Rocky Mountain Angel

Chapter Sixteen

Her clothes dried during the ride home, so when she spotted Travis’s truck still parked outside, keeping a little more space between her and Gabe’s impromptu visitors seemed like a good idea.

Gabe didn’t like it, but he didn’t argue when she asked him to grab her keys. Cleaning up at her mom’s was win-win. Privacy for the guys—plus she’d have the afternoon to kick back and enjoy her mom’s company.

First, a shower. Something sticky clung between her shoulder blades. She didn’t really want to know what, she just wanted it gone.

The Parker family home on the outskirts of town had the best of both parts of Rocky Mountain House. Close enough to access the conveniences and the Timberline Grill, still able to keep horses and have more land than a city dwelling. Allison drove the back lane to the place. Safer to avoid any of the neighbours on the front street than have to explain why she looked like a wet rat.

She ditched her boots before jerking on the sticky porch screen door to wrench it open. The resulting loud creak was familiar. A kind of a homecoming.

She’d barely made it into the kitchen when her mom called from the living room. “Who’s there?”

Allison hurried forward to reassure her.

“It’s me, Mom. I’m here to hang out for a bit.” She rounded the corner, her wet socks leaving footprint marks on the kitchen floor. “I need to hop in the shower first—”

Her mom wasn’t alone in the living room. Elle and Paul were there as well. All of them perched on the edge of their seats, tension in their bodies. Elle’s and Maisey’s cheeks were wet with tears, and Paul was doing his stony-faced thing. The one he did when he didn’t want to cry.

Allison’s first thought was to ask who had died. Stupid, yes, but with the morning she’d just had, and the secrets Maisey was keeping, it took a moment for the truth to hit home.

“Oh God.” Her mom had told them.

Maisey tilted her head to the side, sniffing back more tears. She sighed, then nodded. “They know.”

Elle buried her face in her hands, shoulders shaking. Allison crossed the room to her side and hugged her. Words just didn’t seem to be coming the way she wanted them to.

What words could possibly make this better?

It had been nearly fifteen years since their father had died. Seventeen years since his first heart attack, and Allison could still remember the turmoil they’d felt as the deterioration set in. Powerless to help him as one attack after the other followed, and his body slowly stopped following his orders.

All the emotions came back so clearly. So brutally overwhelming.

Their house, and their teenage lives, became all about trying to make Dad comfortable. Dealing with hormonal swings and issues of teenage angst were shoved aside as he demanded attention. They’d tried their best to be there for him. It had been such a long, painful journey.

Here they were on the same path, all over again.

Paul stood and paced over to the window, staring out at the fields. He coughed, but it was obvious he spoke around a throat gone tight with emotion. “Mom said there’s nothing that can be done. Do you agree?”

“I’m not mentally incompetent, Paul. Why are you asking your sister?” Maisey shook her head. “You think I’m a two-year-old and I made a mistake? I’m not stupid. I know what the doctor said. The statistics on pancreatic cancer are clear.”

“There are options. There are always options.”

“Oh, Paul. I know you want to make this better, but I already told you. I refuse to do some experimental protocol that might give me two or three more months of pain.”

He turned. “But what if—”

“No.” Maisey stood up. “No what-ifs. I’m sorry. It’s not fair, and I don’t want to die—” Her voice broke. Allison went to stand, to support her, but her mom held out a hand. “No, it’s okay. I need to make him understand. I need you all to understand. I looked at the information. I asked the questions. And I’m going to die.”

In Allison’s arms, Elle shook.

Maisey snatched up a tissue and wiped her eyes. She took a deep breath before lifting her chin and continuing. “So I choose to die with as much dignity as I can. And to me that means in a way that least impacts your lives.”

“Oh God, Mom,” Paul blurt out. “You’re dying and you think it won’t impact our lives?”

“I will not be your father.” Maisey spoke each word individually. Forcefully. “I will not take and break you apart like that. I know you’re in shock, and I know this is horrifying, but please, please understand why I want this.”

Allison squeezed Elle’s shoulder for a second before releasing her and approaching Maisey. She didn’t say anything, just opened her arms and hugged the woman.

Her mom sucked in a quivering breath before accepting the embrace. Then they were all there, Elle and Paul as well, wrapped tight like a cocoon. Crying and struggling to find the way to go forward.

Go forward into the unnumbered days ahead of them.

Paul was the first to pull away. “I need to…I need time.”

“You want to do something violent, there’s a load of firewood in the backyard that needs chopping,” Maisey suggested.

“Firewood? Right now?” Elle sniffed and wiped her hand over her eyes.

“Why not? It needs to be split.”

Paul left without another word. Allison watched out the window, and he did head to the back rather than to his car. An hour or so of swinging an axe wasn’t a bad idea, really.

“You kids want to come back for a while after you’ve dealt with the supper crowd at the restaurant?” Maisey asked. “You can get someone else to close.”

Elle nodded. “I’ll make the calls. I love you, Mom.” She coughed through the final word. She straightened her shoulders as she turned to face Allison. “You stink, by the way. What happened to your clothes?”

