by Eve Gaddy
He laughed bitterly. “Yeah, that’s me. Mr. Irresistible. I’m so hard to resist you can’t wait to see the back of me.”
“You have to know that’s not how I feel. That isn’t what I meant.”
He shrugged. “Yeah, whatever. How about we don’t dissect this breakup? It’s over and that’s that.”
“Gabe—” She looked at him, her eyes swimming with tears. “I still…care about you. I always will.”
Wasn’t that peachy? She cared about him. Even now, when she was breaking his heart, he couldn’t find it in him to hate her. It would be easier for him if he could.
“Do me a favor, darlin’and don’t tell me you still want to be friends. I’ve heard that line before and I never did like it much.”
He walked out the door and didn’t look back.
“FOR WHAT it’s worth,” Cat said the next day, “you’re getting Red’s place for a steal. I checked it out with Gail and she says normally those waterfront properties are very pricey. One she told me about went for nearly twice what you’re paying.”
Which—since Gail was a Realtor—she ought to know. “I offered him more but he wouldn’t take it. I can’t help feeling like I’m taking advantage of him.”
Gabe had stopped by Cat’s to go over his finances. He wanted to make sure he’d be able to swing the payments on the shop. He didn’t feel very sociable but anything beat sitting home thinking about Lana. The sooner he and Red closed the deal, the sooner he’d have some work to throw himself into.
“He obviously wants you to have it, so I wouldn’t worry about it. Besides, the place does need a lot of work. I doubt he’s done anything to that property in thirty years.”
“Probably not.” He thought about what the shop and the docks had looked like the last time he’d seen them. “Make that definitely not. Where’s your husband? I want to see if I could con him into helping me with some of the work.”
“His mother came down and they took the kids to the Aquarium in Corpus.”
“Why didn’t you go?”
Her eyes danced. “Because this morning when they left I was throwing up.”
He stared at her a minute, then shook his head. “You must be pregnant again. How many rugrats are you two going to have?”
“I don’t know. This is only our third. We like having babies.”
“Obviously.” He tugged her hair and smiled. “Congrats, sis.”
“Thanks.” She gave him an exuberant hug. “You know with Cam and Delilah married now and having a baby, that only leaves you.”
“Don’t start, Cat.” He’d been hoping he wouldn’t have to tell her about him and Lana, at least not yet. He was still too raw to talk about it.
She started to say something, then looked at him closely. “Is everything all right with you and Lana?”
He didn’t want to do this, but he knew his sister wouldn’t give up easily. She’d nag him to death until he either told her or went crazy. “There is no me and Lana. We broke up last night.”
“Oh, Gabe, I’m sorry,” she said with ready sympathy. She put her hand on his arm and squeezed. “What happened? You’ve been so happy. I thought you two were in love.”
“One of us was.” But Lana hadn’t been. Once again he’d been too dumb to see it. “Look, Cat, I don’t want to talk about it.”
“I think you do,” she said shrewdly. “If you really hadn’t wanted to talk you’d have glossed right over that question and left.”
“Lana called it off. What’s to talk about?”
“She must have had a reason. What did she say? Is there any hope that you’ll get back together?”
“She said a lot of things, mostly along the lines of, ‘I have to get my life together on my own.’ Blah, blah, blah. But what she really meant was, she’s not in love with me and she’s figured out I’m not the right man for her.”
Concern creased her brow. “What does that mean, ‘get her life together’?”
He wished he could tell Cat the whole story. She was a woman, maybe she could help him understand what was going on in Lana’s mind. But Lana had told him the story in confidence, and he wasn’t sure he should break that confidence, even to tell his sister. Besides, what did it matter? Bottom line was, Lana didn’t love him.
“She’s got some problems because of…her past. And we had some problems because of that. I thought we could work everything out together. She didn’t.” He shrugged.
“Well, that’s clear as mud. You can trust me, Gabe. I’m your sister, remember.”
