Cart Before The Horse (10 page)

Gabe watched her then shook his head. “Why am I bothe
ring?” He opened the door and climbed out of the car, stepping into the icy wind.

Holly followed.
“Where are you going? You can’t leave.”

“I’m not leaving, Holly. I’m driving. You’re making
me crazy.”

Her jaw dropped and she stood there staring at him.
“Why do you make my head spin when I’m around you?”

“Chandra says it’s because you like me and just won’t a
dmit it.”

It could have been the wind blowing straight through her, or the fact that maybe he was right, that pierced her gut and prickled on her skin.
“I don’t like you.”

“Too bad.”

“That’s not what I meant.” But at this point she didn’t know what she meant. She shivered in the cold, a sharp contrast to the angry heat that boiled in her. Yes, she liked him, or she wanted to at least. “Get in the car.” He took a step to move around her.

“No.”

“I’m freezing out here. Did you not see the wall of snow headed our way?” He pointed off to the west and over the mountains to the big gray band of clouds that slowly enveloped the mountain range

“I’m not done talking to you.”

“It didn’t seem like you were talking to me at all.”

She stomped her foot, took a deep breath, and grabbed the lapel of his coat.
She dragged him against her until he stumbled and had to grab hold of the car to hold himself up. She pressed her cold lips to his and kissed him until her mind was blank and her breath was gone.

“There.
I feel better now,” she said as she let go of his coat.

“Warmed me up.
What’s going on?”

Her stomach twisted uncomfortably. “I’ll marry you.”

The corner of his mouth turned upward, and he raised his eyebrows. “Did I ask?”

She dropped her shoulders and let the weight of disa
ppointment sink into her gut. “Don’t make me feel like an idiot.”

Gabe smiled and wrapped his arms around her waist.
 

“Ho
lly, will you marry me?”

His body blocked the wind that had been assaulting her skin.
The warmth of his touch soothed the cold and her nerves. He gave her comfort, and she had to admit to herself that she truly enjoyed that. “Yes.”

“That’s a great start.”
He pressed a gentle kiss to her lips and tucked his hand under her coat. He rested it on her stomach. “You don’t have to love me, that’s okay. But I want you to know I love this baby with everything that I am. And that makes you one very special person. I won’t tell you again that I love you until you’re ready, but Holly, I think I do.”

“Gabe…”

“Now you know where I stand, okay?”

“Okay.”

“And do you want to discuss big weddings with your mother, or should we plan to go and get married on a lunch break?” He smiled, and she rested her head on his shoulder.

“No big wedding.
But no lunchtime wedding either. Maybe a little something at Thanksgiving when your parents
are here.”

“That would make me very happy.”

“And it’s a formality.” She lifted her head and met his eyes, needing him to understand.

He gritted his teeth. “I see.”

She lifted her head higher and tightened her muscles as though she were bracing for a fight. “I’ve worked very hard, and I own my own car and I have my own house.”

Gabe took a step back.
“What exactly is your point?”

“It means this is to appease my mother.” That much was true.
Holly didn’t need marital bliss. She just needed it on
paper. Especially since she didn’t really know Gabe at all. At least that was what the nagging feeling in her gut made her think. “It means that it will give our baby a last name. It means…”

“It means that Holly Jacobs is married before her baby

comes into the world, but she has no plans to love her hu
sband or live with him.” He dropped his hands. “You’re a piece
of work.”

Her mouth dropped open and she sucked in a blast of cold air. “Do you expect me to give up everything?”

“I expect you to meet me halfway.” He stepped away from her. “We’re going to be late.”

Holly stood a moment longer.
Why couldn’t he see that her every move from the moment she’d met him had been a mistake? It was all backward, and none of it was going to work out. He was foolish to think otherwise. In the end, it would be her and the baby. She’d known it in her heart from the moment she saw the positive result on the EPT stick.

She walked around the car and got in. Gabe slid behind the wheel and slammed the door.

Her mother was going to see past each and every one of her lies. Nausea washed over her, and she fought it off. Why couldn’t her life have been normal?

The only talking they did was when she gave him dire
ctions to the house. He pulled up and put the car in park.

She looked up at the house and saw the curtain move.
Her mother was already waiting for her. “Maybe you should just come back for me in an hour.”

“I’m starting to not like this coward you are.”
He climbed from the car and walked around to her door.

“Really, Gabe.
I’ve always been a coward. You met me in my one moment of not being a coward.” She took the hand he offered her and climbed out of the car. Her stomach twisted uncomfortably and a sea of nausea washed over her. “I don’t feel good.”

“You’re pregnant.
You have good reason.”

“It’s not that.”

“Please, let’s just get inside. Tell your parents I knocked you up and we’re having a baby. Give the damn ring back if you have to.”

“You’re mad.”

He dropped her hand and turned so his back was to the house.
“Yes. I’m mad. You think you’re the only one whose life has been turned upside down with this. But so has mine. However, unlike you, I see this as an opportunity. A new start. Something exciting. Something worth trying for.” He tugged at the collar of his jacket. “You see it as a death sentence.”

She opened her mouth to speak then closed it again.
He was right. She wasn’t being fair to either one of them with her outlook on it, but she couldn’t help it. “I’m sorry.”

