Gabriel's Heart [The Men of Treasure Cove 5] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (14 page)

Emma laughed. “No problem. He’s been driving me crazy. Apparently pregnancy gives him the right to be extra bossy.”

“Princess, you ain’t seen bossy yet. You listen to Tate and Tucker. No extra lifting, I mean it,” Travis ordered, kissing his wife.

“I got it.” She smiled lovingly up at the man who was her world.

“Hey, why the fuck does Braxton have to go?” Charlotte shouted, walking furiously toward them.

“Hello, Charlotte. It’s lovely of you to wish us off,” Jeff said, rolling his eyes at his sister-in-law.

“Fuck off, Jeff. I’m not talking to you right now,” Charlotte seethed and turned to her sister. “Janie, why does Braxton have to go?”

“Because, sweetheart, he is the oldest male member of his family. We all agreed the other day that the head of each family would fly to England and help Jeff figure out this mess. They won’t be gone long, and besides, Jordan is staying with you,” Janie said sweetly, trying to soothe her worried sister.

“This sucks monkey balls!” Charlotte shouted when a hand touched her shoulder.

“Shut it, baby doll. I told you I’ll only be gone a little while. Promise me you’ll behave and not give Jordan too much trouble,” Braxton said, hugging his wife.

“Define too much trouble?” she said stubbornly.

Braxton, Travis, and Jeff rumbled with laughter. “There’s my girl. Behave. I mean it,” Braxton said, quickly kissing her as Jordan stepped closer.

“She’ll be fine, Brax. I promise.” Jordan grinned, looking at him.

“She better be,” Braxton countered, leaning over to give him a kiss.

“Well, I’m here,” Conner Kincaid said, dropping his bags. With the town sheriff leaving with the group, the town decided that Conner would take his brother Brannon’s place since he was the only acting deputy in the town.

“Thanks for going, Conner,” Jeff said, shaking the man’s hand.

“No problem. Though Brannon is pissed he can’t go, he said he’d rather be here in case something happened while we’re gone. You know, in case some legal big wig showed up and all,” Conner advised.

When a truck came screeching to a halt in front of the courthouse, they all turned and groaned. They all watched as Orin McDaniel jumped out of his vehicle and ran around to the passenger side, quickly grabbing his bag. With a hard slam of the truck door, he walked toward the group and grinned. “What?”

“Where is Jacks?” Braxton asked, breaking the silence.

“He’s at home with Lilly, Davis.” He ginned, dropping his bag with the others.

“He was supposed to be going, not you,” Jeff said, getting angry.

“Well, that plan has changed,” he said, standing his ground.

Travis quickly held up his hand. “No! No plans. We have already decided on what were going to do. You can come along and represent your family, but we are not deviating from what we have discussed, is that clear?”

“Hey, something might change. You’re gonna need someone who can think outside the box.” Orin smiled when all of them groaned.

“Like hell. I still haven’t gotten Hazel to forgive me,” Steven Brannon said, adding his bag to the pile.

“I saw her talking to Neil the other day,” Orin offered, stepping aside.

“Yeah, about that, asshole. She talks to him, not me! When are you gonna tell her it was you and not me with that damn blonde,” Steven said, getting in Orin’s face.

“I tried. She won’t listen. She said it was you with your hands on the blonde’s tits. Hell, even Lilly tried talking to her. What more do you want us to do?” Orin asked, putting his hands up in surrender.

“Fix it! That’s what I want. And if I ever hear the words, ‘I have a plan’ come out of your mouth ever again, I’m gonna kick your ass,” Steven shouted, walking away.

“Well, boys, it’s nice to see that you’re still getting along.” Matthew Jenkins said, walking toward the group. The last to arrive, but the most important, Matthew held in his briefcase all the documents they were going to need to persuade Gabriel from marrying Annie.

Jeff just stared at the brown leather briefcase and wished for it to disappear.

In that briefcase was his sister’s heartbreak, and there was nothing he could do to stop it from hurting. Turning away, he walked away from the friends he grew up with. So much had happened over the years. So much laughter and mischief. He knew them all. He knew any one of them would do what needed to be done to protect Annie from the grief they were bringing her way. Not one of them was willing to stand by and just let anyone take everything from them.

He felt as if the entire weight of the town was on his shoulders. Whatever decision he made, it was going to be the wrong one.

“Jeffery, I know you’ll do what’s right,” his mother said, coming over to stand beside him, and for the life of him, he couldn’t look at her. Oh God, he felt like hitting someone. He felt like beating the living shit out of anything. He couldn’t do this to his sister. He raised her, loved her, and adored her. She was everything he hoped she would be and so much more.

She was the sun when there was no light.

“She’s never going to forgive me,” he said softly. He didn’t step away when his mother’s arms came around him, holding him tightly.

“Just bring her home, Jeffery. Just bring her home.” His mother held him as he released everything.

Silence surrounded them. He knew they were all watching, and he didn’t care. He felt as if his heart were breaking. He wished he could give her the one thing she desperately wanted. Oh God how he wished it was possible.

“I’ll bring her home. I promise,” he said, taking a deep breath, getting control of himself. “We better get going. We’ll call when we land.” Kissing his mother’s cheek, he walked off toward the waiting vehicles.

* * * *

Margaret, Janie, Charlotte, and Emma watched as the men of Treasure Cove drove away. No one said a single word, but Margaret knew they were all thinking the same thing.

She just prayed that the men did the right thing.

* * * *

It had been a full twenty-four hours since they all landed in England. Though his relationship with Antoinette was still fragile, it was getting better. They managed to get her to accept both himself and Alexander, and she was even willing to give the relationship a chance. Though Gabriel still insisted on marrying her, she adamantly refused to do anything without Alexander involved. According to her, she believed it wasn’t fair to him for the three of them to embark on a new chapter in their relationship without including Alex in the finality.

