The Kissing Stars Read online

  She was beginning to wonder if he might not be a little nervous himself when he finally spoke. “You mentioned a speech. What’s that all about? You talking about quilting or something?”

  Tess smiled. She could talk about her work, with confidence, and for the first time since gazing across that arena and spying Gabe, she felt a sense of control. And, to be perfectly honest with herself, she preened at the notion of impressing him with the expertise she’d garnered over the years. “The tide of my talk is ‘The Spectroscope and Saturn’s Rings: How new inventions are changing old conceptions.’”

  His brows winged up. “Excuse me?”

  “‘The Spectroscope and—’”

  “What do you know about Saturn’s rings?”

  Smugly, she lifted her chin. “Quite a bit, actually. I centered my studies on Saturn for four years. I’ve moved on to a new area of inquiry now, but I am quite capable of answering any questions the Texas State Fair crowd might ask.”

  “You’re a student?”

  “I’m an astronomer. With credentials. I spent six years studying under the tutelage of Dr. Winslow Pierce.”

  He reared back in his seat. “Astronomy! But you’re not…that’s my…I was the one…”

  “You showed me how to fall in love with the stars, Gabe.”

  She spoke the truth. She’d been a girl enamored of a young man whose imagination had been captivated by the mysteries of the universe. In an effort to please him, to make herself more attractive to him, she had made his interests hers.

  Looking back on that time with a woman’s wisdom, it appalled her to remember how willing she’d been to change herself for him. She wondered if other young women followed the same path and if so, how well their relationships stood the test of time. Tess’s hadn’t lasted long enough to begin to answer that question. Luckily, though, in her case, the changes she made worked out just fine. Her fascination with the stars had outlasted her fascination with Gabe Cameron.

  At least, that’s what she’d told herself for years. Seeing him again, she wondered if she had fooled herself all along.

  The scowl stretching across her husband’s face told her his thoughts weren’t any happier than hers during this pause in their conversation. But before she could question him, a well-dressed couple escorting two adolescent children approached.

  “Mr. Montana?” the gentleman said.

  “Yes.” Gabe stood and accepted the man’s handshake.

  “Mr. Montana, I’m Gerald Hanford. This is my wife Martha and our sons Jim and John David. We’re all just so very honored to meet you.”

  Mrs. Hanford beamed a toothy smile at Gabe and added, “While the boys don’t attend the Cottonwood Hollow School, we have friends in the area and their children were among those saved by your heroism. We wanted to thank you personally for preserving the lives of those dear, dear babies. You are truly a hero, Mr. Montana. Dare we hope you’ll quit your job as an investigator for the railroad and join the Rangers? Those boys could use a man of your caliber.”

  Tess’s gaze flew to Gabe. A railroad investigator. Come to think of it, newspaper accounts of the capture of Jimmy Wayne Bodine had mentioned Whip Montana worked for the railroad. She wondered why the young man so interested in scientific research had turned his attention to studying crime for a living.

  Gabe shifted uncomfortably and answered Mrs. Hanford. “I’m happy doing what I’m doing, ma’am.”

  The older child, Jim, interrupted with a question about the kegs of gunpowder Jimmy Wayne Bodine had positioned around the schoolhouse. The younger boy asked to see Gabe’s scar from where Jimmy Wayne shot him.

  “John David!” his mother exclaimed in a scandalized voice. “Don’t be rude. Mr. Montana here isn’t a fair exhibit.”

  “Now that I’m not so certain about,” Gabe replied with a grin.

  The Hanfords fawned over him a few more minutes before excusing themselves to find seats for the outdoor puppet show due to start soon. The slight relaxing of her husband’s shoulders as he reclaimed his seat tipped Tess off to his relief, and reminded her of the young man she’d married. He’d shunned attention back then, too. Still, he deserved to be honored for his heroics.

  Tess waited until the family moved out of earshot before saying, “You did a fine thing in Cottonwood Hollow, Gabe. Saving so many young lives must be terribly gratifying.”

