Gabe was stunned when he received a call from Helen just as he was about to leave the work site on Main Street.
“I need you in court tomorrow morning at nine. Can you be there?” she asked.
“This must be about Ernesto.”
“Of course. After he paid a visit to you this morning, he waited at school for Selena,” she explained, her voice filled with disdain. “He wanted her to get to know her potential new stepmommy. He told her they’d all soon be living together. Naturally that sent her into a tailspin.”
Gabe felt his free hand close into a fist. “I can’t believe even he would be so insensitive.”
“Of course he is. The man’s either delusional or an idiot. Either way, it played right into my hands. I intend to prove to the judge that this demonstrates that he’s completely unsuited to be a parent. He’s using those children as a weapon. If I have my way, he’ll be stripped of visitation rights, at least until the kids are old enough to decide for themselves if they want to spend time with him. If I can’t convince the judge of that, then I at least want the visits supervised.”
Despite the seriousness of the situation, Gabe was reassured by the determination in Helen’s voice. Whatever she needed from him, she had it. “What can I do?”
“Just tell the judge about the threats Ernesto made to you,” she said.
“Done,” Gabe said at once. “And I have witnesses. Would they help? You may not want my whole crew traipsing into court, but how about Henry Davis? He heard every word for sure. I know he’d be willing, maybe even eager, to testify about what he saw and heard.”
“Good idea,” Helen said. “Henry’s a good guy and he’ll be viewed as impartial, at least when it comes to the custody matter. I may not need him, but it won’t hurt to have backup just in case.”
“We’ll be there,” Gabe promised. “I’ll give him a call right now.”
As soon as he’d hung up, he tracked down Henry and got his commitment to be at the courthouse before nine.
Gabe had intended to head to Adelia’s, but under the circumstances he had to wonder if that was such a good idea, at least tonight. Maybe they should be more circumspect, at least for the next twenty-four hours. He was still debating with himself about that when Adelia appeared on the sidewalk outside the space he was renovating. Gabe stepped out and locked the door behind him.
She studied his expression, then sighed. “You’ve already heard?”
Gabe nodded. “I’m so sorry that I seem to have triggered this.”
“You didn’t do anything wrong. Neither did I. This is just Ernesto’s way of trying to prove he’s still got control of my life. I swear I actually hate him for this,” she said, the look on her face filled with loathing.
“Up till now I’ve managed to stand up for him with the kids.” She shook her head. “Why did I even bother? I’ve even encouraged them to spend time with him, not that he’s taken advantage of that. I’m done, though,” she declared forcefully. “He’s crossed a line. I won’t let them be his pawns and I certainly won’t let him force that woman on them, not unless it’s court-mandated that I have to.”
“Good for you,” he said, desperately wanting to reach for her but knowing it was a bad idea.
“Are you coming over?”
Gabe shook his head. “I was just thinking we should probably take a time-out, especially with this court date in the morning.”
She heaved another sigh, clearly disappointed. “You’re probably right. Ernesto probably has a private detective stationed across the street from the house, ready to snap pictures. That would be just like him.”
Gabe regretted that he’d already locked up. He wished he could drag Adelia inside and kiss her until she lost that anxious expression. It wasn’t something he could do out here on the street, though. That private eye she was so worried about could just as easily be right here on Main Street. He settled for tucking a finger under her chin.
“It’s going to be okay,” he promised. “Helen’s exactly the person I’d want on my side in this situation. She impressed the daylights out of me when I spoke to her earlier.”
She smiled a little at that. “No question about it. She kept me sane during the divorce. Nothing rattles her.”
“Then don’t let it rattle you,” he said. “I’ll see you first thing in the morning. If you need me before then, call.”
“I’m sorry you got dragged into this,” she said again.
“Hey, don’t you dare be sorry,” he replied. “You didn’t do the dragging. We can both thank Ernesto for that.”
“But you like things easy and uncomplicated.”
“Seems as if that’s been a lost cause since I met you,” he said, then winked at her. “I’m starting to think easy and uncomplicated are highly overrated, anyway.”
She laughed, just as he’d intended.
