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I shot a death glare at him, then tilted my head toward Chris, who was luckily distracted by the awkwardness of wearing a tux for the first time.
“Ixna on the otsha,” I replied through clenched teeth.
“Why are you busting out the pig Latin?” Gabe asked with a chuckle. “There was nothing in that sentence that needed to be spoken in code.”
“Never mind,” I replied, hoping they’d drop it.
I should have known better.
“Who’s he after?” Gabe asked Dillon, totally ignoring my requests.
“Mom,” Chris answered without batting an eye, causing my stomach to drop and Gabe’s eyes to widen as we took in the teen who was biting his lip as he turned to look at himself at all angles in the mirror.
Dillon started laughing as I closed my eyes and tried counting to ten.
I barely got to four when Gabe asked, “You have a thing for Chloe? Still?”
“What do you mean, still?” Dillon asked, perking up at the new information. “How long has this been going on?”
Gabe glanced briefly at his son, and I could see him struggling to find the words that would explain what he meant, without bringing up the particulars of his past with Chloe.
“I liked her first,” I put in, cutting him some slack. “Back when we first met her.”
Dillon rubbed his hand over his chin and said, “Wow,” but didn’t say anything further, even though I was sure it was killing him inside.
Chris finally turned from his reflection to look at me.
“Really?” he asked, his young face contemplative. “That’s pretty cool. I don’t think she knows that. It could give you the in that you need.”
Gabe frowned, as if he wasn’t sure how he felt about not only me having feelings for Chloe, but Chris’s easy acceptance of it.
I was surprised as well, but wasn’t going to let the opportunity pass me by.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, she doesn’t date,” Chris replied, then turned to Gabe and asked, “Can I take this off now?”
Gabe nodded, and as Chris began to take off the tux he added, “Like ever. She’s never introduced me to a guy, let alone brought one home, and I know she feels weird about this whole situation.” When he pointed from himself to Gabe, then to me, we all understood what he meant. It was already a weird situation, my having feelings for his mom just made it weirder. “But, she loves romance. Like totally loves it, in movies, books, music, and I think if she knew you had a thing for her before, and still do, even after all the weird, she would think that was pretty romantic.”
I nodded, getting where he was coming from, but still not sure Chloe would welcome my affection, especially after the friend talk we’d had before.
Chris laid his jacket over the back of a chair, then brought his serious eyes to mine and said softly, “And she deserves that, you know, some romance.”
He turned to step into the dressing room, and I caught the look of devastation on Gabe’s face before he could turn his face toward the wall.
I walked over to my best friend and cousin and clapped my hand on his back as I leaned in close to whisper, “It’s not on you, Gabe. You were both young and stupid, and caught in the moment. You didn’t treat her carelessly, and you had no idea that she was pregnant. It sucks that it happened, but it’s in the past now and you’re doing more than enough to make it up to both of them.”
Gabe looked at the floor and rubbed his hand on the back of his neck.
“I know, Rear, but I hate that Chris knows how much his mother gave up, and how much she struggled to make sure he was well-cared for, knowing that all the while I had more than enough to give them both a comfortable life where they wouldn’t have wanted for anything.”
I understood my cousin’s guilt. Hell, I’d felt plenty guilt of my own since we’d found out about Christopher, but he wasn’t at fault, I truly believed that, and I needed him to believe it too.
“What if she’d been able to get in touch with you all those years ago? You’d have married her,” I said, even though the words made me physically ill, “and you both would have been miserable.” Gabe lifted his head, his eyes flashing, but before he could give a rebuttal, I continued, “You get along, yes, and you would have been able to be there while Chris grew up, but, Gabe, you’re friends at best. You don’t love each other. And what about Zoey? You think she ever would have given you the time of day if you were her ex-brother-in-law? Not on your life. You and Zoey were meant to be together, and you and Christopher are as close as a father and son could be. Things worked out for the best.”
I walked away to give him a minute to process, knowing once he worked it all out in his head, he’d go back to knowing that the current situation between him, Chloe, Chris, and Zoey was exactly as it should be. It was just hard for him when faced with his son’s factual accounting of Chloe’s personal life, to know that he had a hand in it.
“Sorry, Rear,” Dillon said as I approached. “I didn’t even think about the kid when I opened my big mouth.”
