Doozie whinnied again and Hornswaggled answered with a loud bleat.

"Gabe needs to get these animals settled." Emmett moved out of the aisle, but kept at least a yard's distance from Pam. "And I...I should be getting to bed."

Pam looked fit to be tied. "By all means, toddle off to bed, Emmett. By yourself." She raised her voice so she could be heard over the now-continuous cries of Doozie and Hornswaggled. "But just remember, it's your own d.a.m.ned stubbornness keeping it that way!" Turning on her heel, she stomped out of the barn. A moment later, her tires spat gravel as she took off.

Emmett blew out a breath and shook his head as he gazed at the wood floor.

Out of respect for all the years Emmett had been like a second father to him, Gabe remained where he was, despite the ruckus. He wanted to give the man a chance to gather the shredded remnants of his pride.

At last the foreman straightened and looked at Gabe. "Time to get this goat and horse together before they wake up the whole d.a.m.n ranch." He turned and walked toward Doozie's stall.

"Sure thing." Gabe followed, leading a very eager goat.

Goat and horse touched noses, and Hornswaggled wiggled his ears a lot. Doozie let out a huge horsey sigh that told Gabe he'd done the right thing.

Emmett clapped him on the shoulder. "Smart move, son. I'll bet Doozie's gonna be fine now."

"I hope so."

"Guess I'll be heading off to bed."

"Okay." Gabe wasn't heading off to bed, at least not his own.

Emmett paused in the barn doorway. "You'd think someone as old as I am would have more sense."

"I don't think logic and good sense figure into it, Emmett."

"Obviously not. That woman could buy and sell me. I have no business kissing her, and she certainly has no business letting me do it."

Gabe had to process that statement before realizing that Emmett's old-school mentality wouldn't allow him to get involved with a woman who had way more money than he had. "That's kind of a b.u.mmer for Pam, don't you think?"

"What do you mean?"

"The way I understand it, she had a two-timing husband who deserved to pay her a bunch of money."

Emmett scowled. "d.a.m.n right he did, the b.a.s.t.a.r.d. And if she only had that money, it wouldn't be so bad, but there's the inheritance, too. Her parents were loaded."

"Then she needs to donate the entire inheritance to charity."

"What?"

"So you can feel good about dating her." Gabe shrugged. "Seems like the only solution. I'll be happy to suggest it to her if you-"

"You'll do no such thing! She already gives quite a bit to various causes, but the whole inheritance? That's nuts. Some of it needs to go to Nick, anyway, because it's from his grandparents. And Nick will probably have kids, so Pam can't go giving everything away."

Gabe smiled at him. "Exactly. And I see no reason for that poor woman to be penalized because she had the misfortune of being born to rich parents. It's not her fault."

"Penalized?"

"She wants you, Emmett. And from what I just saw, you want her, too. Give the woman a break."

Emmett scrubbed a hand over his face. "I'll think on it, Gabe."

"You do that. And I have to get going. I have something really important to do."

"What's that?"

"Convince Morgan O'Connelli to marry me."

16.

IN STARK CONTRAST to the previous evening, tonight Morgan was wearing light blue flannel pj's decorated with teddy bears. She'd bought them on sale because they were designed for a cold winter evening. But in Shoshone, any evening was suitable for flannel, especially if the person wearing it was feeling sorry for herself and needed a hug.

But the hug she needed was the dangerous kind delivered by a certain cowboy who remained on her mind no matter what DVD she watched or how many cups of cocoa she drank. Giving him up was going to be a major pain in the a.s.s. And in the heart. But it was the right thing to do.

He must think so, too, because he hadn't responded to her text message. She'd thought breaking up would be hard to do, just like the old song said, but apparently not. All it took were a few words sent via cell phone and they were done. She should be relieved about that.

Instead she wished there was some way she could know that he was home safe. That kind of thinking had to stop eventually, because she couldn't keep track of his comings and goings in the future. But this one time, when she knew about his road trip, she'd like to get word that he'd successfully brought the goat home and was safe in his own bed.

