Fighting For You (9 page)

I gave her a firm squeeze back, burying my face into her shoulder.  Now was not the time for my overactive hormones to take over.  My throat tightened and burned with the tears I held back. There was no doubt Bailey would figure out very quickly my not-so-little secret.  She had an uncanny ability to read me and I was nervous.

We pulled back and I asked, “My Grandma didn’t tell you I was coming back?”

Bailey sighed and shook her head.  “Since you left, she’s been telling me about once a week that you’re coming back.  I finally decided that I wouldn’t believe it until you walked through that door.  Now here you are!”

“Here I am!” I said, shrugging my shoulders. “Oh, and this is my best friend Gabby.  Gabby this is the infamous Bailey.”

Both girls held out a hand and shook them, exchanging smiles.

“It’s so great to finally meet you,” Gabby said.

“You, too! I’ve heard so much about you!”

“What can I say? Dani loves me,” Gabby added with a wink. 

“Ha! Ha!” I deadpanned, while my fingers went up to the ends of Bailey’s new hair. “I can’t believe you never told me about the new do!”

Bailey’s cheeks flushed at my clear admiration.  It was good to see she hadn’t completely changed - she still wasn’t good at taking compliments.

“Yeah, well, it was time for a change,” she brushed off.  That was all she had to say for me to know there was plenty more to that story.  I made a mental note to question her about it mercilessly until she got off what was clearly on her chest.

“I’m glad you did it—you look fabulous!” Her cheeks grew even redder.  She opened her mouth to respond but the front desk phone chose that moment to ring.  The way Bailey let out a slight cringe was enough for me to see she had heard that sound far too much in the past few months.  I smiled and made my way to the desk but she grabbed hold of my wrist to stop me.

“No, Dani. Trust me.  When you are officially back you’ll have more calls than you could ever want to deal with. Why don’t you go show Gabby around and then get some lunch?”

“Only if you come join us for a bit!”

“I will do what I can,” she promised before walking away to serve the next customer.

With one last wave, I turned my attention back to Gabby and with a smile I held out my arm. “How about the grand tour?”

She linked her arm through mine and we were off.  For the first time in my life, I felt proud to show off the Hamilton Inn.  Every square inch of this place held some meaning that I had always chosen to neglect before today.  I showed her the library where I would curl up and read when mom was off only God knows where and Grandma was busy.  She saw the banquet hall where the weddings were held.  All I saw in the hall was Corey and I dancing all alone, but I chose not to share this memory.  Gabby was awed and amazed at every turn, making me that much more excited for her to try the fantastic menu. 

Bailey stopped by as promised for a few minutes for lunch.  Since she was the manager, assistant, and basically owner at the moment, she had no time to really breathe.  I promised her the next day that I’d be back!  Gabby even promised to join us and help out with whatever she could.  At first, I was going to turn her down, but with Gabby leaving a week from tomorrow, I wasn’t about to miss a chance to spend with her.  What made this plan even better was seeing that Gabby and Bailey were already getting along just fine. 

The week flew by.  Every morning, Gabby and I would wake up, get ready and head to work at the Inn.  Bailey caught me up on some of the bigger things that needed to be done and while we worked through that endless list, Gabby did a myriad of things.  Sometimes she helped the maids with turning over the rooms.  Other times she would set the tables for dinner and even show guests up to their rooms.  I couldn’t help but notice how easily she fit into this world.  It was on the tip of my tongue at several points throughout the week to blurt out that she needed to move here.

Honestly, I couldn’t though.  My gut reaction told me she would do it, because I asked, but that wouldn’t be fair to her.  Gabby had her whole life in New York and I couldn’t ask her to uproot everything just because I was going to miss her so damn much.  That didn’t change the fact that every time I thought of her leaving it made my stomach clench.

Unfortunately, her time in Serenity Cove had to come to an end. 

