“Courtney—” The woman got out, took her by the arm and led her to a quiet hallway just around the corner from the elevators. “What is it?”
“Oh—” She waved her hand dismissively and sniffled. “Babies and breakups do it to me every time.”
“Hmm. So you’re upset about what happened between you and my son?”
There was nothing to be gained by not telling the truth. This had been the objective from the beginning—to convince the pertinent parties that they were a thing, then be sad when it was over. And what a relief not to feel like a double agent anymore. Except that she was really hurting, and her mouth trembled when she nodded and more tears filled her eyes.
“I love my son, so don’t take this the wrong way. But Gabriel is a bonehead.”
“Wh-what?”
“Courtney, I know you’re on your lunch break, but would you do me a favor and come up to the maternity waiting room with me? I promise not to keep you too long.”
Face the Blackburnes? There was a knot in her stomach the size of an MRI machine, and that would make eating lunch a challenge. Call it balancing out yesterday’s ice cream binge. “I don’t know—”
“Please, honey. They’d all like to see you. Honestly.”
The woman’s sincerity reminded Courtney of Flo’s son and his integrity. She allowed herself to trust that this wasn’t an ambush. “Okay.”
So the two of them went back around the corner and into the first up elevator that came. They rode it to the third floor, where maternity was located. And there in the waiting room were Gabe’s father and his aunt Lillian. The two of them stood when they saw Courtney.
Flo urged her forward and chattered nonstop. “Mason is in the labor room with Annie. Kelsey is working today and will pop in when she can. Dom and Gabe are at work now. They’re coming later.”
Courtney wondered if she would feel it when he walked into the building. Like a disturbance in the force. Hopefully she wouldn’t see him and have yet another place with memories of him that she had to proactively forget. This woman was remarkably chipper. And friendly.
“Look who I found in the elevator,” Flo said when they stopped in front of the other two.
“Hi.” Courtney lifted a hand in greeting, wondering whether or not she should be freaked out by the friendliness. If this was a horror movie—and it was beginning to have that feeling—right about now they would turn on her.
But Gabe’s mother jumped right in to fill the silence. “This young woman could use some cheering up. She’s feeling sad about the way things with Gabriel turned out.”
Looking confused, her husband scratched his head. “But I thought that was all fake. So you would stop throwing women at him, Florence.”
“Oh, John—” His wife gave him that affectionate, indulgent look that women do when their man has no clue about the obvious emotional undercurrents going on around him.
But Courtney wasn’t fortunate enough to be oblivious. She realized exactly what was going on. “You guys know?”
“He told us when you didn’t come to dinner on Sunday,” Lillian explained.
“I can’t believe you’re even speaking to me,” she said. “I’m completely ashamed about trying to deceive you all. My only excuse is that I was worried about Ava.”
“He told us. And that it was all his idea.” Lillian’s gaze took on a shrewd gleam. “But, unless I miss my guess, the two of you got something more than you, literally, bargained for.”
“Not him,” Courtney hurried to explain. “Just me. I mentioned the idea of dating for real, but he said no.”
“Blockhead,” his mother muttered.
“No. He’s a really good man. Like his father, I’d guess.” She smiled sadly at the man who’d been such a good role model to his son. “I appreciate his honesty. A lot of men would have taken advantage of the situation, but he didn’t. He’s really quite wonderful—” She swallowed the emotions that crept up on her.
“Oh, honey—” Flo slid an arm around her waist and pulled her close.
“It’s going to be all right. You’ll see.” Lillian moved to her other side and put her arm around her, too.
Courtney held back a sob. She’d never in her life felt support like this. When her parents found out she was going to be a teenage mother, her family had fallen apart. How she would have cherished being a part of this one. But it wasn’t meant to be. And, while she appreciated Lillian’s words, she just didn’t see how anything was going to be all right ever again.
“Thank you all for understanding.” Courtney looked at each of them in turn, willing them to know how sorry she was. “And I truly regret trying to fake you out.”
“That doesn’t matter. The important thing is that you and Gabriel found each other. Without my help, I’m sad to say.” Lillian took her hands. “But if you don’t believe anything else, believe this. There’s nothing phony about the way you looked at my nephew. Or the way he looked at you.”
“That’s what I thought, too. But I was wrong.” Courtney shrugged.
“I don’t take you for a quitter,” Lillian said firmly. “Don’t you give up on him, young lady.”
She wasn’t the one who gave up. He’d quit on her before they even tried to see if it could work.
Courtney hugged each of them, then walked away. There was a crushing weight on her chest. In a perfect world, this family could have been hers. But it wasn’t and never could be. Because Gabe wasn’t hers and never would be. Without him, her world could never be complete. How could it be when she’d given him her heart?
Chapter Fifteen
Gabe was at the high school waiting for Ava to show up for her tutoring session, although he wasn’t at all sure she would come. After all, she probably knew about the breakup. But he hadn’t been able to confirm that for sure, since Courtney wasn’t answering his calls. He missed that woman with everything he had. And it had only been a couple of days since he’d last seen her. Length of time wasn’t the issue. It was the thought of never seeing her again that had him feeling a little on the desperate side.
