by Groves, B.
Gabby was right. The tragedy would always be between them. Margo’s ghost may always haunt them, but there was a way they could work through it if they both tried.
He knew Gabby had her doubts despite their lovemaking tonight. He could feel it in the words she spoke. He wanted to tell her that Margo’s burden was not her own, and she needed to lift that doubt from her shoulders.
After a while, The mood lightened when they talked about each other’s jobs, and he had Gabby giggling telling her funny stories about being a teacher.
It was probably way after midnight they made love again, and both drifted off to sleep.
Dean wasn’t sure, but he thought he heard the music box open and play the lullaby again.
***
Dean startled awake and found he was lying on his stomach with the pillow folded beneath his head and covered in the duvet from Gabby’s bed. He reveled for a moment in the soft sheets, and made a mental note he might have to ask Gabby where she bought them, he thought with a grin.
Sometime before they fell asleep Dean had grabbed his cell phone and placed it on the nightstand to charge by the outlet on the wall.
He pressed the button to see the white numbers saying 5:15 AM. He shifted on the bed again and yawned.
Dean had an odd dream and tried to blow it off, but it was nagging at him.
He walked into Gabby’s living room and saw Margo Ryan standing by her music box. She opened it to play the music.
She turned to him with mournful eyes. She was wearing the exact same outfit she wore on the day of the shooting.
“Dean,” she said. But Dean realized that her lips never moved. Her voice sounded like it was echoing inside his head. All else in the room was completely silent.
“I’m sorry. I never wanted to hurt you,” she said. “Your forgiveness means so much.”
That’s when Dean awoke. He lay there wondering if he should tell Gabby about the dream.
He turned to reach for her when he realized her side of the bed was empty.
Surprised, Dean realized the bedroom door was partially closed, and beams of light from the living were shining through the cracks.
Rubbing his eyes, he stood from the bed and reached for his underwear. Slipping them on, he thought he’d better hit the bathroom first.
Dean spotted Gabby in front of her painting as he stepped into the bathroom.
Shaking his head in amusement, he went in there and did his business.
Gabby was holding a brush in her left hand and her palette in her right hand.
He never noticed before she was a lefty.
She was back to wearing her T-shirt and sweatpants, with her hair up in a loose bun.
She wore a nylon apron with stains from previous works decorating it with splatters of paint.
“Hi,” she said putting her supplies down and taking off the apron. “I didn’t wake you did I?”
Dean squinted at the living room light but smiled.
“No,” he answered. “I had to go to the bathroom.”
Gabby stepped forward and Dean put his arms out welcoming her into an embrace.
They kissed for a few seconds, and Dean said, “You look tired.”
He noticed her face had swelled again, and she pointed to it.
“I couldn’t sleep. This was hurting,” she said. “Besides, when the siren of inspiration calls, I must answer.”
“That was poetic,” Dean said with a smile.
“Wasn’t it, though?”
He hugged her tightly, and Gabby melted into him sighing.
“Did you take a painkiller?” He asked.
Gabby yawned and said, “Yes, and I was going to come back and join you if my eyes crossed.”
Dean chuckled. “Well, while we’re waiting do you mind if I watch?”
“You sure can,” Gabby said. “I made coffee already if you want some.”
“I think I will. Thank you.”
“The coffee cups are in the cabinet right above the pot, and sugar is in the bowl right there, and there’s creamer in the fridge,” Gabby said as she put her apron back on and picked up her pallet and brush.
“I don’t need any of that fufu stuff,” Dean said.
He heard Gabby laugh while he poured his coffee and sat on the couch to watch her paint.
She was working on the hair of the model in her painting, filling in gaps and adding depth.
She would switch the big brush for a tiny one; mix colors, and then mixed more. She then picked up a knife, and Dean was fascinated as she made soft waves through the raven-black hair of the model.
She worked slowly, and meticulously.
“This model is after my sister-in-law,” Gabby explained. “When they return to the states, I want to give this to them as a gift.”
“I’m sure she’ll love it because it’s beautiful,” Dean said.
Gabby turned around and looked humble. “They have other works of mine, but I thought this would be a nice homecoming gift.”
“Where are they?”
“Okinawa. They're ready to come home.”
Dean smiled at the excitement in Gabby’s eyes as she spoke of her brother.
“My sister lives in North Carolina. She loves it,” Dean said.
“I remember Emma. How is she?” Gabby asked.
Dean took a sip of his coffee and said, “Good! She’s married and teaches elementary school down there.”
“Teaching runs in the family?”
“Eh. She talked me into it when I was getting myself back together,” Dean shrugged.
Dean noticed Gabby faltering, and yawning several times. The painkiller must have been kicking in.
She sighed and put down the palette, and brush. “I’ll clean it later.”
Dean smiled and stood from the couch and walked over to stand next to her.
“Are you okay?” He asked.
She turned and embraced him. He kissed her on the forehead.
“I am now,” she said, making Dean’s heart flutter.
