Gabe (Men of Clifton Montana Book 2) (16 page)

She
stomped her foot in frustration.
“
Ooooh
!
Get out of my way!” She pushed
at his hard chest, and then walked around him and into the house, slamming the
door behind her. She hoped he was hungry because she wasn’t making him dinner.
He could starve for all she cared.

The next
day, Olivia and
Becca
came
by for a visit. Emma was so happy to see someone other than Gabe and the ranch
hands. They sat in the living room talking when Gabe came through and said
hello to them. He scowled at her and headed for his office. She knew
Becca
and Olivia were watchi
ng her with loads of unasked questions. She heaved a sigh.
“He manhandled me yesterday, and so I’m not speaking to him,” she explained.

Olivia
burst out laughing. “You go, girl.”

Emma
laughed even though she was still angry about it. She told them about th
e incident in the barn. Somehow, telling her friends about
it made her realize the silliness of it, and how overprotective Gabe was
acting. She realized she liked the idea. Soon they were laughing over it when
Gabe came back through the room. They quit lau
ghing
and looked at him innocently. He narrowed his eyes, and then left the room. The
women howled with laughter.

After
they left, Emma decided to take a long soak in the tub. The afternoon had worn
her out. She knew Gabe was right and she needed to rest,
but he just didn’t understand how lonely it was to be stuck
indoors with no one for company. Her mother had visited a few times, but Emma
needed to get out. She took her clothes off, wrapped her hair on top of her
head, and slid down into the tub. She clos
ed her eyes
and leaned her head back. When she heard the back door open downstairs, she
knew Gabe had come in. She could hear his boot heels clicking on the floor.
Listening, she heard him come up the stairs and enter their bedroom. He paused
outside the b
athroom door and she held her breath.
When he knocked quietly on it, she exhaled and told him to come in. He entered
and after putting the lid down on the toilet, he took a seat there. She refused
to look at him. She bit her lip to keep from smiling when s
he heard him release a deep sigh. She waited.

“I’m
sorry about yesterday, Emma. I shouldn’t have reacted like that.” She heard him
pause. “I didn’t want you to hurt yourself.”

Emma
glanced up at him. He’d never looked more gorgeous even with sweat stains o
n his shirt, and his jeans and boots had dust all over
them. His hair hung down over his forehead, and a shadow of sexy stubble
covered his jaw. Even though he shaved every morning, by late afternoon the
stubble was back. She took a deep breath, partly in
appreciation
of his apology and partly in appreciation of his undeniable sexiness.

“It’s
all right, Gabe. I do understand, but I know how to take care of myself and I
know how I feel. I just wanted to see Beauty. I’m only a little sore. I won’t
overdo it.”
Gabe nodded as if he understood, and got
to his feet. She gazed up at him, her body warming with a heat brought on by
more than the hot water. “You’re awfully dirty, Gabriel Stone. I think you need
a bath.”

“
Ya
think?” he asked. When she
nodded, he kneele
d by the side of the tub and put his
hand down in the water. “I suppose I could take a shower in the other
bathroom.” Gabe swirled his hand through the water.

Emma
smiled. “Why waste water when this tub is full?”

Gabe
leaned forward to kiss her but then st
opped. Their
eyes met until Gabe dropped his gaze to her lips. He moved closer. With his
lips barely touching hers, he whispered. “Were you planning on staying in there
too?”

She
nibbled at her lip, trying to look like she was giving it some serious though
t. She touched his face. “I guess I can, if you want me
to.” She felt his soft laughter against her lips before he captured them in a
deep kiss. He moved to sit on the edge of the tub. Emma couldn’t resist, she
grabbed his shirt and pulled him into the tub
. He let
out a yell. Water sloshed over the side of the tub. Gabe laid across her
sideways his legs holding his weight off her.

“Now you
definitely won’t get out of here,” he told her with a deep sexy laugh.

She
kissed him. “What makes you think I want to?
”

Two
hours later, Emma woke up alone. Gabe had already left their bed. She smiled
remembering their lovemaking. He never failed to please her in every way
possible. She climbed from the bed, grimacing a bit from the stiffness, which
tended to set in when
she slept. After steadying
herself on her feet, she carefully put on her sweatpants and T-shirt, before
going to the kitchen to make a sandwich. Gabe had made her work up an appetite,
which was a good thing she didn’t mind.

Upon
entering the kitchen, she d
ecided to give Olivia a
call. She hated that Olivia was all alone at the B and B except for the guests.
It would close in two weeks for the season, and then her friend would be
totally alone. A new cook had been hired to take Emma’s place, but she wasn’t g
oing to live there. Emma still helped occasionally but the
more her pregnancy progressed, she knew she wouldn’t be able to continue and
since her injury, she felt useless.

She
picked up her cell phone and dialed Olivia’s phone. There was no answer. She
tri
ed again, but still no answer. It wasn’t like
Olivia not to have her phone on, and with her. Emma started to feel a panic
rise in her gut. She called the B and B front desk.

“Clifton
Bed and Breakfast,” Stacy answered, sounding very efficient yet friendly.

“Stacy,
it’s
Emma. Can I talk to Liv?”

“Sure,
let me get her.” Emma knew Stacy had put the call on hold while she went to
find Olivia by the corny music now playing in her ear. When the sound clicked
off, she expected Olivia’s voice but it was Stacy again
. “I’m sorry, Emma. I can’t find her right now. Her car’s here though.
I’ll tell her to call you, okay?”