“It’s not my story to tell.”
“Does this have something to do with the night you were attacked at the Scarlet Parrot? I heard Lana really did a number on the guy. Not that he didn’t deserve it,” she added hastily when he glared at her.
“Damn right he did. She thought he had a knife, and she’d been—”
“Oh, God. She’s been attacked before. That’s it, isn’t it?” Cat stared at him. “Poor Lana. But I don’t see why that would make her break up with you.”
“It’s a long story.” He put his head back and closed his eyes, then opened them to look at Cat. “Lana was raped at knife point, two years ago. In a parking lot.”
“Oh, Gabe. I’m so sorry. How terrible for her.”
“She didn’t want anyone to know. She said she was tired of everyone treating her differently and that’s one reason she moved here. She didn’t tell me until right after Winters accosted her. But I already suspected, even though I didn’t know all the details.”
“The other night brought it back to her.”
“Yeah. She thought she was okay, but Winters coming at her, especially in a parking lot, freaked her out. And now she’s decided that she needs time alone to deal with it.”
“But, Gabe, that doesn’t sound like she’s through with you for good. She’s confused and she’s hurting. You shouldn’t let her push you away, not when she needs you.”
“You don’t understand, Cat. I can’t give her what she needs.”
“She needs love. You love her.”
“That’s not enough.”
“You’re wrong. It’s everything.” She got up and went to the kitchen, bringing a couple of soft drinks back with her and handing him one. “Do you remember when Kyle Peters kidnapped me?”
“Of course.” Peters was the scum that not only kidnapped Cat several years before, he’d framed Gabe for smuggling birds in an operation he’d been running in Aransas City for two years. But Mark had saved Cat before anything had happened to her. At least, that’s what she’d said.
Gabe stared at her. “Tell me that bastard didn’t—”
“No, no. Mark got there before he really hurt me. But Kyle abducted me, he held a gun on me and he—” She broke off, sucked in a shaky breath. “It’s been years and it still makes me sick. He threatened to give me to the other smugglers and let them…do what they wanted to me. He painted a graphic picture of what that would be.”
He clenched his fist. “And Mark let him live?”
“Mark didn’t know everything when he found us. I told him later.” She smiled. “Kyle is still in prison. Mark goes to his parole hearing every time it comes up to make sure he stays there.”
“If Cam and I had known, he’d have been dead.”
“Which is exactly why I didn’t tell you. But that’s not the point. The point is, I was a victim of a violent crime. Mark was there for me. He made sure I had counseling and he made sure I knew he wanted me. That helped me, Gabe, knowing he wanted me. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
Lana had to know he wanted her. Problem was, she didn’t want him. “Cat, she freezes every time I touch her.”
“She’ll get past that.”
“I’m not sure she wants to. Not with me, anyway. I think she had a flashback the first time after… And now she—” He looked away. “Damn, I can’t believe I’m talking to my sister about this.”
“Your sister who understands what Lana’s going through. A
ll I can tell you is my experience. And I wanted the man I loved to help me replace that nightmare with another memory. One of love, not violence.”
“I don’t know, Cat. It doesn’t look like she wants anything from me now. She broke up with me, remember?”
“And you just accepted it, without even a fight. Can’t you see she’s confused?”
“I tried to talk her out of it, but she wasn’t buying. What the hell was I supposed to do? Refuse to leave? She’s done with us, Cat. She didn’t give me a choice.”
“I don’t think you should give up on her,” Cat insisted with that stubborn look in her eyes. “If you love her, you should fight for her.”
“You’re such a wide-eyed idealist. It doesn’t matter that I’m in love with her. Lana doesn’t love me. Period. End of discussion.”
“What if you’re wrong?”
“I’m not wrong.” He wasn’t about to torture himself hoping that he was wrong and that Lana would come to her senses. He needed to move on and try to forget her.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
AFTER A WEEK Lana still missed Gabe desperately. She had nearly called him a dozen times. Only the conviction that she was doing what was best for both of them kept her from making that call.
