by Brynne Asher
It’s at this time that I hear Lilly calling my name from far away. “Gabby, Gabby!”
Chelsea speaks with excitement “I’m a waitress at a sports bar downtown. But I’m in college.”
“Gabby!” I hear Lilly snap, getting closer.
Ignoring Lilly, all I can think about is Tony on a date with a college girl. She looks so young—she’s very pretty and petite. I’m sure her red hair is natural, it’s beautiful on her fair, clear skin.
“What are you studying?” I ask, still trying to block out Lilly’s voice.
“I’m still undecided,” Chelsea explains.
Wow. She’s really young if she hasn’t even declared a major. At this point I look at Tony who’s appearing a bit uncomfortable.
I keep at Chelsea. “So, what year are you?”
“Gabrielle Carpino!” Lilly is very close now.
Ignoring Lilly right along with me, Chelsea exclaims like she is super proud of herself. “Just started my sophomore year.”
Well shit again. She could be as young as nineteen. Really wanting to know when she graduated from high school, I decide to ask that later so it doesn’t look like I’m interrogating her.
“Gabby!” Lilly yells again. I feel two hands grab my arm and I look over to her and see she’s out of breath.
I know she’s going to want the scoop on Chelsea so I look over at Lilly and say, “Lilly, this is Chelsea, Tony’s date.”
“Gabby, not now,” she spits, breathing hard. “I’ve got to talk to you.”
Ignoring Lilly again, I go on with my snark. “She’s a sophomore in college, but she hasn’t decided on a major yet.”
“Gabby!” Lilly semi yells in my face.
But before I have time to say anything else r or act like a snarky bitch to get back at Tony for announcing that Jude is my live-in boyfriend, I hear a different voice, a familiar voice. “Gabby?”
I turn to stone. Looking straight into Lilly’s eyes, hers get as big as mine feel, communicating the whole story to me.
James is here and she was trying to warn me but this is what I get for being a snarky bitch to sweet, young Chelsea. Yes, this is exactly what she is saying to me through her eyes.
But it’s not me who responds, it’s my Uncle Nic, who says in an unwelcoming tone, “James? What in the hell are you doing here?”
I close my eyes instantly as I feel Jude’s hand on my forearm that he gently slides up my arm to my shoulder. His touch gentle but significant. Opening my eyes and giving Lilly a look that hopefully communicates that I cannot effing believe this is happening, I let Jude turn me as he smoothly folds me into him, my front to his side with his arm around my shoulders holding me tight.
This’s when I see him.
James.
My one year and three-month selfish, asshole boyfriend who broke up with me right after my parents died because I was too high maintenance. He’s pretty tall, though not as tall as Jude, but somehow seeing him now standing in front of us, I realize how much smaller he is. And that’s because there is no bulk to him at all. I wouldn’t call him scrawny, but definitely skinny—really skinny. Skinnier than I remember, especially standing next to Jude.
I really don’t know what to say, I haven’t seen him once since we broke up, but that could be because I haven’t put myself out there, either. I simply greet him with a cool, “James.”
“Gabby,” he repeats while taking in some air. “It’s good to see you. You look good. How are you?”
What the hell? He wants to know how I am? All Carpino eyes are on us and Jude’s arm tightens around my shoulders at his you look good comment. But before I can answer, Jude chimes, “She’s great. I should know.”
Oh no.
James’s eyes go directly to Jude and narrow on him. “And you are?”
“Jude Ortiz, Gabby’s man,” Jude bites out.
“Jude.” I try and calm him.
“You’re Gabby’s man?” James asks for clarification.
“Yep,” Jude clarifies, but James’ eyes come back to me.
“I’m gonna ask again, what are you doing here?” Nic chimes.
“My accounting firm bought a table,” James answers but doesn’t look away from me.
“Maybe you should go and find that table,” Jude returns.
James looks back to Jude. “Maybe,” he enunciates, “but I’d like to catch up with Gabby first.”
“Oh, really, there’s nothing to catch up on. Everything’s the same,” I say in the fakest happy voice I can muster.
