Daddy Next Door (Hometown Reunion)

by Ginger Chambers

  “Sort of.”

  “It’s possible, I suppose. Gabe is a very attractive man. A lot of women would like to get his attention. He helps out with her son a lot, doesn’t he?”

  Raine nodded again.

  Marge shrugged. “Then it’s possible, I suppose. What’s it called—serendipity? The good fortune of being in the right place at the right time? Something like that, anyway.”

  “Something like that,” Raine agreed. Now she felt worse than she had before. She had wanted her mother to disagree immediately. To tell her that there could be no intimate association between Gabe and Ann. But her hopes had been squashed.

  Her mother looked at her closely. “Would it matter if...” She let the question dangle.

  Raine shook her head quickly. “No. No, of course not. I was just curious, that’s all.”

  Marge didn’t say anything for a moment, then she stood up. “I’d better be getting back. George said he wouldn’t be long. And tomorrow we’ll shop...right?”

  “I’ll be over at your house at one,” Raine promised, standing up as well.

  Her mother kissed her cheek, smiled encouragement, then left the house. As she crossed through the hedge she waved to Gabe.

  Raine stood at the open door. She pretended to watch her mother, but instead she watched Gabe. He was trimming the hedge with an elderly set of hedge clippers—his elbows extended, the muscles in his back working with each short, chopping movement. Muscles that were well defined by his sweat-dampened white T-shirt. For several seconds Raine couldn’t pull her gaze away, then very quickly, as if suddenly burned, she backed out of the way of the door and closed it. “YOU MADE DINNER?” Gabe said, surprised when he came inside the house later.

  “I’m not completely useless.” Raine busied herself setting the table so she wouldn’t have to look at him. He’d brought scents of the outdoors with him—tilled earth, freshly cut greenery, honest toil.

  “I never thought you were,” he replied.

  “Well, I’m not,” she sparred, for some reason feeling more comfortable being irritated with him than not.

  Gabe rubbed the back of his neck and allowed a tiny smile. “Stuffed chicken, if my nose remembers right.”

  “It is.”

  “What’s the occasion?”

  She flashed him a short look. “Just...dinner. Are you going to take a shower?”

  His smile broadened. “I planned to.”

  “Good. The chicken needs to bake longer.”

  She bustled about the kitchen, a grown-up version of the mommy she’d once played in that silly game. But instead of running off at first opportunity, as he used to, Gabe stayed to watch her. Finally, pushed to the brink by his continued dawdling, she demanded, “What are you doing?”

  “Remembering,” he said softly.

  Raine’s displeasure melted away. He had a knack for saying the right thing at the right time...and meaning it. But instinct told her it was vitally important that she not let go completely. “Just—just go take your shower, okay?” she directed instead.

  Gabe’s blue gaze never wavered. Then, as if bowing to a force he found unfathomable, he left the room.

  * * *

  RAINE FELT EVEN more unsettled during the meal. It had turned out beautifully—the chicken tender, the stuffing seasoned just right, the mashed potatoes without a single lump, the fresh green beans still slightly crisp. Gabe ate with uninhibited enjoyment.

  “That was wonderful,” he said afterward. “You should be giving me pointers.”

  “I can only cook a few things. Most of the time I eat out. At least, I used to.”

  “We can go out,” Gabe offered.

  She shook her head. “It’s different here.”

  Gabe studied his empty plate. A moment later he surprised her by asking, “Are you that unhappy here, Raine? Is that why...”

  Raine knew why he’d stopped. His reference was to her earlier behavior, and he’d hesitated to proceed. She hated that he felt that way. She hated that she had given him cause. She wasn’t unhappy here. It was... She didn’t know what it was! Except everything was becoming so topsy-turvy, so inside out! She tried to make her answer truthful.

  “I’m not unhappy,” she said.

  “Then let’s try the reverse. Are you happy?”

  Raine protested. “That’s not a fair question, Gabe. Under the circumstances—”

  “Is it because you think I’m unhappy that you’re upset? I’ve told you before, I know what I’m doing.”

  “I’m not upset!” she claimed. “I...” She stopped herself.

  “You what?”

  She leaned forward. “Gabe, you have a very full life here. You have a job, close friends. There must be someone special! A girlfriend...several girlfriends. And yet—”

  “No one who’s special, Raine.”

  “Not even Ann Tully?”

  Gabe became very still. “Why do you ask that?”

  “She’s pretty, you help her son. It would only be natural if... And there wouldn’t be anything wrong with it. You were free, she was...well, as good as free.”

  “Has she said something to you?” he asked shortly.

  Raine didn’t want to tell him word for word what had been said. “I just...wondered,” she said evasively.

  “I told you Ann has a lot of problems right now. She’s very vulnerable. Anyone who’s nice to her—”

  “You’re not just anyone, Gabe. Like Britt said the other night, you’re a guardian angel. To me, to other people.”

  “That’s a lot of rot.”

  “No, it’s not.” She scooted her chair closer to his and captured his hand. “How many other men would have done what you did for me? You’re special, Gabe. Very special, and everyone knows it.”

  Gabe tried to withdraw his hand, but Raine wouldn’t let go.

