43. Chapter 43
Chapter forty-three
Abbie
I hurry forward toward the stables, leaving Gabe behind at his car, my body humming with the connection I share with that man. He woke me up all right. He has me on fire, burning alive, and more so, he is sliding deep inside me, forcing me to feel things again, and I’m not talking about physically, though he does that quite well, too. I like Gabe. I could really fall for Gabe. This terrifies me and I won’t let him suffer because I can’t say no to him. Because I’m too selfish to walk away. I know what I have to do and I’ll get the courage to do it. When I’m alone and can do something like get drunk for courage. It works for people, I hear. Maybe I can make it work for me.
I enter the gated area where the animals are sheltered, and wave to several familiar faces, volunteers who help often and have come so far as to join my mother here. Others I don’t know that I assume work for the ranch but the owner is having them help us. Brandon must be a good man. We’ve taken over part of his ranch and even before he met my mother.
I’m about to head into the ranch when one of the dogs starts yelping and then there are screams. I run in that direction to find a beautiful husky with a mane of white fur around its face, and a mix of dark gray and white on its body, outside its cage, snarling at several workers. One of them, Melanie, a cute brunette who is just out of high school, whirls around to face me. “She knocked me over and charged out of the cage. I think she has rabies.”
“She must!” a guy named Nick states. “She’s vicious.”
“She wouldn’t have yelped like she was in pain if she were just mean.”
“She yelped?” Nick asks. “I just heard snarls.”
“She yelped,” I say. “That’s pain and fear. Get me some treats. And find my mother.” I kneel down at eye level with the dog, who continues to snarl. “What’s her name?”
“She didn’t have a tag.”
“Ella,” I say. “Her name is now Ella. Hey, Ella, baby. It’s okay. You’re okay.” Melanie hands me some treats. I toss one at Ella. She snarls but sniffs and then takes a few steps closer to get the treat but quickly retreats.
“That retreat,” I say to Melanie. “That’s not aggression. That’s fear.” I toss another treat close to me. Ella hesitates but runs forward and grabs it and this time I can see that she’s limping.
“Ah, girl,” I murmur as she tries to retreat and is forced to sit. “You’re hurting.”
“Abbie! Fuck. What are you doing? Trying to get your face eaten off?”
I hold up a hand. “Slow, Gabe! Slow and easy.” I don’t look at him. I throw treats right in front of Ella. Gabe kneels next to me. “What’s happening?”
“She’s hurt and scared. She’s limping. It looks bad.”
“Poor girl. I snarl just giving blood. I hate pain.”
I laugh. “You’re crazy.”
“Says the woman at eye level with a desperate dog trying to survive. What can I do to help?”
“I’m here,” my mother says, her voice several feet back. “What are we dealing with, Abigail?”
“Hurt. Scared. Hungry. I named her Ella.”
“Why don’t I know this animal?” my mother asks.
Melanie is quick to reply. “They found her here on the island. We just got her in.”
“We’re going to need to net her so I can sedate her.”
“Don’t net her,” Gabe says. “I’ll hold her.”
“She’ll eat your face off, boy,” my mother says.
“Well, good thing you know how to stitch it up,” he replies. “I need treats. Are you ready, Shannon?” he asks my mother.
“I’m ready but, son—”
“I got this,” Gabe says. “I have a way with animals.”
I hand him treats. “Gabe—”
“I got this, sweetheart.” He stays in a squat and moves in front of me, tossing some treats at the dog, who snarls but eats the treat. Gabe starts talking to Ella, his voice this low, rough, masculine tone that would seduce any female, apparently even the canine version, because in about ten minutes, he’s holding her while my mother sedates her.
My God , I think as I watch him carry her into the building, with my mother by his side. I’m going to fall in love with this man if I’m not careful. I hurry behind them and watch as my mother finds the broken bone in her leg. Gabe helps her set Ella up in a well-padded cage, and then she prepares for surgery. When it’s all said and done, Ella has a cast on her leg and I’m in awe of Gabe. So is my mother.
It’s a long time later when we leave behind the operating room and step outside, heading to the stables, when I turn to Gabe, push to my toes and kiss him. “You were incredible. And real men help animals. It was also sexy as hell.”
He folds me close. “Is that right?”
“Yes. Very right.”
He cups my head and kisses me and I don’t hold back or care who might see us. I kiss the hell out of that man, and he smiles against my lips. “I look forward to more of that later tonight.”
“Good. So do I.”
It’s a long time later when we’re in the stables with Gabbie and the puppies. Gabe and I are sitting next to each other while Gabbie and her pups are now sound asleep. “I hate that I have to tell her what I have to tell her.”
“You don’t. I told you. I have this handled.”
“I have to tell her, Gabe. My mother has too much on her to be sideswiped.”
“Tell me what? Get sideswiped with what?”
My throat goes dry with the appearance of my mother in the stable.
Gabe’s hand comes down on my leg. “Abbie’s ex is throwing around a lot of fake legal threats that are easy to see through. They won’t go anywhere. You have my word.”
“What kind of legal threats?” she asks, and I don’t miss the way her face pales.
“Those men that showed up at the shelter said we were doing funny things with the books,” I force myself to admit. “It was just to scare us into giving up the property.”
“It’s nothing but talk,” Gabe assures her. “I’ve got this and you and Abbie.”
But my mother is already squatting down, her chin on her chest, as if she’s going to be sick. As if it’s all too much. “Mom—”
She looks up at me. “That man is evil. I can’t believe you stayed married to him for so long, but I know why. Because you were afraid of him. You were afraid and yet you tell me everything is fine. It’s not fine. We have reason to be afraid.”
“You and Abbie didn’t have me back then,” Gabe says. “You do now.”
“He’ll just go after you, too,” my mother says, looking at me. “You’re making him a target. It’s time to give up. We have to sell out. Give him what he wants.”
“No, mom. We—”
“Give him what he wants,” she says, standing up and disappearing.
Gabe’s hand comes down on my shoulders and he turns me to face him. “I got this. I got you and your mother. Trust me. Trust me and give me a week. This will be over.”
He’s right. It will be. Because my mother was right. I’m putting Gabe in danger. I’m putting all of us in danger by fighting like this. I just don’t know that selling ends this because I don’t know exactly what Kenneth wants. I just know that I no longer need liquid courage to do what I need to do. My mother and Gabe are enough. The minute I’m alone, I’ll make the call that will be the game changer.