“Trisha.”
“I mean it. And don’t worry about Travis. Now that he knows you’re with Gabe, I think you can finally put him behind you. And I’ll be on the lookout for him at the gym, just to drive it home.” She winks.
“Thanks.” I really hope she’s right. Travis was just as stubborn on the phone today as he was the last time I spoke to him. But, it felt good to be honest with him about Gabe.
“Is that it?” Gabe asks, returning from trash duty.
“Yeah, I think so. I was just telling Trish that I need to take you to get your truck now. You ready?”
“Yeah. Sorry, Trisha. I swear I won’t hold her hostage this time.” He smirks.
She waves him off. “Don’t worry about me. I’m off to bed. I can already feel myself slipping into a food coma.” She gives him a quick hug. “It was really great to get to know you, Gabe.”
“You too, Trisha.” He glances at me and then gives her a sincere look. “And, I just wanted to say thanks...for being there for Liv, when I wasn’t.”
I swallow down the unexpected lump in my throat.
“Oh, yeah, of course,” she says, shaking her head, like she’s shaking off a bad memory. She shrugs and smiles at me. “Our girl turned out okay.”
“She sure did,” Gabe says.
“Okay. Well, now that we’ve confirmed my mental wellbeing, can we please go?”
They both laugh.
“Bye,” Trisha says, waving her hand at us as I lead Gabe out of the kitchen and into the living room where my parents are sitting on the couch, laughing loudly. The wine has definitely gotten to them.
“Gabe, you leavin’?” my dad asks, getting up from his spot on the couch.
“Yes, sir. I have a big order to fill for work and my boss is pretty demanding.” He laughs and so does my dad. “I’ve got to get an early start tomorrow.”
“On a Sunday?”
“Yeah, well, I didn’t get as much done today as I had planned, so...” He glances at me and I fight hard against a smile.
“That’s my boy,” my dad says, oblivious to the reason why he didn’t get much done today. He wraps his arm around Gabe’s shoulders and gives him a firm squeeze. “That kind of work ethic can’t be taught,” he says loudly to me and my mom, pointing at Gabe. He lowers his voice. “You just keep making those beautiful pieces, son, and you’ll go far.” He looks at me and my mom again. “People are going to pay good money to have a Gabriel North piece in their home,” he says loudly, “just wait and see.”
Gabe and I both laugh at my tipsy father. “Okay, Daddy,” I say, peeling him off Gabe. “We’ve got to go.”
My dad smiles wide. “This has been a good night. A real good night.”
I smile and push Gabe toward the door.
“Thank you for dinner, Maggie,” he says, spinning around, but I keep my hands on his stomach, shoving him backward.
“My pleasure, Gabe. Come back soon. You know you’re always welcome,” she says with a warm smile.
We step onto the front porch, close the door behind us, and share a passionate kiss. I smile up at Gabe, glad to be alone with him, and a little giddy because the night went so well.
When I pull up beside Gabe’s truck in the gravel lot in front of Charlie’s, I ask, “Do you really have to work tomorrow?”
He scrunches his nose and nods. “I was supposed to finish a table today. I’ll have to finish it tomorrow.”
I push my lips into a pout.
“But I have to eat. Maybe you could bring me lunch again?”
“Okay.”
“Something healthy this time, though. I can’t keep eating like a Dalton. You people have some seriously good genes. I don’t know how Duke’s not three hundred pounds by now.”
“All right, something healthy, got it. And for the record, I run a lot.”
He drops his chin and I know he’s thinking about our little jog on the beach.
“You know, you really gave me a workout that morning.”
He shakes his head and says, “I’m sorry. My head wasn’t in a good place. I was a jerk that day.”
“Well, I guess I forgive you.”
“Maybe we can try it again sometime?”
I smile. “I do love running on the beach at sunrise.”
“I’ll just walk fast to keep your pace,” he says, teasing me.
I shove his shoulder, and he laughs.
“Come here.” He reaches for my hand and pulls me close to him. “Thank you for asking me to come tonight.” He gives me a gentle smile.
“Thank you for coming.”
He cups my face in his hand and I melt into his warm kiss. I moan softly into his mouth as his tongue caresses mine, but the chatter of bar patrons making their way through the parking lot reminds me we’re not alone.
I fall back into my seat.
“Are you sure you don’t want to come back to my place for a little while?”
“Of course I want to. But you and I both know I won’t make it home in time to see Trisha off if I do that.”
He nods reluctantly. “All right.”
“I’ll come over tomorrow around noon.”
“Okay.” He smiles, and kisses me again.
* * *
I pull into the driveway at my parents’ house and see my mom sitting on the front porch steps sipping a cup of coffee, holding a tissue in her hand. I get out of my car and go to her.
“Momma, what’s wrong?” I ask when I see that she’s been crying.
She shakes her head and smiles. “Nothing’s wrong.”
“Then why are you crying?” I ask, sitting down next to her. “Did you and Daddy get into a fight or something?”
“No, Daddy and I are fine.”
“Well, what’s going on? Why are you crying?”
“You were right. I just can’t believe that I didn’t see it before.”
“See what?”
“We thought it was the accident. All this time. We thought that the injury caused the change in his personality, in his behavior.” She holds the tissue to her nose. “But we were wrong. It was you. He changed because he lost you.” She looks at me with watery eyes. “He was like the old Gabe tonight. He was so happy. And so were you.”
I smile and nod. “I am happy. For the first time in a long time, I’m really happy.”
She dabs the tissue under her eyes. “You have no idea how long I’ve waited to hear you say that.” She puts her arm around me and hugs me tightly. She sits up straight and wipes her face. “I know it’s been a hard road for both of you, but maybe this is where it was supposed to lead you.”
I reach for her hand. “I think so.”
She puts her other hand on top of mine.
“I still love him...after all these years. I love him so much it’s hard to breathe sometimes.”
“And he loves you.”
I nod my head and tell her, “He lied, Momma.”
She gives me a disconcerted look.
“Before I left,” I explain. “When he told me that he didn’t love me anymore. He lied. He just wanted me to finish college and start my life. He thought I was wasting it here. He thought I deserved more...something better”—I shake my head—“something better than him.”