Angel's Rest (36 page)

“Can I get you something to eat or drink?” he asked, attempting to put off the moment.

“No, thanks. Let’s sit beside the pool, shall we? It’s so peaceful and beautiful there. You did a lovely job with the design, Gabe. Both here and at Angel’s Rest.”

“Thanks.”

Rather than take a seat in one of the lounge chairs, Celeste sat at the pool’s edge, removed her boots and socks, and rolled up her pant legs. She plopped her feet into the water, smiled, and said, “Come sit with me.”

After working with her for months, Gabe knew it would be a waste of time to argue, so he did as she asked. “Okay, let me have it.”

“You think I’ve come to scold you?”

“Of course. I deserve it, don’t I?”

Celeste gave his leg a motherly pat and suggested, “Why don’t you tell me what you think?”

“Okay, I will. If I could turn back the clock, I’d do it in a heartbeat. I’m doing the only thing I can do. I’m giving her time. Nic left me. She doesn’t want to see me or talk to me, and she has every right to feel the way she feels. I can’t do anything to change it. Not now. Right now my hands are tied because I will not cause her stress and put the babies at risk in any way.”

“And once she has the babies? What then?”

“Then I figure out a way to fix it. Fix us. I’m going to fight for her, Celeste.”

“And you intend to do that how?”

“That, I’m not so sure about. I have to convince her that I’m here for the duration. That I’m committed. That I’m not like her father or her ex or even the man I was that stormy night in June. I will not fail her again. I have to find a way to convince her that she can trust me.” He paused and gave Celeste a sidelong look. “Any suggestions on how I can pull off that miracle?”

“I have a particular interest in miracles,” she replied, offering a beatific smile. “Tell you what, Gabriel. Try to convince me that Nic’s heart is safe with you, and I’ll see what miraculous advice I have to offer. How are you a different man from the one who abandoned her at the hospital?”

Gabe took a few moments to organize his thoughts before he shrugged and said, “Maybe it’s not that I’m a different man, but that I’ve managed to put the pieces of myself back together again. It’s been a slow, steady process that occurred beneath my own personal radar, not as some great moment of revelation. Nic’s leaving me was a kick to the gut that opened my eyes. I knew I had dealt with my past because I cared about the future. I’m whole again. Well, except for the fact that the person who completes me is living in Denver at the moment.”

“What does your being whole have to do with the safety of Nicole’s heart?”

“Everything.” Gabe splashed the water gently with his heel and watched the ripples radiate outward. “I’m strong again, Celeste. When I first came to Eternity Springs, I was so weak that a snowflake could have knocked me down. Actually, a snowflake did knock me down. This town and these people helped me climb back
onto my feet. I know that if we were to rerun that drive to the hospital right now, I’d still be afraid of losing the babies, of losing Nic, but I wouldn’t run. I will be there for her from here on out. Every single time. I can’t prove it. I have no big, splashy sign to show her. I just know it in my bones. So tell me, Celeste, how can I convince Nic of something so intangible? How can I convince her to trust me again?”

“Your instincts are good. You are smart to be patient. All her energies and concerns right now are focused on the babies. When the time does come that she is willing to revisit your relationship, Nic needs to know that she can depend on you. I suspect you’ll have to win her back one small act at a time.”

“I’m willing to do that. I just need her to give me the opportunity to prove myself.” He lifted his gaze to where an eagle soared against the cerulean sky. “I love her, Celeste. I didn’t think it could happen again, but it has. I love her.”

Celeste’s smile turned positively smug. “Of course you love her. You have loved her for some time now. I’m glad you finally realize it. Your heart has healed, Gabe Callahan. In fact, I consider you the first success of our healing center, and to mark the occasion, here’s the gift I mentioned earlier.”

She pulled something from her pocket, a silver medal dangling from a silver chain. “What’s this? A Saint Christopher medal?” he asked.

“No, dear. This is the official healing center blazon, awarded to those who have embraced healing’s grace. Wear it next to your heart, Gabe Callahan. Carry the grace you found here with you whatever life path you travel.”

“Angel’s wings?” he asked, touched by her gift.

“What else?”

“Did Sage design this? It looks like her work.” When Celeste nodded, he added, “It’s beautiful. Thank you.”

