Wed By Fortune

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“I’ll try to write something down for you,” her uncle said. “But I’m not sure how to go about it. I just throw things together.”

“Then you have a good sense about how something is supposed to taste. You’re an awesome cook.”

Uncle Roger beamed, his bright-eyed smile shaving years off his face. “Thanks, Sasha-Marie.”

But it wasn’t just the main dish that Sasha found remarkable. “I haven’t had baked potatoes with all the fixings in ages.” She pointed to the small bowls of toppings he’d set out on the table. “Butter, fresh chives, sour cream, grated cheddar, real bacon... You didn’t skimp on anything.”

When her uncle didn’t respond, she looked up from her plate to see him and Graham shooting glances at each other. She tried to read their expressions, to no avail.

Had they, over the years, created a silent language of their own? Then again, there was still a lot left to be said this evening, plus a hatchet to be buried. And they all knew it. Well, the adults did. Little Maddie was eating away, oblivious of the tension that still stretched between Sasha and Roger.

“Thanks for going to all this trouble for me,” she said. “It’s a perfect welcome-home meal.”

At that, Uncle Roger broke into another grin. “I’m glad you’re here, honey.”

“Me, too,” she admitted. And she was grateful that, in spite of the fact that he’d been hurt, he’d opened his arms and heart to her once again, just as he’d done after her parents died.

She speared her fork into a crunchy piece of romaine lettuce, as well as a plump chunk of tomato that had obviously come fresh from the vine. But she hadn’t been prepared for the familiar taste of the vinaigrette. “Oh, my gosh. You even made Aunt Helen’s salad dressing. Now I’m really impressed.”

Roger’s tired blue eyes lit up and he winked. “That was my way of having her here with us tonight.”

“What a nice thought.”

After they finished dinner, Roger brought out dessert: chocolate-chip ice cream and store-bought peanut butter cookies.

“I like ranch food,” Maddie said. “It’s really good.”

Roger, whose smile stretched from ear to ear, said, “You just wait for breakfast. I’ll make silver-dollar pancakes for you.”

The man had always been a whiz in the kitchen, going out of his way to make sure he pleased those sharing his table. And while Sasha should volunteer to do the dishes herself and give him a much-deserved break this evening, they still had things to discuss. And they needed to do that in private.

“I’ll help you with the dishes,” she told her uncle.

“That’s not necessary. I clean up as I go.”

“Yes, I know. But I’d like to talk to you.”

As Roger nodded in agreement, Graham spoke up. “That sounds like a good plan to me.” Then he turned his attention to Maddie. “Since you and I are off the hook for cleanup detail, let’s go into the living room, kick back and watch the sports channel.”

Maddie wrinkled her nose. “But I don’t like sports. Don’t you want to watch Disney or Nickelodeon or cartoons instead?”

Graham sat back in his chair, crossed his arms over his chest and scrunched his own face. “What do you mean, you don’t like sports? Not even pro rodeo?”

Maddie sat up, her eyes brightening. “I thought sports meant football and basketball and dumb ol’ golf. But I’d like to watch rodeo stuff.”

“Something told me you would be okay with that.” Graham glanced at Sasha and winked in camaraderie, setting off a warm flutter in her heart. She doubted he had any idea how that small, brief connection had affected her, just as he hadn’t in the past, because he turned back to her daughter. “I’ll make you a deal, Maddie. If we can’t find any rodeo on TV, then I’ll let you be in charge of the remote.”

The child clapped her hands. “Deal!”

“Then what are we waiting for?” Graham pushed back his chair and stood. “Let’s get out of here before they put you and me to work.”

Maddie slid off her seat, then followed the handsome cowboy into the family room, leaving Sasha and Uncle Roger alone.

As her uncle began to clear the table, she said, “I owe you an apology.”

He merely looked at her, waiting for her to explain.

“You tried to warn me about Gabe, and I should have listened. But I was young and headstrong back then. I was also in love with the idea of marriage.”

“Yeah, well, I knew that no-good son of a...” Roger cleared his throat, pausing as if trying to temper his response. Then he blew out a heavy sigh. “Well, that’s all muddy water under a rickety old bridge to nowhere.”

“Yes, I know. But it needs to be said, just the same.” She picked up the plates, bowls and silverware, while he grabbed the glasses.

