by Hadley Quinn
“Maybe. But yeah, we talked about some things.”
“Like what?”
“Like you, dumb shit. And… I asked her about Chad.”
“What? I hope you didn’t. She has no idea I’ve served with her brother.”
“And he has no idea you’re serving his sister.”
Bobby laughed at his own joke and Gabe couldn’t help but smile.
“So what else did you two talk about?” Gabe wondered.
He listened to Bobby summarize his time with Ava, but it only made him miss her more. He was a pathetic sap. And instead of making up some excuse as to why he needed to get back to the cabin, he just straight up told Bobby that he missed her and wanted to be there when she woke up.
“You’re a fucking pussy,” Bobby mocked playfully.
Gabe was heading out the door and only smiled.
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
“I can’t believe you’ve cultivated a garden,” Ava said, snipping a few of the dead roses off the shrub.
“Cultivated?” Gabe scoffed. “I planted some damn flowers.” He gave her a goofy smile, scooped up the discards from the ground, and tossed them into the wheelbarrow. “A couple of therapists recommended it,” he mumbled.
She trimmed off another withered flower as she considered that. “Well you’ve taken care of them very well. And think about how happy you made me the other day,” she added with a smile.
“Yeah, it was worth it,” he agreed. “And I’m not too keen on doing anything a shrink recommended, but I’ll admit it was good for me.
Gabe picked up the wheelbarrow and began wheeling it to the compost pile. Ava scooped up the gardening tools to return them to the woodshed when something caught her attention. She saw Kael squatting on the dock, trying to stick his hand into the water.
Bobby should be right there with him if he’s gonna let him do that, she thought. But as she came around the backside of the cabin, she didn’t see Bobby anywhere. And just as she quickened her pace to get to Kael, he tipped forward and splashed into the water.
She took off at a sprint, taking a shortcut to the path from the cabin. “Gabe!” she screamed as she ran. It couldn’t have taken long to get to the middle of the dock but it seemed like too long, and as she searched the barely rippling water for any sign of the little boy, panic began to set in.
She couldn’t see a damn thing.
The water was about fifteen feet deep where she was at and she slid into it just as Gabe came running across the yard for the dock. Ava was already under the water as he got there but surfaced twenty seconds later.
“What the hell happened?” Gabe asked her.
She took a huge gulp of air and managed to gasp, “It’s Kael! He fell in, I can’t find him!” She grabbed the edge of the dock as Gabe sunk his body into the water with her.
“Where’d you last see him?” he asked.
“When he fell forward, right here from the dock,” she said, trying not to cry.
Gabe disappeared under the water and that’s when she released the tears. Dear God, please let Gabe find him!
She didn’t know if she should go back under or not; what if she got in Gabe’s way? She pulled herself onto the dock, hoping to see something from above. Shit, why couldn’t the kid be wearing brighter colors?
Gabe was down there for a long time. A minute? She was going to have a heart attack!
Finally he broke the surface behind her, on the other side of the dock, and thank God he had Kael! She reached down for him as Gabe hoisted the toddler onto the dock, and as Ava laid him out to check a pulse, Gabe pulled himself up beside them.
“He’s got a pulse,” she said, even though she was trying not to cry. Bobby was running down from the house at the same moment Gabe was listening for breathing, and then began giving him breaths.
“Jesus, what happened!?” Bobby cried. He dropped to his knees next to Kael and grabbed his hand.
“He fell in the lake,” Ava answered shakily.
Bobby began rambling on about watching cartoons with him and apparently falling asleep. While Gabe worked on Kael, Bobby was coaxing his son to be all right, but it was just such a surreal moment. Was he dead? What was happening?
Gabe glanced at Bobby in between breaths and said, “He’ll be okay.”
If he was trying to stay calm just to convince his friend to stay calm, Ava was gullible as hell. If Gabe said it, it had to be true. He hardly wavered as he put another half breath into Kael’s tiny face, and the little guy responded with a cough and sputter.
