Letters to Gabriella

by Patricia Paris

  “What!” he demanded. “Are you trying to tell me you knew the guy?” He paced a few steps then turned and looked at her again. “What are you, some long lost relative?” He shook his head almost as soon as the words were out of his mouth, as if unwilling to accept that possibility.

  A look came into his eyes, and his expression brightened for a moment. “It had to be some kind of payoff then. For some reason Landfred owed you or your family money, and the house was some kind of payment for a debt.”

  Gab shook her head. Now he was grasping at nonexistent straws.

  “He didn’t owe me anything, Justin. He was my father,” she said, all the wind going out of her. It was ridiculous and hurtful to let it drag out when the truth wouldn’t change no matter how much they both may want things to be different.

  The utter look of disbelief that came over his face ripped her apart. He tore his gaze away from hers, shaking his head. When he finally looked at her again, his dispassionate regard splintered her. He studied her with a calculating appraisal, and she couldn’t help but wonder if he were looking for some physical similarity between her and her father. She looked down at her hands, not knowing if she should say anything else yet or give him a few minutes to absorb the shock before attempting to talk about it with some measure of calm.

  “Did you know when you met me that your father murdered my parents?” he asked coolly.

  “No,” she denied. “I didn’t know you or anything about your family. Why would you even…” She trailed off, shaking her head at the question. “And he didn’t murder them,” she said, a deep need to defend her father growing within her. “It was an accident. A horrible, tragic accident.”

  Justin snorted. “He was drunk. He was always drunk. And if he hadn’t been out driving around when he shouldn’t have been, my folks would still be alive.”

  Gabriella brought her hands to her head. “Justin, please…can you please just—”

  “What Gabriella? Accept that you’ve been lying to me? Forget I’ve been sleeping with the daughter of the man who killed my parents!”

  “Oh God.” She stood up then, too, her worst fears playing out in front of her. “You don’t know what happened that night!”

  “I know damned well what happened,” he threw back, the force of his anger startling her. “And I told you all about it last Saturday, so even if you didn’t know before then, which I’m finding hard to believe given the bastard was your father, you’ve had a week to clue me in to the fact you were his damn daughter.”

  They stared at each other, his anger and disgust palpable. He wasn’t going to listen to anything she had to say tonight. There was too much distance between them right now, and if she stayed, they would end up hurting each other more than she could bear. He needed time to come to terms with what she’d told him. She needed time to figure out how to deal with his anger without getting defensive and striking back.

  “How could you do it?” he asked, searching her face.

  Gabriella looked at him, trying to understand what he was asking. “Do what?”

  “Go to bed with me. Make love to me like there was nothing in the world between us when you knew. You knew how I felt about your old man.” His mouth stretched into a thin, tight line. “Christ, I can’t believe you just sat there, pretending to be so sympathetic while I spilled my guts out about my parents.” He looked at her and shook his head. “I have to hand it to you, sugar; you’re one damn good actress. You sure fooled the hell out of me.”

  “I’m not going to do this.” She turned away from him, picked her purse up from beside the couch, and started walking to the door. She had to get out of there. She knew he was in shock, but she could only handle so much bruising before she started fighting back.

  When she was halfway to the door, Justin caught her elbow in a firm grip and spun her around. “Where are you going?”

  “I’m leaving.” Her voice shook and she tried to dredge up some calm. “You’re upset, I’m upset, and if I stay, one or both of us is going to say something we don’t really mean, and I don’t want to hurt you.”

  “You don’t want to hurt me?” His tone reeked disbelief. “Just what the hell did you think your little revelation was going to do? Make me want to open a bottle of champagne and celebrate?”

  Gabriella stared at his chest. “Please let go of my arm.”

  He did and stepped back from her. She turned away from him again and walked the rest of the way to the door.

