Summer Solace (6 page)

Kim took the clipboard. “Let me help, Joanna. You don’t need to go through this alone.” 

Joanna shook her head and Kim saw her hand go to stroke the long braid that was lying over her shoulder. It was obvious the woman was struggling to hold herself together.

“You can help by doing your job,” Joanna said.

Kim was slightly taken aback. Joanna had never spoken to her in that tone before. In fact, Kim had never heard her sound so hard. Her encounter with Gabriel had affected her far more deeply than she was admitting.

“Yes, Ma’am,” Kim said and added softly, “I’ll be here if you need me.” 

Joanna felt guilty for snapping at her friend. She wanted to apologize, but Kim had turned away. Sighing, Joanna turned back to the paperwork. It wasn’t much but perhaps enough to keep her mind from straying where her heart was aching to go.

A few minutes later, they all looked up as the bells above the door chimed. Gabe walked in and Dan nodded to Kim. Kim’s face tightened. This guy might be magnificent – a perfect physical match for her friend – however, she’d heard Joanna cry over this man. Kim would never allow him to hurt her friend again, but was willing to give him a chance. She would wait to see where they were going. She picked up the clipboard where she had put it down to help Dan with the restocking.

“Come on, let’s close up the shed,” she suggested.

Dan looked between Joanna and Gabe, who was striding towards the counter. He would much prefer to stay. He wasn’t given the choice when Kim pulled on his arm. Shrugging, again wondering how men and women ever got along, he followed her from the store.

Joanna watched her coworkers leave and almost called them back. She opened her mouth and then closed it again. She was a capable adult woman. She was the boss, the one in control. She could handle this.

Gabe had seen the two leaving as well. His glance told him that the store was empty except for the two of them. His eyes found Joanna and locked down. He saw her mouth open and close and then watched as she stiffened. She was obviously preparing herself for some type of confrontation. He hid his disappointment and forced his voice to be light and easy.

“How’s my partner?” he asked and was glad to see her control slip just a little as a quick attempt of a smile touched her lips before they compressed again.

She shook her head and said, “I’m not your partner.” 

He understood they were back to barely speaking. “Hmmm, you sure look like the same girl who skunked all those others on the river,” he teased.

Joanna relaxed a bit, realizing he was speaking about playing chicken and not playing at anything else.

Gabe continued, “Not too bad for us old folks is it?  Even Amber had to admit she was impressed.”   His words earned him a smile.

“I’m sure she hated that. I can’t believe you talked me into playing chicken. I haven’t done that in years,” Joanna said.

Her voice was almost wistful and Gabe found himself wondering how often she let herself go and just have fun. He had a feeling it had been a very long time. Gabe’s voice lowered as he made the final approach towards the counter. Joanna looked as if she wanted to step away from him. He felt a flare of anger. What in the hell had happened to this woman?  She acted as if she expected to be attacked at any moment. Gabe was a very patient man, but his patience was thinning. He was tired of skirting around the elephant. It was time to take his best shot.

“Jo, we need to talk,” he began.

She waved her hand at him as if shooing him away and his jaw clenched. “No!”  he stated firmly.

Her reaction was far more telling that she would ever have realized. She dropped her hand as well as her eyes. She trembled and very faintly said, “I’m sorry, S…” Realizing that she was about to address him as ‘Sir’, she felt her entire body flush. He had always had this affect on her and she understood that the years had done nothing to lessen that pull.

Gabe instantly corrected his game plan. He had been going to go nice and slow, allowing her to come to him. Her instant drop into submission gave him all the information he needed for the moment.

“That’s better, Joanna,” he said. “We are going to have dinner, and then, young lady, we are going to talk until all this shit has been cleared up.” 

He was telling her, not asking her. She felt her stomach flip and her heart begin race. She wanted to run.

Gabe could almost read her mind. “No more running, Jo. I don’t know what the hell is going on, but tonight ends it.” 

She finally forced herself to look up. “It ended a long time ago when you…”

Her words halted when the bell above the door rang and Amber, along with the two other young women from the rafting trip, walked in. All three were laughing, but Amber’s voice quieted when she saw her brother and Joanna. If she thought the atmosphere had been uneasy the night before, the air was practically crackling now. She wondered what happened to the two river rats that had seemed to be having so much fun that afternoon. Her two new friends were unaware of anything wrong and were browsing the shelves for snacks.

