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“Got a minute?” he asked, running his fingers through his already disheveled hair.
“Yep. Want a beer?” I asked, knowing from the look on his face that this was indeed a beer drinking situation.
“Please.”
I grabbed two beers from the fridge and brought them out to the porch, where we sat down. “What’s going on?”
He twisted the cap off the bottle and, in one quick minute, downed half the bottle. “I did something kind of stupid,” he muttered.
“Okay.” I took a long draw on the beer bottle, wondering what stupid thing Gabe could have done. I prayed Mallory hadn’t come back to town, and that they hadn’t fallen into bed together.
“Mallory called, told me she changed her mind again. Told me not to bother coming out.”
I chuckled. “Un-fucking-believable,” I muttered under my breath. “Let me guess, you confessed your love for her—yet again—and then begged her to take you back.”
As much as I felt Gabe was like a brother to me, I absolutely hated seeing him so whipped by a girl that he’d literally beg for her to take him back. The bitch walked out on him when he needed her. That, in my book, would be where I drew the line. It irritated me when he told me he was going to talk to her. I’d told him time and time again just to draw the line, but he claimed it wasn’t that easy. I begged to differ, but then I’d never get into a relationship with a girl like Mallory to start.
“No, I didn’t beg her to take me back. It’s worse than that. She went on and on the other day about how things would have been different had I stayed in the Army. I knew Ethan Alexander had invited his military buddies to do an enlistment call in Willow Valley a few weeks ago.”
My eyes flew to my best friend. “Gabe, what the hell did you do?”
He was quiet for a few minutes, drinking his beer, then he looked over at me. “I was feeling pretty low after the call with Mallory. Call it my moment of weakness. I miss her, Connor. Anyway, I had to go into town, and well, I stopped at the hall and may have enlisted.”
I glued my eyes on him, not believing what he’d said.
“I mean, it’s not like I’ve never been in the military before.” He shrugged. “I know what I’m in for.”
“You did what?” I questioned, taking a large mouthful of beer myself. Gabe had joined the military when we’d been young guys, right after his mother had passed on. He’d been having a hard time coping. I could remember that Mallory was so proud that she was dating a military man. Anyway, he ended up leaving the Army because Cadence needed to go help her grandparents, and someone needed to help her father with the farm.
“It was stupid, I know, but at the time it felt right. Everything has gone for shit. I needed something familiar back in my life.” He shrugged before taking another drink. “Plus, I figured, if it was needed, I could hit her back with the fact I’d gone back into military life. Sort of, I told you so.”
I knew exactly how he was feeling. I knew how I felt after losing Ella; he didn’t need to explain it. Hell, I’d grasped at everything for a while. “I get it. You feel lost. However, you have something familiar. What about the farm?” I asked, meeting my friend’s eyes. “Besides, who the fuck cares what she thinks? She’s a whiny, shallow bitch, man.”
I never held back what I was feeling with Gabe. He didn’t hold back either. It was part of why our friendship worked so well. If one of us didn’t like something that was going on in our lives, the other said it. Nine times out of ten, the other agreed. We just needed the push to see what the other was seeing was right. It was how we each stayed in balance when things seemed off-kilter.
“I did and I still do. Anyway, I figured nothing would come of it, but last night, after I got off the phone with Mallory, I got a call. I’m being deployed on a peacekeeping mission after I finish re-training in a few weeks, and…”
“Here it comes,” I mumbled, knowing exactly what was coming.
“This time, I really need you to look over the farm.” Gabe looked at me, sadness lining his face. “I need this, Connor, you don’t understand.”
I leaned forward and rested my forearms on my knees and looked down at the boards on the porch. Gabe was wrong. I understood wholeheartedly. I just didn’t know if I could do it. My hands were full here. There weren’t many hours left in the day to do things.
“I know what you’re thinking. You can’t handle it all. I’m working on figuring that out. You are also right about Mallory. The minute I told her I was being deployed; her tune changed. She suddenly said she’d been wrong to tell me not to come, that she wanted to see me to work things out. That’s why before I came over here, I dropped the signed papers from her lawyer in the mail.”
I nodded.
“I’m glad you see it too, about Mallory.” I nodded, taking another drink.
We both grew quiet as we looked out over the farmland. I’d help my friend, he knew it. I owed him after everything he’d done for me. There wasn’t much more to say. Gabe knew I’d been struggling. That was why he’d been here daily since Ella had passed—to check on me. He may not know that I noticed, but I did. I couldn’t get mad either. He was being a friend. The friend I needed.
“Are you going to be okay?” he questioned.
“What do you mean?”
“If I leave, are you going to be okay?”
I leaned back in my chair and nodded. “Do I have any other choice? She’s been gone for over a year. It’s time that I pick up the pieces and move on. I know you’re worried. It’s written all over your face, but I’ll be fine.”
