Page 100 of Your Soul to Keep

Throughout the afternoon, my emotions swung back and forth like a pendulum.

Hanging my purse on the hook in the hallway, I passed through to the kitchen for a glass of water and a painkiller before shooting off a text to Gabe, letting him know I made it home in one piece.

He responded immediately.

Gabe:Are you okay?

My first instinct was to say ‘of course.’ But this was Gabe, and if I couldn’t be honest with him, I couldn’t be honest with anyone.

I wagged my head back and forth. I could be honest with Bridge. Always Bridge.

Shae:Mostly.

Gabe:I’m sorry, baby. I’m just putting Dylan back to bed. I’ll call you when she’s settled, okay?

Shae:You don’t have to.

Gabe:I want to. Hang tight.

Trading my glass of water for a hot chocolate, I stripped off my clothes and pulled on a loose pair of pajama pants with a matching t-shirt, then cuddled up on the couch.

I stared unseeing at the TV screen as I flicked through the options. Giving up, I tossed the remote onto the side table and hugged my hands around my mug. With its warmth pressed to my chest, I closed my eyes.

Blessed silence surrounded me. I settled back into the cushion, breathing in cocoa and vanilla until it turned cold.

Startled by the harsh ring of the doorbell, I surged to my feet, a splash of cold cocoa sloshing over the rim of my mug onto the wood floors. I stepped forward and wiped it up with my stockinged foot, hoping against hope it was Gabe at the door.

A huge silhouette filled the window.

I grasped the doorknob and threw the door open. “Gabe!”

He stood on my tiny porch, his hands shoved into the front pockets of his worn jeans, his eyes searching my face. “You okay?”

Jubilation.

Relief.

I smiled brightly. “Yes! I’m fine!”

My voice sounded funny.

Despair.

I sucked in a breath, horror spreading through my chest as grief teetered on the crest of the wave I’d successfully held back all day.

My smile faltered as my mask slipped. Shaking my head as I met his eyes, I slapped a hand over my mouth to muffle the sounds coming from my throat.

He stepped forward, mouth twisting in a grimace as his big hand splayed across my ribs and pushed me back inside the house.

I tried to catch my breath and began to flap my hands in front of my face.

“Baby, baby,” he whispered, the pain in his voice mirroring that in my heart.

“I did so good,” I choked. “I held it together all day.”

Pulling me close, he trapped my flailing hands between us. Wrapping his big body around mine, he forced me to arch back, unable to curl into myself.

I heaved in a breath. “Gabe,” I sputtered.

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