So Gabriel shocked them both by insisting they all get married. He didn’t know why he was pushing a marriage so hard, but something in his gut told him he was on the right path. Logically, he knew he should slow down and let everything take its course, but after what happened back home and almost losing her, he didn’t want to return to Treasure Cove without a ring on Antoinette’s finger. He made the mistake of letting her go once. He refused to make that same mistake again.

He knew that Jeff and Caleb wouldn’t hurt their sister, but he wasn’t so sure they wouldn’t send her off to some foreign country where he wouldn’t be able to find her.

Nope, according to him, the best thing was to present a united front. The three of them together, a package deal, take it or leave it. He would worry about the logistics later.

After spending the day sightseeing and shopping for some small items Antoinette needed, they were finally home. With Alexander at his office taking care of matters he missed and Antoinette upstairs sleeping, Gabriel sat listening to his attorney, wishing they were flying home to Treasure Cove today.

He hated everything about this old musty house and especially the old feel of this library. Nothing about this place soothed his nerves. Too many unpleasant memories roamed the hallow halls of this monstrosity, and the sooner he was free of this place, the happier he would be.

His mind wandered to the woman upstairs, and he wished he was with her instead of with this stuffy old man. He should be with her right now. Just being in her presence soothed him. He hadn’t realized just how tightly wound he had been over the years. So much tension and anger.

It was a wonder he was able to function at all. One minute with her and everything vanished. She had bewitched him, and there was nothing he could do about it.

Turning his attention back to the task at hand, he watched as his attorney, Mr. Collingsworth, lay document after document before him, detailing what each one entailed. This was why he refused to return home. He hated all this pomp and circumstance.

It was useless and no longer mattered to him.

Such a waste of air, he thought, as he let his eyes drifted toward the bright sunshine filtering in threw the windows.

Life was so much simpler in America. That life was not available to him right now. He had more pressing matters to attend to, and first on that list was marrying the woman he loved. Then he planned on returning home to Treasure Cove and dealing with the fallout. He could handle anything as long as she was with him, and after last night, he knew that she would be forever.

“Your Grace, if I can’t get your signature on these documents, I will leave you to your thoughts,” the elderly man said.

Looking at him, Gabriel stood and walked over to the window and said, “Collingsworth, I need you to secure a wedding license as soon as possible.”

“You’re getting married, Your Grace?” he asked, confused.

“Yes, to Miss Antoinette Marie Hicks. How soon can the bans be read before we marry?” Gabriel asked, turning to the man.

“It will take three weeks for the bans, and then you can marry. But if you want to marry quickly, you will need a special license,” his attorney offered.

“That means I will have to go see the archbishop.” Gabriel sighed, knowing what that would entail.

“Yes, Your Grace,” Collingsworth informed him.

“Make the arrangements. We will travel to London immediately,” Gabriel ordered, picking up the phone to call Alexander. “That will be all, Collingsworth.”, He dismissed the man.

Waiting for Alexander to answer, Gabriel motioned Mrs. Danforth into the room. He watched as she laid a sterling silver tray complete with tea, crumpets, and scones. Nodding his approval, he grabbed a scone and bit into it just as Alexander picked up the phone. “Barrister Ellis, how may I help you?”

“Alexander, when can you get back to Devonshire?” Gabriel asked, leaning back in his chair and placing his feet upon the expensive mahogany desk. He chuckled when he thought about how his grandfather would flip out if he could see him now.

“Not till later this evening, why?”

“I want to get married today. No point in waiting.”

“Have you forgotten one small detail? England doesn’t allow for polyamorous marriages. Antoinette would be committing bigamy.”

“Damn, forgot about that one.” Thinking of what could be done, Gabriel sighed.

“Besides, you would have to relinquish your rights to the duchy.”

“I never wanted it in the first place,” he said.

“Why can’t we just wait till we head back to Montana? It’s going to take me a couple of days to finish up here. I need to hire someone to oversee the estates and relinquish my post. This needs to be done correctly, Gabriel. It’s not as if we can run off to Scotland and get handfasted.”

Sitting up, Gabriel’s mind began to spin. Could it be that easy?

“That’s it! Stop what you’re doing and head home. I will have Antoinette ready, and when you arrive, we can leave for Scotland immediately.”

“You can’t be serious! I was joking.”

“Unless my memory is wrong, handfasting is still legal in parts of Scotland, correct?”

“Well, technically, yes and no. Back in the day it took the place of a legal marriage, but in 2004 with the Family Law Act of Scotland, it’s just an addendum to marriage, more like a colorful addition to a wedding. Now, certain cultures still believe in the ceremony, and according to them it’s binding. In the pagan world, they believe it’s legal and binding. England doesn’t believe in a year-and-a-day trial marriage. Plus it omits the church, and we all know what problems that causes.”

“But is it still legal?”

“For certain cultures, yes.”

“We leave for Scotland as soon as you arrive,” Gabriel ordered, smiling, and hung up.

* * * *

Annie woke to find herself in an empty room. Stretching her arms above her head, she felt deliriously content and happy. Gabriel loved her, and he wanted to marry her. She knew she should be feeling as if she was floating on cloud nine, but she worried about Alexander. He hadn’t truthfully told her how he felt about all of this. She knew he enjoyed being with her, but he never mentioned love.

She didn’t like Gabriel rushing him. She believed that Alex should make up his own mind, and if he wasn’t ready for marriage, she wasn’t going to force the issue. Marriage was a monumental step. Though she was ready and eager for all that entailed, she grew concerned that Gabriel only wanted it to protect her and that Alex was going to go along just because.

Those were not reasons to marry.