When we arrived at the hospital, instead of going to the parking garage, my mom pulled up to the front, where people were dropped off and picked up.
“Aren’t you coming in with me?”
She shook her head. “No. Dad and I have been here since this morning. We’re going to grab something to eat and come back and pick you up.” She rubbed my arm. “Plus, this will give you some time alone with Grandma.”
I appreciated that. “Thank you.”
“Do you want us to bring anything back?” she asked.
“No, thanks.” The idea of food didn’t sound good at the moment.
She smiled. “Send your dad down when you get up there, will ya?”
She gave me the room number, and I headed into the hospital. When I got up to my grandma’s room, my dad saw me in the doorway and stood. He came out into the hallway and gave me a big hug.
“How is she?” I asked.
He smiled. “She’s awake and doing great. She’s wobbly on her feet, and her vision is a little blurry, but it could have been a lot worse. The doctor said the stroke was on the mild side.”
I sighed with relief.
“Go in and talk to her. Is your mom downstairs, waiting for me?”
“Yeah.”
Dad kissed me on the forehead. “Okay. We’ll come back in a bit, okay?”
I nodded and entered my grandma’s room. Her eyes were closed, but they opened even though I was being quiet. She must have sensed me there.
“Charli?” she asked, as if she couldn’t quite believe what she was seeing.
“Hi, Grandma.”
She held out her arms, and I noticed one was raised higher than the other. “Come over here and give me a hug.”
I dropped my purse on the chair next to her bed and rushed into her arms.
I thought I’d had a good cry when I saw my mom, but the second my grandma’s arms wrapped around me and I smelled her familiar scent, I started sobbing.
When I had been growing up, my grandmother had been the one to watch me after school while my parents were still working. Some of those memories were the best I had of my childhood. I’d loved going to her house every day to the point that I’d kept going for a couple years after I was old enough to stay home alone.
Grandma patted me on the back. “Sit down, Charli.”
I reluctantly let go, pulled the chair up next to her bed, and sat.
She took my hand and squeezed. “Now, I know you care about me, but this crying seems to be about more than just your old grandma.”
“You’re not old,” I protested.
She looked down her nose at me, giving me her you’re not pulling one over on me look.
Even though I was well past being a kid, it worked because I began to tell her all about Gabe and the baby. I hadn’t even told my mom everything on our drive from the airport.
She squeezed my hand again. “Do you love him?”
I wrinkled my nose. “That depends. Do you think I’m an idiot if I say yes?”
She laughed.
I sniffled. “I think I do love him.” I closed my eyes. “I feel like a fool.”
“You’re not a fool. While it does seem like this man runs hot and cold, I think it’s because he’s afraid of his own feelings. He’s scared, Charli. I think he’s scared of how he feels about you.”
I let go of her hand and sat back in the chair. “I don’t know about that.” I didn’t even want to hope. “And I’m not sure if that gives him the right to be so grumpy.”
She chuckled. “We all deal with trauma differently, and I get the feeling you’d love the grump right out of him.”
I snorted. “I wouldn’t be so sure about that.”
She tapped her head. “I have a sense for these things. You just wait and see.”
I raised my eyebrows. “I think the stroke did more damage than you realize.”
She broke out in laughter. “Oh, Charli, you always did make me smile.”
36
Gabe
I left the hardware store, ready to find Charli and talk things out.
Last night and today, I had given a lot of thought to her pregnancy. I was feeling a lot calmer now, and I knew it was time to discuss things. And apologize for freaking out when she’d told me.
Deep down, I knew Charli wasn’t like my mom. That woman was almost always happy and content, whereas my mother had always been hard to please. It wasn’t fair for me to compare the two of them.
I tried calling Charli, but her phone kept going right to voice mail, so I went home. Her car wasn’t in the driveway, but I knocked anyway, just to be sure.
I looked at my watch. She could still be at work, and I could always talk to her when she came home, but I was feeling antsy. I decided to check out The Busy Bean. If it was crowded, I could wait for her to get off, but if it wasn’t, maybe I could sneak her away for a few minutes to talk.
There were only two people in line when I got there and a handful of people sitting around, so I stuck around until I reached the counter to ask Audrey Shipley if she had seen Charli.
“Hey, Gabe,” she said when it was my turn. “What can I get you?”
“Uh…” I hadn’t planned on ordering anything, but I supposed it was the right thing to do if I was going to ask her for information on her employee. “I’ll just take a coffee, please.”
“Black?”
“Yes.”
She poured me a cup and set it in front of me, and I handed her the money.
“I was looking for Charli. She’s not answering her phone, and she’s not at home. I thought she’d be here. She’s not in the back, is she?”
Audrey’s eyes turned sympathetic, and the hair on the back of my neck went up.
Not a good sign.
“Charli didn’t tell you?”
“Didn’t tell me what?”
“She went back to Minnesota be—”
“You’re kidding me, right?”
We’d had one discussion—one—about the baby, and she’d hightailed it out of Vermont. Okay, I hadn’t had the best reaction, and it had been more of a fight than a discussion. But I couldn’t believe her. Maybe she was more like my mom than I’d thought she was.
