Wasted Vows

by Colleen Charles

  Gabe got into the driver’s side, then closed the door and started the car. He drove off down the road and I was left staring after him, with my best friend waiting for my reaction.

  “Follow him,” she said, straightening in the car seat. “Come on, let’s find out what’s really going on here.”

  “There’s no point, Kelly. I’m sure he’s going somewhere to fuck her.”

  Right after he fucked me.

  “Follow them, Ally” she yelled, pointing in the direction the silver car had traveled.

  I started my car, shifted quickly into drive and gunned it, spinning the rear tires in the process. I spotted the fancy car about a half a block ahead of me, stopped at the intersection of Nicollet and 7th street. I inhaled a cleansing breath through my nose because my heart was racing so rapidly it felt like I might pass out. What the hell was Faith doing with Gabe? Was that her expensive car? She definitely reeked of money and had since my first encounter with her.

  Was he really with Faith again? I’d probably driven him right back into her arms and she was … she was everything that I wasn’t. I felt dirty all of a sudden. Less than.

  Unworthy.

  I bit the insides of my cheeks and kept the tears at bay. There might be an explanation for this. Who was I kidding? If there was a reasonable explanation for all of this, he would have offered it up by now, if only to save his own ass and keep sleeping with me. Funny, he was getting everything that he needed and I was getting nothing that I needed in return.

  The Bentley’s rail lights were mean, but Gabe drove slowly through the snow, allowing me time to catch up.

  Ten minutes passed, then fifteen, and finally he turned into a driveway outside a pair of massive, black wrought iron gates. They opened slowly, and he drove inside and parked in the circular drive of a mansion.

  “What the —?” Kelly murmured. “No, it can’t be.”

  “What is it?”

  “What did you say Gabe’s surname was?” Kelly asked.

  I stopped my car in front of the gate and rolled down the window to watch. Gabe helped Faith out of the car and a man appeared on the stairs, tall and greying, but wearing a suit. Imposing. Hot as hell and probably in his late fifties.

  “Moreno,” I murmured, “Gabe Moreno, why?”

  Kelly gasped. “This is Donovan Moreno’s house.”

  “Who’s Donovan Moreno?” I frowned, unable to tear my eyes from the scene. Gabe shook hands with the man and Faith hugged him.

  “Only the richest guy in Minneapolis. He’s a billionaire. Which means your friend Gabe is loaded by association.”

  Kelly’s words tore through my mind. He’d kept something from me again. Just another lie in a long line of lies that shattered every last shred of trust I still held for him. A house of cards.

  “What are you doing?” Kelly asked.

  I stared at Gabe’s retreating back as he entered the two story brick house and jammed the car into reverse.

  “It’s over.”

  Chapter 37

  Ally

  “Aren’t you angry about this?” Kelly’s gaze tried to cut right through the doubt that puddled in the center of my forehead. But that was the thing about doubt. It wormed its way through every cell. It overtook everything like an insidious disease.

  So I was angry. Fuming. On fire with emotions and none of them positive, but that didn’t give me the right to…

  The right to do what?

  I cut the car’s engine and leaned on the steering wheel, glaring at the Moreno mansion.

  I did have the right to be mad about this. Whatever this was.

  “Ally, you should give him a piece of your mind.” Kelly sat back against the car door, unhooking her seat belt. “Make him look you in the face and spit out his latest lie, if only to see what he comes up with.”

  I bit the inside of my cheek, then released the flesh slowly, considering the front of the mansion. Gabe and his father had already stepped inside, Faith in tow. The gates began closing.

  “You’re right,” I replied. I fumbled the car door open and darted out, cheered on by Kelly’s ecstatic whoop of encouragement.

  The gates swung towards me, and my heart skipped. What in the hell was I doing? I didn’t even have a real relationship with this guy. Did I have any right to go scampering up some stranger’s property to confront Gabe in front of his prominent family? But right now, I didn’t care.

  I slipped between the iron bars, sucked in my stomach, and stumbled up the drive, led by emotion. When I heard them clank closed behind me, I glanced back. Kelly’s eyes were saucers, but she gave me a big thumbs up anyway.