  “Having to save those lives was terrible, period. It never should have gone that far. That’s the kind of mess you get when you put churnheads in charge.” He lifted his glass to his mouth, tilted up his head, and took a long swallow of lemonade.

  Tess watched the movement of his throat and was surprised by a memory flash of her tongue tracing along its contours. She had so loved the taste of him. As heat flushed her body, she pushed to her feet. “I must go. It’s almost time for my speech. I need to prepare.”

  “Wait a minute.” He grasped her arm. “We really need to talk. You never said…I don’t know…” He grimaced and muttered a low curse. “Shouldn’t I have received a copy of the divorce papers? Your father told me he would see to the legalities, so I expect it’s long been taken care of. But shouldn’t I have signed a paper or two, or was your signature enough?”

  Divorce papers? Tess sank back into her seat. Her stomach dropped clear to her ankles. “My father said he’d arrange a divorce? When did this happen?” Suddenly, Gabe’s earlier remarks about remarriage and a daughter made an ugly sort of sense.

  Gabe’s expression grew wary. He set down his glass on the table. “A few months after the fire. He had Rangers track me to the ranch south of Houston where I was working cattle. He sent a note.” After a moment’s pause, he added, “I wasn’t surprised you wanted to divorce me, but it’s always sort of bothered me because I never saw any papers. I guess I’ve never felt it was finished.”

  Tess’s mind whirled with the ramifications of Gabe’s revelations. The old, bitter ache washed through her. Her father and his damnable revenge. Even years after his death, Stanford Rawlins had managed to reach out from the grave to wound.

  She cleared her throat. “So you’ve gone along all these years assuming our marriage had ended without ever checking into it?”

  “Honey,” he drawled, his eyes narrowing. “We haven’t seen each other in a dozen years. Our marriage did end.”

  Tess set her own glass down with a bang. “But you never talked to me about it. How could you let this happen without talking to me?”

  Gabe’s jaw hardened. “You told me you never wanted to see me again, Tess. I took you at your word.”

  “Why?” She shoved to her feet. “I was seventeen years old, Gabe. I was distraught with grief. You should have known people say things they don’t mean when they are grief-stricken. How could you let my father do this to us?”

  He didn’t answer her right away. Tess stared at him, seeing the muscles working in his jaw, watching those gray eyes go cold. Controlled anger. She remembered that about Gabe.

  His voice was low and dangerous when he spoke. “Maybe I felt the same way. Maybe I didn’t want to see you again, either.”

  He might as well have plunged a pitchfork through her heart, so badly did his words hurt.

  On watery knees, she sank back into her seat. Neither of them spoke for a time. The laughter of passing fair-goers sounded harsh to Tess’s ears. Her thoughts were in turmoil. All these years she’d wondered. All these years she’d entertained one scenario after another, instigated a search a time or two, finally deciding her husband was dead. Never once had she guessed her father told Gabe they were divorced. Never once had she considered he might have changed—no, rejected—the Cameron name.

  Another thought struck Tess and her eyes widened. Gabe hadn’t mentioned another woman, but what if…

  She felt as though a noose slowly tightened around her neck when she repeated the question he had asked her earlier. “Did you marry again, Gabe?”

  He glanced away from her, his lips flattening in a grim l
ine. “No.”

  Thank God. A wave of relief washed over Tess as she waited for him to elaborate. He didn’t.

  From just beyond the fairgrounds to the south came the peal of a church bell counting off the hour. In fifteen minutes she was due to begin her speech. She drew a deep breath, braced herself, then said, “Gabe, my father banished me from the ranch two weeks after the fire. He died six months after that. I never saw him or spoke with him again. I never signed divorce papers.”

  His head whipped around “What?”

  Tess licked her lips. “As far as I know, you and I are still married.”

  He sat back heavily in his chair. “The hell you say.”

  Half a minute ticked by in silence before he said, “I can’t believe your father would lie about this. Why would he? What was the purpose?” Before she could summon a reply, he narrowed his eyes and added, “Wait a minute. Your father kicked you out? Why?”

  Tess glanced away. She couldn’t answer his question. Not without thinking it all through. Too much was at stake. “Did you ever look for me, Gabe?”

