Chapter 35
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
Kate
Silence is a mother’s worst nightmare.
My mom would say that to me when I was a teenager hiding in my bedroom while I daydreamed about the captain of my high school’s football team.
She started repeating the phrase right after I moved to Manhattan when I’d go days without calling her.
She left me a voicemail today. She only said those six words before she hung up.
I’m on the phone with her now.
“Is it a boy, Kate? Is that what’s got your attention?”
I look through the dresses in my closet trying to decide which one to wear to Gage’s apartment.
Maybe a dress is too formal and I should keep it casual in jeans and a blouse.
I sigh. “I date men, Mom, not boys.”
“Of course.” She laughs. “They’re boys to me, Kate. If they’re young enough to be my son, I consider them a boy.”
Gage is not a boy.
“Are you busy at the store?” She effortlessly shifts the topic of discussion. “You’re still selling enough dresses to keep the doors open, aren’t you?”
“More than enough.” I smile as I answer.
My parents doubted whether I could run the store on my own after I bought it.
They gifted both Eldred and me with a generous amount of money after my mom’s dad passed away. I used the bulk of mine to fund my business.
I purchased the store’s inventory from my former boss, signed a new lease deal with the building’s landlord, and hired a contractor to handle the remodeling.
I’ve kept my head above water since.
“We’re very proud of you,” she says quietly. “Is anything else going on that I should know about?”
If I bring up Gage, she’ll launch a defensive attack about why she never told me that he reached out to her and my dad after our broken engagement.
I don’t have the time or the inclination to get into that with her tonight.
Gage is expecting me to be at his place in less than an hour.
“I need to run, Mom,” I chirp back, trying to keep my tone light to mask the nerves racing through me. “I’ll talk to you in a day or two.”
“Or seven?” She laughs. “I know you too well. You’re off to meet a man.”
“Mom,” I say with an exaggerated bite of frustration in my voice. “I have to go.”
“Fine, dear.” She sighs. “I’ll call you the day after tomorrow. Try to pick up.”
“Bye, Mom.” I yank my favorite little black dress from its hanger.
She exhales softly. “I’ll keep my fingers crossed that the next time we talk you’ll tell me you found the one and you’re in love, Kate.”
I grip the phone in my hand as the call ends.
Knowing she can’t hear me, I say aloud what I’ve been too scared to admit to myself, “I did find the one eight years ago and I think I’m still in love with him.”
A little more than an hour later, Gage flashes me a smile when he sees what I have in my hand.
I look past him to where a bottle of the same red wine is sitting on his coffee table.
I laugh. “Is this a case of great minds thinking alike?”
He takes the bottle from me. “You don’t still drink this, do you?”
I take in how relaxed he looks in a white long sleeve sweater and blue jeans.
His feet are bare. His hair is neatly combed. It’s a sharp contrast to the light growth of beard on his jaw.
Unlike the inexpensive wine we used to drink, Gage has only gotten better with age.
He closes his apartment door behind me, motioning for me to take a seat on his sofa.
“I haven’t bought a bottle in years.” I cross the apartment to the living room. “The last time was back in California.”
It was three weeks before my life collapsed. I’d stopped on my way home and picked up a bottle so we could celebrate the fact that we were almost man and wife.
I remember that night vividly.
Our toast to our future was followed by a short discussion about kids.
Gage asked one last time if I was sure I’d never change my mind about being a mom. I told him I was one hundred percent certain.
Less than a month later he found out he was a dad.
“I’ll check on dinner and crack this open.” He holds up the wine bottle. “Or should I say I’ll unscrew the cap?”
I drop my purse on the coffee table before I take a seat, nervously crossing my legs.
I sense his gaze on me, so I look up into his green eyes. I see familiarity there and promise.
“You being here means the world to me, Katie. Thank you for coming.”
I glance down because the intensity in his eyes is too much.
“Don’t move a muscle. I’ll be right back.” He walks away, leaving me to wonder what tonight holds.