He wasn’t one to wear necklaces, but as he slipped it over his head and the medal rested against his chest, he admitted that it felt right. “I’ll wear it always.”

He wrapped an arm around Celeste and gave her a quick hug, then asked, “I don’t suppose you have one of those ready and waiting for Nic, do you?”

Her voice rang out like church bells. “Have faith, young man. Have faith.” She paused, then added, “It wouldn’t hurt to say a few prayers, too.”

Gabe asked Celeste to join him for lunch, but she declined, citing other errands on her schedule. He waved as she roared off on her motorcycle, shaking his head slightly at the sight. He hoped he was as active as she was when he was her age.

She’d made him feel better, he reflected as he walked toward the house. She had lifted his spirits and given him hope. The woman certainly had a way about her that spoke to the troubled areas of a soul.

He was in the middle of making a turkey sandwich when he heard his phone ring. He licked mayonnaise from his fingers, then checked the number: Nic. “Hello?”

“Are you suicidal?”

His heart leapt to hear her voice. “What?”

“People in town think you’re depressed. They say you’re not eating or taking care of yourself.”

Gabe’s stare locked on his turkey sandwich. “I’m fine. How are you, Nic? How are the babies?”

“Why aren’t you in town?” she asked with an edge in her voice. “Why are you holed up at Eagle’s Way?”

“I miss you.”

“Answer my question.”

“I just did. I miss you, Nic. Town is lonely without
you. It’s crowded with tourists, too, and for some reason that only makes me miss you more.”

After a long pause, she said, “Your sister-in-law told Celeste that you almost killed yourself last fall. There’s some concern you’ve, um, relapsed. Everyone is very worried about you.”

“Everyone?” He waited a long pause, but when she failed to respond, he added, “No one needs to worry. I’m not depressed and I’m certainly not suicidal. I don’t want you to be concerned about my mental health. Except for missing you, I’m fine, I promise. In fact, Celeste came by a little while ago. You can talk to her. She’ll back me up. Now, since I have you on the phone, can I ask how you’re doing? How the babies are doing? I think about you every day and—”

“Stop it, Gabe,” she interrupted. “I’m not ready for this. The only reason I called was because I can’t say no to Lori.”

“Then I guess that attending childbirth classes with you is out of the question?”

“Doing what?”

“I assume you’re signed up for childbirth classes and I was hoping you’d let me go with you. Otherwise I’m going to go to the classes at the hospital over in Gunnison.”

“Wait. Hold on. I don’t get it.”

“I want to be part of their lives, Nicole. I’m not going to push you, but I want you to know that I’m committed. I will be there for them, and for you, to whatever extent you’ll allow. I know you have good reason not to believe me, so I’m not going to ask that of you. I’ll let my actions prove my words.”

He held his breath waiting for her response. For a long moment she said nothing. When she finally did speak, she broke his heart. “You hurt me, Gabe.”

“I know.” He swallowed hard, and in that moment he truly despised himself. “I’m so, so sorry.”

He heard the line click, then a dial tone. He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. Then, wrapping his hand around the angel’s wings medallion, he murmured, “Well, at least that’s a start.”

Nic rejoiced in every week that crawled by. Never mind that her belly grew so big that she felt like she needed a sling to help tote it around. She refused to complain about the heartburn and insomnia and fatigue and pressure. She followed the perinatologist’s instructions to the letter and had Sage on speed dial for the endless questions she had and for the reassurances she needed on a daily basis. Whatever reason Sage had for turning her back on medicine, Nic was both grateful and thankful that she’d put friendship ahead of it.

As August marched on, she began to believe she might reach her new goal of delivering her babies closer to home. Sage, her doctor in Denver, and Dr. Marshall had all assured her that if she made it to thirty-seven weeks, the Gunnison facility could care for her near-term twins just fine. The only thing preventing her from heading for the hills the moment her doctor gave her the okay was her indecision regarding what to do about Gabe.

Calling him that day had created a real chink in her armor against him. Before, she’d been able to put him out of her mind. Afterward, he had haunted her thoughts. When he called a week after Lori and Chase’s visit, she’d taken his call.

He’d asked about her health and that of the babies. Then he’d told her about attending the childbirth class in Gunnison. He’d actually done it. She couldn’t believe it. A little flicker of warmth sparked to life in her heart and remained burning long after the phone call ended.

