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“And when your dad found out I asked you to Newport, he asked you to take over since Harry blew it with me?”
“Only Vivian knew you invited me along on the Fourth.”
That she wasn’t buying. “You saw him the morning you came to pick me up.”
“Yeah, but I didn’t tell him we had plans. Before today, he didn’t know you and I were together. I don’t discuss any of my relationships with him.”
Gavin and his dad worked together. They talked on the phone. How could his father not know? Maybe if they’d only gone on a single date, she could accept his claim. She didn’t share the names of every man she dated with her parents. But they’d been together for over a month. Not only that, but lately she’d been spending more nights at his condo than her house. While she hadn’t shared those details with her parents—talking about her sex life wasn’t something she felt comfortable doing even with Mom—her family knew the relationship was serious between them.
He reached across the table and took her hand. “I’m telling you the truth. I’m with you because I love you, not for any other reason. When Dad saw you with me today, he was as surprised as Harry.”
She wanted his words to be true and his feelings to be real. But wanting something to be real didn’t make it so. If it did, unicorns would be real because as a little girl she’d always wanted one for a pet.
Tugging her hand free, Leah poured her tea. She didn’t offer Gavin a cup. Instead she walked away to get some milk and sugar. If he wanted any, he didn’t mention it.
“The day you dumped Harry, I was mad at him for treating you like that. But I was also happy because I wanted to be with you,” he continued, putting extra emphasis on the word I. “If you hadn’t been with someone the first time we met, I would’ve asked you out then. When you showed up at my condo with Harry, I was pissed because if I’d known you weren’t with anyone, I would’ve tried to contact you before your cousin introduced you to him.”
Leah sipped her tea and considered his words. She’d never heard anyone sound more sincere. But sincerity didn’t equate with truth.
“Leah?” His voice cracked with emotion.
Her heart urged her to accept Gavin’s words and forget everything she’d heard Harry say this afternoon.
Her brain cautioned her against it. Twice men had betrayed her. She didn’t want to add a third to her track record.
“I need some time.”
Time to think and sort through everything they’d shared up until today as well as their conversation tonight. Leah couldn’t even attempt to do that with him sitting across from her.
He steepled his hands together near his face and closed his eyes. She waited for him to further argue his case or press her for a different answer.
He didn’t. Instead he lowered his hands and opened his eyes. They shone with the same sadness gripping her heart. Unfortunately, she couldn’t tell if it was real or not.
“Okay. Take whatever time you need.” Standing, Gavin came around to the other side of the table. He didn’t try to hug her or pull her in close. He simply took her hand and raised it to his lips. “I love you, and time won’t change that.” His lips brushed across her knuckles before he released her hand. “Goodnight. I’ll see you in the morning.”
Leah swallowed, trying to dislodge the softball stuck in her throat. “Goodnight.” She watched him leave the room and reached for her teacup. Getting any sleep tonight was unlikely. She might as well drink her tea and try to sort out the thousand and one emotions crashing over her.
Chapter Sixteen
Until about a month ago, unless she had a family member visiting or she was with friends, she spent her weekends at home alone. The solitude never bothered her.
This morning the house was a little too quiet and a little too big.
After a quick breakfast, Gavin and Erin had left as planned for Providence. She expected him to press her for an answer regarding where they stood before he left, but he didn’t mention their late-night conversation or the one she’d overheard between him and Harry. Erin did ask why she wasn’t coming along when it was time to leave. As far as she knew, Gavin and Leah were going to Maine after they dropped her off today.
Thankfully, a simple “Leah has something she needs to do” from Gavin satisfied Erin, and she let the matter go. Or at least she didn’t ask again before they left. What happened once Gavin and Erin got underway was anyone’s guess, and not her problem today.
She had enough of her own to sort out.
Last night Gavin had promised her all the time she wanted, but she didn’t want this lingering between them. Either she accepted that he was telling the truth and they moved on, or she told him to take a hike and got on with her life.
Option B was certainly the easiest and perhaps safest. If she put an end to their relationship now, she didn’t run the risk of getting burned down the road.
But cutting him from her life was the last thing she wanted. Even after the conversation she’d overheard, she loved him. Maybe that made her an idiot, but she couldn’t turn her emotions on and off like a table lamp. Not only did she still love him, but she wanted to believe her feelings were reciprocated.
Unfortunately, even after their conversation, doubt remained, urging her to think long and hard before she got in any deeper. And that was why at almost noon on a picture-perfect Sunday afternoon, she sat alone by the pool sipping iced tea and running through every moment she spent with Gavin since April.
True, he’d called to check on her after the incident at the condo, but he hadn’t asked to see her. She’d been the one to reach out a few days later and ask him to lunch. Their friendship had taken off after that afternoon. Not once had she felt as if he was pursuing her or trying to set himself up for something more.