  “You go, girl!” she yelled out the window.

  They had to have heard that.

  I hurried up the drive, feet crunching on the stones. I let the anger at his betrayal bubble inside — which was already a fondue of disappointment. Why couldn’t he have been honest from the start?

  We’d come far together. We would’ve gotten further and I’d invested too much of myself in this to let it slide.

  “Gabe,” I yelled at the top of my voice. “Gabe Moreno! Get your butt out here, right this second.”

  “Ass,” Kelly called from the car.

  “Right,” I murmured, then turned up the volume again, “get your ass out here!”

  The mansion’s front lights were on, but the massive oak door was shut tight. I examined it from afar, sucked in a breath and charged up the sweeping front stairs. I raised my fist to knock.

  The door swung inward and Gabe stood there, blinking at me. His brow wrinkled. “Allegra.” The word seemed to strangle in his throat. “What are you doing here?”

  “I could ask you exactly the same thing.”

  “I… uh.” He couldn’t get a sentence out. Really? He couldn’t even defend this?

  I restrained myself from turning back and scaling the gates to escape my rioting feelings. Escape. Flee.

  Faith swaggered out the front door, led by her monstrous belly. “I thought she might pop up on your front doorstep, Gabe. I did warn you about mixing with the trash. You always wind up dirty.”

  “Quiet, Faith.” Gabe gritted his teeth. “Allegra—”

  “That’s a strange name.” Donovan Moreno strolled out of the house, surrounded by a cloud of cologne and an arrogant demeanor that said ‘this is my porch and anyone on it better explain themselves and be quick about it.’

  I folded my arms. In defiance. And rage.

  “Just who are you, young lady?” Donovan asked without presenting a hand for a proper greeting. I noticed the slight. It would be impossible not to. His piercing blue gaze swept over me from head to toe and then dismissed me with a flick of his hand and a soft smirk of recognition. Of knowing.

  “I’m Allegra Wilson,” I said, dropping my arms to get rid of the defensive posture. I had to seem in control, even if I wasn’t. My torso immediately felt the loss of my self-hug.

  “She’s a friend of mine,” Gabe said. Faith’s smile stretched her treacherous face into a balloon. Seriously, she looked like she’d pop at a moment’s notice and spill glee all over the toes of my pumps.

  Why was I so nervous? This was his fault! He owed me an explanation.

  I squared my shoulders. “What’s going on here, Gabe? You never told me your father was—” There wasn’t a polite way to put it.

  “Loaded,” Faith said helpfully. Her balloon face hadn’t popped yet, but my fingers were crossed.

  “The size of my father’s portfolio is none of anyone’s damn business. It has nothing to do with me.” Gabe’s reply hit me in the chest like a wrecking ball. Whooshing the air and the bravery and the anger from my chest.

  “You were afraid I’d want you for your money,” I whispered, “you thought I’d ask for your help with the bakery.”

  “This is all fascinating,” Donovan Moreno said, checking his nails, making it clear that nothing interested him less. “But we have business to attend to. I’ll open the gate and you can
see yourself out. I’m sure you can see there’s nothing here for someone like you.”

  “No doubt,” Faith snorted.

  “You owe me an explanation, Gabe,” I said, but the hunky fireman was unreachable. He’d drawn a curtain across his gaze. His heart. I couldn’t penetrate it. “What the hell is going on here?”

  Donovan clapped once. “Apparently, my son has lost his balls, mind or both, so I’ll do the honor of filling you in.”

  “Stop, Dad, I’ll talk to her later,” Gabe said, finally breaking whatever vow of silence he took the minute I entered the grounds.

  “Nonsense,” Donovan replied, his tone clipped and businesslike. “Gabe is going to marry Faith here, who’s pregnant with his child. You are an unwanted addition and will kindly remove yourself from these premises.”

  “Or, he’ll throw you out,” Faith put in, gesturing over her shoulder.

  I stared at them, standing on the porch in a row, Gabe furthest from me. He refused to meet my gaze, even though he had to know how this felt. Like someone had reached into my body and ripped my heart out through my chest.

