Untamed Fire (38 page)

“You have no clue as to whom the person was
that paid you all these years?” Gaby asked.

“He still does pay the mission. He’s never
stopped,” the padre responded.

“How is the money delivered?” Rosalita
asked.

“It is left every Sunday in the poor
box.”

“And what of the person in Spain who wished
the twins harm?” Gaby questioned, still trying to place the
remaining pieces.

“Greed mixed with fear was the only thing we
were told at the time,” the padre explained. “You must be careful,”
he continued. “Let Rafael handle this. Do not concern yourself with
it.”

Both nodded, silently praying and asking for
forgiveness for the lie they had just told.

“Padre, has Rafael spoken to you about our
impending marriage?” Gaby asked, anxious to have the old priest
marry them.

“Yes, my child. The very first day of my
arrival he asked me to unite you and him in marriage. I will be
happy to officiate before I return to my mission.”

Gaby hastily figured the time in her head.
He had asked the padre before he had told her he loved her. He had
all intentions of marrying her. He had known she wasn’t one of the
twins, but it hadn’t matter, and he hadn’t told anyone of it to
protect her. He loved her, honestly and truly loved
her
,
Gaby Alvardo.

Gaby let out a yelp of joy and threw her
arms around the old priest, hugging him. “Oh, Padre, thank you. You
don’t know how happy you’ve made me.”

“I’m glad you are so pleased with my
marrying you,” the padre said.

Gaby smiled, pulled Rosalita along, and bid
a quick good-bye to the padre.

“I’m so happy for you,” Rosalita said,
hugging Gaby as they stepped outside the chapel. “It must be
wonderful to marry someone who loves you so much.”

Gaby wrapped her arm around Rosalita’s as
they walked. “I had my doubts; I couldn’t help it. After all, who
would think Rafael Cabrillo could love
me
?”

“You’re wrong. It should be who would think
Gaby Alvardo would love Rafael Cabrillo,” Rosalita corrected.

Both women laughed.

“Are you sorry you’re a Galvez?” Gaby
asked.

“No, I’m not. At least now I know who I am,
after years of wondering.”

“You know you weren’t really part of the
family that cared for you?” Gaby asked incredulously. The Alvardos
had never made her feel as if she did not belong. To them she had
been their child and they treated her as if she had been their own.
Gaby suddenly ached, feeling the loneliness Rosalita must have
suffered.

“They did their best,” was all she would
say. “We’re supposed to meet
Mother
in a few minutes.
Remember we promised her?”

Gaby nodded. “Do you think she had anything
to do with our abduction?”

“You mean in trying to protect us in some
way?”

Gaby shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s just that
I get a strange feeling that she wished we had never been
found.”

“That she’s more interested in herself?”

“You get that feeling too?”

“I certainly do,” Rosalita agreed. “She
talks so much about Spain and its splendor that I wonder what is
really important to her.”

“And do you see the way she looks at Don
Felipe when he orders her to do something?”

“She looks as though she wants to kill
him.”

Both women stopped walking and stared at
each other.

Rosalita spoke first, expressing exactly
what was on both their minds. “Do you suppose we presented some
kind of threat to her?”

“Perhaps money had something to do with
it.”

“Do you think she would have gotten more if
we weren’t around?”

Gaby bit at her lower lip for a moment. “I
suppose our dowries—I should say your dowry—is substantial.”

“But she probably still would have been well
provided for,” Rosalita added.

“Then it had to be something—when
discovered—would have caused her great harm.”

Rosalita nodded in agreement. “But want?
What could be so harmful to her?”

“I don’t know, but perhaps on our ride we
can ask questions that will help us better understand her.”

