Throwaway (22 page)

Jessie knew absolutely nothing about horses,
but he was the most beautiful animal she’d ever seen. He matched
Gabe—somehow elegant and rugged at once.

“I’ll do it,” she decided in an instant.

“Don’t worry; if I’m wrong, Hailey’ll have my
hide.”

“I’m not worried. He’s so pretty—Gabe has to
love him,” Jessie couldn’t help but laugh at Ethan’s
reassurance.

“I’ll bring him up to one of the paddocks
before you guys come over for dinner tomorrow night.”

“Perfect. Thank you!” Jessie impulsively
hugged Ethan’s neck.

When they got back to the house, Ethan made
Jessie a cup of hot apple cider while she filled out the adoption
paperwork for the horse.

The dog known as Blue started making a noise
that was a mix between a bark and a howl and Ethan scrambled to
gather the paperwork.

“Hailey’s home. Blue always bawls like that
when she’s back. We’d better hide this in case she brought Gabe
with her.”

A moment later, Gabe was walking through the
front door with Hailey. Jessie couldn’t help grinning at the secret
she shared with Ethan. Gabe was sporting a similar smile, and
Jessie took that to mean he was happy with his own outing.

“Funny meeting you here,” he teased, leaning
over to kiss Jessie good morning before greeting Ethan with a clap
on the back.

Ethan insisted on making breakfast for
everyone. The others sat around the kitchen table, sipping their
hot drinks and debating whether or not Mary Atchison was secretly
dating Bobby the Sheriff.

Hailey’s teenage son wandered down the stairs
at the smell of bacon. Rumpled and half-awake, he gave a small wave
before pouring himself a glass of orange juice and stumbling to the
living room to turn on the television.

He seemed like a good kid, which was a credit
to Hailey. She’d raised him alone after her first husband had
decided marriage might include work. Jessie wondered how difficult
it had been for Hailey to trust Ethan after that.

After breakfast, Gabe stuck around to help
Ethan with his chores. Just as he’d transformed on their first trip
together, Gabe seemed to relax as he performed the physical labor.
It made Jessie all the more sure of their decision to stay. Not
that going back to St. Louis had ever been a choice for Jessie. She
was pretty sure if she ever showed her face their again, she’d be
dead shortly after.

Christmas morning was a beautiful thing. The
day dawned crisp and cold, a fine layer of white dust covering a
gray-toned world. It might not be the fort-building snows of
childhood, but any white on Christmas morning was better than none
at all.

Her tree twinkled merrily with red and white
lights, casting a happy glow on the presents wrapped in silver.
Jessie put some water on the stove to make some apple cider before
hurrying to freshen up before Gabe arrived.

By the time he let himself in the front door,
she was sitting serenely by the tree in flannel pajamas, watching
the lights and drinking her cider.

“Merry Christmas!” her face lit up at the
site of him. He was ridiculously handsome. Jessie wondered how a
flannel shirt and jeans could make anyone look so completely
edible. She sat the mug of cider on the coffee table and held her
arms out expectantly.

“I’ve never seen anything so beautiful in my
life,” he accepted the offering and scooped her into his arms.
“Merry Christmas, baby… and baby.”

“The second baby says hi back.”

“I wish I could feel her kick,” he placed his
hands on Jessie’s stomach with wonder.

“You will soon enough, I’m sure.”

“Are you certain everything is okay? You
don’t look nearly as pregnant as my sister did.”

“Everything’s fine. We’re just built
differently. And I wouldn’t tell your sister that if I were you,”
she advised.

“Do you want to exchange gifts?” he switched
gears, suddenly as excited as a small child.

“I hadn’t planned on doing that until
tonight.”

“Please?”

“But yours isn’t here,” she started to
panic.

“Did you forget to get me a present? It’s
okay, I still love you.”

“Very funny. It wouldn’t fit here so Ethan’s
keeping it for me.”

“It wouldn’t fit?”

“I guess technically it would have, but that
just seemed awkward,” she toyed with him.

“Now I’m curious. Give me a hint?”

“Nope. But you can give me my present if you
want.”

