Heart Breaths (20 page)

Gabe burst out laughing.

“She would, wouldn’t she,” he said, shaking his head. “And they weren’t embarrassed in the slightest, were they?”

I shook my head. “They ended up leaving a little bit after that, and they took the condoms with them. Grandma says that she should have billed them extra for them.”

“Well, I’m sure next time she will,” he said, still laughing.

“Probably,” I agreed, smiling.

Grandma Evelyn was about as pro-sex as a horny teenager. When I didn’t want to hide from her extremely explicit sex talks, I was laughing.

But then, Grandma Evelyn never really did what anyone wanted her to do except for herself.

“Anything fun happen here this morning?” I asked.

Gabe raised his eyebrow. “Well, there’s no beating Grandma Ev playing sex ed in the café,” he said. “So I can’t beat that story even if something crazy did happen here.”

“Anything?” I asked, relaxing into the couch.

He shrugged. “Other than client-from-hell changing the design again, because this time he decided he wanted another walk-in closet, nothing,” he said.

“You sure your client is a he?” I said. “At last count, there are four walk-in closets and pretty much a spa in there, too.”

“Nah, it’s a guy,” he said. “I’ve spoken to him. But the closets are for his fiancé.”

“See?” I said, triumphant. “No dude on his own asks for four walk-in closets. It’s just insane.”

“For a girl to do that is pretty insane, also,” he said.

“She must have a heck of a lot of clothing,” I mused. “Or plan on buying a lot.”

“Or both.” A yawn interrupted him.

“Tired?” I asked, smiling a little.

Gabe’s smile flashed back. “I don’t know, I was going to go to bed early last night, but there was this person at my apartment who insisted on beating me at Sudoku.”

I poked him. “I told you to go to sleep,” I said. “But you wanted to beat me at Sudoku.”

“No, actually, I wanted to do something else,” he said, the octave of his voice dropping. “Things that probably we should not do with my sleeping daughter in the next room over.”

I felt the shocks of his words race up and down my spine.

“Then probably we shouldn’t do them with your receptionist right outside the office,” I said, my throat dry.

“Probably,” he agreed. Leaning over, he pressed his lips to mine, and I lost any train of thought.

A knock on the door startled us. “Mr. Mendez, just reminding you that your one-thirty is going to be here in fifteen minutes,” called the receptionist.

Reaching down and straightening up my clothing, I stood up. “I should go,” I said.

He smiled up at me, sweet and a little sleepy. “Thanks for dropping by,” he drawled, standing up and walking me to the door.

I smiled back. “Always happy to interrupt productive days with sandwiches.”

“Am I going to see you later tonight?” he asked, wrapping his arms around me and giving me a hug.

God, I could lose myself in his arms if I didn’t think too hard about it.

I shrugged. “Not sure,” I replied. “There may be a girls’ night out planned.”

“Another one?” he mock-groaned.

“Well, Mary Elizabeth wanted to set this one up, and she’s bringing Jeannie with her,” I replied.

His eyebrows shot up. “It’s that serious?” he asked.

“I have no idea,” I replied. “But we will find out tonight.”

“Have fun on your play date with Noie,” he said, opening the door to his office.

“Have fun at work,” I replied, smiling up at him.

His dimple flashed. “I always do,” he drawled.

“Maddie?” Noie asked as we walked back from the salon, our nails freshly pinked. “Did you ever go with Devi and make her nails pink?”

Did it get easier, talking about Devi with her?

It did. It had. They were the perfect combination—my time with Noie, and my nights with Gabe. Grandma Evelyn was right—it hurt to talk about Devi and Ravi—it did. But it could not in any way compare to the pain of pretending that I was all right. Of the years of letting my parents have their wish and pretending that I had gone away for high school, and the scar running across my stomach was from a skiing accident and not a C-section.

Nothing hurt the way that not talking about them did.

“I used to paint them pink at home,” I said, holding Noie’s little hand carefully as we crossed the street.

“Because you didn’t live near Jessica?” she asked, as if Jessica was the only woman in the entire country who knew how to give a manicure.

“Not exactly, darling.”

“Devi says that you would tell her she matched with Barbie,” she said, looking up at me, big green eyes calm.

“I did,” I said, remembering.

Because I had.

“Mary Elizabeth here yet?” I asked Sam as I slid next to her in the bar.

“Not yet!” she yelled over the music. “Hannah went to get drinks.”

“Where are the boys?” I asked, looking around the bar.

“In Bryan’s man cave,” she replied. “And Gabe’s working from home tonight.”

I winced. I had no reason to feel guilty about being out tonight while he was home with Noie. No reason at all. But yet, I did.

