Sons Of Chance: Ambushed! Part 10

"The fireplace, too?"

"Yep. My grandfather's trade was carpentry, with some training in masonry, but then the Depression hit and he was out of work. He won the ranch in a card game and decided to move out here. At least he'd have a roof over his head and food from the garden."

"I admire that kind of pluck." She put her hand on the banister of the curved staircase leading to the second floor. "This is elegant."

"I know. I'm convinced that both Archie and Nelsie had artistic talent. My dad could sketch, but he never thought he had time. He'd planned to do some drawing in his retirement. Nick's like him in that way. Not me, though."

"You're creative in other ways." Her easy smile explained exactly what she was talking about.

Ah, she had no idea. Their saddlebags were already packed with everything they'd need to get creative out in the woods.

"What's in there?" She gestured through a door on the right side of the room.

"My dad's office. Jack's office now, although I still think of it as belonging to my dad."

"Your dad will always be a part of this place, just like your grandfather and grandmother and your mom. That's awesome, Gabe."

"Yeah, I guess it is." He was glad he'd brought her here. She was putting things into perspective for him, reminding him of what was at stake.

She began strolling the perimeter of the room and stared up at the large Native American rugs on the wall. There were three, and each was at least eight by ten, although Gabe had never measured them.

"These look like authentic Navajo," she said.

"Straight from the reservation in Arizona. After Seth moved to Phoenix with his wife, Joyce, my grandparents made a trip to see them and came back with several pots of cactus and three big rugs. The cactus died, but the rugs have been hanging there ever since."

"And now they're worth a fortune." Gabe's mother came in from the hallway that ran the length of the left wing, where the kitchen and dining room were located, along with Mary Lou's private set of rooms.

As the only two women on the ranch, Sarah and Mary Lou had developed a deep friendship. Usually if Gabe wanted to find his mother, his first stop was the kitchen. If his mom wasn't there, Mary Lou could tell him where to find her.

"But you may already know that," his mother added, walking over toward Morgan. "Welcome to our home."

Gabe held his breath and hoped for the best. That statement about the rugs could be taken as a flung gauntlet, as if his mother thought Morgan was sizing up the treasures in the house. Or it could be nothing more than an idle comment.

He'd promised Morgan that no one would cause her distress while she was here, but it had been an empty promise, he realized now. A guy couldn't control how his family behaved.

Morgan smiled pleasantly. "Thank you. And as a matter of fact, I do know these rugs are valuable. I moved around a lot as a kid. We spent a few months camped near a trading post. I was fascinated by the looms. Still am."

"Me, too." Gabe's mother fingered the edge of a cream, red and black-patterned rug. "I like to think I could learn to do that, but I don't know that I'd have the patience."

Gabe relaxed a little. His mother was making conversation. That was a good sign. Maybe she'd realized her first reaction to Morgan had been more of the knee-jerk variety.

"I know I wouldn't be able to do it." Morgan moved her finger over an intricate part of the design. "Just look at that. Threading a loom to achieve that pattern would require a gift for math besides infinite patience." She glanced at Gabe's mother. "It's mind-boggling what those women could accomplish. It puts my little cross-st.i.tched pillows in the shade."

Sarah met her gaze. "You do cross-st.i.tch?"

"When I have the time, which isn't often lately. It's a soothing hobby."

"I know what you mean. I should get back to it."

Gabe knew his mother well enough to realize she was warming toward Morgan. He relaxed a little more.

"By the way," Sarah continued. "Have you seen Gabe's trophies yet?" She gestured toward a display case in the corner. "Not yet."

"That boy does us proud. Come on over here and take a look."

Gabe's jaw dropped. His mother wasn't just making conversation, she was making overtures! Well, that was good, wasn't it? Confused but happy, he followed the women over to the display case.

His mother could have simply pointed out what was in there, but no, she opened the double doors and picked up the trophies one by one so Morgan could hold them. In each case his mother explained when he'd won the award and how special it was. Gabe began to squirm. It almost seemed as if his mom had decided to do a sales job to convince Morgan he was the catch of the year.

