Dave had lived those words. He always pushed to get things done, not to put tasks off to a random someday. He was a doer, a take-charge kind of personality with a great sense of humor, much like his adolescent daughter, two peas in a pod, as Kate liked to say.
Callan braced his arms around his middle in a firm stance. “I’ve made a decision, Mom.”
She looked his way and read his intent.
“I’m still aiming for baseball, but only two percent of people who want to play in the majors get to play in the majors.”
She nodded. She knew the stats.
“If that doesn’t work out, I’m going blue. Like Dad and Grandpa and Uncle Drew.”
His pronouncement should have surprised her. Callan was more like her, careful, assessing and cautious, but gazing at the rapidly growing young man, she realized that those qualities would serve him well, no matter what he chose to do in life. She pulled in a deep breath and smiled. “This isn’t the shock you think it is.”
“No?” He’d looked worried to make the announcement, but a little excited, too.
“It’s in your blood, Callan. It’s a bond that’s never broken, even by death. A brotherhood of officers.”
“You won’t try to stop me because of what happened to Dad?”
She might have, a few months ago. She might have two days ago, before Gabe swooped in to rescue her daughter.
Now...she shook her head. “Your dad and I would both want you to follow your conscience, Cal. To do what you think God wants you to do. And if that is serving your community as an officer, I will be proud of your service. Every single minute of it.”
He looked relieved by her words. He turned and offered a short salute to Dave’s grave, but not to the lifeless stone or pretty autumn arrangement.
To his father, gone before the kids really had a chance to know him.
“Are we going back home before we go to Grandma’s?” Tee asked.
“No, we’ve got everything we need in the car. Let’s head that way. Aunt Kimberly is bringing a frozen pumpkin ice cream pie from Stan’s custard stand, and I’m going to take a little of my own advice today and eat dessert first.”
“Whoa.” Tee flashed her a teasing grin. “Mom is walking on the wild side!”
“Totally,” Callan added in a dry tone. “But if Mom gets to do it, we all get to do it, so what are we waiting for?”
“Race!” Tee was off like a flash. Callan, too. They hit the car at the same time, laughing like the delightful normal kids they were.
She didn’t cry as she faced the grave. She read the inscription again, out loud. “Today is someday.”
A day for new choices and new roads. Dave wouldn’t have wanted her to live her life worried. He’d have teased her out of her funk and moved on, and that’s what she needed to do now. She’d probably messed up her chance with Gabe Cutler. She’d read the angst on his face the previous day, and she hadn’t even gotten a chance to properly thank him for rescuing Tee. He must think her ungrateful and stupidly stubborn.
She’d thank him today.
She’d make sure everyone knew how grateful she was for the rescue and for him. Just him.
She strode to the car, determined to make things right. She climbed in and turned the key.
Nothing.
She frowned, checked to make sure the steering wheel was locked and tried again.
Still nothing.
“It won’t start?” Tee leaned up and over the seat.
“For real?” Callan asked. He pulled out his phone before she could say anything and hit a number. “Coach, we’re stuck in the cemetery. Mom’s car won’t start and we’re in danger of missing pumpkin ice cream pie. Can you save us? Again?”
Heat climbed Corinne’s cheeks. Callan hit the speaker button, and Gabe’s voice came through loud and clear. “On my way. Be there in ten minutes.”
Drew and Kimberly pulled in ahead of them. They trekked to the grave, adorned it with a holiday wreath. They paused, gazing down, remembering Drew’s best friend and Kimberly’s big brother...and then they came their way. “Why are you sitting in the car in the cemetery?”
“Car won’t start.”
“No?” Drew arched his brows. “I’ll call Grant.”
“Coach is on his way to rescue us,” Tee told them, hanging out her window. “I think this is getting to be a thing. We get into trouble—”
“Or cause trouble,” Callan deadpanned with a look in Tee’s direction.
“—and then Coach rescues us.”
“Well, how about if we take you two with us? Because that ice cream pie is waiting at the house, and as much as I love the Gallagher clan, I don’t trust them to leave the pie alone until after dinner.”
Tee poked Corinne’s shoulder. “They’re on to us, Mom.”
“So it would seem.” She turned her gaze back to Drew and Kimberly. “You guys don’t mind taking them?”
Drew opened Tee’s door. “Of course not, although I feel funny leaving you here alone.”
“I’m fine. And Gabe will be here soon.”
“We could just call him and tell him we’re rescued,” Tee suggested. “Save him a trip.”
“It’s on his way, and there’s food at Grandma’s,” noted Kimberly.
“Reason enough to ride with you guys.” Callan fist-pumped the air as he loped to their car. “Tell Coach I’ll save him a piece.”
Corinne shot Kimberly a quick look of thanks. She wanted a minute or two alone with Gabe, long enough to apologize and thank him. Kimberly and Drew pulled out of the knoll about two minutes before Gabe pulled in.
He parked his SUV, climbed out and came her way.
Her heart sped up. She started to climb out of the car, but he leaned down, blocking the door. “What seems to be the problem, ma’am?”
She gazed into his gorgeous light brown eyes, sparked with humor and something else. Something deliciously indefinable. “My car won’t start, Officer.”