Gabe tipped him sideways as lake water dribbled out of his mouth and his eyes blinked opened. He started crying and Ava finally released the breath of air she was holding as Bobby scooped him up and held him tight.
“What the hell is wrong with me?” Bobby whimpered into Kael’s wet hair.
Ava slid her arm across his shoulder. “It was just an accident.”
“I almost killed my own kid,” he said angrily. “I should’ve been watching him. I even left the goddamn sliding door open!”
“You live and learn, man,” Gabe said matter-of-factly. “He’s okay, and you know you won’t let it happen again.” Gabe stood and added, “Let’s get him to a doctor to make sure he’s all good, okay pal?”
Bobby stood up with Kael but shook his head. “You stay; I’ll take him.” He turned and walked away.
“Bobby,” Gabe said firmly as Ava stood with him. “Let us come with you.”
“No,” he answered. “This is my fault, I’ll take care of it.”
“We want to be with you,” Ava said, following after him.
“No!” Bobby yelled over his shoulder.
Ava stopped as he continued across the yard. She watched him get into Gabe’s new F250, start it up with Kael on his lap, and throw gravel as he spun out of the driveway.
She hung her head with sorrow as she watched them leave. Gabe slid his arms around her from behind and said, “He hates himself right now. In our line of work, when we fuck up we have to own it. Don’t take it personal.”
She sighed. “I know.” Ava turned around to face him and asked, “He knows where he’s going, right? There’s one east of us and one north…”
“He’s okay,” Gabe assured her.
“That’s right, you’ve got GPS… Oh God, I’m a mess, Gabe.” She felt a wave of despair flood through her and more tears came out.
Gabe held her close, gently rubbing her back. “He’ll be okay. He was only under for a couple of minutes—long enough to pass out. You saved his life, Ava.”
“Me?” she barely squeaked out. “I was about to freak out! You found him and were calm and… Oh my gosh, how do you deal with stuff like this?”
“Deal with what?” he smiled. “He just needed some air in him. You would have done the same thing. Baby, you were already on it, checking his pulse. You reacted automatically.”
“I couldn’t even think straight.”
He leaned closer and looked her in the eye. “When did you first see him?”
She blinked, trying to understand the question. “Uh, on the way to the shed.”
“And what did you do?”
With a shrug she answered, “Wondered where Bobby was.”
“And?”
“And…I didn’t see him so I started heading over to the dock.”
“And?”
“And I saw him fall in.”
“So how did you know where to look for him?”
“I kept my eyes on the spot I last saw him, and was glad I could still see some faint ripples in the water.”
“And you slid into the water. You yelled for help the first chance you could. You searched for him as long as you could, and by then, help had arrived. You did what you were supposed to, Ava. I’d say your ability to think under pressure was pretty damn good.”
She scoffed and shook her head with a smile. “Listen to me, whining about my own self-doubt. You should be saving that for Bobby. He’s going to need it.”
Gabe slightl
y nodded. “He’s gonna ream himself for what happened, and he’s going to be really pissed for a while, but the plus side is that Kael’s okay. He still has his son around and he’d better damn well appreciate that.”
Ava was studying Gabe carefully. She could see something going on in that mind of his. Suddenly it occurred to her how close to home the incident with Kael might be hitting Gabe.
She measured her words before she spoke.
“Gabe, what happened to Alex?” she asked softly. She looked him in the eye and took his hands in hers. “Will you tell me?”
That familiar wall seemed to go up at the mention of his brother’s name, but ultimately he sighed as he took her hand and led her to the lounge chairs on the deck. He kicked off his wet shoes and socks and they sat there in their wet clothing. It was hot out, so it didn’t matter.
“Bunch of us went camping at the river. I only went because Alex asked me to, and he threw in the enticement that Elisa Clark was going to be there and she really wanted me to come.”
Ava was going to chuckle, but there was something about the look on his face that told her not to.
