I would’ve stayed in his arms longer, but I had to give him his gift. As excited as I was, I was also incredibly nervous. So nervous that as I pulled away from the embrace and reached for the gift bag, I couldn’t meet his eyes. Was the gift too much? Was it not enough? What if he hated it? What if it brought about emotions that he didn’t want to be feeling?
Gabe took the bag from me and carefully reached in. He pulled out the rectangular shape and began unwrapping it. His hand stilled once he’d pulled away enough wrapping paper to put the pieces together of what this might be—a photo scrapbook.
“When in the world did you have time to make this?” he asked, awe in his voice as he flipped through the first few pages.
“Well, I’ve had a few days off,” I said with a laugh.
It was hard for me to sit still, even on days when I knew I needed the rest. Taking the time off was a big step for me, but I had to keep busysomehow.
“Lily, this is…” He trailed off, shaking his head.
While Gabe might not have been around in Golden Falls growing up, I wanted him to have a piece of town and his family when he left. I also wanted to show him how much Vera and Hal adored him and kept up with his accomplishments throughout the years. I’d conspired with Hal this past week after telling him my idea. Hal was good about displaying photos in his home and at the hardware store, but there were still hundreds of photos in storage. This was a perfect way to put them to good use.
There were photos of Hal and Vera together, the two of them with a young Gabe, and pictures of Gabe throughout the years that Hal kept. I’d also added a few more recent photos, including some from the Christmas festival and our time at the café.
But my favorite photo—well, apart from the adorable photos of Gabe when he was younger—was a selfie we took last night with the festival in the backdrop. I ended up taking the photo too early, catching Gabe mid-laugh. I couldn’t remember what I’d said to him, only that it was something I said that had made him laugh like that. I had to add the photo into the scrapbook.
“This is the most thoughtful gift I’ve ever gotten,” Gabe admitted, closing the book. “Thank you for making this for me. I love seeing the photos of Hal and Vera. Looking at the photos brings back memories of the two of them visiting Milwaukee that I had forgotten about. I wish”—he cleared his throat—“I wish that things could have been different. That I could have been here when Vera?—”
Realizing he was talking about Vera’s funeral, I reached over for his hand.
“I know I have to live with the fact that I wasn’t here, but if there’s any good that can come out of missing Vera’s funeral, it’s that I don’t want to miss out on moments with people I care about. I don’t want to miss out on forming those connections. And I also don’t want to waste another moment working for myfather when IknowI can be doing work that is valuable and brings people together.”
“It says a lot that you’re taking that moment and what you were feeling and learning from it. That’s not easy. I also know now that it couldn’t have been easy for you to come to Golden Falls in the first place. But I’m glad you did.”
His throat bobbed as he swallowed. “Yeah, I’m glad, too. For so many reasons.”
The more I got to know Gabe and understand his relationship with his father, the more I realized how miserable he was working at Nelson Group. And yet, he was still there. There had to be more to it.
“There’s a reason you haven’t been able to quit.”
He sighed heavily, nodding. “There is. I didn’t realize it when I joined Nelson Group, because I didn’t review the contract carefully. I was excited to work for my father and thought this would help our relationship. I couldn’t have been more wrong.”
I scooted closer to Gabe, and he wrapped his arm around me.
He continued. “Part of the contract is a five-year non-compete clause. If I leave Nelson Group, I’d have to do something else for five years. I’ve struggled a lot with that, and I feel like regardless of what I do—stay or leave—my career would be over.”
“And you thought Hal’s building would be your chance to have a project for yourself, to work on the community-focused projects you’ve wanted,” I finished for him, the pieces coming together.
He looked down at me, smiling sadly. “I did, but a lot’s changed since then. Also, I don’t trust my father to stay away from this project, especially since he tried to buy the building from Hal years ago.”
That caught my attention. “Really? I had no idea.”
I nuzzled closer into Gabe’s side, finding myself wondering about if the building even mattered. Would I give it up if it meant Gabe would stay in Golden Falls longer? My stomach churned with unease, and my chest pinched. I wasn’t sure of my answer.
In a simple world, I would give up the building for Gabe. But…this wasn’t a simple world. I didn’t want to give up my dreams for someone, even a man I was falling for. And if Gabe knew me, which I believed he did, he wouldn’t want me giving up, either. He would want me to fight like hell for this building and prove that I’m the right person for it.
But if I got the building, then that meant Gabe didn’t. I didn’t want him to have to put his dreams on hold again and to continue to feel stuck. I knew how much this building meant to him andwhatit meant—an opportunity to finally work on community projects he’d been envisioning for years. I wanted to see his ideas come to life, and this felt like the only way now that I knew the truth about why he couldn’t leave.
Regardless of how this turned out, one of us wouldn’t be able to fulfill a dream we’d worked so hard for. A heaviness settled over me, and what seemed so simple at the start of the month suddenly wasn’t.
We stayed outside longer, thankfully changing the subject to lighter topics, until Wes called from the back door, asking if we were still alive. My brother liked to tease our parents for worrying, but he had a soft side, too.
As Gabe and I walked up the steps back to the house, I thought about how in trying to create a Christmas for Gabe that he wouldn’t forget, I did the same for myself.
There was no way I’d ever forget celebrating with Gabe or the rush of being around him. How much I enjoyed bringing a smile to his face but also pushing his buttons.
I couldn’t tell if that made me happy or if it devastated me. Years from now, would I be sitting in my living room thinkingaboutthisday? Thinking about Gabe and wondering what he was doing? Who he was with?
