Untamed Fire (19 page)

Rafael felt a small stab of pain to his
heart. “No. I can never marry you. But you will want for
nothing.”

“I want more,” she said, holding her head up
proudly.

A shadow of anger fell across Rafael’s face.
He had thought her different, not like the other women who cried
for coins and jewels as compensation. “What do you want?”

“You cannot give me what I desire.”

Rafael’s short burst of laughter annoyed
her. “I can afford to give you anything, Gaby.”

“You are a fool,” she snapped.

“No, you are,” he said. “You have me at a
distinct disadvantage at the moment. You should make the most of it
and ask for what you wish. I will not deny you. As I said, I want
you too badly to deny you anything.”

Gaby’s dark eyes widened, and her words were
delivered with precise slowness. “And, as I told you, you cannot
give me what I desire.”

He was tired of her little game. He grabbed
her by the arms and shook her. “Tell me what it is you think I’m
incapable of giving you.”

She stared at him, wide-eyed and
frightened.

“Tell me, damn it!” he yelled.

She sighed and whispered, “Love.”

Silence filled the hot air. No birds were
heard. No tender cries of the wild animals sounded. It was as if
all life stilled for those few moments. Rafael stared at her for
several seconds before releasing her without comment. He picked up
the reins and directed the horse to be on his way.

They rode on in complete silence.

Gaby turned her head away from Rafael and
watched the beauty of the land, bursting with life, pass by. She
tried not to think of what his silence represented. She didn’t want
to, she couldn’t allow herself to. But when the hacienda came into
sight and she saw its imprisoning walls, her heart filled with pain
and a single tear slipped from her eye.

“Lupe!” Rafael yelled as he entered the
cookhouse. “Where is Gaby?”

Lupe cringed, not wanting to tell him she
had sent the girl to pick vegetables only to get her away from him.
He had been a tyrant to Gaby the last few days.

“Well, where is she? Answer me,” he
demanded.

“I sent her to pick peppers for supper.”

“I instructed her to polish the silver. I
did not know your orders carried more weight than mine.”

“I am sorry, Don Rafael. I will have her
return at once and do as you say,” Lupe said, her head bent, but
not in submission, in annoyance. She didn’t wish him to see how mad
she was at his overbearing authority. He had never been like this
before. He had always been strict, yet fair in his commands, but
lately he had been unbearable.

The other servants ran from his sight,
frightened that they would suffer the bite of his irritability.

“Make certain you see to it immediately. I
want that silver sparkling.”

“It is sparkling,
Don Rafael
,” Gaby
said, placing extra emphasis on his name as she walked into the
room and sat the full basket of peppers on the table.

“I finished it early this morning.”

She noticed the way his face masked his
vexation, and she smiled, waiting for his next command that was
meant to irritate her, but usually succeeded in irritating him.

“There are other silver pieces that
req—”

“I have seen to them all,” she said, not
allowing him to finish.

He walked toward her, his leg muscles tense
and taut. He placed his hands flat upon the table and leaned over
near her. “Have you replaced the flowers in the vases?”

“They have not withered.”

“I didn’t ask you that. I asked if you’ve
replaced the flowers.”

Gaby produced that fatal, mischievous grin.
“No, I haven’t. And they should be replaced. I’ll just get my
basket and get right to it. I’m so happy you asked me to do that. I
just love to be out in the sunshine on such a beautiful day.”

Rafael glared at her. And she waited,
certain he was about to blow steam from his nostrils.

Instead he stood straight, mumbled an
incoherent oath, and stomped out of the room like a little boy
angry for not getting his way.

Lupe crossed herself before she spoke. “You
should be more careful around Don Rafael. He is in a terrible mood
lately and it will do you no good to make it worse. It only brings
more work down upon you.”

Gaby sighed, plopped down on the chair, and
reached for a sugar bar. “I know I should curb my tongue, but he’s
been impossible.”

“It is this pending visit that has him
upset.”

Gaby nodded, although she didn’t agree. She
knew exactly what troubled him. His foul mood began shortly after
they had returned from town. He found it difficult to accept what
she had told him. And that was the reason for his petulance.