“Night, darlin’.” He regretted he couldn’t put some color in her cheeks with a kiss, but the endearment seemed to have almost the same effect.
“Maybe I’ll call you later just to say good-night again,” she said, then added in a low, surprisingly sultry voice, “After I’m in bed.”
He swallowed hard at the twinkle in her eyes, then chuckled. “Who knew you were a big ol’ tease, Adelia Hernandez?”
“I know,” she said, smiling brightly at last. “Who knew?”
* * *
To Adelia’s surprise just that few minutes with Gabe right on Main Street where anyone could see was enough to settle her nerves over tomorrow’s court date. Of course, the realization that she’d been flirting outrageously with him caused its own share of jitters. What had she been thinking? She couldn’t think of a single time in her life that she’d tossed out daring innuendoes the way she had with him.
As she remained standing on the corner after he’d gone, her kids came running out of the bakery to join her. Given the amount of frosting on their faces, she had a hunch they’d be on a sugar high for most of the evening.
“Mommy, we had cupcakes,” Juanita announced happily. “I had one with chocolate frosting and sprinkles and one with pink frosting.”
“Yes, I can see that,” Adelia said, taking a tissue from her purse and wiping away the evidence. She beckoned for Natalia, then wiped her face. “Only chocolate?”
Natalia nodded. “But I had three.”
Adelia put her hands on her hips and turned to Tomas. “And you, young man? I see chocolate frosting and vanilla,” she said as she scrubbed his face with the tissue. “And what’s this?”
“Caramel,” he said happily. “Lynn said it was new. I still like chocolate the best, though.”
She glanced over his head at Selena.
“Sorry, Mom. I didn’t think they had enough money for more than one, but Lynn floated them a loan. I paid her when I got back over there.”
“What about you?” she asked Selena. “Didn’t you want a cupcake?”
Her daughter, who’d always loved sweets, shook her head. “I wasn’t hungry.”
Adelia understood exactly why. “How about one to take home? You might feel more like it later.”
Selena shrugged off the offer. “That’s okay.”
“Well, I doubt these three are going to be hungry anytime soon. What about you? Anything special you’d like me to fix for dinner?”
Again, Selena shook her head. Adelia decided to let it drop for now.
At home she sent the three younger children into the yard to run off some of their excess energy, then gestured for Selena to join her in the kitchen.
“Sweetie, I know you’re worried, but you don’t need to be,” she told her.
“How can you say that?” Selena demanded with surprising anger. “Dad’s going to ruin everything again.”
Startled by her vehemence, Adelia reached for her hands. “Nothing’s ruined.”
“How can you say that? Gabe’s not here, is he? I don’t hear him upstairs and his truck’s not in the driveway. That’s because of Dad.”
“In a way, yes,” Adelia said, unable to deny it. “But Gabe and I agreed it would be for the best if he stayed away just for tonight. Once we see the judge in the morning, things can go back to normal.”
“What if they can’t?” Selena asked. “You don’t know for sure what the judge is going to say. He could be on Dad’s side. He could make us live with him.”
“He could, but he’s not going to,” Adelia said with more confidence than she actually felt. “Helen won’t let that happen.”
“I know Helen’s a really, really good lawyer, but she’s not the judge,” Selena said, unappeased. “Dad could bribe the judge or something.”
While Adelia doubted Ernesto would be above doing just that, she had faith in Helen and, for that matter, in the judge. “I think it would only land your father in a lot of hot water if he tried anything like that,” she told Selena. “There are pretty serious consequences for crossing that line.”
“I guess,” Selena said.
Adelia heard the skepticism in Selena’s voice and realized the toll the past months had taken on her daughter. At only thirteen, she was bitter and cynical. Adelia wondered if there was any way at all to recapture just a little of that lost innocence.
“Look, I understand why you find all of this upsetting,” Adelia told her gently. “I really do.”
“No, you don’t,” Selena said. “Lately we’ve been like a real family, or the way a family’s supposed to be. We have dinner together. Gabe helps us with homework. We even had game night again. Now it’s all messed up. What if Gabe goes away and we never see him again?”
“Not that long ago you didn’t want him around here,” Adelia reminded her.
