Where the Heart Leads (12 page)

He’d considered then that maybe the best thing for her would be to let his affection go. Then she wouldn’t be in conflict with her family or looking so unhappy he couldn’t stand it.

Even the memory still troubled him. Gabriel snapped his book shut. Well, it didn’t look like he was going to get any more reading done tonight.

After banking the fire, he made his way through the house, turning out lights as he went. Leigh’s bedroom door was closed, a thin bar of light shone around the door. She was likely up reading. Wishing he could concentrate enough to do the same, he shut his door behind him and stood in the silence, in the dark.

And there, like a sign from above, was the smallest flicker of light. It flashed through his window as the wind outside stirred the trees. Aumaleigh. Alone in her house, was she thinking of him?

His hand tingled from when they’d touched. And he remembered, how sweetly he remembered…
the whisper of her footstep in the grass, the faint scent of roses on the breeze, the hot puff of summer air as she walked beneath the starry sky.

“Josslyn gave me your note.” She stopped in the meadow. Somewhere an owl hooted and another owl answered. “You wanted to talk to me?”

“Yes. Thanks for coming.”

“I don’t know what there is to say.” She bowed her head, nothing but platinum and shadows in the starlight. “Maybe you’re looking for an apology.”

“For what?”

“My mother. For agreeing to go out with you.” She reminded him of an injured deer he’d seen once, too afraid to come close to the cow feeder but hungry enough to want to try.

Maybe it was then that he’d first started to really love her. Not the blush of falling in love with someone, of that thrill in your veins and the rush in your heart of first love, but of something deeper. This was his first glimpse of her heart, of the wounds there.

He thought of her mother’s acid tongue. “I wanted to apologize to you.”

“To me?” Surprised, she raised her slender shoulders in a confused sort of shrug.

“For getting you in trouble like that. I didn’t know about your parents. It never occurred to me to ask for their permission.”

“Oh.” She stood still and never moved a muscle. Did she know how lost she looked? That the hope he’d once seen in her eyes was gone. It was breaking his heart.

Josslyn had told him a few things. About how the McPhees treated their only daughter, viewing her more as property to be owned and controlled than a gift to love. She was valued more for the work she could do and the savings in labor for the family than for the joy she could bring them.

Maureen and Winston McPhee had plans for their daughter, to marry well enough to bring money into their lives, or for her not to marry at all.

What must it be like to be loved so little?

“I got the idea they don’t approve of me,” he quipped. Maybe he could try humor to reach her.

“I’m so sorry.” Her face crumpled. “Really, I am. I know how they can be. I can’t believe you’d even want to look at me after that.”

“The way your mother chose to behave is not your fault.” He wanted her to be clear on that. “My feelings haven’t changed.”

“They haven’t?” Her head came up. Disbelief lined her dear face. “I don’t understand. How could you want me?”

Thin and tremulous her voice, as genuine as could be. She couldn’t understand what lived in his heart, and that’s when he knew the truth about Aumaleigh McPhee. She may have grown up in the finest house he’d ever seen, but she’d never had the one thing that mattered most—the only thing that mattered at all.

And he was going to give it to her. He was going to love her all the way, every day for the rest of his life.

No matter what.

Gabriel blinked, leaving the memory behind. He stood in silence, watching the light blink on and off as the trees swayed and then suddenly there was only darkness, only the sound of the lonely night, but the hope in his heart burned.

It burned bright.

“Go on,” Josslyn whispered. “Your mother is asleep. I’ll keep an eye on her.”

“What if she asks for me? You know how she gets.” Aumaleigh wrung her hands, torn between what she wanted and what she knew was her duty. “If they find out, I’ll be sent to live with my great aunt. She’s scary, Joss. You’ve never met her, but trust me. She makes my mother look like a sweet little kitten.”

“I believe you.” Joss crossed the sunroom, glancing over her shoulder to check for any maids that might be lurking around, loyal to Mother. “It’s one of her migraines. She won’t be getting up for days, not to mention I dosed her tea with extra laudanum. She’ll sleep until tomorrow. Go now, while you can. I’ll tell everyone you are upstairs. No one will know. I’ll guard the door and your mother with my life. Now, hurry. Gabriel is waiting.”

Gabriel. Her heart soared at the name. “Thanks, Joss. I owe you.”

“No you don’t. I can’t wait until the day you’re my sister.” Joss gave her a hug, opened the window and waited for Aumaleigh to climb through.

She hit the ground with both feet. It wasn’t a far drop. She slipped out from between the lilac bushes and made a beeline straight for her brother’s cottage.

“He’s inside.” Laura, her brother’s wife, met her on the porch. She scanned the grounds as if checking to make sure no one had spotted Aumaleigh and was dashing up from the manor house after her. “Gabriel is such a sweetheart, Aumaleigh. And so handsome. I can see why you like him.”

“Thanks for doing this.” She gave her sister-in-law a hug. Laura and Ely had only just married, and she glowed in her sweet, pretty way, so happy as a newlywed.

“He’s in the kitchen,” Laura told her. “I’ll just stay out here on the porch and crochet. That way I’ll be able to keep an eye out to make sure you two aren’t discovered.”

