Where She Belongs (18 page)

"Thank
you," said Shanna. "We have to let it breathe for a bit
first."

"I
don't think I've had a wine I had to let breathe. Most of my wine
drinking was in the tailgate of a truck parked in a field. And it was
right out of a bottle we passed around."

"The
good old days. Remember when you used to buy us underage kids
alcohol?"

"I
knew if I didn't, you'd find someone else. At least this way, I knew
how much you had. And where you were going."

"I
used to daydream that we'd just take the wine and you'd take me back
to your house, well it was that old house on Birch Drive."

Gabe's
heart skipped. She'd fantasized about him as a virgin. God, he wished
he'd been her first, instead of that asshole, Kenneth Gibson. He
tramped on his imagination before it went further down that road.
He'd come in his pants if he thought too hard. "I'm going to
swing the topic back to the starting point, because your high school
fantasies are probably too much for me to handle during a meal. Do
you want some wine?”

“
Good
enough, I guess. Yes please.” He poured them each a glass from
the bottle.

They
both took a drink, then she tapped her nails on her glass. "Right,
so Trenton. I learned a lot from him."

"Sounds
like more so from his textbooks."

Shanna
looked up at him sharply. "Well…"

Gabe
looked at the wall behind her. "Sorry, maybe I'm overstepping my
role." Shut up, man.

"What
role is that?”

“
Objective
listener. I said I wanted to hear more. Anyway, so you helped him.”
His GPA went way up, he seduced an innocent girl. Gabe took a long
drink of the wine while he managed his show of emotions. This was
harder than he thought.

“
He
took me to fancy dinners as thank-yous, and eventually all our
friends said we were dating. He graduated and moved off campus. He
spoiled me, and I helped him with work when I had time. I graduated
and we moved in together. He helped me with getting a job at Brooke
Enterprises International.”

“
Sounds
as though you live a lavish life.” That was something he
couldn’t give her here. Claresholm would always be small.

“
Only
the best restaurants and clubs. We’ve been to New York and San
Francisco this last year. We are hopefully going to Mexico after
Christmas. Maybe closer to February.”

He
could take her on trips. There were places he longed to see and he
would love to explore with her. “What about Europe?”

“
Trenton
has been, so he’s not as excited. His grandparents live in
England. It was on our someday list. Or mine.”

"How
about working with him? That must get stressful."

"I
find it quite challenging."

"You
don't mind being an assistant?"

"I'm
not going to be his assistant long. When I get home, I’m going
to move on. Likely into HR."

"Wasn't
your focus marketing?"

"Yeah,
but I have a better knack for people."

"Says
who?"

She
twirled the stem of her wineglass. "People I work with. Trenton.
He says marketing is really cutthroat. Everyone is out to get their
coworkers. Hyper-competitive. I don't want that type of work."

So
go to a different company. Gabe clenched his teeth as he leaned back,
but he managed to stay quiet. "I guess for Trenton it will be
hard to find another assistant as good as you."

"Of
course. I'll probably still have to proof his stuff. He's not great
with spelling or grammar. He's good at talking people into things."

Gabe
decided to keep his knowledge to himself for now. He'd tell her
later, when he dropped her off. He didn't want to piss her off before
supper. "Maybe we should change the subject."

"How's
your Mom? Living in Red Deer must be a big change."

“
I
only see her a few times a year myself. She and Wes have been married
nearly ten years. She likes the city now.”

“
That’s
good. I should call her. It always seems I never make time for things
like that.”

“
She’d
like that. She’ll always have a soft spot for your family.”
His father had worked for Whittikar Cabinets as a truck driver. He
died in an accident when Gabe was seven. Bryce had always felt
responsible for Gabe and paid for his college education.

“
You
can only thank Dad for paying, you worked hard to get where you are.
I think I always admired that and wanted to be like you.” She
paused and looked at her thumb, with frown she sucked the digit into
her mouth.

Good
lord, her mouth should come with warning signs. His pants got a size
smaller and he tried to adjust himself.

He
lifted his eyes to hers in time to catch the glint in her eye.
Knowing her own power made her sexier. "I admit that I didn't
notice you until I came back to work for your dad."

He
was dying to reach across the table, take her hand and suck her
finger into his mouth. The waitress stepped into his peripheral view.
He reluctantly looked away from Shanna as his food was placed before
him.

*
* *

By
the end of the meal, Shanna let her guard down. Despite the tension
the conversation about her boyfriend and life had caused, she put all
the things she’d confessed to Gabe out of her mind and focused
on enjoying her best friend again.

When
they climbed in the truck, Trenton’s threat floated back into
her head. She clenched her fists on her legs, staring hard out the
windshield.

Gabe
obviously noticed her tension. He parked the truck outside her
parent’s house. "What's wrong?" He reached over and
touched her leg.

She
realized since leaving the restaurant, she'd worked her forehead into
some deep lines. She rubbed them away with her palm. "I was
just…" She shook her head. "Nothing, never mind."

"Shanna
you can tell me anything. You already told me everything about you
and Trenton."

