by Brooke Moss
“I love you, too.”
I hung up my cell phone and stood in place, relishing in the warm fuzzy that talking to Landon gave me.
The day after our fight in the Indian restaurant, he’d taken the day off work and brought flowers and a picnic into The Funky Fox for me. We’d spent my lunch hour on the top of the building looking out over Capitol Hill while we ate gourmet cheeses and a baguette. The notion of loving someone and someone loving me back fit me like a toasty sweater. Landon was just what I needed.
Kim knocked on my bedroom door. “Are you ready?”
I scooted off the edge of my bed and opened my door. “Yup. Ready.”
Kim and Betsy were standing there, all gussied up.
“Lookin’ good, Violet,” Kim said.
I put on my earrings as I shuffled past them in my vintage dark-purple dress. “You two look great.”
“Well, it’s not every night we’re invited to the philharmonic.” Betsy smoothed down her blouse.
I swallowed back the wad of guilt that was rapidly expanding in my throat and ducked into the kitchen to hide.
Okay. So Kim and Betsy didn’t exactly know why I suddenly asked them to go with me to a Seattle philharmonic performance. And well, Landon didn’t know the real reason I told him that I needed a girls’ night with my roomies. So I was technically lying to three of my favorite people in the world, and I totally realized how horrible that made me. I intended to tell Kim and Betsy the truth after I had a chance to speak to Gabe. I knew that I was asking for it, but I simply couldn’t help myself. Gabe needed to know everything about Alicia before he made the biggest mistake of his life. And my secret about Cameron needed to come out once and for all. No more pussyfooting around.
“So are we going or what?” Kim’s voice interrupted my thoughts.
“Let’s go,” I said. “Our tickets are waiting for us at the box office.”
“I’m so excited. This is going to be fun,” Betsy squealed as we bounded down the stairs. “It’s time for a little culture. You sure you don’t want us to pay you back for the tickets?”
Shaking my head, I said, “No way. It’s my treat.” I excluded the fact that I’d had to put it on my credit card—the same credit card that my overpriced bridesmaid dress went on.
Kim laughed. “Well, thank you. I just hope the three of us can keep it civilized for two hours.”
“I’m sure we can.” I followed them out of our building. “We’ll have to go to The Lotus afterward to act like our normal wild selves.”
Betsy gave me a sideways glance. “You just want to cut loose with the girls before Landon whisks you away for the romantic weekend.”
I grinned contentedly. “Maybe.”
Kim looped her arms through both of ours. “You guys are getting serious, huh?”
I swallowed. “You could say that.”
“He’s a good guy. This is so much better than sitting around pining for Mr. Playa Gabe Parker.” Betsy scoffed, her vintage heels clicking on the sidewalk.
“Well, I guess, but—”
Betsy gave me a pointed look. “But nothing. This is good. Let it ride.”
“She’s gonna let it ride all over their hotel room.” Kim winked at me.
My cheeks blazed. “Good grief.”
“Landon is a catch. This is a good thing. Let it happen.” Betsy bumped me on my other side. “Go away with him this weekend and forget about everything…and everyone. Including You Know Who.”
I looked down. I didn’t want to discuss my romantic weekend getaway with Landon just before I saw Gabe. It didn’t feel right. We approached Betsy’s car, and I hopped into the backseat, tuning out the sound of Kim’s chatter.
The performance hall was overflowing with people when we arrived and retrieved our tickets from the box office. We found our seats with just moments to spare before the lights went down, and a hush fell over the audience.
I scanned the crowd in the dark for a sign of either Gabe or Alicia, examining the back of each head for Gabe. The orchestra struck up its opening number, and I decided that I wasn’t going to find him sitting down, so I whispered to Kim that I needed to use the restroom and stood.
“What?” She grabbed my hand. “It’s just starting. You’re going to miss it.”
I squeezed her fingers to reassure her. “Bathroom emergency. I’ll be back.”
The bathroom emergency excuse always worked at keeping curious friends at bay. It was a trick Kim herself had taught me when we were in cosmetology school.