“I can’t believe you’re doing this.” Aumaleigh pulled open the screen door, feeling as incandescent as the flawless summer day. “I mean, if Mother knew, it would ruin your relationship with her.”

“Don’t you worry about that. You deserve to find your own happiness, Aumaleigh. This is your chance.”

Thankful, she waltzed into the little vestibule, listening to the sounds of Laura settling into the porch swing.

Her footsteps echoed in the front room, and her pulse thrummed crazily as she threaded her way to the back of the house. The moment she set eyes on him, she came alive. Her heart opened. Her soul brightened. She’d never been more herself than she was when Gabriel came toward her with love on his face and took her hand in his.

Aumaleigh blinked, waking up from the dream. It had been so real, the warmth of that hot summer day seemed to touch her skin. The scent of the chicken Gabriel had smoked for the meal he’d brought remained, slowly dissipating as she sat up in bed. The cool spring early morning air had her shivering. The sound of a hard rain on the roof overhead reminded her it had only been a memory, nothing more.

She would be wise to ignore the warm sweetness in her heart that the memory had brought to life.

Determined to make the most of the day ahead of her, she quickly washed and dressed and headed downstairs. Her to-do list today was quite long. She had to get the wedding dress back from Rose, for Iris wanted to wear it for her upcoming ceremony. She wanted to go through her things and see what she had to spare for Dottie, who was moving into the old rooms in town she’d just vacated. Not to mention the long day of work she had ahead of her at the ranch.

The instant her foot left the bottom step and touched the parlor floor, she knew she had trouble.

There was a splash, and before her brain could register what was wrong, her foot lost contact with the wood floor and she was falling backward. Her hands shot out, she grabbed the railing and stopped most of her momentum before she landed on her behind on the wooden lip of one of the stairs.

Pain charged through her tailbone. She sat there, breathing through the pain and looked in shock at the puddle of water on the floor.

Her roof was leaking.
Drip, drip, drip
. Leaking, when it hadn’t bothered to do it before. This wasn’t the way she wanted to start her day. Was that her trunk sitting in a pool of water?

Up she went, more carefully this time and padded delicately across the wet floor. She heaved and pulled the heavy hope chest out of the puddle. Defeat hit her like a falling tree. She stared at the damage to her trunk. Inside were all the things she’d once made with such love, the things she hadn’t been able to let go of all these years.

She hung her head. No, this wasn’t a good way to start the day.

Afraid of what she would find, she opened the lid and drew it back. She caught sight of the folded fabric on top, safe and dry. She carefully lifted out the quilt she’d made for her wedding bed, the one the girls had found. As she carried it across the room to the sofa, sweetness tugged at her. The memory of making every stitch, of being that young lady so crazy in love and blissfully imagining her life to come made her smile. It made her sad.

It was definitely time to get rid of these things. Maybe the leaky roof was a sign.

She returned to dig out an armful of stuff—pillows, embroidered pillow cases and sheets, a length of lace, a lace tablecloth she’d tatted. She left her armload on the sofa cushion and returned to the trunk. She didn’t let herself look or feel as she scooped up a water-logged armload and padded across the room. Not having the emotional energy to deal with it now, she left everything on the hearth.

Drip, drip, drip.
First she’d better see to the roof.

The good thing about being a homeowner was that she had the power to do something about it. She grabbed a mop bucket from the kitchen, put it below the drip and went in search of her coat.

There was a lot in her life she couldn’t do anything about. Gabriel, who was living next door. The rumors that everyone was going to repeat about him. The fact that she felt ready to leave the ranch. But her roof, now that was going to be trouble easily solved. She’d climb up there and fix it. It’ll be as simple as pie.

“Pa, there’s a lady up on the roof on the house next door.” Leigh took the stairs two at a time and landed at the bottom of the staircase, skirts belling around her like a princess. “I could see her from my room. I think it’s Miss Aumaleigh.”

“On the roof?” He frowned. Some things apparently hadn’t changed. Apparently time could only do so much work on an individual. He set down his coffee cup and gaged the force of the storm through the window. It looked cold and wet, but he wasn’t one to let a little rain keep him from this opportunity.

“She had a hammer in her hand and everything.” Leigh’s pretty face scrunched up with concern. “I don’t think she ought to be up there. You’d never let Ma do such a thing.”

“That’s true.” He didn’t miss the secret smile as Leigh turned on her charm.

“I think you must rush right over there to help her. Pa, she could slip and fall. She’s such a nice lady, I’d hate for her to get hurt. Since she’s my namesake and all.”

“Sure, you had to get that in.” He rolled his eyes, snatching his duster from the wall peg by the kitchen door. “And no, I see that look. I’m not going to tell you any stories about Aumaleigh. It’s private.”

“Hmm. I have gotten a little out of Seth. I suppose I’ll just have to get much, much more.”

“Good luck with that. The boy only knows so much.” He winked at his girl. “Do I want to know every detail about you and your beau?”

“As if I would tell you!”

“There, now we understand each other.” He stepped out into the cool spring rain. The rancher in him missed being out in the dirt and planting. The man firmly entrenched in middle age was glad he could spend the rest of the day reading by the fire. “I’ll be back.”

“Don’t hurry! You clearly need to spend enough time with Miss Aumaleigh to make sure you get everything fixed.”

“You’re talking about the roof, right?”