Letting Go (Vista Falls #3) (24 page)

“Morning,” she whispered before kissing his chest.

“Good morning, gorgeous.”

“What time is it?”

He glanced at his alarm clock. “After nine. Nora’s probably made breakfast for us, if you want to head down?”

“In a bit. I just want to enjoy this first.”

He smiled, thinking he could lie like that all day and be content. “Me too.”

“Last night felt like kind of a turning point for us, didn’t it?” she asked, looking at him. “We figured out a new way to work things out.” Her impish grin made him smile. “I like our new form of communication, don’t you?”

He chuckled, tightening his grip on her. “I do.” He’d done a lot of damage over the years during his fits of temper, but he’d never walked away feeling as satisfied as he had after making love to Gabby.

“Have you ever done that before?” she asked, tracing a path down his chest. “Had angry sex?”

“Does it matter?” He didn’t want to ever again think about having sex with anyone other than her.

“I’m just wondering if that’s a remedy that’s worked for you in the past.”

“No, it hasn’t.” He’d never been as invested in any other woman as he was with Gabby. Being with her like that made him feel that no matter how upset or angry or hurt he was, everything would be fine as long as he still had that connection with her.

“I’m glad.” She smiled as she tipped her head back to look at him again. “I’d like to think of myself as your healer.”

“You are healing me,” he whispered, his voice thick with emotion. “Every day that you love me helps to heal me. One day of your love erases another day that I didn’t have that love when I was growing up.”

She swallowed as tears filled her eyes. “I’m glad. That’s what I want, to help you heal.”

“I want to help you heal too.” He kissed her shoulder. “Someday I want to give you another chance to have that baby you lost, Gabby.”

“I want that too,” she whispered. “When the time is right. When we both feel whole again.”

He’d never felt whole before and didn’t know how long that would take, but he knew it would be well worth the wait if it meant he would eventually be man enough to give Gabby the kind of life and love she deserved.

***

Colt was taking a shower while Gabby got to know Nora a little better. She really was a very sweet girl. Gabby had learned that Colt had hired Nora right out of high school, after her grandmother, who’d been caring for her, passed away.

“I love living here,” she admitted with a shy smile as she passed Gabby a plate of French toast. “I lived in a tiny house with my grandmother all my life. When I came here to interview for the job with Colt, I felt like I must be dreaming.” She laughed. “I couldn’t imagine calling this place home.”

“But now it is your home,” Gabby said, realizing Nora would have to find a new job if Colt put this house on the market.

“It feels that way,” she said, pouring Gabby a glass of fresh-squeezed orange juice.

“Thank you. Please join me,” Gabby said, pointing at the stack of warm toast on the plate between them.

“But don’t you want to have breakfast with Colt?”

“I hope to be able to have breakfast with him every day for the rest of my life,” she said, suppressing a contented sigh. “This morning I’d like to have breakfast with you.”

“Okay, thank you.” Nora helped herself before sitting across from Gabby at the large rectangular table tucked away in the corner of Colt’s enormous kitchen. “So you and Colt managed to patch things up then?”

Gabby blushed when she considered whether Nora had heard their marathon make-up session. “Uh, you could say that.”

“I’m glad. I may be out of line for telling you this, but he’s been so sad since he got back. I wanted to help him, but I didn’t know how.”

Colt was obviously very important to Nora, and while Gabby believed him when he’d told her nothing had happened between them, she wondered whether Nora had developed feelings for her employer.

“You and Colt seem close,” she said, hoping Nora would feel comfortable enough to be honest with her.

“He’s been wonderful to me. I have no other family, and well, I guess Colt has sort of become like my family.”

“That’s nice.” Gabby considered Sage family, but she wasn’t sure if that was the familial relationship Nora was talking about.

“I’ll admit I had a huge crush on him,” Nora said, staring at her untouched plate of food. “But he sat me down one day and explained to me why we could never be more than friends. He said he thought of me as a little sister.” She wrinkled her nose. “I was mortified at the time, but I realize now that it was for the best. As a friend and employer, he’s perfect for me. But as a boyfriend, he seems perfect for you.”

