Mending (10 page)

“Well, last year Sam always had th
e fridge full.  This year, my…
”
Gabby’s
bottom lip quivered as tears pricked the back of her eyes.

“What is it, Gabs?  You can tell me.”

Gabby snickered, “No, I’m not discussing him with you.”

“Do you have a boyfriend?”

“Did.”

“Well, I’d say I’m sorry, but I’m not.  I was hoping that you didn’t. You know, more of a chance for me.”

She narrowed her eyes and huffed, “You’re an ass, Ian.”

Half laughing he replied,
“Is that supposed to be a compliment?”

“NO!” She swatted him and nudged him at the same time.

The touch made them both stop.  She had not at all meant for it to be flirtatious, but the chemistry that had been there in high school was still as palpable as it had been before.

“You feel
this
, too?”

“Even if I feel it, there’s no way in hell I’m acting on it.  I’m too tired to fight with you tonight.” She threw her second glass of wine back and with a little left in her mouth she continued before she lost her nerve. “I’m entertaining you and hearing you out, but I can tell you we are never getting back together.”

He made a noise like he had been hurt as he jumped back. 
“Ouch, that hurts.”

“Not as much as you hurt me.
I can assure you of that
,” s
he hissed.

“Just give me a chance, Gabs.”

She shook her head and grimaced. “No.”

“Just like that, huh?”

Pourin
g herself another glass of wine she nonchalantly replied,
“Yep, just like that.  I’m happy to be your friend, but I can’t be any more than that to you.”

“I’ll take what I can get, then,” h
e conceded. 

S
he tilted her glass towards his.
“To friends.”

He grinned and clanked their glasses together. 

“Fine, now tell me what happened with Lindsey?”

“Actually, I caught her cheating on me.”

Gabb
y threw her head back laughing. 
“Oh, karma’s a bitch, isn’t it?”

“That’s not very nice you know?”

She chuckled.
“Sorry, I guess.”

Ian was amused.
“But you’re not, right?”

“No, I’m not.  But I’m really sorry for not being sorry.”  She took another sip of her wine. “Oh.  You’re right, I should probably slow down.  Geez, that didn’t take much to make the room spin.”

“Yeah, I couldn’t imagine that you’d be anything other than a light weight, Gabs.”

S
he shrugged her shoulders and giggled.
“What can I say? 
Anyway, Lindsey.
  Did she cheat on you with your best friend by chance? 
Because that would be the icing on the cake for me.”

“I’ll take this beating.  I deserve it.  No, it was actually one of our professors.”

Gabby’s
eyes were huge. 
“You.
Have.
Got.
To.
Be.
Kidding.
Me?”

“No,
they got in a lot of trouble.  B
ut they are engaged now, so I guess it was all worth it?”  Ian suddenly looked sad.

“So, you really weren’t
just missing me, right?  You got rejected by Lindsey and then after you got a little taste of your own medicine you realized how good you had it?”

“No, I always regretted screwing things up with you.  But,
I was too prideful to come back and admit it to you.”

Gabby shrugged her shoulders.
“What’s done is done.” She reached to the coffee table and placed her empty wine glass down. “I need to use the bathroom, excuse me a minute.”

Ian

Gabby’s
phone lit up on the coffee table by the wine glass, catching Ian’s eye.  A picture of a familiar face popped up on the screen.  He couldn’t resist the urge to answer.  He wished he was a fly on the wall and could see Bradley’s expression when another man answered
Gabby’s
phone.  “Hello.”

“I must have the wrong number,
” Bradley fumbled.

A sly smile formed on Ian’s m
outh.
“Who were you trying to reach?”

“Gabby
Gerhart
.”

“She can’t come to the phone.”

“Who the hell is this?”
Bradley hissed.

“I could ask you the same thing.
”  Even though he knew the answer, he was enjoying playing with his head.  “
Who the hell are you?”

“I’m her boyfriend, jackass.  Put her on the phone.”

“No, she doesn’t have a boyfriend an
ymore.  And from
the sounds of how her day has gone, you’re the jackass.  Have a nice night.” Ian heard the commode flush a
nd he quickly ended the call.  He calmly
placed it back on the coffee table face down so she woul
dn’t see the light from the phone call
he’d just intercepted.

