“That’s not true, Gabe,” Kayla said. There was no way she’d let Josh take the blame.
“It sort of is,” Sarah said. “Gabe, are you still a psychologist?”
“I have a bunch of patients I still Skype with from California. I told them all last week they’d have to find a psychologist in California. To be able to practice in New York State, I’d have to take more classes and tests, and I don’t want to do that. My dad is a psychologist. I went into the profession because of him, but when they divorced, I did enough analyzing to last a lifetime. I like handling my grandfather’s properties. Plus, I know I’ve made my grandfather proud.”
Kayla loved hearing him talk, but she wished she could run after Josh.
“The reason I’m asking is because I want to know what you’d tell Josh if you could. What advice would you give him?” Sarah asked.
Everyone at the table waited for Gabe to answer, except for Ben, who was asleep on his mom’s lap.
“Erica, you don’t have to stay for this,” Kayla said.
“I want to. I want to be there for your family like you’ve been there for mine.”
“You have been,” Jessica said, reaching to squeeze Erica’s hand.
“I want to help more, please. It helps me get my mind off Ben’s father. That’s what you all do for me.”
“And we’ll continue.” Kayla smiled at her.
“So tell us, Gabe, what would you say to Josh?” Matt asked.
Gabe inhaled. “I’d do whatever Kayla suggests. She was the top psychology student in our program. We had a class together where each of us acted as the psychologist. Each class member would mention a problem they were having, and in less than two minutes, the student acting as the psychologist had to think of a way to help solve their problem. Kayla did the best job, hands down. In fact, after that class, all the students continued to go to her for advice.”
“She has had a lot of experience dealing with all of us. We’ve been a handful,” her dad said.
Kayla’s face got hot again, so she looked at the plate of food she’d barely touched. Gabe always had a way of making her feel better…like now. He knew how to build her up when she needed it and how to keep her there. She was sure he’d have some brilliant advice regarding how to deal with Josh, but by saying what he’d said, he was respecting her.
“Thank you, Gabe,” she said softly.
Gabe winked at her.
“Kayla’s been giving us advice since she was a little girl,” her mom said.
“She’s saved all of us,” Sarah added.
“I haven’t. I may give advice, but you’re all in charge of your own lives.”
“Was it always your dream to be a psychologist?” Sarah asked, turning toward Kayla. “I don’t remember you talking about wanting to be a psychologist as a kid.”
She took a deep breath. “I love helping others. It makes me feel good.”
“And you’re the best at it. That’s why I’d listen to Kayla.” Gabe smiled.
The warmth in his expression made Kayla’s body pulse. He was acting like her best friend again. It made her want to run up to him and throw her arms around him.
Gabe changed the subject and asked about the family’s furniture business. Matt and her dad spoke about some of the pieces they had made over the years. And her dad described the bed he’d been making for Kayla’s mom. Gabe asked a ton of questions. Jessica told him about the furniture Matt had made for their house and Erica described the piece of furniture Matt was making for her as a way of showing his thanks for all of her help.
No one brought up Josh’s name again. Lauren and Sarah talked about Bella Cove in the winter and how beautiful it looked in the snow. Her parents gave Gabe the history of Bella Cove, and Kayla sat there in awe. If someone would have told her two years ago that Gabe would be having dinner with her family, laughing and talking and looking relaxed and happy, she would have said it would never happen. Throughout parts of the evening, she closed her eyes and then reopened them to make sure she wasn’t dreaming. It felt as if she was. And in those moments, she pictured Gabe forgiving her and telling her he loved her. That he always had and always would. But deep down, she knew that was an illusion. After all, he had said they were lifelong neighbors. And being a lifelong neighbor wasn’t the same as having a lifelong husband.
Chapter Nineteen
Kayla awoke the next morning to the sound of pebbles hitting her window. She opened her eyes a little wider and glanced at the clock on her bedside table. 6:10. Who would be throwing pebbles at her window this early? Who would be throwing pebbles at her window at all? Her first thought was Josh. Maybe he’d broken his sobriety last night and had lost his key in a bar. But then she shook her head. Josh knew where they hid the spare key.
