Page 35 of Cowboy SEAL Homecoming

But Burt wasn’t here.

“Maybe you could show me what to do,” she murmured into the dark spring night.

“Talking to yourself, Bec?”

She was getting better at not talking aloud to herself, but she wasn’t cured. “Hi, Gabe.” She glanced at Gabe’s progress around the porch and up the stairs. “Where’re the other two?”

“They’re arguing over bunk beds of all damn things. Don’t even have a new roof yet and they’re bitching about furnishing. I told them I was going to get a drink.” He leaned down and patted the dog at her feet. Star was off with Jack and Alex, something Becca’d started to find comforting instead of traitorous.

“Can I ask you something first?” she asked before Gabe went for the door.

“If it’s asking me on a date, I’m going to have to respectfully decline. Wouldn’t want to ruin a business partnership with any funny business.”

“Ha-ha.”

“You think I’m joking?” He grinned, but there was something in his expression that… Well, she wasn’t interested in Gabe that way, but… She wrapped the blanket a little tighter. She was losing her marbles.

“What is it you want to ask me then?”

“It’s about Alex.”

“You want to ask him out on a date?”

“Good Lord, is that all you think about?”

“You’ll notice the lack of female companionship around here,” Gabe returned, gesturing around the ranch.

“Go into town. Pioneer Spirit. Pick up a girl, though I’ll have to warn you off the bartender.”

He frowned over at her. “You want me to pick up a girl?”

“Well, I don’t know. I’m just saying, though young women aren’t exactly crawling over Blue Valley, there are women. Of a reasonable age. A few are even single.”

Gabe grinned, clearly pleased. He leaned against the porch railing and crossed his arms. “Gonna set me up, Bec?”

“If you want me to.” She imagined Gabe and she had different ideas of what that meant, but she couldn’t help but think Gabe and Jack needed some…softness. A nice woman who cared about their well-being would be a start.

“Hmm.”

“But first, I want to talk to you about Alex.”

“What about Alex?”

“A few days ago, I found him in his father’s office. It was late. He was disoriented. Said he had a nightmare.”

When she moved her gaze from the stars to Gabe, she saw an expression she’d never seen on his face before. Cold fury.

“And?”

“And,” she continued, trying to find some balance between concern and…she didn’t know. She didn’t know what to do. She only knew it felt wrong to hold it in. It felt really wrong to ignore it. “He says he’s fine. He believes he’s fine, but he isn’t.”

She looked imploringly at Gabe, trying to find his usual softness. But there was nothing. Clearly, this wasn’t what Gabe wanted to hear, and he wasn’t about to be her ally.

“I’m sure you mean well, Becca. I’m sure this is some misguided sense of…something.”

“I know Alex and I were never really family, and there’s no relationship to speak of, but I did have one with his father. I loved Burt, and I can’t sit by and let his son—”

“What? Have a bad night? Have a nightmare? If you’re looking for soldiers who are perfectly healed, who never have a bad night, you’re barking up the wrong damn tree.” He looked away, shaking his head. “Don’t step into this. It isn’t your place.”

---