Adelia had no sooner walked in the front door than Selena stormed out of the kitchen, her expression sullen.
“What’s wrong?” Adelia asked. “Has something happened? Are your sisters and brother okay?”
“They’re just fine,” she replied sourly. “Maybe I’m just tired of babysitting.”
Selena had suggested that she be responsible for watching her younger siblings after school since she was confined to home, anyway, so Adelia wasn’t sure what to make of her sudden change of heart. One thing she was sure of, she didn’t like the attitude.
“I don’t know where this mood of yours is coming from, but I don’t appreciate it,” she told her daughter.
“Well, I don’t like a lot of things,” Selena retorted.
“Okay, that’s it,” Adelia said, pointing to the living room. “In there right now.”
Though she didn’t look happy about it, Selena went into the living room and sat down. Only when they were both seated on the sofa, albeit with a good bit of distance between them, did Adelia ask, “What is going on with you? You were perfectly fine when you left for school this morning.”
“I want you to lift my grounding,” Selena said.
Something in her tone suggested she thought she had the upper hand. “And why would I do that?” Adelia asked. “We agreed that a month was appropriate for leaving school without permission.”
“Well, I don’t agree anymore,” her daughter replied, her expression belligerent. “Not after what you did.”
“Watch your tone with me, young lady.” Adelia looked into Selena’s increasingly stormy eyes and went still. “What is it you think I’ve done?”
“You made a spectacle of yourself, that’s what,” Selena said angrily. “Just like Dad. Why should I respect anything you say after that?”
Given her choice of words, Adelia had a pretty good idea where Selena had gotten her information. “Since you were in bed at your grandmother’s last night when I made this so-called spectacle of myself, I suppose your cousin is the one who filled you in.” Jose, Carolina’s oldest son, would happily spread bad news. Only a year younger than Selena and possessing a surprisingly mean streak, even at twelve he had a knack for trying to make her life miserable. “What did he tell you?”
“Joey saw you kissing that Gabe person right on Main Street. He was with Aunt Carolina coming home from shopping at the mall in Columbia. He said it just proved you were no better than Dad.” Suddenly there was more hurt than anger in Selena’s expression. “Is it true? Did you kiss Gabe?”
“Sweetie, you’re my daughter and I love you, but I don’t have to keep you posted on my actions, much less justify them to you. And this is nothing like what your dad did. Men and women sometimes kiss. It’s very different when that kiss is between two single people who haven’t made vows to other people. What your dad did was a betrayal.” She watched Selena’s face closely to see if her words were registering. “You do understand the difference, right?”
Tears welled in Selena’s eyes and she sighed heavily. “I guess,” she admitted.
“Then what is it you’re really upset about?”
“Do you like him?” Selena asked, her tone plaintive. “Gabe, I mean. It looked like you might when he was here for dinner.”
“We hardly know each other,” Adelia said honestly.
“But you were on a date. You must have been if you kissed him.”
Though she chafed at having to explain herself to her thirteen-year-old daughter, Adelia wanted Selena to understand. She’d already seen too much for a girl her age. It was little wonder she was angry and confused so much of the time.
“It wasn’t a date,” she said. “Gabe and I ran into each other at Rosalina’s. He invited me to join him. Then he walked me home. I told him he didn’t have to, but he insisted. That’s the way a true gentleman treats a lady.” It was behavior both of them had far too little experience with, and she wanted Selena to learn to watch for and appreciate such gestures.
“But what about the kiss?” Selena persisted. “Was that some kind of weird coincidence? Your lips just accidently locked?”
Adelia smiled. “It was…” She thought of the word Gabe had used the night before. “It was unexpected.”
Selena frowned. “Did you like it? Are you going to do it again?”
“It was a nice kiss,” she said, her voice softening as she remembered. “I don’t know if it will happen again. Would you mind so very much if it did?”
