Page 58 of The Talk Around Town

“Emma?” Gabe said quietly. She’d finally settled down in his arms, her sobs having faded to the odd sniffle. “There’s something I need to tell you.”

“What is it?”

Where to start?

“I need to apologise for leaving the other morning. I don’t know if you can forgive me. It was heartless, but I did have a reason. At least, I thought I did,” he added.

She shook her head against him. “You don’t need to. I understand. It was a mistake, and you didn’t want to say so. I get it.”

She thinks I don’t want her.Shock made his voice tight. “No, that’s not it at all. That was the most amazing night I’ve ever spent with anyone. I didn’t want it to end.”

Emma slowly sat up and faced him, confusion plain in her teary eyes. “Then what happened? Why did you leave and not call? You even turned your phone off.”

Gabe closed his eyes briefly. How was he going to explain this without looking like a complete and utter fool? He opened them to look at her, willing her to understand.

“I was lying there with you, early, and I kissed you.” He took a breath. “You called me Alex.”

Emma’s eyes widened into huge orbs. “I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to.”

Gabe shook his head. “It’s okay, that wasn’t the problem. I figured he’d been someone important, and your subconscious associated me with him. I looked it up. It happens quite a lot apparently. But I got curious and asked you who he was. You said your husband.”

She gasped, horrified. “Oh no. And you thought…”

He nodded. “I thought you were married. I thought… I didn’t know what to think. Darby probably told you I went through a bad break-up?” At her nod, he continued. “Four years ago, I was engaged. We fought—a lot. About stupid stuff, really. I’d been thinking for a long time that it wasn’t going to work and went to see her to break it off.When I did, she told me she was pregnant.”

Emma’s hand moved to rest on his chest. “What happened?”

Gabe sighed. “We argued. I told her that bringing a baby into our relationship as it was, was a big mistake. I wanted to know how it could’ve happened because we always used protection. Neither of us was ready for kids. She accused me of being a cold-hearted bastard.” He shrugged. “I probably was. I just couldn’t see how a baby could be a good thing when we couldn’t even get along. I didn’t want to spend my life with someone who seemed to hate me so much whenever we were together. I told her I’d support her and the baby financially, but that we were through.”

He picked at some fluff on his knee. “She came to see me a couple of days later and told me she’d had an abortion. Threw the information packet at me and stormed out.”

Emma gasped, her eyes filling with tears again, but this time for him. “Oh, Gabe. No.”

Gabe looked down at the floor, unable to handle the compassion in Emma’s eyes. “I didn’t know what to do. I thought I’d caused her to kill our baby. I thought it was my fault. I called my parents and they came around.”

“Then there was a knock at the door.” Gabe looked back at Emma. “It was Sami’s lover. He’d come from Bialga to confront me. Sami had planned on marrying me, having this lavish lifestyle, and keeping him on the side. There was no baby. She’d lied about the pregnancyandthe abortion, thinking I’d come crawling, tail between my legs, once the supposed problem was gone. He’d decided he didn’t want a part of it anymore and that I should know the truth.”

Emma didn’t speak. Just leaned forward and put her arms around his shoulders and held him.

Gabe brought his arms up around her and buried his face in her neck. How could he ever have thought that she was like Sami? She felt so right in his arms, so good. He’d never felt like that before.

Gabe turned his head to kiss her jaw, his lips grazing across her warm skin. He breathed deeply, drawing her scent into his lungs. He pulled back and touched a hand to his face, surprised to feel moisture on his fingers.

Emma rubbed her thumb over his cheek, wiping it away.

“No wonder you reacted like that. Leaving, I mean. It must have brought back some awful memories. You must have thought I was just like her,” she whispered, her eyes sorrowful.

Gabe stared at Emma in awe. “You’re amazing, you know that? I spent the night with you, disappeared on you, and you’re concerned about me? What I experienced is nothing compared to what you went through. I had a failed engagement. You lost your family. It doesn’t even come close.”

Emma smiled sadly at him. “It’s all relative. To you it was everything, because that’s where you were in your life. It must have been horrible. It gave you an insight that must have shocked the hell out of you. I wish you’d told me, or confronted me, so I could have explained.”

“I panicked. I wanted what happened so badly. Then when I thought you were married I had to get away. To try and sort out my feelings. You must have been pretty confused when you woke up,” he said, his eyes seeking hers.

He wanted to explain himself, to give her a reason to believe in him. Heneededher to understand, and if he was really lucky maybe she would eventually forgive him.

“That’s an understatement. I didn’t know what to think. It would’ve helped if I’d known what you’d been through, but it still would’ve hurt. Especially since I didn’t know what sent you running. At least it’s out in the open now. I actually feel better not having to hide it anymore.” Emma’s eyes turned sad.

Gabe shook his head. “You didn’t have to hide it. It was an accident.”

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