Part of me felt like I was supposed to be staying home, working late. Taking care of someone. It was a feeling that never quite left me, all the years after the accident. Until I met Crawford at the benefit my parents basically blackmailed me into going to, I didn’t go out at night. It felt wrong.

“It’s okay,” Sam said, noticing the expression on my face. “Don’t worry.”

“I do,” I said, shredding a napkin.

“Honey, you can’t let guilt drown you forever,” she said, squeezing my hand. I smiled back.

“Easier said than done,” I said.

“Most things are,” said Mary Elizabeth, coming up behind us. “What specifically this time?”

“Mary Liz!” Sam said, beaming. “Lookin’ foxy tonight.”

“I try,” she said, smirking. She turned to the pretty brunette standing next to her. “Jeannie, I’d like to introduce you to the biggest flirt in the state of North Carolina.”

“Maddie?” Sam teased. “She is, isn’t she?”

I rolled my eyes. “Hey, Jeannie,” I said, smiling. “Nice to see you again.”

“Hey, Maddie,” she said, smiling shyly.

“This is Sam,” Mary Elizabeth said. She turned and shot Sam a look. “Sam, this is Jeannie.”

“A pleasure to meet you,” Sam said, flashing her a grin. “Is Mary Elizabeth behaving herself?”

“Always,” Jeannie replied, smiling at Mary Elizabeth.

“What a damn shame,” drawled Sam.

Jeannie burst out laughing. “Don’t worry,” she said, her eyes sparkling with mischief. “I misbehave enough for the two of us.”

Sam slapped her a high-five. “We’re going to be friends,” she said. “Good job, Mary Liz.”

Mary Elizabeth smiled. “I think so, too,” she said, leaning over and kissing Jeannie.

“The boys are going to be so jealous they missed the PDA,” Hannah said, joining us at the table.

“I told Chris that I’d make out with a girl in front of him when he made out with Bryan,” Mary Elizabeth said, wrapping her arm around Jeannie.

“You guys are all terrible,” I scolded.

“Did you expect anything else?” Hannah asked, laughing.

“I shouldn’t have, should I?”

“Nope,” Sam said. “Never.” Turning to Jeannie, she smiled. “So, I want to hear your version of what happened at the store that day. Maddie didn’t have nearly enough details.”

“Nobody ever has enough details for you, Samantha Jo,” Mary Elizabeth said, rolling her eyes.

“This is usually true,” Sam agreed, bobbing her head to the music, and to Hannah’s mindless drumming on the tabletop.

“Well,” Jeannie said, smiling at Mary Elizabeth. “I wasn’t actually supposed to be at work that day, but last second the manager switched my days…”

I caught Mary Elizabeth’s eye. Keeper, I mouthed, and watched her smile.

I had just gotten back to my apartment and was about to change into pajamas when I was startled by a knock on the front door.

It was Gabe.

I opened the door, smiling. “You missed me?” I teased. Because as much as I didn’t want to let myself go to a place like that again so soon, it was true. It had been less than ten hours, and I missed him.

“Maddie, we need to talk,” Gabe said, sounding suspiciously grave.

My heart dropped to my stomach. Something was wrong.

“What’s wrong?” I asked. “Is Noie okay?”

“Noie’s fine,” he said. “But that’s actually what I want to talk to you about.”

“Okay…” I said, trailing off, thinking frantically, trying to figure out what was going on. “Want to come in?”

He shook his head. “Can we head to the beach instead?”

“Sure,” I acquiesced, turning to lock the door before following him toward the beach. I twisted my hands nervously. Something was wrong. But what? What had happened? Calm down, Maddie, I scolded myself. You’re overreacting. “What’s up, Gabe?”

He looked at me, his face serious. “I had quite an interesting conversation with Noie tonight,” he said. “She was coloring, and started to explain her picture to me. It was a picture of Devi, her imaginary friend, with her mom and dad. She’s drawn the picture more than once, so I knew what it was. There’s always a story that goes with a picture, so she starts telling me a story about Devi and her mom and dad.”

He paused. “But this time, the story was a little different. Instead of just calling the parents Devi’s Mommy and Devi’s Daddy, she gave them names. Your names.”

“My names?” I asked, confused.

He nodded. “She told me that Devi’s mom’s name was Maddie. Coincidence, you know. Taking people who she knows and incorporating them into her imaginary stories. But she was insistent that Devi’s mommy was Maddie. And not just any Maddie—but it was you. I told her that you weren’t Devi’s mom, and she told me that not only were you Devi’s mom, but that you told her that yourself.”

Well, I was.

I looked at Gabe’s face. Unreadable.

“Look, Maddie, I know that Noie likes making things up. But this isn’t the first time she’s said things like that to me. Are you telling her anything that would encourage this?”

I twisted my fingers together. “Gabe, do you believe in the supernatural?”