6. Gabe
6
GABE
Usually I love to play pickleball with my brothers, but today I can’t seem to get my mind off of Chrissy. I know she said she is working a long shift and wouldn’t be able to be here, but that doesn’t make me miss her any less. Everything is better when Chrissy is with me. It’s like I’m calmer.
“Get your head out of your ass, brother. We’re about to lose to these two jokers, and we won’t hear the end of it if we do.”
I turn to look at my brother Holden, and as soon as I do, I’m hit in the stomach by a speeding ball that is followed by whoops and hollers from the other side of the court.
“Yes! We won!” Cole hollers.
“Hell yeah, we did!” Dom joins in .
Holden points his racket at me. “Really? You get to go home. I gotta live with the kid, and all I’m going to hear all night is how he stomped us.”
Usually, I’d mess with my brother, but instead I apologize. “I’m sorry, man. Look, my head is somewhere else.”
He rears his head back. “You’re apologizing right now? What the hell is going on with you?”
Dom and Cole are still celebrating, and I just shrug my shoulders, not ready to get into all of it standing in the middle of the pickleball court. Holden points to the other two. “Gabe and I are sitting this one out.”
Cole cackles. “Yeah, that’s what you two need to do, rest up so Dom and I can beat you again.”
Dom is huffing and puffing and pleadingly asks, “You sure one of you doesn’t want to take my place?”
Holden just shakes his head. “You got this.”
I follow my brother over to the bleachers, and we sit down, both of us grabbing towels to wipe ourselves off.
I’m lost in thought when Holden grunts at me, “Spit it out.”
I look out at the rows of courts instead of at my brother. There are rows of people hitting the ball back and forth, and I act like I’m interested in the games in front of us. Holden knows me better than anyone, and it’s impossible to hide anything from him. “Spit what out?”
He hits me on the shoulder. “You might as well say it. I’m going to get it out of you anyway.”
I rest my elbows on my arms and act like I’m completely enthralled by what’s happening in front of me.
Holden leans toward me. “Does this have anything to do with Chrissy going on that date last night?”
I still don’t answer, but that doesn’t sway him. He nudges me with his shoulder. “Go ahead, admit it. You tracked her down last night.”
I blow out a breath, pissed off just thinking about the asshole from last night, but I remain silent.
“Fuck, man. What is it? Did he try and kiss her or what? You’re freaking me out.” Holden sits up and looks around the park. “I mean, are the police going to be coming for you or what?”
I crack my knuckles. “Why do you think the police would be looking for me?”
He blurts out a laugh. “Oh, I don’t know. Because if her date got handsy last night, then you probably beat his ass. Hell, I don’t know what happened, but something did.”
I’m antsy, and I stand up, stuffing my hands in the front pockets of my shorts. I turn on him and blurt out, “He didn’t touch her. Hell, a part of me wishes he had because what he did hurt her worse than if he tried to touch her.”
Holden tenses. “What do you mean? What the hell did he do?”
“He asked her out because he wanted to get a job from King.”
“I’m sorry. What did you just say?”
I throw a hand up. “He wants a job with King.”
Holden laughs darkly. “Well, he fucked up. King won’t hire him now for sure. Fuck, King will arrange it where he won’t be able to work in Whiskey Run at all. The guy fucked up. Does he know it?”
I’m still amazed by what transpired last night, and I couldn’t just let it go. “Yeah, he knows. I followed Chrissy home last night to make sure she was okay, and then I went back to the Whistler and had a talk with the dumbass. Needless to say, he knows he fucked up.”
Holden nods and groans in frustration. “When are you going to get your head out of your ass and tell Chrissy how you feel?”
I whip my head up and look him in the eye. He doesn’t mean what I think he means, does he? “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Bullshit, Gabe. We all know how you feel about Chrissy. You need to tell her.”
I’m like a deer caught in headlights as I look at him. All this time I thought I was being careful. I thought I was doing a good job of keeping how I feel on the down low.
He leans toward me, nodding his head. “That’s right. We all know. It’s as plain as the nose on my face, brother. Why haven’t you told her?”
Holden implores me with a look, and I want to deny it, but I know it will be useless. “Why haven’t I told her? Because she’s my best friend, and she doesn’t think of me that way.”
His eyebrows raise. “You’re joking with me, right?”
Before I can answer, his phone rings, and the smile on his face tells me it’s Cat. He puts the phone to his ear, and his voice drops an octave. “Hey, honey.”
I can only hear one side of the conversation, but it has me on high alert .
“What? What happened?”
He looks worried. “Oh no! Is she okay?”
Silence and then he’s shaking his head. “Should I come over and see her?” A pause and then, “Yeah, don’t sweat it. I’ll grab dinner for me and Cole, don’t worry about us. No, just take care of my sister and let me know if I can do anything.”
“Chrissy? Something happened to Chrissy? Is she okay?”
Holden puts a hand up like he’s trying to silence me, but I don’t mess around when it comes to Chrissy. I grab the phone from his hand and put it to my ear. “Cat. This is Gabe. Chrissy okay?”
Cat tries to calm me, but she’s whispering. “Yeah, she’s going to be okay. She lost a patient today, and she’s taking it pretty hard.”
“I can come over.”
Chrissy must be right next to Cat because I hear her ask, “Hon, Gabe wants to know if you want him to come over.”
The next thing I know, I hear Chrissy on the phone. Her voice is thick, and it’s obvious she’s been crying. “Hey Gabe. I’m going to eat dinner with Cat and we’re going to hang out for a while. Why don’t you go to dinner with the guys and then come by. I mean, if that’s okay.” She sucks in a breath. “You don’t have to…”
I grip the phone tighter. “Hell, honey, you know that even if you told me not to, I’d come anyway. What time do you want me there?”
I hear Cat talking in the background. “I’m going to leave here around eight.”
Fuck, that’s like two hours from now. “Okay, I’ll be there at eight. Call if you need me before then, baby.”
She mutters softly, “Okay.”
I wait for her to hang up, and then I hand my brother his phone. “Here, let’s go eat.” I look over at Cole and Dom. “You guys want pizza?”
Cole pumps his fist in the air. “Yes!”
Dom practically sprints off the court, huffing. “Thank God because I wasn’t going to last much longer. This kid is wearing me out.”
Cole pats him on the shoulder. “You’ll be thanking me later when we continue to beat the brakes off these two old guys.”
Holden shouts. “Old?”
Cole takes off running, and Holden runs after him. Dom is stretching out his back. “Fuck, I’m getting old. You doing okay, brother?”
I nod. “Yeah, Chrissy had a patient die today.” Before he can ask, I fill him in. “Cat’s with her now, and after we eat, I’m going to check on her.”
Dom shakes his head. “Let me know if I can do anything.”
I nod, and we start walking through the parking lot to our cars. All I can think about is having Chrissy in my arms and making sure she’s okay. The next two hours are going to be grueling. The only thing that makes me feel any better is knowing she has Cat with her now, but I’ll be staying the night with her, holding her so the nightmares don’t come.