“Yes,” Selena said forcefully. “You said it yourself. We don’t even know him. Things are already changing too fast.”
“Does it feel to you as if I’m betraying your dad?”
The troubled expression on Selena’s face answered the question, but her words came more slowly.
“I know you’re divorced,” Selena replied carefully. “And I totally get why. I’m even glad about it.”
“But you miss your dad.”
“I don’t!” Selena all but shouted, clearly agitated by the suggestion that she missed a man she’d sworn to hate forever.
“Of course you do,” Adelia soothed. “And, sweetie, it’s okay to miss him. No matter what happened between your father and me, it’s okay for you to love him. And he will always love you.”
“Like I believe that,” Selena said, her voice radiating skepticism and pain.
“Well, I believe it,” Adelia told her. “He might not always show his love in ways you might like him to, but I remember the look on his face when you were born. You were this tiny little bundle with the most amazing lungs on any baby ever. Your face was scrunched up and red. You were screaming your head off, but he looked as if he’d just seen the most perfect angel.”
That story—and the snapshot commemorating that exact moment—had always calmed Selena. At one time, when she was struggling to accept her father’s actions, she’d clutched that photo and asked to hear the story over and over as if she needed reminding that at one time they’d been a happy family and she’d been the center of it.
“Not anymore,” Selena said wearily. “He hates me now.”
“Never,” Adelia said.
“Mom, I know you’re trying to make me feel better, but you can just stop. I’m not a little kid. I know the kind of man Dad is. Why would I still want anyone like that in my life?”
“Just because someone we love has flaws, we don’t always stop loving them. There’s even a part of me that can remember the good times I had with your dad. We’ve talked about that.”
“Well, I don’t love him, not anymore,” Selena said fiercely. “Not after what he did to you. And I don’t want anyone else to hurt you like that again.”
“No one will,” Adelia told her. “I’d like to think I’m smarter now. I certainly have more self-respect.” At least she was working on that, she amended to herself.
Selena studied her intently. “So you’re not going to let Gabe hurt you the way Dad did?”
“Not the way your father did, no. But, sweetie, falling in love comes with risks.”
Alarm immediately crossed Selena’s face. “You’re falling in love already?”
“Of course not. It’s much too soon. But I hope I’ll be open to the possibility someday, whether it’s with Gabe or someone else,” she said, aware of the irony that she was echoing Elliott’s words to her, advice she hadn’t been interested in hearing. Her brother would be thrilled by her apparent change of heart. She knew, though, she was saying them for her daughter’s benefit. She didn’t want Selena to grow up bitter and jaded, always keeping herself safely protected against any pain love might bring.
“But no matter when it happens,” Adelia continued when she was sure Selena was listening, “it won’t come with any guarantees that I won’t get hurt. That’s just life.”
“Then why would you take a chance? You have me, Juanita, Natalia and Tomas. Aren’t we enough for you?”
Adelia smiled at her naïveté. “You all are the very best part of my life,” she said. “But when relationships work, they can be wonderful. You’ll find that out for yourself someday.” She gave her a meaningful look. “A long, long time from now. Maybe when you’re thirty.”
Selena giggled, but her expression sobered quickly. “Do you think this thing with Gabe can be wonderful?”
“I have no idea. We’re just starting to get to know each other. I don’t even know how long he’s going to be in town.”
“So it might not get serious?” Selena asked, sounding a little too hopeful.
“It might not,” Adelia confirmed.
“Isn’t kissing supposed to be serious?”
Adelia hid a smile. It was a refrain she’d repeated to her teenage daughter a million times, hoping to keep her from making a mistake when she was still so young. “Yes, it is,” she said. “But this was just one kiss and, like I said, it was unexpected.”
“Well, I’m going to be keeping an eye on him,” Selena declared.
“You do that,” she said. It would be just one more person keeping him under close scrutiny.
“Do I have to like him if you do?”
