Adelia looked shocked. “I could never do that. It would suggest you’ve done something wrong and quite the opposite is true.”
“If it’s the last resort, you could,” Gabe stated flatly. “I mean it, Adelia. You do whatever you need to do to keep your kids right here where they belong.”
“But that would be so unfair,” she protested.
“Hopefully it won’t come to that, but I do not want to be the reason your kids are not with you. I’ll pack up and take off before I’ll let that happen.”
Naturally that was the precise instant that Selena chose to join them. Alarm spread across her face.
“You’re leaving? Just like Joey said you would?” Her eyes filled with tears. “I knew I shouldn’t trust you. I knew it. I was right all along. I hate you!”
She whirled around and was about to run, but Adelia caught her arm. “Not until you let Gabe explain,” she said quietly.
“Explain what? That he’s no better than Dad?”
Adelia looked as if she’d been slapped. “You know that’s not true,” she said furiously. “And I won’t have you talking to Gabe or about him like that.”
“Then let me leave before I say something even more rude,” Selena said, trying to pull free.
Gabe decided it was time to step in and stand up for himself. Adelia had more than enough on her plate without trying to handle his battles.
“Selena,” he said quietly. “You’re almost an adult and part of being grown-up is giving people a chance to explain, especially when you only heard part of what we were discussing.”
“What if I don’t want to hear anything you have to say?” she asked angrily. “I’m sick of everybody lying to me.”
“I will never lie to you,” Gabe said. He gestured toward a kitchen chair. “Please, sit down and listen. Just a few minutes. That’s all I’m asking.”
“Sweetie, you owe him that much,” Adelia said. “Think about everything he’s done for you.”
“I guess,” Selena said sullenly.
“Gabe brought pizza,” Adelia added. “Wouldn’t you like some? You haven’t eaten a thing.”
Selena shook her head. Even so, Adelia put the box on the table and moved one of the plates and several napkins so they were right in front of her daughter.
“Just in case you change you mind,” she told her.
“I won’t,” Selena said stubbornly.
Gabe pulled out the chair opposite her and sat. “What did you hear when you walked in here?”
“That you’re going to leave, just like Joey said you would.”
“But you didn’t hear why I said that, did you?” Gabe asked.
“Because it’s what you do—you run away,” she said bitterly.
“I did once,” Gabe conceded. “But this time I would only go if the judge thinks I’m a bad influence on you kids and sides with your dad. I would only leave town to protect you and make sure you can stay here with your mom.”
Selena looked shaken. She turned to Adelia. “But you said the judge would never do that.”
“I don’t believe he will,” Adelia said.
“And I don’t think he will, either,” Gabe added. “This was a just-in-case promise, a way to make sure nothing in your life changes.”
The tension in Selena’s shoulders visibly eased. Her gaze hopeful, her voice tremulous, she whispered, “Cross your heart? You won’t just pack up and go?”
“Cross my heart,” Gabe told her, suiting action to words. “I don’t want to leave, Selena.”
“But you did once before. Joey told me, and Mom didn’t deny it.”
“That’s true. Have you heard the whole story?”
“It had something to do with your mom,” Selena said.
“That’s exactly right,” Gabe confirmed. “When I was about your age, maybe even a couple of years younger, kids started making really mean remarks about my mom. To be honest, a lot of it was true, but that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt to hear them say it. My mom did a lot of bad stuff back then. Since it was just the two of us, I figured it was my job to defend her. I started a lot of fights. Eventually I got kicked out of school. Fortunately that was the worst of what happened. Still, your dad wants to bring all of that up to the judge.”
“But that’s not fair,” Selena said. “You were just worried about your mom. I feel the same way about my mom. That’s why I got so mad when I heard you might take off. I thought you were going to hurt her by leaving, and it would be even worse if you did, because I was starting to think you’re a really good guy and I know she likes you.”
He glanced at Adelia, then back at her daughter. “Would it help if I promise that it’s not my intention to hurt your mother?”
She was silent for a long time, then said wearily, “My dad promised to love her for always. He didn’t keep his promise.”
Gabe’s heart ached for the pain he could hear in this young girl’s voice. She was learning lessons no one her age needed to know. He couldn’t help wondering how those would shape the woman she’d become.
“I know,” he said quietly. “Adults always mean their promises when they make them, but they can’t always keep them.”
“Then why should I trust you?” Selena asked with a touch of belligerence.
Gabe gave Adelia a meaningful look. “Because I will never make a promise if I don’t think I can keep it,” he said, the words directed at Selena but meant for her mother, as well. “And I suppose the only way I can prove that is if you’ll give me another chance. Can you do that?”
Again, Selena hesitated. “I guess,” she said eventually.
“Thank you,” he said, relieved because he knew that without Selena’s blessing, his chances for making any inroads with her mother would be nil. Adelia would shift gears all over again and want him out of their lives.
Before he realized what she intended, Selena was out of her chair, her arms tight around his neck. “Please don’t leave us. Please. It’s been so much better since you came here.”
