The Gentrys: Abby

Her sister-in-law slowly shook her head. “Oh, he knows that you’ve grown up, all right. I’m not supposed to tell you this yet, but he’s planning a big shindig for your birthday—inviting all the eligible bachelors in the county, too.”

Once again cookie crumbs went spewing over the kitchen. “What? But why on earth…”

Meredith slung an arm around her. “He thinks you must be lonely way out here. He’s concerned that you haven’t been seeing friends or dating since you’ve been home from school.”

“Well, if that doesn’t beat all.” Abby hung her head. “I can’t believe he didn’t remember that I never dated anyone in high school…and I certainly don’t need a man messing up my life now. How could he just go off and invite people without speaking to me about it first?”

Meredith took a step back and studied her. “You never dated in high school?”

Abby shook her head.

“How about in college?”

The incredulous tone in Meredith’s voice caused Abby some embarrassment, but she didn’t have anything to hide. Men just hadn’t fitted into her dreams. Lots of women in this modern world lived long and fruitful lives without being tied to a man. She’d always planned to be one of them.

She shook her head and headed for another cookie.

“Are you telling me that you’ve never ‘been’ with a man?” Meredith asked in amazement.

“Of course not,” Abby managed to say before stuffing her mouth again. “Why would I?”

Meredith chuckled. “Oh, honey, I can see why Cinco worries so much about you.”

Abby wrinkled up her face but couldn’t protest with her mouth still full.

“Listen up, Abby Jo Gentry.” Meredith straightened to her full five foot ten. “You will go to this party Cinco’s planned. You will talk to some of the men. And you will enjoy yourself.”

Meredith kissed her on the cheek. “That’s an order.”

Three

A week later Gray climbed the back steps to the kitchen of the Skaggses’ main house. His body still ached, but at least he hadn’t been forced to stay in the hospital for more than a few hours.

“You must have a strong constitution, son.” One of the doctors told him as he signed the papers to send him home. “Most people would’ve been down for a week after what you went through.”

If that were true, he imagined he’d inherited the trait from his grandfather. Gray sure hoped he’d finally be able to talk to that cranky old Indian this morning, too. He needed answers, but Grandfather still didn’t have a phone.

While he’d lived with him for ten years, going to college and learning the ways of the elders, Gray hadn’t cared much about phones, either. Now that Grandfather lived alone, Gray thought maybe he should buy him a cell phone, even though neither of them wanted to jump into technology quite so forcefully. In general, the old ways were infinitely better.

But he wanted the old man to quickly be able to get in touch with him should anything happen. And Gray wanted to be able to reach him when he had a question only Grandfather could answer.

His grandfather, Stalking Moon Parker, had always lived near the progressive and relatively prosperous tribal family lands, located in southwestern Oklahoma. But the stoic old crank would have none of the modern conveniences and civilized companionship of other Comanches. He lived alone with the old ways, and far from the rest of nemene.

Gray imagined that by today his grandfather would’ve gotten the messages he’d had a neighbor hand-deliver. And Grandfather would’ve come to town this morning to answer a phone call placed to an old friend.

As he stepped into the kitchen of the Skaggses’ main house, Gray sighed quietly. Unfortunately, his own phone privileges had been somewhat restricted lately. He could only pray that his two stepbrothers, the current bane of his existence, would be out of the house.

No such luck.

“Hey, hey, hey, looky here,” the younger Skaggs brother, Milan, said as he turned from the open refrigerator door. “Take a gander at who just walked right through the back door…like he owned the place or something.”

Milan Skaggs was twenty-three, and to Gray’s mind he didn’t amount to much. Lean and gangly at about five foot eight, the younger Skaggs boy had to physically look up to his stepbrother—which didn’t do much in the way of making him any more pleasant.

At the moment Milan was grinning at him with one of his typically foolish looks. Gray tried to keep a steady and neutral expression on his face. But it wasn’t easy when Milan looked so dumb, gazing up at him from under that shock of straw-colored hair.

