Angel's Rest (21 page)

But, like Sage said, the potential reward was great. They could have a happy marriage. Her baby could have both her parents.

Gabe Callahan could fall in love with them.

“If I were to agree to this,” she slowly repeated, “I’d want a kill switch.”

“Excuse me?”

“We can’t have an open-ended agreement. That doesn’t work for me. I need to know that if you can’t commit to us by the time the baby is, say, six months old, you’ll leave. That you’ll go away and stay away so that I … we … can get on with our lives.”

He considered it, then nodded. “Okay. We can do that. I don’t have a problem with that.”

Nic looked at Gabe for a long minute. He really was a good man. Troubled. Damaged beyond repair, perhaps. But when he loved, he loved with a capital
L
. He could be her brass ring, but marrying him would require a leap of faith on her part. Could she do it? Dare she do it?

Again, Celeste’s voice echoed through her thoughts.
Allow yourself to love him, Nicole. That’s one of the greatest gifts a mother can give to her child, you know. To love her child’s father. I firmly believe that once Gabe’s heart heals, he’ll discover that you and your child already have a place there
.

“Okay,” she said, expelling a heavy breath. “I’ll do it. For the baby’s sake, I’ll marry you.”

“Good. I’m glad.” He wiped his palms on his pants legs, then stood.

If he tries to shake my hand, I’ll kick him
.

He took her hand, but didn’t shake it. Instead, he
tugged her to her feet, leaned down, and placed a chaste kiss on her lips. “Thanks, Nic. I’m honored.”

He’s honored, and I’m a goner
.

“So, how do you want to do this?” he continued. “You go to St. Stephen’s, don’t you?”

“No. Not at the church. Let’s just go to the courthouse. In Gunnison. I don’t want to do this in Eternity Springs.”

He shrugged. “That’s your call.”

She considered her appointment schedule for the coming week and frowned. “This week is bad for me. How about next week? Maybe Wednesday?”

“Sure. That’s fine. Whatever you want.” He gestured toward the hallway. “Ready to go back to the dance?”

“Guess I’d better. I’m supposed to be guarding the punch bowl.”

They didn’t speak as they returned to the gym. Sage was standing at the refreshment table, and when Nic gestured that she would take her friend’s place, Sage shook her head and waved her away. That left Nic standing awkwardly with Gabe. She expected him to say good night and escape, but instead he surprised her—shocked her—by asking, “Would you like to dance?”

She smiled at him. “Look at the gym floor, Gabe. This is a father-daughter dance.”

“Yeah. Well, so what? Consider this my first dance with my daughter.”

At that, Nic went all gooey and some of her lingering doubts eased. Gabe Callahan
was
a good man. She tilted her head at him and asked, “What if she’s a he?”

“Well, I grew up going to dance halls in Texas, and believe me, it’s never too early for a guy to learn to two-step.”

Gabe was up on the ladder cutting in paint in a guest room at Angel’s Rest the next morning when his cell
phone rang. His sister-in-law was returning his call. He set down the paintbrush, blew out a breath, then answered the phone.

The connection was lousy and he could barely hear Pam’s voice. “Let me call you back from a landline,” he told her. “Give me ten minutes.”

He descended the ladder and tended to his painting supplies, then exited the bedroom. He’d use the phone in the hallway. Celeste had left half an hour ago to get her hair done. He’d have privacy for another half hour at least. He didn’t expect the call to take nearly that long.

He’d be surprised if Pam didn’t hang up on him within two minutes.

Jen’s sister would see this as a betrayal. She might well cut off all contact with him. He could very well lose the only family he had left.

Except you’ll be gaining a new family, won’t you?

“Maybe yes, but maybe no,” he muttered.

Gabe wiped his hands on the rag hanging from his pocket. This phone call would be the most difficult one he’d ever made. At some point during his mostly sleepless night he’d tried to write dialogue for this conversation. It hadn’t gotten much beyond,
I’m an idiot
. He couldn’t believe he’d been so careless as to put himself into this spot. Pam would rightly give him hell—if she didn’t hang up on him upon hearing that Gabe “had to get married.”

Marriage. He swallowed hard.

He believed he and Nic were doing the right thing. Despite trends in America, illegitimacy could still be a confidence killer for a small-town kid who lived in a flyover state. Gabe had grown up in a small town, a small town even more conservative than Eternity Springs. There had been a couple of kids of divorced parents
who’d gone to school with him. He couldn’t think of any whose parents had never married.

