Met up with the gang in Chicago! Next stop….Bangkok, Thailand! Looking forward to this next adventure with Eric, Sue, Alex, Damon, Matt, Jill and Annie! Stay tuned for pics and vids!
There she was. Jill. Almost two years later and the majority of the group traveling together was still the same. Did the woman still have feelings for Gabe?
Maya sat forward in her seat, staring at the picture that Gabe had included in the post. She immediately spotted Jill—standing right next to Gabe, her arm around him while he had his around her and one of the guys she recognized from the earlier video.
This was definitely not something she’d thought much about, which, when she considered it, was pretty ridiculous. Gabe was handsome, energetic and outgoing. No doubt he drew people to him. So why had he zeroed in on her? Or was she just reading more into it?
Maya sighed and slumped back in her chair. This was when she really, really hated how inexperienced she was when it came to relationships. She had no clue what was going on, and she still didn’t know what to do from her own perspective of what she wanted in a relationship. Watching the videos gave her a glimpse into his life, but she still wasn’t sure it was a glimpse she wanted. However, if she was going to make a decision on whether to continue on with him or not, she needed all the information she could gather.
She stared at the social media page, still not familiar with its setup. Just one more thing that she knew nothing about. Maya knew this was largely her own fault. Her mom might have let her on social media—at least in a limited, supervised capacity—but Maya had been reluctant to let anyone get too close. Being in and out of the hospital had made it difficult to want to open her life to anyone.
In the online role-playing games she’d played, Maya could become someone she wasn’t in real life. A healthy someone. Then, once she’d gotten older but her friend-circle hadn’t expanded, she hadn’t felt that there was a need to join social media.
She reached out to tap the touchpad of her laptop to shut down the Facebook browser window, but then paused when she noticed a red circle with a 2 in the middle of it. She clicked on it and saw that one was a notification that said that Gabe had accepted her friend request. The second said Jill Danes wants to connect with you.
Maya hesitated only a moment before clicking on it. If this was the Jill from Gabe’s photo, she wondered why the woman would be contacting her. How she’d even know to contact her.
I’m sure you have no idea of who I am, and until a week or so ago, I had no idea who you were either. It has come as quite a surprise to those of us who consider Gabe a close friend that he is interested in someone who—from what he’s said—has no interest in something he spends the majority of his life doing. I’m not sure if Gabe is just experiencing a passing infatuation or what, but unless you’re prepared to join him on his adventures, I think you’re doing both of you a disservice. He may decide to stop traveling for your sake, but honestly, that will kill his soul. We have all been traveling together for a long time, and there’s no way that Gabe could just leave this life behind without it costing him a part of what makes Gabe who he is. I would challenge you to consider this before asking Gabe to make such a huge change in his life. It would truly be a selfish thing to do.
Maya stared in shock at the note then let out a huff of laughter. Like Jill’s note hadn’t been selfish at all. Maya had a hard time buying the idea that the woman was being strictly altruistic with her note. However, that didn’t mean that the points she made were invalid. It had been something Maya had been considering as well.
Would Gabe be happy without his adventures?
According to someone who claimed to be his friend—and really, how could Maya argue that particular point because Jill had been in his life a lot longer than she had been—Gabe wouldn’t be Gabe without his adventures. She had to admit that it was Gabe’s zest for life that had attracted her to him, and it was possible he’d lose that if he couldn’t do something he clearly enjoyed.
And worse than that, Gabe might end up resenting her for influencing him to make the decision to leave that life behind to be with her. But there was no way she could be with someone who viewed life so flippantly. She had fought for her life so hard, but now what she saw of Gabe’s life seemed to say that he wasn’t living his life to the fullest…he was chasing death. How could she be with someone like that?
The simple answer was…She couldn’t.
15
Gabe listened as the world came to life outside his room at the Airbnb where they were staying in Phuket City. Nancy, the person who had helped arrange their whole trip, had booked them an Airbnb in the city located in southern Thailand. It was a large space with beds for all of them. The women in the group had their own room with a double and single bed and bathroom while he and the other guys had beds that some of them had to double up in, but they were used to that. The cost of the place had worked out to about ten dollars a night per person. So they’d booked it for eight days as their base camp while they explored the area.
They were halfway through their time in Asia and had just returned the previous day from a three-day kayaking trip. It hadn’t been a dangerous adventure, but he’d still enjoyed the beauty of kayaking in Phang Nga Bay and then exploring some caves as well as snorkeling and swimming in lagoons. They’d camped on beaches and eaten sunset dinners on the escort boat.
It had been a beautiful trip, but all Gabe had been able to think about was how much he wished that Maya was there with him. He knew she would have appreciated the beauty of nature that he and the others had seen. There was a keen desire within him to experience these things with Maya.
Once everyone was up, they were planning to do some sightseeing in the area before taking a trip on a liveaboard for two nights to do some diving. Then it would be up to Chiang Mai in the northern part of Thailand for another week. That was where they’d be doing some of their more dangerous adventures. Though he wasn’t scared of what was to come, Gabe found he wasn’t anticipating those adventures the way he usually did.
