Heart Of Texas (Historical Romance) (30 page)

With hope in her heart, she spun around, and
he was there!

"Gabe."

He balanced her empty pie pan in his hand.
"May I come in?"

She opened the door, and he handed her the
pan. "I ate every bite myself."

"I've been waiting for you, Gabe."

"I wasn't sure." He reached for her hand, and
she moved toward him. "I hoped you would want
to see me."

"I wronged you, Gabe. And I wanted to say
again how sorry I am that I didn't trust you."

He pulled her closer. "Is that the only reason
you wanted to see me?"

She moved just the smallest bit, bringing her
head to his chest. "No. I also wanted to thank you
for sending our cattle back to us."

"Is that all?"

She raised her face to him. "I said it before,
Gabe. Are you going to make me say it again?"

"I want to hear it again."

In his own way he was making her pay penance
for not believing in him, although she doubted
he even realized it himself. She was willing to pay
his price. "I love you. I never stopped loving you
for a moment, not even when I thought you had
betrayed me, Gabe."

His hand rubbed up and down her arm as he
absorbed the sweetest words he had ever heard.

"I have needed to hold you like this. You must
know how much I want you."

She nodded. "Want and need, I do understand
those feelings. But I still need something more
from you."

He pressed his face against her hair. "What
would you have me say?"

"I have confessed several times that I love you,
Gabe. But you admit only to wanting me. You
have never told me what your true feelings are."

"I can hardly make it through each day without
wanting to see you. And the nights are the worst,
because I want you beside me so I can make love
to you."

She threw back her head, and their gazes
locked, saying more than words ever could. "You
are talking about desire; I'm talking about something else."

If Gabe couldn't confess that he loved her, they
would not stand a chance.

His eyes drifted shut, and he touched his lips
to her forehead. "I don't know what more you
want from me. I've given you more of myself than
I've ever given anyone else."

"Gabe, I know in my heart that I will only love
one man in my lifetime, and you are that man."

He crushed her against him, scattering kisses
over her face. "I need to be alone with you," he
whispered against her ear, his voice filled with
trembling need. "I need to do more than just
hold you."

Gabe jerked away from Casey when he felt a tug
on his shirt. Both he and Casey glanced down at
Jenny, who had edged her way between them with
a serious expression on her face.

"If you are going to kiss my sister, you'd better
marry her. Are you going to marry us, Gabe?" the
child demanded to know. "'Cause if you aren't,
let Casey go."

Casey could hardly keep from laughing, and
Gabe bent down to jenny, who was clasping the
new pup he had given her tightly in her arms.

"If I asked your permission to marry your sister,
would you give it?"

"She's getting pretty old," the child admitted.
"And if you don't marry her, I don't think anyone
else will."

Casey was frowning in mortification and had
arched her brow at her sister. "Jenny, what a thing
to say."

Gabe was shaking with laughter as he said, "If
you put it that way, jenny, I guess I'd better marry
her real quick."

Jenny yawned as the pup licked her face. "If you
marry her, you have to take me and Sam, and my
dog, Molly, with you, too. Casey doesn't go anywhere without us!"

He felt a warmth spread through him. This was
the family he had never had, the one he had
wanted to be a part of almost from the first time
he'd met them. The house in Casa Mesa needed Jenny's laughter, Sam's steadiness, and Casey's
loving devotion to make it a home.

"I'm glad I have your permission. Shall we ask
Casey if she'll have me?"

Jenny yawned again. "You ask her. I'm sleepy."
The child trudged back to bed.

Gabe stood up and took Casey's hand in his.
"Will you marry me, Casey?"

"Why?" she persisted.

"Because, dammit-I love you!"

She smiled and propelled herself into his arms.
"Yes! Yes, I will."

He clasped her to him, feeling the last remnants of his torture fall away. It felt as though
sunshine, dazzling and bright, had burst through
him. There were no shadows lingering in his
mind because he had found something pure and
beautiful in a woman's smile.

He had found love, and he was able to give
love. "When will you marry me? I want it to be
soon."

"It should be soon, Gabe," she admitted, pressing her face against his wide chest. "That night by
the river you left me with something of yours."

She could hear his heart rate accelerate.

"You're pregnant?"

She had suspected she was going to have a baby
for some time. She had been sure of it the day
she had ridden out to see Gabe just before his
father had been killed. "I believe so."

His arms tightened, and he touched his mouth to hers ever so gently. His face lit up with a dazzling smile. "We will be married tomorrow."

"And how will you arrange that? We have so much to talk about. I have Sam and Jenny to think
of."

"You heard jenny. She said wherever you go,
you have to take her and Sam. And that's the way
I see it."

"I do come with a family."

"They'll be my family, too. I'll make sure you
have enough good hands to work the Spanish
Spur to help Sam. He'll live with us until he's old
enough to take over here for himself. By that time
he should know everything we can teach him."

She laughed as happiness spilled from her
heart. "You have it all figured out, don't you,
Gabe?"

His hand went to her stomach. "I like the
thought of you carrying my child." He raised her
face so he, could look into her eyes. "You have
changed my life, Casey. You have given me a family, and now you are going to give me a baby."

