Leaning down to the side of his face, I seethe, “You will never see Gabby again, do you understand? If you see her on the street, you had better fucking walk the other way and fast. You will not scare her and you will never put your fucking hands on her again. You gave her up. Your choice. Now she’s mine. Do you understand me, you asshole?” I wait a beat but he doesn’t say a word.
I grip his arms harder and pull them up his back as a warning and he winces but says, “Yeah, I get you.”
I take his arms and push him so hard he stumbles forward, falling on all fours, and I finish, “You had better call a fucking cab. If I see you get behind a wheel tonight, I’ll cuff you myself.”
I turn to Gabby to see that Tony has her, her back pulled up against his front with Paige standing close. I go to her, Tony lets her go and she comes straight to me. I put my lips to her head and ask her, “Babe, what did he say to you?”
Shaking her head against my chest, she answers, “He’s just drunk. He was never a fun drunk. He told me he made a mistake, wanted another go with me, yadda yadda yadda, and I kept saying no and to leave me alone. That’s when he grabbed my arms.” She looks up to me and continues, “He didn’t hurt me. I know that freaked you out after what happened with Trevor. It didn’t even scare me, really, there are too many people around. I’m fine, I promise.”
“We’re leaving,” I announce. I turn to Tony and Paige, asking, “Can you get her shit, antlers and some toys, I think?”
Tony grins at both of us and says, “Sure, I’ll get your shit, Gabby. Go home.”
Obviously James didn’t ruin Gabby’s buzz completely because she grins and whispers loudly, “You can just have your mom get it all, I’m pretty sure your date has a curfew!” She proceeds to giggle out loud and Paige starts to laugh hysterically.
“Shit,” Tony drawls, shaking his head knowing he’s not going to live this down anytime soon.
“You don’t want her to end up grounded or anything! Her parents might take away her cell phone or not let her go out next weekend, so you’d better get her home in time!”
Tony, glaring at Gabby now, throws Paige a dirty look then turns on his boot to walk away. He really has no comeback and he knows it.
“Bye Tone! I loooove yoooou!” she sings out as I drag her tipsy ass to the car.
“See ya, guys! What a great night! We’ll be talking about this for ages!” Paige exclaims as she turns to follow Tony back to the group.
“Sugar, what am I going to do with you?” I ask as I put her in the car and strap her in. I stop, lean in close to her face and she grins at me.
She pulls her hands up to my face and traces my lips with a finger and while looking at my lips she says, “I can’t believe you hit James.” Then she looks into my eyes, “Boy, you were not kidding when you said you’re territorial!”
Grinning at her I kiss her quick and move to take her home before she gets tired. Despite James, she’s in a good mood, tipsy and awake. A Gabby who’s tipsy, awake and in a good mood is probably a lot of fun, so I get my ass in the car to get us home as fast as I can!
Chapter 15 – Clunky
I hear the deck door open and Mia jumps down to greet our visitor. I twist around from my comfy position on the outdoor loveseat to see Jude stomping down the deck stairs with his eyes on me. Smiling at him, I turn back around to the fire and move myself around to make room for him. He comes up behind me and kisses the top of my head and says, “Sugar. Beautiful evening for a fire.”
He makes his way around the loveseat, settles in and swings his arm around me so I can snuggle into his side. I arrange the blanket over both of us and Mia jumps up to cuddle in. “How was your day?” I ask, not taking my eyes off the fire.
“Good. Looks like you’ve been busy. Seriously, babe, how many pumpkin patches did you clean out to find all those pumpkins for your front porch? I’m not sure there’ll be any left for the little kids in town. I’ve never seen anything like it,” he drawls.