“That was before,” Selena said.
“Before what?”
“Before he made you laugh again and before he was so nice to Tomas and to me, Natalia and Juanita, too.” She gave Adelia a plaintive look. “He reminds me of the way Uncle Elliott treats Daisy and Mack. I was so jealous of that for so long. Then Gabe came along and I thought maybe we’d have someone who treats us like that, like he really cares about us.”
Adelia smiled, even though her eyes were stinging with tears she didn’t dare shed. “Gabe does care about you,” she agreed. She wasn’t sure if even he was aware how much.
“You’d hate it if he went away, wouldn’t you?” Selena asked.
“Sure I would,” Adelia admitted. “But I don’t think Gabe plans on going anywhere right now. And he certainly wouldn’t take off just because your dad’s being a bully.”
“He left town once before,” Selena said, her voice hesitant. “Joey told me. He said Gabe was always in trouble when he was a kid and that when things got bad, he just took off. Joey says he’ll probably do it again.”
“Joey doesn’t know what he’s talking about,” Adelia said angrily, though she knew that wasn’t exactly the case. For once he did have the basic facts right. He just wasn’t taking into account the man Gabe was today.
“Did Joey lie?” Selena pressed.
“Not exactly,” Adelia conceded. “There were people who were mean to him and to his mom back then. He got into some fights trying to stand up for her. After his mom died, he did leave Serenity. Who could blame him? Nobody wants to be where they’ve been mistreated.”
“But that’s exactly the same as what’s happening now,” Selena protested.
“But Gabe isn’t the same person. I believe he’ll stay right here, at least for as long as we need him,” Adelia said, aware that she was putting her faith in him. There were so many reasons she needed to believe he wouldn’t let them down.
Selena frowned. “What does that mean, for as long as we need him?”
Adelia didn’t dare look too far into the future. Now was all she could count on. “It means that he’s not going to bail on us because of anything your dad does.”
Apparently Adelia wasn’t as good at hiding her own fears as she’d hoped to be. Selena, rather than looking relieved, seemed more worried than before. Apparently she was a little too good at reading between the lines.
“But you think he will leave eventually, don’t you?” Selena asked, proving Adelia’s point.
“It’s a possibility,” Adelia admitted reluctantly.
“But I thought he really liked us,” Selena said plaintively. “You just said so yourself. And I thought he might even be falling in love with you.”
“Sweetie, life’s more complicated than that. Even if both of those things are true, it doesn’t always mean that things will work out,” Adelia said.
“Well, that just sucks,” Selena said, pushing away from the table and racing from the room in tears.
Adelia sighed, hating that she’d managed to make things worse for Selena by trying to be honest with her. Selena was right about one thing, though. Sometimes facing reality was the pits.
* * *
Lynn’s temper stirred as she listened to Helen’s description of what was going on with Ernesto and his attempts to wrest custody of his kids from Adelia.
“What can I do?” she asked at once.
“Normally I’d call the Sweet Magnolias myself, but I’m swamped with pulling everything together for tomorrow’s hearing,” Helen said. “I need a huge show of support for Adelia in the courtroom.”
“Consider it done,” Lynn said. “I’ll start making calls right now.”
“Call Maddie first,” Helen suggested. “She had her share of tough custody issues back in the day. She’ll help you make the calls.”
“I’m on it,” Lynn promised, then hung up and turned to Mitch and filled him in. “You might want to look for Gabe. I imagine he’s busy blaming himself for this.”
Her husband nodded. “Only if you promise me that you’ll get your nap the second you’ve made those calls.”
Lynn regarded him with dismay. “You know about the naps?”
Mitch chuckled. “Sweetheart, only a robot could keep the hours you keep without a nap.” He gave her a long look. “Maybe it’s time we talked about that.”
“Not until this mess with Ernesto is resolved,” she said. “Then I promise I’ll listen to whatever you have to say.” She held his gaze. “Have I told you lately how glad I am that you’re my husband?”
“Right back at you.”
Lynn watched as he left the house to go in search of his cousin, then picked up the phone and made that first call to Maddie Maddox.
