Fire and Foreplay

by Melanie Shawn

  He was starting to see a pattern there and he loved it.

  Chapter 14

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  Adriana bit the inside of her lip as she helped Laney out of her booster seat. Lexi had been behind the driver’s seat and Gabe had already freed her like a pro, just like he’d buckled her in. She was sure it was something that he’d picked up from his niece because there was no way a rookie could’ve figured out the complicated buckle system.

  Jonah had already hopped out and was on Gabe’s side of the car. He’d been Gabe’s shadow since he met him at Sue Ann’s. When they were checking into their cabin at Mountain Ridge, he and Gabe had retrieved all of the luggage from both vehicles. They’d done it in two trips and had been very proud of their accomplishment.

  Seeing Jonah and Gabe together was strange and scary. Their similarities didn’t end with physical attributes. It was also the gate in their strides. The way they held their shoulders. The way they talked with their hands. It was freaky how alike they were.

  “My shoe!” Laney pointed down and Adriana saw that it had fallen.

  “I got it,” she assured her daughter as she picked it up and put it back on her left foot.

  Then she held out her hand so Laney could use it as leverage to get out of the car. Since the girls turned three and weren’t “babies” anymore, they’d insisted on climbing in and out of their seats by themselves. In Adriana’s car, it wasn’t a big deal. The distance between the door and the ground was minimal. Inn Gabe’s SUV though, it was proving to be quite the challenge.

  “Here, princess,” Adriana put her hands beneath her daughter’s arms to lift her out of the vehicle and place her safely on the ground.

  “No!” Laney pushed Adriana’s hand away. “I can do it.”

  Oh no. Panic started to rise in Adriana’s throat. She knew that “no.” It was the I’ve-skipped-my-nap no. It was the I’m-overtired-and-if-everything-doesn’t-go-my-way-I’m-going-to throw-a-fit no. It was the I’m-two-seconds-away-from-a-complete-breakdown no.

  “Let me try,” Gabe’s voice was low in her ear. She could feel him standing behind her. Her body was telling her to melt against him, but she resisted.

  “It’s okay, I’ve got this.” Adriana reached for her daughter again.

  “No!” This time the refusal came in the form of a screech.

  She lifted her arms and stepped back in a show of retreat so her daughter wouldn’t protest again. Gabe stepped forward, held out his arms and said, “Jump.”

  Laney immediately jumped.

  She hurled herself in the air and into Gabe’s arms. Then he spun around as she giggled and held onto his neck. When he set her down, Lexi held up her arms, “My turn!”

  Without missing a beat, Gabe had set Lexi on the running board of his SUV and held out his arms. Lexi jumped and he spun her around.

  He was mid-spin when Adriana heard, “Hey there!”

  She turned and saw Amy and a man she assumed was her husband coming up the driveway, each carrying a twin.

  “Are these yours?” Amy asked as they got closer.

  “Yep, this is Lexi, Laney, and this is Jonah.” Adriana pointed toward each of them as she said their names.

  The kids all said hi and Amy introduced her girls and her husband, Matt. The girls started squirming in their arms and they set them down. Peyton and Paige ran to Gabe’s legs and latched on to him like little monkeys. He straightened his legs and did a Frankenstein impression as he started walking with them on him and it caused the girls to go into a fit of giggles.

  “Well, fancy meeting you here.”

  They all turned and Adriana saw Nikki walking up the driveway with a knowing smile on her face and a man that again, she assumed was her husband.

  “Hi.” Adriana waved, feeling a little self-conscious.

  It was weird enough showing up at a family dinner with Gabe. Then, to also bring her three kids was a whole different level of odd. She’d wanted to say no, but Gabe had brought it up in front of Jonah and the twins and they’d wanted to go, of course. She’d tried to talk her way out of it, saying that four extra mouths to feed wasn’t something you could just spring on someone, but Gabe had countered with the fact that his aunt was Italian and made enough food to feed all of Hope Falls.