James looks back to me and I can see but also feel his eyes raking over my hair, dress, legs and finally back up to my face.
“No, I think things have changed,” James mutters.
This is when I feel Jude turn to stone against my body.
Oh no, again.
I can’t see it, but I can feel the Jude Fury setting in. Okay, it’s time to bring this scene to an end.
“Well, then. Thanks for coming over to say hi,” I say, trying to wrap this up. “It was … um … you look like you’re doing well, James. That’s good. Good for you. Maybe I’ll see you around. Or not. It has been almost four years.”
“Yeah, it has been almost four years. You seem different, Gabby,” he braves.
“She’s saying goodbye so you’ll leave,” Jude says, getting my point across much better than I did.
I snake my arm behind Jude and fit myself closer to make a point but also just because it feels good. That’s when James looks at Jude, back to me and then at us both together.
“Okay, Gabby, maybe I’ll see you around.” He looks at me a beat, I raise my eyebrows giving him a fake smile before he turns to leave.
The Carpino Clan at least gives him enough time to get out of earshot before starting up the Carpino Incinerator. My Uncle Gino starts, “That ass has a lot of nerve trying to talk to you in front of all of us.”
“He’s got some balls approaching Gabby after what he did,” Tony adds, now on my side again.
“But did you see his face?” Paige exclaims, the only happy one in our clan over what just happened. “That. Was. Awesome! With Jude telling him he’s your man and all. Jude, you’re way hotter. It makes me so happy that Gabby got caught in that raid with the gun smuggling people. We always hated James. Crazy as it was, I’d pay to see that again. That made my night. Priceless!”
As I glare at Paige, my Uncle Tony says, “Paige, sweetheart, you couldn’t afford to pay to see that again. It’s time for you to get a real job.”
“Dad,” she yells back, not finding his comment priceless. The rest of my family just shake their heads, as we are all accustom to Paige. She has her own brand of crazy.
Jude softly gives my shoulders a squeeze. “You okay?”
Letting the tension go, I smile up at him only to realize that yes, I am more than okay. “I’m fine.” I look at the rest of my family and go on. “Really, everyone. I’m good.”
I can see my tense family barely begin to relax—other than Paige who seemed to love the entire exchange—and sweet Sophia saves me by saying, “Welp, everything looks amazing, Gabby. You did a great job. Sorry I wasn’t up to helping. Two more weeks with this one. I feel like a blimp.” She leans against Lanny as he takes her weight with an arm around her while she rubs her big, preggo belly.
“Thanks.” Looking up at my family I say, “I need a drink. Who wants a drink?”
“Come on, I’ll take you to the bar,” Jude says and he takes my hand pulling me through my family.
As we walk through my clan, Pop puts his hand up to Jude’s shoulder stopping our progress. Keeping his hand on Jude’s shoulder he looks up at Jude for more than a beat, then with his other hand slaps him on the back giving him a little shake. Then, one more slap on the back and Pop moves to walk away.
I look up at Jude, grin at him. “I think you’ve just been given approval by the king.”
Jude leans down and kisses my head, saying quietly, “I’m glad.”
Th
en we go in search of a much-needed drink.
Paige is swinging Gabby around the dance floor and Tia is trying to get in on the fun. They are all laughing their asses off. Gabby’s not as drunk as she was that night with her friends, but she’s getting close to it. She’s drinking something called a Salty Dog, which I’m pretty sure is just grapefruit juice and vodka with a salted rim.
She’s made me dance with her a handful of times which I cannot believe I did, because I don’t dance. Ever. She’s danced with all of her uncles, cousins, and even made friends with Tony’s young date, who we found out just graduated from high school less than a year and a half ago. It was fucking hilarious and I’m pretty sure that bit of news put a cold blanket on Tony’s night. Needless to say, he might ask how old women are when he picks them up from now on.
