Single Daddy's Valentine

by Amanda Horton

  A few hours later, I opened one eye and blinked. Grabbing on to the side of the bed, I pulled myself up and looked around the room. Gabe was sitting on the chair watching me.

  “Morning, Ms. Torres,” he smiled.

  I rubbed my face and yawned. “Is it really morning? I’m so tired.”

  “I wonder why?” He said, innocently.

  “Yeah,” I smiled and scrambled to the edge of the bed. “I better get ready. I have studying to do.”

  “Can we just sit, for a minute?”

  “Sure,” I replied, and sat back on the bed. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing’s wrong. In fact, I’ve been thinking.”

  “Uh-oh. Did it hurt?”

  “Stop. This is serious.”

  “Okay,” I said, crossing my legs and waiting for him to say whatever it was he had to say.

  Instead he stood up and went to his dresser. When he returned to his seat, he had a small box in his hand. He opened the box and held it out to me. Inside was an antique gold ring with a beautiful brilliant cut diamond.

  I was confused. “I already have a ring.”

  “Yeah, a fake ring for a fake wedding. This one was my mom’s engagement ring. It’s special. I want you to have it.”

  I shifted uncomfortably, not entirely sure why he would be giving me his mom’s ring. “Gabe, I’m really tired. Let’s not talk about this anymore. Not today, okay?”

  He got down on one knee and held the ring out in front of me. My heart just about jumped out of my skin. What the hell was he doing?

  “Lana Torres, will you marry me?”

  “What? No!” I jumped up off the bed and ran out of the room. Gabe followed me but I slammed the door to my bedroom before he could set foot inside.

  “Lana! Please, I’m being serious!”

  I backed away from the door. “No! You don’t understand!”

  He banged on the door. “Please let me in. I love you. I don’t want a fake marriage with you. I want to really marry you. Please!”

  No, this wasn’t happening. The previous night came flooding back into my mind and I doubled over. I struggled to catch my breath as panic rose in my chest. What had we done? What was going on? I had to get out of there. I had to get some air.

  He banged on the door again. “Lana, please!”

  “Leave me alone!” I screamed. The banging stopped and I stumbled around trying to find some clothes to throw on. I opened the door and Gabe was sitting on the floor, his face etched with pain.

  “Please Lana, don’t do this! I love you!”

  My hand flew to my mouth. “No. You don’t understand! I can’t marry you!”

  I ran out of the house as quickly as I could, jumping into my car and gunning the engine. Tears were streaming down my face and I could barely see where I was going. Somehow, I managed to find the way, and I pulled up at the cemetery gates and ran towards the spot where I had spent many hours, talking to the man I loved.

  His gravestone was in a row near a large evergreen. I had chosen this spot for him because I knew he would appreciate the shade. I crouched down and wiped dust away from the marble headstone.

  “Kyle, what is happening to me?” I sobbed. “I don’t know what to do. I’ve betrayed you, and I don’t know if I can ever forgive myself. I’m so sorry. So, so sorry. I promise that I won’t ever betray you again. I will never stop loving you!”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Gabe

  “I’ll make arrangements this morning and let you know once everything is booked,” I said to my colleague, before ending the telephone conversation. A new contract was being set up and my partners thought it would be a good idea if I met with the client to seal the deal.

  Throwing the phone on the coffee table, I sank on to the couch and put my head in my hands. I was numb. Didn’t really know what was going on anymore. I hadn’t spoken to Lana for three days after I proposed to her. She wasn’t answering my calls and refused to speak to me whenever I went around to her parents’ house. I was lost. I had opened my heart to her and had it thrown back in my face.

  I just couldn’t figure out what went wrong. We had spent that wonderful night at the dance, then practically devoured each other and had the most mind-blowing sex ever. I thought we were finally on the same page, that she wanted to be with me as much as I wanted to be with her.

  But no. I had read it wrong. I had gone and fucked everything up by proposing to her.