They turned to walk back to the bedroom when Dean’s ear perked up. He thought he heard tires squealing.
Gabby heard it too, her eyebrows coming together in question.
Dean saw headlights shining through the lace curtain as a car sped down the street.
Tires squealed again when the person hit the brakes right in front of Gabby’s house.
“What is that?” Dean heard Gabby ask.
Dean heard a noise, and immediately instinct made his senses heighten.
He pushed Gabby towards the hallway when a huge crash came through the bay window.
Shards of glass flew through the opening in the curtains.
Gabby screamed and stumbled against the wall. Dean’s hands went to his to protect himself.
“What the fuck?”
Dean recovered quickly. He rushed to the door and pulled it open.
The alarm blared in the background, but he ignored it. He pushed open the screen door and took off at full speed, running after the car.
The car sped off with the shrill squeal of the tires, and Dean ran after it, ignoring the cold blast of air, and wetness of the grass, and then the chill of the asphalt.
He ran after the car hoping to get a license plate number or some kind of description.
He stopped at the end of the street. The car had already turned onto the main road, and all Dean could see was fading taillights.
He bent over to catch his breath and recover his senses.
He cursed out loud. It was too dark to catch the make, model, and the license plate of the car, but he knew who it was. He also knew he couldn’t prove it.
“Randy, you asshole,” Dean growled as he walked back to Gabby’s house.
Dean glanced at his own house. Satisfied that nothing was out of the ordinary, he flinched when his bare feet would walk over the random stone.
Some lights from neighbors turned on from the noise but he didn’t pay them any mind.
Gabby had
all the lights turned on in the house by the time Dean walked up the sidewalk. He groaned and sucked in a breath at the huge hole in the glass.
The front door was still open and Dean walked in.
“Gabby?”
Dean turned to see Gabby sitting at the dining room table. She gazed up at him but didn’t say anything.
Sitting on the table was a huge black rock.
Dean was shaking with fury now when he spotted the fear in Gabby’s eyes. He clenched his fists trying to get his anger at Randy White under control.
His heart pounded against his rib cage when Gabby lifted up a note that must’ve been attached to the rock.
With shaking hands, Dean snatched the note from Gabby’s fingers and read the note.
He crushed the paper in his hands and threw it on the floor in a rage.
It was simple. Simple, yet threatening.
“This is your final warning.”
Chapter 21
“I’ll pay for the window,” Gabby said in resignation as Pam and her watched Dean and Tony board it up.
The pounding of the hammer was giving Gabby an even worse headache than she’d had two hours earlier.
Gabby turned and headed into the kitchen hoping they were almost finished. She glanced down at the newspaper Pam brought over, and on the left side was a picture of her and Dean walking out of the memorial with the caption:
Margo Ryan’s Sister Returns To Drama At Memorial For Seven Hills
Another caption from another newspaper:
Families Of Dead And Injured Furious Over Sister Of Shooter
Appearance At Memorial
She cursed seeing the picture and turned away. She would read the articles later, even though Pam already showed Gabby her own quotes.
“Well, it will be a few weeks since it’s a special order,” Pam commented.
“I said I would pay for it,” Gabby said. She turned away, regretting the sharpness of her voice.
Pam turned to her with an eyebrow raised. “I’m your landlord, and I will say who pays for what.”
Gabby rubbed her forehead trying to make the pain of her headache diminish. She couldn’t take another painkiller until late afternoon.
“I think they’re almost done,” Pam said.
The morning was a symphony in chaos. Gabby didn’t hear her cell phone ringing from the alarm company, which automatically sent the police over, and in turn alerted Pam right away since she was the owner of the house.
Some neighbors came over to see what the ruckus was about, and Gabby appreciated their concern and support towards her.
One of the elderly neighbors even offered the police his surveillance footage from his camera on his property to see if they could identify the vehicle.
Pam and Tony arrived just as the police officer was finishing up his report with Gabby and Dean.
Gabby surprised herself at how calm she was over the whole situation and passed it off as experience over the years. Her childhood home had been vandalized not long after Margo went on her shooting spree. The house had been covered in red paint and graffiti with the windows broken out. It cost her parents thousands of dollars to fix it.
Dean, on the other hand, wasn’t taking it so well. He demanded the officers go after Randy White, and arrest him.
The officer, thankfully, was patient with Dean, and Gabby was glad it wasn’t Jason McConnell because he might have set Dean off even worse.
“He’s top of the list because of the incident that happened yesterday—”
“So, he wasn’t in jail last night?” Gabby asked.
“No. He posted bail right after the charges were filed,” The officer explained. “We still need you to come down and make your statement, Ms. Ryan.”
She also appreciated the officer’s concern for her well-being, saying that he hated making the suggestion, but she might want to consider moving.
“I don’t give a shit! I want him arrested,” Dean said.
“Mister Walker, we will question him today, and review your neighbor’s security footage,” The officer assured him. “We will give you an update as soon as we can.”
Pam had driven Gabby’s car back to the house and parked it in front of Dean’s place.
