Gabriel sat at his desk and opened the file on Amy. She’d been seventeen when she first fell pregnant with the twins. He couldn’t believe Steven hadn’t been arrested at the time. Instead, she’d been married off, and nothing else appeared. She spent a great deal of her time indoors looking after twins. In her high school photo she looked happy. A plump, teenage girl on the verge of womanhood. He turned the page over coming to the next picture, which was taken a few months after Steven’s arrest. The bruises were gone, but the woman looked sad to her very core. There was nothing happy or joyful about her. She was a single mother of two with nothing in the world.
He would gladly beat the shit out of her ex-husband again. Steven had refused to divorce her, and Gabriel had gone to one of his friends who happened to be a judge who’d granted the divorce. Slamming the file closed, he locked it away in his desk for safe keeping. Seeing her today in the shop had been good, even though the women had darkened the moment for him.
Her long dark black hair fascinated him with the colour. He knew she didn’t dye her hair, and he loved the way it looked silky cascading down her back. Her brown eyes held a world of pain and fear, which for a woman as young as her was wrong. Where she was once skin and bones, with the food he’d gotten her to eat, she’d filled out her figure. Her h*ps were round and full with a small waist. Her br**sts were large as well. Gabriel loved her fuller figure as it showed, to him, how far she’d come since she’d gotten rid of that bastard of a husband. He knew how her weight used to be controlled through starvation. The thought of any man starving a woman made him sick to his stomach. He finished his work, filing paper work and making calls to lawyers for the rest of the afternoon. When four came, he closed up his office and made his way back to her shop. The shop’s light shone on the sidewalk. He watched her close up. The cold made him shiver. Winter was almost upon them, and he knew it wouldn’t be long until the whole town was alight for Christmas. The festive season always crept up on him when he least expected it.
Amy came out, and the light turned out. She locked the door and turned to him.
“Shall we, Miss Grant?” He offered her arm. She chuckled as she took his arm. Gabriel liked the sound. They walked towards the nursery where her two children spent the days while she was working. He wanted to care for them all and give them a home. The house he lived in was cold and left nothing for him to come home to.
“It will be Christmas soon,” he said, trying to find something to fill the time. He liked hearing her talk. Her voice soothed in a way classical music couldn’t.
“I’ve got my Christmas cake maturing in the pantry. I can’t wait. I love Christmas, always have, ever since I was a little girl.” She sounded happy when she talked about the festive season. For Gabriel the festive season meant more calls from the dispatch unit. Drunks, accidents, and killings were the things that had taken up his time. “It will be nice to spend Christmas with the kids without Steven telling us what we can and can’t do.”
Gabriel stopped in the middle of the path and cupped her cheek. “I’ll never let anything happen to you,” he said.
“I know. Steven is behind bars. There is no way he can hurt me.”
He smiled and leaned down to kiss her. Her lips were too tempting for him to ignore. He’d imagined kissing her since the moment he met her.
“Gabriel,” she said. He heard the hesitation in her voice and pulled away. “I’m not ready.”
He brushed her lips with his. “Don’t worry about it.”
They walked the last few yards to the nursery in quiet. Gabriel knew he shouldn’t be sniffing around Amy. She was younger than he, and he was too dark for a woman who’d experienced so much pain. He couldn’t stop thinking about her.
Laura and Dean Riley were walking out of the nursery as he walked up to the front door. Dean held his son in his arms, laughing and smiling. Laura was rubbing her tummy. Gabriel noted the round curve and knew they had news to share.
“Hi,” Amy said.
Dean looked at him with a frown. “Your twins are causing some chaos in there, Amy,” Laura said.
“Great. They’ll be starting school in a few weeks. They’re both five, but huge pains in the butt.” Amy pulled away and made her way inside.
“She’s going to have a hard life here with the way the community are with her,” Dean said.
“I know. Two women were talking shit to her earlier.”
Laura tutted and grabbed her son. “I’ll go and get him settled. I’ll leave you men to have your little talk.”
Gabriel watched the other woman go.
“She’s concerned that you’ll hurt Amy,” Dean said.
“I care about Amy, and I would never hurt her.”
“She doesn’t mean that kind of hurt. Look, I don’t know what she’s gone through, but from what I hear that girl has never known true happiness. If you’re sniffing around her for a good time, then I’m warning you to back off.” Dean moved closer. The threat was not lost on Gabriel.
“I don’t respond well to threats.”
“Amy is Laura’s best friend and Anna’s. I’m sure the Steer brothers would have no problem helping me kick your ass. I know you’re not a country bumpkin sheriff, but I’m warning you. If you hurt Amy, you’ll pay.”
Gabriel tapped him on the back. “It’s good to know you care for her. Don’t worry about me. I care about her.”
“Good. Laura was starting to worry about your presence in her life.”
“How is your life with Laura? You know, with the age gap?” Gabriel had always been with women his own age or older. Amy was the first woman he’d ever felt anything for who was younger than he.
He hated the fact he was asking.
“I love Laura and couldn’t imagine my life without her, but I do get concerned. She’s a lot younger than I, and I know she’ll have to cope with life when I go. I try not to let it worry me too much. I love her, and she loves me. And that is all that matters.”
Dean shook his hand, and Gabriel watched the other man leave. Amy walked out looking stressed with two children who had red faces and tears streaming down their faces.
Chapter Two
Amy walked with Gabriel as they made their way towards the pizza place. Her children had started fights, and they were no longer accepted at the nursery. Two weeks were all that remained until they would be starting school full time. The nursery was more of a play-group that acted as a nursery for beginners.