Gabe had been so moved by what Selena said to the judge, he’d practically run from the courthouse to keep anyone from seeing the tears gathering in his eyes. Sure, she’d said much the same the night before, but hearing her declare it in public had shaken him. There was a lot of pressure in trying to live up to the kind of faith she’d so openly placed in him.
How could he even be thinking about trying to take care of a family when he’d spent a lot of his adult years barely taking care of himself? He’d been rebelling, albeit unknowingly until now, against having so much responsibility heaped on him as a kid. He wasn’t convinced he was ready—or even worthy enough—to take on more.
After he went back to the Serenity Inn, changed into his work clothes and headed for the construction site, he stopped by the hardware store to pick up a few things.
“How’d it go in court?” Ronnie Sullivan asked, proving that everyone in town was no doubt up-to-date on Ernesto’s latest attempt to turn Adelia’s life upside down. “I know Dana Sue was there, but I imagine she went straight to work at the restaurant. I haven’t heard from her.”
Gabe filled him in, figuring the news would be all over town in the blink of an eye, anyway. “Adelia kept custody of the kids and Ernesto got his wrist slapped by the judge.”
Ronnie took off the glasses he’d been wearing to read an invoice, then frowned as he studied Gabe more intently. “Then why do you look so down in the dumps?”
“Just some stuff Selena said in court,” Gabe told him. “It hit home how much she’s counting on me. I don’t know if I can live up to all those expectations. It’s one thing for me and Adelia to try to work things out and fail, but I don’t think I could bear it if I let those kids down.” He met Ronnie’s gaze. “They’re great kids. They deserve the best—you know what I mean?”
Rather than dismissing his worries, Ronnie nodded. “I get that, Gabe. I really do. The truth is, though, that nobody knows if they’re any good at being a parent until they’re in the thick of it. If someone tells you they know exactly what to do in any and all conditions, they’re crazy. Just when you figure you’ve handled one crisis, another one will crop up and blindside you.”
Since Ronnie was a grandfather now and seemed to have a rock-solid marriage, Gabe listened.
“Just look at Dana Sue and me,” Ronnie continued. “Our daughter nearly died because we messed up so bad. Thankfully Annie made it through all the terrible side effects of her anorexia. She’s married to her childhood sweetheart and a mom now. Dana Sue and I are back together again and happier than ever for having survived that nightmare. I thank God every day for giving all of us a second chance.”
“I hadn’t heard about any of that,” Gabe said, shaken.
“I’m surprised, even though most of it probably happened while you were gone. The day Dana Sue chased me out of the house with a cast-iron skillet is one of those stories the guys like to repeat when they want to get under my skin.”
“She didn’t!”
“She sure did,” Ronnie said, laughing. Then his expression sobered. “Here’s the condensed version. I acted like a fool, Dana Sue kicked me out and our divorce rocked Annie’s world so badly she developed an eating disorder. She was still in her teens, but she actually had a heart attack.”
“Annie? Kids don’t have heart attacks,” Gabe said, trying to imagine how terrifying that must have been for Ronnie and Dana Sue.
“Well, mine did,” Ronnie said. “That anorexia is a nasty business. When I found out about it, I thought my own heart would stop. In fact, I prayed it would if that would keep Annie alive. I discovered that God’s not interested in making bargains. He has His own plans. That crisis brought me back to town and reminded me that everything I wanted was right here. I never should have left.”
He met Gabe’s gaze. “What I’m trying to tell you is that you will make mistakes as a parent if you decide to take on Adelia’s family. But if your love is strong enough, you get through the tough times together. I know the worst time in my life while Annie was in the hospital turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to me, too, because Dana Sue and I found our way back to each other.”
Gabe absorbed what Ronnie was saying. Though Ronnie had obviously intended his story to make the prospect of parenting a little less scary, Gabe didn’t find it reassuring. If a couple as deeply in love as Ronnie and Dana Sue had been back in the day could fail so badly, what chance did he have to get it right?
“You okay?” Ronnie asked, frowning. “I didn’t make it worse, did I? Dana Sue will have my hide if I did.”