Dean paced the living room deep in thought and then left with Tony to pick up plywood from Home Depot.
Gabby hadn’t even gotten a shower yet, and neither had Dean. They originally planned to stay in bed for a while, pick up her car, and go out to eat.
“I’m guessing everything was going well before you had company,” Pam said with a smirk.
Gabby was in no mood for this kind of talk today. But, her lips curved into a smile when Pam made her comment.
“It… went well,” Gabby answered. “I don’t know what will happen—”
“What do you mean by that?”
Gabby led Pam down the hallway so neither Tony nor Dean would hear them.
Pam had dropped little Tony off with her in-laws before coming there.
Gabby shook her head. “Come on. You and I both know…”
Gabby closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She didn’t want to give herself hope for a future with Dean.
“What? That he won’t accept you? That he can’t live with what happened? I’m pretty sure that’s done and over with.”
Gabby hated having her doubts. She’d gone over it in her head a million times last night while she was up painting. Her art always soothed the troubles deep within her shredded soul and thinking about her newfound relationship with Dean Walker kept her up last night.
After Dean fell asleep, she remembered walking out to the living room and finding the music box playing it’s haunting tune.
She closed the box and focused at her sister’s portrait.
“What are you trying to tell me?”
Gabby tilted her head willing Margo’s eyes come to life even if it was only in her head.
“Are you telling me I’m on the right path?”
Gabby sighed. “I hope so.” She then talked to the portrait some more. “Who was it, Margo? Who was he?”
“It’s been ten years. Mom and Dad will never come around. You did a horrible thing. No Margo—horrific is not a good enough adjective for what you did. Why? I guess you figured that we’d get over you. Well, let me you tell you sis—time? It doesn’t heal the wounds—it only turns from the sharp end of the ax to the blunt end. Hitting us squarely in the chest each and every day.”
Gabby leaned on the mantle staring at the portrait intensely. “I asked you that question that day, and you never answered. You just told me you were sorry. Sorry is not good enough, Margo. It will never be, but the least I can do is find out who violated you and drove you to that point.”
The sad eyes of Margaret Elise Ryan stared back at her sister but always frozen in place.
Gabby turned her head down the hallway and smiled. “I never thought I would be here now, Margo.”
Pam spoke again bringing Gabby back to the present.
“He has you now. He will not let you go, and if you’re both smart, you would realize no matter what Margo did, you can work through it. That’s if… you want to.”
“I do,” Gabby said.
“Then you both get your heads together, and live your life with and for each other,” Pam said. “And, you’re not paying for the window. That is for insurance. Oh, and another thing, don’t think I didn’t catch the cigarette smoke smell when we came in this morning.”
“I know. Okay, and oh fuck. I’m sorry.”
Pam snorted. “I’ll forgive it this time since I know it was a tough night for both of you.”
“Not that tough,” Gabby said with a smirk.
Pam laughed lowly.
The hammering stopped, and the women walked back into the living room and out the door to see Dean and Tony’s handiwork.
The plywood covering the window was an eyesore, and Gabby thought she felt a draft, but it would have to do until a replacement came in.
“I think we’re done here,” Pam chirped up. “I’ll file the claim tomorrow. I’ll let you know when the adjuster will come out.”
“Okay,” Gabby said as she and Pam embraced. Tony gave her a hug and told her to hang in there.
Pam embraced Dean, and off they went leaving Dean and Gabby alone.
Dean stood by the door with one arm up on the frame, and Gabby could tell he was lost in thought. He ran a hand over his goatee a few times still not communicating with her.
Gabby walked up to him and leaned her head on his free arm.
“What are you thinking about?”
“I hate leaving you here alone. I have to work tomorrow, and I have games coming up—”
Gabby made him turn to face her. The worry in his eyes made her heart beat a little faster. She gave him a half-smile.
“Dean, I’ll be okay. This isn’t the first time this has happened to me,” Gabby said. “I have to work tomorrow too after I go to the police station. I have to be here, I have clients that need updates. I took this weekend off for the memorial, but I can’t take any more time.”
Dean took a deep breath and raised his head. His eyes were looking over her, and she turned to follow his gaze.
“How much of everything do you need?” He asked.
“No.”
Dean was annoyed but gave in after he tried his hardest to convince her to stay at his house, at least during the day.
It was back and forth between them until they were both exhausted.
Dean argued fiercely about leaving Gabby alone. She insisted she could handle herself, and just because the window was broken, didn’t mean the alarm was turned off.
“I’m still going to stay the night tonight,” he asserted.
Gabby didn’t argue with that. She wanted him here. In fact, she wanted him around her all the time. Her heart jumped in her chest when he took her in his arms and kissed her. Her headache wasn’t going away, but at least he helped numb it a bit.
The more they talked, the more they touched, and the more comfortable they became around each other, Gabby knew her feelings for him were the most intense she’d ever felt for anyone. Not even Daniel could fill the holes within her like Dean did.
