I need a drink, and I don’t mean coffee,” Gabby said after her friend Lucy had opened the door to the coffee shop downtown to let her in.
It was 9:15 at night. She’d spent the whole day working on her story for Cade’s class. Well, she’d actually spent 90 percent of the time staring out the window at the lush green fields and 10 percent typing away at her laptop—and when the afternoon was over, she’d only made half of Cade’s mandated word count. To make matters worse, the carriage house was practically in the same unpacked state as Cade’s barely moved-in house. At this rate, she wasn’t sure how she was going to find the time to make it the homey, lived-in space she wanted it to be.
Lucy waved her in as she talked on her cell phone. Spread out across two small tables that had been pushed together were packets of tissue paper, scissors, a ball of yarn, and pipe cleaners. Sara and Kaitlyn were arranging another set of tables for a work area. All Gabby knew was they were working on some kind of art project for Parent Night at Lucy’s day care.
“No, Alex, I mean it,” Lucy was saying into the phone. “I’m not coming over tonight. Goodbye.” She pushed the end button. “There are no good men,” she said. “I hate men.”
“Oh no,” Gabby said. “What happened with Alex?” Alex and Lucy had been dating for years. He was the best guy on the planet—kind and considerate, and he had a great job as a high school math teacher who also coached soccer.
“It’s his mother. We walked into her house before church last Sunday, and she gave me all kinds of grief about my yellow sundress.”
“That’s a pretty dress,” Gabby said. “I’d say it was very appropriate for church.”
“It has an opening in the upper back around three inches wide, but nothing too terrible, right?” She held the fingers of her hands together in a big O. “No bra strap showing, barely any skin…Well, she asked me to change. Or put a sweater on. And I didn’t have a sweater.”
“What did Alex say?” Kaitlyn asked.
“He offered to jokingly help me take it off—and he said that in front of his mother, which didn’t make things any better. But I still had to cover up the dress. He didn’t stand up for me.”
“Well, maybe he couldn’t,” Sara, the voice of practicality, said. “Maybe that church is very conservative.”
“A guy should stand up for his girlfriend,” Lucy said, crossing her arms.
“Did you say that?” Gabby asked.
“He said to just please cover up. So we had to go back to my place and get my sweater.”
“Well, chalk it up as a little sacrifice?” Gabby said, trying to smooth things over.
“It’s just that his mother is always doing stuff like that. She doesn’t like me. We’re not even engaged yet, and it’s like she’s…she’s trying to get rid of me before he even pops the question.”
Gabby hugged her friend. “I know one thing. Alex loves you, and he’s a great guy. But you’re right. If his mom’s doing stuff like that to push against your relationship, Alex is going to have to take a stand.”
“I know, right? He made light of it. Told me he loved the little peephole for my back. And helped me take it off. In fact, we were almost late for the service.”
“Lucy, Lucy, Lucy,” Gabby said in mock horror, covering her mouth. But secretly, she wondered what that would be like. Having a guy who could made you late for things.
Kaitlyn handed Gabby a glass of white wine.
“Anything going on with you?” Gabby asked.
“Steve wants to get back together.”
Oh, wow. Kaitlyn had broken it off with Steve a year ago because she’d felt that staying with him would be settling, a move Gabby thought was pretty courageous.
“Steve is such a great guy,” Lucy said. “He coaches with Alex. Alex says he’s formed an after-school basketball league that’s also a confidence-building program for kids who are academically struggling.”
“He is a nice guy,” Kaitlyn said. “But he’s not the guy for me.”
Sara exchanged a look with Gabby. They all knew Kaitlyn’s real problem. For the thousandth time, Gabby wondered why Kaitlyn would set her sights on Rafe, who was about as determined to stay single as Leonardo DiCaprio.
“Oh, I almost forgot,” Gabby said. She took her backpack off her shoulders and pulled out a plastic Tupperware container. “I made brownies.”
“Not those killer brownies with the caramel and dark chocolate chips?” Sara asked, her eyes widening.
“Yep,” Gabby said.
“I love your brownies,” Kaitlyn said. “You’re such a good baker.”
Gabby took that as a sincere compliment, not only because Kaitlyn owned the Bean but also because she baked all the goodies for the coffee shop every day. If Gabby’s baking was passable, Kaitlyn’s was amazing.
“You sure you don’t want to give Steve one more chance?” Lucy asked quietly.