I’ve been sitting here at our table nursing a beer for the past hour watching men watch Gabby and I’m about to go fucking insane. Seeing her ex approach, telling her how good she looks made me want to put my fist in his face. He doesn’t get to say how good she looks, he lost that right when he broke up with her when she was already broken—the asshole. Between dealing with her ex and watching men adjust themselves while watching her have fun on the dance floor has put me on edge, to say the least. The only thing that’s kept me even keeled is watching her throw her big beautiful secret smile at me that only lovers share. But then that makes me wonder if she used to give that same look to her ex, putting me on fucking edge again. I hate to be a hypocrite because I’ve had plenty of women, but now that I’ve seen the asshole in person and knowing he had her before me is about to make me crazy.
On that thought, I see Gabby give me the universal sign for another drink and pointing to the bar as Paige has her hand dragging her to the stables. Keeping my eye on her, I hear Tony say, “I can’t believe you got Pop’s blessing so soon. James broke up with Gabby right before she moved in with Pop, so he had to deal with that as well the death of her parents. No one’s more protective of Gabby than Pop. And that’s saying something, because we’re all pretty protective of her.”
“I’m feeling like I could give him a run for his money,” I mutter, not taking my eyes off her, still making the trek up the hill to the bar in her short ass dress.
“Well, the jury is still out on that, but I’m thinking maybe you might.” Then he adds, “Or should I say, we’re all hoping you will.”
That got my attention. Looking straight at him. “You don’t think I will?”
“Like I said, we’re all hoping. You’ve only been around for a month, but you’ve proved yourself so far.” He pauses, looking down at his beer shaking his head then looking back at me. “I’m closer to Gabby than I am my own sisters. I don’t remember it every being another way. I’m just saying, Jude, we’ve got pretty fucking high expectations when it comes to Gabby. She deserves happy and if someone or something takes that away from her, I don’t think her family is going to be too forgiving.” He delivers his warning softly. “I like you Jude, I’m on your side, and I hope you saw that the day in the hospital. Shit, I pegged you a good guy when I met you and could tell you were interested in Gabby. Why do you think I invited you to the draft? But I love my cousin, so make her happy. She’s had enough hurt to last a lifetime.”
I don’t get a chance to respond to his warning because we hear a familiar but drunk voice. “Take your hands off of her, you asshole!”
Tony and I whip our heads around to see Paige pulling on James’s arm since he has both his hands around Gabby’s biceps. I fold out of my chair and start across the open grassy area to get to them, just off from the bar. As I close in, I see that James has her by the upper arms and is crouched down a bit with his face in hers. Gabby is rearing back as much as she can, her eyebrows are pulled together and she’s quickly shaking her head while saying something I can’t hear.
I make my last few strides to them and grab his forearm with my left hand. He’s surprised by me because he instantly lets go of Gabby. Tony pulls Gabby out of my peripheral vision, only for me to see a fist coming my way. I duck easily, rear back, and punch the fucking asshole in the face, he stumbles back too many times and barely rights himself. When he looks up to me while holding his jaw, I see he’s drunk off his ass but I don’t give a shit, he swung at me first. Proving he’s not just an asshole, but stupid to boot, he comes at me one more time. I dodge right to miss his pathetic attempt at an uppercut and grab his wrist. Twisting his arm, he has no choice but to turn his back to me as I grab the other and yank. I keep hold of his arms, pulling them high in back of him until I hear him wince.
Leaning down to the side of his face, I seethe, “You will never see Gabby again, do you understand? If you see her on the street, you’d better fucking walk the other way and fast. You will not scare her and you will never put your fucking hands on her again. You gave her up. Your choice. Now she’s mine. Do you understand me, asshole?” I wait a beat but he doesn’t say a word.
I grip his arms harder and pull them up his back as a warning and he winces. “Yeah, I get you.”
I take his arms and push him so hard he stumbles forward, falling on all fours. “You had better call a fucking cab. If I see you get behind a wheel tonight, I’ll cuff you myself.”
I turn to Gabby to see that Tony has her, her back pulled up against his front with Paige standing close. I go to her, Tony lets her go and she comes straight to me. I put my lips to her head. “Are you okay? What did he say to you?”
