Mending (29 page)

He looked her in the eyes “Gabby, I’m not sure the baby is mine.  I did some thinking after you left and talked to Joe.” 

“What makes you think that?”

“The timing for starters.
  I don’t want to give you all the details.  But, the last time she and I were together was before the wedding.  I swear, Gabby.”  He never took his eyes off of her because he wanted her to know that he was telling the truth.  He worried if he looked away at all that she would question his sincerity.  “Gabby, Joe saw her with Ian the weekend of the wedding.”

Gabby’s
mouth gaped open, “No.”

“Yeah, I went to see her after Joe told me.  He had no idea about Ian.  I’d never told him his name.”  He wiped a tear from her cheek, “Don’t cry, my Gabby girl.  This is all good.” 

Gabby grabbed his hand on her face and held it in place.
  “I have been a mess
in the last twenty four hours, Bradley.  I need you so badly.  I don’t think I fully understood this.”

“Anyway, let me finish.  At first, I thought it was just a coincidence about that the guy’s name was Ian, but when Joe said he was a soccer player at Georgia Tech.  I knew it was him.”

Gabby closed her eyes as she listened shaking her head and pursing her lips.  It was crushing him to see her like this. 

“I went to see Veronica after I left Joe’s and she admitted that she didn’t know whose it was.  But, you have to trust me Gabby.  I just know it’s not mine.  I just know.” He pleaded.

“Well, you can’t be sure though, can you?”

“I told her I wanted a paternity test fi
rst thing next week.”

“Okay.” She smiled.

“You have to know that I’ve been faithful to you.  Gabby, I love you.”  He leaned in and sweetly kissed her cheek.  “God, I have missed you.  Please tell me we’re okay.”

She reached up and ran her fingers through his hair.  “It all makes sense now.  I am so sorry that I didn’t give you the benefit of the doubt.  You know I have a tendency to overreact.”

He stroked her bottom lip with his thumb, “Are we okay?”

She nodded her head, “I love you.”  Tears streamed down her face.

He kissed her bottom lip slowly as his eyes closed.  He was relieved.  He could feel his heart swell and his all of the emotions from the past day came flooding to him as desire flooded over him.  “Gabby.”

“Yeah?”

“Are you up for a little road trip?”

G
abby’s
brows furrowed, “
That was not at all what I expected you to say.”

“I know, trust me.  It’s not what I wanted to say or do, but it’s important.”  He moved her hair back behind her shoulders.  I will wait for you to get ready.  Do you still have your bag packed from yesterday?”

She arched an eyebrow, “Yes.”

“Will you wear the dress we had talked about you bringing and bring the bag with you?”

“Are we going back to Atlanta?” she quizzed him.

“No, it’s a surprise.  Please just do what I ask and don’t ask questions.”  He kissed her again, “I need you to hurry up because there is a time deadline
.  A
nd the longer I sit across from you
,
the more I want to just undress you and make us both get lost in each other so we forget the last twenty four hours.”

She giggled, “
Yeah, that
was more along the lines of what I thought you were going to say.”

His eyes were hooded with desire, “Go. 
Now.”

She smiled and kissed him back, “Okay.”

He watched her walk away and finally relaxed against the back of the sofa.  He took a deep breath trying to fathom everything that had happened this weekend.  He had never been on an emotional roller coaster like this and he hoped this would be the last time he ever was on one.  He tried to get Veronica and Ian out of his head.  He was not about to let them ruin this for him again.

He knew it wouldn’t take his girl long to get dressed.  It was one of the things he loved about her.  She had the ability to throw herself together in a matter of minutes.  He loved that she didn’t realize how sexy she was.  That was partly what made her so beautiful to him. 
He grinned, “You look…” he shook his head looking her up and down, “You look delicious.  If I don’t get you out of here, I’
m going to devour you like it’s my birthday and you’re my cake.
”

She busted out laughing, “Well, let’s stay, then.” She teased.

“No, we need to go.” He grabbed her hand and pulled her in and kissed her passionately while he took the bag from her hand.  He arched his eyebrow and gave her a sideways grin, “I got this.”

Gabby

They had stopped by the hotel where Bradley was staying on the way to wherever it was that he was taking her.  He had changed his clothes, as well.  He was far more casual than she was, but he could sport his shirt and jeans in such a sexy way that she didn’t feel so overdressed. 

They had barely been able to keep their hands off of each other.  She wasn’t sure what was so important to him that he would go through all this trouble, and resist the opportunity to have this make up make out session that she was dying to have relieved personally.

Sitting in
the passenger seat of his car, she would glance over at him with his Ray Ban’s on and his hair perfectly messy.  If someone had told her yesterday that she would be in his car watching him and be this happy she would have laughed at them.  She realized she was hopelessly in love with him.  Regardless of the results of the paternity test, there was no one else for her.  She didn’t want to ever have to imagine a life without him ever again. 
She was so relieved. 

