Blind Ice (Razors Ice Book 5) (13 page)

Chapter Fifteen

Pet Friendly

After several days of take-out, Julia knew Gabe deserved better. When he suggested going out to eat, she was relieved yet skeptical.

“You really want to take a blind girl out to eat in public?”

“Why? Is that wrong?”

“You’ll get a lot of looks,” she informed him, her voice tight. She didn’t give a damn what people thought, but she wasn’t about to put him in a situation that made him uncomfortable.

“Just slap on some big sunglasses and they’ll think you’re a celebrity.”

Julia laughed and wondered why she’d been so worried in the first place.

Ironically, Gabe and Julia ended up at a Chinese restaurant. Hey, if it wasn’t broken…

They settled into a cozy booth in the corner and ordered an assortment of food. When the food came, Gabe pointed out where each item was on her plate. “Rice on the right, Chow Mein on the left.”

It was something Kate would do and it brought a smile to Julia’s face. “Thank you.”

Gabe was caring and attentive to her. Not because he felt sorry for her, but because he seemed to genuinely care for her.

Shamus was perfectly behaved. He lay quietly at her feet with his head on his paws. When Gabe commented on the dog’s impeccable behavior, Julia grinned. “He knows he’s getting a treat when we get home,” she said, pride rising in her chest. He was such a good boy. He remained faithful by her side and all he ever asked for in return was a treat once in a while and a nice scratch behind the ears.

Shamus’s dog collar jingled as he lifted his head at the word ‘treat’ and rested it back down again.

At the end of the meal, Gabe and Julia sat back with a groan and marveled at the huge amount of food they were able to put away.

The busier the restaurant became, the noisier it got. Julia had no problem hearing each individual conversation, but she chose to tune them out and focus only on Gabe.

When he offered to pay for dinner, Julia smirked. “I won’t play tug-of-war with you for the check.”

He laughed and cracked open his fortune cookie. “
You like participating in competitive sports
.”

She handed him hers and he read it for her. “
Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity
.”

They had a good laugh at their “fortunes” and joked about how they expected something profound like “
Your natural charm will attract someone special
.” Then they got creative and made up their own fortunes. What did a little slip of paper with lottery numbers printed on it know about life anyway?

On their way out, Julia could sense tension behind her and it wasn’t coming from Gabe. Gabe must have sensed it too because he tightened his grip on her hand.

“You can’t bring a dog into a restaurant. That’s
disgusting
.”

Julia turned toward the source of the voice. “He’s a service dog,” she explained despite Shamus’s bright orange vest with the words
service animal
printed on it. “What’s
disgusting
is the cheap perfume you’re trying to pass off as deodorant. By the way, it’s not working.”

The woman blew out a huff of air like the windbag she so clearly was.

The person she was with must have had half a brain cell because Julia heard her whisper, “She’s
blind
. That’s her seeing eye dog.”

Without saying anything further, the woman huffed again and shuffled away.

Gabe and Julia followed Shamus to the exit and when they were outside Julia let out a sigh of relief.

“I didn’t expect a catfight on our first date,” Gabe said, squeezing her hand.

“Sorry about that. I probably should have kept my mouth shut, but some people are just so ignorant.”

“That’s okay. I just wish you could’ve seen the look on her face after you put her in her place.”

Julia laughed.

Gabe took her hands and placed them on his face. “She was like ehhhh.” He distorted his face and it moved underneath her fingers.

“Stop!” she cried. “It’s going to freeze that way!”

They laughed together on the sidewalk in front of the restaurant, neither one of them giving a good damn what people thought of them.

The evening was too wonderful to end it so soon, so they decided to take a walk. They walked hand-in-hand along downtown, passing shops and restaurants. Smells and laughter drifted out from inside. The night air was chilly and Gabe’s hand was warm holding tight to hers.

The magical sounds of an acoustic guitar caused Julia’s attention to shift. You didn’t need to step into the foyer of a fancy restaurant or a museum to find beauty. It was right here on the dirty sidewalk for everyone to enjoy.

She slowed Shamus to a stop and stood to listen. The music reverberated through her body. Julia didn’t have to have the gift of sight to know that magic was happening on the sidewalk. Tears slid down her cheeks. It was so beautiful and so pure. She felt every note dance through her veins and settle seep into her soul.

Listening to classical music on her iPod was a completely different experience from hearing someone pluck the strings of a guitar in person.

Gabe laced his fingers through hers and squeezed her hand. She smiled and wiped the tears away with her free hand.

Beauty was definitely all around her.

* * *

“I never thought I’d ever have this,” Julia said, snuggling closer to Gabe in her too-small bed. Their legs twined around each other’s and Shamus and Cassidy fought for space. With her animals on her right and Gabe on her left, Julia felt like the luckiest girl in Red Valley.

“What?” he asked, tightening his arm around her.

“
This
,” she answered with a wiggle of her toes. “I was bitter for a long time. About losing my sight,” she clarified even though he already knew exactly what she was referring to. “I met What’s His Name right after I finished blind school.” She’d already told him this story over the phone, but it was important to tell him again now that he was here in person. He needed to understand how much she’d been hurt in the past.

