AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Hey,” he said when she answered, not giving his name. It wasn’t necessary. Zoe would have known his voice anywhere. “Have you changed your mind about going out to dinner?”
“No.” Even to her own ears she didn’t sound welcoming, yet blood whipped through her veins at the mere fact she was speaking to Gabe.
“You sound awful. What’s wrong?”
“I woke with a cold the other morning.”
“Are you taking care of it? Getting enough rest?” His concern somehow made her feel better. She liked knowing Gabe cared about her, even if it was just because of the baby.
“Yes. I’m just tired.”
“Then I’ll pick up dinner. Bring it to you. What’s your address?”
She gave it to him.
“I’ll see you in about an hour and a half. ’Bye.”
Knowing she was about to see Gabe again caused her stomach to flutter. Despite feeling bad, she still rushed around, putting her apartment in order in anticipation of his visit. Her life was already a tightrope and Gabe was tying complicated knots in it as well. With one more tiny twist she might snap.
Zoe finally settled on the sofa to wait for him. She hadn’t missed his poorly veiled threat about getting a lawyer involved if she didn’t talk to him. The nervous waves in her stomach crashed harder, despite him brushing off his threat with a dinner offer. He’d made it plain he didn’t want a wife and children the night they had been together. His declaration of lifelong bachelorhood over five months ago contradicted his current insistence on being involved with their child. How long would his sense of obligation last? Until “his” child started making demands on his time? Would he still be sharing parental duties when they started to interfere with his career? Maybe he didn’t mind being a father as much as he hated the thought of being a husband. If that was the case, she was left with the conclusion he would never marry her.
That hurt. It shouldn’t, but it did.
She had no doubt Gabe wouldn’t consider marriage as a practical solution to their situation. In the unlikely event he did, she would say no. Being wanted because she was the mother of his child wasn’t good enough. When she married it would be for love. Her hand went to her middle. Right now, her focus would be on the baby. She wasn’t going to let Gabe continue making immediate demands that would needlessly confuse her life further.
The door buzzer woke Zoe. Panic filled her. She’d had every intention of having time to apply some makeup and fix her hair before Gabe arrived. She stopped in front of a mirror on the way to the door and pushed at her hair, creating some order, before she checked the peephole, getting a distorted view of Gabe. Even then he looked amazing. Why couldn’t he be everything she didn’t want in a man?
Zoe unlocked and opened the door. Gabe had two large white bags in his hands and one small brown one. She’d never seen him casually dressed. The white-collared shirt he wore rolled up his forearms set off his dark hair and California tan. Jeans hugged his slim hips and loafers covered his feet. He could be a model for a men’s cologne ad. He took her breath away.
For seconds, they just looked at each other. He broke the silence. “May I come in?”
“Yes.” Zoe pushed the door wider.
Gabe entered, looked around, then headed toward the kitchen table, where he set the bags down. “You sit down and rest. I’ll get things on the table. Just tell me where they are.”
Zoe closed the door and followed more slowly. Her apartment went from small to tiny with Gabe in it. She needed to get a grip on her attraction to him or she would lose control of the situation.
Her mother joined them, looking from Gabe and back to her, perplexed.
Zoe put a reassuring hand on her mother’s arm. “Mom, I want you to meet a friend of mine, Gabe Marks.”
“Friend” might be stretching their actual relationship, but she didn’t want to explain more.
Gabe came around the table with a smile on his face. “Mrs. Avery, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”
Her mother smiled. “Hello.”
“I brought you some dinner. I hope you’re hungry.” He pulled a chair out from under the table and held it for her.
“Thank you. I am.” Her smile broadened as she sat.
Zoe sank into a chair.
Gabe returned to the bags, continuing to remove cartons. “Zoe, I hate it, but I forgot drinks.”
How like him to take control and look comfortable doing it. “I have iced tea made.”
“Sounds great.” He looked at her mother and smiled. “That work for you too, Mrs. Avery?”
Her mother grinned, an endearing expression Zoe hadn’t seen in some time, and nodded to Gabe. The devil was charming her mother out of her fog.
Zoe stood.
“I said I’d get things.” He waved her down and headed into the kitchen. “Just tell me where they are. Plates? Silverware?”
“I don’t feel that bad.” Zoe joined him. Gabe took her by the arm and gently led her back to her chair.
Her body trembled at his touch. She sat, forcing him to release her. If he had noticed her hypersensitive reaction to him, he didn’t show it, much to her relief. She had to somehow smother her physical desire for him. She couldn’t spend the rest of her life fighting it and hiding it from him.
“You may not feel very bad at the moment, but you don’t need to exert yourself any more than absolutely necessary. You don’t want to get worse.” His tone said he’d accept no argument.
Zoe huffed then gave him directions to which cabinet and drawer he needed. He soon had the table set and was heading into the kitchen again.
“Glasses?”
“Cabinet next to the refrigerator.”
After the chinking of ice dropping into glasses, Gabe brought two drinks to the table and returned to get the o
ther. He took the seat at the head of the table. For some reason that held significance. As if he was taking on more importance in her life than she wanted.
“Who are you?” her mother asked. In a different situation Zoe might have thought it was funny. Her mother might be as overwhelmed by Gabe as Zoe was, but in this instance she was afraid her mother just didn’t remember.
Gabe answered before Zoe had a chance to. “I’m Gabe.”
“Oh, yeah, that’s right.”
He didn’t miss a beat and started opening containers. “Would you like a piece of fried chicken, Mrs. Avery?”
“Yes, that would be nice.”
Gabe picked up her plate and placed a piece on it. “How about potatoes, green beans and a roll?”
“Please.”
Gabe finished serving her plate and put it in front of her. “Mrs. Avery, did Zoe tell you that I’m moving to the area?”
She looked at Zoe. “No, she didn’t. You’ll like it here. Henry and I moved here when we were newlyweds.”
“So you’ve lived around here for a long time,” Gabe said as he scooped food onto another plate.
Zoe watched her mother become dreamy-eyed as memories surfaced. “We had the best time together.”
That was until Zoe’s father had left and never returned. In her mother’s illness she only remembered the good times, but Zoe clearly recalled the hurt and devastation her father had left behind. She never wanted to live through that again.
“I’m sure you did.” Gabe smiled at her then opened the brown bag. He looked at Zoe. “I forgot. I made a special stop for you.” He pulled out a plastic container of liquid. “Chicken soup. Let me get you a bowl and spoon.” Before she could say anything, he was on his way back to the kitchen. When he returned, he poured the soup in the bowl and placed it and the spoon in front of her.
He’d made a stop just for her? When had someone last made her feel so special? The soup smelled heavenly. She met Gabe’s expectant expression. “Thanks. This hits the spot.”