  “Look for you? Why would I? You divorced me, or at least, that’s what I thought.”

  Emotion rumbled up inside her, threatening to overwhelm. What should she tell him? What would he do when he learned the rest of it?

  Maybe she’d never tell him. What purpose would it serve at this late date? Tess swallowed hard. She needed some time to think about this. Everything was happening too fast.

  Standing she affected an unconcerned air, even though on the inside she was trembling. “I’ve got to go. I’ll be late for my speech.”

  “But we’re not finished,” Gabe protested. “You can’t leave now. There are things I need to know.”

  Tess suddenly ached with weariness. Emotional upheaval purely wore a woman down. “You’re not the only person in my world now, Gabe. I don’t have time at the moment. There is too much to tell. Too many questions.”

  “Then you’ll meet me after your talk,” Gabe demanded, scowling.

  Tess thought of her plans to catch the evening train, and Twinkle’s hunch that something was wrong at home. If she could figure out what to say to him, she’d have a little time to spare for a talk. “I’ll meet you at the swine barn in two hours. That’s the best I can do.”

  “I’ll be there.”

  She started to walk away then, but good manners and a surprising reluctance to part from him had her pausing long enough to say, “Thank you for the lemonade.”

  “Sure. Anytime.”

  “Well, good-bye, Gabe.”

  As she walked past him, he reached out, grabbed her hand, and pulled her toward him saying, “That reminds me.”

  Before she realized his intent, he dipped his head and his lips captured hers. He tasted of lemons and sugar, and Tess wanted to weep at the sweetness of his kiss. It ended entirely too soon.

  “I’ve always regretted not kissing you good-bye,” Gabe said in a low, rough voice. “Figured I might as well make up for it. Of course, that wasn’t good-bye, but a see-you-later kiss. Two hours at the swine barn, right?”

  Speechless, she simply nodded. She couldn’t have spoken had her life depended on it. Gabe picked up the empty lemonade glasses and returned them to the vendor before striding away in the direction of the racetrack, whistling as he went.

  Tess didn’t move, she couldn’t. He’d kissed her. Gabe Cameron had kissed her. For a dozen years she’d dreamed of his kisses and now, again, she’d experienced one. In the flesh.

  Kisses weren’t the only thing she’d dreamed about, either.

  “Oh, my.” Her eyes drifted shut.

  For a long moment she stood frozen in place, emotions beating at her like hailstones. Shock and bitterness, anger and grief. Joy and elation and anticipation. And, the memory of love. Such deep, soul-filling love.

  It all but brought her to her knees.

  Finally, she stirred herself to move, and five minutes later, she made her way into the chair-filled room that served as the Texas State Fair’s lecture hall. Twinkle waited for her. “My stars, Tess, you’ve cut this close. I was beginning to worry.”

  “No need to fret. I’m here and I’m fine.” More or less, she added silently.

  Twinkle flipped the latch on her purse and yanked it open. Removing a small piece of paper, she handed it to Tess. “I’m glad somebody’s fine. I was right to be worried, honey. A messenger delivered this telegram ten minutes ago. It’s Andrew. He’s taken sick again and he’s running out of quinine. They need us home with the medicine as soon as we can get there. I had Will get Rosie boxed up, and they’ll meet us at the train station. If you cut the last section of your speech, we should be able to make the early train. We’ll reach home a full day sooner.”

  Tess stared at the telegram, then lifted her fingers to her lips, and murmured, “A good-bye kiss.”

  At that moment, the moderator introduced her to the crowd, forcing Tess to turn her thoughts away from earthly desires and toward more heavenly pursuits—namely the rings of Saturn.

  GABE STUCK his head inside the pig barn. “Whew-y. I swear pigs must be the smelliest animals on earth.”

  “Then why the hell are we here?” Mack asked.

  “I told you. I’m meeting my wife.”

  “Uh huh.” Mack rolled his eyes. “I’d come closer to believing you’re meeting those two Rangers to kiss and make up than that you’re meeting a wife.”

  “Wanna put some money on it?”