Amber didn’t approach the counter as she called out to her brother, “Gabe?  Is everything okay?” 

Gabe’s jaw clenched for a second before he answered. He needed to hear what Joanna had been about to say. He forced himself to relax and not grab at Joanna as she stepped from behind the counter and scurried to help the girls find what they wanted. He shook his head in frustration before turning to smile at his little sister.

“Yeah, Squirt. Everything’s fine. I just came in to make sure we’ve got all the sites changed for the rest of the gang,” he said.

Amber looked between the two again and knew that something was going on. Once again, her brother was acting as if she was some insipid preteen rather than the young woman she had grown into. She saw her new friends going towards the counter with Joanna who was quickly ringing up their purchases. Amber walked up to her brother until she was standing right next to him.

“They show a movie on the large outdoor screen. There’s popcorn and everything. Cindy and Brittany have invited me to dinner and then to go to the show. Is that okay?” she asked.

Gabe had met the girls as well as their parents earlier that day. He knew Amber would be fine, but hesitated in allowing her to spend time away from him.

Amber rolled her eyes as she put her hand on his forearm. “Come on Gabe, I’ll be fine,” she reasoned. “Their mom and dad are going to be there…geez, you’d think I was nine and not nineteen. You do remember I’m going away to college, right?” 

Gabe couldn’t help but smile down at her. “How could I forget?  You are constantly reminding everybody. I guess that will be fine. I’ll come get you after the show.” 

Amber shook her head. “No, I’ve been asked to stay overnight. It will be fun. Everyone will be coming tomorrow, so this is probably the only chance I’ll get to hang out with kids my own age before I’m surrounded by babies and old folks.” She batted her eyes at him, exaggerating her desire to escape the ‘old’ folk.

Gabe grinned as well and nodded. “Okay,” he conceded. “Have a good time and I know I don’t have to tell you to behave, right?” 

She rolled her eyes again, her face coloring as her new friends giggled. “Geez, Gabe, how about embarrassing me?”

Gabe’s smile grew larger and he bent down close to her ear. “Roll those eyes once more and you’ll learn how it feels to really be embarrassed,” he warned.

She blushed hotter and understood he meant what he said. She turned her head slightly and met his eyes. “Yes, Sir…sorry.”

He nodded and put his arm around her shoulders. “I’ll pop for those snacks, girls,” he said. “My thanks for putting up with Amber.” 

The girls giggled again, both thinking Amber’s brother was really hot. “Thanks, Sir,” Cindy said.

Gabe caught the smile that crossed Joanna’s face. He simply nodded and peeled off some bills and handed them to Joanna, wondering exactly how old Amber’s friends thought he was. He handed the bags to the girls and they thanked him again. Amber lifted herself onto her tiptoes to plant a kiss on his cheek.

“You need to take care of whatever this is, Gabe,” she whispered. “I’ll be back in the morning…don’t blow this chance.” 

Gabe couldn’t respond, as she quickly turned away and hurried after her friends. As he watched them leave, he again was dismayed at how fast Amber was growing up. Nope, she definitely was not nine any longer. He turned back to see Joanna watching him. He didn’t give her a chance to speak.

“Tonight at six–thirty, Joanna. I’ll pick you up here,” he said. She opened her mouth to protest and he held up his hand. “No, we are supposed to be the grown–ups here. Tonight, six–thirty…please, Jo.” 

She wanted to deny him but both his tone and the look in his eyes wouldn’t allow it. She nodded.

Gabe nodded back and then turned to leave. As he pushed open the door, he remembered that he had actually come in with another errand in mind. So much for leaving on a dominant note. He turned. “My family is coming in tomorrow. I’d like to take the rest of the sites around where Amber and I are now.” 

Joanna flipped open the reservation book and saw where Dan had scrawled “J. Reunion” across several sites around Gabe’s old one. She knew that the sites he desired were available as few campers wanted to go that high and be that isolated.

“That will be fine,” she said. “And there’s no need for you to come down. I’ll drive up to your site tonight.” 

