by Evelyn Glass
“Everything okay?”
“Yeah. Are you?”
“I meant about the food, but yeah. Just tired.”
He smiled around another mouthful of food. “Which is why you need to quit his damn job, so you can get more rest and spend more time with Katrina,” he said after he swallowed. He paused a moment then looked at her with hopeful eyes. “Would you mind if I go with you to get her tonight?”
“Gabriel, I’m too tired to do anything tonight.”
“No, I just want to go get her and watch her sleep for a few minutes. I’ll leave right after that.”
“Why? Why are you doing this?”
He placed his fork and knife on the plate. “Doing what?”
“Watch her sleep? What do you really want?”
“I want to watch my daughter sleep, that’s all. She was so beautiful this morning, and I just want to get close to her. I want to touch her. I want to see her when she’d not looking at me, wondering who I am and why I’m there, that’s all. Please, Stella. I’ll be gone fifteen minutes after you put her in bed, I promise.”
She looked at him. She didn’t know if what he said touched her because she was so tired, but her eyes welled with tears. “You don’t even know her.”
“I know, but I’d like to. She looks so much like you.”
“You think so? I think she has your nose.”
“Maybe, but she has your eyes and hair. She has such beautiful eyes.” He looked at her and smiled warmly. “Like her mother.”
She wiped her eyes. “Yeah, okay. So long as you understand you have to go. I need to sleep.”
He nodded. “I understand.”
She nodded and moved away to allow him to finished his meal.
“Everything okay over there?” Tara asked when Stella stopped beside her, her eyes slightly red.
“Yeah, damn him.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing! Everything! I’m so tired I can’t think straight, and he’s confusing me! I remember what he did, and I’m afraid to trust him again, but then he says something and I…” She stalled, shaking her head. “I want to hate him, but I can’t.”
“Then don’t try.”
“But what if he hurts me again?”
Tara smiled sadly. “Then you’ll know you’re alive.”
She blinked at the woman. “What does that mean?”
“It means, Stella, the only time you can’t be hurt is if you’re dead. Either dead, dead, or dead emotionally. If you can’t feel pain, you can’t feel love. I don’t want to go through life like that, do you?”
“No, I guess not.”
“I’m not telling you what to do, but you can’t go through life worrying about being hurt. If you do, you’ll be miserable. Were you happy before Gabriel came back?”
“I thought I was.”
“But now you’re not so sure?”
“No. Last night…” She paused as she tried to put into words how she felt. “Even leaving the sex out of it, I felt…something…I can’t describe it, but like a connection, you know? Even before I invited him back to my place, riding on the back of his bike, it just felt right somehow. Does this make any sense?”
“It does. That, my dear, is called love.”
Stella spluttered. “I don’t love him.”
“Are you sure?”
“Of course I’m sure.”
“Then why are you worried he’ll hurt you again?”
That gave her pause. “Well, I mean, if I do fall for him again.”
Tara nodded. “Then you will know you’re alive.” She smiled and moved off to check on her table. “Just take it slow and see where it goes.”
She dropped the ticket onto Gabriel’s table. “You want to wait for me at the apartment until I bring her home?”
“Can we drop my bike, first, then I ride over with you in your car?”
“Why?”
He shrugged. “I want to see what you do. If she’s asleep, maybe I could carry her?”
She smiled. “We’ll see about the carrying thing, but I’ll meet you at the apartment about 12:15.”
He nodded and scooped up the ticket. “Wait a minute,” he said as she turned to leave. He squirmed a moment then pulled something out of his pocket and pressed it into her hand. “Your tip. That should help until we can work out something more formal.”
She looked at her hand, staring at the hundred dollar bill, then an instant later realized there was more than one. She unfolded then fanned out five identical bills.
“Gabriel, this is too much. No,” she said holding out the money.
He made no move to take it. “If you don’t need it right now, put it back for an emergency so you don’t have to work two jobs again, or start a college fund for Katrina, or buy something for yourself you couldn’t justify. I want you to take it, then we’ll sit down and work out what I’ll be paying each month, okay? Let me do this, Stella. For Katrina.”
She stared at him a moment, her expression unreadable, then slipped the money into her pocket. “Thank you,” she said softly.
He smiled. “It’s something I should have been doing for at least three years.”
She nodded with a small smile and turned away as she pursed her lips. His tip was more than she made working at the diner in two weeks, including the tips. Another tip like that one and her car would almost be paid for.
He watched her walk away and wondered what happened. He thought she would be delighted with the cash, but she seemed almost upset by it. He sighed and wondered why his desire to help was upsetting to her. With a small shake of his head, he slid out of the booth and carried his ticket to the register.
