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"I wish my mommy would marry Pastor Ethan or Rosie's dad."
"Chip, I know you don't understand this, but I'd take it as a personal favor if you'd stop trying to marry your mother off to my brothers."
"My mommy won't marry you because me and you don't get along."
Gabe couldn't think of how to respond. He'd already told the boy it wasn't his fault. What more could he say?
"I don't want to go to Flor'da." Edward lifted his head to look at Gabe, but didn't quite meet his eyes. "If we got along, I bet she'd marry you, and we wouldn't have to go away."
"I don't know. Maybe. There are other problems that don't have anything to do with you. I just don't know."
A mulish expression came over Chip's tear-streaked face, and at that moment, he looked so much like Rachel, Gabe wanted to cry himself. "I do! I know!"
"Know what?"
"How to make her change her mind and marry you."
The boy looked so certain that, for a moment, Gabe was sucked in. "How?"
He began tugging up clumps of grass. "You could pretend."
"Pretend? I don't know what you mean."
More grass came up. "You could pretend you like me. Then my mommy would marry you, and we wouldn't have to go away."
"I—I don't think that would work."
His brown eyes filled with hurt. "Couldn't you even pretend to like me? It wouldn't have to be real."
Gabe forced himself to meet the boy's gaze and utter his lie with complete conviction. "I do like you."
"No." Edward shook his head. "But you could pretend. And I could pretend about you, too. If we pretended real good, my mommy would never know."
The boy's deadly earnestness was tearing Gabe apart. He looked down at the scuffed toes of his boots. "It's a little more complicated than that. There are other things—"
But Chip jumped to his feet, no longer listening. He'd said what he had to, and now he wanted to share the news. He dashed toward the path in the woods, calling out as he ran. "Mommy! Hey, Mommy!"
"I'm over here."
Gabe heard Rachel's voice, faint but still audible. He sat on the step and listened.
"Mommy, I got something to tell you!"
"What is it, Edward?"
"It's me and Gabe. We like each other now!"
Rachel dropped Edward off at child care on Monday morning, then sat in the parking lot gathering her courage. She knew what she had to do, but there was a big difference between knowing and doing. So many loose ends to tie up before she left.
She leaned her head against the Escort's window and made herself accept the fact that she and Edward would be getting on the bus and heading for Clearwater in a week. Misery settled over her, and her heart felt like a bleeding wound inside her chest. Watching Edward act as if he and Gabe had magically become friends was wrenching. All evening Edward had smiled at Gabe, this small, insincere crescent stretched across his teeth. At bedtime, she'd watched him gather his courage.
"Night, Gabe. I really like you a lot."
Gabe had flinched, then tried to cover it up "Thank you, Chip."
She blamed Gabe, even as she knew he was doing his best not to hurt Edward. That made Gabe's helplessness all the more painful, and her decision to leave even more necessary.
When she'd tucked Edward in, she'd tried to talk to him about what was happening, but he'd only shaken his head.