Then the light dawned. Shoshone was a small town, and his mother was well-connected. She'd probably spent the morning on the phone finding out everything there was to know about Morgan O'Connelli.

The reports must have been good, so Sarah had decided to reconsider her stance. She and Morgan had discovered common ground in their mutual admiration of the Navajo rugs and in cross-st.i.tching. And now...d.a.m.ned if his mom wasn't acting as if she had her eye on a prospective daughter-in-law.

Good Lord. But he could understand the impulse. His mother's world had been knocked off kilter last fall, and he could see why she'd find comfort in having each of her sons settled with families of their own. Then she could look toward the future and the prospect of a fourth generation growing up on the Last Chance.

Fortunately Nick and Dominique were in line to make that dream come true. Gabe wasn't ready and neither was Morgan. But he dreaded the moment when he had to disillusion his mother and tell her that he and Morgan weren't headed in that direction.

This new disaster-in-the-making was mostly his fault. He'd brought Morgan out here, which his mother was incorrectly interpreting as a sign that he had serious feelings for her. The reality was, he'd brought her here to show Jack and his mother that they weren't controlling his actions. d.a.m.n, this was getting complicated.

Finally Sarah exhausted the contents of the trophy case. "Has Gabe shown you the kitchen and dining room?" she asked.

"She just got here a little bit ago, Mom," he said.

"Right before you walked in. I haven't had a chance to take her around."

"Then come with me, Morgan. You, too, Gabe, if you want, although you've seen all this a thousand times so you can relax in here until we come back."

"No, I'll come with you." He wasn't about to let his mother hijack this tour any more than she already had. Next she was liable to get out his baby pictures.

"Mary Lou!" his mother called as they headed down the hall. "Put the coffee on! I'm bringing you a visitor!"

Gabe stifled a groan. He would have been happy with a polite welcome followed by a discreet disappearing act. Instead his mom was rolling out the red carpet and turning this into a coffee klatch. He thought about Top Drawer and Finicky, saddled and waiting outside the barn. He thought of the condom he'd stashed in the saddlebags. At this rate, he'd never get to use it.

MORGAN SMILED to herself as she walked with Sarah down the hall, Gabe trailing behind. The poor guy couldn't catch a break. First his mother had been distant and he'd been embarra.s.sed about that. Now she'd swung in the opposite direction and seemed determined to welcome Morgan into the family. Gabe's expression had been priceless. He was so not into this new program.

The poor woman apparently thought her son had wedding bells on his mind when all he wanted was s.e.x and a few laughs. That was all Morgan wanted, too. Sure, she was captivated by this ranch house and its history, but she wasn't ready to be anyone's wife or raise anyone's grandchildren. This house cried out for grandchildren to carry on the Chance legacy.

The hallway was bordered by windows on the left, which looked out on the porch and a spectacular view of the Tetons. To the right was a rogues' gallery of family pictures interspersed with doors that Sarah explained were a series of storage closets.

Morgan slowed, wanting to look at the pictures lining the wall. One was of a very little boy on a very large horse. She could swear that towhead was- "That's Gabe on his first horse," Sarah said. "Jonathan didn't believe in starting them on ponies, so the boys rode full-size horses from the time they were three."

"Impressive." Morgan glanced back at Gabe, who rolled his eyes.

"Look at this one," Sarah said. "It's of all three boys, and Gabe wasn't even a year old yet. He was such an adorable little-"

Gabe made a gagging sound.

Sarah spun in his direction. "Gabriel Archibald Chance, stop that. Honestly."

"Mom, I'm sure Morgan isn't interested in my baby pictures."

"Sure I am." The minute Morgan admitted her curiosity, she realized she'd made a tactical mistake. Wanting to see a guy's baby pictures was the mark of a woman who dreamed of the babies they could make together.

And that wasn't her. She simply wanted to see the pictures because...well, because he'd been a really cute kid. Everybody liked to admire cute kids.

"See?" Sarah gestured toward Morgan. "She's not bored in the least."

Gabe sighed. "She's just being polite."