She knew they were headed west on I-20 towards Atlanta, but he had said they weren’t going there.  She wasn’t sure where they would be going with her being dressed like this. 
It became a little more obvious when he pulled off exit 18. 
The main exit for Aiken.

“Aiken, huh?”

He looked over and playfully smiled at her, “Can’t keep that part a secret anymore, can I?
”

“
No, I must say
I’m curious now.”

“You’ll find out soon enough.” He quickly glanced at her.

She wondered if he was taking her to
Hopeland
Gardens.  They had gone
there are at Christmas, but certainly he wouldn’t have had her dress up so much to just go to a park.  He had taken her to
Malia’s
for dinner that night.  It was one of the best restaurants in the city.  She looked over at him, “Are we going to
Malia’s
?”

“My lips are sealed, my love.”

When they
drove past
Malia’s
on Lauren’s Street, she knew that wasn’t where they were going.  “
Hopeland
Gardens?” she pried.

He winked, “Yes.”

She glanced down, “Dressed like this?  I’m
gonna
freeze?”

“We won’t be there long.  It’s getting late and it closes at dark, you know.”

“Okay.”

He opened the door for her and she climbed out of the car.  The pathways leading into the gardens were made of dirt and she wasn’t in the highest of heels, but heels nonetheless. 
“I’m not going to have to do a lot of walking
in
these am I?”

He reached down and scooped her up, “If you’re going to complain about walking and being cold, I’ll just carry you. 
How’s that?”

Gabby threw her head back laughing
and quickly crossed her legs
, “Put me down, I can walk!”

“You sure, baby? 
Because I’m delighted to carry you.”

She turned to face him and kissed him
, wrapping
her arms around his neck
, “Carry me, then.” 

“My pleasure
.”

As he started walking down the pathway leading into the main area of the gardens, he stopped for a moment, “Gabby.”

Still giggling, she turned to look at him. “What?”

“I just wanted to see you for a second.”

She raised her eyebrows, “What are you up to?  You’re acting so strange.”

“You’re about to find out.”

At the end of the main walkway there were several brick steps leading to a
terrace that had a long looking pond
in the middle.  There
were
red rose petals all over the terrace.  On th
e ledge that led of the brick enclosed looking pond
, there were hundreds of tea
light candles.  The music of her new favorite band, The Strange Fami
liar was playing.  Falling Back to
You
was playing quietly. It was one of her all-
time favorites. 
The sun had just started to set and the warm colors of the sky filtered through the lush canopy of trees created a most romantic ambiance.  “You did this for me?”

He put her down.  “I did.”

She beamed and wrapped her arms around his neck pulling him down into a kiss.  “I love it.”

He wrapped his arms around her waist pulling her close.  He broke the kiss and looked down to her.  His eyes were sparkling from the glow of the candles.

“Gabby, do you remember the meet in the middle proposition as you called it?”

She giggled, “Of course.”

“You remember us talking about this place?”

“Yes.” She whispered.

“All I could think about was watching the light through the trees bouncing off of your eyes and being able to see those little golden specs in your eyes.”  He caressed her face.  “All I could think of was how badly I wanted to be able to see you here in this place at this time of day.”

“We’ve been here before though?” she responded confused.

He put his finger over her lips, “
Shh
.  You told me the night you met me that you wanted someone who wanted more than just your body. 
Someone who wanted you mind, body, and soul.”

She shook her head smiling.  Was he about to do what she thought he was about to do?  She couldn’t control the tears as they started streaming down her face.  Her chest was so tight she could barely breathe.

“Gabby, there is no one else for me.  If I can’t be
with you for
the rest of my life, I will be alone.  I’ll be miserable.”

“Me too.”
She said.

He leaned down and
kissed her softly.  “
Shh
.” He released her and got down on one knee.

“Gabriella Nicole
Gerhart
, you have my mind, my body, my soul.
”
  He reached in his pocket and pulled a small red velvet sachet.  He opened it and pulled a
Neil Lane princess cut diamond ring and showed it to her. 

She was in awe.  It was beautiful.  The center stone was surrounded with round stones and then there were also round stones going down each side of the band.  Her hands covered her mouth as she tried to contain the joyful sob that was escaping her. 

“Gabby, may I have your mind, body, and soul
forever, for always?  Will you marry me?”

“It’s beautiful.” She spoke softly as her voice quivered.

Bradley maintained his position looked to her completely raw with emotion, tears in his eyes.  “Please, Gabby.”

“Yes.  Yes!”

She put her hand out for him to place the ring on her finger.  She held it in front of her and admired it while he quickly stood, grabbing her waist on the way up and bringing her lips to his.  They kissed passionately.  He squeezed her close and picked her up, twirling her.  “You have just made me the happiest man in the world.”

“And, you’ve just made me the happiest girl in the…”

He cut her sentence off as he began to kiss her again.  When he broke it he was panting out of breath and his voice full of desire, “I love you so much.”