“Then let’s hurry,” Rosalita said, pulling
Gaby along.

~~~

Dona Maria poured each woman a cold glass of
lemonade as they sat in the shade of the large tree whose branches
hovered over the table in the courtyard.

“Dona Isabel was extremely upset that she
couldn’t keep the riding date with you girls. Her headache has
grown worse and she has taken to her bed for the remainder of the
day.”

“I do hope she feels better tomorrow,”
Rosalita said.

“I’m sure she will. She asked me to have you
both join her for the noon meal tomorrow. She wants to be able to
speak with the two of you alone.”

“What about you, Dona Maria?” Gaby
asked.

“You mustn’t worry about me any longer,
Gaby. It is no longer your job, although I do appreciate your
thoughtfulness.”

Gaby hesitated a moment, not certain if she
should speak what was on her mind. “Dona Maria, does it upset you
that I will become Rafael’s wife?”

The older woman reached her hand across the
table to Gaby’s and squeezed it. “Child, I am proud that you are
going to become my son’s wife. He needs someone like you and, most
importantly, he loves you. I cannot wait for the grandchildren you
both will give me. They are going to be little devils and I will
love every one of them.”

Gaby was pleased by her words and wished she
could tell her a grandchild was already on the way. But she had
promised Rafael the secret would be theirs until they decided
otherwise.

“I thought perhaps since I wasn’t exactly
the type of woman you had in mind—”

“Nonsense,” Dona Maria interrupted. “I was a
foolish old woman set in her ways. You made me realize what beauty
there is in all different people, and Dona Isabel only confirmed
the reason I had wanted to leave Spain in the first place. Ramon
and I had become discouraged with the ruling class in Spain. We
both yearned for a more simple way of life. When Eduardo Ortega
wrote us, detailing the beauty of the land, we didn’t hesitate. I
love this land and its people. I just needed to be reminded.”

“I knew there was a hidden strength in you
the very first time I saw you.”

Dona Maria wrinkled her nose in distaste.
“That woman in the wheelchair was a pitiful sight. I cringe just
thinking about her and am grateful that she no longer exists.”

“She was strong. It didn’t take her long to
realize what she was doing to herself,” Gaby said.

“No, it didn’t, especially when she was
given a gentle, but determined nudge,” Dona Maria added with a soft
smile.

“How nice to be loved so much,” Rosalita
said tearfully.

There was something wrong, Gaby could feel
it. Rosalita remarked too often about being loved. Gaby had the
distinct feeling love was one thing that was painfully missing in
Rosalita’s life.

“You must join us tomorrow, Dona Maria.”
Rosalita insisted. “It isn’t fair that you will have your meal
alone.”

Dona Maria blushed. “I won’t be having it
alone. Senor Serra is picking me up in the morning and we are going
to his ranch for the day. He is having a few neighbors over,” she
quickly added, making certain that the women knew that they
wouldn’t be sharing the day alone.

“How wonderful,” Gaby said. “He is such a
nice man.”

“Very nice,” Dona Maria said with a
satisfied smile.

“Gaby, I wish to speak with you!”

She didn’t jump, startled by Rafael’s stern
voice, as Rosalita and Dona Maria did. She was too accustomed to
him by now to allow his stern manner to surprise her.

“Rafael,” she cried and rushed to his side
to give him a kiss on his cheek. “Thank you so much for allowing us
to go to town this morning. We had such a wonderful time.”

Rafael tried to hide the grin that was
fighting to surface. She was purposely trying to divert his
annoyance, and she was doing a damn good job of it. He had never
expected her to openly display her affection for him and he found
that he liked it... liked it very much.

“I want to speak with you,” he said with as
much sternness as possible.”

“First join us for some lemonade,” she
insisted, tugging him along beside her. “It is hot, and you should
take a moment to have a cool, soothing drink.”

He found himself at the table and suddenly
deep in conversation about their wedding. He didn’t know how it
happened, or how the subject got started, but there he was planning
along with his mother and Gaby, while Rosalita kept commenting on
how beautiful the wedding would be.

“Enough!” Rafael finally yelled.

Gaby couldn’t help but grin sheepishly.

He leaned over to her and whispered. “You’re
going to pay for this.”

“Promise?” she whispered back, and Rafael
felt himself harden.

“Mother, Rosalita, will you please excuse