  I felt a small hand touch my knee. “What’s wrong daddy?”

  I looked up at my son. His face was etched with worry. I smiled and ruffled his hair. “Nothing’s wrong, sport. Are you ready to take a quick trip back home?”

  He looked dubious. “Where is Lana? I miss her.”

  I hid my face from him so he wouldn’t see that I was on the verge of tears. I had to keep it together. “I know buddy. She’s gone back to her mommy’s house for now.”

  “Why? Doesn’t she like living with us anymore?”

  “I guess not.”

  “Huh. Maybe if I draw her a nice card, she’ll want to come back and live with us.”

  My heart broke all over again. “That’s a great idea. I’m sure she’d love to receive a nice card from you.”

  He beamed a huge smile and disappeared under the coffee table for a moment. A pad of paper and a box of pens appeared on the table and he settled down to create his card.

  “Can you help me draw a nice heart for her?” I slid down on to the floor and helped steer his hand. Inside, I felt like I was going to fall apart. My mind kept flashing back to the look of horror on Lana’s face when I asked her to marry me for real.

  After we finished making the card, I called my agent and booked flights back to DC. I packed a small bag for us both and locked up the house. I settled Louie in the car and knocked on the Torres’ front door. Marta answered.

  “Oh, hello Gabriel. Come on in.”

  “Actually, I just came to let you know that I’m heading back to DC for a few days. Some work stuff has come up and they need me to be there to meet the client.”

  “Oh, I see. Do you want me to take care of Louie for you?”

  “No, thank you but it’s okay. He’s coming with me.” I looked down at the card in my hand. “Um, I don’t suppose Lana is at home?”

  Marta sighed and shook her head. “I don’t know what’s got into her the past few days. She’s hardly been at home. Did you have a fight?”

  “No, not exactly. I…um, after I spoke to you on the day of the Valentine’s ball, I decided to go along after all. We had a wonderful evening together, which cemented in my mind what you had said about her always carrying a torch for me. I realized that it was no good having a fake marriage. I want to be with Lana, properly. So, I proposed to her with my mom’s engagement ring.”

  This was clearly the first Marta had heard of it. “Oh, my goodness, Gabriel! That’s wonderful news!”

  “When I proposed, Lana ran out on me and I haven’t been able to speak to her since.”

  “Oh dear. I really didn’t know.”

  I checked my watch for the time. “I’m going to have to go if I’m going to make the flight on time. Look, I don’t know what’s going on in Lana’s head right now. Can you please give her this card from Louie and I, and let her know that I will be back in a few days’ time? We were supposed to meet with the lawyer to transfer the title of the estate into my name at the beginning of next week. I need to know what she wants to do, or I’ll have to sign everything over to Matt.”

  Marta took the card from me and patted my hand. “Don’t you worry about that. I’ll speak to her when she comes in. Find out what’s really going on in that messed up mind of hers.”

  “Thank you, Marta. Please let her know that she can call me whenever she wants to talk.”

  Marta agreed and kissed me on the cheek. “You love her, don’t you?”

  “Yes, I believe I do. I’m not quite sure how this all happened, but I just want to try and figure it all
out.”

  We said our goodbyes and Louie and I got in the car and headed towards the airport. Even as I drove away, I hoped that Lana would come around. A nasty thought pricked my mind that yet another South Dakotan woman had rejected me. I silently cursed my hometown, and set my mind to getting through the next few days in DC.

  If Lana didn’t want me then I hadn’t really lost anything I supposed. I still had Louie, my job, my life in DC. It was enough.

  Even as I thought that last thought, I knew it was a lie.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Lana

  Days seemed to blend into each other and I traipsed through them in a daze. It took me a while to calculate, but it appeared it had been four days that I had successfully ignored Gabe. Classes passed in a blur with me barely taking anything in. I knew I would have to get copies of Carey’s notes if I was going to stand half a chance of passing this part of my course.

  Mom and dad were waiting for me when I got home on the fourth day. Dad’s face was etched with worry and mom had been crying.