I tiptoed to the exit, examining each and every face as I went. The music rose, the crowd applauded appreciatively, and I stepped back in the shadows to clap. Straining my eyes to find Gabe amongst the sea of faces, I tried my very best to stay in the darkness as much as I could, in case it was Alicia I spotted first.
I quietly slipped up toward the balconies and private boxes to search, still using my lost excuse as I popped my head into small groups of patrons that were seated in private sections. When a third usher asked me if I needed help locating my seat, my phone buzzed in my purse. It was a text from Kim.
WHERE THE HECK ARE YOU?? DID YOU FALL IN? YOU’RE MISSING EVERYTHING.
I smiled at the usher, who was eyeballing me curiously, and slunk around a corner to type out a response.
SORRY. THINK MY CHINESE FOOD CAME BACK TO HAUNT ME. BE BACK IN A JIFF.
I crossed to the upper level, where the posh boxes were. Leave it to Alicia to get tickets for the expensive seats. I peeked into the first section, only to be glared at by a woman wearing a fur. With every section I examined, it became clearer and clearer just how insane this plan was. What the hell was I going to say when I actually found Gabe?
Um, I realize that I just hunted you down like a dog at the philharmonic, but I have some serious gossip about your fiancée. Oh, and you know that groomsman in your wedding? Yeah, he’s actually Satan disguised as a sports writer. Say, are they playing Oberan Overture?
My palms sweated as I approached the last box. What if their plans changed, and they weren’t at the philharmonic at all? Or worse yet, what if he’d just given me a random excuse in order to avoid me? Maybe I’d just dropped ninety bucks for no reason.
I rubbed my temples. This was classic Violet Murphy. Acting without thinking. Leaping without looking. I was standing outside a VIP box at the philharmonic looking for my opportunity to spill my guts and possibly ruin Gabe’s wedding. When the fact was, I had a loving boyfriend packing for our first weekend getaway together.
My phone buzzed again, and I turned on the backlight with an exasperated sigh. It was an e-mail from Landon:
Hello, Beautiful
Wanted to tell you how much I miss you tonight, and how I hope you’re having a great time with your friends. I love you and can’t wait to see you tomorrow.
—Landon
That was it. The confirmation I needed. I dropped my phone into my purse and closed it with a snap. I had to return to my seat. I would ambush Gabe at his apartment next week and force him to hear me out. In the meantime, it was time to stop sneaking around like some sort of overdressed super sleuth.
A tiny old woman emerged from the box and walked headfirst into my boobs. “Oh, excuse me, dear.”
“Sorry.” I jumped out of her way and into the view of the open curtain.
I caught Gabe’s attention, and his eyes widened. Just as the curtain fell closed again, he cast a nervous glance to his right, where Alicia was sitting, leaning in close to an older gentleman. And holy crap, they really were sitting with the mayor of Seattle.
My cheeks grew hot, and I darted around the old woman toward the stairs. I took the stairs two at a time in my heels, slipping and sliding on the polished tiles. Gripping the railing as tightly as I could, I prayed that Gabe would assume he’d mistaken someone else for me.
“Violet?” Gabe called out behind me.
I froze with my hand poised over the handle.
His shoes squeaked on the marble floors as
he approached. “Is that you?”
Cringing, I turned around. Totally busted. “Uh…yeah. Hi.”
Gabe’s face broke into a grin. “What are you doing here?”
I gestured at the door I was about to go through. “I’m here with Kim and Betsy.”
He shook his head, still smiling. “I took them for rock and roll people.”
“W-well.” I shifted between my feet. “Betsy enjoys it. But Kim just likes an excuse to dress up.”
He eyed me up and down. “You look great.”
I was glad I’d chosen to wear the retro fishnets. “Listen, it was good to see you. But I should go. I’ve missed enough of the show already.”
I started to pull the door open, but Gabe’s warm hand touched my arm, making the hair on the back of my neck stand up. “What were you doing on the upper level? Were you looking for me?”