“Nope,” Kaitlyn said, waving her hand in the air. “No more chances. I’ve had a couple of dates with a guy from the Richardson fire department. He’s pretty nice…and he wants to take it to the next level.”
No one said what they were thinking, which was that the guy from Richardson was not Rafe. Gabby suspected Kaitlyn was trying to force herself to forget about her brother. That was a good thing, right?
Kaitlyn studied their faces. “Don’t look so shocked. I’m not going to spend my whole life pining after Rafe.”
“What are you going to do?” Sara asked.
“I’m going to sleep with the new guy,” Kaitlyn said. “I can’t get past the friend zone with Rafe, though God knows I’ve tried. I’ve got to do something to forget him.” She tossed a ball of yarn into the middle of the table. “It seems like just when I try to move on, he’s right back there, doing something that makes me hang on for longer.”
“What did he do this time?” Sara asked.
“I mentioned the firefighter and he got all red under his collar. Then he asked me to be his date for Stephanie’s wedding.”
“Hey, you were supposed to be my date,” Gabby said.
“Sorry,” Kaitlyn said. But she didn’t sound sorry.
“So you’re going as Rafe’s date?”
“Yes. As friends. And I’m going to sleep with the firefighter. So see? I Have this handled.”
Yikes. Gabby had doubts about that.
“You’re going to have to confront Rafe and tell him how you feel,” Lucy said. “It’s the only way you’re going to get him out of your system.”
Gabby wasn’t so sure about that either, and from Sara’s pointed looks in her direction, she agreed. Rafe seemed…clueless. She wasn’t sure how he would react to the truth.
“We’re good friends,” Kaitlyn said. “And right now…I don’t want to lose that. I feel like I can tell Rafe anything. He…gets me. But when I try to get closer, he just shuts down. I swear, after this wedding, maybe I should cut things off. For my own mental health.”
Lucy raised her glass of wine. “Let’s drink to mental health. After a week with all those little monsters, I need it. Plus, I had to get treated for pinkeye this week.”
“You love those little monsters,” Sara said. “Don’t lie.”
Lucy shrugged. “Sometimes. And also, some of their parents are awful. I wish they’d just let us do our job, you know? I had a run-in with a dad this week. He was upset about the type of classical music we played for his baby. Little did I know he’s chairman of the music department at the college. How was I supposed to know all classical music stations are not created equal?”
“Well, we’re ready to do arts and crafts,” Sara said. “Just tell us what to do.”
“I have to make a hundred tissue paper flowers and glue them to that poster board over there. And I need our resident artist to write ‘Welcome Parents’ with some kind of fancy lettering.” Lucy handed Gabby a handful of markers. “You don’t mind, do you?”
“Of course not.” Gabby got to work lettering the sign. “I had an interesting run-in with someone this week.”
“Well, why didn’t you say so?” Kaitlyn said. “Who is he? Is he hot? Do you want to do him?”
“I just met him,” Gabby said. “Geez.”
“The sooner you move on after Malcolm, the better off you’ll be,” Kaitlyn said.
“I’m over Malcolm. I dumped him, remember? Besides, this guy is someone I could never sleep with. Someone I can’t even date. I’m just having…thoughts.”
“Dirty thoughts?” Lucy asked. “That’s definitely a start.”
“Yeah, Gabs,” Sara said. “Why can’t you date him?”
“He’s my professor.”
“Gabs is hot for teacher,” Lucy teased. “What class are you taking again? And can I take it too?”
“What is it with you and the classes?” Kaitlyn asked. “Aren’t you tired enough after the hours you put in at that firm? And aren’t you sick of school after all those years?”
Gabby shrugged. She really should’ve kept her mouth shut.
Because she understood how great her life looked from the outside. Even her friends didn’t get why she felt so unsettled. How could she explain it to them when she didn’t understand it herself?
“I mean, we are grateful for that bartending course you took back in college,” Kaitlyn said.
“And the EMT courses really came in handy when you saved that woman from choking in that restaurant,” Lucy said.
“The photography lessons will always be a good life skill,” Sara chimed in. “Plus those framed prints you gave me for my wedding look great in our foyer.” Her sister was in on this too. Ugh.
“Didn’t you start flight lessons too, a couple of years ago?” Kaitlyn asked.
“Our dad put the kibosh on that pretty quick.” Sara looked over and must’ve noticed Gabby was looking a little panicked, so she gave her a little nudge with her elbow. “We’re just teasing you a little.”