“I’m not kidding, but—”
“Thanks, Audrey,” I said firmly before I turned and headed for the door.
I was already dialing Charli’s number before I even pushed it open.
“This is Charli. You know what to do after the beep.”
Beep.
“Hey, Charli. It’s Gabe. I’m at The Busy Bean, and I just found out you went back to Minnesota. I can’t believe you decided to pack up and leave without saying a word to me. You dropped a bomb on me yesterday, and I’m sorry if I wasn’t prepared, but that doesn’t mean you had to run away.” I sighed. “I should have known you’d take off. There have been warning signs flashing in the back of my brain since I met you, but I ignored them. Turns out, you’re more like my mom than I could have ever imagined. Or maybe you’re worse because you didn’t even give us or Vermont a chance.”
When I was finished, I hit End with more force than necessary, and I looked up to see Audrey coming outside with the coffee I had left on the counter.
I shook my head and waved it away. “I’m not in the mood for coffee anymore.” Something harder and stronger sounded better to me.
She picked up my hand and practically shoved the cup into it. “Charli didn’t go back to Minnesota forever.”
What? Just like that, my anger and hurt turned to confusion and curiosity. “What? She didn’t?”
“No, and if you had let me finish speaking, you would know that.”
I winced. “I apologize.”
“And you should. Ugh.” She threw her hands up. “God save me from grumpy-ass men.”
“Why’d she go back?”
“Her grandma had a stroke. She’s not sure when she’s coming back, but she made it sound like she’d be home in a couple of days.”
“Did you say home, or did she say home?”
Audrey frowned in confusion. “Huh? I don’t know.” She shrugged. “I guess she did. Why?”
“Never mind.” I lifted my cup. “Thank you for bringing me my coffee and for explaining the whole situation.”
“Yeah, well, next time, maybe wait for all the details, huh?”
“Will do.”
With a shake of her head, Audrey headed back inside, and I went home.
I called Charli again on the way there.
Beep.
“Charli, call me as soon as you get this, okay? We need to talk.”
I thought about apologizing for snapping at her on the previous message, but I didn’t want to do it over another voice mail. I wanted her to hear it straight from me and to give her a chance to yell back at me.
When I got home, as I headed for my front door, my eye caught on the mailbox I’d hung between our places.
I stopped in front of it and opened it up. I stuck my hand in, expecting to find nothing, but I was surprised when my fingers hit paper.
I pulled it out and read it.
I felt the grin spreading across my face. Not only had she not ditched me, but she had also left me a note in the very place I’d told her to. I was so relieved and happy that it took me a minute to realize why.
I loved the woman, and I didn’t want her to live anywhere but here with me. And I knew deep down, she wasn’t like my mother. I just wished I had come to that conclusion earlier.
Now, I just needed to make sure that she knew that. It might take some convincing for her to understand I hadn’t meant what I said on the voice mail, but Charli was worth it.
37
Charli
I knocked on the hospital door the next morning. “Grandma?”
“Come in,” she said, but I was already walking forward.
I gasped in surprise. “Sydney,” I said when I saw my cousin.
She stood up and hugged me. “Hey, Charli. Grandma was literally just telling me how we’d missed each other by about twenty minutes last night.”
“Isn’t that the way it goes?” I said.
“Come and sit,” Grandma said. “Did you talk to Gabe at all?”
“Ooh, who’s Gabe?” Sydney asked with a grin.
I caught my cousin up on the Gabe story, but neither she nor my grandma knew what had happened last night.
When I’d made it to my parents’ house and I could finally charge my phone, I’d turned it on to find a horrible message from Gabe.
I gave my grandma and Sydney a quick rundown of what had been said. “Then, he left another message, saying we needed to talk. He wasn’t mad or upset in this one, and he even sounded sympathetic.”
“What do you think that’s about?” Sydney asked.
“If I had to guess, he didn’t have the full story when he called me the first time. Then, someone must have explained before he called me again.” I crossed my arms over my chest. “But I’m not sure I want to talk to him. I’m hurt that he thought I would just up and leave town forever like that. I’m also pissed that he automatically assumed that.”
“So, you haven’t called him?” my cousin asked.
“No. I’m afraid if I do, we’ll only end up fighting, and I don’t need any added stress at the moment.”
“It’s not good for the baby,” my grandma said.
“Exactly.”
Sydney tilted her head. “You’ve only really talked about Gabe and his reaction. How do you feel about the baby?”
“I am terrified and ecstatic. I never thought I’d have a baby without saving up a lot of money someday, and I feel like I just won the lottery. But it’s also hard to be happy when Gabe isn’t. I’m afraid he’ll never forgive me for getting pregnant. I was with Felix for years and never used birth control. Gabe and I had unprotected sex one night, and boom, he got me pregnant. Why couldn’t it have been with Felix?”
Sydney frowned in confusion. “I don’t get it. You’d rather have a baby with your ex?”
