Josh kept rambling on until, finally, Gabe cut him off.
“Did all of this happen at the same time?” Gabe asked.
Kayla remained quiet. All their family secrets were being revealed, and she couldn’t stop it from happening. Nor did she even want to.
“Yes, I had to act fast. Between Nana’s jewelry and the money I got from telling our competitors about the furniture line coming out, I’d be rich beyond my wildest dreams. At the same time, I was ruining the family name. And my family was in bad shape. Mom was hysterical all day and refused to leave her bed. She was borderline suicidal. Dad was depressed. Matt was exhausted from having to do most of the work at the furniture factory, and he ended up in the hospital with pneumonia. And Sarah and Lauren moved out of the house to stay with friends because they couldn’t stand hearing Mom scream anymore.”
“And what was Kayla doing this entire time?” Gabe asked, clenching his jaw.
Josh looked at Kayla, and she nodded for him to go on.
“Kayla was doing what Kayla always did. Picking up the pieces of our lives while she lost hers. First, she—”
Kayla cut him off. “Please, Josh, let me tell it.”
“Okay,” he said.
Gabe pulled over a barstool and placed it in between them. Kayla couldn’t look him in the eye, but she grabbed his hand. At least they were pretty much alone. The bartender—probably the same man who had called her—kept looking at them from the other end of the bar, but he gave them space. He hadn’t even bothered to clean up Josh’s mess. She was grateful. Kayla inhaled before she began.
“My mom’s screaming and crying was so bad, I didn’t know what to do. You’ve heard her acting hysterical when we spoke. Anyway, I was debating checking her into the hospital out of fear that she would kill herself, when I had an idea. If Mom held one of Nana’s pieces of jewelry, she’d feel close to her, and maybe she’d calm down a little. One morning, I went to look for my grandmother’s jewelry. I wanted to bring Mom her diamond wedding band, which she’d never taken off. I went to where Nana had told me she’d hidden her jewelry, but everything was gone. I panicked. And then I remembered seeing Josh sneak into her room one day. When I had asked him why—”
“I said I missed Nana, and I wanted to sit on her bed and have a little cry,” Josh added.
Kayla nodded. “I wasn’t suspicious then. My main concern was my mom screaming, but when I looked for her jewelry and found it missing, I had a feeling, so I went into Josh’s room and searched. I remembered when we were kids, he told me he hid everything from Nana under his mattress. So I lifted up his mattress and found all the missing jewelry right there.”
“What did you do then?” Gabe asked, taking a deep breath.
She sighed. “Look, I’ve told you a lot of this when we spoke, but I left out Josh’s role.”
“And Josh’s role played a huge part in what happened with your family after your grandmother passed. I’m starting to get it, Kayla, so, please, continue.”
She nodded. “So I sat on his bed, trying to figure out what Nana would have done. As I sat there, I heard my mom’s continued screams. My dad was in a full-blown depression by then. He was beside himself, and he couldn’t even sleep in their bedroom. So I had to trade rooms with him for a while. Luckily, he agreed to take antidepressants. I practically begged my dad to take them because without my dad and Matt working, the business wouldn’t survive.
“So as I sat there, I looked up to Heaven and asked Nana if someone up there was pulling a trick on me. Then I looked out the window, and I saw a bird flapping its wings really fast. I felt like it was my grandmother, watching over me. You see, she loved birds, and when I was younger, she and I would sit on the back porch for hours and watch them.
“A second later, it hit me. There was no way the customers would know about my mom unless a family member had told them.
“So I sat there and considered confronting Josh, but Nana had taught me to always look at the bigger picture. I also thought I could call Matt and my dad and tell them about my suspicions. But calling them at this point didn’t feel right. Instead, I called one of my old high school friends, who was one of the customers who’d asked about my mom but didn’t buy anything. She was really nice and said she didn’t buy from my dad because she found a similar coffee table elsewhere, but the bottom opened up and became a file cabinet. I froze when she described it to me. Then I asked if she had seen any other pieces of furniture lately. And she described my family’s new furniture line, which was supposed to come out in a month or two.
