“That was like sleeping in a clothes dryer with a pair of sneakers. You kicked me all night long. And it’s still hot as hell up here.”
I gazed absently as he lifted up the shirt with his toes and kicked it in the air to catch it.
“The ladder’s gone. That’s why I’m still here.”
I sat up tall.
“What?” I nervously ironed my hands over my hair.
“You heard me,” he said and moved his eyes all over me.
“Oh no. You’re going to get kicked out, Gabe! You’re going to have to do some serious butt kissing.”
Meggie would tell my mother I let a boy sleep in my room. That alone would send her into therapy. Maybe getting caught wasn’t so bad.
“Naw,” he told me as he pulled his wrinkled shirt over his middle. “I’m betting one of the guys took it.”
“See if Meggie’s truck’s here. Maybe she went out,” I suggested.
I crouched over my bag on the floor and selected the only clean shirt I had left. Gabe crossed the room in two strides and stooped at the window. I watched him in my side view as my heart began to attack me.
He looked so good standing in my room.
“It’s gone. We’re safe.” He spun around and eyed me. “You gonna change?”
“Turn back around. Don’t peek. I’m serious.”
He turned and placed his hands on the wall, posing for a pat down. My heart had to work so hard around him.
“You done?” he asked immediately. I fumbled as I tried to locate a pair of shorts.
“No!” I faced the other way, peeled off what I was wearing and practically jumped into the new clothes. I guessed he was going to try to sneak a glance so I twirled around and snapped the button on my shorts. Sure enough he was standing there watching.
“God, Gabe!”
“You got that right,” he said smirking. “Now I’ve seen almost everything.”
“Oh my god. You’re just as bad as Caleb,” I scolded.
A small and secret part of me was rather okay with his watching.
“Caleb’s not your boyfriend,” he said childishly.
My heart vaulted into my throat and stuck.
Did he say boyfriend?
I didn’t have time to analyze. It was urgent I got him out of my room before Meggie returned home. My brain had turned to Jell-O. As I reached for the bolt and fumbled with the lock, Gabe came to stand at my back. I spun around all flustered.
“Your bag, don’t leave it.”
Gabe shot his head back.
“Oh. I thought you might wanna steal some more of my dirty shirts.”
He lifted his hand to my cheek and grazed it with his thumb. His hands slid behind my ears and cupped my head.
I drew a shaky breath. He mimicked me. I sighed and he copied.
“What are you doing?” I whispered.
He tightened in for a close-up. A slow grin crept over his face, reaching his eyes and forehead. “Claiming my reward. I waited all night. Actually days. You owe me double now,” he murmured.
He forced his greedy mouth onto mine before I could draw another breath. I hit the door with my head, and he pressed his open lips harder. A spasm rocked my shoulders, my belly, my arms. Gabe’s hands found mine, and we interlocked our fingers like zippers. The kiss was ravenous and wonderful. His eager jaw danced against mine.
I let him lead.
He lifted my hands up against the door and held them at my shoulders, keeping me still. My heart pounded against his, communicating everything I was feeling inside. His hands released and he seized the sides of my head again. He continued to kiss me and drive me into the door. My fingers fell to his waist and wound into his belt loops.
“Good...morning,” he said as he finally released my lips. “I gotta split.”
“Good...yeah,” I said breathlessly.
I just stared. I could have easily done that for another hour.
“I’m happy for now.” He glared down his nose. “Don’t hurt yourself trying to think straight or anything.”
The door creaked open and we stuck our heads out. I stubbed my flip-flop on a crooked board. Gabe snagged my shirt as I tumbled down. He fell alongside of me and laughed. I thought he tripped on purpose. I placed my hand over his mouth and hushed him. He pulled me on top of his chest when I was already halfway there. We both shook with laughter as a rainbow of Skittles trickled out of his pocket and danced all over the floor.
When the laughter finally subsided, I struggled to my feet and scolded, “You need to get a grip on your sugar problem.”
Gabe rested flat on his back and went on glaring at me with a crooked grin.
