by Karen Renee
I felt my lips quiver, so I pressed them together, but I still couldn’t hold back the laughter bubbling out of me.
When I stopped laughing, I said, “No. I’ll have a cheeseburger, an order of tots, and a Diet Coke.”
He lightly slugged me in the bicep. “You’re a nut. And, really? No shake?”
I grimaced. “Gabe. I don’t work out like you do. No way I can handle a shake on top of however many calories are in that burger.”
“Bullshit, but whatever floats your boat. I’ll order a large and ask for a spoon. You can have some that way.”
Ten minutes later, the clerk brought us our food and Gabe paid. Even though we had shared our love for Sonic, this was the first time we ate it together.
“So, what’s next for your night?” Gabe asked around a mouthful of hot dog.
“I have to study for a Data Analytics final coming up in a couple weeks.”
“In a couple weeks? And you’re studying already?”
“Yeah, Sullivan. Some of us struggle with things, so I gotta hit the books early and often to make sure things sink in for me.”
The look on his face told me he was ready to argue with me, but my phone rang, and I saw it was the apartment manager.
“Hang on, I gotta take this,” I told Gabe just before I answered my phone.
“Ms. Daughtry, this is Rita Walters.”
“Yes, Rita. Have you found a different unit for me?”
She sighed. “No, unfortunately. But, you’ll be happy to know, Mr. Kingston has taken us up on letting him out of his lease early.”
“Who?” I couldn’t help but ask.
“Stan Kingston, who is the legal tenant of the unit across from yours.”
“Oh,” I said.
“Yes. He will be fully moved out by the weekend, he assured us.”
“Does he have Asher’s keys? I mean are you sure Asher can’t get back into the apartment later?”
“Yes, ma’am—” Rita was cut off from me when Gabe pulled the phone from my hand.
“This is Gabe Sullivan, I’m in unit six-thirty-nine and I want to know that Ms. Daughtry will be safe in her unit, since nobody can get her relocated from this—”
Warmth curled through my belly as it hit me how sexy it was when Gabe got so protective. Then my stomach plummeted, since I couldn’t act on how sexy I found him to be.
Even with my warring emotions, I smiled since Gabe’s expression shifted so quickly from anger to contrition.
“I was not aware, and I apologize. I’m just concerned for my friend.”
My friend. Yes, that drove it home, didn’t it?
He handed the phone back to me, I spoke for a few minutes more with Rita, and hung up.
“Sorry,” Gabe muttered.
“Apology accepted. Just to say, it’d be nice if you could see that I can handle things on my own, Gabe.”
He had stuffed the last of his hot dog in his mouth and he wadded up the paper wrapper. After he swallowed his food, he said, “Yeah, well, I really didn’t like the idea of that fucker being across the hall from you. And... shit! I forgot to ask her if they were gonna bring down those Ring cameras.”
He looked out the window and back to me. “You better make damn sure those things are pulled down, Cassandra.”
“I will. Simmer down, G-Rock. Have some of your malt.”
He glowered at me and shoved his chocolate malt my way. It wasn’t until after I had six bites of it that Gabe finally drove us back to the apartment complex.
My meal didn’t give me heartburn or a stomachache, but it definitely left me with a sense of heartache.
Gabe
FRIDAY MORNING, I HAD to bum another ride to campus with Brock. On the plus side, I watched a wrecker take my truck to the mechanic. With any luck it would be a quick fix and it wouldn’t eat me out of the bump in pay I would get from my new gig this Saturday. The way things were going lately, though, I wasn’t holding my breath. My luck had a way of turning from gold to fool’s gold in a matter of moments.
“You sure are quiet, man,” Brock said from the driver’s seat of his Civic.
I sighed. “Just tired. Thinking about money. You know. Good stuff.”
He snorted. “You not getting any on the regular probably doesn’t help either.”
“You rubbing that shit in damn sure doesn’t, asshole.”
