Stranger in Town (Dundee, Idaho #5)(6)
Author: Brenda Novak

“Sorry to intrude,” she said. “I knocked at the house but no one answered. I thought maybe I’d find you back here.”

Lazarus trotted forward to welcome her with a sniff and a lick on the hand.

“I was in the shower.”

Hannah couldn’t read his expression very well, but she thought she detected a hint of curiosity in his eyes. “You’re probably wondering why I’m here.”

“I’m guessing it has something to do with Kenny.” Lazarus licked her again, but when Gabe whistled and snapped his fingers, the dog immediately moved back to his side. “He’ll be on my team this year, won’t he?”

She could smell turpentine in the shop, the scent of tomato plants drifting in from the garden. “Yes.”

“From what I’ve seen, he’s pretty good.”

“Football means a lot to him.”

She clasped her hands nervously behind her back. Football had meant a lot to Gabe, too.

Suddenly it seemed stupid for her to have come out to his cabin. She wasn’t the right person to help him. Gabe might be in a wheelchair, but he still had a powerful presence. She knew from everything she’d seen so far that he could compensate for his handicap. Blaine probably wouldn’t pose any problem for him.

But she was already here. It was too late to back out.

“Actually, I didn’t come to talk about Kenny. I wanted to warn you that you might run into a little resentment from Coach Blaine.”

He rubbed his chin with his knuckles. “What makes you think so?”

Gabe had kissed her once, at a high-school graduation party. For some reason, Hannah couldn’t help thinking of that now. His mouth had been soft and commanding, his hands firm on her back as he pressed her against him. He’d been the boy “Most Likely to Succeed,” if not by actual vote by common understanding, and she’d gone home with a huge crush….

“Hannah?”

She was staring at the shape of his lips, which, like his thick-lashed eyes and the rest of his deeply tanned face, was something to be admired.

Clearing her throat, she felt her cheeks warm as she scrambled to remind herself of his question—why did she think he might have trouble with Coach Blaine? “Something Kenny mentioned to me when he came home from practice yesterday,” she said.

“What was that?”

No way was she going to tell Gabe what Blaine had called him. “Basically, he’s jealous that you got the position he wanted.”

He didn’t seem impressed that she’d driven so far to warn him. “So?”

She blinked in surprise. “I’m afraid he might work against you, try to make you look bad somehow, make you feel unwelcome.”

“So?” he repeated.

“So…I wanted to tell you to watch your back.”

Lazarus barked, but Gabe quickly and easily silenced him by putting a hand on his head. “I can take care of myself, Hannah,” he said. “I don’t need you to protect me.”

“I know. I just…” Her words faltered. He was right. If he weren’t in a wheelchair, she wouldn’t have come out here. She would have known he could handle Coach Blaine.

All the regret she’d felt since the accident caused a painful ache in her chest. She wanted to redeem herself somehow. Make things right. But there wasn’t any way to do that. “I’m sorry,” she said.

Tears burned behind her eyes. She fought them as she tried to skirt past him, but he caught her wrist before she could clear the workshop door. “Hannah?”

The warmth of his touch seemed to wrap around her like a blanket. Again she remembered that night twenty years ago when he’d kissed her. She wished he’d kiss her now, wished he could be the man he used to be. She had walked away from that accident with only a broken arm and a gash on the forehead, but she wasn’t sure she’d ever recover from the remorse.

“I’m fine,” he said firmly. “You have to forgive yourself, okay?”

He let go, but she didn’t move away. She wanted to throw her arms around him so she could feel his heart beating. She knew he was right. They both needed to get over the accident and move on. Only he wasn’t fine. He was sitting in a wheelchair, and he was angry and bitter, even if he was trying not to direct those emotions at her. “Gabe…”

“What?”

She didn’t have the right to ask him for anything, but that ache in her chest made it impossible to walk away. Unable to find words, she ran two tentative fingers down the side of his face.

His eyes immediately riveted on hers. She recognized the raw need that flared inside them and was so surprised to see his defenses slipping, she couldn’t breathe. He looked as if he was starved for human touch, and it was little wonder. He’d lost so much. And what he hadn’t lost, he’d rejected.

The dog whined and suddenly, the mask of indifference Gabe usually wore snapped into place. “Don’t do me any favors,” he said gruffly, rolling back several inches. “Forget about me and go on with your life.”

She let her hand fall to her side. “I can’t forget you,” she admitted. But before he could respond, Lazarus tore off, barking, and Mike Hill strode into the backyard.

STRUGGLING TO COPE with the powerful emotions that had come out of nowhere, Gabe whistled for Lazarus and focused on Mike’s approach. Hannah would leave soon and his pulse would settle. He just needed to bide his time, ignore the sudden yearning, stick with his therapy so he could eventually reclaim his life. Since the accident, he’d withdrawn from everyone, even his family. It was only natural he’d miss the closeness and the physical interaction.

“There you are.” Mike wore a congenial smile as he petted Lazarus, but Gabe recognized the surprise running underneath that smile. Hannah would be about the last person Mike would expect to find here. Gabe sighed. What had happened to his blessed solitude? He’d moved thirty miles from town and built his cabin on a hundred acres of forested mountaintop. Evidently, he hadn’t gone to enough trouble. Without outside interference, he could deal with his problems in his own way—could even remain oblivious to the exact depth of some of his more poignant losses. But when Mike talked about horses or football or even marriage and family, Gabe realized how much he missed his old life. And when Hannah touched him, he realized how badly he craved the smell, taste and feel of a woman.

Someday, he told himself. When he recovered….