  Mack gave him a shrewd look “What’s going on, Montana? You trying to put a bluff over on me?”

  Gabe simply grinned. He was feeling pretty good despite his aches and pains.

  It had been quite a day. He’d damn near gotten his nose broken, been drooled on by a hog, discovered a long-lost wife, and sneaked in the back of a lecture hall to listen to the little woman give a fascinating paper on a subject that once upon a time he’d dreamed of studying himself.

  Damn, but she had grown up fine. The promise of the girl had been more than realized in the woman. She was Helen of Troy, only better. A Texan beauty with brains, and a kiss that still knocked his boots off.

  Still, he wondered how she could stand to study the stars. He couldn’t. He hadn’t stargazed once since that god-awful night when their lives blew apart. The very thought of doing so gave him the shakes.

  Yes, his little wife had been full of surprises this afternoon. Now that he’d had some time and distance to think matters through, he had at least a hundred questions to ask her. Starting with this bit about her father, that bastard. Had old man Rawlins truly kicked her off the Rolling R? If so, why? Was he part of the reason?

  Surely her father hadn’t abandoned her entirely. He must have left her the money that supported her studies, otherwise how could she have managed?

  Tess an astronomer. Imagine that. To be perfectly honest, the idea of it sort of pissed him off. She’d taken his dream and lived it.

  He pulled out his pocket watch and checked the time. “She’s late.”

  Mack cuffed him on the shoulder. “You’re pretty good, Montana. You sound as if she truly exists.”

  Twenty minutes later, he was beginning to wonder himself. Had he been kicked in the head so hard he hallucinated her?

  No. He damn well hadn’t hallucinated that kiss.

  Forty minutes past their appointed meeting time, he knew without a doubt that she existed. Nobody but Tess had ever made him this angry. He left Mack waiting at the swine barn while he conducted a thorough search of the fair. The woman wasn’t to be found.

  He was steaming when he returned to the pig palace. Mack obviously saw his temper on his face because he reached into his pants pocket and tugged out a white handkerchief, waving it in the air. “Don’t light into me. I’m innocent.”

  “Did you see her?”

  “The phantom wife, you mean?”

  “Don’t mess with me, Mack.”

  Mack narrowed his eyes and studied Gabe. “Well, I’ll be
good and go to hell. You are serious, aren’t you? This isn’t a joke you’re pulling on me.”

  “I’m as serious as you’ve ever seen me.”

  Gravely, Mack nodded. “All right, then. What do you want to do?”

  “Find her,” Gabe replied. “It looks like she’s run off. Surprises me, though. The Tess I knew wasn’t the type to run away from her problems.”

  “Is that what you are to her, Montana? A problem?”

  Gabe ignored the question, thinking aloud. “She owns that ham-on-the-hoof that ran in the charity race. We can see if it’s scheduled for any more contests. If nothing else, the fair officials should have an address for her. Could be she lives here in Dallas, and I can track her down at home.”

  Mack’s brow furrowed as he scratched behind his ear. “She’s your wife, but you don’t know where she lives. Makes perfect sense to me.”

  Mack followed his friend into the swine barn and they split up, Mack going right and Gabe heading left in search of one of those yellow badges. A few minutes later, Mack hailed him with a whistle. “I got your answers. Such as they are,” he said when Gabe approached. “She canceled tomorrow’s race and went home.”

  Gabe spat a curse. “Where’s home?”

  “A place called Aurora Springs.”

  “Aurora Springs? Never heard of it.”

  “Neither had I,” Mack said. “I asked. It’s a speck on the map out near Eagle Gulch.”

  “Where the hell is Eagle Gulch?”

  Mack exhaled a long, loud sigh. “Damned if I know. But judging by the look in your eyes, I bet you’re fixing to find out.”

  CHAPTER 3

  GABE EYED THE SMALL grouping of adobe and stone buildings snuggled up against the canyon wall and sighed with relief. This had to be Aurora Springs. Finally. Better they had named it Back-of-Beyond. To say his wife had picked an out of the way spot in which to settle was like saying Texas got a little warm in August.