He frowned, not really wanting to give her the freedom or means to leave him easily before things were settled.

“No,” he said firmly. “Be ready at six–thirty, Jo. I’ll pick you up and then bring you back here.”  When she nodded, he continued, “Hope you still like hot dogs.”

She watched as he left and then had to lean up against the counter. She might have lost that battle, but one way or another it would all be over tonight. It both frightened her and calmed her. She’d be strong. She wouldn’t cave. She had questions she needed answered and regardless of what Gabe thought, that was the only reason she had agreed to meet him.

Chapter 5

Dan left after he and Kim closed up the storage shed. Kim would stay until the store’s closing time at eight. She had watched as Joanna seemed to get more and more nervous.

“This is a good thing, Joanna,” Kim assured her friend. “I know it’s got to be scary but…”

“No…not scary. I’ve never been afraid of Gabe. He…he would never hurt me.”  Joanna found herself both reassuring her friend as well as herself, though she knew hurt didn’t have to be physical. “He was right, Kim. It is time. I…I just want this to be over.” 

She was sitting on the steps when Gabe pulled in. She stood and waited as he climbed down from the truck and walked to her.

“Ready?” he asked holding out his hand. She managed to nod and her hand was only trembling slightly when he took it, not shaking as it had earlier.

Gabe walked her to the truck, opened the door and waited until she seated herself. He shut the door and climbed into the driver’s side. He glanced over at her as he turned the key. “It’s going to be okay, Joanna,” he promised.

She wouldn’t meet his eyes but managed to nod. Gabe sighed and pulled out of the parking lot. She didn’t speak until they had almost reached the lot below his campsite.

“Where’s Amber?” she asked, “I don’t want her to…”

“She’s not here, Jo. She is staying with her friends tonight,” Gabe answered. He parked the truck and soon had her door open, taking her hand to help her out of the truck. Once her feet were on the ground, he closed the door and turned to her. She was shaking. Gabe reached out and drew her into his arms, memories of holding her flooding through his mind. She immediately stiffened and tried to pull away.

“No!” he said. “You’re safe, Jo…nothing is going to hurt you here.” 

She shuddered but gradually relaxed. Gabe held her a few more moments and then, keeping her hand securely in his, led her towards the trail that would take them up to his camp. He moved quietly and effortlessly through the woods, as if he had lived there for years. Joanna matched his stride and they were soon stepping out of the woods and into the campsite. He kept her hand in his as he guided her towards the table where they had talked the evening before. Joanna expected him to seat her there, but he surprised her again. He led her to a camp chair next to the fire pit. He sat, and before she could protest, he had pulled her down onto his lap. She stiffened again.

“We are going to talk about that elephant, Jo. You can either do it seated on my lap or lying over it,” he said.

Her heart stopped and her mouth dropped open.

Gabe had absolutely no intention of pussy–footing around the subject any longer. He gave her a moment. “So, which is it?  Sitting or lying?” 

Her face flushed. She knew how each position felt. The choice was easy. “Sitting,” she managed to whisper.

Gabe nodded as if expecting nothing else. “Good, we will start with sitting. However, if you don’t open up and help me piece together how we fucked this up, then, young lady, I’ll have you bottom up and then we will see if you’ll have a change of heart. Are we absolutely clear?” he asked wanting her to understand how serious he was taking this conversation.

Joanna shuddered, his low tone sweeping through her. She knew without a doubt that he would do exactly as he said. “Yes….we’re clear,” she answered.

He wasn’t totally satisfied with her answer but accepted it. He continued to hold her until she let herself relax at least a slight bit.

“Do you want to start or shall I?” he asked, giving her the choice.

She was a little surprised but took advantage of his generosity. “Why…why didn’t you come for me?  You…you said you’d always…always be…be there for…for me,”  she began and then promptly burst into tears.

Gabe thought he had been prepared for almost anything. He had never been so wrong in his life. He didn’t know what to say. He tightened his hold on her and she buried her face in his neck. She sobbed as if her heart were breaking, her tears soon soaking the neckband of his t–shirt. Gabe held her and began to stroke one hand down her back. It took a long time before she began to calm.