“Don’t waste your time with the Indian, Milan.” Harold, the elder Skaggs brother waltzed into the kitchen, waving a small white card around in the air. “We’ve got more important things to attend to right now.” Harold threw Gray a disgusted glance, then returned his attention to his own flesh and blood.

Gray took an involuntary step forward. But remembering where he was he fisted his hands in his pockets and froze in place, standing near the back door. Something about Harold just made him feel like a fight.

Which, come to think of it, was surprising, considering the eldest Skaggs brother’s demeanor seemed so wimpy. His face always carried that pasty, drawn scowl. His nondescript brown eyes never managed to look at anyone directly, and that paunch above his belt spoke volumes about the sad state of his athletic ability.

Whatever it was that bothered Gray about Harold, he didn’t want to cause any trouble with either of his stepbrothers. He’d been forced to come back here to their ranch last year after his mother died, in order to manage the mustang herd and make sure those rare Indian ponies remained pure and well. But as soon as he could afford to move them to a place of his own, he’d be gone.

Regardless of what his stepfather, Joe Skaggs, wanted…or needed.

“We’ve got to decide how to dress properly for this barbecue party at the Gentrys’ tonight, Milan.” Harold continued addressing his brother and ignoring Gray. “I don’t know if regular Sunday jeans is right ’cause, besides dancing and drinking, they’re supposedly showing off some new horse flesh.”

“Yeah, I know,” Milan replied. “Dad was talking the other day about that-there expensive Spanish mestenos stud the Gentrys had bought.” He scrunched up his mouth and looked at the ceiling for answers. “Can’t imagine why they’d be needing to compete with us, though. They’ve got all the money in the world, don’t they?”

Mestenos stud? Gray instantly became very interested in his stepbrothers’ conversation. Of course, the Indian ponies on the Skaggs Ranch belonged to him—not to any of the Skaggses. He’d inherited them legally under white-man’s laws.

He couldn’t imagine that the Gentry Ranch had decided to go into mustang breeding, there wasn’t enough money involved for them. Milan was right for a change—it just didn’t add up.

“There’s some kind of shindig at the Gentry Ranch tonight?” Gray asked. He’d sure like to get a look at the neighbors’ new acquisition.

Gray was not a party person. In fact, he couldn’t exactly claim he’d ever been to anything resembling a party—except maybe an inter-tribal powwow. But he doubted that a rich man’s Texas barbecue would be quite the same.

“Big shindig,” Milan loudly answered. “Really big. Daddy says the oldest brother…what’s his name, Cinco ain’t it? Anyway, he’s invited every eligible male in the county, looking for somebody to take his scraggly sister off his hands.”

Milan grinned and hitched up his jeans. “Figure I got ’bout the best shot at it as any cowpoke ’round here.”

Gray winced at the thought—and at the whiff of Milan’s rank breath he’d just gotten, but he tried to keep his features steady. Were they talking about Abby, the woman who’d rescued him and saved his life? He’d heard that she was the only daughter…the only woman on the Gentry ranch…except for the oldest brother’s new wife. But she was definitely not “scraggly” looking.

Gray thought Abby was one of the most beautiful women he’d ever laid eyes on. Well, all right, perhaps she was a bit shorter than average, and her muscular body might not appeal to some, but she had the face and eyes of an angel. And…just maybe…white men liked their women to wear lots of makeup and frilly clothes. But Gray sure didn’t. And he knew that Abby wouldn’t wear anything that foolish. His lips began to curl into a wide grin with the thought of the strong young woman who’d saved his life.

“Don’t even think about it,” Harold suddenly snarled at Gray. “You’re not going with us, brother Parker. Dad says the Gentry clan wouldn’t want any ol’ Injuns at their party. It’s bad enough you embarrassed us with that snake stunt the other day. You aren’t going to get a second chance to make us look stupid.”

Gray knew he could never make the Skaggses look stupid—they did a great job of that on their own. “I thought you said our neighbors had invited all bachelors?” he asked Milan.

