Page 84 of Sanctuary

“And your birthday,” Gabe said. “That’s the main reason your mom’s here, isn’t it?”

“Yes. Yes, it is,” Lori said. “And I really, really can’t wait until Saturday night. I’ve got a feeling it’s going to be the best birthday I’ve ever had.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” She drew in a deep breath of fresh country air. “Life is so good right now. The rust bucket is almost out of my life, Ellery is moving into the clinic soon, and I have a very special new friend.” She gazed up into Gabe’s eyes and swallowed. How easy it would be to step up onto her tiptoes and press her lips against Gabe’s right now. She’d bet the reality would smash her fantasies out of the park.

Lori took a step back and motioned to the house. “I have to start dinner. If you’re okay to settle Max and lock his gate when you’re done, maybe you could stay for some food.”

“No, that’s okay. I don’t want to intrude on family time, so I’ll just honk when I leave.”

Lori almost pursued the matter but didn’t. Gabe was always honest with her answers, so Lori knew she wouldn’t feel comfortable having dinner with them tonight. What Lori didn’t know was whether it was yet another sign of Gabe’s sensitivity to the needs of others or whether their happy family was too painful a reminder of her own childhood. She nodded. “Perfect.”

“And then I’ll look forward to seeing you on Tuesday at the garage,” Gabe said.

“Okay.” And I’ll look forward to seeing all of you on Saturday night…

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Gabe pushed the knotted material upward and shifted her tie to sit just lower than the open top button of her shirt. There; smart but casual. She glanced at the matching vest lying on the bed, trying to decide if it might be too much.

“If you’re trying to impress her parents, I think you’re wasting your time,” Shay said from the doorway of Gabe’s bedroom. “If they don’t like you after their Tuesday visit to the garage, they never will.”

“You don’t think they like me?” She could’ve said that she wasn’t trying to impress Lori’s parents, but Shay would’ve seen through the lie before she’d finished the sentence.

Shay arched her eyebrow. “I think they’re two steps away from adopting you, or maybe even all of us. Since they’re branching out into human care now, you’d be a good starting point.”

“What did you think about that?” Gabe shoved the vest back in her closet. “I think it sounds too good to be true.”

Shay entered Gabe’s bedroom and eased herself onto the armchair, her slinky dress and heels clearly making it difficult to go that low. “You don’t think he’s going to pull it off?”

“I didn’t say that. I’m just not convinced that it will go any further after his pilot project. You know what governments are like with fresh initiatives; they grow tired of them and move onto the next shiny object that will keep their presidential approval ratings high.”

“I don’t know about that. If he secures the backing of that billionaire tech woman, he can almost do what he wants, where he wants to. He won’t need government approval. RB seemed really excited by it.” Shay eyeballed Gabe through her reflection in the mirror. “Or don’t you want it to work in case Lori gets pulled into it?”

“Do you think she’d leave the Sanctuary?” Gabe turned around to face Shay. “I mean, of course I want it to work. It’s a fantastic idea, and anything that helps us all when we leave the service is great. Obviously.”

“But you don’t want to lose your new…friend.”

Gabe sat on the edge of her bed. “Friend, yeah.”

“So last Saturday was just drunk, harmless flirting and nothing more?”

It’d been beautiful torture but knowing nothing could come of it also had her feeling a little melancholy about it still. “Yep. Thankfully.”

Shay laughed. “Rather you than me. She brought her A-game out. If I’d been you, I would’ve taken her to the nearest hotel before we even finished the first game of pool.”

“Lucky it wasn’t you then, but you did end up with her best friend, so it wasn’t exactly a bad night for you either.”

Shay wiggled her eyebrows. “I’m aiming for a repeat performance tonight.”

“Be careful, Shay. If you mess Rosie around, it’ll make things awkward with Lori.”

“Relax, you don’t need to worry about that. No-strings sex, like always.”

“Which is fun till it unravels, right?”

“No one’s unraveling, Gabe. We’re just having fun, and we both know it. Anyway,” Shay tapped the arm of the chair, “we were talking about you, Lori, and her family.”

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