  “What’s happened dad?”

  He handed me an eviction notice. I scanned its contents, rage filling me. “What the hell?”

  “Matt delivered it by hand. He took the liberty of drafting it up in preparation for the estate being signed over to him.”

  “It says here that he will give us a month to move out? Who does he think he is? Does Gabe know about this? What did he say?” Mom and dad didn’t respond. They just looked at each other and then back at me. “What?” I demanded.

  “Lana, Gabe told me about you rejecting his marriage proposal. Why didn’t you tell us what happened?”

  All the fight left me. “I…things have been pretty messed up for me mom. I enjoy being with Gabe, I really do, but when he proposed to me I freaked out. I feel so ashamed, mom. I feel like I’ve betrayed Kyle and I couldn’t deal with this whole thing with Gabe anymore.”

  Dad put his arm round me. “Honey, you’re beating yourself up too much about this. Kyle’s gone. Do you really think he would have wanted you to stop living your life?”

  I burst into tears. “I don’t know. All I know is that it feels like if I have feelings for Gabe, it means that I am betraying Kyle.”

  “Do you have feelings for Gabriel, sweetheart?” Mom asked gently.

  “Yes…no…I don’t know.”

  She placed a piece of card in my hand. I wiped my tears away and looked down at a card made by Louie with a huge pink heart on it. “I think you need to stop lying to yourself, Lana. Look at that card. That’s love right there. You’ve got to stop hiding yourself away and open up to new love.”

  “You’re right,” I whispered. “Where is Gabe?”

  “He had to go back to DC for a few days for work. He said to call him if you were ready to talk.”

  “Okay, I will. But first there’s something I have to do.”

  I carefully placed the card on the table and headed out into the cold air. Crossing the track, I reached the farmhouse and banged loudly on the door.

  “Matt! Are you in there?” I banged again but there was no answer. I took off across the field and headed towards the cow barns. A couple of the farmhands were standing talking and waved at me as I approached. “Hey there. Have you seen Matt?”

  The older farmhand shrugged his shoulders. “He’s about somewhere. I think he might have gone down to the buildings by the creek. Said something about heading down there at some point to take some measurements.”

  I thanked them and trudged through the muddy field in the direction of the creek. It was bitterly cold, so I dug my hands into my pockets and hunched my shoulders. Finally, a row of three stone outbuildings appeared at the far edge of the farm. I hadn’t been out this far in years. From what I could remember, the buildings had housed some of the livestock back when Gabe’s grandfather had the farm.

  The first building was empty, so I walked back out and moved on to the next. The second one was empty too, so I continued on to the third. Sure enough, Matt was inside, talking loudly on his cellphone. I stepped inside and waited until he turned my way. His eyes narrowed when he saw me.

  “Listen, something’s come up. I’ll call you back,” he said into the cell, before ending the call and slipping the handset in his pocket. He walked over to me and flashed one of those smiles that don’t quite reach the eyes. “Lana, what are you doing all the way out here?”

  “Looking for you.”

  “Well you found me, so what can I do you for?”

  I held out the eviction notice. “What is the meaning of this?”

  He eyeballed the piece of paper flapping in my hand and smirked. “I’d say it’s pretty clear what it is.”

  “Don’t act smart with me, Matt. You don’t have the right to send an eviction notice to my parents. You’re not getting the farm.”

  He seemed genuinely tickled. “We’ll just have to agree to disagree on that. Besides, I’m going to prove that your relationship is fake.”

  “You seem so damn sure of yourself, don’t you? How do you know it’s fake?”

  “Oh, come on! Everyone knows you’re still moping over that guy who died. And Gabe? Well, you were there when he said it. There’s no way he will ever marry another local girl.”

  I let my lips curve up in to a sneer. “You think you know everything, but you don’t.”

  Matt moved closer to me. A little too close for comfort. “Why don’t you enlighten me then?”

