Gabe
Colette made her way home in silence. Just the sound of Hubert’s engine to keep her company. Even though her favorite band usually kept her company on the way home, she let the silence surround her as she reflected again on her conversation with Gabe. She knew that he would keep his word about June, but, he still had a pull to his nephew. With his nephew came Rosa, and with Rosa...came trouble.
Pulling into the driveway, she shut the car off and grabbed her purse and the box, then headed into her room. After a quick shower and a quick check of her email, she plugged in her phone and tried to imagine what breakfast in the morning would be like. Grabbing the remote to her stereo, she played Thirty Seconds to Mars’ ‘This is War’ album on low, and fell asleep.
Chapter Nine
Slowly making her way up to the kitchen the next morning, Colette’s senses were on alert. There was movement but not a lot of it. Looking at the hallway clock, it was only fifteen minutes to eight. She made her way to the airy kitchen and saw Clair sitting on one of the barstools at the island, eating a plain bagel and sipping on her mug of coffee.
She was staring off at the window that the breakfast table sat in front of. Always impeccably dressed, her soft pink cashmere sweater hugged her slender body. A grey skirt hugged her slender hips as well. Her heels were pink, and her accessories were pearls. Her blonde hair was pulled back from her face in pink pearl barrettes. She was beautiful when she didn’t open her mouth, Colette thought.
Not saying anything to her step-sister, Colette walked into the kitchen, pulled a banana from the fruit basket and opened the fridge to get a bagel herself. Nothing from Clair. She pushed down the lever on the toaster and pulled out a butter knife and the cream cheese from the fridge. Still nothing from Clair. So, Colette said nothing as well. It was best not to provoke. Her bagel popped up and she lightly spread cream cheese on it before setting it on a saucer. She sliced the banana in a pile on her plate. Grabbing a fork, she put the knife in the dishwasher and the cream cheese in the fridge.
Sitting her plate on the bar, two stools between them, Colette didn’t disturb Clair, who was still deep in thought, for a snide remark. Getting up to put some hot water on for tea, she grabbed a mug and tea bag. Her water heated quickly enough, and she sat back down again after adding a little sugar and lemon.
Clair was still silent, so Colette ignored her and started her breakfast.
“Are you okay Colette?” Clair asked quietly.
Colette almost dropped her bagel on her plate.
“I’m good thanks,” she answered, and took a bite of her bagel.
“Good,” Clair said, “I uh...I was...” she seemed to struggle, “concerned.”
“Thank you,” Colette said quietly. Stunned. “I appreciate that.” She was surprised that Clair would show any emotion towards her, so she took it and ran with it.
For the first time that morning Clair looked at Colette. She took in the faded jeans and Boston Red Sox t-shirt and of course, Colette’s signature Doc Marten’s boots. Her hair was swept back in a low ponytail.
“Don’t you want to know why?” Clair asked, her voice still low.
“You know what Clair...no.” Colette shook her head. “No, I don’t. I am rather enjoying this sisterly quietness that’s happening.” Her voice took on a harder edge as Colette gestured between the two of them, popping a banana slice in her mouth.
“I envy you sometimes.”
When Colette went to say something, Clair lifted up her hand to stop her. Then, she tightened her hands into fists, slid off her stool, walked to her purse on the breakfast table, pulled out an envelope and brought it back to the island. She sat back on her stool, smoothing out her skirt, then slid the envelope to Colette.
“Open it,” she gestured with a delicate hand.
Colette opened the envelope to find color pictures. As she laid them out, she saw herself as a toddler playing with her mother, Amilie. Another with Clair and Bunnie. Clair was the same age. The last four pictures were of Colette and Clair playing with a little plastic tea set on a big old fashioned quilt. They were a little older, giggling and happy. Smiling faces as they ate little butter cookies and sipped fake tea.
“There’s one more,” Clair whispered.
Colette looked into the envelope, but it was empty. She found it stuck to the last picture. It was a picture of Amilie and Bunnie. Genuine smiles on their faces. Their arms linked as if they were best friends. Colette’s stomach sunk to her toes. She knew that Amilie and Bunnie knew each other, but that was all she knew. Bunnie was her mother and father’s realtor. Now, he was married to Bunnie.
“Where did you find these?” Colette asked. A sudden lump forming in her throat.
“Bunnie’s desk,” Clair answered. “She sent me home early last week to fetch some files that she needed,” she paused. “There were other pictures of us playing together too, up until the age of six or seven.”
“What gives Clair?” Colette was weary now. “You’ve taken every single opportunity you could to say something snide or catty to me...”
“And I was wrong Letty,” Clair cut her off. “I’m not saying that we’re going to be best buds, pals, and friends, but...”
“But what?” Colette cut her off now. She collected the pictures and put them back in the envelope. “You see pictures and you want to make amends? You’ve said some pretty shitty things over the years, and so have I.” Colette slid the envelope back to Clair.
“I know why you left,” Clair said softly.