Gabby couldn’t blame Nora for falling for Colt. It was hard to imagine any woman spending as much time with him as she had without falling for him.

“Besides, I got the feeling Colt’s heart was never really up for grabs.”

“What does that mean?”

“He told me about you years ago, just after I first started working here.”

“Really?” Gabby had always assumed Colt subscribed to the “out of sight, out of mind” theory, at least where she was concerned. “What did he say?”

“Just that he’d been in love once but managed to screw it up by leaving when he should have had the courage to stay. After that, I watched women drift in and out of his life, but none ever stayed, because he didn’t want them to.”

“Hmm.” Gabby wondered about the women who’d had a temporary stay in Colt’s life, but she didn’t dare ask Nora the questions she should ask him instead.

“He told me once that he wondered what happened to you.”

“He did?” She’d thought of Colt plenty over the years but never dreamed he’d been thinking of her too.

“Yeah.” She smiled as though recalling the memory. “He cancelled a date because he felt like staying in. We opened a bottle of wine and stayed up talking half the night. I told him some of my secrets, and he told me his.”

Gabby wondered if he’d told her about his upbringing. It hurt to think that he’d confided in Nora when he hadn’t felt comfortable sharing that pain with Gabby until recently. But she understood. They had just been kids back then and knew nothing about the importance of communication.

“He told me that he’d never stopped loving you.” At Gabby’s sharp intake of breath, Nora said, “I’m sorry. I probably shouldn’t be telling you this. But if I were you, I’d want to know.”

“I do want to know.” Gabby looked up to make sure Colt wasn’t hovering outside the door. She wouldn’t want Nora to get in trouble. “Please, go on.”

“He said that he hoped you’d found someone who made you happy. That as much as he’d wished it could have been him, he wasn’t capable of loving you the way he wanted to because he didn’t know how.”

It seemed to Gabby he had learned how, but she wondered if he’d disagree.

“He has such a good heart,” Nora said. “But I always got the sense he was afraid to let people get too close, like maybe they could hurt him somehow if they did.”

Colt obviously hadn’t shared stories of his childhood with Nora. If he had, she would have had a better understanding of what made him tick.

“Swapping stories about me?” Colt asked, winking at Gabby as he walked into the room.

“Colt,” Nora said, jumping. “Now that you’re here to keep Gabby company, I think I’ll go for my walk. Unless you need me for something else?”

“No,” Colt said, pouring himself a cup of coffee. “But don’t let me chase you away. Stay and have breakfast with us.”

Gabby realized they’d been so busy talking they’d barely touched their food. “Colt’s right, Nora. Stay and enjoy your breakfast.”

“You’re sweet to offer, but I’m sure you two have a lot to talk about.” As Nora stood behind her chair, she smiled at Gabby. “I’m really glad we had a chance to talk.”

“So am I.” Talking to Nora had helped Gabby understand she wasn’t the only one who’d been holding on to the past. Colt had too.

Colt waited until Nora left the room before he bent to kiss Gabby’s cheek. “Sleep well, beautiful?”

“Better than I have in ages. You?”

“Same.”

He was wearing dark jeans and a black Henley with the sleeves pushed back. His hair was still damp from his shower, and he hadn’t bothered to shave. He looked so sexy Gabby just wanted to drag him back to bed and shut out the rest of the world for a while. But first they needed to talk.

“Your home is beautiful. I can understand why you were so reluctant to give it up.” She admired the kitchen’s travertine floors and dark hardwood cabinets paired with shiny quartz counters and seamless Sub-Zero appliances.

“Sometimes I think it’s too much,” he admitted, glancing out the bank of windows that showcased several forested acres. “But when I was growing up, there never seemed to be enough. This house serves as a daily reminder that no matter what happens, I can take care of myself now.”

“What would happen to Nora if you sold this house?”

“I’ve offered to buy her a small condo downtown, but she’s too proud to accept anything except a great reference.”

“Then she’ll be on her own?”

