Page 85 of Fierce-Gabe

She wasn’t sure why she didn’t think of this before.

“No,” she said quietly, then turned her attention to Willow and took her niece out of Chloe’s arms. “This one looks to be falling asleep.”

“She’s had a long day,” Chloe said. “Home with us soon and then going to my mother’s in the morning.”

“Oh, I thought she was spending the night there tonight?” she asked.

“We changed our minds,” Royce said. “We don’t have to be at the airport until seven thirty. Plenty enough time to drop Willow off first.”

“But you might get sad leaving her and not want to go,” she said.

“We are going to feel that way whether it’s tonight or in the morning,” Chloe said.

“I guess that’s true,” she said. “It looks as if they are starting to come in and clean up some things.”

She saw more plates and glasses being cleaned up at empty tables. More than half the guests were gone. She looked at her watch and saw it was ten of six. Early on a Saturday but it had been such a long day.

“They are,” Chloe said. “They are just settling everything up with my father.”

“I guess I’ll gather my shoes and go find Dad too,” she said. “I’ll get my car and take off so you two newlyweds can have a night to yourself.”

“With a baby,” Royce said, grinning.

“Evening, gentlemen,” she said to Zander and Gabe. Gabe hadn’t said much and she found her eyes just staring at his as he stared at her for a moment. She didn’t know what was going through his mind, but she’d find out soon enough she was sure. He was coming to her place once he left.

“There you are,” her father said. “I was going to come get you. Are you about ready to go?”

“I am,” she said. “I told Royce and Chloe I’d be gone before they got there.”

“Then we can leave,” her father said.

The two of them got to his truck. She tried not to laugh as she climbed in in her dress. Her mother hated that her father always had a truck. It made sense with his job.

“Did Mom say anything to you today?” she asked.

“Not much,” her father said. “I’m shocked she sat behind me at the church. She didn’t come to the rehearsal last night, but we still had her escorted down by Zander.”

“Oh,” she said. “Guess I missed that part.”

“It’s the right thing to do. I asked when she arrived and she said sure. It was enough time to do it.”

“Yeah,” she said.

“I saw you talking to her. You seemed in a good mood the whole day so it couldn’t have been that horrible.”

“I’m taking a page from Royce’s book and not letting her get to me.”

Her father sighed. “Do I want to know?”

“Not really,” she said.

Her mother just said the same things she always did.

This time she tried to push home the fact that Elise looked stunning and that there were so many eyes on her and if she took a little more time with her appearance she’d have that nonstop with men.

There was no arguing with her mother that, one, she didn’t want eyes on her all the time like that. And two, she had someone that was looking at her.

A lot too. She’d seen, if not felt, Gabe’s gaze on her all day.

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