by Sara Orwig
“That’s good.” They faced each other, the silence growing tense once more. She ached for his arms and his cheerful optimism. A chasm had opened between them, and she worried it would never be bridged.
Then he reached for her.
“Come here,” he said, pulling her close.
“Gabe,” she said, unable to keep back her tears. “I’m sorry for the way everything worked out.”
“Me, too. But I know the truth now, and I’ll get to see my daughter grow up. Even though I don’t like it, I know you did what you thought was best for all of us.”
She held him tightly, wondering if he could ever truly forgive her. At least they were making a start.
“I need your forgiveness, too, for walking out that summer,” he admitted, making more tears come.
“I’ve forgiven you, long ago. We’ve both moved on. We’ll need our friendship to get through this, Gabe. Rebecca and I have been so close. I’ve spent very few nights away from her. When I came for Granddad’s funeral. This trip. Other than work, and an occasional evening out when she stays with Mom, I’m always there for her.”
He ran his hand over her head lightly, twisting his fingers in her hair. “I’ll be there for her too, now. And for you, Maddie. You’ll have my friendship. I promise.” He put his fingers beneath her chin to raise her face, and she wiped her eyes hurriedly. “Sorry.”
“Don’t apologize. And don’t cry. I’m not taking her from you. We’ll work things out.”
“I hope so,” she said, feeling slightly better. “Gabe, I want her to meet you and get to know you a little before I tell her who you are. I’d like to introduce you as my friend, first.”
He gazed into her eyes while he thought it over. “Sort of ease into the announcement. We can see how it goes, Maddie. Just don’t wait too long.”
“Here. I want to wear my bracelet. Put it on me please.”
She handed him the featherlight bracelet and held out her wrist, watching as he bent his head to fasten the clasp. His brown hair was thick, neatly combed. She could detect the scent of his aftershave—see his thick, long lashes as he looked down to finish his task.
“There.”
“Thank you. It’s gorgeous, and I’ll treasure it.”
“I should have been there to give you a gift when you were pregnant,” he said. “Did you have morning sickness or anything?”
“No. A very uneventful pregnancy and a quick delivery,” she answered, looking into his blue eyes and wishing their lives were different, more compatible. She ached with love for Gabe, and she wanted a life with him, but that was impossible. “Rebecca has always been a joy. You’ll see.”
“We might as well get ready to go. I’ll leave the other presents for Rebecca until next time,” he said.
“I’m packed and ready.”
“It’ll take me about five minutes. I brought something for your mother and your grandparents, so take those out to go with us. You’ll be able to tell because of the way they are wrapped. For better or worse, we’re going to be family.”
His words tore at her heart. “You’re right. Our lives will be forever linked.”
A muscle worked in his jaw, and he gazed back at her in silence. His anger hadn’t disappeared, but it had been tempered.
She hurt deep inside. By telling the truth, she had tied her life with Gabe’s forever. By telling the lie in the first place, she may have lost him forever.
“I love her with all my heart. You will, too,” she said, looking into his blue eyes, still wishing things could be as easy as they’d been this weekend. Their gazes locked and tension flared.
“Stop worrying, Maddie. I told you, we’ll work through this.”
“I hope so, Gabe,” she said softly. As she watched, his blue eyes changed. The coldness vanished and he leaned down to kiss her tenderly. She held him tightly, relishing his kiss.
“Let’s get ready to go.”
Shortly, Gabe returned from the bedroom and his limo driver appeared to collect the luggage and the packages.
She could feel the tension in their silence as they rode to the airport. Yes, she hurt, but if she had to do it over again, she would still tell him. She had done the right thing. She believed that now just as much as she had believed that when she’d chosen to keep Rebecca a secret. She and Gabe had both changed.
Still, she couldn’t imagine how they would work out sharing Rebecca when they lived more than a thousand miles apart. Gabe had resources at his disposal—a jet, a limo—but it was a huge distance and it would complicate their lives.
An hour later, they were airborne in the largest Benton jet. Gabe had paid someone in one of the airport stores to gift wrap the toys he was taking to Rebecca. He faced Maddie, who sat close enough that their knees almost touched.