Within an hour they’d reached out to every one of the Sweet Magnolias. Adelia would have some of the most prominent women in town in court in the morning. Even if Helen never called a single one of them to the stand, the show of support would speak for itself.
* * *
Gabe retreated to his regular table at Rosalina’s for a lonely meal, drawing a surprised look from his old waitress.
“It’s been a while,” Debbie said. “I thought you’d deserted us for good. Word around town is that you’ve found somebody to share your meals with.”
Gabe wasn’t about to confirm or deny that. “I just took a temporary reprieve from the pizza,” he said.
“Then I suppose you want your usual,” Debbie said, clearly disappointed that he wasn’t willing to reveal more details.
“Sure. Why not?”
While he was waiting for his order, his cell phone rang. He considered ignoring it, then saw Adelia’s name on the caller ID.
“What’s up?” he asked at once. “I thought we were going to talk later.”
“I think you need to come over here, after all,” Adelia said, sounding worried. “Selena’s totally freaked out about what’s going on. Her cousin, who seems to thrive on taunting her these days, told her you took off from Serenity years ago because you were sick of being bullied. Now she’s afraid her dad is going to chase you off again. I tried to be honest with her, but I only made it worse.”
“What did you tell her?”
“That I didn’t think her dad could chase you away, but that it was always possible that you could leave eventually.”
Gabe immediately saw the dilemma. “You know I can’t come over there and deny that,” he said. “Neither of us has any idea what could happen down the road.”
“I know,” she said with obvious frustration. “I just don’t think Selena was ready for quite that degree of candor. I could shake Joey for planting these seeds of doubt in her head, but he has his own share of issues at home right now. I’ll deal with him later.”
She drew in a deep breath. “Please, Gabe, can you stop by? I think it would help if Selena could just see you tonight and know that you’re not planning to abandon us because of this mess.”
“I’ll be there in a few minutes,” he promised. “I just ordered pizza. I’ll double the order so there will be enough to share.”
“That sounds great to me and maybe we can coax Selena to eat, but don’t count on the little kids,” Adelia warned him. “They overdosed on cupcakes. Right now they’re running off all that excess sugar in the backyard. I’m going to take a stab at getting them in bed before you get here, so we can focus on Selena.”
He laughed at her optimism. “I’ll make it a half hour, then, though I doubt even that will be enough time for you to round them up and herd them into their beds.”
“I’ll make it long enough,” she said with grim determination. “And remind me tomorrow to thank Lynn for caving in to their pleas for all those cupcakes.”
“Hey, business is business.”
“They didn’t even have enough cash on them,” Adelia retorted dryly. “She floated them a loan till Selena came back for them. I hope this new baby when it comes doesn’t sleep a wink at night for a month.”
Gabe stifled a chuckle. “Now that’s just mean.”
“It’s called payback,” she said. “It’s perfectly fair.”
“Remind me not to cross you,” Gabe said. “I hate to think what you’d consider to be a fitting punishment.”
“I’ll have to give that some thought,” she said. “If I’m clever enough, maybe I can keep you in town.”
Gabe almost admitted that she was close to ensuring his presence for good now, but he had enough remaining doubts to keep silent. “See you soon,” he said instead.
* * *
Before Gabe could collect his pizza and take off for Adelia’s, Mitch walked into Rosalina’s with his stepchildren, Lexie and Jeremy. As soon as he caught sight of Gabe, he handed over a bunch of quarters and sent them off to play video games.
As soon as Mitch sat down, Gabe warned him that he was about to leave. “I’m heading over to Adelia’s.”
Mitch frowned. “After what happened today? I heard Ernesto paid a visit to you and tried to stir up trouble. Lynn just got a call from Helen, who filled her in on the rest. I figured you’d be steering clear of her for a few days till things settled down. In fact, I tried looking for you at the inn and at the work site before I picked up the kids and headed over here. I thought you might want to join us for dinner.”
“Not tonight,” Gabe said. “Something just came up. Adelia needs me over there.”
“Is it important enough to risk getting Ernesto all worked up again?” Mitch asked, his worry plain.
