Heartsong. Sara Walter Ellwood

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СКАЧАТЬ open door, Loretta gave him an appreciative look as she backed away.

      Fennel followed them up the stairs. “I’ll have to inspect the home, at the very least. Judge Finn wouldn’t want his grandson subjected to an unsafe environment.”

      Micki held Gabe’s narrowing gaze. Fennel might work for DFPS, but she was also on Lemont Finn’s payroll. She’d find something wrong no matter how insignificant. When had she last picked up Jesse’s toys from the small living room? She also hoped her mother had put the dirty dishes from the past two days in the dishwasher. Micki swallowed and looked over her shoulder. “Yes, of course. Follow me.”

      She glanced around the cool interior as they entered. In the small eat-in kitchen, a few plastic cups sat on the counter, but the sink was free of dishes. An old Monopoly game lay out on the small round table. In the living room to the left, two Tonka trucks that were probably old enough to have been Gabe’s were parked next to the couch. Jesse, still wearing Gabe’s hat, sat on the braided rug in front of the couch playing with his iPad. He peeked over the screen with worry etching his forehead when they entered the house with Fennel hot on their tails.

      Gabe stopped and turned in the space dividing the kitchen and living room. Crossing his arms, he stood like a barrier in front of the social worker. “You have two minutes, Miss Fennel. I suggest you start your inspection because your time is already ticking.”

      His hard jaw line and the amber stones of his eyes let Micki know he wasn’t here for her or her mother but for Jesse.

      The sudden wave of begrudging relief for his taking over the situation with the social worker turned into dread of another kind.

      What if he wanted to take Jesse away from her?

      Chapter 3

      Typical for an early September day in Central Texas, the day of the funeral dawned warm and bright. In the graveyard behind Bluebonnet Creek’s nondenominational church, Gabe stood by the side of the graves, suffocating in his new suit, which was much too warm for the hot day. He’d bought it yesterday in Brownwood, since he hadn’t brought anything suitable for the double funeral with him.

      Bluebonnet Creek’s citizens, along with the ranchers and farmers in the surrounding area, turned out for the funeral. Beyond the white picket fence, Gabe spotted several local reporters; a few from as far away as Dallas were mixed with them. His father had been a respected businessman and rancher while Frankie had been an emerging artist, not to mention the estranged daughter of a local billionaire. Legitimate news agencies stayed back, recording their pieces for their eleven o’clock shows. The paparazzi weren’t as respectful of the mourners. He’d hired security to keep them back, but many were still trying to get pictures of them.

      Normally, he didn’t mind the attention the media gave him, but today the jerks were pissing him off big time. They didn’t just want his photo; they were after his never-seen-before little brother and the woman Gabe had once been engaged to.

      Jesse sniffled beside him and tightened his grip on Gabe’s hand. His little brother was doing his honest best not to cry, but the wet tracks running down his cheeks betrayed Jesse’s pain. Gabe’s heart broke for his brother’s loss, despite his confusion over his own emotions. He held nothing but numbness in his heart for the man they shared blood with and for his wife--a woman Gabe had once considered his best friend.

      Gabe glanced at Michaela. She had her arm wrapped around the shoulders of the boy between them. They’d put their past aside for a few days while they worked together to arrange the funerals.

      Grief had taken a toll on Michaela. Her once vibrant blue eyes were dull and red rimmed. She’d used makeup to conceal the smudges of dark circles under her eyes, which only made her fatigue more noticeable.

      The black dress and low heels were also anomaliesy. She never wore anything but jeans and boots. Considering the circumstances, he shouldn’t have noticed how the jersey fabric fit over her breasts and hips and stopped just above her knee. Despite her pantyhose, the fabric showed off her long, toned legs in a way he hadn’t seen in a long time.

      He looked back at the burnished bronzed caskets. Although he didn’t feel shame for his attraction to Michaela during this moment, Gabe reminded himself of the pain she’d caused him.

      The narrowed gaze of the man standing on the other side of the grave drew his attention. If Lemont Finn mourned his eldest daughter’s untimely and tragic death, he hid the emotion well. Gabe squared his shoulders and met the man’s steady gaze with one of his own. Finn may be the richest man in the county, but Gabe’s bank account wasn’t as empty as it had been when he had lived here. He was never getting Jesse, who he wanted to bend and mold into the ruthless heir his daughters never could be.

      Jesse sniffled again and Gabe glanced at his brother. Gabe’s heart bruised a little more every time he thought about the loss of Sam and Frankie in Jesse’s young life.

      When the preacher tossed a handful of dirt onto each of the caskets, Michaela let out a loud sob. She’d held it together fairly well until then. She hugged Jesse and her back curved in with the weight of her grief. Before he thought his actions through, Gabe wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her to him with Jesse between them. She stiffened and stepped away when Jesse wrapped his arms around Gabe’s waist. Shaking from her tears, she turned to her mother. Michaela and Loretta held on to each other and sobbed.

      Gabe held the boy as the preacher finished the final prayer.

      Jesse pressed his face into Gabe’s chest and murmured too low for anyone else to hear, “I will always love you, Momma and Daddy.”

      Gabe looked down at Jesse as he held him close. Emotion crashed over him so fierce and blinding, Gabe fell to his knees. Memories of his own childhood with his father hammered at the shell he’d built around his heart. Gabe had once loved Sam McKenna as much as this sobbing boy in his arms did.

      The first tear Gabe had shed in public since his mother’s death dropped off his lash. “They know.”

      Jesse met his gaze and hiccupped. “We’re orphans now, aren’t we?”

      Gabe stroked his brother’s unruly black curls. He looked so much like Gabe had as a boy, except Jesse had inherited his mother’s blue eyes. “Yeah.” He swallowed the lump in his throat. “We are, buddy. But you will always have me.”

      Michaela rested her hand on Jesse’s shoulder, and he turned to look up at her. “And you’ve got me and Grandma. We won’t let anything ever happen to you.”

      As Gabe stood, he glanced at Lemont. The man’s challenging glare sent a shiver down his spine. Lemont put his hands into his pockets, turned away from the grave, and headed toward the social center where a meal had been set up by the church ladies.

      Jesse watched his grandfather walk away, and a tremble ran through the boy’s lean body.

      “C’mon.” Gabe squeezed Jesse’s shoulders and turned toward the church. “Let’s go.”

      Micki followed with her mother into the cool interior of the social hall. In her motorized wheelchair, Loretta stopped beside Gabe and Jesse. Gabe glanced at the older woman’s tear-streaked face as a grimace pinched her lips. Micki had told him yesterday that Loretta was in constant pain. A symptom of her multiple sclerosis.

      “You okay, Loretta?” Gabe lightly touched her shoulder.

      “I’ll СКАЧАТЬ