“We’ll always be friends, I hope,” he said, staring at his empty plate. “But yeah, I guess she’ll be on her own. She doesn’t have any family and—”

“I know. She told me.” Gabby knew what she had to do, but convincing Colt she was okay with her decision wouldn’t be easy. “Babe, I’ve been thinking. You should keep this house.”

“What?” He shook his head. “No. No way. For you, this house represents a place for me to run to, a tie to my past. I want you to know that I’m looking forward from now on, not back.”

“I know that.” She took his hand. “Besides, you have the resources to take off any time you want to whether you own this house or not.”

“Does this have something to do with Nora?” he asked, frowning.

“It’s obvious how much you love this house. It’s a part of you. I didn’t realize that until I saw you here.”

“But I want to be with you in Vista Falls.”

“And I love that you feel that way, but you and Wes still have an office here, right?”

“Well, yeah, but—”

“You have to come back and check on things periodically?”

“Sure, but I could stay in a hotel,” he said.

“It wouldn’t be the same, would it?”

“Maybe not, but—”

She walked around the table and settled in his lap, curling her arms around his neck. “Your friends have been like family to you. Nora took the place of your little sister. I understand why you want to take care of her until she can get on her feet.”

He brushed his lips across her cheek. “Did she tell you she’s taking night classes? She wants to be an accountant.”

“Good for her.” Gabby smiled, running a fingertip along his jaw. “Then you can always reevaluate when she gets another job and a place of her own. But for now, I get the feeling you’d rather hang on to this place, for her sake as well as your own.”

“Gabby,” he said, curling his hand around her cheek, “it’s not for the reasons you think. I don’t want to leave you ever again.”

She wrapped her arms around him, sighing contentedly. “Glad to hear it, especially since I don’t intend to let you go. So keep this place. It’ll be our vacation spot. I love Vista Falls, but that doesn’t mean I don’t need a break from it every once in a while.”

He kissed her, holding her gaze. “When Wes suggested a couple of years ago that we think about moving our operations to Vista Falls, I thought he was crazy. Now I can’t imagine wanting to live anywhere else.”

“Oh yeah? Why’s that?”

“Because from now on, wherever you are, that’s my home.”

Six Months Later

Gabby was lying on a pristine white beach in the Bahamas, celebrating her birthday with the love of her life. He’d surprised her with the trip, and thanks to Sage, who’d been in on it, she had been packed and ready to leave for the airport as soon as he presented her with the tickets.

They’d enjoyed four days in their own villa with a private beach that seemed to stretch on for miles, and they had three more days before them. She’d thought she’d known Colt before, but he’d opened up to her in the past four days in a way he hadn’t at home, when they’d been busy living their lives.

She knew life with him would be an ever-evolving puzzle. She would never be able to neatly fit the pieces together and see the whole breathtaking picture. But then, she wouldn’t have wanted to. Part of the fun of being with a man like Colt was piecing it together as they went along and delighting in their new discoveries.

“Hey, beautiful,” he said, rolling over to face her. “What are you thinking?”

They’d spent the day relaxing, walking on the beach, water-skiing, swimming, fishing, taking pictures, and making love. She couldn’t think of anything more perfect.

“I was just thinking how happy you make me.” She smiled when he tipped her hat back so he could kiss her.

“Ditto.”

Colt had seemed happier since they’d gotten back from Houston. According to Wes, Colt wasn’t as broody at work, and he smiled and laughed more. He’d developed a relationship with his mother and siblings and even visited the cemetery on his father’s birthday. He seemed ready to put the past to rest and look toward the future with her.

They’d been spending as much time as possible at his house or hers, and he’d had contractors working on her vision for his lake house. She could only assume he would one day ask her to share it with him.

“What do you feel like doing for dinner?” she asked, noting the sun was dipping a little lower. They’d agreed to leave their phones and watches inside on this trip, which was no hardship since she wasn’t interested in marking the minutes when she was with Colt. She just wanted to savor them.

“That depends.”

“On?”

“How you respond to my next question.”

She held her breath when he reached into their beach bag filled with magazines, sunscreen, and bottled water.

He gripped a small box as he lay back down beside her, his leg circling hers. “I could never have imagined my life would bring me back to you, Gabby.”