He did recall his mother’s reaction when the older sister of one of his friends turned up pregnant in high school and a wedding wasn’t immediately in the offing. A good Catholic girl, his mom had been scandalized. He’d never forget her comment at the dinner table one night when the topic came up for discussion. She’d sniffed with disdain, then said, “First babies can come anytime. The rest of them take nine months.”

That one had him confused for days before one of his brothers explained it to him.

That memory of his mother had helped him make up his mind about what to do. He’d gotten a girl pregnant, so he needed to marry her. Like it or not, he was a responsible party here, and he didn’t shirk his responsibilities. His mom would rise from her grave and pull his ears off his head if he tried. She’d be right to do so.

Downstairs, Gabe eyed the phone on the table as if it were a snake. He absolutely, positively did not want to make this call.

Nevertheless, it had to be done. He had to tell his sister-in-law that he’d slept with someone other than Jennifer. That he’d made a baby with someone other than Jennifer.

That he was marrying someone who wasn’t Jennifer.

Gabe was tempted to lean over and beat his head against the banister. A baby. Against his will, Gabe remembered holding Jennifer’s back as the labor nurse ordered,
Push, Jenny, push
. Bringing Matt home, setting him in the nursery’s bay window to let the sunshine do its magic on his jaundice. Jen in the rocking chair, a madonna with a babe at her breast.

He had a mental flash of Nic’s bare breasts, then he closed his eyes and groaned. He needed a shrink. Of course, he was out of luck in that regard here in Eternity
Springs. Closest thing they had to a psychologist was a vet. The same vet who’d created his need for a doctor in the first place.

Gabe picked up the phone, dialed the number, then stretched the long phone cord to take a seat on the stairs four steps from the bottom. Pam answered on the third ring. They spoke about Nathan and the rehab on his leg for a few moments, then, when Gabe was trying to find the words to get started, Pam said, “Okay, Callahan. You obviously have something on your mind. What is it? Spill.”

Holding the phone to his left ear, his elbows propped on his knees, Gabe held his head with his right hand and closed his eyes. He should have snagged a water bottle before making this call. His mouth was as dry as the West Texas desert.

“Gabe?”

“Okay. Yeah. Well, here’s the deal. Don’t hang up on me, Pam. Okay? Promise me you’ll hear me out?”

“You’re scaring me, Callahan.”

“Sorry. It’s just that this is hard. See, I’m ashamed.”
Shame doesn’t even cover it
.

“Is it another wreck? Did you hurt somebody else?”

He winced, taking it as a barb despite knowing she didn’t mean it the way it sounded.
Yeah, I hurt someone else, but not in the way you think
.

“No, no wreck. Listen, Pam, I’m not going to try to excuse what I did, but I do want to explain it. It happened Christmas Eve. I wasn’t thinking straight.” He told her about trimming the tree and the effects of seeing all the family decorations. “After you called to tell me you guys weren’t coming to Colorado, I went a little crazy. I started drinking. You know what it was like, how hard it was.”

Warily his sister-in-law said, “Yes.”

“I did something I should not have done, and now I have to face the consequences.”

After a beat, Pam asked, “Are you going to jail, Gabe?”

“Jail?” Gabe repeated, barking out an unamused laugh. “Not exactly, but then, there are all sorts of prisons, aren’t there?” He blew out a breath and ripped off the bandage. “I got a woman here in Eternity Springs pregnant on Christmas Eve. I’m getting married, Pam.”

Nic carried two lightweight but bulky shopping bags in her hands as she approached the back porch of Angel’s Rest, where Sarah and Sage waited for her the morning after the dance. She waved and saw both women do a double take. When she drew close, Sarah said, “Nicole, my friend, green is not your color. Not for your complexion, anyway. Are you okay?”

“I’m an idiot. I felt really good this morning and I decided to walk over. Remind me to tell Gabe and Celeste they need to consider building a footbridge for expectant mothers that crosses Angel Creek a little farther down from the hot springs.”

“Smell got to you?” Sage asked.

“Something got to me. I ordinarily have morning sickness in the afternoon, but I got one whiff of sulfur and my stomach started spinning like Bear’s mirror ball in the gym last night.”

