Page 13 of Love Redesigned
“Alex,” he said, a surprising measure of warmth in his voice. He held out his hand. “It’s good to see you.”
We shook hands and I nodded. “Good to see you too. How are...how’s everything, I guess?”
Gabriel raised his eyebrows as if surprised I had even asked. “Good. Great. And you?”
I’d never been close with either of the LeFranc brothers. A few years older than me, they’d considered me little more than a nuisance growing up. But Gabriel hadn’t been as cruel as his brother. Whenever Mom had wanted me to feel welcome during my summer and holiday visits, she’d always used Gabriel as her emissary. That she had sensed some measure of good in him and trusted him not to be a jerk went a long way; I suddenly wondered if he’d volunteered to come and meet me, if he’d understood he was the only one that might manage the task civilly.
I shrugged. “I can’t complain. It’s nice to be back in the city.”
The silence stretched between us until Gabriel cleared his throat and pulled an envelope out of his suit pocket. “Right. So I’m supposed to give you this.” He held out the envelope.
I took it and opened it long enough to check the contents. A magnetic key to a storage facility in Chelsea sat inside. I nodded, slipping the envelope into my own pocket. “Thanks.”
“There isn’t much in it,” Gabriel said. “Some furniture. A few photo albums and jewelry. Some artwork. I guess when Sasha started moving stuff around at home, she wanted to just get rid of it.”
I narrowed my gaze. “She would have thrown away my mother’s old photo albums?”
Gabriel shrugged. “They were from before she married into the family. She probably assumed you had your own copies.”
I scoffed. “Right.”
“Anyway. You have Justine to thank for saving it all. She’s been paying the storage fee out of her own pocket so it might be nice for you to compensate her for all that. She was the one that asked Alicio to reach out to you.”
Suddenly the entire situation made a lot more sense. The text from Alicio a few weeks back had been unexpected, but Justine—his housekeeper—had always been kind to me. That she was behind the gesture was less surprising.
“Right,” I said again. “I’ll take care of it.”
Gabriel stepped back toward the car. “I guess that’s it then.”
“Thanks, Gabe,” I said. “I appreciate you meeting me.”
He opened the car door, pausing before climbing inside. “They’re going to invite you to the wedding.”
I nodded. “Okay.”
“It’ll be in Florida. On Islamorada. Victor’s probably going to call you and tell you not to come. But you should ignore him and come anyway.” He shrugged. “If you want.”
It was a very small olive branch, and only from one member of the family, but even that was more than I’d expected.
“Just think about it,” he said before I could respond. Then he climbed into the car and was gone.
I moved into the restaurant and sat next to Isaac, trying to sort out my thoughts. I would sometimes go months without giving the LeFrancs more than a passing thought. I did not need them in my life; I didn’t really evenwantthem in my life. Yet, Gabriel’s invitation had felt sincere enough to trigger a dormant hope for something I’d never gotten among the LeFrancs. Acceptance.
I didn’t like what that said about me. I wasn’t supposed to still care.I didn’tcare.
At least, I thought I didn’t.
I drummed my fingers on the table and glanced at my watch. 7:34. I’d been nervous all afternoon about seeing Dani again, but I suddenly welcomed the distraction she’d be. Four minutes wasn’t really all that late, and yet, I couldn’t keep myself from glancing toward the door every fifteen seconds.
“Alex,” Isaac said, his voice dry. “You’re going to pull a muscle if you don’t relax and sit still.”
I huffed and settled back into my chair. “Shut up.”
“Why are you so stressed out about seeing her? I thought it was all over between you two.”
“It is. It...was. You just could have given me some warning. I don’t appreciate seeing her again under these circumstances.”
Isaac gave his head a derisive shake and reached for his phone. “Under what circumstances? Don’t pretend like this is my doing. It’s not like I kept you chained to the radiator in Charleston. You could have come up to see her anytime. Whatever you feel right now is completely on you.”
