Chapter 13
Gabriel
River’s late to Milo’s party.
I would have made sure she wasn’t but she insisted on being dropped off by Jana.
My mother approaches me, stepping carefully up the slight rise to get to the amphitheater. She’s a little out of breath—worn out. Her face is caught between a grimace and a look of empathy as she leans in for a hug.
“It’s been far too long, Gabriel,”
she says with a swarm of sadness and a bit of chiding. “Dad’s parking the car,”
she reassures, as if to say, So we have a minute to talk. “How are you holding up?”
She stiffens away from me and peers at my face. “You look peaked.” Then she smiles. “I know I’m really one to talk, with my illness.” She places both hands on her cheeks. “But I’ve been worried about you.”
I glance around the party. There aren’t many people here yet, so maybe they can all hear our exchange.
“No need to worry!”
I should have taken acting lessons from Sebastian’s wife, Elianna, because this needs to be the greatest acting job ever. I have to act as if I’m content and healing. And most importantly, totally in love with River Judkins.
I’m counting on adrenaline and the fear of never getting to work for Foundations again to get me through this.
“Also, you don’t look pale, you look lovely, as always,”
I tell Mom. When she scoffs, I continue. “Seriously, Mom. And don’t worry. I think my experiences in Europe, as rough as they were, have taught me a lot. I’ve got my head on straight now.”
“Glad to hear it.”
She hesitates, her mouth twitching as if there’s more she wants to say, but instead, she loops her arm through mine. “Let’s go find your brothers.”
“Actually, Mom, you go on ahead. I’m waiting for someone.”
Her brows go in the air. “Okay,”
she says, smiling. “Can’t wait to meet her.”
I frown as she peels her arm away from mine. Having spotted Milo, she’s making her way toward him and Alec.
Of course, it’s good that she knows I’m waiting for a woman to arrive. The more prepared she is, the better.
I’m just about to text River to ask where she is when I see her walking toward me.
A burst of energy tingles along my spine. I told her casual dress, but what she is wearing? It’s elevated. Nice. Different from anything I’ve ever seen her wear before. It’s a dress, dark pink and short, just above the knee. It’s got long sleeves, but the neckline is square and low. With her hair in a ponytail, her sun-kissed skin glows. Our gazes meet and she wraps a hand across her waist, her eyes dropping to the ground.
Is she nervous?
When she reaches me, I’ve already got my guard back up. This is business. It’s not personal. Business? Yes. Personal? Nope, nope, nope.
“You should have let me pick you up,”
I say, making sure my eyes are trained on hers and not her beautiful curves. “You’re late.”
Her chin raises and she scowls. “Jana’s helping me with Skye later on, so she was happy to drive me. Besides, I’m fashionably late. There’s a huge difference.”
“Whatever,”
I say and then my jaw smarts as I force myself to be calm. We’re supposed to be playing a role here. I tilt my head to warn her and raise my arms, asking a non-verbal question: hug incoming?
She shoots out a breath like Here we go, which I take as a signal to go ahead. I step towards her and wrap her in my arms, her curves pressing tight against me. Wow. She’s curvy. So soft. In all the best ways. And she’s tall, her head a few inches below mine, so her breath is right at my neck, tickling me, tantalizing me.
I go to pull away and she holds on tighter. “People are watching,”
she hisses in my ear. “You do not give your soon-to-be bride a hug that short.”
She smells like vanilla.
“They don’t know you’re my soon-to-be bride.”
“But we want it to make sense to them when I am your bride, don’t we? Remember the Oscars?”
The back of her dress hits right below her shoulder blades and as I deepen the hug, I feel a series of drawstrings tied tightly in bows. This dress. The soft fabric is something else. And those tie things in the back? What is she trying to do to me?
Can we set rules for this kind of thing? She can’t wear something like this and expect me not to enjoy it, can she?
When I don’t respond, she whispers in my ear. “We could just pull out all the stops and make out, right here, right now.”
Her lips brush against my ear so lightly I wonder if it’s intentional or an accident.
Either way, I’m putty in her hands.
My brain’s still stalled on the making out idea when she gives a low chuckle, breaks apart and walks away, her high, blonde ponytail swinging from side to side. She answers her phone from a pocket in her dress. “I have to take this, sorry,”
she says before turning and stepping under a tree, her back to me.
I don’t mean to overhear, but I’m not about to join everyone else without her.
“Thanks,”
she says to whoever is on the other line. “I don’t care. You choose.”
She gives an exasperated sigh. “Whatever. Maybe colors that match an August vibe? But not too big.”
She’s talking about our wedding, that much is clear.
“Jana, I don’t even want to do this.”
My heart sinks. As more is said and as she listens to Jana on the other line, everything about this conversation she’s having, from her posture to her words, makes it clear she does not want to marry me.
Which makes sense. But part of me wondered if she could possibly see this as some sort of adventure.
It’s clear she does not.
When she finishes the call, she doesn’t even look at me, stepping past me and raising a hand in the air. “Quinn!”
