Page 89 of A Little More Forgiveness

Until the other night when he’d finally let his guard down and told us about his ex-partners, and I got to see a side of him he’d hardly ever revealed. He needed us as much as we needed him, but by coming to Mitch’s defense, he must have reasoned I continually worked to undermine him.

I’d been so blind to his view of our situation and had completely missed how I’d treated him in the exact same way as his exes. In my rush to protect Mitch, I finally saw how I’d been acting just like them, and so yes, I had taken sides, even if I didn't realize I had at the time. He must have been so hurt and upset to see history repeating itself.

The sound of the bedroom door being wrenched open made me jump. Gabe emerged from the room dressed once more in his white silk shirt, minus the lavender tie, and his expensive designer suit. Even with the remnants of mud stains he’d failed to remove after being thrown into the snow the first day we arrived, he remained every inch the sophisticated and savvy businessman.

It took a second for his clothing to register, I was so lost in drinking him in. He’d showered and slicked his damp hair off his face, the severity of the style highlighting his sharp cheekbones and strong jaw. It didn’t take much to imagine him in a conference room overseeing high-powered meetings and closing multibillion-dollar deals. But why was he dressed… My stomach dropped when it dawned on me, but I forced the question past my lips anyway.

“Why are you in your suit?”

He flicked his head my way, disdain clear. “Mitch left his phone in the bedroom. He got a message. The bridge is open.”

I gaped at him. “So, what? You’re simply gonna leave?” My brain refused to grasp the idea he’d up and go, so easily able to abandon us.

“Damn right, I am.” He stalked to the front door and grabbed my car keys from the side where they’d sat in the tray alongside Mitch’s. “I’m taking your Jeep.”

“The hell you are.”

Not bothering to respond, he instead yanked on the door and, leaving it wide open, headed for my car. The icy air blasted into the warm house, but ice already filled my veins as I watched my dreams fall apart right in front of me.

I darted over to the cabin entrance in my bare feet and out on to the porch. “Gabe. Wait.”

He’d already reached the car and ripped off the tarpaulin Mitch had placed over the windshield to stop the glass freezing over. Unlocking the doors he climbed in. The noise when he started the engine drowned out my continued shouts, my throat hurting as I pleaded with him to stop, to wait.

Mitch came out of the stables in time to see Gabe drive off, careening down the road in his hurry to get away before he eased off the gas and straightened up halfway down the snow-clogged track.

“No,” I whispered as he disappeared around the bend. “No.”

I turned to Mitch, but he remained on the edge of the yard, his blank expression revealing nothing, before he returned to whatever he was doing, leaving me feeling more alone and more useless than ever.

I stood on the porch in only a pair of underwear and a light T-shirt, not even noticing the icy cold air on my skin. I was numb inside, anyway, so what difference did it make?

Mitch’s eventual return jolted me out of my stupor.

“Get inside. You’ll freeze to death.”

I let him usher me into the living area, absently noting he made sure to keep a couple of feet away to avoid touching me.

“Get dressed and pack your things,” he ordered, his hard voice devoid of emotion, exactly the same way he’d been when we first arrived. I tried hard to understand what had gone so horribly wrong so quickly but numbly did as I was told, got dressed, packed my stuff, and returned to the living area within ten minutes.

“I’m guessing the bridge has been repaired. I’ll drive you to your office.” Nothing else. No are you okay? Why did Gabe leave? Nothing.

I didn’t speak as, in his current state, Mitch wouldn’t listen to anything I had to say anyway. Not wanting to antagonize him further, I silently pulled on my coat and picked up my duffel in readiness to leave and tried to ignore the fear twisting my gut into painful knots.

The drive into town took forever. Mitch stopped briefly to talk to the people still working on the bridge like he didn’t have a care in the world. I glanced at the repairs while I waited. A crude and makeshift track crossed the expanse, consisting of a couple of steel girders with thick plastic slats laid on top. Mitch and the guy mentioned something about insurance, but I tuned them out, not interested in what they had to say.

We made the rest of the journey in a tense and uncomfortable silence. I had no clue where to start or what to say to begin unraveling what had gone so terribly wrong. When Mitch pulled up outside my office, my vehicle was neatly parked out front. Hope bloomed for a fleeting moment that Gabe had hung around, but a glance on the other side of the road gave me my answer. An empty space replaced where his SUV had been parked, the rectangle clear of snow, the only reminder he’d been there at all.

“Mitch,” I began but stopped when his jaw clenched. “Please.” I tried, but he sat stock still, refusing to look at me. Unbuckling, I grabbed my bag off the floor in front of me, opened the door, and got out of his truck. He pulled away almost as soon as my feet landed in the snow, leaving me standing on the sidewalk staring after him the same way I’d stared after Gabe as he’d driven away.

So lost in my head at losing both men after so recently finding them, I hadn’t registered the grating sound of my office door opening behind me until my stepfather’s hard voice cut through the air. “Get in here,” he ordered. “Now.”

Christ, this was all I damn well needed. And what the hell was he doing at my office anyway? He’d have had no idea when I’d be arriving back from Mitch’s, so how? My brain was too fried to work out the answer, and of course, Malcolm didn’t wait to see if I followed his command. Instead, he turned and went inside the building, assuming whenever he spoke, I complied.

Dejected, I trailed after him.

“Well?” he demanded as soon as I entered the office. “Did he sell? Do you have the signed papers?”

I shook my head in defeat and watched his face darken. “I knew you’d fuck it up,” he sneered. “That you wouldn’t have the balls to see the plan through. I should have known better. Should have expected you to let me down…again.” He shook his head in disgust as I listened to him drone on for the next few minutes or so.

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