Page 20 of A Little More Hope

“I’m really good.” As soon as I told him, I recognized the truth in my words. The weight I’d carried around in my chest since the attack had eased slightly, allowing me to breathe for the first time in what seemed like forever. “And I think I’m beginning to make some real progress.”

“That’s really great to hear.” The lightness in his voice made me thankful. I’d put him—well, all my friends and family—through a massive scare. Add in the debilitating effects of my putting a heavy strain on those close relationships, it was safe to say I’d put them, and myself, well and truly through the ringer. So to give Gabe some good news for a change, pleased me no end.

“Everything okay at work?” I asked, instantly worried over the answer. I hoped there’d not been a problem with one of my resorts, meaning I had to go back to the city, or worse, to a different country to resolve the issue. “That’s not why you called, is it?”

“No, no, work’s fine. I just wanted to see how you were, nothing more.”

Hmm, why didn’t I believe him? “Gabe.” I smirked when he sighed this time.

“It’s nothing, honestly, nothing.”

“Talk to me,” I replied gently. Only one particular scenario ever made Gabe so reticent to speak.

“They set a date.” He barely spoke the words, but they instantly had my hackles raising.

“Not Christmas Eve?” I asked, already knowing the answer.

“Yeah,” was all he said. He hadn’t needed to say any more.

“Jesus fucking Christ. Wait until I get my hands on them. There’ll be nothing left of their pathetic asses by the time I’m done.” Okay, maybe I didn’t always maintain my cool, but seriously, why would they do that to him?

A small chuckle from Gabe. “Not that I don’t appreciate you defending my honor, but it’s not that big a deal. They were always gonna get married, so…”

So? So? “But it’s the day you picked for the three of you to exchange vows. Not them. You can’t be happy about this Gabe. You can’t.”

He kept quiet for a long time. “It is, what it is,” he stated in the end. “Nothing I can do to change that, so there’s no point getting worked up over it.”

I didn’t believe a word of what he told me. Their breaking up with him had hurt, badly. It’s the reason I was able to sit on this bed in his beach house today. The one he’d bought to hide himself away and come to terms with being dumped by committee. At least I had Ash to keep me company. Who’d Gabe had in this small community?

Ash, Christ. He was in the sitting room—in only a towel.

Torn between helping my best friend or helping Ash, I struggled with what to do. In the past, my loyalty had always remained first and foremost with my friends, even when I was engaged. Which, now I come to think about it, was very telling about the state of my relationship with Lindsay. But Ash had also become part of the equation, and I struggled to figure out exactly where he fit in, as at the minute, he’d risen close to the top.

In the end, Gabe won, of course, as he needed me the most right now, whereas Ash had been dressed, or more to the point, undressed, in only a towel for quite a while, so could wait a few minutes longer for some clothes.

“Why don’t we go somewhere for the holidays?” I asked Gabe. “Somewhere hot and far away where we can both kick back and relax.” How I’d achieve that when I’d only managed a small walk outside today remained to be seen. But if I helped Gabe to forget about his exes for five minutes, I’d go on vacation with him in a heartbeat.

“I’ll think about it,” he replied, which was Gabe talk for unlikely to happen.

“Gabe,” I admonished him gently. “In case you didn't know, I’m an expert on not doing what’s best for yourself and burying your head in the sand.”

He laughed louder this time and more genuinely. “That so?”

I grinned down the phone at him. “Sure is. So, when I say you need to get away, to give yourself a chance to gain some perspective, trust me enough to know what I’m talking about. Even if you don’t want to go somewhere hot, why not come up here to your beach house? The one place you know already is, and will continue to be, your safe haven, as much as you’ve allowed it to be mine.”

He went quiet for a few beats. “The beach house does sound like a good option. Plus, the town does have loads to do during the holidays.”

“We can also see if the guys are free and the four of us, and Nate, can all vacation together. Come on, it’ll be fun. All of us together like the old days.”

“Jesus, Mason, how old the fuck are you? Like the old days, my ass.”

I smiled, knowing I had him. He loved when we all hung out together.

“So, it’s a deal?”

Gabe huffed. “Yeah, yeah, it’s a deal.”

“Great. Okay, now I need to go, as I’m sure I can hear the food delivery guy coming up the path.” I hated lying but guessed I’d not get much more out of Gabe anyway since we’d agreed on a way forward. And I’d left Ash alone for far longer than I should.

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