Page 64 of Final Chance At Love (Chance At Love Duet 2)

You would know what he thought of it if you wouldn’t have blocked him,my mind whispered.

When Rick and Jonathan came back from the beach, Rick almost had a heart attack.

“What the hell are you doing, Gem?” he practically yelled.

“I’m moving stuff around,” I answered him with a raised brow. “Why are you yelling? I haven’t lost my hearing yet.”

“You can’t do that in your condition,” he protested.

“I wasn’t lifting anything heavy,” I told him. “I marked all those pieces for you two,” I added smiling.

They helped with furniture moving and followed my direction on the upper terrace with rearranging seats and merging tables so we could all sit and eat dinner comfortably. I wanted it arranged in such fashion that we could enjoy the sight of the sea while eating and talking. Betty joined in, too since Jack and Sienna took the kids to the ice cream shop.

When we finally stopped, I realized how tired I was and my back hurt a bit. I remembered refreshments and I started to get up to fetch them when Betty got up faster.

“Beat you to it,” she exclaimed looking at me. “Sit and rest for a bit. I’ll get us refreshments.”

“Thanks, Betty,” I commented, sounding tired to my own ears.

She took off in the direction of the kitchen, leaving the rest of us sitting in silence and with our own thoughts.

“She’s worried about you, you know,” Rick told me and I looked at him in surprise.

“Why?”

“She’s worried about your pregnancy considering your miscarriages before. And she is worried about your happiness, and how much you are trying to convince us all that you are fine,” Rick said with a somber look in his eye. “You were happy around Kristoff. You were practically glowing.”

I glanced over at Jonathan who was listening intently, switching his gaze back and forth between us.

I shrugged, deciding he might as well know. Cat is out of the bag at this point. After all, he and Kristoff are on permanent unspeaking terms.

“I am fine, Rick,” I answered, looking over to the horizon stretching over the clear blue Adriatic Sea. The black luxurious yacht was still there, like an eyesore. “And regardless of whether I was happy during my short time with Kristoff, he is in my past. Let’s just leave him there. And don’t worry. My first trimester is almost over so I think the risk is really low now for anything to happen.”

“Gemma, you can’t keep avoiding him.” Rick almost sounded like he was scolding me. “You have to talk to him. He called me at least five times. He won’t give up.”

“Ahhh, now it all makes sense,” Jonathan interjected and didn’t sound surprised at all.

“What makes sense?” I asked him.

“Your sudden trip and keeping your profile low. Jack mentioned that you asked them not to post anything on social media.”

Rick interjected. “See, Gemma. That is hiding. And what are you going to do, have the babies here?”

I look at them both. “No, I told him I’d be back in September. He’s moved on and I have moved on.”

“What makes you think he has moved on?” asked Jonathan. “Hold on, Rick. You said babies?”

“Yes, she is having twins,” he replied, his tone of voice almost exasperated.

“It doesn’t matter,” I stated matter of fact. “The fact is that Kristoff and I are completely different people, and those few months were a mistake, on both our parts.”

“If you say so, Gemma. But I think you are the only one that thinks that.” Rick’s voice was serious and disappointed.

“What is it with all this?” I asked him defensively. “I thought you were on my side and you don’t like the guy.”

“I never said I don’t like the guy. I just worry about you.” Rick’s voice now sounded very matter of fact. “I always worry about you.”

I looked over to Jonathan and said, “If you have something to add, just go ahead and spit it out. That way we can put all this to rest and never bring it up again.”

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