“Sure,”
Emma answered as she disconnected the call. She thought she might be
hyperventilating the way her head was pounding, and she couldn’t seem to b
reathe. She pulled out a chair and sat down while trying to
catch her breath. She heard Gabe enter the kitchen and drop to his knees in
front of her.

“Emma?
What is it?” She heard the panic in his voice as she shook her head. “Take a
deep breath, baby, and
tell me what’s going on. Are
you okay?”

“Liv…”
She raised her gaze to look at him through tears.

“Liv, what?”
Gabe took her hands in his.

“I
called her to talk to her and she didn’t answer, so I called Stacy but she
can’t find her.” She stared at Gabe as
fear clutched
her gut. “What if someone took her? What if whoever shot me isn’t just after
me?”

From the
look on Gabe’s face, she knew he’d never considered that possibility, but he
had now. He stood and glanced around as if trying to consider what best to
do. “I’ll go over there and find her.”

Gabe was
just about to leave when Emma’s cell rang, the screen lit up with Olivia’s
picture.

“Liv?”
she answered cautiously, and sighed with relief when Olivia answered her. Emma
looked up at Gabe and nodded. She kne
w he was
genuinely relieved when he pulled out a chair, took a seat, and exhaled. When
she ended the call, she glanced at him and shrugged her shoulders. “She had
Punkin
outside to do her business.” She
grinned suddenly feeling foolish for overreacting.

“
P
unkin
?”
Gabe asked with a frown
furrowing his handsome forehead.

“The
Aussie we gave her.”

Gabe
jerked upright and out of the chair. “She named her Aussie,
Punkin
? You’re kidding me, right? Her purebred Australian
Shepherd is named
Punkin
?” he hissed the
word out through a clenched jaw.

She
laughed at his indignation. “Yours is named Annie.”

“I call
her Annie. Her registered name is St. Anna of Montana.”

Emma
lost it then, she laughed so hard tears began to run down her face. “Why didn’t
you just call her
Anna Montana?” She laughed harder
when Gabe glared at her unhappily. She saw his mouth twitch in annoyance under
his mustache as he sat back down.

“Okay. I
get it. But in my own defense, I didn’t name Annie. A little girl from the 4-H
did.”

She
continued t
o laugh then squealed when Gabe scooped
her out of the chair. “Let’s see if I can make you stop laughing, Missus
Stone,” he growled in her ear as he carried her up the stairs.

“You can
try, Mister Stone. You can always try.”

* * * *

The
month of October
brought the first snow and as
always, it was beautiful. The cottony looking flakes covered the grass slowly
at first, but with more effort as the afternoon progressed. Emma sat on the
couch in the living room staring into a roaring fire. The crackling soun
ds and the smell of the burning wood soothed her and made
her feel safe. She rubbed her hand over the little bump where her baby grew a
little bigger every day. Gabe was in the arena training a horse for a client
and she knew he’d be out there for hours. H
er wound
had healed enough she could move easily without feeling even the slightest
pinch or pain.

A knock
at the front door startled her. She glanced around and wondered if she should
call for someone to answer it. Feeling foolish about answering her own
front door, she cautiously moved toward the door and peered
through the large, etched glass. She sighed with relief when she saw Clifton’s
Sheriff standing on the other side of the door. Opening the door, she stepped
aside to allow Sam Garrett entry. He sm
iled at her
and tipped his hat before removing it as he wiped his damp boots on the welcome
mat. “How are you feeling, Emma?” Sam asked as he brushed the snow off his
Stetson.

Emma had
always thought him a gorgeous man. Tall, at six-feet-five, with a chise
led jaw, which carried a faint dark shadow, dark brown
hair, and blue eyes, Sam was very popular with the women of Clifton. “I’m fine,
Sam. Come on in and get warm.” She led him to the living room. She took her
seat on the sofa and Sam settled into the cha
ir
opposite her.

“It’s
getting colder as the day goes on,” Sam said. He twirled his hat then looked up
at her, his expression becoming serious. “I didn’t find any shell casings
anywhere in the region of the direction you thought the shots came from, Emma.
Whoever did the shooting must have picked them up, and the
shell taken from you was too damaged to give us anything. Even then, it
probably wouldn’t be enough to find out who the rightful owner was. A rifle can
easily be purchased at a gun show without a b
ackground
check.” He shook his head. “Please be careful, Emma. I’d rather you didn’t
leave the house but I know that’s not possible, so just be careful. Take
someone with you until we know what’s going on.” He stood. “Where’s Gabe? I’d
like to talk to him
before I leave. I want him to
know what I found, or rather what I didn’t find.”

“Thanks,
Sam. He’s in the training arena.” Emma watched him politely nod his head at her
before walking down the hallway. She heard him go out the back door. She knew
Sam hadn’
t meant to scare her, but he had. The idea
of not leaving the house was unthinkable, but now she was afraid to do just
that.

* * * *

Gabe saw
Sam enter the arena and rode the horse he was training over to him. He
dismounted, and shook Sam’s hand. He’d kn
own the man
for years and considered him a good friend. “Hey, Sam, what brings you out
here?”

“Gabe.”
Sam nodded at him the way men tended to do to acknowledge each other, much the
way women hugged. “I just told Emma we didn’t find any shell casings. I als
o told her it’s difficult to find the owner of a rifle
since it might’ve been bought at a gun show without a background check. There
were some footprints in the area, but it looked to me like he kicked around to
disturb the area. He’s smart, Gabe.”