Page 22 of Soul of the Mountain
I look away from Heath and focus on pulling up the reservation program on the computer. “It’s over now, so it doesn’t matter.”
“Yeah, sure sounds like you’re totally over her,” he says sarcastically. “When did you end things?”
“Just dropped her off at her car a few hours ago. She was stranded here while her car was being worked on. I thought we had something… but it turned out to be nothing, at least on her part.”
“Did she say that?”
I snap my head up and stare at my friend. “Did she say what?”
“Did she say it was nothing?”
My brow furrows at his question. “Not exactly. But she sure didn’t ask to stay or ask what I was feeling about the situation. She didn’t even ask for my number, so I took that to mean she wanted nothing to do with me,” I grumble.
“But she didn’t say that, right?”
“What are you getting at?”
“Shit, Sully,” Heath says while shaking his head. He has a stupid smirk on his face, one I remember from our high school days. “You’re in deep, huh? Too deep to see what’s right in front of you.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Let’s get you set up with a room,” I say, changing the subject. I can tell that Heath isn’t going to drop it.
“Did you tell your woman that you wanted her to stay? Did you ask for her number?”
“Well… no,” I admit. A vision of Gabby standing in the kitchen a few hours ago flashes across my mind. She was anxious to leave. So anxious that she couldn’t even look at me. Unless…was she anxious aboutnotwanting to leave? That thought pierces my heart.
“How do you know she wasn’t waiting for you to say something first?” Heath asks.
“I… I guess I don’t,” I answer hesitantly. “But she’s the one who left,” I point out.
“And you’re the one who let her.”
I frown at him, but Heath doesn’t back down.
“Listen,” he continues. “I know I just blew into town, and we haven’t talked in years. I don’t want to tell you what to do, but I can see that you’re hurting. This woman obviously means a lot to you. Are you really willing to give all of that up without so much as a discussion?”
“What if she rejects me?”
“What if she doesn’t?”
I open and close my mouth a few times before deflating. “Fuck,” I mutter. “Fuck,” I say again, more forcefully this time. Why didn’t I say something to Gabby? What the hell was I thinking? I was so wrapped up in my own insecurities, I didn’t even consider hers.
More of our conversations over the last few days fill my head. Gabby lost her parents at such a young age, and then she was abandoned and used by her remaining family. Of course, she took my silence as a betrayal. Fuck, it hurts knowing I hurt her. I played right into her biggest fears, and I’m going to have to fight like hell to win her trust back.
“Looks like you have some groveling to do,” Heath says with a chuckle.
“Yeah,” I agree.
Heath claps a hand over my shoulder and grins at me. “Good luck, buddy. I can’t wait to meet her.”
I nod and try to return his smile, though inside I’m worried sick that I missed my opportunity. “Thanks.” I shake Heath’shand and give him his room key. “Welcome home. Thanks for kicking me in the ass.”
He laughs, and I join him, despite the ever-growing pit in my stomach. It will be good to have Heath around again. I just hope I can convince Gabby to stick around, too. I have my work cut out for me.
10
GABBY
“Ibet you’re happy to be back in Denver,” Monique, my cubicle mate, says. “I couldn’t imagine being stranded somewhere without a Starbucks. That will have to be the first business in town when we take over.”
