scrutiny, that ability to look right through her, they all combined to send twitching jitters skipping over her nerves.
“Should I have asked, Blair?”
Blair fumed at the spin he put on her words. She’d forgotten how good he was at twisting what she said. He made it sound as if she’d woven a web of deceit instead of opening her heart up to him, only to have it thrown back in her face!
“I never lied to you, Gabe.” At least, only by admission.
“Does that mean you and your family live around here now?” He studied her curiously, his eyes roving slowly over the top of her head to the tumble of lopsided curls she’d raked her hair into this morning on her way to the truck.
Slowly his gaze flowed past the big bulky sweater, ragged jeans and muddy cowboy boots. Then he glanced across the fields that would soon blossom with flowers.
“I never took you for the down-home, country type, Blair.”
“You never really knew me.” She let the sharp words pour out, angry that Gabe even imagined he’d known the person inside of her. “That much was obvious from the way you used me.”
“I didn’t use you!” His face washed in a red tide of anger. “It wasn’t my fault you expected too much.”
“I did, didn’t I?” she agreed quietly, turning to stare at the gorgeous blue sky that sparkled over the snowcapped mountains in the distance. She squeezed her eyes shut, forcing down the lump in her throat. “Way too much, as it turns out.”
Please help me, she prayed desperately. I never thought I’d see him again. I thought You would lead me to someone else. I don’t want this!
“Blair? What are you doing? Open your eyes!” His hand on her arm helped wake her to the fact that her reality had changed. The peace she’d always found in this valley was shattered, shifted into something ominous that could turn on her if she wasn’t careful.
Blair jerked her arm out of his grasp and whirled away, anxious to put as much distance between them as possible.
“I’m fine. There’s nothing for you here, Gabriel Sloan. Nothing! This is my family’s land. I’d like you to leave.”
He stayed where he was, saying nothing. And when Blair couldn’t take his silence for one moment longer, she headed for her truck.
“Blair?”
His softly voiced request made her stop in her tracks.
“It’s my land now. At least part of it is. I did buy it. Free and clear. No encumbrances.”
She shouldn’t be surprised. It was the way he’d always preferred to live—never let anyone get too close. The words pricked a nerve in her mind. Blair whirled, her forehead wrinkled in a frown. He sounded so positive of his right to be here.
“Not possible, Gabriel. You must have the wrong place. This particular quarter section is my grandfather’s. He’s had it in his family for years. He’s willing it to me when he dies.”
Gabe seemed unabashed by her assurance. He simply shrugged, then pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket.
As he read the legal description to one of the three quarters Mac owned, Blair felt the bottom tilt out of her world.
“No.” She shook her head stubbornly. “Someone has made a mistake.”
“Perhaps you?” His mouth tilted in a questioning quirk. Blair took the document and scanned it, her eyes halting abruptly when they fell on the signature at the bottom.
“Mac?” she whispered. “Mac actually sold you this?”
“Mackenzie Rhodes.” He nodded. “He wrote to me, offered to sell me a little bit of heaven about four months ago. I had someone check it out, then decided to buy. This is the first time I’ve seen anything other than the videos and snapshots that were taken.” He stopped, one eyebrow quirked upward. “Is it a problem?”
Blair sucked in a deep breath and concentrated. Hard.
“It’s a mistake,” she mumbled at last. “It has to be. He wouldn’t do this to me. He wouldn’t. Not Mac.” It was the only solution she could some up with. “Not my own grandfather,” Blair asserted, giving a vigorous shake to her head. “He knows how much I depend on this land.”
“You do?” Gabe surveyed the area with interest. “Why does a chemist with your qualifications depend on this particular land? And for what?”
Her qualifications? If he only knew.
“I need it for my business.” She saw the jerk of his head and compressed her lips tightly, stemming the diatribe that ached for release. “I have to earn my way, you know.”
“Don’t we all.” There it was again, that sardonic twist that manipulated his attractive mouth into a mocking sneer. “Are you doing a field study or something?”
“I have hives all around this field.” At his skeptical look she lifted a hand and pointed. “There, see those white boxes? And there?”
Gabe squinted into the distance, then finally nodded.
“That’s only a small number of the hives that provide the honey I sell. I also make candles, though I doubt you’ve heard of my company.” She told him the name and shrugged when his eyes didn’t light up. “I didn’t think so. We’re pretty new on the scene.” She shifted uncomfortably. “What are you staring at?”
“You. I can’t seem to see you sticky with honey.” His smile begged her to see the joke. “You always looked so elegant, so refined. If Eunice Standish could see her model for women’s fashions now, what would she think?”
Anger snipped at Blair. How dare he malign her for making an honest living? How would somebody as rich and spoiled as Gabe ever understand how hard it was to provide just the daily bread for four other people?
“I only took that part-time job because it paid so well. And to please you, so I’d look the way you wanted.” She shrugged carelessly. “Now I don’t really care what you or Eunice or anyone else thinks. This is my life.” She straightened to her full height and frowned. “As interesting as this is, Gabe, I do have work to do. I’d appreciate it if you’d leave now.”
“What work do you have to do today?”
She jerked her head at his curious tone, but could find nothing derogatory in his eyes. Maybe she’s misjudged him. Maybe he had changed. She shrugged and grudgingly told him.
“I’m going to unwrap the last of the hives. I’ve done most of the ones on the south side, but I left a few hives in this field till today because that part of the hill takes longer to thaw out.”
“Can I watch?”
Blair sighed. Why now? Why here? Why today? Couldn’t he have gone hunting for land somewhere else? Why did he want land, anyway? The Gabriel Sloan she knew scorned any place that didn’t boast all the amenities of his deluxe L.A. condo.
“Blair? I promise I won’t