That and the fact that he probably hated her for the way she’d broken up with him. He’d been so angry, so hurt. But she hadn’t known any other way to go about it.
She hadn’t called the therapist whose name Maggie had given her, either. In fact, she hadn’t done a thing but go to work and then go home. She’d hardly eaten, she didn’t sleep well; in other words, she was a mess. She’d told Gabe she needed the time alone to get her life together, but she was doing a lousy job of that.
What was she waiting for, lightning to strike her? No, a miracle to happen that would wipe out her past.
Disgusted with herself, she reached for the phone, but then she glanced at her watch. Nearly quitting time. The office staff might be gone for the day. Sick of her lack of action, she dialed anyway. If they were gone, she’d leave a message.
Five minutes later she had an appointment for the following week. At least it was a start.
Someone knocked on her office door. “Come in,” she called as she wrote the appointment down on her calendar.
“Hi,” Maggie said, poking her head in the door. “Your receptionist said to come on back and tell you she’s taking off for the day.”
“Hi, Maggie. How are you?”
“I’m good.” She stepped inside and studied Lana for a minute. “But you look pretty down. Want to talk about it?”
Lana rubbed her neck and sighed. “I just called that counselor you told me about and made my first appointment. It took me all week to get up the nerve to do it.”
“I’m glad. I’ve heard good things about her. I hope she can help you.”
“Me, too,” she said, though she had her doubts. “What can I do for you, Maggie?”
“I came by to see if you wanted to go to dinner. I had a date but he just called me with the lamest excuse to break a date I ever heard.”
Lana smiled faintly. “You don’t look heartbroken.”
Maggie shrugged. “Easy come, easy go. Besides, I’ve had my heart broken. This guy didn’t hold a candle to that one.”
“That sounds like a story.”
“I’ll tell you about it sometime. After about three margaritas.”
“All right, I’ll remind you of that. Where do you want to eat?”
“The Parrot?”
That was the last place she wanted to go. “I don’t think that’s such a good idea.”
“You have to go back sometime, Lana.You can’t live in Aransas City and never eat at the Scarlet Parrot.”
“It’s not because of the other night.”
“What is it, then?” Maggie took a seat in the side chair and crossed her legs.
“Gabe and I broke up.”
“Everyone in town knows that.” Maggie shot her a sharp look. “Word is you dumped him.”
“I didn’t dump him. I hate that expression. We decided it wasn’t working.”
Maggie pursed her lips and considered her a moment. “We decided? Or you decided?”
Lana frowned at her. “All right, it was my idea.”
“You told me you were in love with Gabe. I don’t understand.”
“It’s…a long story.”
Maggie shook her head. “And I’m guessing you don’t want to talk about it.”
“No. I don’t.” Because she was afraid she’d break down and cry. Her emotions were so close to the surface, she was already near tears. And she was tired of crying, it made her feel like an emotional wreck.
“If you change your mind, I’m here.”
“Thanks, Maggie.”
“Are you worried about running into Gabe? Is that why you don’t want to go? You can’t avoid seeing him forever, either.”
“I know that. I’m just not ready to see him yet. So it doesn’t sound like a good idea to go to his brother’s restaurant.”
“Okay. Pick another place.”
They finally agreed on the Mexican restaurant and left shortly.
It was early, so the restaurant wasn’t too crowded and before long they were seated with their drinks in front of them. Maggie had ordered a beer and Lana a margarita.
“So tell me about your date that wasn’t.” Maybe it would get her mind off her own problems.
Maggie snorted. “A mutual friend set us up on our first date. We had a good time, or at least, I did. This was going to be our second and I actually had some hope for it. Cautiously optimistic, you could say. Then he called me out of the blue today, thirty minutes before he was supposed to pick me up, and said his sister had come into town suddenly.”