“You best pick those fresh flowers now.”
Lupe reminded her.

“You’re right. The sunshine and being away
from his sour mood will do me good.”

Gaby left the cookhouse and circled the
courtyard that spanned the dining room. She was about to turn
toward the flower gardens when she spotted Padre Jose entering the
courtyard.

“Padre,” she cried, displaying an exuberant
smile as she ran toward him.

“How are you my child?” the padre asked as
she knelt before him.

Gaby waited until he blessed her, then
stood. “I am staying out of trouble, Padre.”

“Not an easy task as I recall.”

Gaby laughed. “I didn’t cause that much
trouble at the mission.”

“You drove Padre Manuel, rest his soul,
crazy.”

“I was but a curious child.”

“Too curious, too many questions you asked,
and if I could not answer them you would find a way to discover the
answer yourself.”

“I was persistent.”

“You were a pest,” he said. “Remember the
time you asked Padre Manuel if all the candles in the church were
lit would it be too hot to hold Mass?”

“He never answered me,” she said, trying to
keep herself from laughing.

“So you decided to discover for yourself.
That morning when the padre entered the church to prepare for Mass,
every candle was burning brightly.”

“But,” she said, holding up her finger, “it
wasn’t too hot to hold Mass.”

Padre Jose shook his head and continued to
smile. “I often think you must have held a special place in Padre
Manuel’s heart, for he allowed you to get away with much.”

“He allowed her to get away with
too
much. She is disobedient and obstinate and deserving of a harsher
punishment.”

Gaby and the padre turned at the sound of
Rafael’s ill-tempered voice.

He walked toward her and stopped just inches
in front of her. It was a mistake. The sweet scent of wild flowers
drifted off her stinging his nostrils and his senses. Her smile
remained firm and confident and her eyes sparkled with devilish
joy.

He spoke with a bit more sternness then he
had intended. “You have a chore to tend to. Do you not?”

“
Si,
Don Rafael, but I only wished to
say hello to the padre.”

“You said your hello. Now do as I
ordered.”

“
Si
,” she said and turned to the
padre. “It was good to see you again, Padre Jose. Please tell my
family I was asking for them.”

“I will, my child, and be good,” he warned
with a serious smile.

“An impossible task for Gaby,” Rafael
added.

Gaby’s smile faded and she said softly and
sorrowfully, “I disappoint you. I’m sorry.” She turned and walked
away.

Rafael was stung by her sincere apology when
it was he who owed her one. He had been behaving like a spoiled
child who was determined to have his way. It wasn’t fair to her.
She had been truthful to him. He owed her the same. But the truth
hurt, for he feared he could never love anyone, that he wasn’t
capable of it.

“She can be a handful at times,” the padre
said, ending the oppressive silence. “But she means well.”

“Tell me about her. Did she really light all
the candles in the church?” Rafael asked with a grin.

“Yes, she did. Then one year she spent the
two weeks before Christmas picking the fruit that was her father
and brother’s job. They had taken ill and if the fruit hadn’t been
picked they would have had no food or coins for the holiday. Gaby
dressed like a young boy and picked till her hands were raw.”

Rafael stiffened at the thought of her
lovely hands sore with blisters.

“At Christmas Mass she sat with her hands
wrapped, unable to even cross herself properly, but her smile never
left her face, and her voice sang out the hymns the loudest.”

Lupe entered the courtyard and placed a tray
with a crystal decanter of Madeira and wine glasses on the heavy
wooden table.

“Lupe,” Rafael said, drawing her attention.
“When Gaby returns from her chore, see that one of the other girls
changes the flowers and allow her the remainder of the day to
herself.”

“
Si
, Don Rafael,” she nodded and
continued nodding with a smile as she left.

“Tell me more, Padre,” Rafael said, pouring
the wine. “Did Padre Manuel really favor Gaby?”