Sarah shook her head. “I remember morning sickness. It’s too bad God didn’t give it to us as a precursor to sex instead of the result of it. There would be a lot fewer unplanned pregnancies that way.”

Sage and Sarah shared a look, then Sage asked, “So, are you ready to talk about it this morning?”

“Being nauseated?”

“Wedding plans.”

“Not really. No.” Gabe had taken his leave after their
dance last night, and the moment he left the gym her friends had swooped down like hawks on a field mouse for details. Pleading exhaustion, Nic had shared only the fact that they had agreed to marry. “We’re here to decorate Celeste’s office for her birthday, and besides, I have no wedding plans to discuss.”

“You are no fun, Nic Sullivan,” Sarah groused.

“Deal with it. Now, we’d best get to work if we’re going to have everything ready before Celeste comes home from the beauty shop.” She opened the door, stepped into the kitchen, and set her bags down on the kitchen table. “I have streamers and balloons, fishing line, and some other sundry stuff. Could have done better if Celeste hadn’t been so stingy with information.”

Last night Celeste had mentioned in passing to Sage that today was her birthday, though she neglected to reveal just which birthday it was. Once Sarah learned the news, she’d decided the time had arrived to welcome Celeste into a tradition she and Nic had shared for years, one they’d introduced Sage to after she’d moved to Eternity Springs.

“I brought the bananas,” Sarah said.

“I have markers and paints—and a list of things I want to write. We don’t have time to be, uh, as creative as we were for your birthday, Sarah.”

“Besides, I can’t drink alcohol,” Nic added.

Sarah smirked. “I knew my bananagram had been done in an alcohol daze. Some of those messages were X-rated.”

The silly yet enjoyable tradition between the adult girlfriends had grown out of slumber-party activity for Lori and her friends when they were seven years old. “Bananagrams” back then were messages like “Happy Birthday” or “Congratulations” written in black marker on whole bananas. The bananas were then
hung from trees in the honoree’s yard with fishing line—usually in the middle of the night.

In the past ten years, Nic and Sarah had added their own special touch to the tradition. When Sage moved to town, she’d been happy to join in the festivities.

“I’m going to write something about her motorcycle,” Nic said. “Break out the pens, Sage.” To Sarah, she added, “Did you bring any rotten fruit?”

“Absolutely. What’s a bananagram without at least one ‘It’s rotten to be so old’ message?”

“Celeste is gonna love this.” Nic met her friends’ gazes and added, “It’s just what I needed. Thank you.”

They spread their supplies on the table and went to work. They had a lot to do. Not knowing Celeste’s age, Sarah had decided on an even hundred for their bananagram. They’d be hard pressed to have everything ready by the time Celeste returned home.

So intent was Nic on the task at hand that it wasn’t until she heard a man—Gabe—spit out a particularly foul curse that she realized they were no longer alone. He was in the hallway beyond the kitchen. Talking to someone, probably on the hall phone. Noting the worry in Sage’s and Sarah’s expressions, Nic set a banana marked with “Happy B’day Motorcycle Mama” aside and tuned into what Gabe was saying.

“No, I don’t
want
to marry her. A baby is certainly the last thing I wanted.”

Nic sucked in an audible breath.

“You matter to me, Pam. You and Will and Nathan. You made in-law jokes a joke. You became not just Jen’s sister but my sister, too.”

Sister. He was talking to his sister-in-law. Telling her about the wedding. The baby. She rose to her feet, then closed her eyes and an emptiness yawned inside her.

“Yeah, well, you’re right. I was stupid. I wasn’t thinking. It was sex. Just sex.”

Nic’s nausea came roaring back. Sarah put her hand on Nic’s shoulder.

“I know, dammit. I know! I was an idiot, all right? But what other choice do I have now? I made my bed and now I have to lie in it. I have to marry her. It’s the responsible thing to do.”

Nic felt the color drain from her face. She was beginning to hate the word
responsible
.

She moved to the doorway, where she could see him. Gabe sat on the stairs, his shoulders slumped, his expression stark. Anguish and anger vibrated in his voice as he stared down at the wedding ring he still wore on his left hand. “No, Pam, of course not. I don’t love her. I love your sister. I’ll always love your sister. She was my soul mate. Nicole and I … we just … we had sex and now we have to deal with the consequences.”