“Suddenly, everything made sense. Josh wanted money to get out of Bella Cove. Enough money so he could take off for a few years and live a fancy lifestyle. Between stealing Nana’s jewelry and selling our secrets to competitors, he’d have it made. Ruining the family name in the process was his revenge for Nana not leaving him any money, even though she didn’t leave money for any of us. Not directly, anyway.”
Gabe let go of her hand and, instead, caressed her back in slow circles.
“When I got home from the factory that night, I walked into the living room where my dad, Sarah, Lauren, Kayla, and my mom were all sitting. My mom wasn’t screaming, and I assumed my sisters had come home to visit.” Josh looked at Kayla, as if seeking her permission to continue the story.
Kayla nodded. She felt too drained to continue.
“Kayla had called an emergency family meeting. Everyone was there but Matt, since he was still in the hospital. But Kayla had him on speakerphone. From the disapproving glares of the family, I knew this meeting was because of me. And it must have been bad enough for my mom to stop screaming. Kayla told me to sit down. The first thing she did was take out Nana’s jewelry and show me. Then she told the family how she discovered I had taken it. After that, Kayla told them about me selling secrets to competitors and spreading the word about Mom.”
“I’ll tell the rest,” she said. “Once I had finished talking, I told my sisters it wasn’t necessary to stay at their friends’ again, because Mom had stopped screaming. I wanted to move back into my room, so I suggested my dad sleep in his own room. I told him to continue taking his antidepressants. I told my mom she was allowed to grieve, but she wasn’t allowed to scream like that ever again. Nana’s passing affected her, but it had affected everyone in the family, and right then, the family’s problems were bigger than her. If she wanted the family business to remain profitable, she needed to go to the factory and start showing her face. And then I told Josh he had to work for free because his salary was going back into the business until the business recouped the money he’d made them lose. Then I divided up Nana’s jewelry according to who she wanted each piece to go to. I was going to get around to it sooner or later, but I had my hands full up until that point.”
“How did the family react?” Gabe asked, his tone soft, soothing.
Kayla couldn’t speak again, so Josh chimed in.
“They all listened to her, like they would have if she was Nana,” Josh said. “That night, my sisters unpacked. My dad slept in my mom’s room. Kayla moved back into her room, and my mom stopped crying. The very next day, she visited the factory to show everyone she was fine. And I’ve been working off what the family lost every day, and I still am now. Without any money, it was hard buying alcohol, but I found ways. It took me another six months until I was forced to get sober. I’m not proud of those six months. I threw temper tantrums like crazy. Finally, Kayla put me on a strict schedule, and she said if I didn’t follow it, she would tell the cops. I knew she wasn’t bluffing. We agreed I’d go to five AA meetings a week for at least one year. It wasn’t until a few months ago that she gave me spending money. And that’s when I broke my sobriety. It was only one night, but I was a mess.”
Josh briefly closed his eyes. “So you see, Gabe? Kayla put the family back together. Every one of us needed someone to step in and save them. Kayla did that for all of us.”
Gabe didn’t say anything for a moment. Then he nod
ded. “I have two questions, which I think are important.”
“What are they? I’ll answer anything,” said Josh.
But Gabe wasn’t looking at Josh. He was facing Kayla.
“In the last two years, have you had a chance to mourn your grandmother?” Gabe looked intently into Kayla’s eyes.
She thought about his question. There were moments when she’d try to force herself to cry over her death. Kayla had read somewhere it was unhealthy not to cry over someone close who had died. But at the same time, her guilt over not returning to Gabe overshadowed Nana’s passing. Kayla remembered constantly feeling torn.
She shook her head. “No.”
“Question two. Who picked up the pieces of your life when the most influential family member in your life—someone you loved and respected—died?”
Kayla looked at her hands sitting in her lap. “I had the toy store to escape to, and Melody, who made me laugh. I had my sisters. And once Josh got sober, the family wasn’t all that high maintenance anymore. They were all pretty much back on their feet.”
