Where the Heart Leads (5 page)

Dawn peeked between the part in the curtains, stirring Rose McPhee from sleep. Her eyes popped open and she sat straight up in bed. Today she was going to become Mrs. Seth Daniels! Joy shivered through her as she tossed off her covers and leaped out of bed.

Okay, truth be told, she was shivering because it was cold too. She grabbed her warmest slippers and her quilted house coat and tossed open her door. Was that bacon frying? Following her nose, she headed down the hallway.

“Good morning!” Iris glanced up from the stove. “You’re up early. Here I was hoping to get everything made before you woke up. You’re the bride. You deserve breakfast in bed.”

“You’re going to be the next bride after me.” Rose spotted the coffee pot and grabbed a clean cup. “Have you and Milo set a date yet?”

“Oh no, I’m not saying a word. You can’t drag it out of me.”

“Not even if I get some wild horses?”

“Go ahead and try. Nothing is going to get me to talk, not until after you and Seth are married.”

“Well, that’s in six hours.” Rose glanced at the clock ticking away. “As soon as Seth kisses me, then I want to know. I’m the bride. You have to do what I say.”

“You can pull that on Dottie, but it won’t work on me.” With a wink, Iris forked the bacon strips out of the pan. “How about at the reception? After the meal.”

“That’s a long time to wait.” Rose poured a cup of coffee and returned the pot to the trivet. “Give me a hint right now?”

“You’re as bad as Magnolia.” Iris nodded toward the back door. “I think someone wants to see you.”

“Seth!” Rose set down her cup and waltzed across the kitchen.

The sight of him fresh-shaven and tousle-haired set her heart to fluttering. The new light of dawn haloed him, making this feel like a dream as she went up on tiptoe for a kiss.

“You’re not supposed to see me.” She leaned back in his arms, grinning from ear to ear. “It’s bad luck.”

“Not for us, it isn’t.” He pulled something out of his coat pocket. The gold chain caught the morning’s light, glinting like a promise of their happiness to come. “You need something new according to my ma.”

“Yes, always listen to your mother, especially when it concerns presents for me.” Rose took the chain. When their fingers met, it was as if their souls touched, leaving no doubt. This was true love.

Ashes banked? Yes.
Aumaleigh poked her head into her new kitchen, surveying the half-unpacked room.
Lamps out? Yes. Back door locked? Yes.

Satisfied, she grabbed her reticule, glanced in the newly hung oval mirror and frowned at her reflection. Gabriel was going to see her today, and she didn’t feel ready for it. There just wasn’t any way to stop it.

Oh, the girls might try, but she wasn’t going to fool herself. Avoiding Gabriel was a waste of energy. Instead she was going to fortify herself, so that he would never guess how deeply he unsettled her.

Determined, she opened the door. A man was tethering her mare to the rail. She skidded to a stop.

“G-Gabriel?” His name seemed to stick in her throat.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean for you to catch me here. I get the feeling you’d be fine with not seeing me again.” His smoky baritone rumbled over her, friendly with a hint of something deeper, something she couldn’t put her finger on.

Was it apologetic, perhaps? Well, he should be.

“I promised Seth that I would look after you this morning, get your mare hitched up since you had so much to do helping the girls.” Gabriel’s maturity only made him all the more attractive. “I had planned to be gone before you came out of your house, but your horse had her own ideas.”

“Yes, Buttons has always been a good judge of character. Doesn’t she like you?”

“Apparently not.” The docile old mare pulled back her lips, displaying her large and menacing horsy teeth.

“Good, Buttons.” Aumaleigh swept down the stairs to praise her dear mare. “Well, your obligations as the groom’s best man are done. It’s been nice seeing you, Gabriel, but I’m in a hurry.”

“Of course.” He tipped his black Stetson in a gentlemanly fashion. The familiar movement stirred up a memory.

Seeing him in the moment, standing there in the morning sunshine and seeing him also in the past at the same time. The girl she’d once been, remembered.

But the woman she was now—the one who’d had her heart broken by him—wanted to give him a big push. Maybe he would fall backwards in the mud, new suit and all. Then she would drive off as if he’d never mattered to her one bit.

Okay, perhaps she had more built up animosity than she’d realized.

“I’ll let you be on your way.” He went to his black gelding standing patiently in the yard. “Isn’t it funny? Who would have thought that after all these years we’d be neighbors?”

She blinked. Neighbors? What did that mean?

“You know the ranch next door?” Gabriel mounted up, a natural in the saddle. Back straight, wide shoulders squared, at ease as he gestured across the field to where the peak of a weathered red barn could be seen above the trees. “I bought it.”

“Wh-what?” She crinkled up her forehead in thought, trying to marshal all her cognitive abilities, but her brain refused to function. “No, that’s not right—I mean, Tyler would have told me. You’re only visiting—”

“No, afraid not. I’m here to stay.” Gabriel wheeled his horse down the driveway, riding into the east, into the sun, leaving her staring after him like a fool.

He was her neighbor? He was going to live in the same town? She would have to pass him on the road, see him in town, maybe shopping at the mercantile.

No, I can’t do it. I just can’t.
Panic wrapped around her, making her stomach ache. She blinked into the sun, looking after him but he was gone, lost in the bright golden rays. She wanted to reach out, drag him back and demand why he was doing this.