“Yeah,” Lucy said. “You can do whatever you want in your spare time.”
Yes, of course. In her spare time.
“Tell us about the guy,” Lucy said.
“He’s not a guy. He teaches creative writing. You may know him, since he’s a local. Cade Marshall.”
“Oh, I remember him,” Kaitlyn said. “He got taken down by his ex. Stole her ideas and she sued him for it.”
“Did she win?” Lucy asked.
“The judge dismissed the case,” Sara said. “But his reputation has suffered.”
“Wow, that’s pretty tragic,” Kaitlyn said. “So did he do it? Steal his wife’s story?”
“I don’t think he did,” Gabby said, realizing she had no basis for saying that, just a gut sense she had about Cade. But they all knew her gut sense about men was totally off.
“You’re too trusting,” Lucy said. “You think the best of everyone.”
“Cade’s sister just joined our practice,” Sara said. “She’s alluded to his ex as being needy and jealous. She rarely sees their daughter.”
“Paige stands by her son,” Kaitlyn said. “She gets really upset if anyone brings that whole scandal up. But he hasn’t written anything since. I know because my mom wants to read the sequel, and there isn’t one.”
“He may call you, Luce,” Gabby said. “His daughter’s in a sketchy day care situation, and he wants to switch her somewhere else. I didn’t know if you had any openings, but I gave him your number.”
“Already taken care of,” Lucy said. “His little girl is officially enrolled and starting Monday.” She paused. “And by the way, he is hot.”
Gabby ignored the last comment. “Thanks for doing that.”
“Wow,” Kaitlyn said. “You just met the guy, and you’re already playing mom. This sounds serious.”
“It’s not like that. I was just being helpful.”
“Help me set these down over there, would you?” Sara asked, picking up a bunch of finished flowers and giving Gabby a nod. As soon as they were far enough away from the others, she dropped her voice to a concerned whisper. “Oh, Gabby. You know I always love and support you but I have to speak my mind, and I can’t help seeing red flags all over the place—divorced, a kid, and a scandal. And your professor. I mean, the potential for getting hurt if you got involved with someone like that—”
A very familiar feeling rose up like tidewater in Gabby’s chest. It was as if she were already disappointing everyone, even though she hadn’t even done anything yet. “I’m not involved. I just helped him out and thought he was cute. I shouldn’t have said anything.”
“I just worry about you,” Sara said. “I want you to meet someone wonderful who deserves you, that’s all.”
“I know I’ve made some mistakes in the past, but I understand he’s off-limits. It was just that I saw him being an amazing father. I mean, his kid was completely freaking out. Remember when Michael dropped to the ground in the grocery store that one time? He completely lost it, and Evie actually called us to come help because she was afraid she was going to murder someone. It was like that, but Cade just handled it really well.”
It wasn’t just his fatherly skills, and Gabby knew it. It was attraction, as pure and raw as a shot of tequila burning down your throat. And the way he looked at her when he’d dropped off her bike. The earth had stood still, just for a few seconds, as if they were the only two people in the room.
And the way he’d responded when she said she wanted to be a writer. He was the only person on the planet who thought becoming a writer was actually a rational possibility, something she could barely admit to herself, let alone out loud.
Back at the table, their friends were still talking about Cade. Oh, why had she opened her mouth?
“Aren’t there rules against that?” Lucy asked. “Sleeping with a student?”
“It’s unethical,” Gabby said, anxious to stop talking about it. “Because there’s a power differential. He controls my grade.”
“Big deal,” Kaitlyn said. “You don’t need a grade. I say go for it. You need some fun in your life— Ow!” she exclaimed, as Sara glowered. “You didn’t have to poke me with your elbow!”
“Gabby, you deserve to be happy,” Sara said. “Just focus on someone uncomplicated.”
“I’m thirty years old,” Gabby said. “Everyone’s complicated by now.”
“Good point,” Lucy said. “Okay, ladies, here comes the last batch of flowers.” She carried over the last piece of poster board. “The sooner we get done, the more we can drink. And after an entire week with those little monsters—I mean sweet, adorable children—I’m going to need several.”
As Gabby set to finishing the tissue paper flowers, she couldn’t help thinking that everything her friends said reinforced the fact that Cade Marshall had a lot of caution lights flashing everywhere.
They were right, of course. She wasn’t going to go looking for trouble. She was going to stay on the straight and narrow for once, let her friends and family help her this time and steer clear from any man likely to crush her heart.