Jane bit her bottom lip and turned her attention to the pancake mix.

Cal immediately grew defensive. "I told them they had to take care of her, Gabe. Odell said he would." Rosie chose that moment to blow a happy raspberry, sending a shower of oatmeal at her father.

Edward piped up. "Rosie's mommy showed me her computer last night, and I got to see all these planets moving around, and she said they was part of the-uh-" He looked up at Jane and the familiar worried expression formed on his face. "I forgot."

She smiled. "The solar system."

"I remember."

Just then the front doorbell rang, and Cal jumped up to answer it. It was barely seven-thirty, too early for a casual caller, but as Cal's voice drifted into the kitchen from the foyer, Rachel soon realized the identity of the visitor.

"Where have you been?" she heard Cal say. "You were supposed to be in Knoxville, but the hotel said you weren't registered."

"Change in plans."

At the sound of Ethan's voice, Rachel regarded Jane glumly. "One more Mountie to Gabe's rescue. Aren't I just the lucky one?"

Gabe gave a mutter of disgust, slammed down his coffee mug, and headed toward the foyer as Ethan went on.

"We-I came back last night, but I didn't check my machine until half an hour ago. Kristy ran over to the jail as soon as she heard your message, and-Gabe!"

What had Kristy been doing at Ethan's so early in the morning? As Rachel pondered the implications, Jane gazed over at her, lines of worry etched in her smooth forehead. "I know you've been through a lot, Rachel, but for Gabe's sake, this really has to be settled."

"I suppose." Rachel took the wet paper towels Jane handed her and began cleaning up Rosie, who beamed at her. As the men's conversation continued in the hallway, Rachel planted a kiss on the baby's curls, then wiped up the tray. "Thanks for taking such good care of Edward. I was so worried about him."

"Of course you were. He's a wonderful little boy, smart as a whip. Cal and I adore him."

Jane stirred milk into a mug of coffee and gave it to her. Rachel took a seat on a counter stool just as the men appeared.

"Pastor Ethan!" Edward jumped down off his stool and began peppering Ethan with an account of his latest adventures. Ethan alternated between responding and throwing her unhappy looks that seemed to say he'd expected better from her.

Rosie began pounding on her high chair, demanding to be let down. While Jane filled another mug, Cal put his daughter on the floor. She immediately crawled over to Edward and pulled herself up on his legs.

He winced as her sharp little fingernails scratched his bare calf. "Rosie, you're a pain."

She clapped her hands, lost her balance, and fell back on her rump. Her face puckered, but before she could cry, Gabe scooped her up. It was the first time Rachel had seen him hold her, and from the surprise that flickered over his brothers' faces, she knew she wasn't the only one who'd noticed.

Gabe reached down and touched Edward's cheek. "How'd you like to watch TV while the grown-ups visit?"

"I don't like baby shows."

Jane abandoned her pancake mix and moved out from behind the counter. "Rosie's grandparents gave her a cartoon video for her birthday. It's still too old for her, but I bet you'll like it."

"Okay."

The two of them disappeared into the family room. Gabe set Rosie back down and put Horse in front of her. He eyed his brothers. "Since both of you are here, I think it's time we had a family meeting. I know you're tired, Rachel, but this has gone on long enough."

Rachel would rather have hidden in the bathroom than face such a biased jury, but she shrugged. "I haven't run from a fight yet, lover."

Ethan and Cal both stiffened. She gave herself a mental pat on the back. They were too easy.

Gabe regarded her with mild exasperation, then turned to his brothers. "All right. Here's the way it's going to be…"

Ethan cut him off. "Before you get started, you need to know how concerned Cal and I have been about the effect your relationship with Rachel's had on you." He paused. "Although Cal did go a little far last night."

"Yeah? Well, you weren't around to hold a prayer service!" Cal retorted.

Gabe exploded. "I'm not ten years old, for God's sake! And I damn well want to be able to fall asleep at night without worrying that one of you is going to have Rachel strung up while I'm not watching!" He shot his index finger at them. "She hasn't done one thing to either of you, but you've both treated her like dirt, and by damn, it's going to stop right now!"

Jane had returned to the kitchen. She patted Gabe's arm as she passed him, then went to stand beside her husband and stroke him.

Cal's jaw jutted. "This isn't about what she's done to us, and you know it. You're the one we're worried about!"

"Well, stop worrying!" Gabe shouted.

