He chuckled. “I hope so.” He reappeared with two flutes of champagne and joined her at the table.
She lifted her glass to toast him and froze. “Gabe.”
“Yes?”
“Something’s in my drink.”
He sipped his champagne, with a smile playing over his lips. “You don’t say.”
She stuck her fingers in the glass and pulled out a marquis diamond ring set in platinum. Her jaw dropped. A diamond of this size must’ve cost a fortune. She stared at it, speechless. Gabe took her hand and slipped the ring on her finger. “Zoe, marry me. Say yes one more time for me.”
She burst into tears because she was leaving him for three whole months, and she was going to miss him so, so much. The next thing she knew she was in his lap, and his arms were wrapped around her. He kissed her tears. “Please don’t cry. It’s a happy time. Is that a yes?”
“I’m going to miss you so much,” she choked out.
“We won’t waste a single minute. We still have two weeks.”
“It’s passing by too quickly.”
“Which is exactly why I’m keeping you in bed as much as possible. Eat. You’re going to need your strength to keep up with me.” He turned her in his lap to face the table and pulled her plate in front of her. She ate with Gabe’s arm securely around her waist. Her ring flashed as she ate and every time she looked at it, her eyes welled up again.
She had to give it back. Because for the first time, she didn’t want to go on that tour.
~ ~ ~
Several hours later, Gabe walked Zoe into his parents’ house. His stepdad was home from the hospital, and Gabe wanted to tell him the happy news.
His mom met them at the door. “Shh, he’s sleeping. Come on in. Have a seat.”
They followed her into the living room. He helped Zoe off with her coat and his mom exclaimed, “What a ring! Gabe?”
Gabe smiled and nodded. “Yup.”
“Oh, I’m so happy for you two! Congratulations!” She hugged him and then hugged Zoe. His mom took a seat in the nearby chair and gestured for them to sit on the sofa. “I can’t wait to tell your dad. He really took a shine to you, Zoe. He’ll be glad to know his ravioli recipe is safe with you.”
“Sure is,” Zoe replied in a soft voice.
Gabe studied Zoe, puzzling over that soft voice because he only ever heard it in bed or when he came on strong with her. With most people, she was bubbly, cheery sunshine. Oh, shit, had he pushed her into this? She hadn’t said yes to his proposal, but he figured her tears meant she was overwhelmed with emotion. The good kind.
“Zoe?” he asked.
She turned. “Hmm?”
“You okay?”
She glanced at his mom. “I’m fine.”
“This calls for a toast,” his mom said. “I’ll be right back.”
His mom left.
Gabe grabbed Zoe’s hand and kissed it. “Are you having second thoughts?”
“I’m having a lot of thoughts,” she said.
He kissed her, and then because her lips were so soft and sweet, he kissed her again.
“Here we are!” His mom carried in a bottle of chardonnay and some glasses. “This is all we had. We’ll get champagne for the next family dinner, where we’ll tell everyone the good news together. I’m so excited to have my very first daughter.”
Zoe smiled. “Thank you, Mrs. Marino.”
“Call me Allie, I insist.” She poured the drinks and lifted her glass for a toast. “To lifelong happiness and many grandchildren.”
Gabe laughed and toasted his mom. He turned to Zoe to toast, but she looked a little pale. “What’s wrong?”
She set her glass down. “I’m sorry. I’m not feeling well. Where’s your bathroom?”
“Second door on the right,” his mom said, pointing the way. Zoe rushed from the room.
“Is she pregnant?” his mom asked.
Gabe’s head snapped back. “What? No, she’s not pregnant. Why would you say that?” He used protection every time. There was no way she was pregnant.
His mom gave him a look. “I’m asking because you’ve only been dating a short time and when I pulled the wine out, she suddenly looked nauseous. I just don’t want you to marry for the wrong reasons.”
“I’m marrying her because I love her.”