***
Arsen was sitting on the curb in her parking space as she drove up. He rose and slid into the car, leaning over for a kiss, but then sat up when she ignored him.
“Can you drive?” she asked softly. “I’m exhausted and about to fall asleep at the wheel.” When he opened his door, she did the same and they switched places. “Thank you,” she murmured.
He nodded but said nothing as he adjusted the seat and mirrors so he could drive. She laid her head back, and was asleep before he exited the apartment complex. He made a wrong turn in the dark, but quickly realized his mistake and corrected it, arriving at Connie’s house only a few minutes late.
He touched her arm, smiling as she slowly opened her eyes. “We’re here.”
She sighed deeply, then opened her door and slowly crawled out as he did the same. He followed her to the door. She opened it with a key, and stepped inside. He waited outside until she turned and waved him in. “Gabriel is here,” she said to Connie, out of sight in the living room.
He waited in the kitchen until Connie appeared, still dressed in her street clothes. She stopped and watched him, saying nothing. “I was afraid she would fall asleep behind the wheel,” he explained to break the increasingly uncomfortable silence.
She nodded but said nothing. A moment later, Stella appeared with Katrina in her arms. He held his arms out, offering to take the child, and he was surprised when she passed her over to him. He surprised himself when he seemed to instinctually know how to hold her.
“See you in the morning,” Stella murmured as she gave Connie a kiss on the cheek.
“Sleep well,” she replied as Gabriel stepped out with Katrina.
He carried the sleeping girl to the car and opened the rear door. It was obvious how the car seat worked, and he had her fastened in and was easing the door closed as Stella flopped into the passenger seat.
Stella went almost immediately to sleep, and he smiled as he drove his girls through the night. He pulled into her parking spot and touched her arm. “We’re here?” she asked as she struggled awake.
“I’ll get her. Go up and get ready for bed.”
She nodded as she got out of the car, staggered a moment, then trudged toward the steps. He watched her go, then carefully extracted Katrina. His heart nearly stopped when she woke up briefly, a
fraid she would start screaming for her mother, but she wrapped her arms around his neck and went almost immediately back to sleep. He gave the door a hip check to shut it, locked it, then carried her up the steps and through the still open door into Stella’s apartment.
He carried her directly to her room, flipped the linens back, and placed her in the bed. He kissed her on the forehead, because it seemed like the fatherly thing to do, then covered her tiny body. He didn’t know about the door, so he split the difference between open and closed by closing it half-way.
“You okay?” he asked as he stepped into Stella’s room.
“Yeah. Just tired,” she said as her head popped through the opening on the sleep shirt.
“You’re sure? You seemed upset about the money at the diner.”
She shook her head. “No, everything is fine. Thank you, though. That was very generous. Weren’t you going to watch her sleep or something?”
“Yeah, but I wanted to check on you first. I won’t be long.”
He stepped out of the room and moved silently to Katrina’s bed. After a moment his eyes adjusted to the gloom and he could see her clearly with the light from the window. He stood watching her sleep, a stupid grin on his face he could vanish for only a few moments at a time. He sensed Stella step up beside him, and he took that as his cue to leave, but before he did, he put his arm around her waist and pulled her in close. He held her a moment, then released her and they snuck out of the room, Stella pushing Katrina’s door close until there was just a crack remaining.
“Thank you,” he said.
She didn’t want to be alone and craved the contact of another person. “Do you want to stay?”
He paused, wondering if it was trap, then decided she deserved an honest answer. “Yes.”
She gave him a ghost of a smile, then took his hand and tugged him toward her room.
“Go ahead. I need to lock the door.” When he arrived in her room a moment later, she was settling in, still in her shirt. He turned out the lamp, undressed in the dark, then slid between the sheets, the linens feeling deliciously cool.
She rolled over and kissed him. “Just hold me, okay? I’m too tired for anything else.”
He smiled at the exhaustion in her voice, but said nothing as he gently urged her to lay on him. She snuggled in close with a sigh and he felt her relax into sleep almost immediately. He was a bit disappointed they weren’t going to make love, but the feeling soon passed. She was still in his arms, and that was enough for now. Her slow steady breathing quickly began to lull him to sleep, the lack of sleep last night catching up with him as well. He took a deep breath, allowing the sleep to claim him, a small smile still on his lips.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Birds were singing, and bright sunlight streamed through the window. Stella groaned as she stretched, pulling herself out of sleep, then flipping her phone over to shut up the damnable birds.