“No, but just remember that we should always give people a chance to prove themselves. And we’re nice to everyone, no matter what reservations we might have about them. Understood?”
Selena nodded, though she didn’t seem entirely happy about it. Adelia realized that the reminder was one she needed to heed, as well.
* * *
Her conversation with Selena was still very much on Adelia’s mind when she opened the boutique in the morning. She told herself that was the only reason her pulse scrambled when she looked up as Gabe opened the door and walked inside. She was feeling guilty that she was glad to see him, she told herself. That’s all it was.
“You shopping for a gift?” she asked, aware that her voice betrayed her nerves.
He shook his head. “I came to see you.”
“Oh.”
She studied him closely and realized he looked just about as nervous as she felt. “Everything okay?”
“I’m not sure,” he said candidly. “Did you catch as much flak yesterday over that kiss as I did?”
She laughed, oddly relieved that his feet had apparently been held to the fire, as well. “Probably more,” she told him. “My sister accused me of making a spectacle of myself. Her son filled my daughter in on my unseemly behavior, and then I had to answer a whole lot of questions about relationships, kissing and betrayal. Oh, and did I mention that my boss wanted to hear all the juicy details?”
His jaw dropped as he listened. “I thought it was bad enough that Mitch put me on the hot seat.”
Adelia shrugged. “It’s just Serenity.”
“You seem to be taking the gossip in stride,” he said, seeming surprised.
“Have you forgotten that I was married to a man who was having serial affairs for years? I had to tune out the gossip to survive.”
He shoved his hands in his pockets. “Well, I don’t want to be the one to put you through anything like that again. I told Mitch I thought he ought to assign someone else to handle your renovations.”
The sensation that washed over Adelia caught her by surprise. She realized it was disappointment. “If that’s what you think is best,” she said stiffly.
He frowned. “Don’t you?”
“I suppose it depends on why you’re suggesting it. If you think you’re protecting me, I don’t need it. If you don’t want to do the job, that’s something else entirely. I liked the ideas we discussed the other night when you were at the house. I suppose another man could handle the work, but I’m comfortable that you and I are on the same page.” She smiled at him. “And I’m not sure anyone else will want my eight-year-old son on his crew.”
“What about the gossip, though?”
“Like I said, I’m used to it.”
“And it doesn’t bother you? Honestly?”
She suddenly realized she wasn’t the only one whose name was going to be spread all over town amid speculation, disapproval and who knew what else. “Gabe, does this bring back too many bad memories for you? If that’s it, I totally understand. I don’t remember the talk about your mom all those years ago, but you’ve told me how painful it was.”
“It was a long time ago. I should be over it by now.”
“But are you?”
He paused a moment. “I guess I’m not. I still remember how helpless I felt and how angry I was at the whole world. I don’t want to be the guy who brings that kind of unwanted attention to you. I’d hate to have to start punching people out again.”
“And you think you’d be tempted to do that?”
“If I thought what they were saying might be hurtful to you? I’d like to think I’d find a more mature way to handle it, but I can’t swear to that. Old habits die hard.”
“How about this? We can keep things strictly professional, if that’s what you want,” she suggested. “No more impulsive kisses.”
He gave her a disbelieving look. “You and me under the same roof for days on end,” he said. “There are going to be more kisses, Adelia. Right this second it’s taking every ounce of willpower I possess to keep from dragging you into my arms and we’re smack in the middle of a conversation about what a bad idea that would be. Just imagine what might happen if we stop telling ourselves it’s a bad idea.”
She felt a little frisson of relief just knowing that he was struggling with the same impulse that she was. The fact that he was trying so darned hard to do the right thing for her made him even more appealing. Frustrating but appealing.
She met his gaze. “What did Mitch say when you told him you wanted someone else to take over the renovations?”
“That he disapproved of the idea and expected me to do the work. He reminded me that he was my boss.”