"I wanted to be what you needed. I've always
wanted to help you."

He was frowning. "So you knew about the baby
that night in the barn when I asked you to marry
me? And yet you refused my marriage proposal. I
don't understand. You let me go away not knowing I had fathered a child?"

"I wanted you to stay for the right reasons, not
because you thought you had to."

"You would have borne the stigma of having a
child out of wedlock rather than accept me at that
time?"

"No. For the child's sake I had decided that we
would sell the ranch and go back to Virginia. I
couldn't let my baby grow up without a last name.
I love this child because it is the part of you that
I can keep with me."

He lifted her in his arms and sat down in a
chair. He had to swallow several tries before he
could speak. "I don't deserve you, Casey, but I
love you so damned much it hurts. You have my
oath, with God as my witness, I will make you a
good husband."

"I know you will. We've gone through some
hard times, but it was worth it."

He tilted her chin and made her look at him
again. "I am a Slaughter." His hand moved across
her stomach. "This child is a Slaughter; you will
be taking the name as well."

She touched her cheek to his.-"You have made
the name a proud and noble one. I will be honored to be Mrs. Gabriel Slaughter."

"I'll be taking you to Casa Mesa, and I have to
warn you, there is not a stick of furniture in the
house."

"That's nothing. When we arrived here, there
was no furniture either. But I have to know," she
asked with humor in her smile, "do you have
chickens in your house?"

Gabe hurried through the house, up the stairs,
and into the bedroom. He stopped still when he
saw how pale Casey was, lying against the stark
white pillowcase.

She smiled at him. "You got here quickly."

"I damned near broke my neck getting here."

Casey had known when she awoke that morning that her baby was about to be born. Kate had
been staying with them for the last three weeks so
she would be with Casey when her time came.
That morning Casey had encouraged Gabe to
ride over to the Spanish Spur with Sam to supervise the spring roundup.

"Come and meet your baby, Gabe."

He came to her, going down on his knees and
kissing her lips. "I wouldn't have gone this morning if I had known you were going to have the
baby."

She pressed a fingertip against the worried frown on his brow. "Kate informed me that husbands just get in the way at a time like this. I
thought you would be better off elsewhere."

He kissed her fingers. "Are you sure you are all
right?"

"I have never been better."

He heard a soft noise and glanced down for the
first time upon the face of his child. His breath
caught as the baby shoved a small fist in its mouth.

"Casey," he said, gently touching the soft head
that was covered with dark hair, just like his. "It's
so small. I never knew babies could be this little."

"He's your son, Gabe. He's so lucky to have a
father like you."

Emotions hit him hard and fast. As the small
hand curled around his finger, he leaned forward
and touched his lips to the soft cheek, loving the
tiny creature who had made him a father.

"He's wonderful."

"Yes, he is. See how dark his skin is-he will
carry on your mother's heritage."

"Yes," he said as his finger drifted into her hair.
"I see that."

She tugged on his hand, urging him to sit beside them.

"I'm dusty from the cattle drive."

"Your son won't mind, and neither will I."

Gabe carefully moved onto the bed and looked
questioningly at his wife. "Can I pick him up?"

"Of course you can. He belongs to you. You will guide him and shape him into the kind of man
you can be proud of as a son."

Gently he lifted the child, but he panicked
when the little head bobbled, and he quickly
caught it and braced it in his hand. "I never knew
that there could be such a strong feeling."

"It's the love a father has for his child, I would
imagine."

Gabe's eyes were bright as he held his son to
him. "You have made me very happy, Casey."

She smiled. "And this is just our beginning,
Gabe. We have such adventures awaiting us. Each
day I discover more wonderful things about you."

He grinned. "Do you now?" His eyes flamed
with sudden passion. "Hurry and recover from the
birth. I have more wonderful things to do to you."

Her laughter rang out just as jenny burst
through the door. "Where's my baby? Kate told
me he was in here."

Gabe laid the baby down and lifted jenny onto
the bed. "You will have to be careful with your
sister until she is stronger, so don't shake the
bed."

Jenny bent over and looked at the tiny face
peeping out of the blanket. "He's all wrinkly."

Casey laughed. "Yes, he is, but he'll grow out of
it."

Jenny was satisfied to sit beside the baby and
hold his small hand in hers. "He's much better
than a puppy."

Sam came running into the room and went di rectly to Casey's side of the bed. "Are you all
right?"

"I am just fine. And you, Samuel, are an uncle
now."

He grinned down at the baby in wonderment.
`Do you think I could hold him?"

"Sure. But you'll have to support his head,"
Gabe said, acting as if he were already an expert
on the matter.

Casey watched the four people she loved most.
They were a close family, a happy one. There were
no longer nightmares to disturb Gabe's sleep, because she slept in his arms every night.

Jenny was still as precocious and delightful as
ever. She seemed to look upon Gabe almost as a
father. And he adored her.

Sam was growing up. She could swear he had
grown two inches in the last few weeks. He took
his guidance from Gabe, and he was learning responsibility so he could one day take over the running of the Spanish Spur.

Casey looked into her husband's eyes. He
would be there, guiding them all with his
strength. He was still watching over them, just as
he had from the beginning.