“Congratufuckinglations,” Colette said sarcastically. “Get to the point Clair. I hate it when you don’t immediately go for the jugular.”
“We looked like we were best friends in those pictures, our mothers too. It looked like I could tell you anything,” Clair said softly. After a few minutes of silence, she began again, “I’m falling in love Letty. I’ve never fallen in love before. I saw you with Gabe so many times.” She looked up at Colette now. “I saw the look of utter and complete adoration that Gabe looks at you with. I want what you have.”
“What I had,” Colette corrected. She wasn’t about to go into everything that happened, but she’d at least correct Clair.
“Don’t let that go Letty,” Clair whispered. “Hold on to it.”
“Who is he?” Colette asked, taking a sip of her tea.
“They, “ Clair enunciated, clearing her throat, “are Chief Warrant Officer Thornton and Captain Sutton.” Clair’s hand shook as she picked up her cup.
Colette was stunned. “Two men,” she raised her eyebrows, “in just a few short months.”
“Yes.” Clair looked at Colette now. Her blue eyes soft, as she looked at her sister, and Clair looked absolutely distraught.
Colette sat back. “So, you’ve been seeing two men at the same time. Fell in love with both of them, and now you have to choose one?” She raised an eyebrow, “Did they ask you to choose?”
Clair looked down in her lap immediately after Colette asked.
“No.” She shook her head. “Cale,” she waived her hand, “Captain Sutton. His first name is Cale. He’s getting out of the Army. He signed a declination statement for Korea yesterday.”
The two sisters looked up at the same time. Before Colette could ask, Clair continued.
“Shawn and Cale...well, the three of us are together.” She took another sip of her coffee. She couldn’t look up now. “Cale didn’t want to leave us. He said that a year didn’t make a difference, but he just couldn’t go. So...now he has to get out of the Army.”
Realization dawned on Colette. Holy shit! Prim and proper Clair Evelyn Hughes was in love with two men at one time. This whole time, Clair was cavorting with two men at the same time, and she fell in love. Bunnie and the Colonel were going to shit their pants.
“So, Bunnie and the Colonel don’t know then, I’m taking it,” Colette made the statement more than she asked.
Clair just shook her head no, still looking down at her coffee cup.
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Colette sat there for a moment eating a few pieces of banana. “So, what are you going to do?”
“Nothing for now.” She stood and tossed her bagel in the trash and put her plate in the sink. She poured the last of the coffee in her cup and leaned against the island. “Cale is testing for a real estate license and we are hoping to make a living that way. I was jealous of the way you and Gabe looked at each other. Now that I have Cale and Shawn...well...”
“Things changed for you?” Colette asked.
She looked up at Colette with sincerity in her eyes. “I can’t promise that I’ll change overnight Letty, but I’ll try. I don’t know what happened between us. I don’t remember. I don’t know why Bunnie sent you away and acted so abominably to you.”
“Listen,” Colette tilted her head side to side, “if we need to keep this...relationship quiet for a while,” she gestured between them with her hands, “then we’ll do it. Both relationships…yours or mine and the other. At least until you are ready to tell Bunnie and the Colonel. I’ll back your play Clair. Okay?” She smiled at what now looked like a very young, shy Clair again, like the girl in the pictures.
Clair smiled, a bright, childish smile. “Thanks Letty.”
The air was cut with the shrill ring of a cell phone ringing from the countertop.
“Oh shit!” Clair spat looking at the time on the microwave, “That’ll be the slavedriver. I’m supposed to call her back about the Ross house.” She turned around to grab her phone and answered it.
As Colette watched her walk out of the kitchen to Bunnie’s office, she turned around and covered the receiver on the phone.
“Thanks Letty.” She winked and continued on with Bunnie. “What? Oh, weird reception. I’ll get it.”
Colette finished her now cold tea and bagel before Clair came back in the kitchen for her purse. She rinsed her dishes and set them in the dishwasher, made her way downstairs to her room, grabbed her bag, and made her way out to her car to go to school.
Chapter Ten
Later, she walked into McGruder’s and put her purse in her locker. Her conversation with Clair hadn’t left her all day. She hadn’t seen Clair not act like a screaming banshee since they were eight or nine. It was like she turned thirteen and the bitch switch turned on. She required the best of everything. When she didn’t get it, she flipped out. She got things that Chloe and Lannie never got.
Prepping the little things for that night was easy. Sara was already there and gave a ready hand with the ice buckets. Caroline came in an hour later and the three of them giggled and goofed around. There were a few customers in for an early dinner, but they got busier as the night stretched on. Colette was helping out from behind the bar when Hamish hit the bell for service. As the dinner hour waned, Colette was pouring a few black and tans when she turned around to see a big pink cupcake, piled high with just as much fluffy frosting and Gabe standing behind it.
Setting the drinks down for the two guys down the bar, Colette grinned as she made her way back to where Gabe was standing.
“Pink lemonade,” he gestured.
“Looks tasty.”
“Indeed it does.”