“She had no one,” Josh said.
“That’s not true,” Kayla retorted. “I wasn’t mourning over Nana properly, because I was mourning over you, Gabe, and that made me feel like a terrible person. Nana died—a woman I loved deeply—but because of her death, I’d lost the love of my life.” She put her hands over her eyes as she felt the tears threaten to come.
Gabe pulled her close and put his arms around her while she sniffled back tears. She put her arms around him, too, and snuggled closer. But she couldn’t seem to get as close as she’d liked.
“I wanted to mourn over Nana. I miss her, Gabe. Every day of my life. I loved her so much.”
Gabe tightened his arms around her and caressed her hair. She hadn’t realized how badly she needed to feel this.
He continued caressing her hair as he spoke to Josh. “So here’s how this is going to go down. From what I hear, you don’t get to the furniture factory until one o’clock every day. I want you at my office from nine until noon, Monday through Friday.”
“But I don’t like getting out of bed until noon,” Josh complained.
“Well, since I’m going to be paying you and giving you a chance to get out of Bella Cove sooner, you’ll learn. From now on, you’re not going to bother Kayla with your complaints. From now on, you’ll be working for me in the mornings, like a man, and then going to the factory in the afternoons and working off what you owe the family for acting like a boy.”
Kayla looked at him. “You don’t have to offer him a job. I can talk to my dad. Maybe we can start paying him a little. I’ve been thinking we should lately.”
“I think it’s better if he got a job outside of the family business. He feels trapped in Bella Cove. Let him fly, Kayla. Your grandmother loved the birds because she craved freedom. She wasn’t flying.”
“Okay,” she said.
“I’ll be there every day at nine,” Josh said.
“Good. You may not like the work I’ll give you. I’m going to make you file and sweep and clean the bathroom. But I guarantee you a paycheck. It’ll be up to you whether you spend it on alcohol and waste your life away or save it so you can see where your destiny lies.”
Josh nodded. “Understood.”
Gabe continued to caress Kayla’s hair, although she didn’t know if he was even aware he was doing it.
“Thank you, Gabe,” she said, lifting her head
Gabe’s eyes glazed over. “For what? I should have done this two years ago. I should have known if you left me and kept telling me you couldn’t come back and asking me to wait for you, something was very wrong. I should have come here and acted like your equal partner instead of wallowing in my own pain. I was an asshole for given you an ultimatum.”
“You can’t think that way. I never told you the full extent of what was going on here.”
“But you told me enough. And I heard your mom screaming and crying in the background when we spoke. I should have fought for you. I should have fought for us,” he said, his voice low.
Kayla moved her hands to both of his cheeks and held them there. “I loved you, Gabe. I loved you so much. The last time I called you and told you I was ready to come back, you texted me and said no thank you and to take care. I was sad, but I was also relieved. At that point, I didn’t want to leave my family again. You made it very clear when we were planning our lives that you had to live in Los Angeles, and I didn’t communicate properly that I wasn’t sure if I wanted that, too. I made a commitment to you, even though my heart was split in two. When my grandmother died, I felt as if the universe solved that problem for me. I couldn’t leave my family on your timeframe. So even though I was still in love with you, I was also relieved to be back here for good.”
Gabe’s eyes became more intense than she’d ever seen them. “Did you realize that when you left me the message, saying you were ready to come back?”
She let go of his face and shook her head. “No, I knew I felt relieved, but I didn’t put the pieces together until a few months later. I didn’t fight for us either, Gabe.”
Gabe groaned. “I would have moved here. I’d have done anything to be with you and spend the rest of my life with you.”
Kayla turned toward Josh. She hated him listening in on their conversation.
“I’m sorry, Josh. I didn’t mean for you to hear any of this.”
Josh frowned. “You loved Gabe, and yet, you felt relieved when Gabe told you not to come back to California? You fight for everyone in the family and you didn’t fight for him?”
Kayla nodded.