Chapter 8

August, 2010

The
Past
  ~
  Gabby

Gabby was distracted the entire time she was in the library searching for books.  All she could think about was what he had said.  She had never expected that he would want to see her so soon.  Part of her welcomed the idea and the other part of her was scared to death because she knew she was falling fast and hard.  As much as she had tried to maintain in her mind that they were just friends, she couldn’t help the overwhelming feelings he brought to the surface.  She had fallen in love before and she knew she was headed in that direction far quic
ker than she had fallen for Ian.  And, she
had known Ian
for
far longer.  She had trusted Ian because he had come from such a good family and because he had been so good to his ex-girlfriend, Mari
ssa.  After he and Lindsey had
done what they had to her, she wondered many nights as she lie awake crying in her bed if he had done the same thing to Marissa. 
She hoped she could trust Bradley.  Every ounce of her wanted to, but she just couldn’t help but be guarded given what she had gone through with Ian. 

Finally, she decided to get
her two favorite Nicolas Sparks novels,
The Notebook
and
The Wedding.
The librarian, Miss Georgia, looked up and smiled as she saw Gabby approach. 

Gabby pegged her
to be in her upper sixty’s
.  Her voice and accent were very
prim and proper
,
like the native southern ladies always spoke who had been debutantes.  It was clear that Miss Georgia had probably been a beauty queen in her younger days.  She had the most beautiful white hair that she always wore it in a loose bun with
whispy
tendrils framing her face and falling at her neck.  She was tall but very thin and her fashion sense was classy modern.  She wore minimal natural makeup, because she really didn’t need it.  Her skin was always d
ewy and she had very few wrinkles
.  Sh
e had the most beautiful
royal blue eyes.   

Gabby
grabbed her wallet from her bag and pulled her student ID.  She smiled as she slid it across the table with her two books.  “Good morning, Miss Georgia.  Did you enjoy your vacation?” Gabby s
miled.  She loved Miss Georgia
because she always saved her the best quiet room during the semester.
 

Miss Georgia picked up the library card and scanned it.  “We did.  Thank you for asking.”  She handed the card back to Gabby.  “You’re beaming pretty girl.  What happened to you
this summer
?”

Gabby could feel her face warming until
she felt like she was on fire. 
“I met someone over the summer, Miss Georgia.”  Gabby placed the card back into her wallet and slid it into her backpack.  “Long story short, I met him at a wedding in June.  Thought he was a jerk.  He found me through our mutual friends
and my sister.  T
his weekend he took me out and treated me like a princess all weekend.”

“
Oh my, that’s impressive, sweetie
.”  Miss Georgia picked up the books and began to scan them. “
What made you think he
was a jerk?
”

“Oh, you can spot his type a mile away.  Beautiful, smug, over assertive.”
  Gabby shook her head rolling her eyes as she realized that her initial description of him made her cringe.  He had proven all weekend he was still beautiful, but he could be kind, caring, and compassionate.  He had impressed her with his self-control to refrain from pushing the relationship physically.  “He’s not like that, though.  I learned that this weekend.”  By this time the receipt had printed for the books and Gabby took the receipt and placed it in the front of top book. 

Miss
Georgia smile and curtly nodded.
“Well, I hope for you he is your
prince c
harming.” 

“
Yeah, not sure about the prince part, but he’s
definitely
charming
, al
right.”
  Gabby giggled. 
“See you later, Miss Georgia.”

“Bye Gabriella.” 

Gabby wasn’t used to being called Gabriella, but Miss Georgia had always called her that because it was on her student ID.  The only other person who still called her Gabriella was Bradley.  She was thankful it wasn’t Gabs.  Since Ian and Lindsey had done what they had done, she had refused to allow anyone to use the nickname anymore.  It had been too painful.

Gabby had been squirming the entire way home, undecided
as to
what she should do about his midweek proposition. 
She had known earlier that if she had not gotten off the phone she would have impulsively said yes, but she needed time to think about it.  For starters, it was the first week of the fall semester.  In a way, if she met
him this time it would set
a precedent for other weeks.  She worried if they started meeting mid-week on a regular basis that her grades may suffer.  Then, there was the issue of her car.  Her Honda had been a good car, but it wasn’t getting any younger.  She worried if she stayed on the road going back and forth to meet him that eventually her car would give out on her and she would be royally screwed.  She could barely afford the insurance on her fully paid off ride, but if she had to get another car the overall expenses would go up in addition to a
new
monthly payment.  The more she thought, the
more
clear
her answer became.