Page 105 of Between Now and Forever
I wonder if I could talk to Dylan. Would that be overstepping? Would that make it worse?
I take a deep breath.Easy, Stetson. That’s sounding an awful lot like being involved on a deeper level.
Fuck. But isn’t that what I’m supposed to be wanting now? To become involved?
My heart hurts for the boy. I want to help because I know I can. But helping always winds up biting me in the ass.
Gabrielle comes out wearing shorts and a genuine smile.
Maybe it won’t bite me in the ass this time. This is different from my situation with Melody and Izzy. I feel it in my soul.
“Hey,” Gabrielle says, running her hand through Carter’s hair. She grins at me. “Do you think it’s safe to work on this since it’s so damp out here from the rain?”
“As long as the electrical parts are dry, it shouldn’t be a problem.”
She yawns and sits on the porch swing. “Is it just me, or has this been the longest day ever?”
“It’s been the longest day ever for me,” Carter says. “We had music class today. Do you know how long that takes? Forever.”
Guess no piano, after all.
“It was pretty long for me too,” I say. “I had a lot on my mind.”
“What’s that mean?” Carter asks.
I chuckle. “It means I was distracted, which is never a good thing at work.”
“Oh.” He squints at me. “Your eye is still black, you know.”
“I’m aware.”
“Okay.” He turns to Gabrielle. “Can I have a snack? An itty-bitty one? It’s a long time before dinner, so it won’t spoil anything.”
She holds out a hand. “Yes. You may. Only one, though.”
I’m not sure Carter hears anything past theyesover his shouts of victory and the door shutting behind him.
“Can I sit by you?” I ask, making my way to her.
“Please do.”
I lower myself onto the swing, and then Gabrielle snuggles up next to me. Instantly, the stress of the day fades into thin air.How does she do that? Make everything just feel ... right?
“Do you know what’s weird?” she asks.
“What’s that?”
“Having you here makes things just ... better.” She looks up at me and grins. “I don’t want to sound clingy, but it’s true.”
I kiss the top of her head.
Her admission doesn’t sound clingy. It sounds like I’m a lucky man. But I don’t want to tell her that—not here. Not after last night’s debacle with Dylan and at a moment when Carter could run outside jabbering away about baseball. But I do want to tell her how I feel. I want Gabrielle to know that this isn’t even the situation I thought it would be when I warned her the first night we had sex.
This is something more.
It’s real.
And as scared as I was to fall for anyone—a single mom, no less—being with Gabrielle and Carter and Dylan, eventually, is the easiest, mostrightthing in the world. I don’t know where in the hell it’s going, but I know where I hope it leads eventually. I think we can get there.