She laughed, though it was evident he found no humor in the situation. “Maybe we should trust his judgment. He’s lived here his whole life, too. He knows a thing or two about the Serenity grapevine and how to live with it.”
“You honestly think I’m making a big deal out of nothing?”
“Not out of nothing,” she corrected. “I’m just saying I think we can handle it. Most of the time the talk isn’t meant maliciously. It’s just curiosity and some crazy need to be the first to know what’s going on around town.”
He didn’t look as if he was entirely pleased by her conviction. “Okay, then,” he said, relenting. “I’ll be by tonight with the cost estimates and a timetable.”
“Come for dinner,” she said on impulse. “It won’t be anything like my mom’s cooking, just burgers on the grill.”
For a minute it looked as if he might refuse. Instead, though, he shook his head as if unsure what to make of her. “I’m told I can grill a pretty mean burger myself,” he said at last. “If you’ll let me cook and bring dessert, it’s a date.”
“A date? Really?”
He frowned at her teasing. “Not that kind of a date. Not the boy–girl kind. Just a professional appointment at a specified time that happens to include food.”
She bit back a grin. “Duly noted.”
But no matter what he insisted on calling it, she found that her pulse was skipping merrily in anticipation.
* * *
Tomas was like a little shadow from the instant that Gabe arrived at Adelia’s. Natalia and Juanita were a bit more reserved, and Selena was downright hostile. Gabe realized he was going to have his work cut out for him trying to win her over, not because he needed her approval, but because it was going to be awkward doing the work for Adelia if Selena set out to make the situation intolerable.
“Is it just me she doesn’t like?” he asked Adelia when he’d slipped into the kitchen and caught her alone.
“She wouldn’t approve of any man hanging around right now,” Adelia reassured him. “As I mentioned this morning, she got word of the kiss, though, and that definitely didn’t help. She may not want me back with her dad, but she doesn’t want me with anyone else, either.”
“I guess the divorce was hard on her,” he said.
“Not the divorce so much as the reason for it. She knew all about her dad’s infidelity. Not only didn’t he work very hard to hide it, he actually flaunted it toward the end.”
Gabe frowned. “What kind of a man does that to his kid?” he said, then winced. His mom had been no better. He’d been well aware of all her affairs. She hadn’t cared enough to keep them secret. And she’d made him her shoulder to cry on when things had gone south, as they had each and every time. He doubted she’d had any idea of the damage she’d done to him.
“Never mind,” he said. “I think I know just how she must have felt. Discovering that your parents have feet of clay is never easy.”
Adelia studied him intently. “Did you swear off of love because of what your mom did?”
“Pretty much. I’ve dated over the years, but not once have I allowed things to get too serious. Anytime I sensed they might, I broke things off and moved on. I didn’t want to be responsible for hurting anyone the way my mom’s lovers hurt her.”
“So no string of brokenhearted girlfriends for you,” Adelia said lightly.
“Nope.”
“But what about you? Were there any of them you were sorry to leave?”
Gabe frowned at the question. “What are you asking?”
She looked directly into his eyes. “I’m asking if it was always so easy to keep things light and casual or if you ever fell in love along the way, but then broke things off because that was the pattern you were determined to follow?”
“I never let myself get that serious,” he insisted.
“I find that a little sad,” Adelia told him.
Gabe shrugged. “It was for the best. I’m not the kind of man who puts down roots.”
She held his gaze. “So, fair warning? Now that you’ve made yourself clear, you’re off the hook if I get any crazy ideas?”
“I didn’t mean it like that,” he said, not liking the implication that he was looking for a cop-out. “You asked a question. I tried to answer it honestly.”
She gave him a bright smile that seemed a little forced. “No need to get defensive. Message received.” She turned to stir the mayonnaise into the big bowl of potato salad on the counter.
“I wasn’t sending a message,” he said impatiently. “Adelia, look at me.”
She turned slowly, the spoon still in her hand.
“I was not sending a message.”