us?” he said and prepared to stand.

“Stay, Rafael,” his mother said. “Rosalita
and I haven’t had a chance to talk. We’ll go to my sitting
room.

“He won’t hurt her, will he?” Rosalita
whispered to Dona Maria as they left.

“He loves her. He would never hurt her.”

“Even when someone loves, he can hurt,”
Rosalita said, and Dona Maria wondered who had loved the young girl
and hurt her all at once.

“What have I done now?” Gaby asked in a
resigned tone.

“You upset Padre Pablo.”

“You mean I finally got the truth out of
him.”

Rafael shook his head and ran his hand
across his face in frustration. “You were to stay out of this and
leave everything to me.”

“You lied to me,” she said.

“It was necessary.”

“I have a right to know who I am.”

“I agree.”

“You should have told me.”

“When the time was right, I would have.”

“Is the time right?” she asked softly.

He took her hand. “Come with me.”

Gaby didn’t ask where. Rafael didn’t think
she would, and he was glad for that meant she trusted him.

He took her into the grape arbor, deep into
the center. It was cool and silent. They sat on the stone bench
that bordered the trellis where the grapes hung the heaviest.

Rafael sat next to her, holding tightly to
her hand. He looked uncertain, yet so handsome. His white shirt was
open at the neck and Gaby wanted to touch her lips to his throat
and taste the heavy pounding of his pulse. But she refrained
herself and sat silently, waiting.

“I lost Annabelle Galvez a long time ago.
There was nothing I could do to save her. I was too young, too full
of dreams. At first I thought if you were Annabelle it would solve
all our problems, but then I realized it would only create
more.”

He turned and looked at her. “I fell in love
with you, not the tiny baby who had long ago clung to my finger.
She was gone, lost long ago, and through no fault of mine.”

“Rafael—”

“Shhh,” he said, pressing his finger to her
lips. “Let me finish. I have thought much about the things you have
said to me. We do make our own choices, for whatever reason. Anna
chose to protect our son with her life. I chose not to go that day,
and if I had, I would have chosen to die protecting them. I cannot
go on thinking of what would have been; I can only think of what is
now. And now means you and me. I will do all I can to protect you
always... but I know,” —he stopped and smiled— “you will be
obstinate and do as you wish thereby making your own choices, wrong
or right. I ask only one thing now.”

She waited for him to continue, feeling more
love for him now than ever before.

“You and Rosalita are in danger. Where this
danger comes from I am not certain, and I ask that you be careful
and take no chances.”

Gaby squeezed his hand. “I can try.”

“Trying may get you hurt,” he argued.

“It may, but I need to help Rosalita. There
is sadness about her and I don’t know why. But perhaps in
uncovering her past she will be able to face her future.”

“Then I will handle it.”

“With my help.”

“You are stubborn.”

“I’ve been told repeatedly.”

Rafael grabbed her by the arms and pulled
her into his lap. He cradled her firmly in one arm while his other
hand pressed against her belly.

“I want nothing to happen to you or our
child.”

“I’ll be careful,” she promised.

“Not good enough this time,” he insisted.
“This time you
will
listen.”

Thinking there was nothing he could do to
stop her, she grinned and said, “What could you possibly do to me
if I don’t obey you?”

He brought his face close to hers. “I could
lock you in the shed—tie you up—make love to you until you slept
from exhaustion, and when you woke do the same to you again until I
solve this problem.”

She shivered from his suggestion. The
thought of being locked and tied away angered her, yet the idea of
him making love to her under forced circumstances held a touch of
sensuality to it, and she couldn’t help but respond to the strange
stimulant.

“Sounds appealing?” he whispered near her
ear.

“Of course not,” she fibbed, squirming.

“I like the idea of having you helpless
beneath me, my hands free to do as they wish, my tongue free
to—”

“Stop it,” she warned him.

“Why? Does it excite you?”

“No, it doesn’t excite me to be held a
prisoner,” she demanded while silently praying for forgiveness for
her lie.

He ran his hand down her thigh. “Then if I
touch you, you won’t be wet and ready for me?”

She shivered once again. Damn, but his words
always managed to ignite her passion. “No, I won’t” she said
stubbornly and slapped at his hand.

He laughed and slipped beneath her skirt
anyway.

“I said, stop that,” she insisted, slapping
at his hand again.