Gabe swiped the frosting with a finger and offered it to Colette. She paused for just a moment before taking his wrist and licked his finger clean. She smiled.
“It’s good.” She let his wrist go and swiped at the frosting with her finger and offered it to Gabe.
His dick was standing at attention now. Turnabout was fair play, so he mimicked Colette’s actions. He took her wrist and then licked her finger clean. Only, he didn’t let her finger go immediately. He took it into his mouth and sucked it hard and nibbled on the pad of her index finger before he let it go.
Colette clenched her thighs together feeling those oh so old familiar feelings of wanting Gabe again. Wanting his passion. Everything. She watched as Gabe let her hand go, peeled the paper from the cupcake, tore off a hunk of it and fed it to her from across the bar.
“It’s really good,” Colette said, wiping off the frosting from her bottom lip with her tongue. “Your turn.” She finished, tore of a piece and fed him.
“Mmm. It really is,” he agreed.
They took turns feeding each other like nothing had ever come between them. Like the past ten days that Colette had spent with her grandparents didn’t exist. After the last little bite was fed to her, Gabe pulled back, adjusted himself, sat back on the stool and nodded with his head to the two men at the end of the bar. Colette blushed and scurried off to cash them out and walked back to Gabe.
“Thank you.” She was all smiles.
“You’re welcome,” he answered. “How was your day?”
With Gabe’s question came the explanation of Clair and her two...well, what did you call them? Lovers she supposed. She asked Gabe if he knew them, and he said yes. He assured her that her confidence was safe with him. He’d known about Shawn and Cale not only from the flight companies but also the fetish club in Charleston. Like he and Brock, the two officers had their fair share of threesomes. Gabe wasn’t too surprised to hear that not only did they share Clair between them, but that the two men were lovers as well. They didn’t openly flaunt their relationship with each other though. Even if the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell measure was approved, nobody outside of the fetish club knew that the two men were together sexually. They were just two really great friends.
Looking up at the clock, it was only nine, but Gabe had to go.
“We are trying to do shifts and stuff. Brock and I are doing early morning maintenance and test flights.” He shuffled his feet as he stood up from the barstool. “So, you have a great night. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“I’m off tomorrow.” Colette looked down at the bar. “But I’m here on Friday,” she said hopefully.
“Good.” Gabe smiled, leaning in to kiss her forehead. “I’ll see you Friday with another cupcake.” Then, he turned and left.
Around ten, Hamish let the girls go home. “Las, it’s getting late. We won’t be busy much more tonight. I’ll take over for ye. Get goin’ now. Off with ya.” Hamish teased as he came behind the bar.
_____
Making her way back home, the lights were on all over the house. She hadn’t seen anyone but Clair that morning, and Colette really wasn’t sure that she wanted to see anyone else except for maybe Lannie. After her shower, she texted Lannie to let her know that she was downstairs, home early from work. Not even five minutes passed and there was a soft knock on the door.
“Come in,” Colette said softly as she finished braiding her wet hair.
Lannie peeked around the door and practically jumped on Colette on the bed, hugging her.
“I’ve missed you Letty!” the girl claimed jubilantly.
“I missed you too.” Colette smiled. “You aren’t in your pajamas,” she noticed.
“We had company for dinner.” Lannie explained her khaki pants and yellow knit top. “Clair has a boyfriend. So, naturally Bunnie had to have him over for dinner.”
Colette nodded her head in affirmation.
“We had pot roast. You’d think Bunnie would make something original, but...yeah, no.” Lannie slid onto her stomach and traced the stripes on the comforter with her fingers. “And strawberry shortcake for desert, gag.”
“Yeah, it’s not a huge favorite of mine either,” Colette agreed.
The two sisters talked about Gram and Grampa Hughes, and Colette told Lannie of the ball that she went to and how relaxing the atmosphere was. Lannie went through the last two weeks of school and her girlfriends, and how Chloe had become more reclusive since Colette had gone away. Usually, the twins had more of a bond than that of late, but, they were polar opposites in every way right now.
After a half an hour went by, there was another soft knock on the door to Colette’s room, and she bid her visitor to come in. It was Chloe. She gave a soft smile to the older sister and then pointed to Lannie.
“Mother says that it’s time for bed,
” she declared softly, then closed the door.
“See what I mean?” Lannie furrowed her eyebrows. “She didn’t even say hello to you. It’s weird I tell ya.” She gave Colette a kiss on the cheek and went upstairs.
_____
Dressed in only her pajama pants and a t-shirt, Colette made her way upstairs to raid the kitchen not long after Lannie left. Noticing that the lights were on only in the formal living room in the front of the house, and just the soft lighting that Bunnie kept on everywhere else, Colette made her way into the kitchen. Upon entering the kitchen, she immediately felt sick. No, pot roast wasn’t her favorite, but damn, it never made her want to hurl. Quickly, she made her way to the fridge and opened it, thinking that the cool air from it would calm her down.
Pick Me (Wait for Me Series Book 2) Page 6