Shoot. This was not a conversation she wanted to have in front of her mom. “I…fell in the creek.”

Her sister raised a brow. “You fell in? Really?”

“Why didn’t you change at home?” her mom asked.

Why indeed. Of all the times for her mind to completely blank on excuses. “I was coming over and just figured I’d get cleaned up here.”

Elle frowned. “Did you and Gabe have a fight?”

The thought of him going down on her, his blond head buried between her legs as she writhed on the tree stump made Allison smile in spite of the past moment’s tears. “No, we didn’t have a fight.”

Elle lifted a brow. “Did he fall in the creek with you as well?”

Allison bit back a groan, darting a glance at their mom. Little sisters could be a pain in the ass. “I think I need to go get changed, since I smell so bad and all.”

Her sister wrinkled her nose, her teasing smile fading as her gaze skimmed over their mom. The taunts and jokes between them might be instinctive, but the reality of Mom’s news, fresh and raw, broke into the familiar patterns and tainted everything with sadness.

Maisey patted Allison’s shoulder. “You go ahead and have a shower. I’ll pop your things in the laundry. You have some old clothes in the bottom dresser in the guest room.”

Great. She fled the room as quickly as she could, but not before Elle shook a finger her direction.

It seems there would be a sisterly inquisition in the near future.

Travis was passed out on the couch and Cassidy asleep in the guest room when Gabe snuck in to shower and dress for the afternoon’s work. He stopped at the main ranch house to give his ma a quick hug and kiss, determinedly avoided his father, then joined Rafe to go haul feed to the cattle.

His kid brother eyed him with a twisted grin. “You already on your honeymoon or what?”

“Fuck off.”

Rafe laughed and tossed the truck keys to him. “Whatever. You seem happy though.”

Blowjobs would do that to a guy. Gabe reconsidered. It was a damn sight more than just that, and he knew it. In spite of whatever the hell was going on with Travis, the morning had been really good.

His idea of making what he and Allison had real looked like the right thing to pursue.

“When you guys getting married?” Rafe dragged a couple sticks of beef jerky from his pocket and offered Gabe one.

Before this morning he would have gotten around that question without coming right out and answering it, but now he thought about it. If their engagement were real, when would they get hitched?

“Not until the fall for sure. After harvest, maybe early winter.”

“She’s going to want a big fancy do, won’t she?” Rafe slapped his hand on his knee repetitively.

“Why you say that?”

Rafe shrugged. “Ma was thinking that with the classy restaurant and all, she’s probably more used to the fancy stuff. Ben said—”

His kid brother stopped mid-sentence, and Gabe sighed. “Yeah, I can imagine what Ben said. Ignore him.”

“It’s kind of tough, Gabe. He’s not very ignorable when he’s at the goddamn table spouting shit all the time.”

“Then move out.”

Rafe groaned in frustration. “I can’t, and you know it. Barely finished high school, I’m not going to make a living with hours at the Home Hardware or something.”

“I didn’t mean that. I know you want to stay on the ranch. And I’m working on fixing it so we can really make a go of it.”

“You said that a couple years back. Things haven’t gotten much better.”

Gabe knew. To his regret. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t trying, and the kid needed to know that as well.

“Move over the garage. Make a few meals yourself. Ben is…” Jerk, asshole, bastard—none of the words were the right ones. True, but not the right ones for this time and conversation. “Ben is damn difficult, but he does the job at hand. At some point in the future, who the hell knows, but there might be a miracle and he’ll change.”

Rafe snorted. “Into the Easter bunny? Or the tooth fairy? Because him changing sounds like a damn fairy tale.”

Gabe agreed which made it all the worse. “Move out. I told you that before. Did you talk to Mom?”

“No.”

“Did you haul your shit into the place and settle in?”

“No.”

Gabe pulled to a stop and faced his brother squarely. “Then stop complaining. Either it’s bad enough you want to change it, or you’re just flapping your jaw to flap your jaw. Don’t be like Ben.”

Rafe’s face flushed red. “Fuck you. I’m not like him.”

Gabe understood the response all too well. “No, you’re not. So stop acting like him. Change the things you don’t like. Got it?”

His brother leaned back and eased off the dirty stare. “I get it. You’re still an asshole.”

Gabe laughed.

It was late before he parked the tractor. Rafe took off so he would make it to the dinner table in time, but Gabe carried on to make up for his lazy morning.

He was on the way home before he checked his phone to discover Allison had left him a message. It didn’t sound good, and he put through the return call regretful he’d missed her the first time.

She spoke softly. Tired maybe. “Hey, Gabe.”

“Hey, yourself. What’s this you said about not coming home night?”

“Everyone is crashing here. We need a little family time. Mom told them.”

Relief and concern flashed simultaneously. “Ah, hell. How’d that go?”

Allison sighed. “It went.”

“How you doing?”

“Better now than earlier. And nowhere near as good as this morning.” Her sadness and frustration came through loud and clear. “I feel guilty for thinking about how much fun this morning was, but damn, at the same time thinking back sure has been a good mental break from the other things we’re dealing with.”