Padre Jose accepted the glass of wine and
took a sip before he answered, his throat parched from his trip
from town. “Yes, and I always felt it was because he was the one
who had discovered her tucked in the basket at the mission doors.
And to hear tell, she smiled at him even at that young age, and he
lost his heart to her.”

Rafael held the glass poised just before his
lips. “Gaby was left at the mission door? She is not actually the
Alvardos’s daughter?”

The padre appeared annoyed with himself. “I
shouldn’t have spoken of this. Padre Manuel had forbidden me to
tell anyone and now I’ve broken my promise.”

Rafael replaced the full wine glass on the
silver tray. “No, do not be upset. The secret is safe with me but
please, I wish to know more.”

The padre seemed puzzled. “Do you think it
has something to do with the padre’s murder?”

Rafael didn’t care for the thought.
“Anything is possible. Please continue.”

Padre Jose replied, “You must understand, I
was not here at the mission at the time and only heard of this from
Padre Manuel.”

“There was no other priest present?”

“Yes, I think... Padre Pablo. Yes, Padre
Pablo was also there, but later transferred to the San Jose
Mission.”

“Go on.”

“The babies weren’t even a year old when
they were found one morning at the mission doors.”

“Babies?” Rafael repeated.

“I forgot. There were two girls
left—twins.”

A vision of an empty cradle flashed through
Rafael’s mind.

“But it was Gaby who was smiling so wide and
brightly. I remember how the padre went on about how the baby could
still smile after all she had been through.”

“How could the padre know what she had been
through?”

Padre Jose gave thought to the idea a
moment, than shrugged. “I suppose he meant being left in a basket,
deserted, no one to love her. Anyway, the padre set about finding
good Christian homes for the girls. Gaby was taken in by the
Alvardos, being they were childless. Then soon after Dolores
Alvardo discovered she was pregnant and six children followed. They
claimed God smiled down on them because they took Gaby in, and they
love her as though she was their own.”

“And the other twin?”

“Given to another family in the parish. But
they moved near the San Jose Mission a short time afterwards.”

Rafael asked the question that had haunted
him since the padre had begun the tale. “Does Gaby know of
this?”

The padre shook his head solemnly. “No, she
knows nothing of it. She thinks the Alvardos are her true parents.
Padre Manuel felt it was best for everyone.”

Rafael wondered over the pain such news
could bring her. Would she find it difficult to accept? Would she
give thought to her real parents? That raised another question on
Rafael’s mind.

“Did Padre Manuel ever discover the twins’
true parents?”

“Not that I know of. Come to think of it, he
never even spoke of it to me. He didn’t even mention if he
searched.”

“Perhaps Padre Pablo could shed more light
on this matter.”

“Yes, I suppose he could, since he was here
when it all happened. He has a sharp mind, remembers
everything.”

“I will send him a letter requesting his
presence.”

“I’m not sure he will come.”

Rafael once again picked up his glass. “He
will come, Padre. After the donation I make to his mission, he will
come.”

Padre Jose nodded in agreement. If anything
could make Padre Pablo make a journey, it was the promise of
money.

Rafael waved his hand to two chairs. “Sit,
Padre, and tell me more of Gaby’s childhood.”

He took the offered seat. “Are you certain
you wish to hear of this? I thought you sent for me to discuss the
Holy Day Festival.”

“We will discuss the festival, but first I
wish to hear more of Gaby’s childhood antics. I find them amusing
and at the moment I can use some amusement.”

“Oh, there is much I can tell you that will
bring a smile to your face or make you laugh. Of course, it didn’t
always make the padre laugh, especially the time Gaby walked into
his quarters, thinking him gone, ready to take his robes for
washing. There stood Padre Manuel naked as the day he was born and
what did Gaby do?”

Rafael leaned forward his eyes wide.
“What?”

“She smiled and said she’d just be a moment
and casually went about picking up his robes.”

“She didn’t?”

“She did, and the padre had the metalworker
put locks on all our doors that very day.”

Rafael laughed and with each story he
laughed harder. By the time an hour had passed he realized what a
special person Gaby was and his heart ached, for he wanted her even
more badly than before.