He was more distracted than usual too. He knew that had to do with Maya, and he’d had plenty of time to think—and talk—about her over the past week. In fact, he was almost certain that his group was pretty tired of hearing about her. But that was too bad. So much of what he felt for Maya, he’d never felt for anyone before, which both scared and excited him. He had no idea if she was interested in something long term, but he couldn’t commit to anything until he finished his contracts.
And he still had to decide if he was ready to make a major change in his life. Though he’d known that he’d have to make that change at some point, Gabe hadn’t anticipated it happening before he had even hit thirty.
With a sigh, Gabe shifted onto his side and grabbed his phone from the window sill next to his bed. He’d been out of touch for the past three days as they hadn’t had an internet connection while on the kayaking trip. Eric had purchased a SIM card for local use, but the rest of them had decided to just focus on the trip unless they actually had access to the internet through wi-fi at the place where they were staying.
He looked at the display, seeing several notifications that had come in while he’d slept. When they’d arrived back the previous night, he’d been able to upload all the video footage he’d shot on the three-day trip. Dalton would work his magic and then send the video back to Gabe.
When Dalton had first offered to help Gabe do videos for his channel, Gabe had taken him up on it because honestly, video editing was not something he enjoyed. But it hadn’t taken long for him to realize that Dalton was actually a whiz at it. As the quality of the videos on Gabe’s channel improved, so did the number of people who subscribed. All people who wanted to live vicariously through him. People who would probably start to complain if his videos lost their edgy content.
Gabe scrolled through his notifications from social media, keeping a look out for a message from Maya. He felt disappointment thread through him when he found nothing from
her. After a quick calculation of the time difference, Gabe knew it was nine o’clock on Sunday night in Winnipeg.
He pushed into a sitting position and stared at the message screen on his phone, trying to formulate a message to Maya. But before he could start, Matt poked his head in the door.
“Well, it looks like Sleeping Beauty is up,” the man said with a grin.
Gabe had groups of friends spread all throughout the various areas of his life, but generally speaking, there was one person in each group that he was naturally closest to. In the family, that was Mitch. At the gym, it was Hunter. In his work, it was Tennyson. And on the adventure team, it was Matt.
“Even sleep couldn’t improve on what nature bestowed on me.” Gabe pushed back the sheet and swung his feet over the edge of the bed. He rubbed a hand over the beard that had grown thicker while they’d been out on the kayaking expedition. Shaving wasn’t high on his priority list while on trips like this, but nor did he want to look like a caveman by the end of the trip. He would have to shave before they headed out on the liveaboard.
“So did your princess have a message waiting for you?” Matt asked as he dropped down on the single bed across from Gabe’s, the one he’d slept in the night before.
“No,” Gabe hated to admit. “Part of that could be my fault. I kind of forgot to let her know that I wouldn’t have cell or internet access while away.”
“Not used to having to be accountable to someone, eh?” Matt said as he scooted back across the mattress to press his back against the wall, bending his knees to rest his arms on them. “You gonna be leaving us?”
Gabe took up a position mirroring his friend’s, his cell phone on the bed beside him. He let his gaze drift to the window looking out over the city. “I don’t know. How do you do it with Em?”
Matt shrugged, his gaze dropping at the mention of his girlfriend’s name. “I’m not sure I am doing it with her.”
That wasn’t what Gabe had wanted to hear. “Not going well between the two of you?”
With a long sigh, Matt dropped his head back against the wall. “She doesn’t like me heading off on these trips. In fact, she’s kind of issued an ultimatum. Her or the trips.”
“I thought she was okay with them.” Gabe frowned. “Isn’t that what she told you?”
“Yeah. When we first started to date, she said that she was fine with the travel. She said she’d just look at it like I was going on business trips.”
“Well, that is kind of what it is,” Gabe pointed out. “I mean, you have even more sponsors than I do for your travel blog.”
“True, but Em isn’t interested in me traveling so much anymore, especially doing what I do.”
“What do you think changed her mind?”
Matt grimaced as he lowered his head to look at Gabe. “Her best friends. One got married and the other—who was already married—just had her first baby. I think Em is now wanting that for herself, and she doesn’t see my lifestyle as being a good fit for either of those things.” He sighed. “Honestly though, tension in our relationship was already cropping up before the wedding and the baby. She was getting tired of attending events by herself, said she felt like a fifth wheel without a date of her own.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Apparently we’re taking a break while I’m on this trip.”
Gabe’s shoulders slumped. “Why didn’t you say something?”
“I don’t know. Maybe saying it makes it real.” Matt cleared his throat. “I kind of get the feeling that she might have someone ready to take my place. That this break is just a stepping stone to ending things.”
Gabe had a sick feeling in his stomach. He’d wondered if his lifestyle could continue even after getting into a relationship, and this seemed to be his answer. If he’d thought he could continue on with things the way they were while trying to build a relationship with Maya, he was quickly realizing that was not going to happen.