  Getting married? Engaged?

  Faith raised her left hand and twiddled the ring finger to highlight the titanic-sized iceberg populating it.

  My anger sucked down through my feet and drained into the top stair. I filled up with the horrid realization that I was totally out of my element here.

  “I have to go,” I whispered, fingers creeping to my lips. I held them there and stared at Gabe, trembling. “I have to go,” I repeated.

  “That’s right.” Faith took a wobbling step forward and Donovan’s hand shot out to steady her. “You’ve upset me enough. You’ll endanger our child at this rate.”

  I shook my head, unable to say another word.

  “It’s not the way it seems, Ally,” Gabe said finally. “I’ll explain later. But right now, I have to deal with this.” He made a sweeping gesture with both arms. As if I should know what this was. As if I were some addled toddler incapable of understanding basic English. “Okay?”

  No, it was not okay. How could he think it was anything but fucked up?

  I raised my palms and shoved them towards him, releasing an invisible Ally force field. “Don’t call me again.”

  “That’s a wise decision.” Donovan adjusted his cuff links, huge silver squares with diamonds. He pointed to the gate. “It will open when you get to it.”

  The dismissal was enough to set my feet moving. I turned and walked down the stairs, my spine threaded with iron which would melt any minute. Just one word from Gabe and I’d either collapse or start sprinting for the exit like a madwoman.

  It sounded melodramatic in my head, but God, this man had dragged me over the coals. I should’ve known. I should’ve stuck with my initial instincts and protected my heart. Why did I have to insist upon answers? Closure that probably would never come. I should have just gone home and curled up into the fetal position to lick my wounds.

  Bitterness spread across my tongue, flavoring it with defeat. Yes, Gabe Moreno was a damn liar. Donovan, however, wasn’t. The gate did open the minute I was within range and clanged closed behind me.

  I opened my car door and slid into the driver’s seat.

  Kelly was squished against her door in the exact position I’d left her. I probably hadn’t been gone that long.

  “Do I even want to know?” she asked, biting off the nail of her middle finger. She’d correctly read my tragic expression. And defeat.

  I shook my head mutely. Her expectant look, searching. But I couldn’t bring myself to articulate it. If I brought it out into the open, I’d never be able to shove it back inside for only me to know.

  “Let’s go back to your place, hon, I’ll make you a cup of hot cocoa.” Kelly squeezed my arm, digging her fingernails in gently to snap me back to reality. A reality I didn’t want to be a part of right now.

  I started the car and put it in reverse for the second time that night.

  Chapter 38

  Ally

  Kelly and Pat’s had closed due to a weather emergency. There was so much snow, the front door couldn’t swing open, and every time the plow staggered by, a foot or two more of the white mess, infused with dirt and gravel, gathered on the sidewalk.

  I sat at the counter on one of their nifty bar stools and twirled, enjoying the simple pleasure of my hair floating around my back and shoulders. I massaged the wrinkles on my forehead, but they might be there to stay. I wasn’t prepared to iron them out. It seemed my face had been locked in a permanent grimace since Moreno mansion-gate.

  “She doesn’t look good,” Pat remarked from the back room.

  “Thanks,” I called out, but I couldn’t begrudge him the comment. I was so pale I could probably get a sunburn standing in front of the TV. Gabe was engaged to Faith, the woman he’d gotten pregnant and lied to me about.

  I’d gone in too deep and I’d done it to myself. I’d known. Known that nothing but heartbreak awaited me on the other side. Why did I have to go and reach so high? It was like someone had clicked the ‘off’ button in the common sense lobe of my brain.

  Kelly popped up from under the counter, holding a big bag of coffee beans. “I found it,” she said with a broad grin. “The last bag. This is the Holy Grail of coffee, Allegra Wilson. I’ve been saving it for a special occasion.”

  “Like a heartbreak?”

  “Meh, more like the Apocalypse, but this will have to do. Good enough excuse and all that.” She chuckled, but it was forced. She hated seeing me like this, and I would’ve felt the same if our positions were reversed.

  “Great,” I said, risking a taut smile. “Brew her up.”