Sarah waggled a finger at him. "And you're being a pain for some reason. Okay, I'll leave you two to finish up the pictures and I'll go find out if Mary Lou has brownies to go with the coffee. That should make you happy, Gabe."

"Thanks, Mom."

As Gabe's mother started back down the hall, Gabe caught Morgan's hand and lowered his voice so only she could hear him. "Sorry about this. Somehow she's gotten the wrong idea."

Morgan squeezed his hand. "No problem."

"I just didn't want you to think I told her anything that would make her think we were a couple."

"It's not what you told her. It's what you did."

He looked puzzled. "I don't know what you mean."

"You let me ride your horse. In her mind, that's like giving me an engagement ring."

"Now that's ridiculous."

"Of course it is, but she made a big deal out of it when she talked to me this morning."

"She talked to you?"

Morgan hadn't meant to discuss that conversation with Gabe but she couldn't keep it to herself now. "After you left for the barn, she came around the car to have a word with me. Several words, in fact."

"About what?"

"She wants you to find a woman who sincerely loves you and isn't just swept away by the beauty of this ranch."

"That was nervy of her." His expression was unreadable. "And what did you say to that?"

"I told her the truth, that we weren't in love with each other."

An emotion flickered in his blue eyes and then was gone. "I'll bet you didn't say the relationship was all about s.e.x."

"No, I'm not that brave. But she wouldn't have believed me, anyway. She said that when you thought enough of a woman to loan her your horse, then the relationship was serious."

"Oh, boy." Gabe ma.s.saged the back of his neck. "I had no idea she was reading that kind of significance into it."

"I didn't know what to say because I don't know your history of women and horses. Maybe if you point out to her that you've loaned your horse several times before, and it didn't lead to a proposal, she'll back off."

"Well, I could do that, except..."

"Except what?"

"You're the first woman I've ever let ride one of my horses."

"Oh." That thrilled her, which probably wasn't good. She shouldn't love knowing that she was in an exclusive category when it came to the women Gabe knew.

"Even worse, I was planning to put you up on Top Drawer again when we go on our trail ride around the ranch. If my mother happened to look out the window toward the barn, she would have seen both horses saddled and ready to go."

"Guess you should have saddled up some old nag for me to ride."

He laughed. "We're fresh out of those. Last Chance horseflesh is primo, at least according to the literature we put out. My dad wouldn't have it any other way, and Jack's continuing the tradition. I guess that's why he has such a problem with the horse I brought home. She may never be primo."

"Doozie, right?"

"Right. I have a call in to Bennington, the guy I bought her from, to see if I can get his goat."

Morgan blinked. "You want to make him mad?"

"No, I literally need his goat, the one who was Doozie's buddy. I think she's grieving for that goat. Horses and goats sometimes hang out together, and I should have realized Doozie needed her friend. That might turn things around for that horse and give her the will to pull through."

"That's cool, Gabe." Morgan smiled at him. "I like this connection you have with animals. It's something else I missed growing up. We couldn't have pets, be cause we moved so much and never knew if they'd be allowed in the next rental unit we found."

"If we can ever get this tour into high gear, I'll take you down to the barn so you can meet Doozie, plus the ranch dogs, and maybe some of the other horses. I wasn't planning on spending all this time in the house."

"How long have the horses been saddled?"

"I saddled them right before you got here, so not too long, and they don't mind standing there. It's shady." Morgan glanced at her watch. "But are we going to have time to take that ride?"

"The ride can be as short or as long as we want it to be. Mostly we need to make sure we get to a certain little spot by the creek."

"Why? Is there something special you want to show me there?"

His smile was sinfully s.e.xy. "Yes, ma'am, there sure is. And in order to fully appreciate it, you need to be naked."

Heat sizzled through her and settled between her thighs. "Let's see if we can get the coffee and brownies to go."

10.

GABE FELT a little guilty asking for coffee in a thermos and brownies in a bag, but not too guilty. He didn't need Mary Lou also bonding with Morgan, and both women looked as if they could do that in no time.

"Where are you two headed?" Mary Lou's sly question was the sort she would have asked when Gabe was seventeen and taking a girl out for a moonlit ride.