Gabriel tiptoed to the side of the bed Savannah was on and carefully sat behind her. Resting his hand on her small waist, he asked, “Why is Rio sleeping up here?”
Savannah shifted so she could turn her head towards Gabriel. “He was upset because he missed you, so I let him sleep up here. He was okay with that.”
Gabriel nodded. “Yeah? My Mama says he’s going through the separation anxiety phase. He even cries for me when he’s with her.”
“He was okay once I let him up here,” Savannah said. She turned back to smile at Rio. “He was so cuddly. He lay there and babbled away until he fell asleep.” Gabriel smiled at her, while Savannah smiled at Rio. Savannah spoke again, “It’s times like these that make me think about how wonderful it will be when we have another child.”
Gabriel smiled and leaned down to kiss the top of Savannah’s head. Hearing Savannah say ‘another’ child instead of simply ‘a’ child made his heart swell. “Rio will be a good big brother.”
Savannah nodded. “Yeah, he will be.” She beamed up at him. Gabriel couldn’t keep the grin off his face as his whole world seemed to fall into place. As he stared at his son and his woman, the two people he loved most in this world, Gabriel’s heart had never felt so full.
Sighing, Gabriel repositioned himself on the bed. Reliving old memories wasn’t helping anything, not really. Gabriel already knew he wanted Savannah, but reconciling the memories, the history he had with Marissa was difficult. He didn’t understand why, but Gabriel’s mother seemed to think it was normal. Of course, she also didn’t think he should have left Savannah’s house. It was too late to go back and change that decision now.
Sighing deeply once more, Gabriel closed his eyes and tried to sleep. His mind continued to throw memories at him and didn’t want to concentrate on rest. It was going to be a very long day of work tomorrow.
* * * * *
Savannah was miserable, but she kept up her daily routine. Every morning, she woke early to work. She’d been working a little later than normal, but another client signed made it worthwhile. Savannah also grudgingly admitted that meant it was time to hire another writer. If she hired someone to handle the blog posts, she could focus on other things. Savannah also knew that meant she’d have more free time while making a livable income. Not that she needed the free time anymore.
Savannah placed an ad for a writer. She wanted someone with at least ten years of accumulative experience between work and schooling. Savannah offered the same deal she’d offered Sarah. Twenty percent of each project the writer accomplished. The ad was placed at the start of her workday. By the end of her day, Savannah had an incredible twelve applications for the position.
“Wow… Wasn’t expecting that.” Savannah spoke to nobody other than Smoke and Soot, who slept together beneath her desk. Sighing, Savannah took a first glance at the applications. She didn’t intend to read them all now, but she could narrow them down. Savannah dismissed two applications who had far from the experience she’d wanted. She dismissed another three whose cover letters didn’t seem to be written in good English. That left five, for now. Savannah decided she’d sit down in a few hours and take a better look.
To fill her time now Gabriel wasn’t around, Savannah wandered outside. She worked in her garden while Molly continued to jump on her back and lick her face. Savannah mowed the lawn and went inside to take a shower. She fed Molly for her brother and gave the kittens their wet food for the day.
As she threw the portion-sized container in the trash, Savannah looked at the clock. It was only three. Sighing, Savannah decided to sift through those applications more thoroughly. There were more now, but Savannah managed to read them within two hours and send out three requests for trial blog posts.
Savannah leaned back in her computer chair and sighed for the umpteenth time today. Shaking her head as she looked at her now-closed laptop, Savannah admitted she didn’t know what to do with herself without Gabriel. Why had she made such a stupid, rash decision? Savannah wished she could take it back. Be supportive of what Gabriel had tried telling her he needed. But hindsight was always twenty-twenty, and there was nothing Savannah could do about the situation now besides wait.
Chapter 17
It had been raining hard this morning. When it didn’t stop raining until noon, Gabriel was given the day off. It rarely happened. Florida rain showers and thunderstorms were heavy but sporadic and didn’t last long. Gabriel was pleased, however. A day off was exactly what he needed, and Mother Nature had given him a helping hand.
Now the rain had cleared, and the humidity was sky-high as Gabriel walked down to the corner store. Rainwater pooled at the edge of the street, and there were puddles to walk through at every corner. Gabriel didn’t care. He was used to the rain.
Gabriel stayed lost in his thoughts as he walked. He paid only as much attention as was necessary to not get hit by cars or run into other people. Gabriel was pulled into reality by a very familiar laugh, followed by a very familiar voice.
Gabriel looked around for the source of the sound and quickly found it. Sitting on a porch two houses down was Marissa. She wasn’t by herself. She sat on the lap of a guy Gabriel only vaguely knew, her arms wrapped around his neck. Marissa leaned in and kissed the guy.
Something inside Gabriel snapped. For all her talk of wanting to be a family again, Marissa was sleeping around already. She hadn’t even come to find Gabriel to see what he’d thought of her words. Her bullshit. Everything had been going great for Gabriel. Savannah was everything he didn’t know he’d always wanted. Savannah and Rio were bonding. Gabriel had been happy. Now, he was miserable. And it was all Marissa’s fault.
Before he had a chance to think, Gabriel marched towards the house. Red tinted his vision and the thought this wasn’t the best idea came floating across Gabriel’s mind. Gabriel wasn’t a violent person, but he was far from thinking clearly.
“MARISSA!” Gabriel heard his voice, loud and angry, echo through his ears. But it was like someone else said the name as Gabriel floated in a void.
Marissa, having never heard Gabriel scream like that, jumped off the lap of the guy she was with. Jesus. That was his name. “Listen, Papi, it’s not what it looks like,” Marissa stammered. Even when they’d argued so many times in the past, Gabriel’s voice had only ever slightly raised.
“No? Not what it looks like? What the HELL is wrong with you, you zorra? You… you… perra! Pendejo! Puta!” Gabriel was spewing every curse word that came to mind. It was childish. He knew that. “ Eres un pedazo de mierda y no quiero volver a verte más nunca!”
Jesus stood up then. “Listen, that’s no way to talk to my woman, man.” He postured, raising himself to full height. He was shorter than Gabriel, but if he’d been paying attention, Gabriel would have noticed Jesus was stronger than he was. At that moment, Gabriel didn’t care.
“ Eres estúpido? This tramp happens to be the mother of my child, hombre. She walks into my life, ruins EVERYTHING, and now she’s up here trying to get your rocks off.” Gabriel was shaking he was so angry. His hands balled into fists of their own accord.
“Yo, listen homie. You’re asking for trouble. I don’t care what Marissa did to you. I don’t care about you at all. You don’t get off my porch and we’re going to have to throw down.” Jesus was an idiot. But Gabriel was about to prove he was just as idiotic.