She smiled slightly, though her eyes looked a little sad. “Sure you were. Now, maybe you’d better get those burgers going. Everything else is just about ready.”
Gabe wanted to stay right there and argue, tell her she’d misunderstood, but the truth was, she probably hadn’t. He just didn’t happen to like the conclusion she’d reached. It didn’t say anything good about him, and, for reasons he didn’t care to examine too closely, he wanted her to think well of him.
* * *
Dinner had been a little tense, at least between her and Gabe, but the chatter of Tomas and the younger girls had overshadowed their awkward silence. Adelia was furious with herself for pressing him earlier, for getting a little too deeply into his personal business. He was here to do a job. One kiss didn’t give her the right to start questioning his behavior and his motives with women.
After she’d sent the younger children off to their rooms to settle down for the night and managed to discourage Selena from standing guard over her and Gabe, Adelia sat across from him at the dining room table. Her lists were spread between them, along with his notations and cost estimates.
“Gabe, I owe you an apology,” she said.
His head snapped up. “For what?”
“I had no right cross-examining you earlier. If I made you uncomfortable, I’m sorry. I know how much I hate it when people start asking me about stuff I don’t want to discuss.”
He met her gaze. “I only hated it because you might have hit a little too close to the truth. I do keep women at a careful distance to protect myself, as much as I do to be fair to them. It’s an ingrained habit.” He paused. “But I don’t regret it. I figure it’s saved me a lot of pain.”
“It’s also kept you from loving deeply,” she suggested.
He looked startled by her words. “Are you such a big proponent of love after everything Ernesto put you through?”
“Right this second, not so much,” she told him candidly. “Elliott’s been on my case about that. So has Mama. I even told Selena she shouldn’t let what happened between her dad and me discourage her from giving her heart to someone someday.”
“But you’re not ready to take that chance?”
“Not today,” she said. “Maybe not even tomorrow or the next day. But I hope someday I’ll change my mind and open my heart again. I don’t want to give Ernesto the power to rob me of a full and rich life. That’s what I’d be doing if I never took another chance on love.”
“And you think I let my mother’s bad experiences cost me this full and rich life you’re talking about,” he said, looking skeptical.
“Did you?”
“Maybe I just think my life is full and rich as it is,” he replied.
She smiled. “You only say that because you’ve never experienced what it could be. It’s like saying you love mashed potatoes and could live on a steady diet of them your whole life, but never having discovered a great enchilada or a pizza with everything, the claim wouldn’t mean all that much.”
Gabe laughed. “You’re comparing love to food?”
“In a way. Think about it. Bland food may sustain you, but life is better with lots of spices. You can survive without love, but you’ll miss all that heat and excitement.”
Even as she spoke, she realized that she herself had come up with the most convincing reason of all to let love back into her life. She’d had heat and excitement once. Sure, it had died a long time ago, but deep down she knew that she’d only be living a half life if she didn’t reach for that again. Someday. That kiss she’d shared with Gabe had reminded her of that.
She looked into Gabe’s eyes and saw the spark of amusement there. “Heat and excitement, huh?”
“Definitely,” she said, daring to hold his gaze.
“I could get behind that,” he said softly.
Adelia felt her cheeks burn. “I wasn’t… I’m not…”
“What?” he asked, his grin spreading. “You’re not talking about sex?”
“No. Well, yes. I mean that’s a part of it, of course,” she said, rattled.
“I happen to like sex,” he said.
“What’s not to like?” she said impatiently, then blushed even more furiously. “We need to change the subject. Show me those cost estimates.”
He held her gaze for another beat, then dutifully pushed the papers across the table. His hand deliberately grazed hers, sending heat rushing through her veins. Blast the man. He was heat and excitement all wrapped up in one sexy, contradictory, infuriating bundle. But she knew without a doubt that he possessed the power to drag her back into the world of the living. She just wasn’t sure she was entirely ready for it.