Her silky hair was tied behind her head with a scarf. She wore pale blue slacks and a matching silk blouse and high-heeled sandals. She looked cool and poised and more like herself than she had earlier today. They would spend several nights in Florida and then fly back to Texas so she could take care of the closing of the ranch house and its contents and the sale of the land to Jake.
He studied Maddie now, desire stirring in spite of the emotional roller coaster of the day. His initial anger had subsided, and other emotions were surfacing. Desire flared, hot and insistent, as if a release for all the tension that had wound between them. She was enticing. He wanted to pull her into his lap and peel away the slacks and shirt and kiss her senseless. Aboard the jet, she wouldn’t allow any such thing. At her house, he wondered whether she would put him in a separate bedroom. He hadn’t asked her, and no matter what conflicts still stood between them, he hoped she didn’t.
She turned big brown eyes on him. “What’s on your mind?”
“Guess.”
She smiled at him. “Forget I asked.”
“There’s a bedroom on this plane. Let me show it to you.”
To his surprise she began to unbuckle her seat belt. He unfastened his quickly and stood, taking her hand and leading her back to the bedroom. He closed the door and pulled her into his arms, kissing her.
Clothing was shed and then he lifted her to the bed. He loved her with an intensity that built swiftly. Kissing and caressing him, she moved over him. “Sex is a bridge over the troubles and differences between us,” she said. Her brown eyes were like midnight, her lips red and swollen from his kisses.
He pulled her down to him, and, with a groan, he rolled her over so he was above her. Then he stepped away to get protection, returning to make love to her with a frantic need that he hadn’t shown before.
Release brought rapture. Gabe whispered to her, murmurings she couldn’t understand because of her pounding heart. “It’s good between us, Maddie. So damn good,” he whispered, showering her with kisses on her throat and face. “Ah, darlin’, we’ll get over the rough spots. Maddie, I wish I had been with you.”
“Gabe, I had to let go of the ‘if onlys’ long ago,” she said quietly, running her finger along his jaw and then over his broad shoulder.
“My bracelet is beautiful,” she said, holding up her arm and looking at the faint glimmer of gold. “I may not take it off.”
Gabe stretched out a long arm and turned on a small lamp on the bedside table.
“You don’t need to,” he said. “It’s a token, Maddie.”
She rose up to look down at him. “I’ll always love it because you gave it to me.” She leaned down to kiss him. He wrapped his arm around her to hold her close while he kissed her in return.
She shifted and settled in his arms as he turned on his back and pulled her close against him. “This is better. I don’t want problems between us.”
“I don’t either, Gabe.”
“Then we’ll try to avoid them,” he said lightly. “Suppose she doesn’t like me?”
“I can’t believe you said that,” Maddie said. “You are always so filled with confidence. Since when has there ever been a female who hasn’t li
ked you? Besides that, she’s yours, Gabe. She’ll be like you, so she will like you.”
“I hope so. It’s scary. A baby has to accept you because you’re all a baby knows or has, but a five-year-old—I’m certain she has definite likes and dislikes.”
“I can’t believe this,” Maddie said. “You make deals worth millions. Never, ever, have I seen you uncertain around a woman, and I’ll bet you weren’t scared around those kids who worked with you.”
“That is different from this. This is my one and only daughter and I don’t want to blow it.”
“You’ve always been so self-assured it borders on arrogance. You always want to take charge of every situation, which you have done here, I might add. This nervous uneasiness is totally amazing to me.”
“You’re really not helping me here,” he said.
“You—asking me for help—mercy,” she teased, half in jest and half incredulous because it was so unlike Gabe.
He suddenly rolled her over and was on top, holding his weight on his elbows. “You think this is funny, Maddie?” She could see the amusement in his eyes, and she wound her fingers in his hair as she laughed.
“Stop worrying. She’ll love you. I love you. Rebecca will love you.” She said the words lightly, aware that was the first time she had ever said that to him, assuming he would think she was still teasing him.