Zoe had sipped the champagne this morning and stopped, saying it tasted sour from the ring. It probably had. Why would his mom think he was marrying Zoe because she was pregnant? And that’s when it hit him—the truth he should’ve seen much earlier.
“Like you,” he said. “You were pregnant with me. That’s why you married Dad.”
His mom set her glass down and looked at her hands.
“I’m right, aren’t I?” he pressed. “I always wondered why you married him.”
His mom met his eyes. “Yes, that’s why. We had a few good years, when you boys were little, but then he, well, let’s just say he loved work a lot more than he loved me.”
“Why did you wait so long to leave Dad? I mean, I saw that letter where Vinny said three years was long enough.”
She shook her head. “I really wish you hadn’t read my private letters, Gabriel.”
“I’m sorry. It was just the one. I’ll give them back to you.”
She waved that away and sighed. “I tried to keep my marriage going long enough for you boys to be out of the house. I really, really tried. In the end, I couldn’t do it. Three years was me waffling on leaving the marriage while Vinny waited patiently. Now that’s love. He didn’t know if I’d ever divorce your father. I knew it would disrupt your life. I so wanted everything to be perfect for you boys.”
“But it wasn’t,” Gabe said.
“Your dad didn’t know what to do with kids. He understood money and work. He certainly never understood me.”
Zoe came back in. “Am I interrupting?”
“Not at all,” his mom said. “Have a seat. How are you feeling?”
Zoe smiled. “Better. I think the bacon didn’t settle well.”
“I cooked breakfast for the first time,” Gabe said sheepishly. “Maybe it was undercooked.”
His mom’s eyes widened. “Well, good for you, cooking breakfast.”
“Allie,” his stepdad called.
His mom stood. “Coming!” She turned to them. “I’ll come get you when he’s ready.” She hurried from the room.
Gabe turned to Zoe. “Are you pregnant?”
Her mouth formed a perfect O of surprise. “What? No!”
He grunted. “My mom thought maybe you were.”
“I told you it was the bacon.”
He lowered his voice. “When was your last period?”
She flushed. “Gabe! You’re embarrassing me.”
“It’s just us. Tell me.”
“I’m not telling you that. Change the subject!”
“I don’t want any secrets between us.”
She crossed her arms. “Well, too bad.”
He studied her. “We’ve been having sex for two weeks straight.”
“Would you be quiet?” she hissed.
“We’ve got two more weeks before you leave,” he went on. “If you haven’t gotten it by then, then I’ll know for sure.”
“There’s nothing to know! I’m not always regular. I’m not even late! Can we please stop talking about this?”
“Okay, okay.”
She settled down again.
“Are you sure?” he couldn’t help but ask.
She wrapped her hands around his neck and pretended to strangle him. He kissed her quick. Then he kissed her slow because she was never more mellow and agreeable than when he kissed her. She melted against him, all softness again.
“Gabe, Zoe, you can come in now!” his mom called.
He took Zoe’s hand and pulled her up off the sofa. When they got to his parents’ bedroom, Vinny was sitting up in bed with pillows propped up behind him. A remote and glass of water sat nearby on the nightstan
d. He still looked a little pale, but he greeted them warmly. “So I hear it’s official. Let me see that rock, Zoe.”
Zoe crossed to his side and dutifully held out her hand.
“Nice work here, Gabe,” Vinny said. “Congratulations. Can’t say that I’m surprised. Gabe hinted as much last time you were here. Have you told your folks?”
Zoe shifted, glancing around the room, before saying, “No. Just you two.”
“Well, I’m sure they’ll be very happy to have Gabe as a son-in-law.”
“Actually, he hasn’t met them yet,” Zoe said.
“Well, I know them from around town,” Gabe said. “I talked to your dad when you moved into the apartment.”
“But you haven’t met them as my boyfriend,” she said. “That’s okay. No big.”
“We’ll go there right after this,” Gabe assured her.