She'd find out in the next few days. Shoshone was a small town and somebody would mention Gabe's trip while they were eating at the diner, or having drinks at Spirits and Spurs. Or one of the hands from the Last Chance would talk about it when he came into the feed store for supplies. Word would filter to Morgan through the grapevine. But she wanted to know now.

As she refilled her mug with cocoa from the pan on the stove, the doorbell rang and she splashed the hot liquid all over. Her hand shook as she put down the mug and grabbed a dishrag to swipe at her pj top.

She knew who was at the door. A visitor at nine-thirty at night could be only one person. Maybe she hadn't broken up with him as completely as she'd thought. But at least he'd come home safe and sound. The tight knot in her stomach loosened.

The doorbell rang a second time. Okay, she'd break up with him in person, and this time she'd make it stick. She wouldn't be the perfect daughter-in-law, and the fallout from that could be huge in a town where the Chances were the reigning royal family. She could kiss her real estate business goodbye.

She opened the door, her speech of farewell on the tip of her tongue.

Gabe obviously had other uses for her tongue, because he swooped in before she could utter a word, crushed her to him and kissed her like a soldier coming home from the war. He held her tight and her struggles were in vain. She'd never quite realized before how strong he was.

Naturally, the longer he spent kissing her, the less she struggled. Kissing Gabe was her second-favorite activity in the world. But she would not allow that activity to lead to her most favorite activity in the world.

At last he came up for air and gazed down at her, his chest heaving. "I missed you so much. You're my Doozie."

"Excuse me? Did that kiss deprive you of oxygen to the brain?"

"Let's go in."

She wasn't quite sure how he accomplished it, but in seconds they were inside her living room and he'd kicked the door shut with his booted foot.

He kept her in a tight grip, refusing to let her go. His expression was endearingly intent. "You're my Doozie. I'm your goat."

She figured out that reuniting the goat and the horse had turned symbolic for him. "Romantic as that sounds, I have to disagree. You haven't found your Doozie yet."

"I have. You're it. Morgan, please marry me. We belong together."

"No, we don't." She pushed futilely at his rock-hard chest. "I meant what I said in my text message. It won't work between us."

"It worked really well the other night." He fitted his pelvis to hers. "I'll bet it could work well tonight, too. And don't think teddy bears will make a difference. I'd want you no matter what you wear."

She could tell that. He was ready to rock and roll, and naturally, once she was in his arms, so was she. But another romp in her bed would only make things worse for both of them.

Cupping his face in her hands, she looked into those blue, blue eyes. "Listen to me. You're part of a legacy. What you need is a ranch wife who doesn't mind sending you off to compete while she raises the grandchildren your mother so desperately wants."

"Nick can be in charge of producing kids."

She shook her head. "Not just Nick. All of you. You're destined to carry on the Chance name, and I understand that. But when it comes to women suited to marry the Chance boys, I don't fit the mold. I don't want to be a disappointment to your mother, but mostly, I don't want to be a disappointment to you."

"You couldn't be."

"Oh, yes, I could." Her heart ached, but this had to be said. "Not at first, when the s.e.x is great and I can travel a little bit with you. But we can only be newlyweds for so long before everyone starts asking 'what's next?' The obvious answer is children."

His jaw tightened. "If you don't want them, then we won't have any."

"Be honest with yourself. You were envious of Nick and Dominique when they were planning their house. How will you feel when they have a baby? And your mom gets all weepy and happy about it?"

Uncertainty danced in his eyes. "You could change your mind."

She wanted to keep that feeling of uncertainty alive, for his sake. "Maybe I'll change my mind, but this is a big issue, Gabe. We can't base a life on the possibility that I'll get excited about having kids. I might not. Look, neither of us went into this with plans for a future together. Don't force it. Let me go."

The pain in his expression nearly toppled her resolve. "I don't want to."

