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“Exactly. I know it’s hard, but put yourself in Dani’s shoes back when you sprang kink on her.”
“Well, damn.” It hit him like a ton of bricks. What a selfish ass he’d been. He not only sprang it on her, he didn’t do much in the way of explaining. Why hadn’t he’d seen it before? Because he was too wrapped up in himself and wasn’t taking Dani’s feelings into consideration. That’s why.
“Now what are you going to do?” Zeke asked.
“Apologize, but it’s more than that.”
“I see. Want to go get a beer and chat more?” Zeke asked.
“Not today.” He needed to wrap his head around a few things first. “Thanks. You’ve helped me.” Gabriel clapped Zeke on the shoulder.
“See you tomorrow; we’ve got a meeting at ten with the Stamfords.”
“Yep, it’s on my calendar.” Gabriel climbed into his SUV. He had some thinking to do and some apologizing.
* * * *
Dani finished planting the last of the bushes around the new library. She was happy with them. “They look nice.” Dani turned to see Tessa standing behind her.
“Hi, Tessa.” She dusted her hands off, stood, and brushed the dirt off her knee pads. “I’m glad you like them.”
“They don’t look drought resistant.”
“They’re not supposed to. When Zeke brought me in to do the landscaping, and with the permission of the county, we installed a rainwater system.”
“Is that the big white thing in the back?”
“Yep. It will collect the rainwater to be used for irrigation and other non-drinkable things. It will help keep the costs down for the library and also help the environment.”
“I love it.” Tessa gave her a big smile.
“Was there something else?” She was a little surprised to see Tessa.
“I wanted to check in with you. You were quiet at the subs’ meeting yesterday.”
Dani’s lips turned up. “I have a lot on my mind.”
“I bet. Plus, we can be a noisy bunch when we get together. Allyson just wanted to make sure—” She broke off.
“Make sure I’m okay?” Dani loved her best friend. She was worried when Dani refused to play on Friday night and left right after her shift.
“Yes. We were all a little worried.”
“I’m okay.” Was she? Well, as okay as she could be. She still hadn’t come to any decisions about Gabriel. Really, there wasn’t much for her to decide. The ball was in his court now.
“I don’t mean to pry.” Tessa glanced down at her feet.
“It’s okay.” And it was. This was something Dani had missed while she was in San Francisco—having girl friends who cared. Yes, she had friends in the lifestyle, but she only saw them when she went out with them. Here was different. “I’m glad I have friends to check on me.”
Tessa blew out a breath. “Thank you. Allyson seemed concerned, and in turn, that made us all concerned.”
“You are all the best. You welcomed me into Wicked Sanctuary even though I’m still pretty much a novice.”
“Of course we did. We’ve all been there. It’s almost lunch time; do you want to grab a bite to eat? And I’ll tell you about Damon’s and my courtship. It was crazy.”
“I heard about what your father did. I’m sorry.”
Tessa laughed. “I’m not. It got my mother out of a bad relationship, and he finally realized that I wasn’t going to bow down to his wishes. Lunch?”
