“It’s not that simple.”
He knew the uncomfortable part was coming. But he tried to prevent Gabby from leaping in. “My mother’s grateful to you, Gabby. Let’s just leave it there.”
His mother’s gratitude was the problem. He knew he couldn’t repay Gabby in a monetary way. She would never accept that. He knew it would be hard to repay her in any other way, either. She could buy whatever she wanted and he could, too, to a certain extent. But tonight had lifted a mirror to the differences between them. He’d come from a blue-collar background, a row house with a cop for a dad and a mom who stayed home to take care of her kids. That was very different from the way Gabby had grown up.
Blue collar versus royalty.
But Gabby wasn’t content to take his advice and drop the conversational thread. “If I acted impulsively, I’m sorry. I thought your mom coming here would be best for her. But maybe we should have all gone to stay at her house.”
That made him forget the sheet he’d been unfolding onto the bed. “You wouldn’t have had room service at our house.”
Now she eyed him as if he were a stranger. “Do you think I care about room service?”
“Can you cook?” he asked reasonably.
Her eyes filled with a shiny luminescence he would rather turn away from. But he couldn’t.
“I guess you doubt whether I could have taken care of your mom at her house,” she said, lowering her voice. “Did you ever think I might have surprised you?” When he didn’t respond, she went on, “I simply saw this as the easiest road to taking care of her and solving our problem.”
He knew he should end this conversation. But he asked anyway, “What problem is that?”
“That you wouldn’t leave me here alone to go home with your mom.”
Gabby was right. He wouldn’t have left her here alone. Both women were his responsibility.
After a long moment, Gabby came a step closer to him, searched his face and then his eyes. “Did that kiss on the balcony tonight mean anything to you?”
No matter what he answered, he’d be in trouble. So he decided no answer was the best reply of all.
She shook her head. “I should have known better than to ask.” She turned to go to her room. “I gave your mom my cell phone number and told her if she needs anything, she should just call me.”
He couldn’t let her leave thinking he wasn’t grateful. He caught her arm. “Gabby, thank you for wanting to help my mother. I do appreciate it.”
“You’re welcome,” she replied politely.
They stood there, his hand on her arm, their gazes locked, vibrations neither of them understood rippling between them.
He knew the instant she decided to pull away. He released her arm and let her go.
After all, wasn’t that what he was supposed to do?
“I love my nails,” Rafe’s mother said the following afternoon as she grinned at Gabby.
Gabby waved her own just-painted nails in the air to dry them. “It was fun, wasn’t it? I like those little flowers painted on yours.”
“I enjoyed the facial just as much. How relaxing. The time has gone faster than I expected—thanks to you.”
“Well, it would be awful if you were stuck here in bed with nothing to do and no one to talk to.”
Rafe entered the room just then and glanced from one woman to the other. “Are we expecting anyone else today?” His eyes were almost brooding, his tone a bit disapproving.
Gabby checked her watch. “I have a phone interview at four, but then I’ll make supper.”
Rafe’s brows arched, “You’ll make supper?”
Rafe had been cool and distant today. Because of their kiss? Because of her invitation to his mother to stay here? He was backing away from the intensity of what happened when they were together. He didn’t see her as the type of woman he wanted to get involved with. So be it.
She tried not to get defensive. She tried to keep her voice light. “You forget I came from Italy. I might have had a nanny and housekeeper, but they were both good cooks. I make a terrific eggplant parmagiana and a mean salad. The ingredients should be arriving within the hour. They include a box of brownie mix. I do know how to follow directions. If you’d rather call room service, feel free, but your mom said she’d try my cooking.”
So much for not being defensive.
Rafe looked a bit uncomfortable and glanced at his mother. Then he cleared his throat. “I talked to Julie. She’ll be returning home early tomorrow morning. She wants you to move in with her until you’re up and around again.”
Lena frowned. “I want to go home.”
“You’re not ready to be alone yet, Mom. You definitely can’t do the stairs. Julie wants to talk about all of it. I want to be part of that discussion, but I can’t leave Gabby alone. I’ll have to check her schedule.”
“The solution to that is simple,” Gabby interjected. “Just ask your sister to come here.”
“I don’t think that would work. Her husband, Troy, is going in to work tomorrow afternoon so she’d have to bring the baby.”
“I don’t see the problem,” Gabby said.
Lena waved her hand around the room, with the white country French furniture, the fine coverings on the chairs, the polish of the wood. “He’s afraid Suzanne might break something. She crawls pretty fast and is almost walking.”
“You don’t have to worry about the baby. I can watch her,” Gabby offered.
“You’ll watch her?” Rafe repeated, his astonishment evident. “Gabby, have you had any experience with one-year-olds?”
This time Gabby couldn’t help but turn indignant. She propped her hands on her hips, forgetting about the fresh nail polish. “I don’t think your mom raised you to be this uncomplimentary toward women, so you must have learned it along the way somewhere. I can cook, I can run a business, I can manage my own life and…I can watch a baby. I don’t have brothers and sisters, but my mother does and they have children who have children. I don’t live in a vacuum, Rafe, not all the time.”
Rafe looked unsettled as if he didn’t know what to say.