  She’d tried to entice them with a night in, saying that they could relax and watch movies, even order pizza. Yet, not even the promise of pizza was enough to lure them away from spending more time with Gabe. Because in their eyes he really was the coolest, funniest, dopest guy in the world.

  Thankfully, Naomi had bowed out because she wanted to rest. That would’ve been too much for Adriana to handle.

  After all the introductions were made, Nikki leaned toward her and squinted at her neck.

  Oh no. Maybe the mark on her thigh wasn’t the only one Gabe had left. Adriana lifted her hand to where Nikki was focusing and felt her necklace. She was wearing her silver infinity amethyst necklace.

  “That’s a Love by Design necklace, right?”

  Adriana nodded, surprised that she knew that. Then she realized that Gabe must’ve told his cousin about her jewelry.

  “It’s from last year’s fall collection, right?”

  “Yes, that’s right.”

  “I’m so jealous. It sold out before I could order it and it hasn’t been back in stock since. I check like once a week.”

  “It was limited edition because of the stone.” Adriana only incorporated stones in her jewelry when she found amazing deals on them. She’d gotten an amazing deal on one hundred pieces of amethyst so the necklace was limited edition. “I can send you one though.”

  “You bought two. That’s brilliant. I’ll pay whatever you were going to sell it for.”

  “She didn’t buy any. She made them.” Gabe called out from under the kids that were dog piled on top of him.

  Nikki looked over at Gabe and then back at Adriana. “You did?”

  “Yep.”

  “Are you serious?” Nikki asked.

  “Yep.”

  “I love your stuff!” Nikki enthused before turning to Gabe. “Gabe, marry her so I can get first dibs on all her collections.”

  “Okay,” Gabe answered casually.

  Adriana laughed. A little too loud. She couldn’t help it. Hearing him say that, even if he was kidding, had inspired a manic reaction.

  “Hey!” A booming voice sounded as the screen door opened. “Are you gonna stay out there gabbing all day? There’s food to eat!”

  As they all started filing toward the house, Adriana went to reach for both girls’ hands but Gabe had beat her to the punch. Lexi was holding his right hand and Laney was holding his left while he and Jonah discussed the difference between an armbar and a keylock. It was so strange not being the only responsible adult taking care of the three of them. She noticed that the underlying dread that something would happen and she wouldn’t be able to be there for all three of them was absent. Having Gabe around, watching him with Jonah, with the girls, she hadn’t felt that dread once. She’d felt safe.

  It was definitely a feeling she could get used to.

  That scared her almost as much as the alternative.

  *

  As Gabe watched Adriana chat with Amy in the backyard as the girls played on his aunt and uncle’s swing set, a feeling of peace and rightness washed over him. She looked like she belonged there with his family. She fit. So did the kids.

  When he’d first suggested that they come with him to Sunday dinner, he hadn’t been thinking about how overwhelming his extended family might be. All he’d thought about was that he knew that he didn’t want to leave them. He didn’t want his time with them to be over.

  From the moment they’d arrived they’d all seamlessly woven into the fold.

  Gabe rested his forearms on the wooden railing of the deck as he watched Jonah play with the dogs. He was throwing the ball for Laverne and Shirley and they were running as fast as they could on their stubby little Corgi legs. These p
ups were getting up in age, and weren’t moving as quickly as they used to. Jonah was so good with them, though. He’d even insisted that the dogs take a water break when he saw them panting heavily.

  And from what Gabe had witnessed today, he was the same way with the twins. Every time they needed something he was the first to jump up and get it. If they were upset, he did everything he could to calm them down.

  If Gabe had dreamed up the perfect son, Jonah would be him. If Gabe dreamed up his perfect life, this would be it. Sunday afternoon, surrounded by family. Not just his extended family, but his own family. That’s what they felt like to him.

  He knew he was getting ahead of himself. Adriana and the girls, and even Jonah, weren’t his family. He knew that logically, but he was finding out his heart wasn’t ruled by logic. They felt like they were his.

  Jonah had been his shadow all day long and Gabe had loved every second of it. When Laney had jumped into his arms with complete trust, it had melted him. During lunch, when Lexi wasn’t sure about eating the spaghetti, Gabe had made a game out of it for her and she’d cleaned her plate.

