Love All Year by unknow

Author:unknow
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: holiday romance, jewish romance, black romance, chinese romance, muslim romance, yule romance
Publisher: Elizabeth Kahn
Published: 2020-09-22T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 5

SHE PEERED AT HIM, and he could almost see the scales in her mind weighing out the pros and cons of his request. Regret and shame settled in his gut like a two-ton weight, the consequences of his appalling treatment of her years ago their albatross. She didn’t trust him or his ability to care for her completely, but he was determined to either climb over her walls or destroy them altogether. He’d been a fool to think his grandmother’s death and their shared grief would be the permanent wrecking ball to her barriers. But he was watching her rebuild them, likely stronger than ever, and finding the balance between pleading his case to let him in while respecting her right to keep him out was leaving him bereft and exhausted.

Yet Gabriel would push, but not too hard. He’d snap his arms off before she’d move anywhere she didn’t want to go.

“Can you move it to the top of my head?” she ultimately asked.

He squeezed his hand around the “it” in question, his relief and surge of triumph at her acquiescence so strong he thought he could crush the ice inside the washcloth as he gave himself a mental fist pump. Instead, he smiled and nodded, placing the compress on the crown of her head, sighing when she sighed and relaxed further in the couch cushions.

“Do you need a pillow? For your knees? I don’t need you creaking and croakin’ while you finish those pony rides today,” she teased.

“Ha,” he deadpanned, but he did grab one of the throw pillows to kneel on. He wasn’t so prideful to admit he wasn’t as young as he used to be, and the hardwood floors were unforgiving.

But Gloria wasn’t hard. She’d always been soft and sweet and gentle and nurturing. He’d basked in her care, knew he was lucky to be the recipient of such largess, but he’d taken her for granted. The folly of youth and ego. He’d acted like she’d owed him her attention, could pick it up and throw it down when he wanted. But he’d failed to account that Gloria was also steady and driven, comfortable traveling her own path even if she had to do so alone. She wasn’t afraid of herself, being a company of one. She took things or left them if they no longer served. He’d made himself obsolete in her life even as she remained essential in his. Nana Louise had called him Booboo the Fool for his actions.

“It’ll take a miracle for her to come back the way you want her to,” she’d warned him once.

And while he’d never consider Nana Louise’s death a miracle, he also could admit she’d probably cashed in some universal favors on his behalf before shuffling off this mortal coil. Nana Louise had always wanted the best for him. She’d clocked Gloria Coombs fit that requirement perfectly. Why else would her end-of-life documents leave the house to him and her?

Gabriel and Gloria Ray the words had declared. The very last update a mere month before she’d passed.

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