  I thrust my chin up in defiance, fixing him a deadly stare. “Gabe proposed to me for real. Even used your mother’s engagement ring to do it.”

  Matt tutted and rolled his eyes. “Yeah? Where’s the ring then?”

  I looked down at my finger. “Um…I…well, I haven’t actually accepted his proposal yet, but that doesn’t mean anything. The point is that it’s not going to be a fake wedding. It’s going to be real.”

  “Bullshit.”

  “It’s true. And if you weren’t so hellbent on destroying everything your family has built on this land, and your relationship with your brother, you might know that.”

  “Hang on a minute. You said you haven’t accepted his proposal. Why is that?”

  I looked down, unsure of myself. “It’s complicated.”

  “What’s complicated about it? Are you going to be marrying my brother or not?”

  “Yes. I love him!” I yelled, frustration coursing through my veins.

  Matt stared at me incredulously.

  “I love him. I’ve always loved him, okay? I got a shock when he asked me to marry him for real and I ran out. And I’ve been a total asshole to him, not answering his calls and running away from him because I didn’t know what to do. But I do now. I want to be with him, Matt. I want us to stay here on the farm as a family. Me, Gabe and Louie. All I need to do is call him and say yes.”

  I pulled my cellphone out of my pocket and searched for Gabe’s number. I knew that I had to tell him there and then, in front of Matt, so that he would finally believe that there was no point in fighting over the farm anymore.

  Before I even managed to hit the dial button, Matt grabbed for the cell and snatched it out of my hand. “Hey! What are you doing?”

  Matt stepped away from me and pressed the button to end the call. I ran at him. “Give that back!”

  He pushed me away and I fell to the ground. “No. You’re not going to call my brother.”

  “What the hell are you doing Matt?” I looked up in confusion as he towered over me.

  “He doesn’t know that you plan to really marry him. He’s back in DC, oblivious to the fact that you’ve suddenly decided that you love him after all.”

  I tried to stand up but Matt pushed me back down. He looked to the door and then back at me. We both scrambled for the door but Matt was quicker than me. I tried to push him out of the way but he shoved me hard and slammed the door shut.

  “Matt! What are you doing? No!”

  I screamed and banged on the door. The sound
of the bolt sliding across was deafening. “Matt! Let me out!”

  “No one knows where you are, Lana. When Gabe comes back on Monday to sign the papers, he’s going to realize that you’re gone, and he will sign everything over to me.”

  He was certifiably crazy. I slammed my body against the door again, yelling in frustration. “Matt! Stop this. You can’t leave me in here! Please. Let me out!”

  There was no response. He had left me here on my own. Oh my God!

  I screamed in a mixture of frustration and terror. How could I have gotten myself into this situation? Why the hell had Matt done this? I quickly searched the inside of the building, looking for a way out. But there was nothing. No windows, no gaps in the walls, just the one door at the front which had been locked from the outside.

  “Help! Somebody help me!” I yelled, over and over until my voice was hoarse.

  No one could hear me. No one knew where I was. By the time anyone found me, it was all going to be too late.

  I slid down on to the dirt floor and howled with rage.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Gabe

  I traveled back to South Dakota with a heavy heart. Lana hadn’t been in touch and I was starting to accept that I had made a huge mistake in asking her to marry me. I didn’t even know how I stood in terms of the fake marriage, so I didn’t know what would await me when I arrived back at the farm.

  When I pulled into the drive, Matt was coming up the track towards the house. He looked happier than I had seen him in a while.

  “Hey Gabe. Good to have you back.”

  We went inside the farmhouse and I dumped my bag on the floor. “You’re a lot chirpier than I expected you to be,” I said, eyeing him suspiciously.

  He smiled and handed me a beer. “Just happy to see you.”

  “Matt, what’s going on? Have you seen Lana?”

  He cocked his head to the side. “Oh gosh, didn’t she tell you?” He came over and patted me on the arm. “I’m sorry man. I thought she would have called to let you know, given the whole debacle with your proposal.”