“Alex had begged me to go swimming with him that night but I didn’t feel like it. Some of the kids were busy getting drunk, and I was fooling around with Elisa. He went with a couple of other kids, and I had no idea that he went down there to drink and smoke pot,” he shook his head. “At some point one of the girls ran back to the camp, screaming that Alex went out in the water and they couldn’t find him. I swam out to where they last saw him—I dove under, swam around feeling for something, anything—but I wasn’t able to find him either. It was…the most hopeless feeling I’ve ever felt in my entire life.”
Ava’s heart broke. She couldn’t imagine what that would feel like, but she’d gotten a taste of it earlier with Kael.
“I finally found him,” Gabe continued with a shrug. “It was too late, of course. It’d been at least an hour. I don’t think I would have stopped until I found him. Already I was barely able to keep myself afloat. But to have him there, in my arms… I just…I almost couldn’t bear to bring him back to shore. Everyone was there, including police and paramedics by then, and I just didn’t want to drag my brother’s dead body onto land for everyone to see.” He took a deep breath and leaned forward onto his knees. “I wanted to die right there in the water with him,” he added softly. “I probably would have if someone hadn’t come out to bring us both in the rest of the way.”
Ava didn’t know what to say. She thought it better not to say anything and just put her arm around him.
He turned to look at her. “My dad blamed me, of course. Even though Alex’s friends admitted that they’d been drinking and stuff. Autopsy proved it. But my dad wanted that to hold onto, I guess. It wasn’t enough that he already hated us. He had one son that ran away, another one that died, and then the middle one that he could blame for any and every grievance in his life. I was dead to him, too. And I know that’s not my fault,” he sighed. He stretched back in the chair and shrugged. “I had another month of school, graduated, and got the fuck out of there. Enlisted, got an education that was interesting to me, and never looked back. Well…hardly,” he added with a tiny smile.
Ava returned the smile. “Our pasts are there to learn from, but it doesn’t mean it has to own us.”
He slightly nodded, and then he chuckled. “The recruiters looked at my high school transcripts and almost laughed.”
Ava smiled. “Why?” Bobby had said Gabe was smart. As soon as she’d asked, it dawned on her. “You mean you totally screwed yourself over in the academic department,” she stated knowingly.
“I kept the required GPA for football,” he smiled. “But let’s face it; I fucking hated school. It’s really true that home life affects these kids that seem to have absolutely no motivation to do well. I was one of them. Alex too. James—my older brother—dropped out when he was a sophomore. For people that don’t understand what it’s like to be dealt a hand like that, I wish I could show them. Maybe more could be done to get these kids out of the cycle.”
“I agree,” Ava nodded.
She was about to add more when the sound of a vehicle turned her head to the driveway. Surely Bobby wasn’t already back, but it didn’t sound like a truck.
“That’s Chelsea,” she said when the red car appeared next to the house. She waited for her friend to step out of the car, and when Ava waved her down to the water, Chelsea trekked her way across the deck.
“Ever heard of a swimsuit?” Chelsea asked, looking over their wet clothes.
“Didn’t feel like changing this time,” Ava answered.
Chelsea took up a third chair next to Ava. “So what’s up? You guys look like shit,” she smiled.
“It was sweet of you to dress to match,” Gabe smirked.
Chelsea was startled by the quick comeback but smiled. “I aim to fit in wherever I am—Chelsea the Chameleon. You’ve got me pegged, Gabe.”
“I’m a good judge of character.”
“Likewise,” she challenged.
“Okay, stop you two,” Ava laughed. “So what’s up?” she asked Chelsea. “I thought you were coming tomorrow.”
“I said Friday.”
“Today is—” She stopped herself.
“Friday,” Chelsea smiled. “Sex-and-candy land is working well for you, see.”
“Ha.”
“Your mom is pissed, by the way.”
Ava didn’t even have to know why. “I was there for a day to grab some things, teach my classes, and head back here.”
“Was Gabe with you?” Chelsea asked with a smirk his direction. “She thinks you’re hiding him from her.”
