Page 81 of Black
CHAPTER 13
Money
Cia
On my last day at the camp I overheard Gabriel talking on the phone with his mom. He had kept in regular contact with her; I got the impression they were close.
“Sure, I can swing by in a few days. I’m heading home tomorrow morning.”
He was sitting on the bed with his back to me, but turned his head to see me when I came out of the steaming bathroom after my shower.
“I know, but it was a spontaneous thing. I needed this time alone to decompress and a cabin in the forest was the perfect place.” He winked at me as I stood with my towel around me.
He hadn’t told her about me but repeatedly explained that he was by himself. I understood his motives and rationally knew a phone wasn’t the best way to break the news of my existence, but on a deeper level it bothered me that Gabriel was treating me like a secret, just like my dad always had.
“Love you, Mom,” he said, ended the call, and reached his hand out to me. “Come here.”
I moved closer and he pulled me down on his right thigh and placed his arms around me.
“You’re still my daughter for one more day,” he said and leaned his head on my shoulder.
“I don’t think teen daughters sit on their father’s lap,” I said dryly.
“I’m going to miss this,” he said quietly.
“Me on your lap?”
“The closeness between us. It feels so natural to be around you and I’ve come to… really care for you over these two weeks.”
I gave him a smile. “Well, I’m still going to be around, you know, crashing on your couch and all.”
“I know…” he said, “But will you still allow me to touch you like this and call you sweetheart and precious?”
The answer was a loud all-engulfingyes, inside my head, but I played it cool. “Do you want to?”
He looked me deeply into my eyes. “Yeah, I want to.”
“Right, because family is important to you and I’m your niece?” I asked to clarify.
His brows knitted together and he opened his mouth to speak when there was a knock on the door.
“You get the door,” I said and disappeared into the bathroom with the small pile of clothes that was today’s outfit.
I could hear Gabriel talking to Bruce while I dressed in a pair of black, ripped denim shorts, and a loose mint-green t-shirt with a neckline wide enough to fall casually over one shoulder. I took a minute to study the print on the shirt, a cartoon skater girl with her arms crossed and a text saying “Who said I need your freaking approval to feel good about myself?”
It figured that my last teen outfit was the first I actually liked. I wondered if they would let me keep the t-shirt as a souvenir.
“What did Bruce want?” I asked when I returned to our bedroom.
Gabriel stood topless and was searching the closet for a clean t-shirt. I would never get tired of seeing his ripped body but as soon as he turned to look at me, I dropped my gaze to my hands.
“He wanted to know if you had finished the last painting.”
“Impatient much?” I muttered and went to pick it up. “Did you show it to him?”
“No, of course not. It’s your painting. You should show him yourself.”
All six paintings were done now, and this last one would be especially hard to part with.