She got out of bed to see who it was. As she walked toward her window, she thought about throwing on her bathrobe but was too lazy to go find it. Her green silk nightgown hung low in the front. She’d always had a thing for sexy lingerie, and the nightgown only reached mid-thigh, but that didn’t matter; it wasn’t as if they could see her from all the way down there.
When she reached her window, she opened her shade and looked down. Gabe was standing there, his arm back as if he were ready to throw another pebble. She opened the window and leaned out.
“Hi, Gabe, is everything okay?”
His hair was a mess, probably from running his hands through it a million times.
“I need your help. Sorry about the pebbles. I tried calling and texting you, but you didn’t respond.”
“I was asleep. Do you need me to come down?”
He nodded. “Yes. Something isn’t right with my house. I need your opinion.”
Kayla bit her bottom lip. Gabe was staring at her cleavage, she had no lip gloss on, and she probably looked a mess.
“All right, give me five minutes and I’ll meet you over there.”
Gabe nodded again and headed toward his house. She didn’t understand why he would want her opinion, but she assumed it was important. She ran into the bathroom to brush her teeth, comb her hair, and apply light-pink lip gloss. She didn’t have time to get put together; this would have to do. She ran into her closet and slipped on her favorite jeans and her large yellow sweatshirt with a hood that had Bella Cove written on it in big white letters. Then she put on her white sneakers. She didn’t look her best, but it was early.
When she got to his house, she found him pacing back and forth; she’d never seen him look so stressed.
“What’s going on?”
He turned her way and made a grunting noise. “Thank goodness you’re here. I woke up at four in the morning because I felt like something wasn’t right with how they laid out the house. The size of some of the rooms seemed off.” Gabe grabbed her hand and walked her closer to the frame of his house. “This room here looks small, but it’s supposed to be my office. It’s too small for my office. And then here,” he said, as he pulled her further into the house. “Be careful where you step. This room was supposed to be a small sunroom where people can sit and look out onto the bay. Remember when we talked about this room? We knew our house would have a view, even if we weren’t sure where it would be built. This room looks way too big to be the small sunroom we had in mind. What do you think?”
Kayla looked around at the outer wooden frame of his house. At first, when he’d grabbed her hand, she hadn’t been able to focus on anything but the feel of his hand in hers, but now she couldn’t take her eyes away from the house. This wasn’t any old house. This was the exact same house they’d dreamed of together. Walking through the house was way more difficult than seeing the plans his architect had drawn up. When they had envisioned this over two years ago, Gabe had started describing his dream house, and Kayla had suggested changes she thought should be made. Originally, Gabe never wanted a sunroom, and he had wanted his office to be upstairs.
Thinking about their time together brought tears to her eyes, but she blinked them away before he
saw. He was waiting for her to say something, but she felt too humbled to speak.
“Kayla?” Gabe asked, running his hands through his hair for probably the millionth and one time.
“You’re right. The sunroom should be smaller, and I remember wanting the room to have a cathedral ceiling.” Kayla cleared her throat.
“Oh, yeah, I totally forgot about the cathedral ceiling. I’ll have to tell the builder.”
“And your office is in the wrong place altogether. It should be here.” Kayla walked around to the other side of the house, careful not to trip over any of the pieces of scattered wood, and stepping over the framing that would hold up the floor joists. “And is this your kitchen?” She had trouble saying your when she meant our.
“Yes. Is there something wrong with that, too?”
“It’s supposed to be a long rectangle. Right now, it looks like a square.”
Gabe groaned. “You’re right. Would you mind going over each room in the house and making sure they’re exactly how we planned them to be?”
Kayla swallowed hard. Last night, when she couldn’t sleep, she had pictured herself living here with Gabe. “Sure,” she answered.
