Chapter 6
SIX
GABE
Termites .
My family is full of shitty liars. As soon as Mom brought up the supposed termites, I knew she and Clara had been scheming, but I didn’t blow their cover. Because I wasn’t entirely sure why they were scheming until it was too late.
Now I don’t know whether to thank or kill my sister for suggesting that Hallie help me fix up my guesthouse. The help is appreciated, but the close proximity is going to be torture.
Because if her being back in town has taught me anything, it’s that I’m not over her. Not even close.
“Daddy, why do you keep looking outside?”
I sigh, turning away from the front window. Abbie’s kneeling by the coffee table with her colouring books and pencil crayons, looking up at me curiously. “I’m waiting for someone.”
“Who?”
“Hallie. Remember, we saw her at Haven House a couple days ago? She’s helping me with something.”
She’s supposed to be, anyway, but she was also supposed to be here fifteen minutes ago . Not that I’m counting or anything .
Did she change her mind? I’d hardly blame her if she did.
If she’s been actively avoiding me since coming back, living in my guesthouse is probably the last thing she wants to do.
But I also know her, and I know staying with Clara for a prolonged period would make her uncomfortable.
My sister doesn’t mind, but Hallie would see it as a problem, like she’s taking advantage.
Abbie seems to accept my answer and returns to her colouring. I return to looking out the window, just in time to see a familiar head of blonde and purple hair.
A soft knock sounds a few seconds later. I give it another few before I leave the living room.
When I open my door to her standing on my front porch wearing an unsure smile, I wish I had the power to wipe it away. But seeing as I’m the cause of her discomfort, that won’t be happening.
“Hi,” she says, tucking her hair behind her ear. “Um, sorry I’m late. The walk was longer than I thought.”
She steps inside, and I move to close the door, but I pause at her words. “You walked ?”
While Kip Island isn’t that big, walking from one end to the next could easily take a couple hours, if not more. The walk out to my place from Clara’s apartment is at least twenty minutes.
“Yeah.” Her lips twitch. “It’s that thing people do where they put one foot in front of the other.”
I can’t help the laugh that slips out. God, I’ve missed this. Missed her . Her tone is tentative, but it reminds me of how things used to be. The way she would tease me, and I’d tease her right back, earning myself one of her infamous blushes.
“I would’ve picked you up.”
“It’s fine, Gabe. I’m used to walking places. It was either that or the TTC down in the city.”
“Well, I’ll drive you back later.”
She shakes her head. “You really don’t have to. I’m fine. Or Clara can pick me up on her way home from Dockside. Then you won’t have to go out of your way.”
I cross my arms. “I’m driving you, Hallie,” I say, leaving no room for argument.
She has no choice but to nod.
As she looks around my house—or what she can see with her feet rooted on the mat in front of the door—I let myself look at her.
On top of the skin-tight, painted-on jeans she’s torturing me with, she’s wearing a cropped t-shirt with Dockside’s old branding ironed on.
Before Clara got her hands on it, the restaurant’s logo had been the same since my parents bought it when we were kids.
“Abbie’s mom should be here any minute to pick her up. Then we can head out back,” I tell her.
As soon as the words leave my lips, the front door swings open behind Hallie. Today is one of the rare days Larissa and I both have off work. Usually, we’d do something together with Abbie, but I have other plans today.
“Mommy!” Abbie shouts, rushing from the living room.
Larissa wraps an arm around Abbie as she crashes into her legs. “Hi, baby girl.”
They both turn toward me and Hallie, and I’m hit with how alike they look. Although Abbie has some of my features, she shares the same curly hair as Larissa. It took some trial and error on my part, but now I can take care of her hair like a pro.
“Hi,” Larissa says with a grin. “It’s nice to see you again, Hallie.”
Although the three of us went to the same school, Hallie often kept to herself, and Larissa used to hang out with girls on the volleyball team. Still, I think they had a few classes together.
Hallie offers her a shy smile. “It’s nice to see you, too.”
“You know, I’ve heard a lot about you over the years.”
This causes Hallie to freeze, and I internally curse. The last thing I need is Larissa making her run for the hills. She’s always been a little skittish, but especially since coming back. I don’t want to completely scare her off.
“Clara talks about you a lot,” I explain. “She missed you.”
Larissa’s brow arches, as if to say, Only Clara? I intentionally ignore her look.
“Yes,” Larissa says aloud. Her eyes dance with mischief. “You’ve made quite the impression on a certain Bowman.”
I cut her a glare. “Don’t you have somewhere to be?”
She laughs, and Hallie’s gaze flits between us, curious. “Sorry, yes. Abbs, say bye to your dad.”