“No, I’d rather have a baby with someone I was in a relationship with. Someone who cared about me instead of someone who had sworn off marriage and didn’t want anything more than a casual affair.”
I picked at the blanket lying over my grandmother’s legs.
“And there is the situation of where to live. I haven’t moved away from Vermont, but I might have to.”
“Don’t you like it there?” Sydney asked.
“I do, but I’m still new to the area. I don’t know that many people, and those I do know, I don’t feel like I know them well enough to ask for help with a baby. I would have so much more support here in Minnesota. Maybe my mom could help take care of my baby, like Grandma took care of me.”
Grandma smiled at me and squeezed my hand.
“I know it doesn’t seem fair to take a baby so far from her or his father, but if Gabe doesn’t want to be a part of the baby’s life anyway, it might be the best thing,” I continued. “I can’t rely on support from someone who resents me.”
“I think you need to go back to Vermont and talk to Gabe, Charli,” my grandma said.
“I agree with Grandma. Especially before you make any serious decisions.”
“I’m scared.”
“I know,” Grandma said. “But you won’t know what to do until you talk to him.”
A tear slipped down my cheek, but I nodded in agreement.
“Good for you,” Sydney said. “Take the bull by the horns and book that flight.”
I laughed and wiped my wet face. “I’m not leaving until Grandma is out of the hospital.”
I got a serious look again.
“Listen, young lady, either you go back and talk to Gabe today while I’m still in the hospital or I will check myself out of here against medical advice.”
I held up my hands in surrender. “Okay, okay.” I laughed. “I do think a one-day trip isn’t long enough though.”
“You just come back and visit me again once I’m out of this joint. And bring Gabe. I want to meet him.”
“Someone’s optimistic,” I told her.
“Darn tootin’ I am.”
I had missed the earlier flights from Minnesota to Vermont, so I didn’t return until it was late. The streets of Colebury were quiet and peaceful. When I pulled into the driveway I shared with Gabe, his truck was there, but his place was dark.
I got out of my car, but before I went inside, I made a detour to Gabe’s workshop. It was locked, but I knew where he hid the spare key. After turning on the light, I went right for my old furniture, hoping he hadn’t sold it. Thankfully, the pieces were in the same spot as the other night.
They were again covered with the sheets, so I carefully lifted them and took a long look. Gabe had taken such ugly pieces and made them beautiful. And whether or not he knew it, Gabe had done the same thing with my life. He’d encouraged me to go after my dream of writing, and he was giving me a child. I knew the second was by accident, but the first was very important. No one had ever given me that kind of support.
As I ran my hand over the smooth wood on the top of the desk, it was like a light turned on in my brain. Gabe would have never turned down the money I’d offered him and made this furniture for me if he didn’t care about me.
I recalled how excited he’d been to bring me out here and show me and how mad he’d been when I refused to accept it.
I clutched my hands to my chest.
I must have hurt him so much. I had been so blind, seeing only my situation and my problem. I hadn’t even realized how big of a gesture Gabe had made to me. And knowing how close Gabe kept his feelings guarded, I bet he didn’t even realize how he felt.
He was so afraid of getting hurt that he kept trying to put space between us.
My grandma was right. He was scared of his own feelings.
And when I’d told him I was pregnant, it had probably frightened the hell out of him.
I covered the furniture back up and lo
cked the door to the workshop. I wanted to go and tell Gabe that he could trust me with his heart because I trusted him with mine. But it was already late, and I needed to get a full night of sleep before I faced him. I didn’t want any miscommunication because we were both tired.
I walked into my half of the duplex and went to bed, anxious and excited to talk to Gabe the next day.
38
Gabe
There was a knock on my front door early the next morning, and I was irritated I had to take the time to answer it.
I had to leave for the airport soon, and I didn’t have time for visitors. I needed to get to Minnesota, find Charli, and tell her that I loved her.
I wasn’t sure exactly how I was going to do the last two things because I still hadn’t heard from Charli. I was hoping that once I got into Minneapolis, she would agree to meet up with me.
I opened my door, ready to tell whoever was there that they needed to talk fast, but I froze in place once I saw who was on the other side.
“Charli? You’re back? What about your grandma?”
“Gabe, I came back to talk to you,” she said as she barreled past me, “and you’re going to listen.”
“Okay,” I said, but I didn’t think she’d even heard me. She seemed to be on a mission.
“I came to tell you I love you and that I didn’t get pregnant on purpose. I am beyond excited for this baby, and I’m not going to let you ruin my happiness. I never thought this would happen, but I’ve been handed this gift, and I’m not going to feel bad for being happy about it.”
I nodded in agreement, but she simply kept talking, “Also, you gave me this big speech when it came to writing—that not trying is already failing. But I realized last night, lying in bed, that you are doing the same thing with our relationship. You don’t want to try, but not trying means we’ve already failed each other.”
I stepped forward and took her hands. “You’re right.”
“I know you’re scared that you’ll get hurt like your dad got hurt, but I won’t hurt you like that. I can’t tell the future, but the only guaranteed way to fail is to never try. If you—”
Sidetracked (The Busy Bean) Page 14