"And I don't want to keep this up. I...I'm starting to care for you." She didn't have the courage to use the L-word at this point in time. "If we're headed down a dead-end street, then we need to turn back now, before we crash."

He swallowed. "Morgan..."

"You know I'm right. Just go. Go now, before we hurt each other any more. I'm not the person you need."

"And you don't want to be."

This was the hard part. "No, I don't." She longed to close her eyes and block out his tortured gaze, but that wouldn't be fair. Flinching would indicate she wasn't sure. And she was. She was.

"All right, then." Releasing her, he turned toward the door. "But I still think you're my Doozie."

"You got the goat okay?"

"Yeah. Doozie was overjoyed to see him." Gabe opened the door and walked out, dejection and defeat in every line of his body.

She pressed her lips together to keep from calling him back. But she loved him too much to hand out false hope. Someday he'd find a woman better suited to him, and then he'd thank Morgan for sending him away tonight.

If only she could take more comfort in that.

GABE DIDN'T REMEMBER much about the drive home. He sat in the circular driveway for a while, trying to summon the energy to go inside, but everything seemed so pointless now. Unfortunately he understood exactly what Morgan was talking about, and she was right.

He could see himself marrying her with the promise that he didn't care about kids, just so he could satisfy this driving need to be with her. But he did care about kids, and he'd marry her with the secret wish that she'd change. If she didn't...they'd be in trouble.

Slamming his hands against the truck's steering wheel, he cursed Morgan's parents for souring her on the concept of having children. Not much could be done about that now, though. He might as well get on with his life.

When he went inside, he noticed that someone had left a lamp burning in the living room. Probably his mother, so he wouldn't stumble around in the dark. He walked over to turn it off before going upstairs.

Jack's voice startled him. "Did you drive into town to see Morgan?"

He looked over and found his big brother in one of the leather easy chairs that circled a round coffee table in front of the fireplace. A bottle of whiskey sat on an end table beside him and he held a shot gla.s.s in his hand. Gabe wasn't in the mood to listen to another of Jack's tirades on the subject of Morgan. He started to leave the room.

"I was wrong about her," Jack said.

Gabe paused and waited for trumpets to herald this miracle-Jack admitting he'd made an error in judgment.

"Don't look so shocked." Jack drained his shot gla.s.s and set it on the table next to the bottle. "I've been wrong once or twice in my life."

"I'm aware of that. I just never expected you to say so."

"Yeah, well...get ready, because here comes another one. I was wrong about paying for your compet.i.tion, too. I was forgetting something major. It makes Sarah happy to know you're out there using the skills Dad taught you. That's worth whatever it costs, and if you help sell a few horses in the process, so much the better."

"Okay." At the moment, Gabe didn't give a s.h.i.t about riding in compet.i.tions, but he wasn't going to say that.

"You might actually get Top Drawer into the Hall of Fame, which would be a bonus. Besides, you're a tax write-off."

"Woo-hoo." Gabe made a circle in the air with his finger.

"Do you understand me? I'm saying you're clear to get back out there."

"Great." He couldn't believe how little that meant compared to losing Morgan. He should be grateful, though, because competing would provide a way to take his mind off her.

"You don't sound very happy about it. Is something wrong? I mean, you're home kinda early. Is Morgan sick or something?"

"No. It's...it's over. We're done."

Jack let loose with a string of colorful swear words.

"It's my fault, isn't it? For being such an a-hole."

"No, it's not your fault. Everything doesn't have to be about you, Jack."

He shrugged. "If you say so. Then what's the problem?"

"I really don't want to talk about-"

"Aw, h.e.l.l, Gabe. Who else you got to bounce things off of? Nick's sailing around on cloud nine, so you don't want to lay this on him. That leaves me and Sarah, and it's dangerous to give your mother too much information."

Gabe couldn't help laughing at the truth of that. And in that instant, he was transported back to a happier time when Jack had been the go-to guy for problems with women. Both Gabe and Nick had depended on Jack's worldly knowledge to get them through the maze of male-female relationships.