“C’mon,” I commanded with a giggle.
I gave him a hand, but he didn’t move for what seemed like forever.
We descended the stairs at a cautious pace. Gabe’s hand was now in mine as I led him like a small child. The second floor was quiet. Maybe Josh was out with Meggie. I bit my lips hard, hoping that was the case. My lips tasted like Gabe, sweet like candy. I let my guard down to relish the remnants of his kiss.
I was first to round the corner to the last flight of stairs when she hollered.
“Avery Ross! Gabriel Halden! Get your skinny asses down here on the double!”
Meggie was home.
My breath stuck in my chest, and I gagged on my giggles. She planted her hands on her hips like she was ready to hit the roof. Gabe slid his fingers under my shirt and pinched my side. My jaw locked in an effort to stay quiet.
“Get in there and sit down. You go over there,” she ordered Gabe and pointed to a solitary chair in the corner of the living room.
My gaze hopped frantically around the room. Gabe fell into his designated chair and smirked at me. I settled on the edge of the short sofa and crossed my legs.
“Aunt Meggie,” I began in a high voice.
She raised a hand in the air.
“Lemme talk first,” she said as she squared her shoulders like a G.I. “I’ve never had to deal with an adolescent girl before. I wasn’t expecting to have to discipline or reprimand you, Avery.”
“Nothing happened,” I told her. “Really.”
Meggie’s eyes fired up.
“I find a ladder propped up under your bedroom window. And a boy, an older boy,” she made shifty eyes at Gabe and went on, “gets caught leaving your bedroom. But nothing happened?”
For starters, he wasn’t that much older. He wasn’t even twenty for like two more months.
“Yes. I mean no,” I said. “Nothing!”
She was beginning to sound like my mother.
“Okay, Gabe,” said Meggie.
He sat back looking all comfortable, as if he was watching a mind-numbing round of golf. I had to laugh. He acted as cool as a cucumber. He was also so nice to look at.
“Where did you sleep?”
“I didn’t sleep a wink,” he stated in the strongest Texan accent.
“Oh my word!” wailed Meggie as she flailed her arms and turned red. She was hysterical. I remembered my mother getting all psycho on my father when she was pregnant.
“But I did!” I had to clear up her misinterpretation. “I slept all night.”
“She did, ma’am,” he said grinning. Then he drew his brilliant eyes on me, and we exchanged a humorous glance. Sometimes he was so full of it, unabashed, assured.
Lane was dead right. Gabe was a moody mess.
Meggie smoothed her hand over her swelling belly. “This,” she pointed to her belly, “isn’t going to happen under my care. You got me? There will be no sleepovers, touching, kissing, pinching, sneaking or whatever the heck you kids do. I would expect this behavior out of your brother, but frankly Gabe, I’m so disappointed.”
I blushed hard. Aunt Meggie was a hypocrite.
“Yup,” he said.
She flashed a disapproving glare.
He adjusted his tone, “I mean, yes, ma’am.”
“You are not welcome in this house until I calm
down and sort this out. If you sneak back in again, you betcha I’ll be shipping your skinny butt back to Texas. Got me, kid? You know how much I care about you boys, but don’t test me. Okiedokie?”
“Yep,” he told her.
I watched him stand and cross the room. He smiled guardedly as he walked past me. I tried not to look at his rear end, but Meggie put it out there.
He turned quickly and asked, “Can I get my guitar?”
She nodded and rolled her eyes. Gabe charged up and down the stairs and left.
When the back door slammed, Meggie focused on me. She sat down on the sofa and propped her swollen feet up on a wicker trunk. I could hear her thoughts percolating.
“Uff-da. I don’t know if I can do this again in eighteen years, kiddo. Your mom will behead me if she finds out he was up there doing what he was doing with you. What were you thinking? Never mind. I know. He looks at you with those glaring hazel eyes and you melt like an ice cube on a barbeque.”
I held silent. She would never let me answer anyway. I was sort of ashamed and sort of pissed off.
“Do you want to talk about anything?”
