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Gabe smiled sympathetically. "He was wandering alone on the beach. He looked confused so I thought I'd bring him back."
"Thank you so much." I guided my father into the house. "Why don't you go get some juice, Papa?"
He nodded and smiled at me before heading to the kitchen and I turned back to Gabe. "I really can't thank you enough."
"It was really no trouble at all."
"How did you know which house was mine?"
"Oh, I saw you head back this direction the day we met, and I knew the people next door were a couple with a kid. I was just going to knock on doors until I found you but yours was the next one."
"Well, I was just going to make coffee and break out the pastries I picked up in town yesterday. Would you care to join us on the porch for breakfast?"
"That would be great. Thank you."
"Make yourself comfortable. I'll be right back."
"Sure thing." Gabe grinned and took a seat at the outdoor table.
I checked on my dad who was settled in front of the television. “Hey Papa, do you want to eat breakfast outside with me and Gabe?” I asked but he just shook his head no.
“Okay. I'll bring you a pastry, though.” I went to the kitchen and grabbed enough food for the three of us along with coffee for Gabe and myself. After dropping off one pastry for my father I headed outside to the welcome breeze of sea air.
“Hey,” Gabe said as he stood from the table. “Let me help you with that.” He took the tray with coffee, cream, and sugar from my hands and carefully placed it on the table while I set the plate of pastries down.
“Thank you.”
Gabe rounded the table and pulled my chair out for me, and I smiled at his politeness. He sat in the seat across from me, taking the initiative to remove the cups of coffee from the tray and set one in front of each of us.
“Will your dad not be joining us?”
“No, he's settled in front of the TV and doesn't want to get up.” I chuckled. “I think that little walk wore him out.”
“Well, I can't say that I mind it being just me and you. It gives us some time to talk, and I'd love to get to know you better.”
“Oh, what would you like to know?”
“I'm curious. You said that this wasn't an end-of-life type trip, which I can see your father is still full of life, but what brings a surgeon on a trip to the beach in the middle of winter?”
“I just needed to get away for a little bit.” It wasn't a complete lie considering that Alessandro insisted upon me getting away for a while. I did feel like I needed to heed his advice.
“Let me guess,” Gabe started. “Was there a breakup involved?"
I thought about his question for a moment, reflecting on it. Alessandro and I had never actually dated but in a way it was like a breakup because whether we had meant to or not we somehow found ourselves in a relationship.
"Something like that."
"And you felt like you needed to get away. I totally get it.”
“Oh yeah. You mentioned that when your girlfriend broke up with you, you decided to start traveling. Did that help?”
“It was a good distraction while I was healing.”
“I guess that's a good way to look at it. It wasn't a magic pill that made everything all better, but I could see how it would help at least with a distraction.” I took a sip of my coffee.
Gabe cleared his throat and squirmed a little, looking like he wanted to say more. “You know, if you ever want more of a distraction, I would be happy to help with that.”
I looked at him skeptically, wondering what he meant by adistraction,and he looked flustered.