“Hasn’t she figured out by now that I’m the one that hides from her?” Ava scoffed. “Jeez, can anyone stand being criticized by her?”
Chelsea shrugged. “She and I get along just fine. We had lunch, you know.”
Ava rolled her eyes, knowing that it was most likely true, but also sure that no matter what Chelsea did, she always had Ava’s back.
“So did she grill you?” Ava asked.
“Yeah, pretty much. But don’t worry, Gabe. I told her how charming you are and how friendly and sweet.”
“Well as long as you can live with your lies,” he shrugged casually.
She narrowed her eyes at him. “So you admit that you are none of those things,” she stated smugly. “Well, my mistake.”
“Knock it off,” Ava chuckled uncomfortably. “He is too all of those things. Just not with anyone but me,” she added, nudging his leg with hers.
“This is true,” he agreed. He also grabbed his shoes and stood. “I’ll leave this little verbal sparring with my tail between my legs and go make lunch.” He leaned down and kissed Ava on the cheek, gave Chelsea a challenging smirk, and headed for the cabin.
“Oh my God, he’s a prick!” Chelsea hissed when he was out of earshot. She was half-joking, and Ava knew that.
“He is not,” Ava smiled. “You two are so much alike it’s not even funny.”
Chelsea dramatically gasped with her mouth wide open. “He’s a big fucking gorilla! How dare you compare me to- to that!” she spat, pointing across the yard.
“I will and I just did. You are both so leery of one another, and you’re both overprotective of me. You are also both indifferent when it comes to people’s opinions of you,” she added with a chuckle.
Chelsea considered that for a second. “You mean no matter how I insult him, he still won’t take offense?”
“Nope,” Ava replied. “You’re really not going to make him cry, Chelse.”
“Goddamn it,” she joked, blowing out a breath of air. She tucked her knees up under her and smiled at Ava. “So? How are things going here? When are you coming home?”
“In a few days, actually. My dad has people coming to stay at the house next week. Potential buyers. He wants us gone.”
“Even Gabe?”
Chelsea knew about Brad Carmich
ael’s “agreement” with Gabe, and knowing that he was going to sell the lake house had also given her mixed feelings.
“Gabe doesn’t want to be here if I’m not here. I’m just here because he is, and since my days here are limited, figured I might as well spend what time I could before my dad gets rid of this place.”
Chelsea frowned. “Rat bastard.”
“I know.”
They both looked at each other and laughed.
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
Gabe continued to watch Bobby eye her carefully throughout dinner. They’d introduced him to Chelsea when he returned, but Gabe knew Bobby wanted nothing to do with being pleasant company to anyone new. He respected Ava, but this was beyond Bobby’s comfort zone.
She laughed again; her blue eyes sparkling, her teeth white against her pink lips. Blonde and blue-eyed. Nothing like what Bobby was used to being around anymore. And she was witty too, just like Ava. Gabe could see why the two of them got along.
Bobby decided to be an anti-social ass at the counter, quietly eating by himself while the girls ogled over his son. Gabe casually got a second helping from the casserole that Ava and Chelsea had made and positioned himself standing at the counter with his buddy.
“Your kid’s got quite an appetite,” he observed.
Bobby barely scoffed. “They’re gonna overfeed him.”
“No they’re not,” Gabe chuckled. “He could use some weight, Bob. He’s mesmerized by the attention and he’ll eat.”
“Pssh, mesmerized all right. And am I supposed to dance and sing and be all smiley and shit to get him to eat from now on?”
Gabe studied him carefully. “Is that really your problem, pal? You think you’re supposed to compete with that? ‘Cause if it is, I’ll tell Ava to quit liking your kid. If you really have a fucking problem with the attention he’s getting, my God, let’s tell them to quit that shit right now.”
“Shut up with the sarcasm, Gabe. You have no fucking idea what you’re talking about.”
“I might not have an idea what your damn problem is, but I sure as hell have a problem with you getting all bent out of shape at the wrong people. We’re not the enemy, man.”
