Angel's Rest (20 page)

“I think Celeste is right,” Sage agreed. “Give him time, Nic. He’ll come around.”

“It’s a big risk for her,” Sarah cautioned.

“But the potential reward is great,” Sage returned.

Nic sighed heavily. “Look, there’s no sense straining
my brain about it. The man said no and walked out. He wasn’t wishy-washy about it one little bit.”

“Nevertheless, what’s the harm in being prepared?” Celeste asked.

“I appreciate the thought, but again, this isn’t the 1950s. Pregnancies don’t necessarily equal weddings anymore. It’s the day of the baby mama, not the wife.”

“Not in Eternity Springs,” Sarah said. “Not for you.”

“Not for Gabe Callahan, either, I suspect,” Sage added.

Nic sighed. “Even if Gabe and I were to decide to marry, we wouldn’t have a wedding. We’d get married at the courthouse.”

“Why?” Sage asked.

“Because I won’t marry in a religious ceremony unless love and commitment are involved.”

“Oh, Nic.” Celeste clicked her tongue. “God’s blessing upon a marriage is never inappropriate.”

“Maybe so, but I’d feel like a hypocrite.”

Sarah met Celeste’s and Sage’s gazes. “I’ve known her since she was nine years old. No sense arguing with her about this one.”

“That’s right.” Nic smiled around at her group of friends. “Thank you all for helping me through my meltdown. I’m calmer now. I can think more clearly. You are dear, dear friends and I am so glad you’re in my life. Now we should probably get back to the dance. The cookie plate is liable to be empty by now.”

“Wait,” Celeste said, holding up her hand. “There is one important thing we neglected to say.”

She took Nic’s hands in hers, gave them a squeeze, and said, “Congratulations, Nicole. I wish you great joy with your little one. Children are a blessing from God.”

“She’s right,” Sarah agreed. “Congrats, girlfriend.” She gave Nic a hug, then moved aside so Sage could do the same.

“Be happy, Nic,” Sage said. “I can’t wait to see the baby you and Gabe produce. He’s bound to be gorgeous. Having the two of you as parents, he’s hit the genetics jackpot.”

With the mood lightened, the women headed for the door. Sage paused beside the elk placed in a corner at the back of the room and observed, “I couldn’t concentrate to learn anything with all these glass eyes staring at me.”

“You should check out Linda Horten’s fourth-grade class,” Sarah told her. “She has dozens of the smaller animals around her room—five times the number of eyes.”

Sage shuddered and linked her arm with Celeste’s as they entered the hallway. “Maybe it’s my city-girl upbringing rearing its head, but personally, I’d rather learn animals from pictures in a book.”

Celeste laughed. “As a newcomer to Colorado, I’d prefer learning what a black bear looks like this way as opposed to the way I was educated. I’ll never forget opening my front door last fall to put a letter in the mailbox and finding a bear on my porch.”

“What did you do?” Sarah asked.

“I explained to him that I’d forgotten my return address label and I darted back inside.”

The picture coaxed a laugh from Nic and was the reason why she had a smile on her face when she reentered the gymnasium.

Her smile died when she spied the man leaning against the wall of folded-up bleachers on the east side of the gym.

Gabe.

Gabe wore a gray suit, white shirt, and red tie. Seeing her, he straightened away from the wall. He looked somber and serious, and her stomach sank.

“Whoa,” Sage murmured behind Nic. “Be still my heart. He’s even sexier than Coach Romano.”

“Mm-hmm,” Sarah hummed. “He is a handsome polecat. I’ll give him that.”

“I’ll bet you the keys to my Honda Gold Wing that he’s here to propose,” Celeste declared. “You’ll excuse me if I say I told you so.”

Nic’s stomach took a nervous roll. “Don’t be silly. He’s probably bringing me contact information before he leaves town for good.”

“He’s carrying a rose,” Sage said. “I don’t think a man brings a woman a red rose to kiss her off.”

Sarah shook her head. “The roses are a freshman class fund-raiser. They probably tackled him coming inside. Still, he could have tossed it.”