Zoe didn’t reply. Instead she sat on the side of the bed and told his stepdad all about the songs they were rehearsing for the tour. His mom shot him another look that he couldn’t interpret, but his gut was doing a slow churn that said something wasn’t right with his fiancée situation.
Chapter Seventeen
Zoe drove back to Clover Park with Gabe, wondering how in the world she was supposed to give back this ring now that he’d told his parents. She should’ve given it back before they left the house, but he’d been so happy, she hadn’t had the heart to throw it back in his face.
“What’s your parents’ address?” Gabe asked.
“I don’t want to tell my parents just yet,” she said.
“Why not?”
“Because they haven’t even gotten the chance to get to know you or us as a couple. I can’t just spring it on them.” And she couldn’t get married just because she was going on tour either. Gabe should’ve waited until they were both sure that what they had was going to go the distance.
He reached over and squeezed her hand. “They can get to know me now.”
“No.”
“No?” he asked with an edge to his voice. “Was that proposal also a no? Because I’m getting a bad feeling here. You didn’t exactly say yes.”
She blew out a breath, working hard to remain calm and reasonable. “You shouldn’t have told your parents yet.”
“So that’s a no.”
“I told you I wanted to wait.”
“Then why are you wearing it?” he demanded. “Why didn’t you just throw it back in my face?”
She got quiet because that was exactly what she’d been trying not to do.
“Answer me!” he barked. “I think I deserve a straight answer.”
“Fine! I was being nice!”
He stopped at a red light and gave her an incredulous look. “Nice? You think it’s nice to pretend to be engaged? To let me make a fool of myself sharing the happy news with my family? That’s as far from nice as you can get.”
“Sue me.”
His brows shot up. “Really? Sue you?”
“That’s what you said when you did what you wanted.”
He glanced at the light, saw it was green, and hit the accelerator. “When I did what exactly?”
“When you made a move because you felt like it. Not because I asked you to.”
“You wanted it too,” he snapped. Then in a softer voice, he said, “Zoe, why won’t you marry me?”
“Because.”
“Because why?”
“Because when you put this ring on my finger—” she held up her hand “—I didn’t want to go on tour, okay? I wanted to give up everything I worked for just to stay with you.”
“Oh. Wow. I’m…that’s pretty great actually, but I said you could go. I’ll wait for you.”
She started to pull the ring off her finger when his hand closed over hers. “Gabe, please, I have to give this back to you. I’m sorry.”
“Just hang onto it. In three months it’ll be official. I want you to have it in the meantime.”
She didn’t respond at first, but then she decided she’d better put it all out there. “The tour might go longer. Everything’s up in the air. We’ll see, okay?”
“Let’s nail this thing down. Us—that’s not up in the air. That’s a definite.”
She didn’t say anything.
“Damn, I almost wish you were pregnant.”
She stared at him, slack jawed. What guy wanted an accidental pregnancy? “Why?”
“So I could claim a father’s legal right and make you stay.”
She felt queasy. “Are you serious?”
He let out a breath. “No. That comes into play once the baby’s born. I don’t know why I said that. Do what you want. It doesn’t matter what I say or do, does it?”
“Don’t be like that. I want to enjoy these next two weeks.”
“I’m not sure I can.”
She closed her eyes, both upset and extremely nauseous. “Please let me out. I feel sick.”
He pulled onto the shoulder. She ran out of the car and threw up again.
“We’re getting you a pregnancy test,” he said when she got back in the car.
“It’s the bacon.”
The next morning, at Gabe’s insistence, she peed on a stupid plastic stick, and it said not pregnant. She held the stick up to him. “The minus sign means not pregnant. Happy now?”
He stared at it. “Not really.”
She threw it in the garbage. “You’re really stressing me out and that’s the last thing I need before I go.” She washed her hands, and he wrapped his arms around her from behind, looking at her in the mirror.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I don’t want to lose you, that’s all.”
She turned in his arms and felt the stinging burn of tears. “You won’t. I promise.”