I twist my head around to look at him and grin. “I like pumpkins. Pretty much anything that has to do with pumpkins. You can’t just buy a couple, to do it right you have to make a statement and that takes a lot of pumpkins.” I have had a busy day. I didn’t go to a pumpkin patch, but I did have to hit three stores to find the perfect pumpkins and funny looking gourdes I was looking for. Then I made a trip to the garden center, which necessitated cleaning out my summer flowers and vines in my pots, replacing them with mums. That led to changing out my summer door décor to fall décor. And just for fun and since I had them out from the charity event, I threw my antlers and antique toys to the mix. It looks like autumn has thrown up on my front porch, but I can’t seem to do anything small, so it is what it is. I even added a few pumpkins out back by the outdoor fireplace on the lower patio. I strung grapevines on the fireplace mantel and hung another fall wreath above. We had a bout of Indian Summer last week, but the weather has cooled off again and the trees across the lake are changing colors. A perfect time for an outdoor fire.
“This is a great fireplace, Gabby,” Jude comments.
“My dad loved it out here. He loved to hunt and be outdoors, but my mom wanted all gas fireplaces in the house because of the mess, so he had this built a few years after we moved into the house. I have lots of memories here with my dad,” I reflect quietly.
“That’s good, Gabby,” Jude whispers against my head. “You okay today?”
“I’m fine, why?”
“No reason, you just seem quiet.”
“Really, I’m fine.”
“Okay then, we need to talk about something,” he turns me a bit so I look at him. “When were you going to tell me?”
Confused by his strange question, I ask, “Tell you what?”
“That your birthday is Sunday. Were you not going to mention it to me?”
“How did you find out about my birthday?” I ask, looking back to the fire.
“Babe, I found out a lot of things about you the day I cuffed and patted you down. Which by the way, I wasn’t supposed to do,” he informs me, with mirth.
This last bit of information made me sit up straight, turn and put my hand to his chest. “What? You weren’t supposed to pat me down?”
“No.”
“Then why did you?”
“Because I couldn’t help myself, but don’t worry. I’ve never done it before,” he goes on to enlighten me.
“You’re unbelievable!” I exclaim, turning back around to snuggle in again.
He chuckles, shrugs and returns, “I know. You’re not gonna turn me in now are you?”
“Maybe,” I lie.
“Well, I might have to cuff you again,” he says, and I’m not sure if he’s teasing or not. But he keeps going so I don’t have a chance to respond, “But I’ve known your birthday from the get go. Do you have plans?”
“No, I haven’t thought about it much,” which is true. My mom was great at birthdays, always made a big deal over it, even when I was older. And it wasn’t just about presents, but she just found ways to make it special each year. My aunts have picked up the slack the last few years with gusto, but it’s still not the same.
“Can you get away? Clear your schedule Friday through Monday?” he asks.
“What?” I’ve never been good with surprises.
“I want to take you somewhere for your birthday. Your family can have you another time. I’m sure you can find someone to watch Mia.”
“You’re not going to tell me where we’re going?”
“No,” again, with the simple answer.
“Well, I don’t know, it’s already Wednesday. I’ll have to move some things around on my projects,” but the thought of going somewhere with Jude makes me feel all warm and fuzzy, especially that he wants to do this for me for my birthday. I turn to look up at him again and say, “Okay, but you have to give me a hint!”
“No,” he smiles and leans down to kiss me quick. He goes on with, “What did you make for dinner? It sme
lls good.”
“Chili.”
“Do you eat salad with chili?”
Throwing his word back at him, but with more attitude, I answer with a fierce, “No!”
Finding this funny, he laughs and says, “Good.”
Rolling my eyes at him, I get up and say, “Let’s bring it out here, we can eat by the fire.”
Smacking my ass lightly as he gets up behind me, he returns, “Sounds good to me, sugar.”
Not wanting to encourage him too much, I lead the way to the kitchen shaking my head at the same time wondering where Jude is going to take me for my birthday. Then I realize I really don’t care because I get to go somewhere with Jude and that thought warms me all over!
*****
“Hey sugar, what’s up?” Jude greets me over the phone.