“I was just starting to regain my confidence and learning how to cope with my situation. I fell hard for him. Too hard for my own good. I guess I needed someone to be there for me—
besides
Kate—so that I could feel halfway “normal” again. Things were good in the beginning, but I guess when love is new it’s
always
good in the beginning. I thought he understood. That’s where I went wrong. And then one day he told me he didn’t want to see me anymore. Well, his exact words were that he
couldn’t
see me anymore. That it was just too hard to see me this way.”

Gabe ran his fingers softly up and down her arm.

“
This way.
” She repeated the words that had caused her so much pain all those years ago and still caused a dull twinge when she replayed them in her mind.

“He was afraid.”

“Yes. He acted as if I was causing him pain when all I wanted was for him to love me in return.”

Gabe wanted to say those three little words to her now. But he wouldn’t say them as a substitute for another man’s rejection. When Gabe told Julia he loved her, they would be the only two people in the room.

“I’m not afraid,” he said, hoping his voice conveyed the love he felt inside his heart.

“I know.” She patted his hand and rested her head on his shoulder. “I know.”

“Good.”

She turned to face him so that she could feel his breath on her face. “Why is VINCE so important to you? I mean besides what it will do to enrich people’s lives,” she rushed to add. “You told me about the woman you knew who was blind…” she trailed off, giving him the opportunity to fill in the blanks.

“Victoria,” he said her name on a whisper. “She had Von Hippel-Lindau Syndrome. She had tumors on her eyes and adrenal glands and had cancer of the kidneys. She was so full of life that I wanted to give her more. I wanted her to be able to see the butterflies fluttering over the flowers, how the sun turns the clouds pink as it comes up in the morning… But I couldn’t give her those things, so I tried to create something that could help her in other ways.”

Technology wasn’t as advanced then as it was now and Gabe didn’t want to lose his chance to bring VINCE to completion. Just because he had lost the opportunity to help Victoria, didn’t mean he was going to give up the idea of helping others completely.

“She was very special to you,” Julia said softly.

Gabe nodded. He knew Julia couldn’t see the gesture, but she could feel his body move from the slight nod. “We lost her to kidney failure and it was all over before I could even catch my breath about the diagnosis.”

“I’m so sorry.”

“Me too. Victoria was my sister.”

* * *

While Gabe was in the shower, Julia took the opportunity to run through her sonata. He never did get a hotel room and she was glad for it. But after a few days spent together, Julia found she had a surplus of nervous energy. They had been spending the night curled up on the couch or snuggled in her bed. He hadn’t pressured her to do anything more than cuddle and hold hands and she enjoyed the feeling of his body pressed against hers.

The more he respected her and her boundaries, the more she thought about throwing caution to the wind and going for it.

A nice jam session on the keyboard sounded like the perfect remedy. Inspired by the street performer, Julia had an idea for a new sonata.

* * *

When Gabe came out of the bathroom, he stopped short when the sound of something magical drifted in from the living room. Slowly, he made his way down the hall toward the music. Julia was sitting in front of her keyboard, her body swaying as her fingers danced effortlessly across the keys.

She was crying.

The notes she played were like a tickle in the throat that bubbled up and became a glorious giggle, light and free. Emotions followed the melody of the music, up hills and down valleys and back up to soaring crescendos. Each note played off the next and was needed to tell the story. Having only ever heard her play over the phone, Gabe had no idea that she practically became one with the music.

When the song ended, her hands dropped away from the keyboard.

“That was beautiful.”

There was emotion in his voice and his praise startled her. “Thank you.” She turned toward his voice.

“Sorry,” he apologized for eavesdropping. “I couldn’t bring myself to interrupt.”

“It’s okay.” She swiped the tears from her cheeks. “As long as you don’t think I’m conceited for crying at my own music.”

“Not at all. You wrote that?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Jeez, I thought it was Beethoven or something.”

She smiled, flattered.

His voice moved closer and she felt his knee brush against hers as he sat next to her on the bench. He was wearing shorts and the coarse hair on his legs tickled. She swallowed. Before Gabe showed up, it had been a long time since she’d felt a man’s skin against hers. And since he’d been here, he seemed to constantly be finding reasons to touch her. She liked the feel of his hand holding hers and how he had a habit of stroking his thumb back and forth across her knuckles.

He reached up and cupped her cheek. Using his thumb, he wiped away the wetness left there. She could hear his breathing speed up.

The moment turned serious. His body language changed—she didn’t know how, but she could sense the shift all the same.

“What are you doing?”

“Wiping away your tears…and kissing you.”

She rested her hands flat against his chest.

He cupped her face gently in his hands and smoothed his thumb across her bottom lip. “May I kiss you?”

Instead of answering him with words, Julia reached up and pulled his face to hers. She pressed her lips to his and kissed him. Her aim was a little off and she caught the corner of his mouth, so she readjusted by moving over slightly and kissing him square on the mouth. The kiss quickly grew from being soft and tender to something more passionate and hungry.

She pulled away and touched her fingers to his lips. “No…I can’t.”

“It’s okay, Julia.” He sounded as breathless as she was. “It’s okay,” he said it again, meaning each word.

“
No
. I can’t do this again.”

“Can’t do what?”

She made a face that told him all he needed to know.

“Oh, you can’t kiss me because your ex was an asshole?”

“Please, Gabe. I don’t want to fight with you. Would you please just go?”

“Go? You want me to go home? Ah, hell no.” He raked his hands through his hair. “That’s the last thing I’m doing.”

“Please Gabe,” she pleased. “Just go home.”