Courtney had become so very important to him, and now he felt lost. Shutting her out, closing himself off from feelings for her might just be the biggest mistake he’d ever made. For crying out loud, he fixed financially ailing companies for a living, but he couldn’t fix his own life. Now he realized that without her, he had no life. He was going to make her see that or die trying.
But first he needed to honor his commitment to Ava, to making sure she passed her math test. He had to admit that he’d missed the kid, too. And now he was pacing, nervous and impatient for her to show up, making another circuit of the classroom that seemed too small all of a sudden. His cell phone vibrated, and it was a welcome distraction.
He fished it out of his pocket and checked the caller ID, hoping it was Courtney. It wasn’t. His mom’s name and number came up, and he swiped the green button. “Hi, Mom. What’s going on?”
“You wanted updates on Annie. This is it.”
“How is she?”
His mother sighed, and it sounded a lot like helpless frustration. “Not much change. It’s going very slowly. I feel so badly for her. Mason is holding it together for her sake, but it’s hard to watch someone you love hurting, even when there’s going to be a good outcome. But she’s hanging in there like the trouper she is.”
“Where are the twins?” he asked.
“Labor started in the middle of the night, so Mason’s next-door neighbor came over to watch them. Dad and I wanted to be here at the hospital for him and Annie. Your dad just left to go get the twins and bring them to be with us. They can play with toys and run around the waiting room. There are enough of us to take care of them. That’s about it for now. I wish I had something more to report.”
“Okay, Mom. Thanks for the update.”
“When are you coming ov
er?”
“In a little while. Carla is holding down the fort at Make Me a Match.”
“So what are you doing now?” she asked.
“Math tutoring.”
“Is it your day to do that?”
“One of the students made special arrangements.”
“Okay,” she said. “See you when you get here. If there’s any news before that, I’ll let you know.”
“Thanks. ’Bye.” As he hung up, a noise in the classroom doorway made him turn. Ava was standing there, backpack slung over her shoulder.
There was surprise on her face, but almost instantly it changed to open hostility and a whole lot of resentment. “I’m not staying. Just checking. I didn’t think you’d be here.”
“Why wouldn’t I?” Of course he knew, but he wanted to keep her talking. He needed to find out what information she had about Courtney. It was essential to protect the secret and not say anything about their agreement. His family had reacted badly, and they were adults. An impressionable fourteen-year-old girl could be a lot worse.
“Well, you’re not dating my mother anymore, for one thing.”
He winced at the lethal emphasis on the D-word and had a feeling the secret was no longer classified. “You know.”
“That you were pretending to like my mom?” The heated look in her eyes could laser paint off the wall. “Yeah, I know.”
“I wasn’t pretending to like her. And when I give my word, I don’t break it. So let’s do some algebra.”
“Do you think I’m stupid? I already did the math, and this is the answer I got. You’re just like all the other jerks. And I thought you were going to be different.” Disillusionment put a dimmer switch on the shine in her eyes until it flickered and went out.
“Like all the others?” he asked.
“Guys who say what they think you want to hear just to get what they want.”
“I wouldn’t do that,” Gabe protested. “Like I said, when I give my word, you can count on me to keep it.”
“Why should I believe you? You lied to me and to your family. My mom told me why she went along with it, and I promised not to bug her anymore, but the lie was all your idea. How would you even think of something like that? Unless lies are second nature to you. Just like all men.”
“Ava, no. I admit that wasn’t my finest hour, but my family—” He dragged his fingers through his hair. “The last woman they set me up with at Sunday dinner was named Ember. Do that math.”
“So?” But for a second her mouth softened into an almost smile. “Ember? Really?”
“It was vital that I make them stop.” He shrugged. “The way I chose to do that was wrong.”
“Do they know?”
“Yes.” If ever there was a time for complete transparency, this was it. So he added, “I didn’t plan to tell them.”
“Like I said, you’ll say, or not say, anything to get what you want.”
If he was a bug, there would be a stain on the bottom of her white canvas shoe about now. “I’m not a bad guy. You have to trust me.”
“Really?” There was an edge of shrillness in her voice. “You mean the way I could trust the sperm donor who got my mom pregnant then ran out on her and me? Before I was even born.”
“Ava, listen—”
“No.” The backpack must have been heavy, because she slid it off her shoulder and let it rest on a desk. “Maybe you think I should trust you like the jackass who convinced my mom he loved her and me. He claimed he wanted to be a real dad to me. And I really wanted one. Mom believed the lie because she wanted me to have a family like she never had. And she went right on believing until after she married him and right away he started talking about having real kids.”
“That’s not me—”
“Well, you know what?” She glared at him, highlighting the fury and pain inside her. “I am a real kid. I have real feelings, and he took advantage of that to make promises and fool me. You did the same thing, and I hate that I fell for it again. I’m so stupid—”
“You’re not. It wasn’t supposed to happen like this, and I hate that it did. I’m really sorry.”
