Worry prodded her uncomfortably.
She should have saved her concern. He pulled open the back door, the screen sticking slightly, and before anything could be said, Maisey was up and across the room, squeezing Gabe in a huge bear hug. Considering how frail she had become, the contrast in size between the huge cowboy and her mom was extreme.
Gabe hesitated for a second before bringing his hands around to pat Maisey’s back. His gaze snapped to Allison’s, questions in his eyes.
“I’m so glad you’re in my Allison’s life,” Maisey said. “It makes it easier knowing she’s not alone, and that she’s got a good man around to care for her when I’m gone.”
A flash of panic crossed Gabe’s face, then resignation. Allison’s heart tightened. Was he regretting this more now? The tumble outside earlier, and the lying in the first place?
What in the hell had happened?
He’d gone out to do some simple yard work, and the kitchen looked like there’d been a bomb dropped. Not just the paper and clutter scattered all over the table and floor, but the tear streaks still visible on both women’s faces.
Something had gone down, only he wasn’t one hundred percent sure what.
He moved cautiously, patting Maisey’s back gently. “You bet I’ll take care of Allison.”
Across the room, Allison nodded. “I told her I know. We’ve had a good cry, and we’re going to move forward now,” she shared.
Okay, that was what he needed to know. He acknowledged Allison and gave an extra moment of squeeze to Maisey before breaking her hold and leading her back to the chair she’d claimed earlier.
“I’m glad it’s not a secret anymore. So now I can tell you to make sure you call us anytime you need anything, understand? Night or day, we can come. Do you have my cell phone number?”
Maisey touched his arm gently. “You are a darling. And yes, Allison gave it to me, but I’ll be fine.”
The conversation continued as they cleaned up and worked together to bring out dinner. Spent the meal and the hours afterward talking about old memories. Gabe watched the two women as they moved easily around each other, their love and caring so clear.
For a moment he was jealous.
That someone was so willing to turn their life upside down for another. To sacrifice and suffer to try to ease the pain for another—it wasn’t that he’d never witnessed that in his life. His ma lived it daily. But the burden of it seemed less for Allison and her mom. As if they’d found a way to share the pain and hold it together. And that together the burden was lighter.
A part inside him hated Ben just a little bit more.
He and Allison were headed home before he realized they were returning to a whole different situation. Not the fact that Maisey’s secret was partway out, but the earlier tangle in the field.
It was a knot of dilemma.
Allison shifted position at his side. Rested her head on his shoulder. She slipped her hand under his arm and held on tight. “Thank you.”
Wasn’t what he expected. “For what?”
“For not spilling the beans. For sticking to our commitment. Not that I didn’t think you weren’t going to, but it’s a huge thing you’re doing, and I don’t want you to think I’m unappreciative.”
“You’re welcome.” He slowed to take the back route toward the cabin. The twisting road would take a little longer. Maybe by the time they got home he’d have figured out what to do.
Allison squeezed his arm again. “You were wonderful with my mom.”
“She’s a great lady. I’m sorry she’s going through this. Sorry you are as well.”
They fell silent, and Gabe tried to concentrate on the future. On which projects he had to get rolling immediately to meet the challenge his father had set.
All he could think about was the sensation of Allison’s fingers on his arm, and the heat of her body next to his.
“Oh look—” Allison pointed to the side. In the middle of the field three deer were feeding. One lifted its head as they approached, wary and alert. When they slowed but drove past, the animals didn’t move from where they were enjoying their dusk dinner of new summer’s grass.
Suddenly all three heads shot up, and tails flashed white as they took off into the trees, spooked by something,
A brilliant burst of light rose over the treetops, the shimmering circle of fireworks displayed in the darkening sky.
“I’d forgotten about the fireworks tonight,” Allison said.
Totally slipped his mind as well, with all the rest of the chaos. “You want to go back to town to watch?”
“No.” But she leaned forward like a kid, checking the heavens for more.
“Come on, I’ll take you to another spot.” He eased the truck off the road and up the narrow lane to the private access. The rise of the land was enough they wouldn’t see the lights of town, but the higher bursts should still be visible.
Chapter Thirteen
He pulled over and parked, adjusting the wheel to give himself more room. When he opened the window, the loud snap of another cracker sounded—loud enough for them to hear even at this distance.
The air was warm and he leaned back, trying to relax.
Allison loosened off her seat belt so she could perch on the edge of the seat. A few more single bursts rose before the actual fireworks display took off. He found himself observing carefully, more to see her reaction than to watch the fireworks. She was pensive at first. It took a while for her to relax, to start to smile at the colour changes. The first time she gasped at a more brilliant explosion, it twisted something inside him.
She’d had to deal with a horrible situation this evening, and he was glad she could put aside her sadness for a moment.
He was a bastard that her childlike responses of delight also made him react in a totally adult way.
The noises she made went straight from his ears to his cock. It wasn’t as if she was watching a light show, she was in the middle of the best damn orgasm of her life and the happy sounds made him twitch with need.
Lights were still going off when she turned toward him, her face finally relaxed and at peace. She stared at him, and the longer she looked, the more her expression changed.
“Gabe?”
Low. Sultry. Sex-laden and hot. Of course, maybe that was his imagination, but damn if he didn’t hope she was thinking even a fraction of what he was.
She climbed up on the seat next to him, her boots abandoned on the floorboards. She pressed her hand to his chest, eyes locked on his.
Under her fingers, his heart was pounding.
“You said we’d…talk…later,” she reminded him.
“It’s been a long day.”
Fuck.
That wasn’t what he wanted to say. What he wanted was to order her to strip naked and crawl on top of him. Once he’d managed to do the naked thing as well, of course. Then he’d find other things to do, including tasting every inch of her skin and fucking her until she saw more fireworks.
Allison wrinkled her nose. “If you’re too tired to talk, then maybe I should do all the…discussing.”
She leaned forward and their mouths met, and damn, he was glad she wasn’t the kind to just give up. He curled a hand around her waist, the other around her neck, and kissed her for dear life.
Her taste rolled over him, pleasure increasing. Her tongue teased his tentatively at first, then bolder as they tangled themselves up. Breaths mingling, bodies closer. Somehow she crawled into his lap, and he had her shirt tugged free of her jeans.
He slipped his palms up her torso, soaking in the warmth, the silky smoothness of her skin. She groaned into his mouth as he undid the clasp on her bra and snuck his hands forward, warm full globes of her breasts filling his hands.