Gabe closed his eyes. Here it was, the test he’d dreaded, because the promise she so desperately wanted was one he couldn’t guarantee he could keep. His silence finally registered with her apparently, because she pulled away.
“Why aren’t you saying anything?” she asked, her gaze accusing.
“I told you I would never lie and that I wouldn’t make a promise I didn’t think I could keep,” he said quietly. “What I will promise you is that no matter what happens, I will always, always care about you and be around anytime you tell me you need me. No matter where I might be, I will only be a phone call away.”
“But you could go away,” she concluded, her expression resigned.
“I won’t want to, but, yes, it could happen.”
“Even if the judge doesn’t make you?”
Gabe nodded, though his heart ached. “Even then.”
Though Selena was clearly fighting tears, a few managed to leak out and dampen her cheeks. “Will you tell me if you have to go?”
“Absolutely,” he said, his own eyes stinging. “I promise.”
“Okay,” she said in a small voice. She sat back down and took a slice of pizza from the box, picking off bits of pepperoni and tearing them into smaller bits.
Gabe and Adelia waited until she eventually turned to her mom.
“I want to come to court tomorrow,” Selena said, her voice filled with determination. “I want to testify.”
“Oh, sweetie, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Adelia protested. “Helen didn’t ask that you be there.”
“I’ll call her myself and tell her I’m coming,” Selena said stubbornly. “I was the one Dad brought that woman to see. I can tell the judge that he doesn’t care about us. And I can tell him that Gabe does, so much that
he’d go away before he’d ever hurt us.”
Gabe could see that Adelia was torn between trying to protect her daughter and letting her have her way.
“I think you should talk it over with Helen,” he told Adelia. “Let her decide.”
Selena gave him a grateful look, then turned back to Adelia. “Please, Mom. I have to do this. I have to stand up for our family.”
Adelia finally nodded. “I’ll ask Helen.”
“Now,” Selena prodded.
Adelia stood up and regarded Gabe wryly. “I wonder where she gets that stubborn streak from.”
He winked at her. “I think we both know the answer to that. You’re no slouch in that department yourself.”
After Adelia left the room to make the call, Selena regarded him shyly. “Thanks for backing me up.”
“I think you’ve earned the right to have a say,” he told her. “Just remember, it’s up to Helen. She knows best.”
Adelia returned before Selena could even respond to that. “Helen says it’s fine if you’re there, but she will only call on you to testify if it seems like the right thing to do or if the judge asks to hear from you.”
“I can live with that,” Selena said happily.
This time when she picked up her slice of pizza, she actually ate it. Two slices after that, she glanced from her mom to Gabe and back again.
“I guess you’d like to be alone, huh?”
Gabe laughed. “I wouldn’t mind.”
Selena gave her mother a kiss, then gave him a peck on the cheek, too. Gabe held her gaze.
“All is forgiven?” he asked.
She nodded.
“Then get some sleep. I’ll see you tomorrow at the courthouse.”
“Good night, Gabe. It’s all going to work out,” she said, sounding surprisingly confident. “You’ll see.”
Gabe couldn’t help wishing he had the same crystal ball Selena seemed to be looking into.
* * *
“You were good with Selena earlier,” Adelia told Gabe when they were alone on the back patio after Selena had finally gone upstairs to bed.
“I meant what I said to her. I know where she’s coming from,” Gabe said. “My mom went through some tough times, a lot of tough times, to be honest.” He regarded her curiously. “No one’s filled you in on the stories?”
She shook her head. “I only know what you’ve mentioned.”
“I’m surprised. She was certainly the talk of the town back then.”
Adelia tried to imagine what it was like for a young man to have his mother at the center of town gossip, then realized that was exactly what Selena had experienced because of Ernesto. She certainly knew the effect that had had. “That must have been so hard on you.”
He shrugged. “Thus my reputation as a troublemaker. Just like I told Selena, I was in a lot of fights back then, defending her honor, or at least that’s how I viewed it. Maybe she deserved it, maybe she didn’t, but I didn’t think I had a choice.”
“Of course you didn’t,” Adelia said at once. “She was your mother. Selena feels that same sort of loyalty to me, but thankfully she hasn’t felt the need to beat anyone up. I think she was probably tempted to throw a few punches at Ernesto’s mistress, but she didn’t. I was tempted to do that myself, so I could hardly have blamed her if she had.”
“I’m sorry you went through that. I’m sorry Selena did, too.”
“It’s behind me now,” she said, then sighed. “At least I was working on leaving it in the past until this latest mess came up.”
“What about the future?” he asked. “Not tomorrow, but way beyond that. What do you see for yourself?”
“I try not to look too far beyond today,” she told him. “I’m still at the stage of trying to put one foot in front of the other, making sure the kids are okay, getting this place fixed up.” She glanced his way. “What about you? Once you’ve got your life on an even keel, what’s next?”
“I haven’t been back all that long,” he said. “An even keel feels as if it’s a long way off.”
“No big dreams, Gabe?”