“Well, I want to let you know I’m on my way to the hospital. Sophia went into labor this afternoon. Her first delivery was almost twelve hours and then her second only took two. I’m figuring she’ll pop this one out in record time and I want to be there. I’m going to wait with Aunt Lizzie and Uncle Tony and whoever else congregates,” I explain.
Jude hesitates for a beat and then says, “Okay. Maybe I’ll head up after work if you’re still there. Keep me posted.”
I frown into the windshield of my car as I make my way through the parking garage of the hospital. Jude sounds funny. And so far, I’ve heard Jude sound lots of different ways, but never funny. “Okay,” is all I can manage.
“If it works out, we’ll grab something to eat on the way home,” he sounds back to his normal self again. Maybe he was just distracted.
“Yeah, I’d love that. I’ll let you know how it goes. Bye,” I say and hang up.
It takes me a freaking year, but I finally find the floor of the birthing center in the huge maze that is the hospital. Do they want people to get lost in this place? I finally walk into the waiting room and Lizzie jumps up immediately shrieking, “It should be any minute! I can’t believe they made us wait to find out with this one!”
Lanny and Sophia have two boys and want to be surprised with this one. I say I’m not good with surprises, but does it really matter when God creates something so perfect just for you? I don’t blame them for wanting to be surprised.
I barely get a chance to greet the Carpino clan when Lanny walks in wearing a huge smile and announces, “It’s a girl! She’s perfect and Sophia’s on top of the world. Everything went great!” My entire family descends on him with hugs, kisses and congratulations. Lizzy is crying, anxious to get in to see her oldest daughter and newest grandchild. Lanny pauses, looks at my Pop and says, “We want to name her Isabella, Gil, if that’s okay with you.”
I turn to my Pop who is standing to my right and I move to put my arms around him. Isabella was my Gram’s name. He hugs me back but looks to Lanny and says, “Bella would have loved that.” Lanny gives him a head lift, turns to get back to Sophia and baby Isabella.
*****
“You should have seen my Pop when Lanny told him they wanted to name her after my Gram. It was so sweet,” I reminisce over the last few hours.
Jude got to the hospital and we both went in to visit Isabella and Sophia. Jude even held Isabella and I thought I was going to melt. She’s so tiny with a full head of dark hair like Sophia’s and very dark blue eyes that will likely turn dark brown like her brothers. Then Jude and I stopped at Dante Pizzeria for a woodfire pizza. I was finishing my beer and watching teenagers play a game of Bocce on the indoor court.
“I’m sure that made your Pop happy, babe.” He downs the last swallow of his ice tea and announces, “Finish up, Gabby. We’ve got a stop to make on the way home.”
“Where are we going?”
He sits back and assesses me, like he’s trying to make a decision. Not looking happy, he crosses his arms on his chest while frowning and finally says, “I cannot believe I’m going to do this, but I’m going to take you shopping. You can consider it an early birthday present.”
My face breaks into an enormous smile and I exclaim, “You’re taking me shopping?!?! Where are we going?”
Closing his eyes and shaking his head like he can’t believe he just did what he did, he gets up from his seat and says, “Come on. You’ll find out when we get there.” With that, he takes my hand pulls me out of my favorite pizza place to take me surprise shopping!
*****
Thirty minutes later, my brows are pulled together and I’m frowning. I look down at my feet where Jude is crouched while lacing up shoes on my feet that I am ab-so-lute-ly not going to wear.
“Um…Jude?” I call down to him. “I don’t want to seem…well…ungrateful or anything, but this isn’t exactly what I had in mind when you said you’d take me shopping.” He keeps messing with my feet, checking the heel, pressing on my big toe like I’m a three year old trying on shoes. “I was thinking more along the lines of Banana Republic. You know, White House Black Market has the best jeans of any store hands down and they even have great shoes so you don’t have to go anywhere else. It’s like a one stop shop.”
Jude ignores my rant and asks, “How do these feel?”