“No,” I said quietly. “Nothing happened. I’m not stupid. He’s not like that.”
He was an angel with me, an angel named Gabriel. All we did was kiss. I wasn’t in the mood to receive a lecture about boys from an unmarried pregnant woman. I was seventeen, not twelve. I could do whatever I wanted. I was absolutely sure I wanted to kiss Gabe’s luscious lips every day for the rest of my life.
“Okay. Glad to hear that. But letting a boy in your room when I specifically said not to isn’t exactly smart thinking.” She played with the hem of her top and pulled it down over her waist. “What are your feelings for Gabriel? I think I already know.”
“I don’t know,” I said, mumbling a lie.
I knew exactly what I was doing. I knew what I was feeling was totally real. I was hands down absolutely, unquestionably, positively certain I was in love with Gabriel J. Halden of Benjamin, Texas. I made a mental note to find out what the J stood for.
“I understand. Trust me. I was your age. I know it’s hard to believe your old aunt was young once. It really wasn’t that long ago. I obviously have feelings for boys too,” she said in a chuckle. Her belly jiggled when she laughed. I bet nobody yelled at her for letting a boy sneak in. “But I’m not sending you back to New York like this. If I have to lock you in that room every night, I will.”
The humor went out of her voice.
“I want you to have fun. Just be smart. Gabe’s got a lot of growing up to do. I’m not just worried about you. It hasn’t even been a full year since...”
“I know a lot of stuff, Aunt Meggie. Lane told me some things. I understand what’s going on. I get what you said last night and what Mr. Halden is doing to protect Gabe.”
Her face lifted in surprise. “Like what?”
“Like how Eli had an accident a long time ago and Mr. Halden was covering it up and not going after Hunt Barrett for causing Eli’s death so Hunt wouldn’t drag it up again.”
“I’ll be darned. He told you all that? Oh dear. I guess Lane was old enough back then to understand. Eli was a tough kid. I fear Gabe’s going down that path with all the fighting and aggression. He’s lost a lot for a boy his age,” she said. “He holds onto that guitar like it’s his life support.”
I wondered how Meggie knew so much about the Halden’s family history. I was curious if the boys confided in her.
“What’s all that about? The guitar, I mean.”
“Eli left it with him the night of the accident. The two of them had been playing together for hours.”
“Is Gabe not allowed in the house for real?”
“No. Not now. You two should take a breather. You spent all that time traveling and then at the wedding. I hate to sound like your mom, but I can’t allow you to go in his room, either.”
I knew that was coming, but I couldn’t possibly go a day without seeing him or touching him. It was bad enough my phone and texting privileges were cut. Though being tossed across the country was unexpectedly the best thing to ever happen to me. I wasn’t willing to give up seeing Gabe. Giving up Gabe would be like asking him to give up candy. It was darn right undoable.
Eight
I had been waking early to visit with Gabe through the window. The black truck disappeared each day, sometimes before dawn. As the summer progressed, Gabe got busier and busier, working several days on, a few days off. Each night I waited obsessively for him to come home from the black gold mine. To catch a fleeting glimpse as he strolled across the property wearing the same tan overalls and disappeared into the coop exhausted. It disturbed me to see his beautiful face and hands filthy with oil grime. I memorized the size and shape of his headlights, the hum of his engine.
Some days were nearly unbearable to get through without seeing him.
Meggie was anywhere and everywhere. She put me to work as her assistant, and I ran her personal errands while Gabe was away in the fields. A transient kiss stolen from Gabe in the laundry room or behind a cabinet in the basement was not cutting it, though anticipation for his off days made the dull weeks pass by a tad bit easier.
“Can I come up?” Gabe called from his lolling position in the bed of his truck. There was a puddle under the tailgate. He must have washed it again. It was early morning. Not even the rooster was awake yet.
I tightened my gaze on his worn blue jeans and sleeveless tank and the toned arms he had resting behind his head. He was adorably barefoot. His cowboy boots were on the ground.
Had he slept under my window all night?