“You just said some things I needed to hear,” Gabe told him.
Ronnie’s expression turned even more worried.
“Is there something else?” Gabe asked him.
“Just that I had a call from a friend of mine the other day, a man I worked for in construction while I was away from Serenity. In fact, he helped me put together the plans and money for me to get this store up and running again.”
Gabe wondered what that could possibly have to do with him.
Ronnie hesitated. “I’m not sure if this is the right time to get into this.”
“Why not?”
“Because he’s looking for a new construction crew foreman down in Beaufort,” Ronnie explained. “He’d heard good things about you and wondered if I knew you.”
Gabe stilled at that. Here it was, the chance to move on, perhaps, to get yet another fresh start away from a community that until recently had held only bad memories.
“What did you tell him?” he asked Ronnie.
“That what I’ve seen of your work is excellent and that you’re the kind of man who’d fit right in with the tight ship he runs. But I also told him that you had some ties that might keep you here.” He studied Gabe. “Was I wrong about that?”
Gabe thought of Adelia and the unexpected, amazing way she made him feel. He thought of Selena, Tomas, of Juanita and Natalia. If he left, he’d be giving Selena one more reason not to trust the adults in her life. If he left, who would teach Tomas all the things he was so eager to learn about guy stuff? And who, pray tell, would sit in a feather boa and a tiara at a tea party with Juanita and Natalia?
And then he thought of Mitch, who’d taken a chance on him, who was depending on him as backup now with a baby on the way and more work than ever on his plate. How could he bail on him?
None of that, though, seemed to dull the familiar temptation to take off for yet another fresh beginning in a town where he had no ties at all, no responsibilities except to himself.
“Have him give me a call,” he said eventually. “It’s worth listening to what he has to say.”
Ronnie looked disappointed by his response, but he nodded. “I’ll tell him to call. His name’s Butch. He gets to town every so often to check on this place. He’s Mary Vaughan’s uncle, too, so he and his wife like to stop by and watch her trying to juggle her booming real estate career and a toddler. Given Mary Vaughan’s type A personality, they consider that to be an excellent form of entertainment.”
Since Gabe had watched a very frustrated Mary Vaughan trying to coax her child into her car one afternoon, he totally got that. The kid had more stubbornness than Mary Vaughan, and she excelled at it. She just called it persistence in her own case.
“I appreciate the good word,” he told Ronnie.
“Not a problem, but one more piece of advice,” Ronnie said as Gabe started to leave. “Think long and hard before you walk away from what you’ve found here. I didn’t think before I left. I let Helen convince me that Dana Sue and Annie needed space, that having me here would only be a reminder of the mistakes I’d made. I came to regret listening to her.”
“Believe me, I won’t be thinking about anything else,” Gabe told him.
He knew what his pattern was. He knew what the old Gabe would have done. There was safety and comfort in that decision. There was nothing safe or comfortable about staying here.
But there was Adelia. There were four kids he’d come to love. And there was family. Was he brave enough to believe in all that and take a chance on something he’d never dared to hope might be in the cards for him?
* * *
Dana Sue insisted that the court ruling deserved to be celebrated. “You’re all coming to Sullivan’s right now,” she announced outside the courthouse. “Brunch is on me.”
“Who could say no to that?” Helen said eagerly. “I’ll get to sneak into the kitchen and hang out with my honey. It’ll be like old times.”
“Old times?” Adelia asked.
“Erik and Helen got together when I kept finding excuses requiring her to help out in the kitchen at Sullivan’s,” Dana Sue explained. “She couldn’t cook a lick, of course, and Erik got on her nerves because he rightfully thought he should be the boss. It was fun to watch.”
“Boy, was it ever,” Maddie confirmed. “The only thing more fun has been watching Helen accept that her mom has a boyfriend and that they’re living together.”
Helen put her hands on her hips and tried to stare down her two best friends. “Are you two through?”
Maddie and Dana Sue exchanged a look, then grinned.
“Probably not,” Maddie said, then gave Helen a hug. “Though we probably shouldn’t be teasing the woman who saved the day in court.”