I shook my head. “What? No.”
He frowned. “You sure?”
I cringed. “Okay, I was. I’m sorry. I knew that you guys were here, too, and I came to say hi.”
He laughed, his eyes twinkling. “By sticking your head in VIP seating?”
“Well, I didn’t realize that you were hanging with the mayor. You might want to keep an eye on your fiancée. She looked like she was getting cozy with him.”
Gabe smiled sheepishly. “Yeah. That. Alicia really gets into the whole elbow-rubbing thing.”
“So…” I fidgeted with my purse.
His hand slid down my arm. “Why are you really here?”
“I told you. I’m here with Kim and Betsy.”
“Give me a break. You were looking for me.”
“Don’t flatter yourself. I’m here with friends. Friends who are probably missing me by now.” I grabbed the door again. “It was good to see you.”
“Wait.” Contrition filled his eyes. “Listen, I know I’ve been unavailable lately. But I’m here now. Let’s talk.”
I shrugged. “You’re freaked by what happened at the bachelor party, just admit it.”
His nostrils flared. “I’m not freaked.”
I pointed at his face. “Your nostrils are flaring. They only flare like that when you’re lying.”
He touched his nose absently. “They do not.”
“Yes, they do. I’ve been your best friend for twenty years.” When he looked away, I knew that I’d won.
“I don’t mean to avoid you.”
“Yes, you do. Ignoring me isn’t cool.”
He looked up, chagrined. “I’m sorry, Vi.”
I couldn’t help it when my voice shook. “I don’t want you to be sorry. I just don’t want to be ditched by my best friend.”
He looked over his shoulder. “Hey, shh.”
My voice was rising. I didn’t care if I made a scene. Whatever it took to make Gabe listen to me. “I know that my timing on this sucks, but there are some things you need to know about her.”
“Come on, let’s not do this,” Gabe said, gently guiding me through the front doors of the building.
I followed Gabe around a corner, where we stood by a brick wall. “You don’t have a clue what kind of woman you’re marrying.”
“Of course I know who I’m marrying, Vi.” Gabe’s frown pulled his features down. “She’s my fiancée.”
I looked into his eyes. “Even though she’s a liar?”
“Where is this coming from? I thought you and Alicia got along?”
“We did before. Sort of.” I folded my arms across my chest.
“Before what? Before we almost kissed?” He lowered his voice. “That was—”
“A giant mistake? Yes. I realize that.”
“It wasn’t a mistake.” He put his hands in his pockets, and shifted between his feet a few times. “It…”
I folded my arms across my chest. “What, Gabe? Spit it out.”
He looked around nervously, even though there was nobody around. After a few beats, he just shook his head without saying a word.
“Fine.” I put my palms out. “Fine. I get it. It was an awful mistake.”
His features softened. “I was going to say amazing.”
My anger fizzled, but confusion flared. “Oh…I guess.”
“I haven’t been returning your calls this week because it seemed safer not to.”
I shook my head. “Are you really that afraid of being alone with me?”
Gabe’s eyes darkened. “Yes.”
“So you’re going to avoid me for the rest of our lives?”
His cheeks flushed. “That’s the plan, yes.”
I pushed his chest. “What the hell? I’m in your wedding. I go to every holiday at your parents’ house. How will you avoid me forever?”
He rubbed his eyes. “Things are changing, Violet.”
There was nothing being said, but the air between us was thick with everything unsaid. I started to release his hand, but he laced his fingers through mine. My gut twisted. “I’m sorry that it happened.”
“My Vi.” He sighed and stepped closer to me.
A vision of Landon in his apartment, cheerfully dropping folded shirts into a suitcase, popped into my head, but I quickly shoved it to the back of my mind. “I have some things to tell you, Gabe.”
He looked down. “Every time I’m around you, I can’t keep my hands off you. What’s wrong with me?”