“No fair. Maybe I should make you wait,
too.”

“If you want.”

“Aren’t you the slightest bit curious?”

“Whenever is fine,” she assured him
nonchalantly. In truth, she was dying of curiosity.

“Well if you’re going to beg, I guess you can
open it now,” he grabbed a small box from under the Christmas tree
and handed it to her, sitting lightly on the edge of the coffee
table to watch her open it.

Jessie eyed him warily, unnerved by the size
of the box. Surely he wouldn’t ruin the day by pushing marriage
again. She carefully unwrapped the package to reveal a small velvet
box. Her heart hammered in her throat. She cracked the box open and
tears sprang to her eyes.

“Do you like it?” he asked anxiously when she
didn’t comment.

“It’s beautiful,” she kissed him lightly on
the edge of the mouth. It was beautiful, and incredibly sweet.

Yet for some reason she couldn’t define, she
was disappointed it wasn’t a ring.

“It’s your birthstone,” he offered, reaching
for the box.

“I know,” she smiled. “It’s amazing… and too
much.”

“The color reminded me of your eyes,” he held
the necklace up, the icy blue topaz and diamonds sparkled merrily
as they reflected the twinkling Christmas lights.

“I love white gold,” she reached up to touch
the delicate chain. “Can you put it on me?”

She lifted her hair for him to fasten the
pendant around her neck, smiling when he used the opportunity to
kiss the back of her neck.

“Thank you so much, I love it,” she promised,
sinking her fingers in his hair to pull him in for a kiss.

“I’m not sure I believe you,” he frowned.
“There’s something you aren’t telling me.”

Jessie questioned the sanity of falling in
love with a man trained to know when he was being lied to.

“What do you want for breakfast?” she
redirected the conversation.

“Not yet. You have one more present.”

“No, I already can’t compete.”

“Good thing it’s not a competition. I think
you’ll like this one,” his face lit up again and he retrieved
another box from under the tree. This was one was larger but flat.
Curiosity piqued, Jessie accepted the box from him and quickly
unwrapped it.

She had to read the paper three times before
she processed what it was telling her, and even then she looked up
at him incredulously, not sure she believed it.

“I don’t understand.”

“It’s not as big of a deal as you might
think.”

“Is this for real?”

Gabe nodded, immensely pleased at her
reaction.

“But how? Why?”

“None of us ever really had any use for it.
It seemed too much for any one person. I talked to Dad and
Elizabeth; they both thought it was a great idea. So we had the
paperwork drawn up. Although, you owe us each a dollar. For some
reason, it’s better to put it down as a sale than a gift.”

“Honeybranch is mine?”

“We thought it seemed like the perfect place
to start your halfway house for foster children. With a little
work, we can turn it back into a working ranch. The kids can live
and work there while they figure out their next steps.”

Jessie couldn’t begin to process it all. She
took a deep breath to say something and instead burst into tears.
Gabe’s expression was one of shock and he did the only thing he
could think to do; he wrapped her in his arms.

The flood of emotion embarrassed her, which
made her cry even harder. She didn’t know how to begin telling him
what was wrong—or rather, what was right.

“I guess you’ve figured it out by now, but my
family is the product of Jesse James’s second life. The bitter old
goat probably rolled over in his grave when the legitimate line of
his family died out and the family estate passed to the hands of
the bastard branch.”

Jessie laughed at that, wiping her eyes as
she did. “But why would you give it to me?”

“I’d give you my whole life if you’d let me.
This way, it’s no strings attached. If you give me the boot, the
land is still yours.”

“I get that you’re nuts, but why would your
sister and father do that?”

“Neither of them have any real use for the
land but none of us can bring ourselves to sell the place. They
like the idea of using it to help kids in need.”

“Wait a second… if you own the place, why
haven’t you been staying there?”

Gabe shrugged, standing up to grab her mug
off the coffee table. “Do you need a refill?”

“I’d love an answer to my question.”

“When you opened the necklace a look
flickered across your face… what was it?”

“More apple cider would be lovely.”

“That’s what I thought,” he snickered. “Do
you want an omelet while I’m at it?”

