Heartsong. Sara Walter Ellwood

when she was a year old.”

      “Yes, that’s correct. Before I could adopt her proper, Lemont and I divorced. But Frankie was as much mine as Micki is.” Her mother’s voice quivered. “I loved her as my own child.”

      Dear God, they weren’t seriously thinking of giving Jesse to her father, were they? Neither Frankie nor Sam would have ever wanted that. They despised him as much as she and her mother did.

      Micki heard another vehicle on the drive, but she was too focused on Allison Fennel and her thoughts to heed the sound. A car door slammed.

      “Is it also true you do not own this house? You lived and worked on the ranch, Miss Finn?”

      “Yes, I’m the manager.”

      “You aren’t taking that child anywhere. I’m Jesse’s brother.”

      Fennel turned at the sound of Gabe’s voice. If the situation weren’t so dire, Micki would have smiled at the way her eyes bugged out of her head. She opened her mouth and closed it again. Finally, she sputtered, “Gabe McKenna?”

      The hardness of Gabe’s face never softened.

      “Gabe!” Jesse bounded down the stairs and leapt into his older brother’s arms. “You came!”

      “Of course I’d be here.” Gabe held his brother and kissed the top of his dark head. “I’m so sorry, buddy.”

      At the tenderness in his voice, Micki’s heart did a fast little flutter.

      Gabe set Jesse back on his feet and placed his trademark tan Stetson on the boy’s curls, completely covering the top half of his face.

      “I’m glad you’re here, Gabe. This lady wants to take me away to live with Grandpa Lemont.” The flash of fear in his dark blue eyes filled Micki with a need to keep him away from her father.

      Gabe knelt in front of his baby brother and rested his hands on Jesse’s small shoulders. “That’s not going to happen. So, don’t you worry about it, okay?”

      Jesse gazed at Gabe with hero worship causing Micki’s heart to swell. He’d always been good with Jesse and never held their father’s affair with Frankie against him. A fierce longing for what could have been hit her hard enough to knock the breath out of her. A lot of years had passed since she had thought of Gabe as father material, but even then she’d never considered he’d be so patient and attentive. So loving.

      Gabe tugged the brim of his hat down over Jesse’s forehead. “Now you go inside with your grandma while your aunt Michaela and I talk to the lady. Okay?” He glanced over Jesse’s head to her mother and she nodded. He winked at Micki and shooed Jesse up the steps.

      Momma held out her hand for Jesse to take, and together they entered the house.

      Gabe stood beside Micki and faced the agent. “I think you can leave now. Despite Loretta’s relationship to Frankie or Jesse, Michaela is his aunt by blood and I’m his brother.”

      The woman looked flustered as beads of sweat formed on her brow and upper lip. “I have to deliver the boy into the care of Judge Finn.”

      Gabe put his left hand into the pocket of his faded jeans. “You can explain to Judge Finn he isn’t taking Jesse away from his home at a time as painful as this. The boy doesn’t even know the man.”

      Micki jumped when he put his other arm around her shoulders. The touch was light and more show than anything else, but it sent a zing through her.

      “Now if you will excuse us, we have funeral arrangements to make. Loretta and Micki have been taking care of Jesse for the past week while my father and Michaela’s sister were in Dallas. Our lawyer will be in contact with DFPS as soon as possible.”

      Gabe turned Micki around and headed up the steps to the screen door as if he’d done it a thousand times. At the open door, Loretta gave him an appreciative look as she backed away.

      Fennel followed them up the stairs. “I’ll have to inspect the home, at the very least. Judge Finn wouldn’t want his grandson subjected to an unsafe environment.”

      Micki held Gabe’s narrowing gaze. Fennel might work for DFPS, but she was also on Lemont Finn’s payroll. She’d find something wrong no matter how insignificant. When had she last picked up Jesse’s toys from the small living room? She also hoped her mother had put the dirty dishes from the past two days in the dishwasher. Micki swallowed and looked over her shoulder. “Yes, of course. Follow me.”

      She glanced around the cool interior as they entered. In the small eat-in kitchen, a few plastic cups sat on the counter, but the sink was free of dishes. An old Monopoly game lay out on the small round table. In the living room to the left, two Tonka trucks that were probably old enough to have been Gabe’s were parked next to the couch. Jesse, still wearing Gabe’s hat, sat on the braided rug in front of the couch playing with his iPad. He peeked over the screen with worry etching his forehead when they entered the house with Fennel hot on their tails.

      Gabe stopped and turned in the space dividing the kitchen and living room. Crossing his arms, he stood like a barrier in front of the social worker. “You have two minutes, Miss Fennel. I suggest you start your inspection because your time is already ticking.”

      His hard jaw line and the amber stones of his eyes let Micki know he wasn’t here for her or her mother but for Jesse.

      The sudden wave of begrudging relief for his taking over the situation with the social worker turned into dread of another kind.

      What if he wanted to take Jesse away from her?

      Chapter 3

      Typical for an early September day in Central Texas, the day of the funeral dawned warm and bright. In the graveyard behind Bluebonnet Creek’s nondenominational church, Gabe stood by the side of the graves, suffocating in his new suit, which was much too warm for the hot day. He’d bought it yesterday in Brownwood, since he hadn’t brought anything suitable for the double funeral with him.

      Bluebonnet Creek’s citizens, along with the ranchers and farmers in the surrounding area, turned out for the funeral. Beyond the white picket fence, Gabe spotted several local reporters; a few from as far away as Dallas were mixed with them. His father had been a respected businessman and rancher while Frankie had been an emerging artist, not to mention the estranged daughter of a local billionaire. Legitimate news agencies stayed back, recording their pieces for their eleven o’clock shows. The paparazzi weren’t as respectful of the mourners. He’d hired security to keep them back, but many were still trying to get pictures of them.

      Normally, he didn’t mind the attention the media gave him, but today the jerks were pissing him off big time. They didn’t just want his photo; they were after his never-seen-before little brother and the woman Gabe had once been engaged to.

      Jesse sniffled beside him and tightened his grip on Gabe’s hand. His little brother was doing his honest best not to cry, but the wet tracks running down his cheeks betrayed Jesse’s pain. Gabe’s heart broke for his brother’s loss, despite his confusion over his own emotions. He held nothing but numbness in his heart for the man they shared blood with and for his wife--a woman Gabe had once considered his best friend.

      Gabe glanced at Michaela. She had her arm wrapped around the shoulders of the boy between them. They’d put their past aside for a few days while they worked together to arrange the funerals.

      Grief had taken a toll on Michaela. Her once vibrant blue eyes were dull and red rimmed. She’d used makeup to conceal the smudges of dark circles under her eyes, which only made her fatigue more noticeable.

      The black dress and low heels were also anomaliesy. She never wore anything but jeans and boots. Considering the circumstances, he shouldn’t have noticed how the jersey fabric fit over her breasts and hips and stopped just above her knee. Despite her pantyhose, the fabric showed off her long, toned legs in a way he hadn’t seen in a long time.

      He looked