When Gabby glanced at Lena, she saw a small smile on his mother’s lips.
After a few moments, he shook his head. “So you want this meeting to take place tomorrow?”
“I’m free from one until three. At three I have a meeting with the manager of a boutique who would consider carrying my line of purses. If I go that direction.” She was becoming more and more sure that’s what she wanted to do.
“All right,” Rafe gave in. “I’ll call Julie and ask her to be here at one.” After a long look at his mother and her pretty new nails, and a last glance at Gabby, he left the room to go into the suite.
Gabby didn’t realize she was staring after him until Lena asked, “You like him, don’t you?”
“He’s a good man,” Gabby responded automatically.
“Yes, he is, and you’re a good woman.”
Gabby sent Lena a curious look. “We’re very different. And I’m going back to Italy soon.”
“Rafe makes trips to the stores in Italy. You make trips here. Would it be so hard to coordinate schedules?”
“It would be hard to coordinate lives.”
“Not if doing it means the world to both of you.”
Gabby thought about that. She felt as if she were on the verge of her life changing. Yet that change might not include Rafe. “He believes we’re very different. He thinks I’m shallow.”
“That’s not true!” Lena protested. “I think he says the things he does because he doesn’t want to get too close.”
“Then that doesn’t give us much hope, does it?”
“You need to ask him about Connie,” Rafe’s mother prompted her. “She was his wife and she’s been dead for five years. It’s time he thinks about making himself happy.”
“If he doesn’t want to talk—”
“Push him a little, Gabby. He needs a push. I’ve watched him do nothing but work for y
ears. He uses it to keep a lid on everything he doesn’t want to feel. Maybe it’s time you popped that lid.”
“Maybe I’m not the right one to do it.”
“You’ll never know unless you try.”
The next afternoon Gabby reached out her arms to the happy baby girl, and the toddler went to her willingly. “I understand your name is Suzanne. That’s such a pretty name.”
The baby grabbed for one of her gold hoop earrings and Gabby laughed.
Julie reached to take her back. “I don’t want her to hurt you.” She sounded worried and she’d looked nervous ever since she’d come into the suite.
Gabby quickly unfastened the earring and held it out for the baby to grab. “She won’t hurt me.”
“If you let her on the floor, she could break something in here, get her fingerprints all over everything.”
Gabby again shook her head. “It’s okay. She’ll be fine. Really. I have some things in the kitchen that should keep her occupied—plastic containers, pots and pans.” She turned the child around in her lap and smiled at her. She tickled her tummy and Suzanne giggled.
Julie seemed to relax a bit. “She does love to play with that kind of stuff, rolls of paper towels, too.”
“I have one of those.” Gabby was trying to ignore Rafe’s presence.
Julie looked up at Rafe. “Mom doesn’t mind us talking about her?”
“She’s watching her favorite soap opera. She says when we decide about her life, we should let her know, then she’ll tell us whether she agrees or doesn’t agree.”
Gabby lifted the baby and rose. “Suzanne will be able to see you from the kitchen, but I’ll keep her occupied.”
Gabby hadn’t really spoken to Rafe all morning. They seemed to be at opposite ends of a great big ocean. She could climb into a boat to cross to him, but she was afraid he wouldn’t allow her into his harbor.
Plopping down on the kitchen floor with Suzanne, she heard Julie say, “Mom should move in with me permanently.”
“You know she doesn’t want to do that.”
“She might not want to, but she doesn’t have much choice. She can’t keep climbing those steps. What if she falls and breaks something more important than her ankle?”
“She’s going to say she didn’t break anything.”
“Are you on her side?”
“I’m just trying to play devil’s advocate,” Rafe replied calmly. “We can come up with any plan in the world, but if she doesn’t agree to it, what good will it do?”
“Maybe we should be talking with her about it.”
“Not until we come up with a solution, Julie. What do we say—go live with Julie and be happy about it? She likes her privacy. She likes her independence.”
Gabby had been thinking something since last evening. She hadn’t said anything to Rafe, but maybe it was time to do so. Reaching for Suzanne and lifting her into her arms again, she jiggled her a bit, watched the little girl smile and then returned to the living room.
Both brother and sister gave her their attention. “I know this isn’t any of my business, but there might be a solution everyone will be happy with.”
“She doesn’t want to go to an assisted-living facility and be all by herself,” Rafe said adamantly.
“No, I wasn’t going to suggest that. Have you ever thought of installing a chairlift?”
The brother and sister looked at each other, puzzled. Julie asked, “A chairlift?”
“Yes, one of my mother’s friends has one. If your staircase is wide enough, the chairlift can be installed. That way she could go up and down the stairs on her own without your being worried. I checked online last night and there are several companies in Dallas who sell and install them.”
After Rafe and Julie exchanged another look, Rafe said thoughtfully, “I once worked security for a client whose father had one, now that you mention it. He had arthritis in his knees and climbing the stairs was very painful.”
“Exactly,” Gabby said, rocking Suzanne again to keep her happy.
Rafe addressed his sister. “Why don’t you talk to Mom about it? I’ll make a couple of phone calls and see if I can get more information.”