Nic stood frozen in place, only marginally aware that her friends dropped back as Gabe approached. He carried a long-stemmed red rose tied with a red satin ribbon in his right hand, and when he stopped in front of her, he held it out to her. “Hi.”

“Hi.” She accepted the flower. “Thanks.”

When silence descended awkwardly between them, she twirled the rose between her fingers and thought,
School gym. Red rose with a tacky ribbon. Awkward conversation while my best-friends-forever are watching. Junior high déjà vu
. “I … um … didn’t expect to see you here tonight, Gabe.”

“Well, yeah.” He shoved his hands in his pockets. “Can we talk? I want to—”

He broke off abruptly and scowled at something behind Nic. She glanced over her shoulder and saw that said best friends had moved within listening distance. Celeste smiled, her eyes twinkling. Sage gave a little finger wave. Sarah winked at Nic, then shot Gabe her best dirty look.

Nic tried to shoo them away by making a sweeping motion with the back of her hand, but of course they didn’t budge.

Gabe sighed and asked, “Why don’t you give me a tour of the school?”

“Okay.” After requesting the key ring from Sarah, she led him toward the door she’d entered moments ago. He walked at her side, his hands in his pockets, a troubled expression on his face. Nic twirled the rose stem nervously with her fingers. “This is the high school wing.”

“Okay.” He didn’t bother glancing around.

In the dim light of the hallway outside of the biology lab, shadows accentuated the hard angles of his face. He had a fallen-angel look about him, and his declaration on Christmas Eve flitted through her mind.
I’m feeling like the damned devil himself
.

Nic drew in a lungful of formaldehyde-scented air and felt a little nauseated, so she continued to lead him up the hall and into another wing of the school until he paused in front of a bulletin board decorated with colored chalk drawings of Hummingbird Lake. He studied the students’ drawings for a few moments before saying, “I took a snowmobile out yesterday. Went up into the
back country and eventually ended up at a spot that overlooked Eternity Springs.”

He fell silent then, and after a long moment, Nic felt compelled to speak just to fill the void. “You had perfect weather. Bet it was gorgeous.”

He nodded. “Six months ago I wouldn’t have seen it. Shoot, six months ago I might have juked the gas and driven the snowmobile right off the edge of the cliff. Yesterday it was different. I was different. I could see the beauty in the blue sky and the sunshine and the pristine snow. Eternity Springs looked like one of those Victorian villages that department stores sell at Christmastime.”

He turned his head and his solemn, brown-eyed gaze held hers. “This town has been good for me.”

She wanted to ask,
Even considering the consequences?
Instead, she kept it neutral by saying, “I think Celeste is on to something about the healing energy in our valley.”

Gabe shook his head. “See, that’s the thing. Being better and being healed are two different animals. That’s basically where I’m at.”

He stuck his hands in his pockets and resumed walking. “For you to understand my position, I’m going to have to talk about myself. I really hate to do that.”

“I noticed,” she commented dryly.

His mouth quirked. “I have told you a little. You do know I have baggage. What you don’t know is that it’s enough to fill a container ship.”

Nic had to bite her tongue to keep from telling him to just get over it. A whole cruise ship full of baggage didn’t change the fact that they were having a child together. Their child’s needs had to come first—baggage be hanged.

Choosing her words judiciously, she replied, “Everyone
has baggage. Personally, I have a matched set. With pink pompoms tied around the handles.”

They reached the end of the high school wing, and she turned toward the small lounge area in front of the cafeteria and school offices. Nerves were making her knees a bit shaky; she might need to sit down.

He paused in front of another bulletin board, this one decorated with third-graders’ Valentine-themed artwork. “The cold air cleared my senses, and I was able to think clearly. I was able to figure out what I can offer you, Nic. And what I can’t. You’ll have to decide if it’s enough for you. Is there somewhere we could sit down?”

Just say it already
, she wanted to scream. The tension was driving her nuts.

When his gaze focused on her hands and his mouth twisted, she glanced down to see that she’d mangled the flower. Lovely. “Follow me.”