“Actually it was Selena who saved the day,” Helen said, putting an arm around the blushing teenager.
“I am so proud of you,” Adelia told her daughter.
“I just told the truth,” Selena said, then regarded her hopefully. “Do I get to come to brunch, too, or do I have to go to school?”
“I think you can be excused for the whole day just this once,” Adelia told her, then warned, “But don’t get any ideas.”
“As if,” Selena said. “The last time I cut class, you grounded me, like, forever.”
“And I’ll do it again if I have to,” Adelia said emphatically.
At Sullivan’s, where new spins on traditional Southern cuisine were the order of the day, Dana Sue and Erik managed to whip up a feast for the impromptu brunch, even though the restaurant was scheduled to open in an hour for lunch and those preparations already had the kitchen in a frenzy.
“This stuffed French toast with strawberries is amazing,” Maddie said, sitting back and patting her stomach. “I think I just gained five pounds.”
“You still have two little kids and an amorous husband at home,” Dana Sue retorted. “You’ll work those calories off in no time.”
As the oldest members of the Sweet Magnolias exchanged taunts, Raylene slipped into the seat next to Adelia. “You doing okay?”
Adelia frowned. “Who’s covering the shop?”
“I put a sign on the door that we’d be opening at one today. This is more important than selling a couple of dresses or a scarf. Now answer me. How are you doing?”
“I’m worried about Gabe,” Adelia admitted. “He took off before I could even thank him for what he said to the judge today. Because of him and Selena, I still have my kids with me.”
“I saw him when I went to put the sign on the door at the shop. He was already back in his work clothes and coming out of the hardware store.”
“Oh,” Adelia said, oddly deflated by the news. She wasn’t sure what she’d hoped for, that maybe he’d at least want to congratulate her on today’s outcome or share the moment with her. Something told her, though, that he was pulling away. What she didn’t understand was why. The judge hadn’t even hinted that he was taking Ernesto’s claims seriously.
“Stop worrying,” Raylene advised, as if she’d followed Adelia’s thoughts. “I imagine Gabe hasn’t had that many good things said about him in years. He’s probably a little shaken by it.”
“That’s what concerns me,” Adelia said. “What if he tells himself that he doesn’t deserve any of it? Even though everything turned out okay, he may be blaming himself for the fact that we were in court in the first place.”
“Call him,” Raylene suggested. “Or stop by the construction site when you leave here. I can handle the store.”
Adelia squeezed her hand. “You may be the most understanding boss in captivity.”
“I doubt that,” Raylene said. “Keep in mind I have an ulterior motive. I need a happy employee to cover for me while I go off and have a baby and then spend a leisurely few months discovering the joys of motherhood.”
Adelia regarded her with shock. “A few months?”
“That’s what I’ve been thinking lately. It could be longer if we move forward with the whole partnership thing. Or if I get really infatuated with this new baby of mine and decide Carter and I should have a few more, I might just sell the whole boutique to you.”
Adelia waved off that idea. “Forget that. I’m not even sure I can scrape up enough to be your partner.”
“Don’t panic. It’s all down the road,” Raylene advised. “I’ve told you before, with these women in your corner, anything’s possible.”
Adelia tried putting Raylene’s remarks out of her head. Fortunately, she had a bigger worry at the moment. She needed to find Gabe and make sure that he wasn’t going to use today’s events to bolt on her after all.
* * *
Adelia found Gabe exactly where Raylene had predicted she would, in the cavernous space at the end of the block on Main Street. His crew had apparently gone to lunch, because he was all alone, sitting at that makeshift desk of his in the middle of dust and debris, eating what looked to be a tuna salad sandwich and some fries from a Wharton’s take-out container.
When he glanced up at the sound of her heels tapping on the concrete floor, his eyes immediately filled with wariness.
“You shouldn’t be in here without a hard hat,” he said.
“You’re not wearing one,” she pointed out.
“Because no one’s working right now.”
She smiled at that. “Then the rules are different for you?”
His lips quirked slightly. “Sure. I’m the boss. And I’m hardheaded, anyway.”
