Page 15 of A Little More Forgiveness

They’d come with the sole aim of getting me to sell, but I’d never allow their pressure to break me. I’d invested my whole life here, though with me being behind on the mortgage and the bank talking foreclosure, I wasn't sure how long I had left. Even so, there were too many memories etched into the fabric of our home for me to ever think about giving up without a fight. This had been our dream, together, mine and Katie’s. We’d planned on restoring the barns and stables for storing our gear, as well as building the lakeside cabins, allowing us to rent them out in the summer when the forest and its views were at their most stunning. We’d also planned on setting up a small campsite for ecological-minded tourists, or offering guided trail rides for kids in foster care or whose parents couldn’t afford to take their children on vacation, and who needed it the most.

I refused to give all that up or let Katie down again.

It would be the end of me.

Our dream was all I had left.

Turning my back on the cabin and the men inside, I pushed down all the emotion threatening to overwhelm me. I had work to do before retreating into the warmth. Work, because of them and their interfering, I’d neglected far too much today. With so much to do, I had to push everything else out, keep my focus on the one thing I did control, however futile, which is to keep this place going, keep our dream going. Moving away from the darkness I headed back inside the stables.

A couple hours later, and with a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach, I braced for the evening ahead. I reluctantly opened the front door and stepped inside. Comforting warmth washed over me from the open fire blazing away. The dogs instantly stood from where they had laid in front of the flames, happy to see me.

“Hey, boys,” I greeted them. “Were you staying warm by the fire while Daddy does all the work?” Their tails wagged like a couple of windshield wipers on high as their noses snuffled at my hands. “Good boys. Daddy’s good boys.”

Removing my boots, cap, and jacket, the smell of cooking food hit my senses, instantly bringing back memories of when I’d get in from work and Katie would have had dinner ready. Deliberately forcing the memory away, I pushed down the anger coiling in my belly at someone invading her space, remembering the agreement I made with Leo to try to be civil.

Civil. In my own damn house.

“Oh, hi.” Leo appeared from the kitchen, giving me a nervous smile. “I, um, hope you don’t mind.” He gestured behind him. “We got hungry and”—he shuffled uncomfortably from foot to foot—“as you were out, I thought…we thought, we’d make some food.

“We?”

He swallowed. “Y-yes. Gabe and me. We made dinner.”

He stood there, a deer caught in the headlights, and in spite of my annoyance with them both—well, Sanchez mostly, moving around the house as if he owned the place—my stomach had other ideas and let out a long, loud growl.

Leo’s grin lit up the room. “Sounds like you’re hungry too.”

“Guess so,” I grudgingly admitted. “I need to shower first. I’m covered in horse manure and straw.” Leo wrinkled his nose, and I laughed. Damn city boys who never got used to the realities of country life. “Give me fifteen minutes.”

He beamed at me, warming me right through. “Sure. It’s a stew of some sort. Gabe took over.”

Course he did. I impressed myself by not actually spitting the words out loud; instead, I nodded and went into my bedroom, shutting the door behind me and letting out a sigh of relief at having some time to get my head securely in the game.

As agreed, fifteen minutes later, I entered the kitchen and stopped dead. The table I’d hardly used for the last four years had been formally laid with cutlery, napkins, and glasses, both water and wine. The food smelled unbelievable, and I reluctantly had to give Gabriel Sanchez his due credit. If the meal he made tasted as delicious as it smelled, he was a mighty fine cook, considering the simple food staples I had in my cupboards.

Leo stood on the other side of the kitchen, cutting up large chunks of bread into a bowl, leaving me to focus on the man I considered the enemy. As if he sensed me staring, Gabe turned his head to look over his shoulder at me, eyebrows raised in question.

“Dinner will be another ten minutes,” he said after I offered nothing. “Why don’t you go do whatever you normally do, and Leo will call you when the food is on the table.”

In other words, go away.

Not a chance.

I went to the refrigerator, took out a beer and, after twisting the cap off, threw it at the trash can beside Gabe. It missed. I pulled out a couple chairs from underneath the table and sitting down, raised my left leg to rest on the edge of the table, and placed my right foot on the other chair. Taking a long drink of beer, I savored the hoppy feel of the craft ale and smacked my lips. “I’m good here, thanks,” I responded airily, and the way he clenched his jaw, I almost heard his teeth grinding together. Other than that, he barely reacted, only gave a nod, and an insincere smirk before concentrating on the contents of the pot he was stirring.

Leo came over, placing the bread on the table. “I told him,” he whispered to me. “I wanted to wait until you came back, but you were gone awhile, and I didn’t see the point in not saying we weren’t leaving, considering it’s all he asked about.”

It was a shame I’d missed the conversation as I’d loved to have seen the look of horror on his face when he worked out he’d be stuck with me for the next few days but found I wasn’t overly annoyed. Go me!

I waved him off. “No problem, I understand.”

His look of disbelief almost made me smile.

“Honest.” I beckoned him in closer and whispered, “How’d he take it?”

“You do get it’s not like on the TV shows, right?” Sanchez interrupted, making us both look at him. “Simply because I’m more than three feet away, doesn’t mean I can’t hear what you two are saying.” He turned toward me. “And just so you know,” he gave me another insincere grin. “I’m fine with it.” He once again returned his attention to the stove, humming softly.

My attention returned to Leo, a resigned expression on his face. “He’s fine with it.”

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