Instead, his eyes narrowed. “You love me, Maddie?”
She drew a deep breath while her mind raced. “Maybe it’s time to be honest about everything. Yes, I love you. I always have. There hasn’t been anyone else, Gabe. Not once in all those six years.”
He drew a deep breath, frowning slightly, and then he leaned down to close the distance between them and kissed her, hard and long.
Her heart thudded as she kissed him in return. He hadn’t said I love you. But now he knew. Whatever happened between them, she had bared all her secrets.
She turned slightly. “Gabe, I tried to forget you. I really did. I thought I was succeeding—until this trip.”
Still, he gazed at her intently, without saying what he was thinking. “I’m glad you couldn’t forget me,” he said finally. Then he kissed her again, a long, steamy kiss that became making love.
Later, as he held her close, she said, “I don’t want to be in bed when this plane lands. It’s time to dress and go back to our seats.”
He glanced at his watch. “We have a little bit of time.”
“One of us is returning to her seat,” Maddie said, stepping out of bed.
When she was back in her seat, she realized that their lovemaking had shattered the tension between them. She hadn’t felt this lighthearted in six years. She had revealed Rebecca’s identity. She had revealed the truth in her own heart. But she knew tough times still lay ahead.
It was early evening when they parked in the driveway of a small house with palms and a well-kept yard. Beds of flowers bloomed, and the porch held pots of yellow bougainvillea and green banana plants.
Gabe’s palms were sweaty. “Maddie, I’ve ridden giant bulls that didn’t make me this nervous.”
She patted his arm. “Relax, Gabe. You’ll see. She’s a sweetheart. You don’t need to wear that suit coat. It’s too hot. You don’t have to be formal. Rebecca will never notice. We can leave my luggage until later, but I want the brown bag, because I have presents, too.”
“I’ll get them.” He pulled off his coat before he got out of her car. He retrieved her luggage and his gifts from the backseat. They walked around the side of the house and entered through a back door.
“Mom! Rebecca!” Maddie called.
Setting down the luggage and gifts, Gabe stood behind her, never noticing his surroundings. All he could hear was the patter of feet and all he could see was the little girl dashing into the room.
Nine
Long brown hair swung with each step. She wore sandals and a pink shirt and shorts. Gabe’s heart thudded. She was beautiful, even more so than in her picture. A live doll with creamy skin, thickly lashed blue eyes. Rosy cheeks complemented her big smile. She held out her arms as she ran for Maddie, who scooped her up into a hug.
He felt a tightness in his chest as he watched them. His daughter. He loved her without even knowing her. She was precious, beautiful, his baby. It was painfully obvious that she loved Maddie, and Maddie loved her.
In that moment, he knew he had to forgive Maddie for keeping the truth from him. Maddie was levelheaded. She always had been. She told him she had done what she thought was best for both of them, and, if he was honest about the young man he’d been, he’d admit she was right. He needed to accept that, and forgive her. After all, he had walked out on her, and he needed a bit of forgiveness himself. From now on, he was in Rebecca’s life and that was all that mattered. With emotion overtaking him, he wanted to walk over and wrap both of them in his embrace, but he couldn’t. Rebecca had no idea who he really was.
Rebecca’s thin arms had locked around Maddie’s neck, and she squeezed tightly. “I missed you,” she said in a high, childish voice.
Still holding Rebecca, Maddie faced Gabe. “Rebecca, I brought my friend with me. I want you to meet him.”
Rebecca looked around her mother, and Gabe gazed into huge blue eyes that were the color of his own. His heart pounded more fiercely than it ever had as Rebecca smiled and gazed at him with curiosity.
“Hi, Rebecca,” he said, feeling choked, and trying to get a grip on his emotions.
Maddie turned to her mother, who was standing in the kitchen doorway. “Mom, you remember Gabe.”
It was an effort to tear his gaze from Rebecca.
“It’s good to see you, Mrs. Halliday,” he said. He could imagine her worry about losing Rebecca to him, yet she was quiet and probably resigned to his presence in their lives.
She merely nodded, her gaze resigned and sad.