“Let me guess, there’s no sister.”
“Nope.”
“What a jerk.”
“Yeah. I’m telling you, the dating pool around here leaves a lot to be desired.” She picked up a chip, dipped it in hot sauce and munched. “Sometimes I decide I’m not going to bother anymore but then after a few months I try again. You’d think I’d learn.”
“We always hope there’s someone who’ll prove us wrong.” Like Gabe, Lana thought, and helped herself to the chips, as well. “Have you seen Gabe?”
“Not lately. Why?”
“I wondered how he was. For obvious reasons I haven’t asked Jay.”
Maggie was looking over Lana’s shoulder and waving. “Don’t look now, but you’re about to find out.”
“Gabe’s here?” She panicked, wanting to see him, yet afraid to see him at the same time.
“Yep. And he’s not alone.”
Lana willed herself not to turn around and stare. “Is he coming this way?”
She had her answer a few seconds later when he stopped at their table. She drank in the sight of him, the dark hair, dark eyes and to-die-for good looks. Other than using a cane, he looked much as he had the first night she’d met him. As he had then, tonight he wore jeans but instead of his usual T-shirt, a blue, button-down, short-sleeved sports shirt. He must have been in the sun lately because he had some color in his cheeks.
Her gaze traveled to the woman beside him, a stunning brunette who had to be fifteen years younger than him. Lana felt nauseous and hoped desperately that it didn’t show on her face.
For the life of her, she couldn’t speak. She and Gabe stared at each other in silence. Apparently he was as much at a loss for words as she was. Maggie, bless her, jumped into the awkward silence.
“Hi, Gabe, how’s it going?”
He turned from staring at Lana and smiled at Maggie. “Can’t complain.” With the hand that wasn’t gripping his cane, he gestured at the woman. “Katrina French, this is Maggie Barnes and Lana McCoy.”
“Nice to meet you,” she said cheerily, shaking hands with them both.
Lana couldn’t stop herself from checking out the woman’s left hand. No ring, dammit. Her heart sank even further, he
ading toward her toes.
“How are you?” Gabe asked Lana.
Terrible, she thought, but obviously you’re not. “Good,” she lied. “How are you?”
“I’m good.” He nodded at both of them, then said to his date, “We’d better get going. ’Bye, Maggie. Lana.” They moved away, taking a table that was, dammit to hell, directly in Lana’s line of sight.
“Well, that was interesting,” Maggie said, and sipped her beer. “Tell me again why you broke up? Because after watching that little byplay I don’t believe for a minute that you’re not still in love with him.”
Lana gave a hollow laugh. “I hope he’s not as observant as you are. He found consolation quickly enough.”
Maggie looked at Gabe and the other woman, then back to Lana. “Maybe it’s not what it seems.”
Lana gave her a dirty look. “And pigs fly. Come on, Maggie. She’s gorgeous. And young.”
“She’s pretty,” Maggie conceded. “But he’s not looking at her like he looks at you.”
“How is that?” She sipped her drink, her eyes inexorably drawn to the two of them. The woman was talking animatedly and Gabe appeared to be giving her his full attention. He didn’t spare a glance in Lana’s direction.
“Like you’re an oasis in the desert.”
She wished. “He just found a newer, younger oasis then, because he can’t take his eyes off her.”
“Only because you’re looking at him, I’ll bet.” Maggie sighed, sounding exasperated. “Lana, it’s as plain as it can be that he’s still in love with you. Besides, you broke up with him. Why shouldn’t he go out with another woman? Why shouldn’t he try to get on with his life?”
“Because I still love him,” she blurted. “And I don’t care if it makes me seem jealous and awful, but I don’t want him to be with another woman.” She wanted him to be with her. Unable to help herself, she glared at the woman.
The waitress brought their food. Lana took a couple of bites and put her fork down. It tasted like ashes.
“Why did you break up, then?” Maggie asked.