Page 14 of If You Stayed

“Yeah, for a long time. My father was an architect. He passed when I was young, and unfortunately I don’t remember much of him. I was in an accident as a teen and suffered from memory loss.”

“Oh?” I breathed out, pretending I didn’t know every freaking detail, which I did because I was there the night it happened.

“Yeah.” He smiled, but it felt a bit sadder. “But from the stories my mother told me, I looked up to my father quite a bit. It only seemed right to take after him. I studied his blueprints for a long time. They’re framed in my office. He was a genius. I just hope I’m making him proud. Even though I don’t remember much about him, there’s still something in me that wants to make him damn proud.”

“He loved you so much,” I blurted out.

Again, strange looks from the three.

Luckily for me, Lena appeared from the kitchen and said, “Sorry to interrupt, but dinner is ready if you’d all like to take your seats in the dining hall.”

Saved by the roasted chicken, creamy pasta, and mashed potatoes.

Henry gestured for Gabriel and Ramona to head in the direction of the dining room, guiding me behind them. He leaned in and whispered, “What the hell is wrong with you?”

I managed a tiny smile and shook my head. “Sorry. Tired.”

“Well, wake up. You’re embarrassing me.”

***

Henry, Ava, and I lived on more than fifty acres of land. When we bought the property, there was only the smaller house on it. Living in that house had been fine, especially after all the issueswe’d had with people stalking my husband. After those scary moments, I’d rather only a few people knew where we lived. I’d never forget the night I went outside and found a hooded woman dumpster-diving in my trash bins. She ran before I could see her, and our cameras didn’t have a good angle on her face, but it wasn’t the first time we’d found people lurking. The downside of being married to a visionary like Henry was that he came with both enemies and fanatic fans.

I felt comfortable knowing our safety was intact. Sometimes, I argued with Henry about how hosting such extraordinary dinner parties put our solitude in jeopardy. With how his parties went, I was certain it wouldn’t take long for people to find our new location.

He told me I was being too dramatic and that the security cameras on the property were the best of the best, since he’d created them. He believed we just needed more space to improve our safety, not fewer drunken parties.

Even in our current house, we had been able to host gatherings with twenty individuals for dinner, so I supposed “smaller house” was in the eye of the beholder.

Based on Henry’s vision for the new home, we’d easily be hosting hundreds at our parties. I worried living in such a large house would lead to a cold, lonely feeling when the parties weren’t taking place, but Henry didn’t much care about my thoughts on that. I’d tried to convince him that bigger didn’t always mean better, but he’d told me I didn’t have much say on the subject because he had a vision.

His vision was of building the largest high-tech smarthome known to mankind. He’d worked on finding the right architect for the build, and lo and behold he’d found Gabriel.

My Gabriel.

My once-upon-a-time Gabriel, that was.

All through dinner, I’d forced myself to not stare too long at Gabriel, looking his way just enough to make it seem as if I wasn’t completely avoiding eye contact. It was hands down the most uncomfortable dinner party of my life, and I’d once had dinner with a group of surgeons who loved to tell gruesome stories over a casserole.

After dinner, the crowd would converse for a few more hours over music. Henry had hired a jazz musician for after-dinner entertainment, and I was almost certain there would be a fireworks display. There were always fireworks at Henry Hughes parties.

I hated fireworks. They always made my skin crawl.

The house was ringing with laughter, yet I felt so thrown off and sad.

So achingly sad.

After one too many surface-level conversations, I excused myself to take a walk outside. I was in desperate need of fresh air to clear my clogged thoughts. There was such a big part of me that had left Gabriel Sinclair in my past. I’d buried him away in my mind after his mother forbade me to ever see him again.

And now here he was.

The late-spring air brushed against my skin as I stood outside, breathing in the scents of the trees surrounding me.The sun had set a few hours prior, and the only light was streaming from the house. The louder the laughter grew in the distance, the more bourbon was being poured. Henry was probably wasted by now and about to start playing the piano. I was sure he’d delivered one of his speeches, too—a speech that usually went on too long.

I liked the stillness of the land whenever I explored it alone. I liked the calmness of it all after living in the city for so long. There was something so peaceful about the quietness of the earth when no one else was around. I liked waking up and enjoying my coffee as the sun was just beginning to yawn awake, and the birds quietly sang their morning songs.

Henry joked that we lived on so much land that if we screamed, no one would hear us. I believed that to be true.

“You’re currently standing in the kitchen,” a voice boomed, shaking me from my stillness. I turned around to find Gabriel standing there. He smiled a little and gestured to the ground. “And if you take a few steps to the left, that will be the butler’s pantry.”

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