  “If you leave, don’t come back, Gabriella.” His words made her falter, but she knew better than to return tonight. From what she’d just witnessed, he would need more than a couple of hours to come to terms with his feelings. When he got over the shock, she would try to explain why she’d waited to tell him and hope he understood. Until then, they both needed some distance from the other to cool down.

  “I won’t,” she said, and walked out of the apartment, closing the door softly behind her. She exited the building and crossed the street. It had started to drizzle sometime after she’d gotten to Justin’s. She raised her face to the rain and let it mingle with her tears.

  “DO YOU want me to pick you up a sandwich or something?” Sylvia asked, poking her head into Justin’s office early the next afternoon.

  He glanced up from the document he’d been attempting to read for the last half hour, his elbow propped on his desk and his forehead resting against his hand. “What’s that?”

  “I said I’m going to lunch.” She angled her head and frowned. “Are you feeling all right?”

  “Fine.” Justin pushed a hand through his hair and sat back. “Go ahead,” he said, waving her off when she lingered in his doorway. When she was still there a moment later, he arched his brows at her in question.

  “You didn’t say if you wanted me to pick something up for you or not?”

  “Sorry, I guess I’m a little distracted. I’ll get something later.”

  She nodded. “I’m just going to get something from the deli. I won’t be long.”

  After she left, Justin went out to the reception area and refilled his coffee cup. He hadn’t been able to accomplish a damn thing today. He was too upset to think about anything other than Gabriella. He still couldn’t believe she just walked out on him last night after dropping her bomb.

  He shoved the carafe back onto the coffee maker. Damn her for not telling him that bastard was her father. What if he hadn’t run into her and Mark at the diner? How long would it have taken before she let him in on her little secret? Maybe she hadn’t been planning to tell him at all.

  Justin gave a derisive snort. He’d thought she was so open and honest. What a joke!

  He rubbed his left hand over his face. If his last two relationships were any measure, his ability to read women sucked. Brin had lied and cheated on him. And Gabriella…

  Justin swallowed back the heat gathering in his throat. Gabriella had stolen his heart…but she’d done it under false pretenses, and now…

  He walked over and looked out the front window. Town was busy. A couple of boys who looked to be about ten went into the drugstore on the other side of the street. When he and Blake were their age, their mom used to take them there and let them order a drink from the soda fountain whenever they came into town. He used to like to watch the clerk spray the carbonated water into the tall glasses from the fountain hose.

  The front door opened, and Blake walked into the office.

  “Hey, Jus.” Blake started walking toward the coffee pot, glancing sideways at Justin. “You okay, bro?”

  “Fine,” Justin said curtly. “Did you have a reason for stopping by other than to get a cup of coffee?”

  Blake poured himself a cup and then turned to face Justin, scrutinizing him.

  Justin rolled his jaw and glanced away.

  “You want to talk about it?” Blake asked.

  “Not particularly.”

  “Awright.” Blake took a sip of coffee. “Delaney’s been restless. She wants to kn
ow if you want to come out to the house tonight. Bring your woman, and the four of us can play a game or something.”

  Justin rolled his jaw. His woman. She wasn’t his woman anymore. He’d told her if she left last night they were through, and she’d walked out his door without looking back. It was probably for the best. How could they build a life together with her father standing between them?

  “Thanks for the invite, but Gabriella and I broke things off.” Justin cleared his throat and started back toward his office. “And I doubt I’d be amusing company for your wife tonight.”

  Blake followed him. Justin walked to his desk and sat down. He picked up the document that he’d failed to make any progress on all morning and attempted to read the first sentence. In the corner of his vision he saw Blake lean against the doorframe and stuff his free hand into his pocket.

  Justin put the paperwork back on his desk and looked up. Blake had a right to know.

  “She’s Landfred’s daughter.” He met his brother’s eyes and watched them cloud over in confusion.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Gabriella. She’s Phil Landfred’s daughter. She didn’t buy the house she’s living in. She fucking inherited it from the bastard who killed Mom and Dad.”