For the next hour or so, Kayla went over the entire house, with Gabe listening intently. He even typed in notes on his phone. Some of the questions he asked were hard for her. He wanted details on how she would decorate the place. Finally, she sat down in the dirt, and Gabe followed.
“Why would you put a yellow couch in the sunroom? And do they even make yellow couches?”
Kayla laughed. “I don’t know, but that’s what I’d want. A yellow couch with floral throw pillows would look lovely, especially if you’re sitting there watching the sunrise.”
“And how many times have you watched the sunrise?”
“I watch the sunrise a lot from my bedroom.”
“While you’re in bed, but I don’t think you’d go downstairs to the sunroom and watch it.”
“I would,” Kayla insisted.
Gabe chuckled. “I remember you being too lazy to even go to the library and study, which was across the street from our apartment. I can’t imagine you going downstairs to watch the sunrise that early in the morning.”
If you came with me, I would, Kayla thought. “Would you like to make a bet?”
Gabe chuckled again. “Okay, what would you like to bet?”
Kayla thought about it. She really wanted to bet him a dinner date, but she was afraid to break the newfound easiness between them, so instead, she said, “I’ll bet you an iced coffee.” She smiled.
Gabe shook his head. “No, I bet you a meal at Bella Edge.”
Kayla swallowed hard. Bella Edge was the nicest restaurant in Bella Cove. It overlooked the bay, and was very romantic. “Okay, deal,” she replied. “But you do know I’ll have to spend the night for us to find out.” Her heart thudded.
Gabe nodded. “I know.”
Her heart filled with hope, and he still hadn’t released her hand. Unfortunately, her cellphone rang at that moment. Kayla reluctantly took it out of her pocket. She couldn’t imagine who would be calling at eight in the morning.
When she looked down at the phone, she didn’t recognize the number.
“Sorry,” she said softly to Gabe before she answered. “Hello?”
“Is this Kayla Conway?”
“Yes.” Her heart beat wildly. She didn’t have a good feeling. She looked up at Gabe, nervous butterflies in her stomach.
“This is Bill Emerson down at Bella Hideaway. Your brother Joshua Conway has been here for over ten hours. He has a glass of scotch in front of him, but he hasn’t touched it. He’s just been staring at it and talking to himself. He keeps mentioning your name. Finally, he gave me your phone number. I thought I should call you. We took the glass away at one when we closed. He kept sitting there, so we didn’t have the heart to kick him out. I was here all night, anyway, cleaning up the place. We reopened the bar a few minutes ago, and he asked for a scotch again. I thought I’d let you know.”
Kayla sighed. “I’m sorry for the trouble he’s given you, sir. I’ll be there shortly to get him. Please don’t tell him I’m coming; I’m afraid he’ll run,” she said. “And thank you for calling me.”
She hung up but kept staring at her phone. She wasn’t sure if she could face Gabe.
“I’m sorry. I have to go,” she whispered.
She stood, and Gabe did, too.
“What’s wrong?” He grabbed Kayla’s arm. “You can tell me, Kayla. Please let me in.”
The intensity in his eyes shook her. Even though they weren’t back together, she had a chance to make a different choice than she had two years ago.
“Josh has been at Bella Hideaway for the last ten hours. It’s a bar located on Raven Avenue, a few blocks from Main Street.” Kayla blew out a breath. “He must have gone there after dinner last night. I should have followed him and talked to him.”
Gabe was still holding her arm. Then he pulled her into his chest and held her tightly.
“It’s not your fault. Not everything your family does is your fault.”
Kayla hugged Gabe back. It felt good to be in his strong arms. He hugged her as if he loved her. But as much as she loved the way his arms felt around her, she couldn’t keep standing there.
“I have to go get him,” she said softly.
“I’m coming with you,” Gabe said, releasing her.
She shook her head. “You don’t have to.”
“I do. I wasn’t there for you two years ago. You went through everything with your family alone. I won’t let that happen again.”
“But I chose to go through it alone.”