He crushed her to him. “I’m holding you to that promise.”
~ ~ ~
Zoe stood in a music studio on Thursday, mouth agape. She couldn’t believe Gabe had rented her and her band a studio along with hiring a music producer. She’d told him she planned on renting some studio time with the money from her tour when she got back home. She had no idea he’d surprise her with it before she left. “Gabe, you shouldn’t have. How much is this costing you?”
“Don’t worry about it,” he said.
She was still wearing his ring. She couldn’t find an easy way to give it back without upsetting him. He was still worried about his stepdad, and she knew he hated the fact that she was leaving soon.
“No, seriously,” she said. “How did you get Harry Birman?” He was a well-known music producer.
“He owed me a favor from back in my city lawyering days.”
Gabe waved at Harry in the production booth, and he raised a hand back with a smile.
Jordan hadn’t arrived yet, but Wade and Alex were already there warming up.
“You know we might not get a perfect cut on the first try,” Zoe said.
“I’ll rent you the studio for as long as it takes,” Gabe said.
“And then what?” Zoe asked.
“And then you can post it online and let the fans decide. This is your indie album.”
“I swear you wrote down my bucket list and are checking it—holy shit. Did you write it down?”
“I have an excellent memory.”
“It’s too much. Really.”
He caressed her cheek. “I want all of your dreams to come true.” He kissed her. “Even when that means I have to let you go.”
She blinked back tears. “We can still see each other. You can visit.”
“Sure,” he said, but he didn’t sound at all sincere. She knew he didn’t want to leave his stepdad, even though his test results came back clean. His doctor was optimistic about his prognosis, but Gabe didn’t seem to quite believe it yet.
“Let’s go, y’all,” Jordan said, bursting through the door as if he wasn’t the one making them wait. “One more week.”
Everyone cheered. Zoe glanced at Gabe, who smiled back tightly. He tried so hard to
be happy for her. She couldn’t help but wish they’d met earlier so they would’ve had more time together before a separation.
They got right to work. Gabe moved to the production booth to watch. Zoe felt his eyes on her as she sang. She tried to convey all the emotion of the love songs straight to him.
After they’d finished for the day with four songs they were happy with, Harry came up and complimented her on the emotional resonance of her voice. She smiled. “It’s because it’s a very real emotion. Thanks to Gabe.”
Gabe’s gaze was heated. Harry glanced between them. “Then he’s a very lucky man.”
“I am,” Gabe replied.
“Yo, Zoe, drinks at Chuck’s,” Jordan called.
She always went out with the band after a long rehearsal or gig. For the first time Zoe didn’t want to go. “I’m going home with Gabe,” she said.
Jordan crossed to her side, and she tucked her hands behind her, not wanting to get into a discussion over the ring. “We always go over the set, Zoe,” Jordan said with a dark look at Gabe. “We can’t afford to go soft now. We’ve only got one week.”
“I know, I know,” Zoe said. “We’ll just talk now. I thought it was awesome. We’ll come back tomorrow to finish out a few more songs and go with the best of them for the album.” She turned to go, and Jordan grabbed her arm.
“Hands off,” Gabe said in a low, threatening voice.
Jordan raised his palms.
Zoe left with Gabe’s arm slung around her shoulders. That night Gabe was on her the minute they stepped in the door. It was hot, overwhelming, and she tried to lose herself in it, tried to push down the sense of time running out. Like they were on the clock and had to fill up on memories while they could to hold them over the separation to come.
“This isn’t goodbye,” she told him when he lifted her and carried her upstairs.
“Move in with me,” he said.
“Yes.”
He groaned. “I love your yes.”
She smiled. “I love it too.”
He set her down in his bedroom and stripped her down before she’d even gotten half of his buttons undone. “Give me more yes,” he growled.
“Yes, yes, yes.”
Then he tossed her on the bed and she gave him all that he demanded from her. No man had ever claimed her the way he did body and soul. She lost herself safe in his arms.
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