He met her gaze, held it. “I haven’t let myself dream for a long time,” he confessed. “I didn’t think I deserved to have dreams. Now, since I’ve met you...”
His voice trailed off, but his meaning was clear. It left Adelia shaken but filled with the kind of anticipation she hadn’t thought possible just a few months ago.
She shook off her desire to bask in his words. “I should stop this.”
“Stop what?”
“Talking about the future as if either one of us has any control over it. Knowing that a judge could change my life forever tomorrow morning is proof enough that I’m not the one in charge of anything.”
Gabe scooted closer and put his arm around her. “Have a little faith. You’re a great mom. You’ve done right by your kids. They’re healthy and getting happier by the day. You have a good job and the respect of a lot of people in this town. There’s not a judge in the world who would choose Ernesto over you. I’m the complication.”
She smiled at his willingness to take responsibility for anything that might not go her way in court. “No, Gabe. You’re the good influence. I imagine Selena intends to tell the judge exactly that if she gets the chance. Do you know what she told me earlier?”
“What?”
“That because of you, it feels like we’re a real family. I can’t argue with that. The past few weeks have been the way I always wanted my family to be. She also said you treat her and my other kids the way Elliott treats Daisy and Mack. Believe me, that’s high praise. Even before my brother officially adopted those two, he loved them to pieces. And because he did, even the most judgmental people in my family accepted them, and ultimately Karen, too.”
Gabe frowned. “What did they have against Karen? Admittedly, I don’t know her that well, but she seems to have an approval sticker from that whole group of Sweet Magnolia women. From what Mitch has said, they’re pretty tight-knit.”
“Ah, but in the eyes of my family, she has a tragic flaw. She’s divorced,” she responded.
“But you’re divorced, too,” he said, clearly confused.
“I wasn’t then. And in fact, my sisters think Karen had some sort of evil influence over me. They’re no more accepting of me now than they were of Karen back then.”
“What about the one whose husband is abusing her? Carolina, is it? Surely she understands.”
“Afraid not. If anything, she hates me even more because I got out of a bad marriage and she can’t bring herself to leave hers.” She waved off the topic. “Enough of that. It’s too depressing and it’s not anything I can resolve tonight. I have enough on my mind.”
Gabe looked into her eyes. “I wish I could stay right here and distract you.”
She smiled at the wistfulness in his voice. “Believe me, I wish you could, too.”
“But I should go,” he said without making a move to do so.
“You should,” she agreed.
He glanced around, as if to determine if there were spies lurking in the bushes, then leaned in close. “Not before this,” he whispered, then sealed his mouth over hers.
Once again Adelia lost herself in his kiss. How had she never realized what sort of sweet torment a simple kiss could stir up? Not that there was anything simple about the way Gabe kissed. He teased and taunted, coaxed and demanded, until her body was shouting for a whole lot more. It had been a long time since she’d experienced the sweet torment of foreplay.
“If that judge tries to banish me from your life tomorrow, I may have to pummel some sense into him myself,” he said with a moan as he pulled away. “I want a whole lot more than kisses from you, Adelia.”
Shaken and breathless, she could only nod.
<
br /> “You, too?” he asked, clearly amused.
“Oh yeah.”
“Still going to call me after you put on your sexy nightie and crawl into bed?” he teased.
She swallowed hard, imagining it. “I don’t think so,” she said with regret. “I’m going to have enough trouble getting to sleep as it is. If I let you get me all stirred up, I’ll be awake and frustrated all night long.”
Gabe laughed. “Welcome to my world, darlin’.”
* * *
When Adelia arrived at the courthouse in the morning, she was stunned to find a whole contingent of Sweet Magnolias waiting in the courtroom, along with her mother.
She addressed her mother’s presence first. “Mama, I wasn’t expecting you to be here.”
“Where else would I be? What I want to know is why you didn’t tell me yourself what was happening?”
“You have enough on your mind,” Adelia said, then lowered her voice. “Have you seen Carolina?”
Her mother frowned at the question. “She won’t open the door for me. That alone tells me things are worse. I’m terrified to even think about how much worse. She has one more day and then I’m taking Elliott over there with me.”
Adelia recognized that her mother was at her wits’ end if she was even considering involving Elliott. “I’ll go with you, Mama. We’ll go first thing tomorrow. Maybe if we gang up on Carolina, we can make her get out of that house before things get even worse.”
“For now let’s focus on seeing that Ernesto gets what’s coming to him,” her mother said, her expression grim. She beckoned for Selena. “You sit with me. We’ll say prayers that the judge is a good and decent man.”
Selena grinned. “Abuela, I hope you have a lot of pull with God.”
“I have enough,” she replied. “So do you.”
Adelia turned then to Maddie, Dana Sue, Raylene and the other Sweet Magnolias. As far as she could tell the only ones missing were Lynn, who had to be at the bakery, and Sarah, who was on the air at the radio station. She regarded the women with tears in her eyes, then faced Helen.
Swan Point Page 29