Shaking her head against my chest, she answers, “He’s just drunk. He was never a fun drunk. He told me he made a mistake, wanted another go with me, yadda-yadda-yadda, and I kept saying no and to leave me alone. That’s when he grabbed my arms.” She looks up to me and continues. “He didn’t hurt me. I know that freaked you out after what happened with Trevor. It didn’t even scare me, really, there are too many people around. I’m fine, I promise.”
“We’re leaving,” I announce.
Obviously, James didn’t ruin Gabby’s buzz completely because she grins and whispers loudly, “You’d better leave soon, too, Tony. I’m pretty sure your date has a curfew.” She proceeds to giggle out loud and Paige joins her.
“Shit,” Tony drawls, shaking his head knowing he’s not going to live this down anytime soon.
“You don’t want her to end up grounded or anything. Her parents might take away her cell phone or not let her go out next weekend. She can’t miss curfew.”
Tony, glaring at Gabby now, throws Paige a dirty look then turns on his boot to walk away. He really has no comeback and he knows it.
“Bye Tone. I loooove yoooou!” she sings out as I drag her tipsy ass to the car.
“See ya, guys! What a great night. We’ll be talking about this for ages,” Paige exclaims as she turns to follow Tony back to the group.
“Sugar, what am I going to do with you?” I ask as I put her in the car and watch her fumble with her seatbelt. I stop, lean in close to her face and she grins at me.
She pulls her hands up to my face and traces my lips with a finger and while looking at my lips, says, “I can’t believe you hit James.” Then she looks into my eyes. “Boy, you were not kidding when you said you’re territorial.”
Grinning at her I kiss her fast and move to take her home before she gets tired. Despite James, she’s in a good mood, tipsy, and awake. A Gabby who’s tipsy, awake, and in a good mood is probably a lot of fun, so I get my ass in the car to get us home as fast as I can.
Chapter Fifteen
Clunky
I hear the deck door open and Mia jumps down to greet our visitor. I twist around from my comfy position on the outdoor loveseat to see Jude stomping down the deck stairs with his eyes on me. Smiling at him, I turn back around to the fire and make room for him.
He comes up behind me and kisses the top of my head. “Beautiful evening for a fire.”
He makes his way around the loveseat, settles in and swings his arm around me so I can snuggle into his side. I arra
nge the blanket over both of us and Mia jumps up to cuddle in.
“How was your day?” I ask, not taking my eyes off the fire.
“Good. Looks like you’ve been busy. Seriously, babe, how many pumpkin patches did you clean out to find all those for your front porch? I’m not sure there’ll be any left for the little kids in town. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
I twist my head around to look at him and grin. “I like pumpkins. Pretty much anything that has to do with pumpkins. You can’t just buy a couple, to do it right you have to make a statement and that takes a lot of pumpkins.”
I have had a busy day. I didn’t go to a pumpkin patch, but I did have to hit three stores to find the perfect pumpkins and funny looking gourdes I was looking for. Then I made a trip to the garden center, which necessitated cleaning out my summer flowers and vines in my pots, replacing them with mums. That led to changing out my summer door décor to fall décor. It looks like autumn has thrown up on my front porch, but I can’t seem to do anything small, so it is what it is. I even added a few pumpkins out back by the outdoor fireplace on the lower patio. I strung grapevines on the mantel and hung another fall wreath above. We had a bout of Indian Summer last week, but the weather has cooled off again and the trees across the lake are changing colors. A perfect time for an outdoor fire.
“This is a great fireplace, Gabby,” Jude comments.
“My dad loved it out here. He loved to hunt and be outdoors, but my mom wanted all gas fireplaces in the house because of the mess, so he had this built a few years after we moved in. I have lots of memories here with my dad,” I reflect quietly.
“That’s good,” Jude whispers against my head. “You okay today?”
“I’m fine, why?”
“No reason, you just seem quiet.”
“Really, I’m fine.”
“Okay then, we need to talk about something.” He turns me a bit so I look at him. “When were you going to tell me?”
