Leigh Greenwood - Married By High Noon

Gabe opened his mouth to speak, but Dana plunged ahead. “I did my best to convince Mattie to give Danny to me.”

She paused to collect herself, to stop the tears before they filled her eyes. She’d promised herself she wouldn’t lose her temper and wouldn’t cry. She’d done one and was about to do the other. But losing Danny so soon after Mattie’s death would be more than she could bear. After all the worry, love and laughter they shared, she didn’t know how she could stand to be alone again.

She opened her handbag to look for a tissue. Gabe handed her his handkerchief. She hesitated only briefly before taking it to wipe her eyes. Touching him set off a reaction she’d never felt before. He radiated a vitality that drew her like a magnet. She tried to throttle the unwelcome current of excitement that surged through her. She told herself not to be a fool. Her feelings for him were long dead. He’d never had any for her.

She swallowed, took a deep breath, then looked directly at Gabe. “Mattie didn’t give me full custody of Danny because she said a boy ought to have a man he could model himself after. Of course that’s nonsense, but I couldn’t convince Mattie.”

She waited for one of them to argue, but neither did.

“I don’t know why you can’t leave him with me.” Her eyes started to water again, and she buried them in Gabe’s handkerchief. “He’s got his own room. Toys. People he knows.”

“He can have all that here,” Gabe said.

“You could visit him in New York.”

“You haven’t let us see him, not even after Mattie died.”

“I’d have brought him to Mattie’s funeral if he hadn’t been sick.” Though she knew Mattie would understand, Dana couldn’t stop feeling guilty that having to stay in New York with Danny had caused her to miss Mattie’s funeral.

The phone rang. Dana and Gabe both turned to Marshall, but he didn’t move. It rang again.

“Answer it,” Gabe told Marshall. “Dana and I can handle this ourselves.”

The phone rang again, and Marshall left the room. Much to her surprise, Dana felt herself tense. Surely after all these years she could face Gabe without being uncomfortable.

“Before I can think of letting you have Danny for a single night,” she said, “I’ve got to know you can take care of a little boy who’s hardly more than a baby. What do you know about children? Have you ever been around any?”

“I don’t know a lot, but I don’t anticipate any difficulty learning.”

“Well I do,” Dana shot back. “You don’t know what he likes, what he doesn’t, what frightens him, what to do when he gets upset. You don’t know what foods upset his stomach, what he tends to gobble, what he has to be coaxed to eat, when he should go to bed, when to start potty training.” She threw up her hands. “Leaving him with you would be practically the same as leaving him with Elton.”

“I’m a little more capable than that,” Gabe said.

His smile surprised her. She’d expected a snarl.

“Mattie didn’t know how to take care of a child,” Gabe said, “but she learned. I think I can, too.”

“She was a woman. You’re not.” Gabe probably thought if a poor woman could manage, a man would have no difficulty. Just thinking about it made her angry. “Who’s going to take care of Danny while you’re at work?” she asked.

Gabe signed. “I’ve already told you Naomi will take care of him during the week. My mother can help out if I have to be away on weekends.”

“If Mattie had wanted him raised by strangers, she could have left him with me. If you had a wife, it would solve everything. Are you engaged?”

“No.”

“Do you have anybody in mind?”

“I’m not engaged, I don’t have anybody in mind, and I intend to raise Danny without a wife.”

He acted as though having a wife was about as desirable as contracting mumps, but her own reaction upset her more. She could deny it if she wanted, but knowing he was still single excited her.

“I don’t see why you want to know all this.”

“Because you’re expecting me to let you have the child I love,” Dana said. “Did you think I could just drop Danny off and go back to New York as if nothing ever happened?”

“I didn’t mean—”

“Well I can’t. He’s been part of my life since the day Mattie moved into my apartment. You might as well ask me to give up my own child.”

“Are you married?” Gabe asked.

“No.”

“Engaged?”

“No.”

“Anybody on the horizon?”

“Why do you want to know?”

“As far as taking care of Danny is concerned, you’re no different from me.”

“Not true. I know him. You don’t.”

“I’ll learn.”

“In how many years?”

Gabe laughed. “I promise to figure it out before he graduates high school.”

“I don’t know how you can take this so lightly. We’re talking about a child’s life here, not some…some piece of furniture. You don’t put it together, polish it up and hand it over to somebody else.”

Apparently she’d finally succeeded in angering him. His brows lowered and puckered. Any hint of a smile disappeared.

“Danny is all my mother and I have left of Mattie. Making sure we do everything right for him is just about the most important thing in our lives. Now call him in from the porch. We can take his things over to the house and settle him in. You ought to be able to start back to New York tonight.”

Dana couldn’t believe her ears. Hadn’t he heard anything she’d said? “I have no intention of turning Danny over to you this afternoon. Or tomorrow afternoon, for that matter. Mattie gave me equal custody. That means I have equal right to approve all arrangements.”

“Satisfying you could take days,” Gabe said.

“I’m sure it will. That’s why I’ve taken two weeks vacation.”

Gabe stared at her very much in the manner she would have expected if she’d grown a second head right before his eyes.

Marshall returned to the room in this interval of silence.

“She’s not going to leave,” Gabe said to his lawyer. “She’s going to stay here for two weeks, sticking her nose into everything I do, complaining and demanding.”

“You’ve got more important things to worry about than Dana,” Marshall said.

“If you think—”

Gabe interrupted Dana. “What are you talking about?”

Being cut off angered Dana, but Marshall’s expression caused her to choke off her outburst.

“That was Lucius Abernathy, Danny’s natural father, on the phone.”

Dana had been looking over her shoulder ever since Mattie’s death, afraid he would show up again demanding Danny.

“His lawyer is flying to Washington tomorrow,” Marshall said. “He plans to rent a car and drive to Iron Springs.”

“What does he want?” Gabe asked.

“Danny,” Marshall answered.

“Mattie’s will specifically says we’re to be his guardians,” Dana said.

“An uncle and a friend won’t stand much of a chance against the natural father.”

“Is there anything we can do to stop him?” Gabe asked.

“Maybe.”

“What?”

“I’ll do anything,” Dana added.

“Gabe’s best chance to keep Danny is to get married before the lawyer gets here.”

“But he said he didn’t have anybody in mind,” Dana pointed out.

Marshall looked straight at her. “I know. So since you’re willing to do anything to make sure Danny’s natural father doesn’t get him, I suggest you marry Gabe.”

Marshall couldn’t have stunned Gabe more completely if he’d suggested he have a public drawing to choose his wife. Even if he were foolish enough to consider remarriage, Dana Marsh would be the last woman he’d choose.