Evanesce (The Darkness #2) (17 page)

Weeks passed uneventfully.
Jacobs’ Ranch was flourishing under Nora’s leadership, finally returning to its former glory decades before. Gabe moved out of the guest room, ignoring Nora’s half-hearted protests that it was too soon. They had wasted enough time during the two years they were apart. He wasn’t willing to wait another second.

Brady returned to Louisiana to work his part of the case from there and to be with Gwyn, he was expected to return in a few weeks when they would collate all the information they had managed to collect. Strangely, the abductions seemed to have stopped. There was no sign of the Kenner’s baby, which was heart-breaking for them. Nora was devastated for Sydney. The pain she was in was obviously excoriating over the loss of her child.

Theo and Quinn were still knee deep in researching crimes of the past and families that may have ancestors with a grudge against Norton Springs. They disappeared for hours at a time to work at the local library. Nora suspected there was more going on there, but wisely kept her mouth shut. Gabe would go bezerk if he thought his best friend was hooking up with his little sister. That wasn’t a fight she was ready to be involved in until her suspicions were confirmed. She’d made a mental note to corner Quinn at a later date to get some answers. At the moment, she had other things to worry about.

Standing up from the toilet, Nora wiped her sweaty brow. This was the third day in a row she had woken with nausea and subsequently vomited. Her breasts felt tender and she was having trouble remembering her last menstrual cycle. All the signs were pointing to…

“No. I can’t be. Can I?” Thinking back, there was several times that she and Gabe had sex without a condom. But she was on the pill.

“Ugh, Nora, you sound like an ignorant teenager,” she muttered to herself. Splashing cold water on her face, she sighed. She had no choice. She had to go into town to get a test and find out forsure whether or not she was pregnant.

Stomping down the stairs, she grabbed her keys and headed out the front door. “Stupid, Nora. So bloody stupid.”

“Hey, don’t talk about my girl like that,” Gabe’s voice startled her from behind. Plastering a fake smile on her face, she turned to face him.

“Where are you going?” he asked, eyeing her purse and keys.
Play it cool, Nora.

“I don’t have to tell you my every move. You’re not my father,” she snapped.
Great, just fucking great.

Gabe looked stunned at her outburst, hurt flashing across his face. “I damn sure don’t think of myself as your father, for God’s sake, Nora. But you do need to tell me where you’re going. You know things aren’t safe at the moment.” He was completely bewildered at her attitude.

“Look, I’m sorry okay. It’s just—it’s just the tension and worry getting to me. I’m just going to run to town to pick up a few feminine things and I’ll be right back,” she told him, leaning up to place an apologetic kiss on his cheek.

Gabe had been ready to fight to accompany her, but at the mention of “feminine things,” he changed his mind. He did not want to be carrying maxi pads and Midol around for her. He loved her, but not that damn much.

“Alright, baby. Pick yourself up a bottle of wine too while you’re there. We’ll have some with dinner tonight. And keep your cell on,” he ordered. Nora nodded and then made her escape, forcing her legs not to run to her truck.

Gabe watched her disappear down the long drive and out onto the main road. Shaking his head, he wondered about her snappy temper.
Women,
he brushed it off and wandered off to find what Theo was spending the morning working on.

Nora pulled up to the shopping mart and cut the engine. Her hands were shaking on the wheel and her breathing was coming in shallow pants.
Calm down, it’s probably nothing but something weird you ate. You aren’t pregnant.

Entering the store, she headed straight for the family planning section. Rows and rows of pregnancy tests stared back at her. “Jesus. How do you pick,” she mumbled, examining a few boxes. Choosing one that guaranteed results in two minutes, she headed to the cashier. Thankfully, the young girl behind the counter wasn’t someone she recognized. Paying for the test, she asked, “May I use your restroom, please?” The girl sent her a sympathetic look and pointed to the back of the store.

“Sure, ma’am. It’s in the back by the drink coolers. You don’t need a key or anything.” Muttering a thanks, Nora rushed into the bathroom and locked the door. Peeing on a damn stick was not fucking easy. She got more on her hands than she did on the test and swore out loud. Panicked, she set it on the counter and yanked the other test from the box to try again. Squatting lower, she repeated the steps and then had nothing to do for two minutes but wait.

They say before you die, your life flashes before your eyes. The same can be said for those monumental moments. Two minutes felt like a lifetime—images of her love story with Gabe flowed through her mind. Their first kiss. The first time they rode a horse together. Pulling cattle and kissing while covered in the most disgusting fluids, not caring since they had just witnessed the miracle of life.

Nora’s eyes popped open. The miracle of life. Gabe would be a good father, he had more than proved that over the years. The fear she had now was would he be ready now…or would the news send him running again? Opening her eyes, Nora eyed the two tests. It was time to find out.

Picking them up, she took a deep breath and turned the tests over. Two pink lines on one. Two pink lines on the other. Positive. The test was positive. She was carrying Gabe’s child. Like it or not, she was about to find out how serious he was about being back in her life.

Throwing the tests into the plastic bag, she stuffed it all in her purse and rushed out of the bathroom. “Ooomph!” she burst out when she collided with a hard chest. Strong arms came up to steady her before she went crashing to the ground.

“Oh my God, I’m so sorry. I didn’t see you there,” she apologized. Looking up, she gasped when she saw the handsome man.