“Good morning,” Gabriel muttered.
“Good morning,” she mumbled in return. It was Saturday, and though she had to work in the bakery, at least she didn’t have to work at the diner tonight. She stretched again until she thought her bones would creak, then rolled over to face him. She’d slept the sleep of the dead last night, remembering nothing after snuggling into Gabriel’s arms, and as she snuggled in again, he surrounded her in is arms.
“This is nice,” she murmured.
“Yes it is,” he agreed.
She knew if she lay there very long she would go back to sleep, but she had a few moments and she intended to milk them for all they were worth. “I’m glad you stayed last night.”
“Me too.”
She slid her hand down his body, her eyes still closed, smiling when she felt his hardness. “Too bad we don’t have time to do something about that.”
“Maybe later,” he murmured as she softly caressed him, making him ache for her.
She released him, her soft caresses of his manhood starting to turn her on. “Maybe. Were you disappointed about last night?”
“Yes and no. Yes, I wanted to make love to you, but no, I wasn’t disappointed. I thought I was leaving, remember?”
She nodded. “I didn’t want to be alone last night.”
He caressed her back. “I didn’t either.”
She yawned again, then rose to kiss him. She intended it to be a quick good morning kiss, but the kiss took on a life of its own, and when she pulled back, she sighed in disappointment. “I have to get up.”
He gave her a light and playful swat on the butt. “Yes you do, so you will stop teasing me. What will Katrina eat for breakfast?”
“She likes scrambled eggs and toast.”
“Oh…uh…”
She giggled at his obvious reluctance. “She’ll also eat the same cereal I ate yesterday, so long as she has toast. You can at least make toast, right?”
He grinned in embarrassment that he was so useless. “I think I can manage that. I think I can figure out the eggs, too, maybe.”
She stroked his cock again. “I guess you can’t be good at everything, and I can cook.”
He pulled her hand away. “Get your shower, then you can teach me to make eggs so the next time I’ll know how. I can make coffee, though.”
She gave him another quick kiss. “Okay, but I don’t have enough eggs for everyone,” she said as tumbled out of bed. “Tomorrow is grocery day.”
“Don’t worry about me. I’ll just have coffee for breakfast.”
As she stripped out of her shirt he admired her form, hungering to touch her. “You should eat breakfast to set a good example for Katrina.”
He didn’t know if she was teasing or not, so he decided to be safe. “Okay. I’ll have a bowl of cereal, then.”
She nodded then strode around the bed, pressing her naked body to his and pulling his lips down for a long and lingering kiss. She slowly pulled back, watching his eyes. “I know what I want for breakfast, but we don’t have time.” She smiled at him as his eyes crinkled with a grin. “Make coffee. I’ll grab a bath, get Katrina up, then show you how to scramble eggs. Are you going to shower?”
“No. I’m just going to get nasty working at the clubhouse. I’ll shower before I meet you at the diner.”
“No diner tonight. Sunday morning until two. But then I’m off until Tuesday morning.”
“What time do you get off, then?”
“Eight. Why?”
“Let me take you out to dinner?”
“Gabriel, I don’t know. I don’t see enough of Katrina as it is.”
“Bring her along. Connie, too, if you want. When was the last time someone treated you and Katrina to dinner?”
She smiled. “It’s been a while.”
“It’s settled, then. Will Katrina eat Italian?”
“She likes spaghetti.”
“How does Mosconi’s sound?”
“That sound great, if we can get in.”
“Let me worry about that.”
***
Twenty minutes later Stella stepped into the kitchen holding a sleepy looking Katrina. “Good morning Katrina,” he said as he handed Stella a coffee with milk and sugar this time.
“Morning,” Katrina mumbled, rubbing her eye with a small hand.
Stella and Gabriel grinned at each other in surprise that she actually answered this time. “You want eggs for breakfast?” he asked, trying to keep the momentum going.
“Mm-hmm,” she nodded.
“You want to watch your mommy teach me how to make eggs?”
She nodded again.
“You need a small pan, from down there,” Stella instructed, nodding with her head, “and five eggs.”
Katrina watched with rapt attention as Stella walked him through the process of making eggs. He assumed that you just cracked the eggs into a pan and stirred them around with some salt until they were cooked, but Stella had him whipping them in a bowl with milk first, then adding a healthy pat of butter to the pan. As he stirred he added salt, peppe
r and a sprinkle of shredded cheese.
As the eggs cooked, she told him when to start the toast, a breakfast requirement as far as Katrina was concerned. He managed to get the eggs cooked and on the table, and the toast buttered, with minimal mess.