“You don’t need to feel guilty.” Gabe pulled into his driveway, noting the empty parking space beside the house. “You want me to bring you anything?”

“You don’t need to. I’ll be fine.”

Of course he didn’t need to. But he wanted to. More than that, he wanted to be with her and help support her right now. The revelation was more powerful than the one he’d had that morning. She’d been sneaking under his skin, and it wasn’t just the good things he wanted to enjoy.

Allison’s voice perked up again. Patently fake. “You go ahead and hit the Coleman gathering at Traders. Say hi to everyone from me, give Puss in Boots a cuddle and I’ll see you on Saturday.”

They spoke for a few more minutes, but the entire time Gabe was making plans. Bullshit on going out drinking with the guys when she needed him.

Gabe shoved open the door, and stomped into his house, kind of pissed that she would even suggest that he ignore her like that. Fine if the Parkers wanted family time, but wouldn’t her family think it strange if he wasn’t there? Absentee fiancé—her mom at least would imagine something was up.

He pulled to a stop at the sight of Cassidy sitting smack dab in the middle of the kitchen. The young man looked up slowly from the book he had spread on the table. Puss in Boots, as usual, had managed to find a lap to curl up in.

Cassidy’s blond hair was wet from a shower, the bruises on his face colouring up to a variety of rich blues and purples. The split on his lower lip nicely highlighted by the swelling. But he was vertical. Vertical was good.

“You look a hell of a lot better than the last time I saw you.” Gabe stepped in closer and held out his hand. “Gabe Coleman.”

Cassidy carefully put the kitten on the floor before rising and accepting the handshake. “Thanks for offering sanctuary.”

“No problem.”

“Travis had to work. He said he’d be back later to drive me to my truck.” Cassidy rubbed his jaw carefully. “Sorry about bleeding on your sheets. I’ll leave some money for—”

“Don’t need to do that.” Gabe stared at the other man for a moment, distracted enough to be tempted to go beyond his policy of not asking more information than was offered. Cassidy had to be barely twenty-five and he was built like a bloody tank. It really must have been a fight to get him as messed up as he was.

Cassidy’s smile twisted. “I still look like shit, don’t I?”

“Worked-over shit,” Gabe admitted. “You feel okay?”

“No, but I don’t feel like I’m dying anymore. I’ll take that as a positive sign.”

How do you know Travis? What the hell happened? All the questions he wanted to ask, Gabe shoved down. None of it was his damn business, and over the years he’d had more than enough experience stifling his curiosity. “You need anything you let me know. There’re a couple of frozen dinners you can microwave if you’d like.”

He ignored his guest and hurried through his shower, packing a bag for the night. Grabbing a nightgown for Allison seemed strange on all kinds of levels. She hadn’t been wearing anything for the past week since they usually fell asleep right after wearing themselves out with sex. He’d been waking her up to take her again in the morning. It was heavenly to have nothing but warm woman in his arms before he was even fully awake, the smooth curves of her filling his hands, her softness against his rising cock.

She might have an issue with being naked in her mom’s house, though, so he dipped into her drawer.

That was the second weird part. Going through her underwear made him feel like some kind of perverted stalker. He’d have to take the depraved title and stamp it on his head after he grabbed a pair of panties that seemed to have too many straps for a thong. He held the garment up and twisted until he figured it out.

Holy shit.

He tucked his find into the bag before he could change his mind.

His brain was tangled between wanting to see her to make sure she was fine, and needing to bend her over something and thrust in deep. She was driving him insane, and she wasn’t even in the room.

Gabe stopped in the doorway of the bedroom. Cassidy had his head resting in his hands, body slumped forward as if totally exhausted.

Damn it anyway. Gabe snapped to an instant decision. If it was the wrong one, he’d take the damages out of Travis’s hide for having brought Cassidy to the house in the first place.

“Cassidy.”

The blond lifted his head, glassy-eyed stare pulling into focus after only a few seconds. “Yes, sir.”

Gabe dropped his bag by the front door before opening the freezer and pulling out one of the dinners. “I’m heating you up a meal. You go on and crash here for the night.”

Cassidy went to shake his head, stopping immediately with his fingers pressed to his forehead. “Fuck, that hurt.”

Gabe snorted. “Yeah, you might be better to get a solid night’s sleep before you try anything else on for size.”

“I can’t take advantage of you like that.”

“Hell, you won’t be. You’ll be doing me a favour—I’ve got an emergency and have to be gone all night. Allison’s kitten will need some attention. Other than him, you’ll have the place to yourself. His food bowl and water are over by the fridge. Pull the door shut when you leave in the morning, and we’re square.”

Cassidy lifted his gaze to meet Gabe’s, brilliant green shining back from his blackened eyes. “Damn decent of you.”

“Pay it forward.” Gabe grabbed a bottle of Tylenol out of the cupboard and plopped it on the table. “If you need them. Otherwise, stay out of trouble. Maybe we’ll see you around sometime.”

Cassidy smiled cautiously. “Maybe you will. You’re a good man, Gabe Coleman. I won’t forget this.”

Gabe grabbed his bag and left.