Vivian Arend - Rocky Mountain Angel

Mike nodded. “I think the Whiskey Creek side are a touch green with envy right now as well. But once these two are settled in, I’ve no objection to helping you strengthen your herd.”

Gabe grinned. “Hopefully by that time I’ll be able to afford it.”

Mike winked, picked up one of the buckets and slipped down the barn toward the feed rooms.

Gabe took his time, one small pace after another, until he was beside the mare. He didn’t move, just let her sniff him, her wide nostrils flaring as she leaned down and finally nudged his shoulder.

He pressed a palm to her nose, the heat of her breath shooting out and hitting his chest.

A low hiss sounded behind him. Ben snarled, “You get your fool hands off that animal. You want to fuck up something else?”

Gabe’s tension shot skyward. Way to make a family event special—his father was such a ray of sunshine. Remembering his promise to himself, though, he stayed where he was and concentrated on not letting his anger show and further upset the pretty mare that had frozen in place at the new visitor.

“Lower your voice,” Gabe ordered.

A swear exploded from his father, and Gabe sighed. He carefully backed away from the horses. He had barely cleared four feet when a hand grabbed his shoulder and spun him.

It was obvious his father had been drinking. Figured.

The man looked him up and down with fury in his eyes. “Don’t you ever think you can start ordering me around.”

Gabe pushed past him without a word. Or he tried to. Ben grabbed his arm and locked him in position.

Gabe jerked his arm forward but it wasn’t enough to break free. “Let go.”

Ben shook his arm violently. “You want to call the shots, you try it with that woman you hooked up with. At least until she realizes what a loser you are. She’s far too good for the likes of you.”

“She is amazing, isn’t she?” Gabe ignored the insults and broke free. “Smart as well. Far smarter than you, old man.”

Ben spat to the side. “She chose you. Means she’s too stupid to know much. Maybe I should go and tell her exactly what kind of fucked-up bastard you are, before it’s too late and you screw up her life as well.”

“Leave Allison out of this.”

“Not satisfied to crawl off like you should.” Ben moved in closer, the scent of the liquor on his breath making Gabe gasp and turn away. Ben jabbed him in the arm to get his attention. “Where the hell you get off trying to tell me what to do? I’m your father, and you damn well treat me with respect.”

“I’ll treat you the way you deserve, and right now, that’s like a drunken ass.”

Gabe regretted the words as soon as they were out of his mouth. Not that they weren’t true, but this wasn’t making his own decisions, this was stooping to his father’s level.

Ben’s punch came amazingly quickly for a man too tipsy to stand without swaying. Gabe twisted aside at the last second, and the fist grazed his jaw instead of landing squarely.

The urge to swing back and lay the man out flat was incredible. He wanted to punish and hurt the way Ben had managed to wound him over the years. The way he’d torn up the family and negated all their hopes.

The image of the kittens both tightened his fists, then made him lower them. He would not join this battle. He would not move farther down the road his father walked.

Ben didn’t show the same restraint. He waded forward, fists flying. Gabe was forced to grab hold of his father’s forearms to stop from being hit. Ben’s voice rose, and in the background, the horses grew more agitated, crashing against their stalls in response to the anger and noise.

Suddenly Mike was there. Grabbing hold and pulling them apart. Gabe went willingly, his father not so much.

“Enough, Ben, calm yourself.” Mike spoke firmly, dragging his brother out of viewing range of the horses.

“His fault. Should never have come back. Nothing is right because of him.”

Gabe was still struggling for words when his uncle defended him.

“You’re not thinking straight. Gabe works as hard as you do to keep things going on the ranch.” Mike glanced at Gabe, as if willing him to step back. “You need to stop this fighting.”

“Works hard? Only at what pleases him.” Ben tore himself free from his brother’s grasp and turned to glare at Gabe. “You think you’re so smart? You have all kinds of wild ideas about improving the place? You just want to tell me I’m wrong with nothing to back it up. So, shut up. You couldn’t do any more than I have. Tear the family apart, turn us out on our asses—”

“I could run the place a damn sight better than you do,” Gabe blurted out.