She led them to the lounge, where she took a seat in an armchair. She watched him pace the lounge and waited for him to speak. It seemed to take forever, but he finally took a seat in the chair opposite her and said, “So here’s the deal. I think we should get married.”

Nic narrowed her eyes. “Have you been talking with Celeste?”

“Um, no,” he warily replied. “Not since you dropped your bombshell. Why?”

“It doesn’t matter. Never mind.” Now Nic was the one who stood up and paced.

“Explain something to me. If you’re not willing to be a father, what good does it do for you to become a husband?”

“Because it’s the right thing to do. I’m the baby’s father whether or not I ever become his daddy. I have a responsibility to him. He’s an innocent in all of this—the only innocent, really. We have some time, Nic. Seven
and a half months of pregnancy, then another chunk of months before I could cause him any real damage by bowing out.”

But what about me?
she wanted to ask. Big girls had tender hearts, too.

“Look, I’m a bad bet,” he continued. “Don’t have any doubt about it. My head is pretty messed up. However, it’s not nearly as messed up as it was when I came to Colorado. Right now the idea of a baby makes me break out in a cold sweat, but maybe it won’t always be that way. I’d like time to try to figure that out.”

“We don’t have to be married for that. If you’re worried about my reputation, well, don’t. We’re not going to fool anyone. Eternity Springs’ residents might not be the most sophisticated people around, but they do know how to count to nine.”

Gabe leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. “I’ve done a lot of lousy things in my life, but I’ve always taken responsibility for my actions. Marrying is the right thing to do, the responsible thing to do.”

Responsibility. Great
. He made marriage sound as pleasurable as a toothache.

Doubt assailed her. Marrying him could be a huge mistake, not because of the baby—he had a point about having time—but because she was susceptible to him. She could love this man. Shoot, she was halfway in love with him already.

Celeste’s words echoed through her mind.
He has a good and loving heart, but it’s been damaged. It’s still healing. And you know what the best medicine for a wounded heart is, don’t you?

Love.

Nic returned to her chair and sank into the seat. “If we did this, what sort of arrangement are you proposing with this proposal?”

“What do you mean?”

“Would this be a marriage in name only or the real deal? Would we live together? Share our meals?” She paused, licked her lips, then added, “Share a bed?”

He went very still for a moment, then shook his head. “I won’t use you, Nic. I did that at Christmas and it was wrong. Honestly, my head is kinda screwed up where sex is concerned. I was a faithful husband and … well, I guess you could say I haven’t adjusted to my change in circumstance. If you have a spare bedroom, that would probably be best. At least for now.”

Nic shut her eyes. How humiliating was this? He wouldn’t be her husband. He’d be her roommate.
If I wanted a roommate, I’d have taken out an ad
.

“If I were to agree to this,” she said slowly, “there is something I refuse to compromise on. If you decide you’re, um, adjusted again, don’t let me walk in on you and another woman. Like they say, been there, done that. Totally no fun.”

“Hey.” He put a finger beneath her chin and tilted her face up, then stared deeply into her eyes. “That’s one promise I
can
make you, Nic. I will not be unfaithful. Put that worry out of your mind. You have my word.”

She believed him. After all, he was still struggling over faithfulness to his first wife a year after her death.

“Say yes, Nicole,” he urged. “Let me do this much for you, for the baby. Let me give him, give both of you, my name.”

“Why do you care, Gabe? I don’t understand.”

“I’m not sure I understand either, to be honest. What I do know is that as I stood on that mountaintop yesterday, I understood that this is the way it’s supposed to be. Maybe it’s because it’s the way I was raised. Maybe it’s because this is one thing I know I can do for this baby. If, in the end, I have to walk away, at least he’ll know I respected his life and his mother enough to do this.”

Nic thought about it for a long time. If she agreed to
marry him, she would be taking an awful risk. What if she fell all the way in love with him and he never healed enough to love her back? Or, even worse, his heart healed and he decided he wanted someone else?