Rosie froze and blinked her eyes. Gabe drew a deep breath and dropped his voice. "Rachel's right. You're both like a couple of mother hens, and I can't stand it any longer."

Ethan said, "Look, Gabe… I have some experience here. I've done a lot of grief counseling, and you have to understand-"

"No! You're the one. who has to understand. If either of you-either one of you ever hurts Rachel again-you're going to regret it. If you so much as frown at her, you'll have to deal with me. Do both of you understand?"

Cal shoved his hands in his pockets and looked uncomfortable. "I wasn't going to tell you this, but I don't seem to have a choice. You're not going to like hearing it, but you're blind where she's concerned, and you need to know the truth." He drew a breath. "I offered Rachel twenty-five thousand dollars to leave town, and she took it."

Jane sighed. "Oh, Cal…"

Gabe turned to Rachel and studied her silently for several seconds. Finally, he lifted one inquisitive eyebrow.

She shrugged, then nodded.

He gave her a faint smile. "Good for you."

This time Cal was the one who exploded. "What do you mean, good for her! She let herself be bought!"

At the angry sound of her father's voice, Rosie's face puckered. Cal gathered her up and kissed her, all the time looking like a summer storm cloud.

Gabe was accustomed to his older brother's blustering, and it didn't bother him a bit. "Rachel survives any way she can. It's a quality I'm just starting to learn from her."

Cal hadn't gotten the response he wanted, and, with Rosie tucked into the crook of his arm like a Super Bowl game ball, he gathered his forces for another attack. "How can you forget what she did at the drive-in?"

That sparked Gabe's temper all over again. "Tell me something, big brother. What would you do if you came home one night and found out I'd had Jane thrown into jail?"

Jane regarded him with interest while Cal's face reddened with outrage. "It's not the same thing at all. Jane's my wife!"

"Yeah, well, last week I asked Rachel to marry me."

"You did what?"

"You heard me."

Ethan and Cal stared at her. Earlier at the drive-in, she'd told Cal exactly this, but he hadn't believed her.

Rosie poked her tiny index finger in her father's mouth. Cal studied his brother and slowly withdrew her hand. "You're going to marry her?"

For the first time, Gabe seemed to lose some steam. "I don't know. She's still thinking about it."

This time when Cal confronted her, he seemed more confused than angry. "If he asked you to marry him, why did you trash the drive-in?"

She started to tell him she hadn't done it, but Gabe spoke first.

"Because Rachel's heart is bigger than her brain." He curled his hand around the back of her neck and rubbed the nape with' his thumb. "She knew the drive-in wasn't good for me, but I wouldn't listen to her. Rachel is… She's pretty much a street fighter when it comes to people she cares about, and this was her own peculiar form of warfare."

For a moment she thought Gabe had decided to tell his third lie of the day, and then she realized he wasn't lying. He honestly thought she'd done it. The weasel! But just as she worked up a little righteous indignation, the gentle understanding she saw in his eyes took it right out of her. Even believing this, he was still on her side.

"Gabe! Gabe!" Edward squealed from the next room. "Gabe, you gotta see this!"

He hesitated, and she fully expected him to tell Edward to wait, but he surprised her. Spearing his brothers with another intimidating glare, he said, "Don't either of you go anywhere. I'll be right back." He turned to Jane. "Guard her from them, will you?"

"I'll do my best."

The moment he disappeared into the family room, Rachel rose from her stool. Both brothers watched her, their expressions bewildered. As Cal set Rosie down, Rachel reached inside herself for some well-deserved rage, only to find an uneasy jumble of frustration and a twisted sort of understanding. Love had a lot of faces to it, and she was looking at two of them right now. How wonderful it would be to go through life supported by these men, no matter how misguided they were.

She spoke quietly. "I don't really care whether you believe me or not, but, just to set the record straight, Gabe's wrong. I'm not the one who vandalized the drive-in. That isn't to say I wouldn't have done it just for the reason he mentioned, but the fact is, I didn't think of it." She went on, determined to clean the slate as best she could. "And Odell didn't take my shoes. Gabe threw them out the car window on the way over here."

When Cal spoke, his tone lacked its customary antagonism. "What does Gabe mean that he asked you to marry him, and you're thinking about it?"

"It means I told him no."

Ethan frowned. "You're not going to marry him?" "You know I can't. Gabe's a soft touch. He cares about me, and that makes him protective. I guess it's a Bonner family trait." She cleared her throat, forced out the words. "Getting married is the only way he can think of to keep me out of trouble. But he doesn't love me."