like a growl, he muttered, “I should have known.” Then he stomped out of the kitchen.
Katherine sagged against the counter and closed her eyes. First she’d lost the cake order. Then she’d had to deal with an angry Gabe.
“What about Jack?” Evelyn asked.
“I think Gabe has heard that Jack is sweet on Mom. I guess he doesn’t approve.”
“Oh, I think it’s wonderful. I’m happy for your mom,” Evelyn enthused. “Why, I remember…”
Katherine nodded at the appropriate moments as Evelyn recounted ancient history, letting her mind drift to the handsome man who was driving her crazy.
KATIE’S CALM WORDS kept playing over and over in his mind. “Yes, he is.”
She didn’t even appear to be ashamed to be dating a man old enough to be her father. Maybe even her grandfather! Okay, so maybe that was an exaggeration. But you’d think she’d be embarrassed to be thought a gold digger.
He gripped the wheel more tightly, wishing he could squeeze some sense into Katie. If she was that desperate for money— He broke off that dangerous thought. After all, he hadn’t offered to marry her.
She didn’t need to marry him to get money.
She could inherit Gran’s estate by not marrying anyone. Not even Jack Ledbetter.
“And that’s why I’m going to up the ante,” he muttered to himself. He turned the steering wheel so the car pulled off the main road onto Jack Ledbetter’s gravel driveway, parked and got out.
The man stepped out of the barn, several dogs at his heels. The dogs distracted Gabe since they closely resembled his dog, Jericho. His stomach didn’t feel good, either.
But he was going to take care of things…today.
“Well, I heard you were back in town, Gabe. Welcome. How are you?”
Hell, he didn’t want the man to be friendly. He crossed the distance between them and took the hand Jack extended. The dogs sniffed at his boots.
“These two look a lot like Jericho,” he muttered.
“They’re his kinfolk. Well, at least she is. I got the boy from a man in Lubbock. Didn’t want too much inbreeding,” Jack said, smiling easily. “You looking for a dog? I’ve got four pups to sell.”
That thought distracted Gabe. A dog? In Dallas, there’d been no point to having a dog. He was never home enough to spend any time with a pet. But a sudden yearning in his heart told him how much he’d missed having a dog.
“I might.” He cleared his throat. “But I have something else to talk about first.”
Jack’s eyebrows, black mixed with gray, rose up. “Well, sure thing. Want to come in? I can put on a pot of coffee.”
Gabe didn’t want any more coffee. What he had to say wouldn’t take long. If he could only figure out how to say it when the man was being so damn nice. “A glass of ice water would be better,” he said.
“Yeah, you’re right. The days are warming up, aren’t they? Come on.” Jack led the way to his back porch and into the kitchen.
Once they were seated at the table, glasses of ice water in front of them, Jack looked at him expectantly.
Gabe swallowed. “I heard you’re thinking of marrying again.”
It should have been amusing to see the older man’s cheeks flush with embarrassment. But the whole thing was too painful for Gabe to laugh.
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