He sent Gabby an admiring look that she just soaked in. Maybe this time, she’d done something right. Maybe this time, Rafe would believe she didn’t just think about herself, but others, too.
Gabby loved playing with Suzanne, she really did. She did finger games with her, peekaboo, hide the spoon under the towel and tear off the paper towels. The baby seemed enthralled with each activity and Gabby felt satisfaction that she could entertain her. She knew being a mother was about so much more, but this could be a start. She’d been thinking about motherhood a lot more the past few days or so. Not as an alternative to what she was doing now, but rather as an addition to her life, a change she would welcome.
About a half hour later, she was still sitting on the kitchen floor with Suzanne, who was lifting spoons from one container to another.
Gabby suddenly felt another presence in the kitchen. Turning slowly, she saw Rafe towering over her. There was such a sad, sad expression on his face and she wanted to know the reason for it.
She patted the floor next to her. “Want to play with us?”
He gave her a crooked half smile and dropped to the floor beside her.
“You looked very sad. What’s wrong? Your mom doesn’t want the chairlift?”
“Actually, she does. She and Julie are making plans now. I think she’ll be very happy with the whole idea.”
“And the sadness?”
“Maybe you misread me.”
“I don’t think so.” She knew she couldn’t push anymore. She couldn’t prompt anymore. He had to want to tell her his secrets. If he didn’t, then they really had no place to go.
He didn’t respond right away. He watched Suzanne pick up a spoon, transfer it from her right hand to her left. He picked up one of the spoons and handed it to the baby. She grinned at him, shaking both spoons.
That sad expression was there on his face again…in his eyes. “I almost had a child once.”
Gabby kept perfectly still, hoping he’d say more.
But Julie came hurrying through the living room, stopped when she saw the three of them in the kitchen and sent Rafe a look that said she understood. Gabby realized that being with his niece was painful for him. It was obvious.
“You’re going to have your suite back to yourself,” Julie pronounced happily. “Mom’s packing her things. She’s going to stay with me until her ankle’s better and by then, the chairlift will be installed.” She dropped to the floor with them and grinned. “We can never repay you for helping us, Gabby. This means a lot. Rafe might have to wait on you hand and foot for the next few days.”
Rafe glanced at Gabby. “I might just have to do that.”
On Saturday afternoon, Gabby admired the jewelry designs Penny had messengered to her. They were beautiful, intricate, unique.
But they didn’t keep her mind off of Rafe. She’d been aware of him ever since his mother had left with Julie yesterday. She tried to pretend he wasn’t there, but that was impossible.
The doorbell rang.
Gabby watched him put his computer aside, rise from the sofa and answer it. He was wearing a T-shirt and jeans again since she hadn’t had any outside appointments.
When he came into the kitchen, he had a package in his hands. He looked a bit out of his element when he set it before her.
“What’s this?” she asked. The box was wrapped in blue paper with a white bow.
“It’s a thank-you gift for helping my mother. It’s not much—” He stopped abruptly.
What did he think she expected? “You didn’t have to get me anything.”
“I know you and Mom made a deal—that she’s going to make you an afghan—but I wanted to thank you, too. Go ahead, open it.”
Gabby’s heart beat fast as she removed the bow and then unfastened the paper. She uncovered a white gi
ft box. Her fingers fumbled because she was both touched and excited.
After she took the lid from the box, she pushed back the paper. What she saw made her smile. She lifted the little glass birdcage out of the box and held it in the palm of her hand. “Thank you. It’s beautiful. I can’t believe you remembered.”
“My job leads me to pay attention.” A small smile played on his lips.
Gabby wanted to hug him, wanted to throw her arms around his neck, wanted to kiss him again. Instead, she just looked up at him. “This is very thoughtful. I’ll keep it in a special place. You understand how I feel, Rafe, and not many people do.”
He nodded.
She took a chance and said, “I’d like to know how you feel about what matters most. Tell me about Connie,” she requested.
After he studied her for a few moments, he pulled out the chair around the corner of the table from her and lowered himself into it. “I don’t talk about Connie.”
She set the birdcage on the table. “Maybe you should. Your mom told me to ask you about her.”
His brows arched at that and he looked surprised.
Silence kept stretching between them and she didn’t fill it. He shifted uncomfortably in his chair and still she waited.
Finally he explained, “Connie was the daughter of a friend of my mother’s.” After taking a deep breath, he went on quickly, as if to get the conversation over with. “We met at a Christmas party when I was in college. We got married while I was on the Dallas police force. She understood I wanted to be a Secret Service agent and she always stood by me. After the president’s detail, I worked in a field office in Atlanta for a while. Connie got pregnant while we were living there and we couldn’t wait until our child was born. I was tied up on a case and we decided it would be a good time for her to come back and visit her family here in Dallas. She had a friend who lived on the south side. I told her to meet her somewhere else to visit, but she wouldn’t listen. She was leaving her friend’s house, walking to her car, when she was killed by a drive-by shooter aiming for a group of guys on the corner. I lost her and the baby that day.”
Gabby clasped his arm. “Rafe, I’m so sorry. I don’t know what to say.”
The Texas Bodyguard’s Proposal Page 11