Adelia pulled up a folding chair and sat beside him. “Why’d you take off after court? I didn’t even get a chance to thank you.”
“You were surrounded by all those women,” he said. “You didn’t need me butting in.”
She frowned at his words. “Gabe, don’t you know that I would never consider you an intrusion?”
“I’m just saying that you had plenty of support.”
“But you’re the one I wanted most to speak to,” she said. “Or is that the problem? Did today make things a little too real for you? Did you suddenly realize this thing between us isn’t some game, that the kids and I count on you, that it’s not your usual cut-and-run flirtation?”
She could tell from his startled reaction that she’d hit on the truth. She sighed. “I guess you did.”
He drew in a deep breath, then said, “I always knew you were different.”
“Different how?”
“Not the kind of woman I could ever walk away from easily,” he told her.
Something in his voice told her, though, that he was going to walk away.
“You’re going anyway, though, aren’t you?”
“I don’t know,” he said, looking miserable. “Maybe it’s for the best. Complications aren’t my thing, Adelia.”
“Gabe, there will always be complications in life. Some are good. Some are lousy.” She held his gaze. “Crazy me, I thought maybe we were going to be one of the best kind of complications. I’m not saying it would be easy or that there won’t be a million times when one of us would prefer to run, but I think the rewards of staying will be worth it.” She drew in a deep breath. “But if you can’t see that, I can’t make you.”
He’d been tearing apart his sandwich bit by bit as she spoke, just as Selena had picked apart the pepperoni the night before. The nervous action was almost enough to make her smile, even though what she really wanted to do was cry and shout at him to look at her, to love her enough to stay with her. She had too much pride, though, to say those words, not to a man who was so obviously intent on leaving.
“There’s something I need to tell you,” he said. “I’ve had a job offer in Beaufort. Ronnie Sullivan connected me with the guy he used to work for. He just called. I’m going down this weekend to check it out.”
Adelia’s heart plummeted. “I see,” she said, determined to keep the tears suddenly stinging her eyes from leaking out and betraying her emotions. “So that’s it, I guess.”
“If I were ever going to stay with someone, it would be you,” he told her. “I know it doesn’t mean much for me to say I love you, but I’m leaving town anyway, but it’s the truth, Adelia. I do love you. I’m doing you a favor.”
She stared at him in shock. “That’s ridiculous! Leaving isn’t doing me a favor. It surely isn’t doing my kids a favor. The only one benefiting is you.” She shook her head as she regarded him with disbelief. “How could I have been so wrong about you? You’re a coward, Gabe Franklin, not a hero at all.”
She stood up then, spine straight, shoulders squared, and walked away. She was proud of herself for not shedding a single tear in front of him or even on the walk to Chic.
But when she walked inside the boutique and Raylene glanced up from her cell phone, a shocked expression on her face, Adelia crumbled. Tears flowed unchecked.
“You know, don’t you?” she whispered brokenly when she could finally speak.
Raylene nodded. “That was Gabe on the phone. He thought you might need me.”
“How considerate!” Adelia said bitterly. “You know, it was bad enough finding out that Ernesto was cheating on me and having to hold my head high and pretend it didn’t matter.” She gave Raylene a plaintive look. “How am I supposed to pretend this doesn’t matter?”
“You don’t,” Raylene said simply. “You cry and scream and shout and curse the man’s sorry butt as much as you want to. The Sweet Magnolias will ply you with margaritas, if that will help.”
The offer brought a watery smile to her lips. “If those things almost killed me when I was having a good day, I don’t think I’ll rely on them now.”
“How about the company? I can get everybody together at my place tonight.”
Adelia knew they would all come, too, just as they had that morning to be there for her in court. It was an amazing feeling to discover she had real friends. But while they might be able to offer moral support and would willingly listen to her rip into Gabe, that wasn’t what she really needed. What she really needed was to go home and find Gabe at her house, the same as he had been so many times recently.
Sadly, though, that simply wasn’t in the cards. She needed to accept reality, and then figure out how on earth she was going to explain all of this to her children.