Maddie patted her mother’s arm and moved toward Rebecca. “I have presents. Let’s get them out.” She opened the brown carry-on and pulled out a wrapped gift. “Here’s something for you, sweetie.”
“Let’s take them in the other room and sit where we can enjoy opening them,” Tracie Halliday suggested.
Picking up packages, Gabe followed the women into a small living room. It was tastefully furnished in thickly cushioned upholstered furniture, cherrywood tables gleaming with polish and area rugs. After placing all the presents on one cushioned chair, he sat in another.
“Now you can open your presents,” Maddie said.
With a big smile Rebecca tore into the wrapping and pulled out paints and a huge tablet. “Thank you,” she said, running to kiss Maddie, who hugged her.
“Take a present to Grandma.” Maddie picked up one tied with a large pink bow and Rebecca carried it to Tracie, whose face lost a bit of its sadness as she smiled at Rebecca.
“Help me open this, Rebecca,” she said, letting her granddaughter tug free the bow. Together, they tore off the silver paper, and Tracie opened a box to hold up a sparkling Waterford crystal vase. “It’s beautiful, Maddie. My flowers will be pretty in this. Thank you. Isn’t this pretty, Rebecca?” she asked, turning it so Rebecca could see it. Rebecca ran her tiny fingers over it.
Gabe got his present. “Rebecca, I brought you a present today, too,” he said, holding out the box with the doll.
She accepted it, removing the ribbon after a struggle and then tearing off the paper. She gasped with delight. “Mommy, look!” she exclaimed, hurriedly opening the box and trying to pull the doll out of it.
“Let me help you, Rebecca,” Gabe said, moving to the sofa and looking at the contents of the box. The doll was held in by wire. Gabe carefully removed it, and when he finally handed it to Rebecca, she smiled broadly.
“Thank you,” she said politely, her attention returning to the doll. She gazed at it with wide-eyed wonder while she lightly touched the dress. “She’s beautiful. Mommy, look. Isn’t she pretty?” She carried the doll first to her mother and then to her grandmothe
r.
“She’s very pretty,” her grandmother said in a flat voice.
Gabe picked up the present for Tracie and carried it to her. “Mrs. Halliday, this is for you.”
Startled, she looked up and then accepted the gift cautiously. She took out a gold chain spaced with diamonds.
“It’s beautiful,” she said, running her forefinger over it.
“Mom, that’s gorgeous.”
“You didn’t need to do this,” she said stiffly, looking as if she couldn’t decide whether to keep it or not.
“I’ll be part of Rebecca’s life now, and part of your life. This is a token of appreciation, for sharing her with me,” he said.
Her lips thinned in a tight smile. “Thank you,” she said, looking down at the necklace.
“Let me put it on you,” Maddie said, taking the necklace and fastening it around her mother’s neck.
“It’s beautiful,” Tracie said again, sounding noncommittal.
Rebecca played with her new doll, and Gabe turned to pick up another present. “Rebecca, I brought something else for you,” he said, holding out another box that was wrapped in pink and blue paper and tied with a pink bow.
With sparkling eyes and a big smile, Rebecca took the package and tore it open, pulling out the white teddy bear to hug it.
“So what do you say?” Maddie prompted.
“Thank you,” Rebecca said instantly, holding the bear tightly. “I like him.”
“I’m glad you do,” Gabe said. “You’ll have to think about a name for him.”
“What’s your name?”
“Gabriel.”
“Gabrel,” she declared, smiling at Gabe.
He wanted to hold her close. Instead, he had to take it slowly and let her get accustomed to him. “Now, two more things for you, Rebecca.” He held out the smaller packages. She took the larger and opened it to find the book, which she ran to show her mother.
“Maybe Gabe will read it to you later, if you want,” she suggested. “What do you say to him?”
“Thank you,” Rebecca stated politely before running to pick up the last present. When she opened it to reveal the necklace, she held it up. “It’s pretty. Thank you,” she said to Gabe. “Mommy, look.” Again, she hurried to show Maddie, who put it on her daughter while Rebecca stood quietly.