Gabe thought of Selena and what she’d been through today. “It’s important enough,” he declared. “And if Ernesto tries to stir up more trouble, I can handle that, too. I kept my cool today. I can do it again.”
Mitch nodded. “Your crew thought you behaved a lot better than he deserved. Henry said you did go over to Helen’s office to fill her in.”
“And now Henry and I are going to testify about what happened at an emergency hearing in court first thing in the morning,” Gabe told him.
Mitch regarded him with surprise. “Henry didn’t mention that.”
“He probably didn’t know about it when he spoke to you. I just filled him in a little while ago that it would be a help to Helen if we were both there.” He met Mitch’s worried gaze. “I’m sorry about getting one of your men involved in all this drama.”
“Hey, stuff happens. Ed Morrow tried to haul me into the middle of his divorce from Lynn. She was falling all over herself apologizing. What she didn’t get was that I’d have done anything for her. Ed’s fussing didn’t worry me. The only thing I cared two hoots about was whether he could use me to hurt Lynn.”
“Same with me,” Gabe said. “Helen seems to think Ernesto overplayed his hand. After he caused that scene with me, he took his mistress to see Selena and told her they’d all be a family soon.”
Outrage spread across Mitch’s face. “I don’t think Helen mentioned that part to Lynn. That just proves that as low as I thought Ernesto was, I was overestimating him. He’s even lower than slime.”
“No doubt about it,” Gabe agreed. “By the way, have there been any repercussions from those lies he was spreading about you and the business?”
Mitch shook his head. “Nothing I couldn’t handle.”
“Meaning there were some,” Gabe guessed. “Blast it all, Mitch, you need to sue him.”
“I took care of it,” Mitch said. “No harm, no foul. In fact, I imagine if anyone lost business over it, it was Ernesto. The guy Ernesto went to had been planning to work with him on a new development outside of town. Once Conway heard the whole story, he opted to go with another developer.” Mitch grinned. “And I’ll be hiring more men to handle the construction.”
Gabe slapped him on the back. “Good for you.”
Mitch’s expression immediately turned serious. “Which is why it’s more important than ever that you stick around, Gabe. With all this work and a baby on the way, I need you right here. I hope you’re not getting any ideas about moving on. Lynn said you’d mentioned it.”
“I was having a bad day when I told her that. For now, I’m staying,” Gabe assured him.
“I’d feel a whole lot more confident about that if you’d start looking for a place to live, instead of staying in that room at the Serenity Inn.” His cousin gave him a sly look. “Or are you hoping if you do make a move, it will be into Adelia’s house in Swan Point?”
Gabe frowned. “Nobody’s suggesting that, least of all me. It’s way too soon.”
“One thing I’ve learned over the years is that there’s no such thing as a timetable when it comes to love,” Mitch told him. “I waited for years before Lynn and I got together.”
“And spent a lot of those years happily married to someone else,” Gabe reminded him.
“True,” Mitch said. “And if Amy hadn’t died in that accident and Ed hadn’t finally owned up to being gay and asked for a divorce, who knows if Lynn and I would ever have gotten together? I’m just saying that fate works in its own mysterious way. If this thing with Adelia is right, it could be as right after a few weeks as it would be a couple of years from now.”
“Well, we’re opting for slow and steady,” Gabe told him.
Mitch smiled. “Only because anything else terrifies you.”
“If you’re trying to suggest I’m a coward without saying the word, I’m not denying it,” Gabe countered. “I prefer to think of it as old habits dying hard.”
“The old habit being to avoid commitment at all costs,” Mitch guessed.
“Exactly.”
“A piece of advice?”
“As if I could stop you,” Gabe said.
“People have a way of clinging to old habits long past the time when they’re useful. Something to think about, okay?”
Fortunately Debbie arrived with Gabe’s pizzas before he had to respond to his cousin’s advice.
“Gotta go,” Gabe announced, relieved.
“Have a good evening,” Mitch said, a twinkle in his eyes.
Gabe thought of what awaited him at Adelia’s, the thankless task of trying to cheer up a teenager. Then again, he’d get to spend some unexpected time with Adelia, so perhaps the night wouldn’t be a lost cause after all.