  “Joel wouldn’t, that’s for sure,” she said, forgetting for the moment that she had never told Gabe his name. “He only thinks about himself. What he wants, what he needs. He says and does the most outrageous things and people are fascinated. The first time we met...I’d never seen anyone like him!”

  “You like men to be selfish?” Gabe’s voice was oddly rough.

  “No. At least... It was everything about him! His talent, his ability, his celebrity. The air vibrates when he comes into a room. I’m not the only one who feels it! And when he looked at me, I—”

  The legs of Gabe’s chair scraped against the floor, startling her.

  “That’s enough!” he said tightly, rising to his feet. “I don’t want to hear any more. I wish you hadn’t even said his name!”

  Raine stood as well, but slowly. Gabe was angry. Why? “Gabe, I—”

  A spasm moved like a lightning flash across his features. And before she knew what was happening, he had grabbed her, wound his fingers through her hair and brought her face up to his.

  His lips bore down on hers, almost hurting her, then in an instant they softened—the kiss turning into a perfect blending of sweetness and sensuality that seemed to go on and on.

  Raine was in shock. This was Gabe—Gabe!—kissing her like... This wasn’t a brotherly kiss!

  The kiss hardened again...then it was over, and she was set free. She caught hold of the nearest chair, her emotions in an uproar. She didn’t know what to say, what to do, how to act. There was no coherent activity in her brain to guide her. It was all she could do to remain standing.

  Gabe moved away from her, obviously just as shaken as she was. “I—” He choked and could go no further.

  Raine slid back into the chair. Her heart was thundering, her breath almost nonexistent. She tried to speak but couldn’t. Neither could she meet his gaze.

  “Raine...” Her name fell into the strained silence, a s
trangled plea. “I don’t know... I can’t... What happened...”

  * * *

  GABE BROKE OFF his stumbling attempts to excuse his actions. As he watched her sitting there so quietly, so disturbed, he cursed himself for his lapse of control. The one thing they’d had going between them—from childhood!—was trust. A trust he’d just breached.

  It didn’t matter that he loved her. That hearing her talk about her lover, Joel, had torn him apart inside. Hearing her say how she felt when Joel looked at her...

  He shook his head impatiently. Flagellating himself further wouldn’t help. Nor would remembering how sweet her lips had tasted, far sweeter than he’d imagined.

  He needed to make amends, to repair the fabric of their friendship. But how to explain? What to say?

  He ran a hand through his short hair, then did so again. His limbs were trembling lightly, from an excess of need and fear. He didn’t want to lose her!

  He moved carefully back to her side. When she jumped at his nearness, a searing pain tore through his heart.

  “Raine,” he said softly, repentantly. “Red...I don’t know what happened just now. I don’t know why I...” He stopped to swallow. “All I can promise is that it won’t happen again. You don’t have to worry. We made an arrangement when we entered into this marriage and I won’t... It won’t happen again.”

  Raine finally looked at him. Her expression was so vulnerable, her eyes so confused. He wanted to pull her to him, just to hold her until everything was better, but at the moment that was the worst thing he could do. He didn’t like being in that position. But he had no one else to blame except himself. He held his breath, waiting for her to speak.

  “I believe you,” she said softly, almost as if she were caught in a dream.

  Then she got up and, without looking at him again, left the kitchen.

  * * *

  RAINE WALKED DOWN the hall and turned into the bedroom, then closed the door, sealing herself inside. She might have been Alice in Wonderland, fallen down the rabbit’s hole. She still hadn’t gotten over the shock.

  Gabe had kissed her. With passion. As a man kisses a woman he desires.

  She crossed to the bed and sat down on the edge, her knees together, her hands folded in her lap.

  He’d kissed her.

  And she’d enjoyed it.

  * * *

  WHEN SHE LEFT the bedroom an hour later it was to find the dishes done and herself alone in the house. This time there was no note. Because Gabe didn’t know what to say?

  In a way she was relieved to be alone, in another she wasn’t. She’d spent the past hour trying to sort through her thoughts, but it had done little good.

  Gabe had always held the highest place of friendship in her heart. Good, steady, dependable Gabe. Always there for her, a solid presence. She’d accepted his solicitude without question, almost without thought. He would always be there for her and she for him.

  She for him... Just how many times over the years had she aided him? Wasn’t it almost entirely the other way around? Even as a childhood companion he’d had less need. He was the one who helped her. As if he’d been appointed.

  Gabe...the child, the young man, the adult. She valued him in her life.

  She remembered his kiss, the way surprise had been overtaken by a surge of feeling. She doubted that he’d picked up on it, because in her frozen state even she couldn’t believe what was happening to her. But a thaw had definitely set in...and it was this that unsettled her most of all.

  She was physically attracted to Gabe?

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  WHEN RAINE SAW Gabe the next morning he behaved as if nothing out of the ordinary had passed between them. She took her cue from him. They talked about the weather, the fact that Mr. Foster had called again, Gabe’s upcoming birthday...anything but the kiss.

  It was obvious that the episode was never far from either of their minds, though. It was there in the careful way each moved when the other was nearby. In the fleeting looks and the pauses in speech.