I considered his request for a second. “No. I tell you the same thing every day. Do I look like Rapunzel? Find me later,” I said just above a whisper. “I’ll try to go to the store after breakfast. Follow me out if you want.”
“I’ll be waiting in Albertson’s lot. Pick me up some jellybeans. Not the store brand ones,” Gabe drawled.
I chuckled when I thought about Gabe and his love of candy as I took the stairs to the kitchen after a long bath. His family had enough money to buy a Willy Wonka factory.
Josh was squatting on his chair at the breakfast table. He looked ready to launch out the door.
“Slow down, kid!” Meggie barked across the kitchen. “Where’s the fire? Where do you need to be so fast?”
“Caleb’s taking me to a disaster response training thing in the field. He wants me to be his victim. I get to put on fake blood and act all mangled. He said I have to pretend to have a dislocation and frostbite,” Josh shared excitedly.
How was he going to pull off frostbite in the middle of summer? It was nearly eighty degrees outside. Meggie and I exchanged a humor-filled glance. I was trying to be civil with her in spite of my anguish.
“I might get to go up in a medevac helicopter.”
“Uff-da! No, you won’t,” cried Meggie as she slapped the table. “You’re not going near one of those.”
Josh scowled at his mother. He should have known not to open his big mouth.
“Wow. Sounds like so much fun. Are you meeting us at the lake to wash off your fake guts and stuff?” I asked.
Meggie bent her ear and put in her two cents. “Meeting you and who at the lake?”
I pinched my lips together and tossed Josh a look.
“Ma, everybody’s going.”
“Yeah, everybody,” I added casually. “Molly will pick me up.”
“I don’t want you and Gabe there hanging out alone,” she said.
She enjoyed summoning her inner dictator. Who said anything about Gabe? I had been good all week. I had done nothing, well almost nothing, to break her trust. Plus, she had allowed me to go all the way to Texas with him and hardly made a stink. Now that she knew how much I liked him, it seemed she was stopping at nothing to ruin my fun.
No longer hungry, I thrust my plate into the center of the table.
“Can I borrow your truck to go to the store?” I
asked Josh with my most persuasive voice. “I haven’t been out in days. I really need some stuff.”
“You mean girly stuff? Okay, but you gotta be careful. She’s touchy. Don’t jump the clutch. Be gentle and put gas in her.”
“Thanks, Joshie. I’ll bring her back in one piece.”
“Since we’ve all got plans and you’re shopping, could you pick up a few things?” Meggie asked as she scanned a coupon ad from the paper. “The sale’s over today. I’m visiting a friend in Minot. I’ll be back late afternoon. Gimme just a minute, I’ll write you a list.”
I had a nagging feeling she was going to have me buy something that would bring me straight home.
When I was ready to head into town, the black truck was gone, and so was Caleb. Josh’s keys jingled in my pocket as I climbed into his old beater. I thought about my first full day in Williston, riding in the truck, how I figured out that there were three Haldens. I lifted my gaze and tracked Meggie walking toward her pickup. I chewed at my lip as she confirmed my suspicion. She planned to tail me.
I drove the speed limit all the way. It took forever. She laid on the horn as I rounded the entrance into the grocery store parking lot. I shot a glance over my shoulder and watched her get hung up at a stop light behind two HalRem tanker trucks. I circled the store and pulled into a spot on the far end of the building. My frustration swiftly turned to joy.
“Hey, Avery!” yelled Molly. “See you at the lake later?” She had her hair pulled back in a purple bandana.
“Yeah, see you later,” I hollered before she disappeared into the store.
I walked around the side of the building where the delivery trucks pulled in. Gabe’s shiny pickup smiled at me. I waited in the shade and studied the countless men who walked in and out of the store with bags slung over their shoulders and boxes of beer under their arms. I was already feeling the heat of the day.
“Hiya,” Gabe whispered into my ear and stopped my breath. His hand slid behind my back and he pulled me tight to his side. “How’d it go, Houdini?”
“She followed me to town. Can you believe it?” My words tasted sour. “She’s acting like my mother. I can legally move out on my own in less than two months if I want.”
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