But she knew. It was because of Josslyn. Gabe and Joss had repaired the rift in their relationship. It wasn’t as if she could fault Josslyn for that, but Joss was her best friend. She could have given a warning, even mentioned it casually.
Say, you know the man who refused to marry you when you asked him to? The one who wasn’t man enough to say no to your face? Well, he’s moving to town. Just wanted you to know.

Aumaleigh shook her head. Come to think of it, no wonder Josslyn hadn’t said anything. There was no good way to bring that up either. None at all.

Well, it is what it is.
She climbed into her buggy, set her bag on the floor and gathered the reins. As she steered Buttons down the road, her anger began to grow. Why had Gabriel come here after all this time? Did he
have
to move next door, of all the places in the world?

She was in a good mood to turn her buggy around, drive up to his house, bang on the door and give him a piece of her mind. He’d been the one who wanted to leave her behind back then. Why was he hanging around now?

She ground her teeth together. There ought to be a law. Former fiancés needed to keep their distance. He’d wanted another life, and he’d gotten it. Why did she have to be reminded of the mistakes she’d made?

Because that’s what this was going to do to her. Every time she ran into him, spotted him down the street or across a store, she was going to be reminded of the biggest failure of her life.

If only she could borrow Magnolia’s snake stick and chase him out of town with it. That would show him. The image of her chasing Gabriel down the road made her laugh out loud.

“Losing your mind?” a friendly voice called out. “Laughing for no reason is one of the first signs.”

“Oh, I have a good reason,” Aumaleigh assured Sheriff Milo Gray who’d pulled his paint gelding onto the side of the road, giving her plenty of room to pass.

That’s when she noticed she was exactly in the middle of the road. She’d been too angry to see anything, much less a lawman coming her way.

“I’m guessing our new town resident is to blame.” He seemed understanding, which was a good trait in a sheriff and in her future nephew-in-law. “I’ve heard all about it from Iris. Don’t you worry, we’re on your side.”

Heard all about it?
Did that mean everybody knew? And had thoroughly discussed it, all the while leaving her in the dark?
Ooh, now she was mad again.

The subject of Gabriel Daniels sure struck a nerve. Best to take a deep breath, get rid of this anger and go back to her normal, non-angry way of handling things. “What are you doing out and about today? Shouldn’t you be getting ready for the wedding? You’re supposed to be Iris’s date.”

“True, I can’t deny that, but I’ve decided to work today.” The amiable smile died on his handsome, chiseled face. He was pure lawman, forged steel and integrity. “I’ve got all my deputies on duty today. We’re going to make sure this town stays safe from our neighborhood vandals.”

“That glint in your eye tells me you have a good idea who it is.”

“I’m pleading the fifth on that. Have a good time at the wedding and save a piece of cake for me.”

“I’ll try, but maybe you should swing by the reception just in case.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” With a chin jut of farewell, Milo rode off, a man sure of his purpose.

Aumaleigh urged her mare a few more feet to park in front of the bakery. She’d slip inside and grab the wedding cake, boxed and ready for the reception. She didn’t notice a man ease around the corner of the building and into the shadows.

Determined not to fall victim to any more bouts of anger at Gabriel, she hummed to herself while she left Buttons at the hitching post and let herself into the bakery.

Junior Klemp had a bad feeling. He clutched the crock that once had held a very tasty stew the oldest McPhee sister had given him. It was a humiliation that she’d mistaken him for a homeless, vagabond sort and given him bread too, but her kindness stuck with him. There had been more times than he could count that he’d gone hungry in his life.

He set the crock and left it on the back door step. There. His obligation was over and done with. He’d never told his brother, Giddy, where the food had come from. Giddy didn’t care about things like that.

But Junior’s stomach had been twisted up in a terrible knot ever since. All because of his nerves. He was afraid Giddy was going to ask him to do something against Miss Iris. His brother was a mean one. Too much like Pa could get, when he was crossed.

Yep, it was a dilemma. Junior blew out a troubled sigh as he watched the sheriff from a distance. The blasted lawman stopped in the middle of the side street to exchange words with one of those bothersome volunteer deputies. The whole town was swarming with ‘em.

The sheriff’s words bugged him. That hoity-toity Aumaleigh McPhee had said in that superior voice of hers,
that glint in your eye tells me you have a good idea who it is.

I’m pleading the fifth,
the sheriff had answered. Junior’s heart skipped a beat. Was it possible? Did Milo Gray know what he and Giddy had done?

To make matters worse, now there were three of them. Another deputy had ridden up with a serious look and a gun on his hip.

Junior’s bad feeling turned worse. He crept out, staying in the shadows against the building. What were the lawmen talking about? What if they were really after him and Giddy?

“Young man?” An uppity, genteel lady’s voice called out to him.

Blast it!
Hatred burned fire-hot, but he managed to face her with a pleasant smile. “Good morning, Ma’am.”

“Good morning. You know my nieces, don’t you?” Aumaleigh McPhee might be acting friendly, but two bits said she was really looking down her nose at him. She set a big bakery box on the floor of her buggy. “Are you coming to the wedding today? I’m sure they would love to see you at the reception too.”

“I was considering going.” It wasn’t the truth, but a good lie was a useful thing. He and Giddy had planned on replenishing their liquor supply, along with taking a few comforts from that stately Montgomery family home on the nice side of town. “Guess I’ll see you there.”

“The girls will be glad.”

Looking at her phony smile nearly made him blow up right there. How dare she look at him like that, like she was the nicest lady in the world when she’d done what she’d done to his pa. She’d inherited the land, lock, stock and barrel, when a piece of it had been promised to Pa.