“They feel clunky.”
“They’re supposed to be.”
“Why would I want clunky shoes?”
“You’re gonna need them.”
Okay.
Enough is enough.
I’ve got to lay it out for him, even if I do sound ungrateful. But new fears are bubbling up inside of me and I can’t take it anymore. Fears that I know are irrational, but I’m going to overflow with them any minute now so I start with, “I know we haven’t known each other that long. I mean, it seems like a long time because of everything we’ve gone through, but maybe you don’t know me as well as you think you know me.” He looks up at me from his crouch, one knee to the floor and one up with his forearm resting on it. Of course he grins up at me, so I forge on, “I just really need to let you know that I am not the,” and I use my fingers to make air quotes, “‘camping’ kind of girl. You said you’re taking me away for four days, and that means three nights. Four days and three nights could really fly by in a five star hotel, but I also think four days and three nights could seem like an eternity in a tent. I need you to know that I’m the kind of girl that requires at least one shower a day, an indoor bathroom and coffee. And not coffee from a campfire. Coffee from a coffeemaker that plugs into the wall requiring electricity. With real creamer that needs to be refrigerated. And not in a cooler. I’ve already done a little shopping for my surprise birthday weekend getaway and I’m warning you now, I won’t be able to wear any of it if you take me camping,” I say, finishing up my schpeel with my nose wrinkled shaking my head back and forth.
Jude stands up to tower over me, even in these clunky shoes I plan on refusing to wear. He puts his hand up to cup my jaw and says softly, “Babe, don’t worry. I had you pegged as not the,” and he holds up his other hand to mock me with air quotes, “‘camping’ kind of girl the minute I had my hands on you patting you down in that sweet skirt and those sexy heels. We’re not going to a five star hotel, but we aren’t gonna be sleeping in a tent either. I can promise you something in between where you can go the bathroom indoors, take as many showers a day as you want, hopefully with me, and you will have coffee made from electricity. I’ve been living with you for weeks, do you think I’m gonna take you somewhere for your birthday where you won’t be happy?”
My frown turns upside down and I smile up at him big and answer, “No, I’m sorry. But you can’t blame me, I just had to make sure.” Then I go on to complain about the shoes, “But Jude, you have to know something, I do not wear high tops. Like, at all. So I absolutely will not wear these shoes.”
“You need the ankle support.”
“Nope. Not wearing them.”
He sighs at me, looking frustrated and turns to the clerk who works in the Cabela's shoe department to ask, “Do you have the Merrell’s in her size in a low top?”
But I add quickly, “I’d like the ones with pink trim, please!” Jude looks down at me with furrowed brows this time, so I add, “What? It is my birthday, do I not get to the pick the color at least?”
After Jude gives the approval of my low top Merrell clunky shoes for my surprise trip he drags me over to the women’s clothing and, as quick as a bunny, finds what he’s looking for. He rips a North Face black down vest off the hanger and holds it out for me to try on. Raising an eyebrow at him, I turn, move around him, grab a hot pink one in my size and put it on. Smiling up at him, I say, “It matches my new shoes!”
Shaking his head, he hangs up the black vest and with my box of clunky shoes tucked under his arm, he herds me to the check out. My first shopping experience at Cabela’s took all of twenty minutes. And most of that time was spent me telling him I wasn’t the camping kind of girl. I can’t even get out of the produce section at the grocery store in twenty minutes, for heaven’s sake!
“The next time you tell me you want to take me shopping, Jude, I’ll know to brace for the experience,” I say conversationally holding his hand on the way to the car. “I can’t imagine the pain you endured shopping with me for carpet. I now know what a sacrifice that was for you.”
“Anything for you, Gabby,” he says looking down at me as he opens my car door.
“Thank you for my new stuff,” I say fitting myself to him beside his truck. I smile big and add, “And thank you for not making me sleep in a tent this weekend!”
Overflow: The Carpino Series Page 20