“I know you are, but I’m not.
So I’m going up those stairs, and I’m going to meet the grandmother of my child. I’m going to be pleasant and cordial. I’m going to keep my damn mouth shut and let you decide your path. But know this, whatever you tell them, you have to live with. If I’m just some bastard who got you pregnant, then that’s what I’ll always be. If you want to accept my proposal and get married, then I’ll be the very best fiancé and husband. If you just want me to be the friend who will raise your baby with you, then you have that. But be very careful with your next words. You’re going to have to live with them for the rest of your life.”

“Fine by me.” She winced from the pain she’d created for him and, to a lesser degree, from the discomfort her own web of lies was causing her.

Gabe turned as her father opened the door. He lifted a hand in a wave, and his scowl was replaced by a smile.

“Hi, Ed.”

“She got you away from work?” Her father nodded slowly.

“Yeah.
I needed a day off. My bartender was getting sassy.” He reached inside the car for the bottle of wine and then shut the door.

He took her hand and they walked toward the house.
Why couldn’t she have his confidence? Or at least fake it. A moment ago he’d been furious with her, and now he was easily having a conversation with her father and holding her hand, rubbing his

thumb over her skin.

She, however, just might throw up on her mother’s expe
nsive Persian carpet.

Her father looked at her as she neared the door.
“You look downright pale. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, Daddy.”
She let go of Gabe’s hand and wrapped her arms around her father’s neck. “I’ll be fine.”

“It’s going to be okay,” he whispered in her ear before she let go and he shook Gabe’s hand. “Trudy is in the kitchen.
She put on a turkey this morning.” He shut the door and led them to the back of the house. “I told her we were going to be tired of it by Thanksgiving.”

Her mother was basting the large bird when they walked through the door of the kitchen.

“Oh you’re here.” She made a little squeal, and Holly reached for Gabe’s hand again. “This bird is almost done.” She smiled at Holly, shifted her eyes to Gabe, and then back before she gave Holly an awkward hug. “I’m glad you came.”

“
Mom, this is Gabriel Maguire.”

“Gabriel, it’s nice to finally meet you.”
She shook his hand.

“It’s Gabe.
And thank you.” He held out the bottle of wine. “This is for you. My bartender picked it out. I hope it’s a good one. If it’s not, it’s completely her fault.” He laughed easily and Holly watched as her mother’s hardness melted.

“Thank you.
Holly, go hang up your coats. Ed?” She turned with the wine. “Open this.”

Holly pulled Gabe through the hallway to the closet by the front door.
She opened it and sighed.

“Step one.
You seem to have softened her up.”

“She didn’t bite, Hol.”
He shrugged out of his coat and handed it to her.

“She will.
I guarantee she will.” Holly hung up his coat and then took out another hanger and hung hers up. She shut the door and turned right in to his arms.

He gathered her up and wrapped his arms tightly around

her waist. She wiggled for some room, but then leaned into him. His voice vibrated in his chest. “Let it go.
You’re a
grown-up.”

“I’ve never felt like one.”

“It’s time to start.” He took her face in his hands and gently kissed her. She was learning very quickly that she enjoyed tender gestures like that. Then he took her by the hand, and they walked back to the kitchen, preventing her from having to admit to him how afraid she was.

Holly’s father handed him a glass of wine, and with a knowing nod, handed her one too.
“Gabe has some wonderful meatloaf at that place of his,” he told Trudy as she handed him the pot holders and he pulled the turkey out of the oven. “What was it? Buffalo?”

“It’s one of our best sellers.
But, Mrs. Jacobs, I’ll admit I’m very excited about having turkey. I’m a bit tired of the
meatloaf.”

She giggled.
Holly’s mother had never done that. “I’m glad she finally got you here. She says you’re getting married. I would have thought she’d have brought you around sooner.”

Gabe gave her hand a squeeze, and she let him keep talking when she really wanted to lash out. It was so typical of Trudy Jacobs to twist the knife piercing Holly’s gut just a little more.
Would she ever realize the reason she hadn’t brought anyone to meet her was that she didn’t want to be belittled in front of him? But then again Gabe had already talked to her like she was a child when they’d stopped in the parking lot.

Holly eased back in her chair.
She’d been acting like a child. How did she think she was going to raise one?

“I’m a bit shy when it comes to other people’s families.”
He leaned over the roasting pan. “That smells great.”

“Thank you.”
Trudy smiled, picked up her wine, and began drinking it down. She gestured to Holly’s dad to set the food on the table.

As was the norm at the Jacobs’ house when there was

guests—get the food on the table as quickly as possible in case the conversation was bad and the guests would leave.

Ed carried the turkey to the table and began to carve it while Trudy began passing around the side dishes she would later swear she’d slaved over.

“Gabe, how long have you been in Colorado?”

He took the mashed potatoes from her and served Holly a scoop and then himself. “I moved out here two years ago to work with my uncle. He’d talked about selling the restaurant, and I was looking for something new to do. So I began to manage it, and just a few months ago he finally let go of the reins and moved back to Boston and I bought him out.”

“How nice.
You live at the restaurant?”

“Just above it.
It’s a nice little apartment. Nothing like Holly’s though.”

Her mother gave a little grunt.
A moment later Holly reached for a roll. Her mother gasped and grabbed her hand. She shot a look to Holly’s dad.

“You gave her the ring?” Her voice cracked as she spoke.

“Trudy, you knew I was going to.”