  The atmosphere was highly uncomfortable, and as soon as he could Gabe escaped.

  “I’m going to see Mr. Foster,” he said, “then I have to talk to Reverend Sarah, then—” he looked from Raine to the door “—then there are some other things.”

  “Of course,” Raine murmured. She understood perfectly. If she hadn’t had a shopping trip planned with her mother, she would have invented one in order to get away herself! “Remember, I’ll probably be with Mom for most of the afternoon, so if you come back early...”

  “I’ll know where you are.”

  Raine hated the strain that had sprung up between them. She wanted things to be as they used to be. Herself and Gabe, the best of friends. Free and easy, companionable. Able to hold each other and not—

  She pulled her gaze away from his before he could sense what she was thinking: and not have it turn into something else.

  She heard Gabe go out the door, and once she was alone, she released a long breath.

  * * *

  THE SHOPPING TRIP turned out to be far more enjoyable than Raine had expected. She and her mother had fun sharing unaccustomed moments. It was almost as if both were trying to make up for the past. For the first time they were able to come together as friends as well as mother and daughter. They drove to the mall in Sugar Creek, strolled from store to store, had an afternoon snack at a little pastry shop that Marge knew, before returning to Tyler and Gates Department Store.

  “If we see Nora, don’t tell her we went to the mall,” Marge advised as she parked her car. “I always feel so disloyal, even though I know she knows that everyone does it.”

  Raine shook her head and smiled. “She runs a business, Mom, just like you do. You don’t get upset when people eat at the lodge, do you? Or even at the Dairy King?”

  “Well, no...”

  “Same thing.”

  “Still, it was so nice of her to help me with my make-over.”

  “She likes you. She probably enjoyed it.”

  Marge laughed. “I do sometimes catch her looking at me with a satisfied little smile. I’m almost afraid to go into Byron’s art gallery. He’s the one who took the photos of me, you know. The before and after. I’m afraid I might find images of myself up on the wall next to some of Renata Youngthunder’s work!”

  “That would be a compliment,” Raine assured her.

  “It would scare me half to death! I’d rather not know!”

  The minute they stepped through the entrance of the department store a wealth of memories flooded over Raine. She had forgotten how beautiful the interior was and how straight out of another era, with its wood-and-glass display cases, Tiffany ceilings and sweeping staircase that led to the floors above. Good service and quality were the store’s hallmark. As was the still-operating glass-and-brass pneumatic tube system that sent money and receipts back and forth to the accounting department. Gates Department Store had been a fixture in Tyler since the early 1920s, opened by Nora’s namesake and great-aunt, Eleanora Gates, now deceased.

  Up to this point in the shopping trip Raine had avoided spending a great deal of money by finding fault with many of the things that they’d seen. But that didn’t wash here. Nora and her buyer had excellent taste and offered a wide selection of quality merchandise.

  “Try this on,” her mother urged, pulling a dress from a rack. “Oh, these colors will be so pretty on you! This could take you almost all the way through. The material’s so soft and the cut so loose.”

  Raine surreptitiously looked at the price tag. She winced to herself. “I only need a couple of dresses, Mom. And we already have those. If anything, I need more pants.”

  Her mother frowned. “But this dress is so pretty! Try it on at least. Just to see. For me?”

  Nora Gates For
rester spotted them as Raine modeled the dress for her mother in front of a long mirror. “It looks like it was made for you, Raine,” she said, coming over to greet them. “The yellow and rust tones are perfect with your coloring.”

  Raine shrugged. The other two women gazed at her reflection. “I don’t think I—” She was about to refuse when her mother interrupted her.

  “Let me buy it for you,” Marge suggested, having guessed the problem.

  Raine shook her head.

  “But it’s so pretty on you, dear,” her mother cajoled.

  Nora said, “If you don’t have enough cash with you, Raine, you can always put it on Gabe’s account. He has one with the store, you know.”

  Raine hadn’t known.

  Nora smiled. “If he saw you in that, I’m certain he’d agree. You like it, don’t you?”

  “Yes,” Raine answered honestly.

  “Then let me put it on his account.”

  “You could wear it for his birthday!” her mother suggested.

  “Gabe’s birthday?” Nora questioned.

  “It’s the eighteenth. This Saturday,” Marge said.

  “Are you going to have a party for him?” Nora asked.

  Raine’s attention had been bouncing back and forth between the two women. She was slightly startled when both of them looked at her and waited for an answer. “I, ah, I don’t know,” she said.

  “Well, if you do, we’ve just gotten in some of the nicest party notions. They’re on the third floor.”

  “I, ah, I’ll have to think about it,” Raine mumbled, and escaped back into the changing room.

  Her mother was still looking at dresses when Raine returned, the yellow-and-rust dress hanging over her arm. “You win,” she said when Marge looked up. “I’m buying it.”

  Money was something she and Gabe had not yet discussed, and the subject had been neglected long enough. She had a good five months before the baby would make working too difficult. She couldn’t just continue to do nothing. Her mother’s idea of teaching little children the basics of dance was starting to appeal...as strange as that idea might sound to some of her friends in New York.