be thinking?

His son.

The full impact of that hit him for the first time. Until now, his mind had been filled with his own shock and the embarrassment Danny and Rachel must be feeling.

He had a son. An unexpected and fierce love for the boy flowed through him at the same time the burden of responsibility his new role demanded settled like a stone in his heart. Danny would soon grow into a man, and Gabe's own experience had taught him that the influence he exerted in the boy's life would help determine the kind of man he grew into.

If Rachel let him have any influence in Danny's life.

He plopped down in the rocker next to Edward with the heaviness of an old person. “They must both hate me.”

Edward offered a wry smile. “Mind you, Rachel thinks she hates you, but she really doesn't. She's too much of a healer to hate, but I'd be lying if I told you your coming back hasn't taken a toll on her.”

In a gesture just like his brother's, Gabe scraped both hands through his hair. “I can only imagine.”

“She went through a tough time when she came home after medical school, and it's taken years for her to feel as if she's done enough to make up for her wrongdoings.”

Gabe was surprised by Edward's lack of anger. He couldn't begin to imagine what it must have been like to come back to Wolf Creek with a child born out of wedlock. No wonder she'd been so upset when he'd opened his eyes and seen her standing at his bedside. What had seemed like the culmination of a dream to him had been a nightmare to her.

“I'm sorry. I know it isn't enough and never will be, and I have no excuse, except that I wasn't a very good person back then. I think I've changed the past few months. I pray I have.”

Edward smiled. “Oh, there's no doubt about that, and Rachel knows it. The forgiveness will come, I promise.”

Gabe leaned forward, resting his forearms on his thighs, his hands clasped between his knees. “What about Danny? How did he take the news?”

“A funny thing, that,” Edward mused. “Danny has been drawn to you from the first, almost as if he felt a connection between you, or maybe because he could picture you as the father he never had. I don't know. He's been asking questions about you ever since you arrived.”

“Like what?” Gabe asked, both pleased and surprised.

“Like what you were like as a boy, what you enjoyed doing, that sort of thing.”

Gabe's mouth twisted into a disparaging smile. “And what did you say that made me sound...decent?”

“I told him you were plenty ornery, always getting into things you shouldn't and going places you had no business going...all pretty innocent.”

“Thank you.” They were silent for a moment before Gabe raked up the courage to say, “And what about you, sir?”

“Me?” Edward looked surprised.

Gabe's eyes met Edward's. “You must hate me for what I did to your daughter.”

“Hate? No. I was disappointed. Heartsick. Selfishly, I thought about what people would say about
me
and her mother and how we'd brought her up.” A crooked smile claimed Edward's lips. “Human nature, I suppose. If you're looking for someone to cast the first stone, you'll have to look elsewhere. The truth is that no one is perfect. We all make mistakes, some more than others. You and Rachel have made things right with God. If He's forgiven you, how can I do less?”

“Thank you.” Gabe heard a noise at the screen door and saw Danny standing there. “Do you mind if I have a minute with Danny?” he asked.

“Certainly.” Edward stood with his canes and went to the doorway. “Danny,” he called, “your father wants to talk to you.”

Wearing an expression that straddled the fence between apprehension and anticipation, Danny came out, held the door open for his grandfather and went to sit on the step. Gabe rose and sat down next to him. Where to start?

Before he could decide on how best to approach the subject, Danny said, “Mrs. VanSickle isn't very nice, is she?”

Gabe shot him a sharp sideways look, a bit surprised by the boy's grasp of the woman's character. Though he would like to say just what he thought about Sarah, he realized this was his first chance to exert a positive influence. “I think Mrs. VanSickle is a very unhappy woman, but you're right—many of the things she says and does are hurtful.”

“You're not mad at her?”

“No.” Gabe was a bit surprised to realize his heart was filled with so much regret that there was no room for anger.

“What about Mama? Are you mad at her?”

“Why would I be mad at her?” Gabe asked, taken aback by the question.

Danny looked away. “For not telling you about me.”

Reaching out, Gabe turned Danny's head back toward him. “I left before she had a chance to tell me, and she didn't know how to find me. The truth is that I shouldn't have left her the way I did. I can't be mad at her for something that wasn't her fault.”

“Why did you go? Where did you go when you left her?”