  It had truly been one of the best days. Not that it wasn’t hard work. He was exhausted and it was barely six p.m. Gabe had no idea how Adriana did this by herself.

  “So remind me again how you know this lovely young lady,” his aunt Rosalie slid beside him.

  Since he hadn’t told his aunt how he’d met Adriana, he knew this was a fact-finding mission. “I met her at Sue Ann’s.”

  “And she’s a blogger?”

  He wasn’t sure where she’d heard that, but he figured it was better to at set that record straight. “I thought she was, but it was a misunderstanding.”

  “Well, she has a beautiful family.”

  “Yes, she does.”

  At that moment, Adriana looked up and saw that he was watching her across the yard. She blushed and turned her attention back to his cousin and the girls who were happily swinging and his heart swelled.

  “She must’ve been a baby when she had Jonah.”

  “Actually, Jonah is her cousin’s son. She passed away.”

  “Oh Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.” His aunt blessed herself with the sign of the cross.

  She was Italian Catholic but had picked up some Irish Catholic since she’d been married to his uncle for over forty years.

  Her voice was barely even a whisper as she asked, “And where’s his father?”

  You might be looking at him.

  Gabe answered her as honestly as he could, “I’m not sure.”

  “You know,”—she moved closer to Gabe—“when he walked in, I thought that I must’ve traveled back in time and you were coming to spend the summer with us.”

  “Really?” Gabe tried not to have any reaction.

  “Are you kidding me?” his aunt asked loudly. “He’s the spitting image of you at that age.”

  That got Adriana’s attention. There was a crease between her brows as she looked over at them. Thankfully, Jonah hadn’t seemed to hear his aunt’s observation.

  Gabe knew that arguing with her or playing dumb would only cause her to raise her voice louder. “Yeah, I guess so.”

  Before she had a chance to comment further, a shrieking cry rang out. When Gabe looked toward the swing set he saw Lexi was on the ground and Adriana was crouching down in front of her. He took off in a dead sprint. When he got there, he saw Lexi holding her bloody knee.

  Adriana calmly asked, “Can you get my purse, Jonah?”

  “Oh, dear!” His aunt was right beside him. “Do you need a Band-Aid, sweetie?”

  Jonah was back in record time.

  “It’s okay, we’ve got it. Thanks bud.” Adriana took the purse from him and pulled out a small bag. From inside the bag she took out a disinfectant wipe, which she wiped over the scratch before applying some Neosporin and a princess bandage.

  The entire time she was telling Lexi, “Smell the soup. Cool the soup. Smell the soup. Cool the soup.” By the time she was done, Lexi was calmly breathing in through her nose and out through her mouth.

  It was truly impressive.

  Adriana kissed the bandage and smiled happily at Lexi. “All better.”

  Lexi nodded and yawned.

  Gabe kneeled next to Adriana. “You ready to go?”

  Adriana nodded. “Yeah, I think any longer would be a tantrum ticking time bomb.”

  After saying their goodbyes, which took at least thirty minutes, and collecting two pans of leftovers, they were finally all in the car and headed back to Mountain Ridge.

  Gabe looked in the rearview mirror and saw that both girls were already falling asleep and Jonah had his earphones in and was watching something on his phone. Today he’d felt a sliver of the responsibility that Adriana had for these three little lives and it was all-consuming to him.

  “I can’t believe you do this. Alone. You’re so amazing.”

  Adriana let her head fall back against the chair as she quietly asked, “You sure you can handle a week of this?”

  “Yeah. I’m sure.”

  He was sure he could handle a lot more than a week. He was all in. No matter what the test results said.

  Chapter 15

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  “Do you ever get scared?” Jonah asked as he slowly walked the perimeter of the octagon at Lucky’s Gym.

  “Of course,” Gabe answered as his phone buzzed in his pocket.