“I s’pose you’re right about that. But just so you know, when I was that age and had fallen for your aunt, I wouldn’t have let anyone talk me out of marrying her. So I can’t blame you for not listening to me.”

“I’m glad you understand, but that isn’t the only reason I need to apologize.”

He arched a gray, bushy eyebrow.

“I’m sorry for not keeping in better contact with you. I should have done that.” She stacked the dirty dishes on the counter near the sink, then took the glasses from him and set them down, too. “It wouldn’t have hurt me to visit some and call you more often.”

“Yeah, well...” Roger paused again, his craggy brow creased as if he was wading through his thoughts and feelings. Then he shrugged. “The phone line goes both ways. Besides, the fault is probably mine. I shouldn’t have stirred things up at your wedding.”

“I knew something happened that day, but I wasn’t sure what. You were so quiet and grim.” She reached into the cupboard under the sink for the bottle of dish soap. “And Gabe was... Well, he was as tense as a fence post and angry about something.”

“Gabe and I had words,” Roger said. “And I damn near beat the crap out of him. The best man and the groomsmen had to pull me off him. So I’m sorry about that.” He chuckled. “Actually, I’m mostly sorry someone interfered before I had a chance to let him have it. I would have enjoyed giving him a black eye, a fat lip and a bloody nose. But it’s just as well. If I had, it would have ruined your special day.”

She laughed, imagining a battered groom standing at the altar. “You’re right. I wouldn’t have been happy about that.”

“Either way, honey, I should have held my tongue. And my temper.”

It wasn’t like her uncle to get into brawls, especially at a church and dressed in a tuxedo. “What made you want to fight him?”

“The stuff he said to me. Things meant to rile me up, I ’spect.” Again he shrugged as if it no longer mattered.

But it did matter, especially if they wanted to put it all behind them.

“What did he say to you?” she asked.

Roger pondered her question for the longest time. When she thought he might never answer, he said, “I wanted to have a talk with him before the ceremony. I figured, with your daddy and your grandpa gone, that job was up to me. So I found him and his friends waiting for the ceremony to start in one of the small rooms at the church. They were already dressed and throwing back shots of whiskey as if the bachelor party had never ended.”

She’d smelled alcohol on Gabe’s breath, tasted it, too. She’d assumed he’d been nervous and had wanted to take the edge off.

“Now, I’ll admit,” Roger said, “I ain’t a teetotaler. But I didn’t think the preacher or the Good Lord would have appreciated those boys tying one on at the church on a Saturday morning. And I told ’em so. But Gabe didn’t take to being scolded. I should have taken the hint then, but I decided to try a different approach and asked if I could talk to him alone.”

“When you spoke in private, what did he say?”

“Actually, he told me there wasn’t anything I had to say that his buddies couldn’t hear.”

“Gabe could get pretty mouthy when he drank,” Sasha admitted. “Especially when he was with his friends.” One part of her didn’t want to hear the details, but she needed to know. “So, then what happened?”

“I just told him to be good to you, to respect you. And then I said, if he didn’t, he’d have to answer to me.”

She wouldn’t have expected any less from her uncle. Roger Gibault might be a bit gruff and rough around the edges, but he had a good heart. And he was respectful to women.

“Apparently, Gabe took offense at what I said and considered it a threat.” Roger turned on the spigot, letting warm water flow into the sink. He squeezed a squirt of dish soap under the flow, then chuckled. “Hell, it was a threat. And he didn’t like it.”

When the water and bubbles reached the proper level, Sasha shut off the faucet. “Gabe never listened to his father, either. He didn’t like being told what to do.”

“That doesn’t surprise me. It didn’t take me but five minutes to realize he thought he was pretty damn special. And that he was a big-mouthed rabble-rouser. But I hadn’t realized he was such an ass. If I had, I would have seen it coming.”

“Seen what coming?”

“Gabe gave me a shove that sent me flying against the wall and damn near shook the church rafters. I hit it so hard I got an egg on the back of my head. Hell, the thud alone knocked a framed picture of the Good Shepherd onto the floor.”

“Oh, my gosh. I hope he apologized.”

“Nope. It didn’t faze him. Instead he opened his yap and lit my fuse.”

Sasha hadn’t realized that their words had progressed to violence. “What did he say?”

“You want a direct quote?”

She nodded, bracing herself. “Yes, please tell me.”