“I went to—” Gabe searched his memory “—to New Orleans, I believe. Why did I go? That's easy. I'd been in St. Louis for a few months, and back then, that was a long time for me to stay in one spot. I was ready to move on to new places and new people. I was always looking for something different back then, Danny. The next fun place, the next good time. I suppose I was looking for happiness.”

“Was New Orleans fun?”

“I suppose it was, though I don't recall what I did there or if I was happy.”

Danny's forehead furrowed in a frown. “How can you not remember?”

“After a while, what I thought were good times just sort of blended together in a blur of wasted years.”

“Wasted?”

Gabe nodded. “The fun I was looking for was often the wrong kind. I hurt your mother, and I did things that God didn't like. I'm not proud of that.”

Danny pondered that a moment before asking, “Why did you come back?”

“Because I've been very unhappy the past year or so, and I saw that what I once thought was fun wasn't anymore. I thought maybe if I came back and started over, I could find out what real contentment was like.

“When I was hurt, and I woke up and saw your mother standing beside the bed, I knew that the only time I was really happy was the time I spent with her.” Gabe smiled sadly. “She gave me a lot of love, Danny, and I didn't realize how special that was. All I gave her was heartache.”

Danny nodded. “She's got a lot of love inside her,” he said with a nod, “and she's been crying a lot since you came.”

A knife-sharp pain shot through Gabe's heart. He'd caused her enough suffering. If she'd let him, he'd spend the rest of his life making it up to her.

“She didn't want to tell you about me until we knew you were going to stay here. You are, aren't you?”

“I'm staying.”

“And is it all right with you that I'm your son?” Danny's blue eyes were filled with uncertainty.

Slipping his arm around Danny's shoulders, Gabe pulled him close, humbled by his ready acceptance. He marveled at how such a simple thing like Danny relaxing against him in perfect trust could ease so much of the emptiness he'd felt for so many years.

“It's very much all right,” he said. “More to the point, I hope you're all right having me for a father. I didn't get off to a good start, but I'll do my best to do better if your mother will let me.”

Danny looked up at him and said solemnly, “I think you're doing all right, so far.”

* * *

For the first time in nine years, Rachel felt the need to unburden herself to someone, only to find that the preacher was visiting a woman who'd just lost her husband. She needed to talk to someone she could trust and who would not be judgmental, someone who might understand the turmoil her emotions had undergone those many years ago. The only person who came to mind was Abby. Rachel headed the phaeton west, out of town.

Abby answered her knock, drying her hands on her apron. “What's wrong?” she blurted, seeing the expression on Rachel's face. “Danny? Edward?”

“They're fine,” Rachel said. “At least I think Danny's okay.” Her eyes filled with tears. “Do you have a minute to talk?”

Abby took Rachel's arm and pulled her through the door. “I have all the time you need. Come into the kitchen.”

Rachel followed her friend through the house to the kitchen, truly the heart of this home. Eli slept in the cradle, and both Laura and Betsy were playing in the square penlike contraption Abby's first husband had constructed. Bread was rising at the back of the stove, and the mouthwatering aroma of chicken boiling escaped the lid of a cast-iron Dutch oven.

Rachel took a seat at the table, and Abby poured two glasses of lemonade before joining her. “Okay, what's happened?”

Rachel's voice was little more than a whisper. “I need to tell you something and ask your advice, but I'm so afraid it will change your opinion of me.”

Abby reached out and touched Rachel's hand. “Nothing you've done or could ever do would make me think any less of you. Surely you know that.”

She gave a reluctant nod. “I'll just give you the abridged version.”

“However much you feel comfortable telling,” Abby said.

Rachel drew in a deep breath. “When I was studying medicine in St. Louis, Gabe looked me up.”

“Gabe?” Abby's surprise could not be hidden.

Rachel nodded. “He flattered me and wooed me for a few weeks and then he left with nothing but a note to say goodbye.”

Abby raised her eyebrows. “Well, from what I've heard, that doesn't surprise me. A lot of unsuspecting girls have lost their hearts to bounders like Gabe Gentry.”

Rachel dropped her gaze to the tabletop. “My heart wasn't the only thing I lost.”

The statement fell into the room like the proverbial rock.

“I see.” Abby tugged one of Rachel's hands free of the glass and clutched it in both of hers. “Look at me, Rachel.”

She complied reluctantly.

“You're trying to tell me Danny is Gabe's son.”