“Why should I believe you? The idea to lie was yours.” She shook her head. “My mom is right. You can’t trust men.”
He was seeing the destruction of this girl’s romantic streak, which was exactly what Courtney had tried to prevent. He hated himself for many things, but never more than doing this to an innocent girl’s illusions. “I’m a jerk. A real piece of work.”
“Wow, the truth,” she said sarcastically. “I’d have called you a jackass. And here’s why. You don’t care about my mom at all, and you never did.”
“You’re wrong about that, Ava. I liked your mother the first time I met her, right here at your school. She’s beautiful and smart and funny. She touched my heart right away, and that scared me, but it was okay. Because I never expected to see her again. And I was glad about that.”
“Why?” There was still resentment, buckets of it, but at least she was listening to him.
“I never wanted to care about a woman again.”
“Because your wife died. Mom told me about that.”
“Yes. And I never wanted to put myself in a position to feel pain and loss like that again. Being alone was better. Until I met your mother. Then you came in to Make Me a Match to find her a man, and your plan worked. I didn’t know it right then, but I was a goner.”
Ava caught her top lip between her teeth. For the first time since walking through the classroom door, she looked uncertain. There was a crack in her antagonism. “Do you really think I’m stupid enough to believe you?” She pointed at him. “And before you answer that, remember I was grounded for a really long time for telling my mom that I was somewhere I wasn’t.”
Gabe blew out a long breath. “There’s absolutely no reason for you to believe me, but this is the honest truth. Until I came up with the fake-dating plan, I didn’t lie. Except the time my sister asked me if her jeans made her butt look big. And I was kidding to get a reaction from her.”
That got a reluctant smile. “I don’t know—”
“Telling lies doesn’t come naturally to me.” It was really important to him to win back Ava’s trust. Not just because he truly cared about her. But without her in his corner, there was no way for him to win back her mother. “I’ll prove to you that I’m telling the truth if we can relocate this tutoring session to the hospital.”
“But Mom’s working,” she protested.
“I know.” Before he became public jackass number one, Courtney had given him her schedule for the month. “If she’s busy, I won’t bother her until she’s off work. But there’s another reason.”
“What?” Ava asked suspiciously.
“Annie’s gone into labor.”
“She’s having the baby?” The teen’s eyes went wide with excitement.
“Yes. The whole family is gathering, and I’d like to be there with them when the baby gets here.” And he hoped this would be the icing on his apology cake. “My dad is bringing Sarah and Charlie over.”
“I would like to see the twins.” She was fighting it but weakening.
“I have to talk to your mom and apologize,” he said firmly.
“Good plan. I like it.” She nodded her approval. “Can I watch?”
“No.” But he grinned.
“Okay. I’m in. Mom won’t mind if I don’t take the bus home. Wrong thing, right reason. She’s all about me passing my math test. So tutoring at the hospital, it is. Do you have the Mercedes? Or are you driving your dad’s boring SUV?”
“Nope, it’s the Benz.” He grinned. “And I seem to recall promising you a ride in it.”
She smiled. The Ava who liked him was back. “You really do keep your promises.”
“It’s kind of my thing.”
/> “Let’s go, then,” she said.
One Davidson down. Now it was time for him to plead his case to the other one—the woman who’d stolen his heart against his will.
* * *
After talking to Gabe’s family, Courtney was a little distracted for the rest of the day. Their words kept floating through her mind. You’re not a quitter. Don’t give up on him. They’d been so gracious about her deception, she’d nearly broken down and sobbed in front of them. They seemed to genuinely like her and to be sincerely thankful she and Gabe had found each other. But she was the only one who’d found what she wanted, and being the only one made her heart hurt. Unfortunately, there was no medication or therapy on the planet that would cure what she had.
On top of that, he was coming to the hospital because of the new baby. Was he here now? Would she have sensed it if he was in the building? She was exhausted from thinking about it. Thank goodness her shift was done. It was time to go home, where Ava was waiting for her. That was the good news. The bad was that she would never get over Gabriel, but she’d learn to live without him. It might take some time, but survivor was her middle name. She wouldn’t always have her daughter to lean on, but she would make the most of it while she could.
“Hey, Courtney. I didn’t see you at lunch.” Taylor came out of the elevator and met her at the nurses’ station. “You heading home?”
“Yeah.” And nothing to look forward to there. Except Ava, of course. But not Gabe. Never again him. And that sad thought left a mark.
“Any plans?”
She hadn’t had a chance to clue in her friend about recent developments. “No plans.”
“What’s wrong? Problems with your guy?”
“He isn’t my guy and never has been.” Courtney didn’t want to air her personal problems right there by the nurse’s station and moved her friend away, to the other side of the hall by the elevator.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
The elevator doors beside them opened just then, and a guy got out. Courtney looked closer, and when she recognized the man, her heart skipped a beat, then started to pound. “Gabriel.”
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