Everything was silent in the car on the way to the airport.  The radio was even off.  Neither of us knew what to say and we realized the first one to speak up would cause an onslaught of tears.  I was far from ready for goodbye, but with each minute we drew closer and closer to the inevitable.  Part of me wanted to use this time to tell her every little thing going through my head.  To let her know the extent of what she meant to me and how, without her, I was going to be a wreck.  But I knew I didn’t have to—Gabby already knew.  Besides, I didn’t know if I could get out everything I wanted to say without turning into a blubbering mess. 

One thing I’ve come to realize is that silence can, at times, say more than any single word could.  And that was just one of those times.

I followed the signs once we arrived at the airport for the drop-off parking lot.  We slid into a spot and unloaded her suitcases.  I took hold of her oversized purse while she wheeled her larger bag.  Once inside, we stopped at a kiosk that allowed Gabby to print off her boarding pass.  I waited patiently, silently praying for some catastrophic event that shut the airport down for the next month.  Maybe a super power outage, workers on strike—it didn’t matter.  I wasn’t picky.  Just as long as it meant that I could keep my best friend by my side.

Unfortunately, nothing happened and now the time had come.

We stood off to the side of the security line for our final moment.  Gabby turned to me and I noticed she already had tears glistening behind her eyes.  A few strays slid from mine and down my makeup-free face. 

“You know, when we first packed our bags to drive you up here, I had alternative plan in mind,” she paused for a moment, desperately trying to regain control of her emotions. I focused on my breathing - anything that could possibly keep me from crying the way Alice had upon her arrival into Wonderland.

“Oh yeah?” I asked and Gabby nodded.

“I was going to tell you that your life wasn’t here.  That Corey wasn’t as great as you made him out to be.  Your Grandmother’s Inn would be fine and your Grandpa could sell the house.  I was ready to tell you that you needed to come home with me.  We could raise this baby together.  We’re practically sisters anyway—why tell that sweet little baby any different?  It was going to work perfectly and…” she stopped to swallow back the same growing lump present in my throat, “…
and I wasn’t going to have to say goodbye to my best friend.”

The first ugly sob raked through my chest and escaped into the open.  There was no hiding the depths of my pain to the passersby. 

“So what happened?” I somehow managed to croak out.

Gabby’s hands wiped under her eyes, catching the freshly fallen tears.

With a large, resigned sigh, she answered.  “This is your home, Danielle.  I’ve seen it—in the Inn, your house, your family and, most importantly, Corey.  I could never take you away from all of this.  You belong here and you and Corey belong together.  You need to show him that you are here for the long haul this time.  That you don’t merely want a distraction from him.  Show him that you want a family with him.  This is where you need to be.”

I threw my arms around her shoulders and hugged her with no intention of letting go.  Gabby was right.  As much as I knew I would miss her and wish for her to be by my side—I couldn’t imagine a future without Corey.  This was where I needed to be, despite the pain a goodbye could cause.

“Don’t you dare get another best friend without me around!”

Gabby let out a strangled mix between a laugh and a sob. “Are you kidding?  Where else could I find another crazy woman like you?”

I hugged her tighter. “I’m really going to miss you.”

“Text and call me every day.” I nodded as more tears made their way down my face.

“I promise.”

“Now, go find your happiness, Danielle Hamilton!  And this time, don’t be afraid of it when it comes.”

“I won’t be.”

Gabby pulled back and cupped my face in her hands. “I love you, Dani.  I’ll be back as soon as I can and you better believe I’ll be on a plane the second you go into labor.”

I nodded against her hands.  Words failed me and tears overwhelmed me.  In the blink of an eye, Gabby was on her way through security and back to the life I decided wasn’t meant for me.  I stood in that very same spot and watched until I could no longer see her through the masses.  Through the free-falling tears, I made my way out to my car.  Behind the wheel once again, this time alone, I let out painful, heart wrenching sobs.  The feeling of loneliness coursing through me was stronger than it had been since the day I said goodbye to Corey.  And now it was just me, my little one and the hope that all would work itself out. 