"I
was thinking about the last conversation I had with Trenton. He was a
total ass to me out of nowhere. And after everything we talked about,
it just made me think."

Gabe
put his hand on her neck and stroked the skin just under her ear. "I
don't know what to say to you. I really want you to be happy, but I'm
also selfish. I think I can make you happiest." Before she could
form a reply, he kissed her. She let him kiss her. When she didn't
respond, he let her go with a sigh. "Sorry. I broke my promise."

She
took his hand. "I have to think."

He
pulled back a little. "I don't know whether I should tell you.
When you started dating Trenton, he was barely staying in school.
After you were on the scene, his marks skyrocketed."

Shanna
felt a chill crawl up her spine as her stomach started churning. She
flung herself back. "How did you check into his marks? What?
Why? Gabe."

"I
wanted to see what you were getting into."

"You
had no right to do that." Her nails bit into her palms and tears
threatened her eyes. She grappled for the door handle.

He
grabbed her hand. "Shanna, I know that it wasn't right. But I
thought you needed to know. You may hate me for a while, but I didn't
want you to go back and keep carrying him. He's been using you for
years."

She
yanked her hand away. "Don't touch me. Don't talk to me."
She grasped the handle and pushed the door open.

"I
love you," he yelled after her.

Fuck
you. She didn't say it. She stomped across the lawn and crashed the
door open. Her mother ran for the door and met Shanna halfway to the
stairs. "Sorry, I had a horrible evening. Gabriel Brande is a
selfish asshole."

"What
happened?" her mom asked.

Her
dad was ten steps behind, slowed by his recent hospital experience.
His voice thundered over everyone else's. "What's going on?"

"Gabe
stuck his nose where it doesn't belong. I don't care why. I'm not
talking with him ever again." There was a knock on the door.
"Ever." She looked at her dad pointedly.

Bryce
nodded. "Alright. I'll go talk to him."

"What
happened?" Rita asked after her husband had gone.

"I
don't even want to think about it. I'm going to take a bath, then I,
surprise, have a bit of work to do before bed." She looked at
her mother. "You know what? To hell with work. I'm going to come
and watch television with you and Dad. All I've done since I've been
here is work. Maybe I won't go to the office tomorrow."

"I
thought you had that conference call tomorrow."

"Oh,
damn it. Well, I'll go in for that, then take the rest of the day
off. I'll take you and dad out for lunch."

Rita
Whittikar smiled. "Alright, you let me know."

Shanna
knew her mom was placating her, but she snuggled into her mom's arms.
She rested there a moment then disengaged herself. She needed to get
away and cry. She'd been through the gamut of emotions tonight: joy,
peace, anger, love and sadness.

Love?
"Can you start my bath please?"

Her
mom nodded and left the room. She could hear her father and Gabe
still talking in the foyer. She closed the door and broke down in
silent sobs, or at least as quiet as she could manage.

She'd
loved Gabe since she was a teenager. She loved him now. She was dying
to run out of the room and tell him everything in her heart. His
interference tempered that desire a little. She didn't want to love
him. She wanted to go back to Toronto and live out her life plan. Now
she didn't know what she wanted for the future.

After
a few minutes she dragged herself off the floor and undressed. She
wrapped her robe around herself, ready to head for her bath. Her dad
waited outside the room for her and he glanced at her. "I don't
want to hear his excuses."

"I
know why you are upset."

"No,
you don't. He's fucked everything up and he's made it worse by
telling you everything."

"I'm
sure he didn't tell me everything. Look, I wanted to tell you I
understand."

"Maybe
I can talk about it tomorrow. Tonight, I want to forget everything."

She
went back into her room and closed the door. She listened to her
dad's footsteps as they retreated. Once she felt alone, she lay down
on her bed and cried again.

*
* *

Shanna
wrapped her hands around her coffee mug as she looked at her papers
again. She tried to shift the pages around but her fingers were
shaking too much.

She
sat in the conference room looking at the empty chairs around her.
There were only a few people in on the call today. Her dad was really
pissed that he wasn't in on the final call, as he had done most of
the work for this contract.

Gabe
hadn't attempted to talk to her this morning. She didn't know whether
that made her happy or sad. She missed his reassuring presence at
work. She was merely supposed to be sitting in on this call, not
doing much talking.

The
door opened. She looked up and saw Gabe.

"Oh,
I didn't know anyone was in here. I was just going to check the
equipment."

"It's
fine. Come in," she said, trying hard to keep any emotion out of
her voice.

He
sat across the table from her, near the conference phone and played
with the buttons. "Shan―"

"Let's
not talk about it. It's my last day here. I don't want to fight with
you. You are my best friend, I don't want to lose that."

He
sighed. "Okay." He looked at his sheets. "I hate this
thing."

"Here
give me the sheet and let me see." She glanced at the sheet then
pushed the correct sequence to test the phone lines. "See,
everyone needs a good assistant."

He
sighed again, then held up his hands. "I won't fight. How about
you take the lead on the call?"

Her
stomach flipped and she thought she might throw up all over the
table. "What?"