“Sure,” Jessie leaned back on the couch,
toying absentmindedly with the pendant while she flipped through
the deed papers for her new property. “I don’t think I’ve ever even
seen 285 acres, let alone thought about owning that much. Actually,
I’ve never really owned anything before.”

“If you want to go explore later, let me
know. I can give you the grand tour. There’s a main house there,
too. I know your rent is paid up here, but you could move to the
house if you wanted. Of course, I’d feel better if you had a dog or
something.”

“A dog?” Jessie couldn’t help the small
shudder as she thought of Blue.

“Yeah, you know… walks on four legs, wags its
tail at you when you come home, barks at intruders… a dog.”

“I’ll have to think about that one.”

“You don’t like dogs?” he stopped mid-motion
to stare incredulously at her. “Who doesn’t like dogs?”

“Rethinking our relationship now?”

“You really don’t like dogs?”

“They’re very cute… from a distance.”

“You’ve just not been properly acclimated,
that’s all. First chance we get, let’s get you a dog.”

“I’d prefer not.”

“Maybe we’ll just look at some; then you can
decide.”

“Sure. I’ll look,” she promised, if only to
move the conversation along. She didn’t want to spend Christmas
morning arguing over the merits of having a dog. Maybe getting a
horse would satisfy his sudden need for a four-legged creature.

The rest of the morning was a cozy one,
though Jessie occasionally had to consciously set aside stray
thoughts that would creep into her brain and threaten her
contentment. Memories of Vance and Harmony haunted her. Was Harmony
having a good Christmas with her family? Was she safe and warm and
happy?

Then there were the doubts that would break
through—was a whore with no college education really the best and
most competent person to run a charity? Why was Gabe so certain she
would leave him? Did she look that crazy? And Jessie didn’t even
want to think about becoming a mother. Sure, she talked to her
stomach and might occasionally stop to look at the baby things that
were accumulating in the spare room, but she didn’t dwell on what
came after pregnancy.

Whenever doubts or memories would creep in,
Gabe inevitably chased them away with a mischievous grin. His
timing was so flawless, Jessie began to suspect that he’d learned
her tells.

Still, there was a part of her that
recognized the fact that she was living in a fairy tale. If she
didn’t tie up the loose ends of her reality, they would eventually
shatter her illusions.

She didn’t have too much time to deliberate
on it, though, because their tranquil morning turned into rushing
around in preparation for the afternoon rounds. They had promised
Gabe’s family they would eat lunch with them, and the closer it
got, the less Jessie felt like eating. She found his sister utterly
terrifying.

“How on earth did you ever convince her to
help you set up the cabin for our stay?” Jessie asked Gabe as they
drove to the four-bedroom ranch house sitting on three acres at the
edge of town.

“Could you say no to this face?” he gave her
his most pleading expression.

Jessie laughed. Even if he was teasing, it
was the truth. The man was incredibly difficult to deny. Knowing
that Elizabeth was susceptible to his charm gave Jessie hope that
they had more in common than appeared on the surface.

Elizabeth’s husband, Jay, was an affable guy
with a receding hairline and expanding belly. The hairline he kept
covered by a baseball cap. The belly occasionally peeked out from
beneath the t-shirt he wore under his flannel. Elizabeth never
failed to tug the shirt down if she noticed this grievance.

Jessie liked Jay instantly and it seemed the
feeling was mutual. Elizabeth still terrified her. Her cold
disapproval hung in the air between them, though both women tried
to be polite.

Jessie had to hide a grin when she overheard
Elizabeth reading her two teenagers the riot act because they
hadn’t warmly greeted their grandfather and uncle. Milo’s
assessment had been correct—those kids could care less about being
around their family. After stiff hugs, they plopped down on the
couch, earbuds in and noses buried in handheld games.

“I can’t thank you both enough for what you
did,” Jessie started when she had Milo and Elizabeth in the same
room.

“I like your idea for helping kids; glad I
could help,” Milo beamed at her.

“I’m glad to be rid of that hunk of land. I
was sick of paying taxes on the stupid thing,” Elizabeth
frowned.