“That’s ‘Trooper,’ ma’am.”
She inclined her head with a slight smile as she corrected herself. “Trooper.”
He grinned, held her gaze, then stepped back. “Pop the hood.”
She did.
He gave a look underneath as she climbed out of the car. “Do you see anything?”
He shook his head. “No. But then I use Frank at Pieroni’s Garage because I know nothing about engines. I called him on my way. He should be here soon.”
“But you had me pop the hood.” She moved toward him, puzzled.
“For effect.” He straightened as she laughed, and then he looked around. He spotted the fresh arrangement of tributes on the incline and jutted his chin. “Your husband’s grave?”
“We stop by on holidays or just any old day. I’ve always wanted to give the kids a sense of who Dave was, because they never got a chance to know him personally. Callan was a toddler when he died, and I was pregnant with Tee.”
“That’s a tough set of circumstances.”
It had been, so she acknowledged it with a lift of her shoulder. “But we did okay.”
“You did more than okay. Corinne, listen—” he began, but she had started in at the same time.
“Gabe, I—”
They both paused. Gabe motioned her to go ahead. “Ladies first. Are you cold? Because we can talk in my car. It’s got heat and everything. Unlike yours that won’t turn on.”
“I’m fine. And I’ve got to say this to you, and it’s easier face-to-face.”
He waited solemnly, but his eyes still twinkled, as if he had a secret. A happy kind of secret, and she liked seeing him that way.
“I want to thank you for yesterday.” He waved that off as no big deal, but Corinne knew better. “Don’t brush it off, Gabe Cut
ler. You risked your life and sacrificed your boat to save my daughter. I can’t even begin to tell you how scared I was when that call came in, and then to be stuck in traffic, unable to get here quickly.”
“Horrible, I expect.”
She nodded, then shrugged. “It was and it wasn’t. It was the wake-up call I needed.” She drew a deep breath and looked up. “I’ve been so busy trying to be a great mom and trying to keep them safe and sound, proving I could do it all, that I lost track of some of the important things. I forgot to trust in God, because when I did trust him, I lost Dave. I think I never quite forgave God for that, and couldn’t hand over the reins because I’d been let down before. And even though I know it was a human decision that put my husband in harm’s way...” She hesitated. “He took a chance that day and lost. I still felt like God let me down.”
“And now?”
“I realized as I drove home yesterday, completely powerless to help, that I’ve gotten power hungry,” she admitted. “I like being the decision maker. I like being the person in charge. That power is being wrenched out of my hands as the kids grow up, and I realized yesterday that it was never really in my hands. I wanted it to be, but the true power and strength was beyond me. And with Him. He sent you to me. He sent you to coach my son, and He sent you this year to be my next-door neighbor.” She put her hands on his arms. “And you saved my little girl’s life. I can never thank you enough for that.”
Chapter Eighteen
Gazing down into her pretty blue eyes, he could think of several ways, all of them amazing and wonderful, but he didn’t have the right to make fear a central part of her life. “I love being a cop, Corinne.”
She held his gaze and didn’t blink.
“It became my stronghold when I lost my daughter, and then my wife. I couldn’t help them, but I could make amends by helping others, and that meant so much to me.”
“Did it mean enough to take foolish risks?”
He shook his head firmly. “It meant enough to do what needs to be done. My love for police work isn’t about the perils. It’s about keeping people safe. Helping others. And sometimes, catching the bad guys, because that’s part of the job. But mostly, it’s about watching out for danger and avoiding it before it happens. I love what I do, Corinne. I haven’t always loved who I am, but I love what I do. And I need you to be okay with that. And to be okay with this.” He pulled out his phone, swept open a picture and held it up. “I’m signing custody of Jessie over to Mack and Susie.”
Her eyes went wide. She looked at him, the photo, then him again. “You’re giving them the baby?”
“It’s the right thing to do.” He stared at the picture Mack and Susie had sent minutes ago, their first family selfie. And he smiled. “If I keep Jessie, my aunt will make sure my family stays fractured. To her, Jessie was born of sin and can’t escape that, and I would never want Jessie to hear her hateful words of condemnation. This way I can ensure that never happens, and make two of the best people I know very happy.”
“That’s an incredible sacrifice.” She whispered the words because she knew how much he’d bonded with Jessie, and how easy it would have been to keep her. “Gabe, you’re amazing.”
He wasn’t, but it felt good to hear her say it.
“Truly amazing.” She gripped his arms again, and the look she gave him, as if he were something special and wonderful and true...it was the kind of look he’d like to see the rest of his life. “And inspiring,” she whispered, her eyes locked on his.
“Well, I have an ulterior motive. But it hinges on you, and I’m not sure I should bring it up right now.”
“Of course you should,” she argued. “I want to know everything about you, Gabe. If you’re willing to give me a second chance at this whole romance thing, we need to start with a clean slate. Don’t you think?”
Oh, he thought so all right. He locked his hands around her waist and gazed down. “Here’s what I’m thinking.” He dropped his mouth to hers and kissed her, long and slow. “I think we should keep doing things like this forever. I think we should let ourselves be in love and stay in love and take Tee fishing a lot.”