“You did, but as I said, I won’t let that happen again. I should have come here to see what was going on with you, and I didn’t. I didn’t fight for us the way I should have,” Gabe confessed.
“It wasn’t all your fault. It was mine, too. I should have communicated better.”
Gabe ran his hands through Kayla’s hair and kept his hands there. “We can’t go back, Kayla. But today, you let me in, and I know how huge that is for you. So today, I’m going to be there for you. Now, let’s go.”
Gabe grabbed her hand, and together they hurried to his car.
A few minutes later, they arrived at Bella Hideaway. Kayla stepped out of his black Range Rover. Gabe climbed out and came around to her side of the car. He grabbed her arms before she went in.
“Are you okay? You were too quiet in the car.”
“I’m okay because you’re here.”
Gabe kissed her on the top of her head. “Are you ready?”
Kayla nodded. Gabe grabbed her hand and only let her go when he opened the door of the bar for her. Once inside, Kayla stopped and pointed to Josh. He was sitting by himself at the bar, staring at his glass of scotch, exactly as the man on the phone had said. Kayla swallowed hard as she walked toward him. She needed this to be the last time she caught him with alcohol.
“Hi, Josh,” she said, coming to a stop directly behind him.
Josh jumped and knocked the glass of scotch over. It flew off the other side of the bar and hit the floor, shattering.
“Kayla, look what you did,” Josh yelled.
“I see what I did. I did you a favor,” she said calmly, even though it wasn’t her fault the glass of scotch had fallen and broken.
Josh fully turned toward her, and he glanced over her shoulder toward Gabe.
“What’s he doing here?” her brother asked.
“I wanted him to come with me. I needed him.”
Josh looked at Gabe. “You know I’m the reason you two aren’t together. I’m the cause of her leaving you.”
“Josh…”
“Let him speak,” Gabe said into her ear.
Kayla sighed. “Okay,” she whispered.
Gabe’s gaze turned a darker shade of green.
“Please, continue, Josh.” Kayla turned to Josh and sat on the barstool next to his.
&n
bsp; Gabe moved to her and placed his hand on her shoulder. Kayla wasn’t sure what Josh would say, but it didn’t matter. If it helped him to get everything off his chest, she’d be grateful. And if Gabe heard everything she hadn’t been able to tell him in the last two years, she’d be okay with that, too. It was time to come clean.
Josh looked back and forth between them.
“You were saying Kayla breaking up with me was all your fault,” Gabe said, encouraging him.
“You say it like you don’t believe me, but it’s true. I’m the one who ruined both of your lives,” Josh said.
“Why do you think that is?” Gabe asked.
Kayla almost smiled. He may have decided not to be a psychologist anymore, but he was good at it.
“When Nana died, the entire family went crazy, and I took advantage. I was sick and tired of Bella Cove and the family. I grew up with Nana telling me what to do constantly. I couldn’t breathe. You have no idea what it feels like to have to listen to everything the matriarch says or you get into trouble. Then Nana put Kayla in charge of her money and asked her to keep the family together. But I didn’t care about the family staying together. I wanted out. I wanted my own life. I was nineteen years old. With Nana dead, I could finally do what I wanted to do. So the first thing I did was drop out of college. I wanted to drink every minute of every day simply because I could. It was my life. If I chose to drink, it was my business. But I needed money. Badly. I had this vision of going to Florida on my own and buying a house.
“So, I stole Nana’s jewelry. I was also working part-time for the family’s furniture business, and I wanted no part in that. About a month after Nana died, I hid her jewelry. My plan was to sell all of it. I went to my dad’s biggest competitor and told them about the new furniture line he was putting out in a few months.
“Then I told them about my mother. The moment Nana died, my mom screamed and cried for hours and didn’t get out of bed. I told them my dad would close the store because he couldn’t handle my mom. And I told them to spread the word. I was so angry, and I wanted to ruin the family name. Customers began asking my dad about Mom’s health, and my dad fell into a depression. Kayla made him go to the doctor to get antidepressants.”
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