He grinned at her and pulled her in for an embrace, her head fitting perfectly in his arms. “It’s quite alright, beautiful girl. The fault is mine. Although, I’m not sorry to see you again, Nora.” His voice was exactly how she remembered it, smooth as silk.

“Marcus Drake. What are you doing back in town?”

“I
t’s going to
be complicated and horrendously painful, however I believe we can grant your request, Mr. Drake.” The doctor had a nasally voice that grated on Marcus’s last nerve. Stifling the urge to put his fist through the man’s face, he forced a tight smile.

“Wonderful. I expect to get started right away. No delays. No mistakes.” His tone left no room for argument, his stare hard as he held the doctor’s eye. The temperature dropped a few degrees as Marcus stood, straightening his tie.

“Remember what I said, Dr. Lowe. No mistakes. I am not the man you want to cross.”

Dr. Lowe’s hands crunched the photographs in his hands as he audibly swallowed. Was it wise to be getting involved with the self-proclaimed king of the Black Market? Definitely not.

Shady doctors such as himself had heard the tales of Marcus’s wrath, but also of his generosity if he was pleased with the work provided to him. All he could do now was pray that his genius with a scalpel would save his ass from being chopped up for parts and sold to the highest bidder. This request from Marcus was unlike anything he had ever attempted before, but if he valued his life…he had to pull it off. There was no turning back now.

“I understand Mr. Drake. I assure you, I can make this happen. You just need to understand…to undo a change as drastic as this—it will be impossible. This will be permanent.” Dr. Lowe didn’t want to be in the line of fire if Marcus changed his mind a few months down the line.

“All you need to worry about is pleasing me with this job, Dr. Lowe. The rest is not your concern. When can we begin? I do not want any delays, the timeline of this needs to be perfect,” he informed him.

“I have cleared my schedule after this week. We can begin on Monday.”

Marcus’s grin was cold and full of malice. “Splendid.”

G
abe fingered the
ring box in his pocket and pulled on the neck of the damned dress shirt his mother had insisted he wear. Telling his mother about his plans to propose to Nora was the worst mistake he’d ever mind. She had promptly burst into tears and started fluttering about. Nattering his ear off about how he needed rose petals and candles and a moonlight walk to set the mood. “A girl only gets a moment like this once in her life, Gabriel,” she had scolded him when he started complaining she was going overboard.

So thanks to his mother, he was stuffed into an uncomfortable suit next to an elegantly decorated candlelit table for two on the farthest point of Nora’s ranch. There was twinkling yellow lights strung up in the trees and rose petals surrounding their chairs. His father had been no help at all, he had just shrugged and told him to “get used to it.”

To make matters worse, Theo had caught him up on the ladder hanging the damn lights and just about had a heart attack from laughing so hard. He was lucky he had got away with all his teeth intact. Gabe shifted his feet and checked his watch. 7:05pm. The note he had sent Nora told her to arrive promptly t 7pm, just for fun he had added for her to dress in her sexiest dress. So where the fuck was she? A few more minutes went by and no sign of Nora. Dread started to fill him, had something happened to her? Anyone that touched a hair on her head would die a bloody death. Pulling out his phone he started dialing Theo’s number.

The sound of approaching hooves had his hand freezing, about to press the send key to connect the call. Nora was atop her prized steed, Shadow; her long black hair flowing out behind her as she flew across the grounds. She was magnificent; a vision. Pulling on the reins, she brought Shadow to a stop a few feet away from Gabe. Dismounting, she secured his reins to a nearby tree and walked towards Gabe. In simple jeans and a plaid shirt. She had clearly disobeyed his instructions on the card he sent, probably pissed at his bossiness.

Jealousy filled him as he stared at her comfortable jeans in dismay. There he was dressed up in a monkey suit and she looked ready for another day on the ranch.
Damn you, Mother.

Walking towards him, Nora hid a giggle behind her hand. “I guess you weren’t kidding about wanting me to dress up,” she teased him, a sparkle in her eye. Gabe snatched her into his arms and kissed her hard, dipping her slightly.

“You know damn well I wasn’t kidding. And you’re late,” he added, letting her go. Nora sighed happily and wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug.

“Sorry about that, I lost track of time going over the accounts. I really need to hire an accountant,” she told him. The truth was, she had been a bundle of nerves ever since she had learned she was pregnant a month earlier. She’d been searching for the right moment to break the news to Gabe, but so far, hadn’t found the courage or opportunity to share the news. She was running on borrowed time; as she was starting to show. It was miniscule, but it was there and all that Nora could see when she looked in the mirror.

When the note arrived from Gabe to meet him for dinner, she thought she had been found out. That Marcus had spilled the beans to a mutual friend and Gabe had heard it through the small town grapevine. When she read the part about the
sexy dress
, she realized that must not be the case, as he wouldn’t ask her to dress up just to break it off and leave town again. Thinking of the day that she had discovered she was pregnant, she realized that she hadn’t told Gabe about him being back in town. She made a mental note to fill him in later.

“We’ll look into it next month for you, we can put up some ads in the paper.” Gabe smiled at her and did a slow half-turn with her still in his arms. Seeing the beautifully decorated clearing, Nora gasped.

“Gabe! You did all this?” Nora was shocked. Gabe was by no means a selfish lover, but grand romantic gestures weren’t really his thing.