  Blake looked dumbstruck. Justin imagined the surprise he saw on his brother’s face was no less than what he’d felt last night when Gabriella dropped her bomb.

  “Oh Christ,” Blake blurted, shaking his head. “Why didn’t you say something sooner?”

  “Because for some reason she didn’t think it was important enough to tell me.” He pushed back up out of his chair and paced in front of his desk. “And if I hadn’t run into her when she was meeting with Mark Carell yesterday, I still wouldn’t know.”

  “What the hell does Mark have to do with it?”

  Justin snorted. “He’s handling the estate. I was meeting Mark for lunch, and I guess he was trying to wrap up some loose ends with her while he was in town. It was obvious when I showed up she was surprised to see me, and she looked so guilty I knew something was up. She even told Mark not to say anything to me about their meeting.”

  “Did Mark tell you that?”

  “He didn’t have to! I was sitting right there when she said it. She knew damn well how upset I’d be when I found out. She deliberately lied to me about her relationship with Landfred.”

  Blake frowned, looking a little unsure. “Who did she tell you he was to her?”

  “No one. That’s just it.” Justin rubbed a hand across the back of his neck. “I couldn’t go out to that house without thinking about what happened, and somehow she misinterpreted my negative behavior as disinterest in her. So I had to explain it wasn’t her, it was the house, and then I told her about how the guy who lived there before she bought it killed our parents.”

  Blake shifted but said nothing. Justin cast him a glance but couldn’t guess at his brother’s thoughts.

  “She didn’t say anything. She let me go on believing she was just someone who’d bought the house and that she had no connection to Landfred.” Justin felt his frustration over her dishonesty growing, and he closed his eyes a moment, his emotions torn. “The only reason she finally came clean was because I got to Mosey’s a little early for my lunch date with Mark and interrupted their meeting. She didn’t have much of a choice at that point but to explain what the two of them were doing together.”

  “How do you know she hadn’t already planned to tell you?”

  “She wasn’t planning on telling me. Do you know how many opportunities she had to say something over the last week? And she should have said something, Blake. She damn well should have said something.”

  Blake twisted his mouth into a frown, and Justin could see his brother wasn’t pleased about the breakup.

  “Look,” Justin said, “it doesn’t matter now. We’re not together anymore, and I’d just as soon not dwell on it.” He went back to his desk as if to say it was time to move on. Blake didn’t move away from the door, and Justin blew out a breath and looked at him again.

  “Delaney’s going to be real disappointed to hear all this,” his twin said.

  “Yeah, well…Delaney’s not the only one who’ll be feeling disappointed.”

  “So that’s it?”

  “Yeah, that’s it.” Justin tried to ignore the sharp stab of regret that pierced him. “I know Delaney and Gabriella are friends, and I don’t want to come between that, but we both know Delaney. So when you tell her, do us all a favor and ask your wife to keep her pretty little nose out of things.”

  “I’ll ask.”

  Justin glanced up under lowered brows. “I’m serious, Blake. I swore after Brin that I’d never tolerate dishonesty in a relationship again, and I meant it.”

  Blake gave a snort. “Come on Jus, you can’t compare Gabriella to Brin. You never said why you two broke up, and it’s none of my business, but Brin couldn’t hold a candle to Gab.”

  “Goodbye, Blake,” Justin said. He knew his brother was right. Gabriella was unlike any woman he’d ever known or may know again; unfortunately, she was also a phony.

  ANOTHER COOL front was moving in. The wind was gusting off the water, and the rush of the air through the trees filled Gabriella’s head like a thousand hushed whispers. If she concentrated, maybe they would tell her what to do, offer some elusive words of wisdom she hadn’t been able to think of on her own.

  The breeze continued to pick up, whipping the waves into whitecaps and brushing over her skin. Gabriella wrapped her arms around her waist, hugging herself.