I could feel that all-too familiar magnetic pull between us, and my resolve started to crack. If Gabe kept touching me, I wasn’t going to be capable of fighting my desire much longer, and I was going to suggest making out in the parking lot soon. I had to get everything out that I’d come here to say before he came any closer. When I put my palms on his chest, I noticed his pulse thudding through his shirt. I took hold of his wrists and stepped back. “Why do you keep doing that?”
“Doing what?” he asked.
“Touching me like that.” I still felt tingles where his palms had been.
“Like that?” He shoved his hands in his pockets.
“Like we’re more than friends.”
Gabe glared at me. “I’m engaged, Violet.”
“That’s what makes this so wrong.” I gestured between the two of us. “I’m trying to have a serious conversation with you, and we can’t stay off each other!”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
I jutted my chin out at him. “Your fiancée is a liar and a phony. And her parents aren’t rich. They’re normal middle class people. With a normal middle class house, and a normal middle class grandma living with them.”
A long line appeared across Gabe’s forehead. “What? How did you find this out?”
“I…looked into her background a little bit.” I glanced away, embarrassed.
“You did what?” His brows knit together.
“I did it for you.”
“You snooped into Alicia’s background for my sake?” Gabe’s eyes had glazed over, and his jaw locked into place.
“Yes. You have no idea what kind of a person you’re engaged to. Do you know what she was like in high school?”
“I’m supposed to care what she was like in high school?” He ran his hand over his head.
“You should care about some of the things I heard.” I took a step closer to him. “She’s a gold digger. A girl she went to school with said that she—”
“You know, I never took you for the jealous type. All these years, and you never acted at all envious.”
I was taken aback. “Well, you haven’t been engaged to any of them.”
“So it’s the engagement that has you acting so crazy?”
I wanted to scream. “This isn’t crazy. Why do I have to keep explaining that to everyone?”
“This is ridiculous.” Gabe’s jaw twitched, and a muscle in his neck bulged. I was in the weeds now. “You followed me here so that you could tell me what Alicia was like in high school?”
“You aren’t listening. I know that this all seems weird, but I have a point.” I was shouting now.
/> He looked at his watch. “Alicia is going to wonder where I’m at.”
I sighed. “You’re being too stubborn for your own damn good. It doesn’t even matter that Alicia is completely wrong for you, because on paper, it all works.”
“Listen.” Gabe took hold of my shoulders. “I know this is hard for you. All this change is hard for me, too.”
“You can’t marry her.” My quavering voice was almost drowned out by a passing car.
Gabe’s eyes softened. “Vi, don’t say that.”
“Please don’t marry her.” My eyes moistened, and I stared at him with every ounce of intensity burning inside me. “She will hurt you worse than I ever did. I can promise you that. She doesn’t want kids. Did you know that?”
His mouth opened and closed without a sound.
I couldn’t stop there. “Ask her the name of the nursing home where her grandma lives.”
“Please stop,” he said tiredly.
“Just ask her about her policy on men.” My voice shook, and it was clear by the defeated expression in his eyes that he’d stopped listening to me minutes ago, but I pressed forth. If nothing came from this conversation at all, I knew that I had at least tried. “Ask her what her policy is on upgrades, Gabe. Just ask.”
Gabe pushed a strand of my hair away from my forehead, making a shiver tiptoe town my back. My breath caught in my throat. “Vi…”
He stepped closer to me, and my heart thudded in my chest so hard that I swear he could see it through my dress. Alicia, Cameron, and all of my anger and frustration slid to the back of my mind, and all I could focus on were those eyes I’d loved since I was six years old. He touched my cheek, and I shuddered.
Fingers trembling against my face, Gabe took a shaky breath before whispering, “You need to go home now.”
His words hit me like a punch in the gut, just as the doors to the concert hall swung open with a bang. We pulled apart, almost in slow motion, as Gabe’s eyes deadlocked on mine. “Intermission…”
“Please.” I tried to catch my breath. “Just listen.”
His voice was strained when he spoke again. “You’ve got to stop trying to dig up dirt on Alicia. I appreciate your concern. I know that you’re doing this because you care about me. I get it.”
“Just let me finish—” I reached for him, but he ducked away.