“I’ll answer that,” Gabe said. “I was the unknown. And Bella Cove and the Conway family were her constant. Most folks choose constant over the unknown. But the unknown is more exciting and adventurous. At the same time, the unknown is a risk, and I was the biggest risk Kayla would have had to make in her life. Kayla was flying at school, but she always assumed she’d land. If she’d stayed with me, she would have continued to fly. There would be no landing. I was an asshole toward the end. I was planning our life the way I wanted it. In California, working for my father. I was mapping out our lives without asking her how she truly felt about it. I like to be in control and take charge. And by your grandmother asking Kayla to come home, it gave her an out.”
“I can’t deal with this,” Josh said as he pushed his stool away, causing it to skid across the floor. He turned and left the bar.
Kayla looked at Gabe’s intense eyes. “I’m sorry, Gabe. I didn’t want there to be any more secrets between us.”
“I had my part, Kayla. I didn’t fight for us. At the same time, from what I’ve learned just now, I wouldn’t have even known what the fight was about. I’m sorry I was an asshole the last few months we were together. And I’m sorry I didn’t come with you or fly to Bella Cove to help you with your family. But had you communicated your feelings at any given point, we never would have broken up. I wouldn’t have felt abandoned by the woman I planned to spend the rest of my life with, and we would be building that house next to your family’s together, as husband and wife.” Gabe stood. “I’m leaving. I drove you here, so if you’re ready I’ll drive you home.”
Kayla nodded and followed Gabe out the door. She wished she’d brought her own car. The ride back to her house would be the most uncomfortable ride of her life.
Chapter Twenty
They rode back to Kayla’s house in silence. When she got home, Kayla called Sarah and told her to take over the store for the day. She needed to do something, but it took her a few hours to find the courage to actually do it. Instead of hiding in her room, she drove to Southampton, pulled over at the side of the road, and sat in her car, looking out over the Atlantic Ocean to give her plan some thought. She could have gone to the rock instead, but that didn’t feel right now. She used to think that was her rock, but Gabe had claimed the rock as his, too.
By the time she’d made it home, it was after five.
Her plan was to park her car in the driveway and then walk over to Gabe’s to see if he was there. She hated the way they’d left things. But her plan changed when she saw her dad sitting alone on the porch. He was never home this early unless there was a big family dinner, and as far as Kayla knew, they had nothing planned.
“Hey, Dad, what are you doing home so early?” she asked, climbing the back stairs.
He was sitting on the rocking chair, drinking a beer. “You’d never guess what happened. Josh came to the factory and said he’d finish up the coffee table I was working on so I could go home and relax. At first, I didn’t believe him, but then he got right to work, so I left. Your mom is so happy; she’s in the kitchen cooking up dinner.”
Kayla sighed. Maybe some good came out of her and Gabe showing up at the bar after all. Maybe Josh had decided to grow up. But something didn’t feel right.
“Did Josh say anything else?”
Her dad took a sip of beer. “He told me some of the stuff you and Gabe talked about.”
Kayla’s heartbeat quickened. “And?”
He kept his eyes on the bay when he spoke. “And I think Gabe was right. You know how to take care of the family. You’ve been doing it since you learned to talk. But falling in love is scary. I know because I fell hard for your mom and nothing’s been the same since.”
“I planned on going back to him for the first few months, but then I got used to Bella Cove again. I had a new coffee shop to go to, and a new place to do yoga, and my old bed to sleep in. The idea of graduating and moving to Los Angeles and working for his dad became a distant dream.”
“Did you fall out of love with him?” her dad asked, finally glancing at her.
She didn’t even need a second to think of her answer. “No—if anything, I loved him even more. I craved him like there was no tomorrow, but my fear won.”
Her dad grabbed her hand. “Fear isn’t your biggest problem, Kayla. Your biggest problem is not communicating your needs. You were always like that, even as a little girl. You always solved everyone else’s problems, yet when it came to what you wanted, you never said anything. Your mom and I would have to figure it out on our own.”
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