Matt suddenly pushed himself to the edge of the bed and got to his feet. “Let’s go get something to eat. The woman Nancy arranged to cook for us has been working magic in the kitchen for the past hour.”
Gabe got off his bed, tugging up the shorts he’d worn to sleep in before pulling on a T-shirt. He followed Matt out of the room and immediately inhaled the rich aromas of their breakfast. They found most of the rest of their team in the kitchen when they got there. After saying a prayer for the food—not all the group were Christian, but they didn’t object when he, Matt or Sue said grace before eating—they began to fill their plates from the large platters of food on the counter.
Once seated at the table, Gabe found himself distracted by the conversation he’d had with Matt. When Jill sat down beside him, he gave her a quick smile before focusing on the food on his plate. He wasn’t really in the mood for conversation with her. She’d seemed to be next to him every time he turned around this trip which wasn’t working for him because he’d had a lot on his mind and didn’t want to have to make conversation with her.
Though Jill kept trying to start a conversation, Gabe gave short replies and eventually, she turned her attention to Sue. He finished his breakfast—which had been as tasty as Matt had promised—and headed back to his room to get ready for the day. It had felt good to sleep in, but now it was time to get the day underway.
Though the kayak trip, which had included sleeping on the beach, had been fun, he hadn’t gotten great amounts of sleep. That wasn’t unusual on trips like these which was why they always made sure to build some rest and recoup days into their schedule. If the trip had been short, they would have been on the go every day, but since they had a whole month, they’d added down days between the more active stretches.
After a shower, Gabe got dressed in a pair of knee length shorts and a tank top since it was going to be hot when they left the house. He knew that there was a plan to hit up some of the markets, and he hoped to find some stuff for his family—and Maya. The more he thought about Matt’s story, the less weight he gave it in relation to his own situation with Maya.
Until he had a chance to talk to her, trying to analyze what the future might hold for them was a bit ridiculous. It was entirely possible that she just wanted to be friends. Sure, he hoped that she wanted to be more, but he also hoped that she might be more accepting of his lifestyle than Em was of Matt’s. Maybe she’d agree to him taking just one or two shorter trips a year, returning to Winnipeg in between instead of the constant travel he was currently doing, spending his sparse down time in Colorado or Whistler.
In the meantime, he’d continue to pray for her and for wisdom, all while texting her when he could, hoping that when he got back to Winnipeg, they could have a good conversation before his next trip.
Maya looked up from her phone as her mom sat down across from her. She lifted her eyebrows, unused to seeing her mom in the kitchen. “What’s up?”
“I was wondering if you wanted to go to New York City for Valentine’s Day.”
“Valentine’s Day? That’s not a real holiday, Mama. I think it even falls in the middle of the week, and I don’t get the day off from work.”
“Okay. I just thought you might like a trip somewhere.” Her mom frowned. “You seem a little…down.”
“I’m okay,” Maya said, a bit surprised her mom dropped the idea of a trip so quickly. “You know how it is when I have a check-up looming.”
This time her mom’s shoulders slumped. “This Tuesday.”
It wasn’t a question. They both had had the date marked on their calendars since the appointment had been made. It was hard not to allow it to loom over them like a huge cloud because there was no guarantee that the tests and the scan would be normal.
“I took the day off for the trip to Pembina for the MRI.” Maya set her phone down on the counter and picked up her cup of tea. “And also Friday afternoon for my doctor appointment.”
She’d gone in for the bloodwork already so the doctor would just give her the results of both
the bloodwork and the MRI on Friday. Though she would have been able to get an MRI in Manitoba since she was booked for one far in advance, she usually went across the border simply because her dad could afford to pay for it and doing so would free up the spot for someone who couldn’t afford to pay for an out-of-province MRI.
“Everything will be fine.” Her mom said it as if her word was law. If only.
“Mama? Why did you stop going to church?” Maya knew the question probably came out of left field for her mom, but she’d been thinking about it a lot over the past month and even more since the pastor’s sermon that morning. She’d continued to go to church each Sunday since Gabe had left, and the sermons had resonated with her. They had focused a lot on the fact that it was the beginning of the year, and he’d spoken on resolutions, making plans and how God should factor into all of it.
“It was hard to believe in a God who seemed to delight in keeping from me the thing I wanted the most. Or, He’d answer my prayer to get pregnant only to allow the pregnancy to end in miscarriage. And then when He did grant me a child, He allowed you to get so very sick. Not just once, but twice. I just…couldn’t.”
Maya understood where her mom was coming from. It was hard to understand why God would allow bad things to happen like what had happened to her. And yet...He had also allowed the treatments to be successful, and she reminded her mom of that. “So many people weren’t as fortunate. Their children weren’t helped by the treatments.”
“Yes, that’s true, but it just seems so unfair that you had to go through that.” Her mom frowned as she lifted her mug that no doubt held coffee heavily laced with cream and sugar. “It hurt me so much to not be able to take all that pain and suffering from you.”
The Love of Her Life: A Christian Romance (The Callaghans & McFaddens Book 3) Page 19