“Lighten up, numbnuts. It’s about time you took a break from the ladies.”
“Whatever,” I muttered.
“You’ll live, man.”
I nodded.
“So, how’s Cassandra? She movin’ out of her place?”
“No. Management called her yesterday and said the douchebag across the hall was moving this weekend.”
“That’s good to hear.”
“I guess. As long as those damn Ring cameras get taken out.”
“You shittin’ me?”
I turned to him. “Brock. We’ve got two on our door. It’s not that hard.”
He shook his head. “You’re right. I just hate the idea of some jackass doin’ that to Cassie.”
“Not as much as I do,” I muttered.
Brock did a double take at me. “Really?”
“Don’t read anything into that.”
“Whatever you say, man. You got a ride back? I have no idea how long I’ll be on campus today.”
“Nah. I’ll figure something out, even if I have to Uber it.”
MY LAST CLASS FOR THE day wrapped up at two in the afternoon, and I swung by the academic advisor’s office to see if anyone was available for a walk-in appointment. For once, luck was on my side, and I had a twenty-minute meeting to declare my major in Entertainment Management. The advisor made sure all the necessary hoops were open to me so I could enroll for fall classes.
With that done, I swung by the Foxtail for a coffee, and a cinnamon bun, because theirs were some of the best around.
I found an open bench and dialed my Dad. He answered on the second ring.
“Hello, Gabe.”
“Hey, Dad. Thought I’d let you know I’ve declared my major with an advisor. So, it’s one less thing you have to ride my ass about.”
“Outstanding news, son! And I was going to call you in a little while anyway.”
“Really?”
“Yes. I wanted to know if you’re free for dinner this evening?”
I picked at the cinnamon bun. “Uh, yeah. Is something wrong?”
He sighed. “No. Nothing’s wrong. I just wanted to treat you to dinner. Your brother said you had Sonic last night. That’s just wrong, especially as good as you are in the kitchen.”
“No, Dad. What’s just wrong is Brock runnin’ his mouth about where I eat, but whatever. Besides, you can’t beat their tots and chili-cheese dogs.”
“Enjoy it while you’re young, Gabriel. That’s all I can tell you. Now, you feel like steak tonight or what?”
I chuckled. “I’m always in the mood for steak.”
7
Your Best
Gabe
AT THE STEAKHOUSE, Dad looked at our waitress and ordered drinks for both of us. If my instincts weren’t already on alert, him ordering two whiskeys neat definitely would’ve done it for me.
I put my menu on the table in front of me. “Okay, you said nothing was wrong when you invited me to dinner, but you ordering ‘the heavy-duty artillery’ as you normally call it for us both makes me a little skeptical, Dad.”
Dad had been an Army guy, Vamp had gone hard-core with the Marines, and Brock wound up in the Navy for four years. I suspect Dad always hoped I’d do him proud and join the Army, but my love for the trumpet never leaned toward the bugle. Maybe it was because I was the youngest... I didn’t know, but I knew I didn’t have the discipline needed to join any branch of the armed services.
Dad was so proud of my musical talent, he had been more than willing for me to apply to Juilliard and Berkley. When the rejections came rolling in, he seemed just as disappointed as I had b
een. And my eighteen-year-old ass had taken full advantage and pressed my luck with the notion of a gap year.
Dad broke into my thoughts when he nodded. “It’s funny sometimes how similar you boys can be, and yet how different you all are. I took your brother out to Wendy’s earlier today, and I thought he’d blow a gasket, so let’s just say I’m trying to soothe the beast in advance.”
“But you said nothing’s wrong.”
He nodded and grinned. “I did, so how about we keep that firmly in mind.”
The waitress returned with our drinks, and Dad told her we would need a moment before we ordered.
I gave Dad a long look. “I’d ask if you knocked Marnie up, but even I don’t find that very funny. So—”
Dad exhaled and hung his head at the same time. He raised his eyes to meet mine. “Christ, you can be so damned irreverent, Gabe.”