Corey

Monday afternoons were officially my least favorite thing in this world.  The bar was a ghost town, minus the constant and obnoxious bickering between Sanders and Alex.  Those two guys were two of the closest people to me.  Alex was one of my best friends and Sanders had always been like a little brother to me.  But my God! They bitched like chicks about everything.  It had been over a week since I last saw Dani and I was going out of my mind, which made my attitude come off irritable and short with the two yahoos that had nothing better to do.

“Yo! Guess who just text me Core?” Alex waved his hand in my face to get my attention.  I shot him a clearly uninterested glare.

“I don’t give a damn.”

“You might.” Most of the time I’d tell Alex off and go about my business if I was in a bad mood.  There was something in the way he said it that told me he could be right.

I gave a reluctant sigh and gave into his gossip.

“Who?”

“Gabriella.” He didn’t need to clarify.  Although Alex was quite obviously getting around, I knew there wasn’t another Gabby he would be referring to other than Dani’s friend.

“And what did she want?” I asked as if it was an afterthought.

“It’s actually a message she wants me to pass along to you.”

“Well, I’m listening, Alex.  What’s the message?”

Alex looked back down at his phone, as if he hadn’t already memorized the contents.

“Dani just dropped her off at the airport and Dani was a total wreck when she left.  I guess Gabby’s going back to New York for good and Dani’s on her way home—alone.”

Someday Alex would learn to save his breath.  He didn’t need to tell me nearly all that he did.  If Gabby was headed home, I knew well enough that Dani would need someone to comfort her.  And there was no one else I wanted to be there for her besides me.

My head whipped around towards Sanders and he was already waiting for what was coming.  With a smug ass grin on his face, he nodded his head towards the bar door.

“I’ll hold down the fort,” he confirmed.

With that - I was gone.  Every single time I ran out of work to go to Dani’s side, I came back to the relentless teasing from my crack staff.  They were lucky as hell that I didn’t fire their asses and hire a new crew that was too afraid of me to even think about smiling at something I did.  Maybe running off the way I did made me look whipped, but when your best friend needs you—you don’t ask questions.  And, with Dani, I would never ask.  If I thought she needed me—I’d be there.  Always.

I pulled up to her house to find that she hadn’t returned yet.  A million different thoughts surged through my head.  Was she still at the airport?  Did she go into work?  Did she get into an accident?  Could she have gone to a new dude’s house for comfort?

Luckily for my psyche, Dani pulled up a few minutes after I did.  Even through the windshield I could see how red and puffy her lips and eyes were from crying.  God! Even now, there was no one I knew that could ever be as stunningly beautiful as this woman!  Dani seemed to hesitate behind the wheel before she finally saw me. 

Within seconds, she was out of her car and crossing the driveway to meet me at the front door.  Her bottom lip stuck out ever so slightly in a pout as she spoke.

“Gabby’s gone,” she whispered, not even bothering to mask the broken state she was presently in. 

“I know she is.  That’s why I’m here.”  For half a second I feared that she would send me away and tell me to butt the hell out of her business.  Instead, she staggered forward and molded herself into my arms.  Her head buried deep in my chest while her fingers grabbed handfuls of my jacket to keep me from backing away.

As if I could ever leave her.

“Let’s get you inside,” I whispered against her hair, letting my lips be brave and press soft kisses to the crown of her head. 

Dani nodded slowly against me but didn’t let go.  It only took me a second before I decided to reach down and scoop her into my arms.  She leaned out to unlock the door then turned to burrow herself back into my warmth.  This was why I put up with Sanders and Alex.  Because there was nothing out there that could ever come close to feeling as good as the way it felt to hold Dani in my arms.  To feel her heart beating only inches away from mine.  And to really know that this stunning angel wasn’t simply a figment of my imagination, but that she was here and was meant for me.