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Like water turning to ice in the cold, Gabe felt Hope go still against him. And since he was obviously the cold in this equation, he unwrapped his arms from around her, gently turning her so he could look into her eyes instead.
“Hope?”
“How did you know that?” she asked, hugging herself, and her vulnerability nearly killed him.
“If you’re expecting my six-year-old to keep your secrets, I hate to burst your bubble, but…”
She looked down at her feet, clearly embarrassed, but he thought he saw the corner of her mouth curl up the tiniest bit. “Right.”
He hated the tremor of her voice, hated that she’d started trembling, hated that she was hurting in any way. He rubbed her arms again, willing his body heat into hers. Finally, she lifted her gaze to look at him, her eyes bright in a way that told him she was fighting back tears. Then she simply sighed and leaned forward to rest her forehead against his chest.
“For most of my life, I thought I was a Morgan by blood.” The sound of her voice was muffled against his chest, and he had to strain to hear her. She said something else, but he didn’t catch it, so he hooked a finger under her chin and tipped her head up to face him.
Her eyes were both dark and luminous and, in that moment, she looked so open and beautiful it took his breath away.
When her lower lip quivered, he knew she was hanging on by a thread.
“I found out the truth when I was sixteen. Well, kind of.” Her lips pressed together in a thin line as she struggled for control. “At my sixteenth birthday my cousin dropped the bomb, but I didn’t believe it. Or didn’t want to. But it was too late, the doubt was there.” She paused to take a deep breath. “I spent years comparing every little detail about myself against my family, looking for similarities. Differences. It was torture. Then, this past Christmas I gave my parents a genetic test kit and, well, that did it. The truth came out.”
She made a horrible, strangled sound that made him want to whisk her away to another time. Away from anything that could hurt her, that made her feel pain. But he couldn’t. All he could do was let her talk, let her get out what had obviously been weighing on her heart for far too long.
“For all those years, I thought I was someone I wasn’t.” A big tear spilled over her lower lashes and broke his heart as it rolled slowly down her cheek. “And it hurt,” she said, pressing her fist to the center of her chest like there was an open wound there, and she was trying to stifle the blood flow. “It hurt so, so much, because it felt like everything up until then had been a lie. But then I met you and Ruby, and you’ve both lost so much, more than I can imagine, but still, you have this.” She gestured to the house behind them. “You have a family that you let fill the gaps. And I realized, I realized—” She broke off on a choked sob.
He drew her against him until not even a sheet of paper could fit between. “Family is what you make it, Hope,” he told her. “We don’t often get to choose how it works out, or who gets to be in it. Family isn’t always about blood. It’s about heart.” He rubbed her back. “Did they give you love?”
“Yes,” she said emphatically. “Yes. They only ever loved me. It’s me who’s hurting them now.”
He said nothing to that, because he didn’t believe it. They stood wrapped up in each other and might have stayed that way for the rest of the night, but the back door swung open, and his sister poked her head out.
“Sugar is on the table, so get inside, you two. Plus, stay out here any longer and you’ll freeze your rear ends clean off.”
The door shut behind her, and Gabe felt Hope shaking in his arms. For one horrible moment he thought she was crying again, but much to his relief he realized she was shaking with laughter, and when she pulled back from him, a smile shone straight through to her eyes.
Then, surprising him, she stretched up onto her tiptoes and kissed him. She didn’t demand anything, simply offered him a soft, sweet kiss. Then she lifted her head and looked at him for a beat before lowering back to the flat of her feet.
“One thing is certain,” she said, eyes shining bright with emotion and now also amusement. “Older siblings, biological or not, are a pain in the ass.”
“Amen to that.” He laughed, and slinging his arm around her shoulders, they walked back inside, together.
CHAPTERSIXTEEN
The rest of the evening passed quickly. The “sugar” that Lori had called them back for ended up being a chocolate trifle that Gabe’s father had made, and Hope had to stifle a moan with every creamy bite. It wasn’t as good as the dessert Gabe had dished out last night, but it sure came close.
After trifle, they played charades, during which she and Ruby were teamed up and effortlessly won round after round against all the others. Hope tried not to notice Gabe’s assessing gaze as he watched the two of them whenever it was their turn.
She also couldn’t help but notice how the Walsh patriarch also kept a steady eye on her and Ruby throughout the evening. Occasionally a small smile etched his rugged face, other times he was more pensive, and she recalled his words from earlier.Sometimes that kind of love does strike twice in one lifetime.
Was that what Gabe was looking for? A second chance at love? He hadn’t indicated as much to her. Then again, she could see why he might be looking for some stability for Ruby. A maternal figure beyond that of her aunt.
And if stability was what he was after, she hated to disappoint, but he wasn’t going to find it with her. If and when Gabe decided to move on he deserved to have a woman who came with far less baggage. He’d earned that after all he’d been through already, and the guilt of knowing she had more baggage that she hadn’t yet disclosed to him sunk like a stone in her gut.
So, she put Gabe and his father’s considering looks out of her mind.
After one particularly impressive round of charades, she and Ruby both collapsed on the couch, out of breath and sweaty from their efforts. They’d actually garnered a round of applause for Hope’s correct guess of Ruby’s portrayal of Beauty and the Beast.
Looking smug, and not the least bit humble, Ruby informed everyone, “We practice a lot of acting when Hope comes over. We come up with some great performances.”
From his spot on the couch, Gabe cocked an eyebrow. “I’d like to see theseperformancessome time, ladies.”