She shouts to my sister-in-law, Henry’s wife a second time over. Yeah, Henry and Quinn were married. Then divorced. Now they’re married again.
We’re glad Quinn’s back in the family.
As I follow her and we make our way through the crowd, shaking hands and hugging people, it seems like she knows everyone better than I do. This is my own family, but there’s a level of ease between them and River.
If this were a real marriage, River would have been a solid choice, seeing as how my family already knows and loves her.
“I’m not crashing this family thing, I promise!”
She gives up a laugh and tugs on her dress. She whips around to face me, her eyes expectant and wide. Apparently, she wants me to say something.
“She’s not crashing it because she’s my plus one.”
I reach out to her, and she steps toward me. We grasp hands and connect seamlessly, like we’ve been doing this our entire lives.
Their faces hold various levels of shock and amusement. Seconds tick by. Finally, Elianna does a Whew! type of a yell and jumps, her fist raised in the air. It breaks the ice and now there’s a flurry of questions. Mom’s on the edge of the crowd, a small smile on her face.
“When did this happen?”
Sophie asks.
“How did you even meet?”
Alec asks.
“But you were just in Europe for a month, how did . . .?”
Quinn’s brow is quizzical.
“Alright, alright, we’ll answer that,”
I say. “But then all conversation needs to be focused on Milo the Grad.”
Milo holds out his palms. “No, trust me, I’d rather we talk about this.”
He knows full well there’s not much to say. Not much we even can say.
“Well, you know what they say about turning lemons into lemonade, right?”
River grins at me and winks, then turns back to my family, her baby-brown eyes glowing. “It was sort of like that for us.”
She continues to hold my hand, and I can’t help but think that, in a matter of days, there will be a ring on this finger.
Wait. I have to find one first.
“You all know about the unfortunate incident in Prague, right?”
she says, and I groan internally. Or maybe outwardly because she looks at me. “It happened. There’s no going back. We’re moving forward.”
She squeezes my hand tighter and shakes it a little. “It’s all good!”
The air changes and all eyes go past us. I don’t even have to turn to look because I know it’s my dad.
It’s August but things turn icy, and for a moment, I take in my siblings’ faces. It’s all so varied, the relationships we each have with him. Sebastian’s eyes glower before he turns to his wife, Elianna. They exchange a look, like there’s a current between them, as if she’s saying, I’ve got your back.
Oliver is standing behind Sophie, both arms wrapped around her. He smiles. Oliver wasn’t as hurt by our father’s callous ways growing up as Sebastian was, still, it’s not like they have a good relationship.
Henry and Quinn, reunited at last, are smiling, but I think that has less to do with Thomas Tate and more to do with the fact that their four-year-old daughter, Navie, is on Henry’s shoulders, pulling his hair.
Then there’s Alec, and he and Oakley are the only ones sitting at a table. They seem to be sharing a look of resolve, like they know they need to grin and bear this.
Milo is staring, like it’s a car accident and he can’t look away.
“Please, don’t let me interrupt,”
Dad says, his gaze briefly flicking to mine before he reaches Mom. “Princess,”
he says quietly as they embrace.
River is more than happy to redirect the conversation back to us. “So anyway, after the ‘incident,’”
she uses air quotes. “I found out about it because I’m in PR, and Gabriel and I were in contact. And he did his great big walking quest thing. And, I don’t know. It just happened.”
Henry balks. “Prague’s nine hours ahead of Colorado, so how did you manage that?”
River throws her head back, giggles, and then points to Sebastian. “Why do you think I’ve been coming in late to work sometimes?”
She cringes. “It was morning for me. Sometimes we’d talk during his dinner.”
I nod, reminding myself to engage. “She’s right. We fell for each other quickly and now, here we are.”
On a whim, I reach over and give her a slow, gentle kiss on her warm, smooth cheek, and of course, true to form, my siblings all crow and catcall. “And we couldn’t be happier,”
I add, my gaze glued to hers.
River catches my cheek with her hand as I pull away from the kiss, anchoring me there for a moment.
“Wow!”
Sophie says. “Congrats, you two. Wouldn’t have ever guessed Gabriel would move so fast, but . . . go Gabriel!”
She steps in to give us each a hug and soon, everyone else is following suit.
“Yeah, I could see Milo rushing into a relationship, but not Gabriel.”
Alec’s eyes narrow and his gaze darts between River and me.
“Hey!”
Milo protests.
Oakley stands from the theater chair. “Just cause Gabriel hasn’t fallen fast before doesn’t mean he can’t now, right guys? When you know, you know.”
Soon, Mom’s hugging me and offering her congratulations.
Sebastian and our dad are just standing there quietly, about as far away from one another as they can get.
“You guys,”
Henry says, his eyes on me. “They’re just dating. You’re acting like they’re getting married. It’s not a big deal. Leave ‘em alone.”
If anyone would advocate for everybody minding their own business, it would be Henry since he was in the military and then worked as a security officer in the private sector in Europe.
Little does he know that in just a few short days, if neither of us chickens out, we actually will be getting married.
Is this happening? Or will something come up to derail the whole thing?