Roger’s eyes narrowed to a glare, and his voice deepened, the tone chilly. “‘Who do you think you are, old man? You aren’t anything to me. And just so you know, I’ve got your little Sasha-Marie right where I want her—in my bed and under my thumb. So keep your mouth shut and don’t even try interfering in our lives, or I’ll make sure you never see her again.’”

Sasha cringed. Had she known this on her wedding day, she might have...done what? Told Gabe that the wedding was off?

No, sadly, she might not have wanted to believe the worst about him. She’d been so starry-eyed and hope-filled that day. But now, eight years later, she realized what Roger was telling her was true.

“I wanted to knock him down to size,” Roger said. “So when I got my balance, I doubled up my fist and went after him. I landed a pretty good one on his chin, although I’d been aiming for his nose. He might have thought of me as just an old man, but I’m cowboy strong. And I would have beaten the crap out of him then and there, if his friends hadn’t pulled me off him.”

“I’m sorry, Uncle Roger. I had no idea what a mean, selfish jerk Gabe was.”

“Well, what’s done is done. After it was all over, I realized how embarrassed you would have been if I’d battered your groom until he was black and blue.”

She smiled. “I almost wish you’d done it now.”

He chuckled. “Me, too. But my mama and daddy taught me better than that. I just wish my temper didn’t sometimes get the best of me.”

She smiled and opened her arms. “Can I give you a hug?”

“You betcha.” He stepped into the embrace, and they held each other close. That is, until the baby shifted and gave her a quick jab with either a little foot or fist.

“Well, I’ll be damned.” Roger dropped his arms, took a step back and looked down at her expanded belly. “I guess I’m not the only one in the family with a feisty side and a protective streak. That little one has a good kick.”

“She’s strong, that’s for sure. And she’s always making her presence known.”

“Well, I’m looking forward to meeting her. I wish I could have seen more of Maddie when she was a baby. But...” He clamped his mouth shut and slowly shook his head.

“You came to see her when she was born. Then you left quickly. Did Gabe chase you off?”

“He didn’t actually say anything too bad that time. Maybe because there hadn’t been any alcohol involved and he didn’t have an army of friends surrounding him. But each time I glanced at him, he glared at me, so I decided to end my visit and to stay away. I didn’t want to avoid you, but I knew if I came around more often, things might eventually blow up again. Besides, I figured my presence alone would upset your husband and he might take it out on you.”

“So you made that sacrifice for me?”

“That’s what you do when you love someone, Sasha-Marie.”

She placed a hand on his arm, fingering the softness of his worn flannel shirt. “I hope you know how much I love and appreciate you.”

Roger’s eyes glistened and his grin deepened. The hard feelings he’d once harbored had clearly softened.

He might have said that his anger had been directed at Gabe, but she suspected that he’d resented her for not listening to him in the first place, for not calling him regularly or visiting on occasion.

But he was right. That was all water under the bridge now.

“I’d better check on Maddie,” she said. “She’s liable to pester Graham more than I ever did.”

Roger laughed. “You were a pistol when you were a youngster, that’s a fact.”

Sasha smiled at the truth. She might have been a little headstrong, but she’d also had a loving heart, just like Maddie, who shared the same vivacious energy. Thank goodness her daughter hadn’t picked up any of Gabe’s bad traits.

Instead Maddie resembled Sasha in so many ways, and not just because of their big blue eyes and fair hair.

As Sasha entered the living room, where she assumed Maddie and Graham were watching television, she expected the cowboy to jump up immediately, glad for her return and a chance to escape the precocious child.

But she hadn’t been prepared for the sight that met her eyes. The two were seated on the floor, side by side. Maddie’s crayons and coloring books were spread upon the coffee table. Seeing the two of them working—or rather, playing—together was enough to turn Sasha’s heart inside out.

“Well, I’ll be darned,” Roger said. “I never would have guessed it, son, but you make one heck of a babysitter.”

Graham glanced up, a boyish grin stretched across his face. “I might be having a good time, but I’m not for hire. So don’t get any ideas.”

Unfortunately, Sasha was getting plenty of them. And they didn’t have anything to do with hiring Graham to watch her children. But she couldn’t afford to let that old childish crush get out of hand, especially when she knew her feelings would always be one-sided.

* * *

As a waning moon shone overhead that night, lighting the familiar path, Graham headed toward his cabin. He’d stayed at the big house long enough to see that Sasha and Roger had gotten things settled between them.