* * *
Despite all Adelia’s arguments that she needed to stay at the boutique and work, Raylene insisted that she go home.
“You need a long, leisurely bubble bath and a nap,” Raylene said. “It’s been a stressful day. Take advantage of the couple of hours you’ll have to yourself before the kids come home.”
Adelia sighed. “You’re probably right. Maybe I’ll have a brainstorm about what I’m going to say to them, especially Selena. For her I think this will be worse in some ways than anything Ernesto did.”
“From what I saw in court today, she’s a very mature girl. She may be devastated, but she’ll be more worried about you.”
“And isn’t that sad?” Adelia said. It was yet more proof that her daughter had had to grow up too quickly.
“Now go,” Raylene ordered. “Tomorrow’s soon enough for you to be back in here working your sales magic.”
Adelia gave in reluctantly and walked home. As she neared the house, she frowned at the sight of her sister’s car in the driveway, Carolina behind the wheel. Adelia prayed that she was right about what this meant.
After approaching the car slowly, she tapped on the window. “Carolina?”
Her sister lifted her head, revealing yet another cut on her cheek and bruises that to Adelia’s untrained eye seemed fresh.
“Come inside,” Adelia said at once, her own worries forgotten.
Carolina climbed out of the car, but when she tried to walk, she could barely limp. Adelia slipped an arm around her waist.
“Come on,” she said softly. “I’ve got you. Do you need to go to the hospital? Is anything broken?”
Carolina shook her head, then asked hesitantly, “Is it okay if the kids and I stay here, just for tonight?”
“You’ll stay for as long as you need to,” Adelia replied.
“Thank you. After all the things I’ve said to you, I don’t deserve it,” Carolina said.
“We’re sisters,” Adelia told her. “You will always be welcome in my home.”
Her sister gave her a weary look. “Don’t call Mama, not yet, okay? I’m just not ready to talk to her.”
“Whatever you want.”
“Is Gabe coming over? I don’t think I could bear it if he or anyone else saw me right now.”
“You don’t need to worry about that,” Adelia said, her tone wry.
Inside, she settled her sister gingerly on the sofa, then took her one small suitcase upstairs. When she came down, she asked, “Is there more?”
“I didn’t stop to pack much. What’s in there is for the kids.”
“Do they know to come here? Do I need to pick them up at school?”
Alarm filled Carolina’s eyes. “I didn’t think of that. They’ll take the bus home from school. I should be there.”
“Absolutely not,” Adelia told her. “I’ll call Helen. She’ll know what to do.”
“I’m not ready to talk to a lawyer,” Carolina said, panic in her voice.
“You don’t have a choice,” Adelia said firmly. “You have to think about doing what’s best for your kids. The only other alternative is for me to call Mama and have her get the kids and bring them here or take them home with her.”
Carolina seemed to be struggling between hiding what was happening from their mother or relying on her in this crisis. “Maybe that would be best,” she said at last. “You talk to her, though. Ask her to keep the kids with her for a day or two. They have clothes at her house.”
“What do I tell her when she asks about what’s going on? She will, you know.”
“Just that I need a couple of days to think about things. That will give these bruises time enough to fade some more.”
“Haven’t the kids already seen what Ricky has done to you? I know Mama has.”
She shook her head. “I told Joey I was sick and probably contagious, so I was staying in the guest room. I asked him to keep an eye on his brothers. I couldn’t let him see me. He’d have gone after Ricky himself.”
Adelia regarded her sister with compassion. “You’ve done the right thing, Carolina. I know how hard it is to walk out on a marriage, especially after the way we were raised. But God wouldn’t want this to go on. I know He wouldn’t.”
“God might understand, but what about Mama?”
Adelia ran a comforting hand over her sister’s head. “She’d want what’s best for you, the same way she did for me. It’s going to be okay. I promise. You’ve taken the most important step toward getting your life back.”
“It feels more like I’ve just jumped off a precipice and there’s no going back. There’s nothing to grab on to going down, either.”
Adelia smiled at the first tiny hint of her sister’s sense of humor. “Been there, done that,” she told her. “But just like me, you’re going to land on your feet.”