She laughed against his cheek, and it felt good to feel the warmth of her laughter ruffle his cool skin.
“And I’d like to have a family with you, Corinne.”
“Gabe—” She sounded surprised, and she had good reason to be, because her kids were almost grown.
“I know you’ve done this all before.” He kissed her cheeks, her ear, her forehead, and then took her mouth again. And when he stopped kissing her, he drew her up against his chest, holding her close. So close. “But I’d love to have another chance to raise kids. With you. If you’re willing.”
* * *
Willing?
Corinne was pretty sure her heart had just been swept away by this rugged lawman. “You’re wondering if I’d be willing to have your baby, Gabe? Our baby?”
“That would be the question. And it’s not a deal breaker, Corinne.” He leaned back to see her face, still holding her. “There’s nothing I want in this life more than you, and a chance to be a good friend and dad to Tee and Callan. But if you’re willing to increase our family, I’d be the happiest man in town.”
She reached up and kissed him. She kissed him until he was convinced of her answer with no words needed, then added the words. Just to be sure. “I would love to have more kids. And I would be honored to be your wife, if you ever get around to asking me, that is.”
“Corinne.” He snugged her close, then turned her loose and took a knee. “Corinne, I think I’ve been falling in love with you for a long while, but I was too stubborn to let myself be happy and you were too stubborn to flirt with me. Except you couldn’t exactly help it.”
She laughed because every word of that was truth.
“And while I make a really good neighbor, I’d like the chance to be an even better husband. Will you marry me?”
“In a heartbeat.”
He kissed her again.
Frank’s tow truck rumbled into the far lane. He backed the rig up to Corinne’s vehicle, hoisted it onto the bed, wished them a happy Thanksgiving and was back on his way in less than five minutes.
Corinne turned toward Gabe. “I’d like a Christmas Eve wedding.”
His eyes went wide before he grinned. “Four weeks away. Perfect. We don’t want to interrupt the winter baseball practice season with wedding planning.”
She laughed and looped her hands around his neck. “Nope. That’s not why I want to hurry. This is.” She gave him a most convincing kiss. “We’ve already spent too much time apart. I’m totally unwilling to waste another minute of not being your wife, but with two wedding planners in the family, I’ll be killed if I don’t give them at least a few weeks to plan things.”
* * *
Gabe couldn’t possibly be happier than he was at this moment.
To spend Christmas with Corinne by his side. With Tee and Callan at church and at the Gallagher family dinner. And here, on the solemn grounds of Grace Haven Memorial Cemetery, commending their father. As it should be. “It sounds perfect. And now we should go because I think we just let Frank drive off with the apple pie and the cranberry relish.”
“No!” She stared down the now-empty lane and sighed. “It was a really good pie, too.”
“I bet it was, but we’ve already pulled him out once on the holiday. We could chase him down...” he supposed.
“Or we can call him and tell him to take it into town when he visits his dad in the hospice house.”
Gabe thought he couldn’t love her more.
He was wrong.
He texted Frank to take the pie and cranberry relish to share with others as Corinne climbed into the car. He climbed in beside her, turned the car on, then turned her way. “You ready for
this, my love?”
She feathered a kiss to his cheek, a kiss of faith, hope, love and promise. “I am.”
He put the car in gear and drove down the lane, then out onto the road.
A new chance.
A new beginning, for both of them, and for Jessie, too.
As he drove toward town, church bells chimed in unison, marking the hour in joyful abandon. And when they were done tolling, the old stone church carillon rang out the poignant notes of “How Great Thou Art” for the entire town to hear, a Grace Haven Thanksgiving tradition.
And it was good.
Chapter Nineteen
Gabe tucked extra twinkle lights, a fresh evergreens wreath and baby clothes into the back of the car, then spotted a missed call from Corinne. He called her back, delighted by his list of accomplishments.
She answered quickly. Too quickly for a pregnant woman who was supposed to spend the next three weeks resting. “You’re supposed to be off your feet. I told you I’d handle everything, didn’t I?”
“You did, and I’m beyond blessed, but darling, there’s one thing you can’t handle, and it’s this. I’m in labor.”
He couldn’t have heard her correctly, because his son and daughter weren’t due for nearly three weeks. “You can’t be.”
“Well, I tried telling the twins that, but they seem to have a mind of their own. Stubborn little things. Oh...” She started breathing in that way women do as a contraction takes hold and won’t let go.
“Honey. Honey, I’m on my way, and I’ve got the twinkle lights!”
She laughed and spoke quickly. “Dad’s bringing me and the kids to the hospital. Meet us there. And I think it would be best to leave the twinkle lights in the car.”
He knew that. Could anyone blame a guy for being a tad nervous when his beautiful wife was carrying not one, but two tiny babies?
He stopped shopping for the perfect Christmas decorations she thought she needed to make things just right, climbed into the driver’s seat and drove to the hospital in Rochester. Corinne’s doctor didn’t anticipate problems, but she wanted Corinne in a facility with an NICU in case the babies came early or needed extra help.
The Lawman's Yuletide Baby Page 17