Milan ripped the invitation from Harold’s hand and waved it under Gray’s nose. “This here invite is addressed to ‘Joe Skaggs and family.’ As I recall, your name ain’t Skaggs…Parker. When Dad gets done with morning chores he’ll make you see you ain’t wanted.”

Gray pulled his fisted hands from his pockets with a jerk. Remembering just in time that these idiots were not worth the effort to scalp, he forced himself to take a step back. More than proud of his Comanche heritage, he’d never paid attention to anyone’s nasty remarks or ill-informed prejudice, and he wasn’t going to start now.

And if, heaven forbid, his name was Skaggs, he’d be duty-bound to commit suicide.

“I couldn’t care less about going to any ridiculous barbecue.” Gray shrugged. “But you boys better get on the stick and figure out what party frocks to wear. You’ve only got another eight hours or so to pretty up.”

Before either of them could manage another word, he turned and strode out the kitchen door, leaving both of them sputtering and gesturing in the air. Maybe he’d go get himself a cell phone, after all. Or maybe he would try calling Grandfather at his friend’s house later this morning when Abbott and Costello here were out of the house.

And after he decided what time would be best for him to show up at the Gentry Ranch barbecue.

Abby stomped up the back stairs of the main house, cussing under her breath all the way. That durn Cinco had done it again.

This time she’d been pitching in with the wranglers as they’d prepared for the barbecue. She’d helped as they dug a huge pit out behind the house, filled it with mesquite and lit the fires. They’d set up the chairs, tables and tents.

Finally, as she was helping the cooks load spits with the many sides of beef to be slow-smoked, Cinco showed up and nearly embarrassed her to death. He stood beside her at the edge of the pit, all six foot two of him, scrutinizing her.

Looking her up and down, he shook his head. “The gate just called. The first of our guests has entered ranch property. They’ll be arriving within a half hour or so. I also know for a fact that some people are flying in, and they might be here anytime now.”

He took out a bandanna and rubbed at her cheek until it hurt. “Are you injured or is that just dirt and ash?”

“Ow.” Abby jerked her head away from his hand. “I wasn’t injured until you started manhandling me.”

The look in her brother’s eyes softened and he dropped his hand to his side. “Oh, Abby Jo, darlin’, why can’t you be just a little more feminine? You know I don’t want to hurt you. I love you. You’re really a pretty girl with so much to offer. I want you to be happy.”

“If you really wanted to make me happy, you wouldn’t be having this party at all. You’d leave me be and let me prove my worth as a ranch foreman. Most of the other hands don’t believe a woman can do the job of ranch foreman. I’m trying to win them over one at a time, and I’ll never do it if you keep trying to turn me into a frilly little girl.”

Cinco’s eyes teared over, and Abby was horrified at the idea of him actually crying out here in front of everyone.

“You know, when you get your dander up like that,” he began. “You look just like Mom used to when she was mad at one of us. Remember how her eyes used to spark just before she whacked us on the behind?”

He put his hand on her shoulder. “Your eyes turn exactly the same evergreen color as hers did.”

Geez. Her brother sure was a softie inside. Too bad Abby couldn’t find a way to use that so he’d back off her case and let her work in peace for what she wanted.

Besides, Abby didn’t want to remember what color Mom’s eyes were, or anything else about her for that matter. She’d left. Disappeared. Never returned. That was all Abby needed to remember about her.

Oh, mercy. She could see now that Cinco’s eyes were about to brim right over.

“All right, brother. I’ll go clean up for your party.” She adjusted her work hat and put her hands on her hips. “But don’t go expecting me to actually look pretty for this thing. That ain’t my style.”

Cinco smiled at her. “You just put on those new jeans and fringed shirt Meredith bought for you, honey, and you’ll dazzle the whole of Texas.”

He turned to walk away, then stopped and turned back to her. “Oh, and, Abby,” he said, then grinned again. “Try to have a good time. This is your birthday. Enjoy it, sweetheart.”

Abby was still muttering to herself hours later, standing right in the middle of the party. She had gone to take a shower, put on her fancy new duds and tried to get a comb through her clean, wet hair. That effort proved to be a lost cause, so she jammed her go-to-town Stetson over the mass of tangles dripping down her back and headed out to greet the nosy neighbors.