Nic was watching a video when her doorbell rang during the last week of August. She hauled herself to her feet and waddled to the door. She peered into the peephole and saw Ali Timberlake standing on her front step. She swung open the door. “What a wonderful surprise.”

Ali smiled sheepishly. “Sorry to show up unannounced like this, but I’m in a bind and I’m hoping you can help me.”

“I’ll help you any way I can, though I am a bit limited.” She smiled ruefully and gestured to the huge expanse that was her belly.

“What I need is company. Caitlin is away at summer camp and Mac is working ridiculous hours with his new job. I need a distraction. Will you please come give me your opinion of the new paint color I’m considering for the family room?”

“Sure,” Nic replied, glad to be able to return the favor of friendship. Ali had been a lifesaver to her this summer. “Come on in while I see if I can find some shoes I can still fit my fat feet into.”

“You look gorgeous.”

Nic laughed. “You’re a good friend. A liar, but a good friend.”

Ali lived in a lovely two-story house in an established, old-money neighborhood. Nic didn’t mind tagging along on this trip, although she couldn’t see herself being of any real help to Ali when it came to decorating. The woman was the epitome of style, class, and good taste.

Ali parked her car in the garage and said, “We’ll go around to the backyard and enter through the back door. Follow me.”

She led Nic through a whimsical black iron gate and around to the backyard. The first thing she noticed was the pool. The second was the people, and finally she saw
the presents just as the crowd of friendly faces shouted, “Surprise!”

A baby shower. Her dear, wonderful friends were throwing her a baby shower. She glanced around the circle. Sage, Sarah, and Celeste, of course. Lori, LaNelle, Wendy Davis, Lisa Myers, all the members of the Patchwork Angels Quilting Bee. Choked up, all she could manage was, “Oh, you guys.”

“You didn’t think we’d skip giving you a shower just because we had to drive a little, did you?” Sarah asked, grabbing Nic’s hand in hers and tugging her toward the chair sitting beneath the shade of a pool umbrella.

“Honestly, I never thought about it.” She’d been too busy worrying about preventing labor to think about normal stuff.

For the next hour, Nic opened gifts and oohed and aahed over infant gowns, receiving blankets, booties, and bibs—two of everything, of course. Since she had chosen not to learn her babies’ genders ahead of time, the gifts were mostly in either/or shades of yellow and green. Sarah gave her the coolest twin stroller ever made, and Sage presented her with car seats. Celeste gave her two gorgeous christening gowns in addition to layettes made of fabric in a pattern of gold angel wings. Nic was excited and thrilled and overwhelmed with the outpouring of affection from her friends. When she’d opened everything but the last two large, identical boxes, she saw Sage and Sarah share a look before they scooted them over to her. “What is it?” she asked.

“They weren’t sure if they should bring these,” Celeste said. “I told them they were exactly what you needed to see.”

Nic unwrapped two hand-carved rocker cradles that were so beautiful they brought tears to her eyes. This was Colt Rafferty’s work. “I thought you told me Colt didn’t make it to Eternity again this summer after all.”

“He didn’t.” Sage lifted her chin in disdain. “That’s four summers in a row and he still has the audacity to enter the art contest as a local.”

“Let it go, Sage,” Sarah said. Turning to Nic, she explained, “Someone tracked Colt down and got him to make these special.”

“Someone?” Nic asked.

Sarah’s teeth tugged at her lower lip. “Read the card.”

Nic opened the white envelope that was tied to the end of one cradle and slipped out a folded note card.

It’s a poor second-best to being held in your arms. Love, Gabe
.

“Oh, wow,” she murmured. This had been a big step for Gabe, and she knew it.

During the rest of the party, Nic’s gaze returned time and again to the cradles. She couldn’t believe that the same man who’d ditched her at the hospital had gone to extraordinary effort to offer such perfect gifts for their babies.

Eventually, someone made note of the time and the long drive ahead for those returning to Eternity Springs that night, so guests began to take their leave. Before long, only the hostesses of the shower—Nic’s four closest friends—remained, and the post-party cleanup began in earnest. While Sage and Sarah chased down scraps of ribbon and paper that had blown toward the back of the yard and Celeste began stacking gifts inside the two cradles, Ali asked Nic, “How are you doing? Can I get you anything else?”