  “Two cups of Brazil’s best coming right up, sweetheart.” Kelly hurried over to the grinder and opened the bag with relish. She sniffed the contents and shut her eyes to embrace the aroma. “God, that’s amazing. You should come over here and smell this.”

  “Thanks, but no thanks.”

  “Live a little,” Pat said, materializing in the door to the office. He walked to his wife, placed his hands on her shoulders, then leaned down and snuggled his nose against her neck.

  It made me want to pluck my eyeballs out, throw them on the hand-planked wood floor and stomp on them until they were little puddles of optical goo, unable to ever see again.

  Kelly smiled gently, then smacked him on the arm and gestured in my direction. “Try practicing a little tact, honey,” she said.

  Pat stuck out his tongue, but backed away, leaving us with the space he always granted when I was around. He knew that Kelly handled the womanly issues. He was the silent support.

  Kelly busied herself with the beans, grinding, percolating, and whatever else it was she did to make the aroma of coffee swim through the café. She brought me a cup and settled onto the stool beside mine, squishing her palms against the sides of her mug.

  “Do I need to ask, Ally?”

  “I don’t know if I want to talk about it yet.” I sipped from my cup and the warm liquid flowed down my throat and hit my stomach. It warmed me from the inside, except for the icy patch on the left side of my chest. I didn’t want that to thaw. I wanted to carry it like a badge. A constant reminder of my stupidity where men were concerned. “It’s Valentine’s in a few days,” I observed. “My own private inamorata. A Hallmark infused snake spewing her pink venom to a media outlet near you.”

  “You’re going to spend it with us.” Kelly slurped her drink and put it on the counter with a clink. “I’m not letting you out of my sight.”

  “Thanks, Kels, but I’d prefer time on my own.”

  I need more time on my own. Because I still feel like my stomach has been split open from throat to groin and my organs are exposed.

  “Like hell. You’re going to sit at my house and drink champagne and eat sugar and watch Beaches with a box of tissues. And I’ll even buy you a gift. I’ll be your Valentine. I’ve made the decision for you.” Kelly dusted off her palms as if that
ended the argument.

  “I get a gift?” I couldn’t feign excitement, but Kelly’s caring warmed me more than hot beverages ever could.

  “Hell yeah, you—” Kelly’s eyes widened. She stared at the mirror over the bar and pressed her lips together.

  Gabe’s reflection stared back, from outside in the street. Snow dusted his shoulders, a thin veneer on his dark woolen coat. He waved and pointed to the door.

  “I can’t handle this,” I said, stammering through the sentence and slopping coffee into my lap. This was pathetic. I was stronger than this, but Gabe had reduced me to a quivering mess.

  Kelly lurched from her stool. “Pat!” she yelled at the top of her lungs. He appeared instantly, glasses half off his nose and a book in hand.

  He spotted Gabe and slapped the paperback onto the counter. “Right,” he said, “I’ll take care of this.”

  Gabe was at the glass front door to the coffee shop, pulling off a glove with his teeth.

  I stared at him in the mirror, the intent in his movements, the soft patter of snow falling and sticking in his wavy brown hair. My insides did gymnastic somersaults and I wedged my hands under my thighs. Trying to ground myself. To keep from losing it.

  Gabe opened the door as Pat reached it.

  “You’re not welcome here,” Kelly said, standing with her back to mine to form the perfect friendship shield.

  This was different from our first fight over lies. This was him sleeping with me, telling me he felt… God, that he felt things for me, and then asking Faith to be his wife. It had to be because of the baby. He wanted a kid and I could never provide that.

  Gabe stood, staring at me, flicking his glove against his palm. Then he turned to Pat and glared. A huge, stiff wall of flesh and determination. “Get out of my way.”

  Pat placed the flat of his hand on Gabe’s chest and left it there. He didn’t shove or cause trouble, that wasn’t Pat’s way, but he kept Gabe at bay.

  “I said, get out of my way,” Gabe repeated, and flicked his glove faster, tapping his foot in the snow, sending up puffs of powder until it became sludge and his impatience sounded out wet slaps instead.