Through the whole afternoon, she’d felt like a prize calf being judged at the state fair. One pair of local cowpokes, with bobbing Adam’s apples and dusty boots, ogled every inch of her body. She could almost feel them calculating her weight and whether she still had all her teeth.

After shaking hands and smiling until her cheeks ached, Abby figured she’d been pleasant enough. When Cinco tried to talk her into dancing with a few of the good ’ol boys, she decided to sneak away from the crowd and get back out to the horses where she belonged.

Lordy, but she wished for someone to save her from all this attention.

Living on the ranch all her life, Abby knew how to sneak out behind the barns without being seen. Slipping away and heading for the corrals, she skirted the show barn where Cinco was showing off their new stallion.

On the way, she figured she might like to get another look at the mustang herself before the sunlight was completely gone. So she quietly stole through the saddle barn and let the twilight hide her movements on the far side of the fencing, where the new wild Indian pony was corralled.

She found a spot next to the fence in the shadows where she could put a boot up on a rail and admire the horse alone to her heart’s content. And the mustang certainly was a prize to be admired, she thought as she looked through the fence.

The parti-colored, Kiger mustang was really quite rare, and to Abby it was also quite beautiful. She’d heard Cinco describe the stallion pony to a neighbor. He’d commented on the fact that this mustang bore the prize pinto markings that the early Indians used to call medicine hat. In the waning sunlight, Abby could see its light-colored body, dark reddish ears and blotchy flanks and feet. As the horse ran the fence line, she saw the distinctive white shield on its chest.

“You’re doing that pony a terrible injustice,” a baritone voice suddenly said from behind her.

Abby gasped at the deep, quiet tone and sudden movement coming directly out of the shadows on her right. She turned to find Gray standing next to her, staring at the mustang who brushed past them at a gallop.

“Can’t you see how agitated that animal has become?” he demanded. “Don’t you know better than to pin a wild pony in a corral while humans stand nearby talking and laughing in loud voices? And the smell of smoke from the barbecues is making him crazy.”

“Gray.” She laid a palm against her chest and tried to calm her agitated breathing. “You nearly scared me to death. Where’d you come from?”

He didn’t turn to look at her, but continued to study the wild pony through the fence rails. “I came to see the new Gentry Ranch mustang.” The corners of his mouth cracked up in what might be taken for a smile—on someone else. “That’s what this party’s all about, isn’t it?”

Too close. That was all she could think. The man was standing too close.

She disobeyed her body’s urging to run away, but did turn her face as he had, staring out into the corral. It didn’t help.

The heat from his nearness radiated right through her long-sleeved shirt. But the flush of warmth overtaking her came from deep inside, not from sizzling skin. And here she’d thought the evening had been rather cool up until now.

Hmm. Had he just asked her a question?

“How are you feeling, Gray?” She tried to steady her shaky voice. “I checked with the hospital, and they told me you’d gone home almost as soon as you got there. Have you recovered fully?” She sneaked a peek at him out of the corner of her eye.

“There was no need to make such a big fuss,” he dipped his chin. “Your antivenom did the job. Another couple of hours rest at the shack and I could’ve easily made it home on my own.”

Abby wished she could see his eyes. He sounded so stilted. So far away. It was hard enough to stand here beside him when he looked so tall and tough. The Gray she’d saved had been lean and muscular, but injured he hadn’t seemed so…savage.

Then he turned to face her. “The wind’s changed.”

She’d been wrong to want to see his eyes. So wrong.

They were black, bottomless pools that appeared to see right through her skin to the scared little rabbit hiding inside. She tried to turn her face toward the corral again, but his dark-as-pitch gaze held her spellbound and speechless.

“The stallion is quieting some. Guess everyone’s gone back to the tables to eat.” He seemed about ready to reach over and touch her shoulder but stopped just short and turned back toward the corral. “Why aren’t you off with the rest of them at the party, princess? After all, the whole thing is in your honor.”

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