Gabe's Reckoning by E.M. Gayle

Author:E.M. Gayle [Gayle, Eliza]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Gypsy Ink Books

Chapter 16

“Where were you going to go?”

Her head jerked up at his question. “What?”

“At the cabin, you said you were leaving. Where were you planning to go?”

Oh.

She laid her head back down on Gabe’s chest and thought about his question before answering. What could she say that wouldn’t make her sound like an idiot? She took a deep breath and told him the truth. No point in trying to hide anything now. “I didn’t have any concrete plans. It’s part of the reason I went to the cabin. I needed some time to think on my own and I was hoping inspiration would strike me.”

“And did it?”

She shook her head. “Unfortunately not. I’d pretty much come to the conclusion that I just needed to get in my car and see where the road took me. I’ve never traveled anywhere you know.”

He lifted his head. “Nowhere?”

“Nope. My mother worked all the time and what little time she didn’t spend at the hospital was spent at the church with the Reverend. Whatever the hell he was selling to everyone, she bought it hook, line and sinker. As far as she was concerned he was the equivalent of the second coming.”

“I think that’s the most you’ve ever told me about her,” he said, his fingers now stroking across her back. “But you’ve been on your own for a long time. Why didn’t you go somewhere since then?”

“You’ve seen what my life was. I worked non-stop. Even before I owned the cafe I worked every possible moment I could, cut every corner I found and saved every extra dime that I didn’t need to eat and sleep. All I could focus on was having enough money in my life to never have to go back to her house. Then when the cafe property came up on the market, I put everything I had and a small loan from Tucker into it. And I’ve been working there every day since. I always planned on taking some grand vacations, but it just never happened.”

Gabe pulled her fully across his body until they were touching from shoulder to toes. “And now you’re ready to walk away from it?” He sounded skeptical.

She shrugged. “Why not? It’s not as if the café was some sort of lifelong dream. It was a means to an end. One that allowed me to be my own boss and not have to put up with someone telling me what to do all the time.”

She hated the bitterness in her voice. At one point in time she had thought the café was the answer to all her dreams. And in the beginning, she’d loved it. Unfortunately, time and circumstances had a way of eroding everything she touched.

He laughed. “You really seem to have some sort of block against people telling you what to do. Yet when I do it, you melt.”

She slapped at his shoulder. “I do not!” Although she knew she was lying to herself. He’d proven that just a short while ago somewhere between ice cream and the long nap she’d indulged in.

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