I grinned. “Apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, am I right?”
He gazed past me and his chin dipped. “If you knew your mother better, you’d be absolutely right.”
That brought me up short, and I stiffened in the wooden booth. “Okay, now I’d say that’s irreverent. To me.”
His eyes hardened on me. “You need to watch yourself. It’s as much on your mother as it is on me that you never got the chance to bond with her.”
I shook my head. “To hear Brock or Vamp tell it, I didn’t miss out on much.”
“Neither Brock nor Cary is in a position to say that, Gabe, and you know it. I’ll never know if I did the right thing or not by keeping her on the periphery for the last seventeen years of your life.”
I shrugged. “What’s done is done, Dad. I know she’s trying to make up for it, but I’m not eager to accept her olive branch or whatever that dinner was supposed to be.”
Dad sipped his whiskey, and I followed suit. Since I wasn’t picking up the bill, I couldn’t exactly criticize, but Dad should’ve specified which brand he wanted – like Crown Royal or some other top-shelf brand. Instead, I had no doubt we were dealing with a well-brand whiskey because it didn’t go down half as smooth as the stuff from Canada.
I held back my wince at the harshness of the liquor, but Dad set his glass down with a thunk.
“That dinner should have been a steppingstone. The fact is, your mother’s been helping you boys out for far longer than you realize.”
“What do you mean?”
He picked up his glass, swirled the amber liquid in it, and put the glass down. “Since she tried to come back, she’s been paying me child support for you three.”
I inhaled deeply to fight against the burn building in my gut. “All right. And?”
“Like I told your brother, neither of you asked where I got the money for your deposit and first month’s rent on the place you live in right now. I know you two are covering it now, but it was a little tight early on, right?”
I nodded and fought saying it was a little tight now, too.
“Your mother found out you both would be at the same school, and we agreed you should be in a nicer place than the first apartment you two had selected.”
No amount of deep breathing was going to make the burning feeling subside. When Cecilia insisted on paying her share of the rent, it wasn’t Brock who first turned her down flat, it was me. Being brutally blunt about it, I’d said I didn’t want a woman paying for the roof over my head, and I still didn’t. I knew it was sexist to say it like that, but I did not want to end up like my Dad.
He had provided for all of us, but even as a kid I could see he had to bust his ass and take more shit than he should’ve in order to do it. All of that was because of my mother.
It also didn’t help that I’d overheard Dad talking to my Auntie Sandy the night before Christmas when I was eight. He told her he would repay her for the bike ‘Santa’ brought for Brock. Auntie Sandy’s response said it all. “Don’t you dare, War. I love those boys with all of my heart, and if I ever see Pauline again, I’ll scratch her eyes out for what she’s done to not only them, but you as well. So, believe you me, buying a bike for an eleven-year-old boy is the least I can do for my favorite nephews.”
Dad had sighed. “They’re your only nephews, Sandy.”
She had lifted her chin defiantly. “Yeah, and maybe if she’d stuck around and got some help, I’d have a niece, too.”
I had quietly made my way back to my room with hot tears streaming down my face. Not only had I learned Santa wasn’t real, but my mom’s absence had forced Dad to lean on Aunt Sandy and Uncle Nate.
That lesson never left me, and in my teenage years I had vowed that I would never depend on a woman.
I tossed the cheap whiskey down my throat. The waitress looked our way, so I put the glass to the far side of the table and signaled for another.
“So you’re telling me, my mother’s been putting the roof over my head the past three years?”
Dad’s face hardened. “Your mother has been helping to put the roof over your head since you were ten.”
I shook my head. “Too bad she couldn’t step up two years earlier. She could’ve helped get Brock that bike from Santa. And you wouldn’t have been in debt to Auntie Sandy and Uncle Nate.”
Dad’s head shifted back and his eyes widened. I could see his nostrils flare with his breathing. After a moment, he said, “That’s why you stopped believing.”