His father laughed. “You’d like to think so. You and that woman, and your fairy-tale ideas of making money magically appear. It doesn’t happen like that. It’s impossible.”

“It’s not possible because you’re clinging to old-fashioned ways that are going to get us tossed out. You stubborn fool.”

“Enough.” Uncle Mike’s command cut through the tension for all of a second before the volume rose again.

“Fine—prove it,” Ben shouted. “You think you can do better than me, it’s on your head. Payments are due end of the summer. Find a way to make your pot of gold appear in time to stop us from losing everything.”

“With you blocking me at every turn?” Gabe kept his voice low, but it didn’t stop his anger from coming through. “You’d hang me without a reason, and then blame your own incompetence on me.”

“Run the show. Do all the stupid changes you’ve been itching to try. I won’t stop you. I’ll do my part in keeping the work done, but when we have to beg for an extension come September, you admit you’re the cause and get the hell out of my life for good.”

“Jesus, Ben. Think about what you’re saying,” Mike warned. “Gabe’s done nothing wrong, and that’s not a fair challenge. No way in hell can he turn things around in that short a time, not even if his ideas are good.”

“I accept.”

The words burst from him like a bullet. His father had no idea what Gabe wanted to try. Ben had no ideas, period, and that was the trouble. Working hard at losing propositions still meant you lost.

Uncle Mike shook his head. “Gabe, don’t.”

There was little chance he could win the challenge, but it was his only choice.

“I accept,” Gabe repeated. He stuck out his hand, not really expecting his father to take it.

The man hadn’t touched him in years except in anger.

Ben glanced glassy-eyed between his son and brother then walked out without another word, his boots hitting the barn floorboards with a muffled click like the ticking of a time bomb.

Gabe took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He thought through all the reasons he had for doing this, shoving aside the desire to stick it to his father. Instead he concentrated on his ma, and on Rafe. On the feeling of riding over the land in all the different conditions—sunshine and rain, cutting cold and sweltering heat. It was worth fighting for.

He opened his eyes to see Mike staring, concern written on his uncle’s face.

“Your father is drunk. You don’t have to do this.”

It was an out if he wanted it, but Gabe had secrets Ben had no idea about. All his planning and working behind the scenes? It might not be as far a reach as his father hoped to make the payments, at least if they could get moving. “I have to do this.”

“It’s not possible.” Mike stepped closer until his firm hand rested lightly on Gabe’s shoulder. “This isn’t about you, it’s his ghosts. His…hurts.”

“It doesn’t really matter why, does it? The truth is we need to change or die. He’s willing to lie down. I’m not. The challenge stands. You’re a witness if I need it once he’s sober.”

Mike didn’t say anything for the longest time, then nodded.

Gabe glanced back toward the horses. “You’ve done a lot of things differently over the years. You’re seeing the benefit of it now. Maybe I can’t catch us up in the short time, but if I can get us on the right track, it will be worth it.”

Mike sighed. “He’s not the man he used to be. Not an excuse, just a statement of fact.”

They stood in silence for another moment before Gabe dipped his head and strode from the barn.

They didn’t need to talk about it anymore—it was well known to everyone when Ben had changed.

Only Gabe knew exactly why.

The silence stretched between them. At first Allison hadn’t really noticed, just accepted his hand, said her goodbyes and let him lead her to his truck. They had already spoken that morning about stopping at her mom’s for dinner. She leaned back on the seat and into his side and relaxed after the chaos of the Coleman gathering.

The lot of them made a ton of noise when together, and the quiet in the truck cab was soothing.

Only there was tension in his body. Pressed against his side, she finally noticed it and wondered if she’d done something wrong.

Allison thought through the afternoon, but in terms of their deception, nothing had gone south. It was well accepted she and Gabe were together. Not that she forgot this was temporary—although thinking about what exactly would happen over the coming year was something she deliberately avoided.

Moving ahead with her life meant losing Mom. How could she even begin to prepare for that event?

But something was definitely going on in Gabe’s head. She didn’t have the right to ask what had upset him. Walking the line between friends and a more intimate relationship—they were only people passing each other for this short time. He could tell her what was wrong if he wanted to.