  She felt so empty. She hadn’t heard from Justin. It had been two days since she’d told him the truth and still no word. What if he didn’t call? She closed her eyes and thought about the last time she’d seen him. He had been so angry.

  If you’re leaving, don’t come back, Gabriella.

  She hugged herself tighter. She hadn’t thought he meant never, but she had also expected to have heard something from him by now. Had he been telling her it was over?

  Gab let out a shaky breath. The tails of her white blouse blew out behind her, and the front molded to her skin, outlining her frame. She could feel the short strands of her hair lift and fall against her head.

  Tomorrow Chloe would be home. She had missed her daughter terribly and was anxious to see her. It seemed an eternity since she’d dropped her off at Lil’s and driven back home ten days ago. Tugger, Bruce’s older brother by two years, would be driving Chloe back and spending the night with them before doing the return drive to Connecticut on Monday.

  She liked Tugger. He could be just as overbearing as the rest of her Fiorelli relatives, but he had at least tried to understand her need to start a new life somewhere without Bruce’s ghost hovering over it.

  If she didn’t hear from Justin soon, she was afraid the life she had hoped they had a chance of building together might be slipping through her fingers. When she left his apartment Thursday night, had he really been telling her if she left they were finished? If so, he might never give her an opportunity to explain.

  Gabriella closed her eyes to the tears, refusing to cry. How much was she willing to give up for love? Could she give up this house? It was just brick and boards. She loved it here, but if she had to, she could walk away from it.

  Could she denounce her father as a drunk and a murderer? Could she erase her father’s words from her mind and heart and deny how important it was to finally discover he had loved her until the day he died? Only if she wanted to live a lie.

  She loved Justin. Other than his unbending attitude toward her father, he fulfilled her in a way she hadn’t known possible. She wanted to spend her life with him, raise a family together, and grow old and crotchety together. She smiled lightly to herself. She would happily take old and crotchety with Justin over just growing old with anyone else.

  Justin knew Chloe would be coming home tomorrow. If he had any intention of continuing their relationship, he would contact her be
fore then, even if he were still angry with her. If she didn’t hear from him tonight or tomorrow morning, she would have to face the truth.

  The sun was starting to set behind the trees. Gab picked up her sandals and walked barefoot through the grass, back up toward the house. She could see the kitchen light shining through the window. It didn’t look like a house full of ghosts, but she knew better.

  Mom!” Chloe ran up the porch steps and into Gab’s arms. Her little girl looked like she’d grown two inches since Gab saw her last. Chloe smelled like chocolate and popcorn. Gabriella hugged her tight, absorbing the moment.

  “I missed you so much.” She gave her daughter a squeeze and kissed the top of her head.

  “Me too.” Chloe squirmed out of her arms but took Gab’s hand and pulled her down the steps toward the car. “I made you a present.” Her daughter grinned up at her, all happy faced, her little eyes, so different from Gab’s, dancing with excitement.

  “A present for me?”

  “Well, it’s a drawing. I did it all myself. Nobody helped me with it.”

  “You know how much I love your drawings. And I need some artwork for the house.”

  Tugger had already gotten out of the car as well and was lifting Chloe’s suitcases out of the trunk.

  “Hey, Tug.” Gab walked to the back of the car and gave him a hug. “Thanks for bringing Chloe home.”

  “No problem. She sang to me the entire drive.” He pulled the last case out and pushed the trunk shut. “I think I now know the theme song for every Disney movie by heart.”

  Gabriella grinned and tried to appear sympathetic.

  “Hey,” he said, “it was that or country music, which she claims is what you guys listen to now.” He gave her a censoring look. “Did you know she knows all the words to some song called ‘Boot Scootin’ Boogie’?”

  “You ought to see her dance to it,” Gab said, and laughed when he rolled his eyes and said, “Lord help us.”

  Chloe reached into the side of her big suitcase and pulled out a ten by fourteen piece of paper and handed it to Gab.