  He took it out and saw that it was a message from Adriana. She was checking up on them. Amanda had invited her to a book club meeting. She hadn’t wanted to go, but then Nikki and Amy had both called and talked her into it. His cousins could be very convincing. Especially Nikki. He knew that she needed the time for herself, just like his mom had. He could see that it wasn’t easy for her to take it.

  Naomi was watching the girls, and Gabe had brought Jonah to the gym.

  He typed back a quick response to let her know they were fine. He thought about sending her a text to tell her that he missed her, but he was trying to maintain the boundaries that she’d laid out. So he refrained.

  “I never used to be scared, before my mom got sick.” His hand ran along the sides on the fencing as he did another lap, his eyes trained on the mat. “But now…I get scared…sometimes.”

  He could see that the kid was in pain. It was killing him that he couldn’t tell him everything was going to be okay. Gabe wanted to tell him that no matter what, he would always be there for him.

  Since he couldn’t do that, he figured the least he could do was let him know he wasn’t alone in feeling that way. “Everyone gets scared. If anyone tells you that they don’t, they’re full of shit,” Gabe cursed on purpose.

  It had the desired effect. Jonah’s lips turned up at the corners.

  The day before, when they’d been playing freeze tag with Adriana and the girls, Gabe had stubbed his toe and accidently dropped the f-bomb. The twins hadn’t noticed, but Jonah’s face had lit up like it was Christmas morning.

  Adriana hadn’t been as amused. He’d gotten “the look” from her. It was the same look he’d received when he’d brought up going to family dinner in front of the kids. Apparently, that was a huge no-no. Never bring up any activities that are not expressly agreed upon beforehand.

  He’d also gotten the look when he asked the kids if they wanted a second serving of ice cream after they finished off their first bowl in record time. As well as when he’d started a game of kickball in the cabin. Also, when he’d initiated a rousing rendition of this little piggy when he was reading the girls their bedtime stories.

  All were big-time party fouls.

  The first time he’d got the look, he’d been confused. Now he knew it meant to stop what he was doing immediately. He felt as if he’d gotten a crash course in parenting and they were finding a groove.

  He assumed that was how it was with most parents. Parents. That’s what he wanted to be, with her, to the kids.

  He didn’t care what the test results were; he was i
n this now. He wanted them to be a family. And he wanted to tell Adriana as much tonight.

  “What do you do when you get scared?” The sound of Jonah’s voice pulled him back to the present.

  “Well, I used to just hold it inside and keep it to myself. I didn’t want anyone to know because I didn’t want them to worry. I didn’t want them to feel sorry for me. I wanted to be strong for them.”

  Jonah’s lips flattened into a thin line and he nodded. It was so clear that the little man had the weight of the world on his shoulders and Gabe wanted, more than anything he’d ever wanted in his life, to take it off of him.

  “But then I realized,” Gabe continued, “that by keeping everything inside, I just made it worse. Because the more alone I felt, the bigger and scarier whatever I was afraid of became. So now, I try and talk to people. People I trust, people that care about me, and I tell them what I’m going through. And you know what, it helps.”

  “It does?” Jonah questioned, not completely sold.

  “Yep.” He nodded. “It does.”

  Gabe had talked to Glenn every day since he’d first broken the news about Jonah. Gabe would often mention how nervous he was to get the test results and his brother would put things into perspective for him. “If you feel this strongly about the kid,” Glenn had said, “then who cares what a test says?”

  Jonah looked down at his shoes again. “Sometimes I’m scared that Rina will get sick.”

  Those words hit Gabe like a wrecking ball straight to his heart because he knew that he couldn’t promise that that wouldn’t happen. People got sick and they died. Freak accidents happened and they died. Gabe knew that better than anyone. He also knew that sometimes they got better. And he knew that once Jonah was officially his, he’d never have to worry about being alone. Gabe’s family, his brother, his cousins, his aunt, and his uncle would never let that happen.

  As much as he wanted to tell Jonah that, he knew that he couldn’t have that conversation until he talked with Adriana. So instead he said, “Well, I can’t promise you that won’t happen, but I can promise you that no matter what happens you’ll be okay.”