I grinned maliciously. “Yep. Another fine gift from my mother, wouldn’t you say?”
Our waitress brought us our drinks, and Dad ordered for both of us.
“What if I’d wanted chicken?” I asked, just to be obstinate.
“I’ll call her back, Gabriel.”
I sipped my whiskey as I considered why Dad would use my full name. When I put the glass down, I straightened my face and tried to be more open-minded.
“So, I take it you have more to tell me about Mom.”
Dad nodded. “I do. But, I’d like to know why you’re so bitter. Aside from the obvious. She should’ve come back sooner—”
I leaned forward. “She never should’ve left!”
Dad closed his eyes and I could swear I watched him age in front of me. That made me feel like shit because it hit me that none of this was easy on him, either.
“Sorry, Dad.”
“Don’t be, Gabriel. Do you think every woman is going to split like your mother did?”
I felt my face go slack. “I know she’s a shrink and all, but really? Why are you asking that?”
He arched a brow. “You may not lack for female companionship, but you never keep any of them around. And for that matter, you really never have.”
I sighed. “I don’t know, Dad, but I can tell you, I’m done with the frequent and easy women.”
He lifted his chin. “I don’t know what brought that on, but I can’t say I’m not happy to hear it.”
I shook my head and fought an eye roll. “You sound like Brock.”
He chuckled.
Our waitress arrived with our filets, and we promptly tucked into our dinners.
Ordinarily, a decent beverage and a filet would be exactly what the doctor ordered for me. As it stood, I shoved a wedge of zucchini around my plate wondering what else Dad had to tell me.
He took a large gulp of ice water. “All right. I can see that zucchini is not going to make it to your belly. So, I might as well tell you the rest of it.”
I nodded.
“Your mother has been after me for the past nine months to get in touch with all of you. I didn’t know until recently exactly why that was.”
I nodded again to let him know I was following him.
“She’s an only child, and her father passed away just over ten months ago. She’s inherited seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Her intention is to divide it between you and your brothers. Two hundred and fifty thousand each.”
I bit my lower lip to hold my reaction in check.
When I had my shit together, I asked, “You told Brock already, what about
Vamp?”
“Not yet, but I suspect your brother has talked to him about it. He wanted to talk to you, but I insisted on being the one to tell you.”
“What’d Brock have to say about it?”
Dad closed his eyes and sighed. When he looked back to me, I wished I hadn’t asked. “Nothing good, son. He said it was guilt money.”
My head jerked up at that. I was surprised that hadn’t occurred to me.
“It isn’t, Gabe.”
My eyes slid to the side and back to Dad. “Isn’t it?”
“No. And it’s something I’ll despise myself for until the day I die. Keeping her from you boys to keep you all close to one another and prevent a rift, I also kept all three of you from your grandparents. And that’s not something I’ll ever forgive myself for.”
I leaned forward. “Dad, you don’t need to forgive yourself or beat yourself up over shit! You did the best you could. Not that I’m biased or anything, but your best is pretty fuckin’ spectacular.”
Dad smiled at me, opened his mouth to say something, but the waitress came by with the bill.
Twenty minutes later, when Dad pulled into the complex, I said, “You can drop me here, Dad. I’ll walk back to my place. Give me some time to clear my head.”
He pulled his car into a parking spot. “You sure?”
I smiled and nodded. “Yeah. I’m sure, Dad. Thanks for dinner.”
He reached across to shake my hand, but after I put my hand in his, he used his other arm to pull me in to an awkward hug.
“I love you, son.”
“I know, and I love you, too, Dad. I’ll talk to you soon.”
After he pulled away, I walked two buildings down and headed to Cassie’s apartment. I had little doubt my brother was home and waiting for me, but the only person I wanted to talk to about this situation was Cassie.
Cassie
I LOOKED OUT THE PEEPHOLE and sighed.
Three days. Seventy-two hours reprieve from Gabe Sullivan was as long as I could get.