After a quick hug, Larissa ushers Abbie out the door. As soon as it clicks behind them, silence blankets the house, and it’s then I realize they had been acting as a buffer. With the two of them gone, the full weight of awkwardness bears down on us.
Hallie’s wide, blue eyes scream, I don’t want to be here.
I swallow.
“Larissa is nice,” Hallie offers. Her words almost echo in the vast expanse between us. The distance isn’t physical, but I feel it viscerally all the same. “And she’s pretty, too.”
“Yeah,” I agree. “She’s great.”
“Is there something—? I mean, are you and—” She shakes her head, cutting herself off. “Never mind.”
My brows shoot up in surprise. “You think I have a thing for Larissa?”
Hallie’s blush appears again. Or maybe it never disappeared to begin with. “Forget it, Gabe. I shouldn’t have said anything. It’s none of my business.”
It isn’t, but fuck , do I want it to be.
“There’s nothing going on between me and Larissa,” I say anyway. I need her to know. “We’re friends. Besides, she just got engaged. Her fiancé is a good guy. Chris treats her and Abbie right.”
“Oh.”
I chuckle. “Yeah, oh .” Then I turn, walking down the hall. “You wanna see the guesthouse?”
Hallie readily agrees, and she quickly follows me out to the backyard.
When I first bought my house, thanks to a few years’ worth of savings and the inheritance left for me from one set of grandparents, the guesthouse in the backyard wasn’t a selling point.
It’s small, only big enough to fit a bed, a kitchenette and a bathroom.
The outside is painted in shades of green, not dissimilar to some of the other colourful houses on the island.
At one time, I’m sure it was in peak condition, but it has become a victim of time.
The previous owner was an elderly man, and though the main house was maintained, the guesthouse went by the wayside.
“The plumbing needs some work,” I say, stepping through the door. I move aside so Hallie can come in behind me. “You’ll have to use the kitchen and bathroom in the main house for a bit. The washer and dryer, too.”
She doesn’t say anything as she walks the perimeter of the room, inspecting the space. On top of the plumbing being shit, a layer of dust coats…well, everything. I’ve barely set foot in here in years. The surfaces will need a thorough cleaning, which we can hopefully tackle today.
I rub a hand against the back of my neck. “It’s not much, I know, but hopefully it’ll work for you. Do whatever you want to it. Make it yours.”
Hallie finally turns to me. “Are you sure about this?” she asks. “Clara and your mom didn’t really give you much choice the other day, but you do have one. I don’t want to…force myself on you.”
I shake my head. It’s pathetic, really, how much I’d welcome anything from Hallie. I want it all, no matter how small a morsel.
“You’re not, I promise. This is good for us both. This place needs to be cleaned up, and you need a place to live.”
And I want you here .
As soon as the thought hits, I know it’s true. I want her here. No matter how painful it’ll feel to be close to her, I don’t want her moving someplace else. I don’t want her to find an apartment across town or on the mainland. I want her here .
She doesn’t look entirely convinced, but she nods. “Alright, then… Where do we start?”
Time passes in stilted silence. I should have brought a speaker out here with us so we could at least have some music to fill the void. Going to get it now would only signal how unsettled I feel.
I can’t stand this stillness , I want to say. Can you?
Instead, I keep working. Every time we move to a new section to clean, we dance around each other. Not in a coordinated way either, but in a way that makes us look like we’re walking on a trail of eggshells just waiting to be broken.
“Sorry,” Hallie mutters when our arms brush.
I can’t take it anymore. With a sigh, I finally say, “Hallie…this is awkward.”
She chews on her lower lip, and then her rag lands on the counter with a smack. “I don’t know how to act around you,” she blurts. It feels like the first truly honest thing she’s said in a while.
I throw my hands up. “So don’t act. Be real with me.”
As soon as the words are out, a look of terror passes across her face. And damn, does that kill me.
“Gabe, I…”
I hate myself a little for what I’m about to suggest, but I’d do anything to take away her fear.
“What happened before you left… We were kids, Hallie. It doesn’t matter now.
” I swallow, working hard to hold her gaze.
“So you can stop flinching every time you look at me, wondering when I’m going to bring it up. ”
The way she visibly relaxes only drives the knife deeper. I didn’t think that her agreement would be this painful.
“I’m sorry,” she says quietly.
I sigh again. “Don’t be. You have nothing to apologize for.” At the end of the day, this rift between us is my fault.
Her fingers twist together in front of her. “I do. I’m making things weird.”
I shake my head. “We both are. The truth is…Clara isn’t the only one who’s missed you. It might take us a minute, but I want to go back to how we were before.”
Before I opened my mouth and screwed everything up.
She smiles. It’s tentative, but it’s something. “I’d really like that. I’ve…missed you, too.”
“Then consider us friends again.” Before the pit in my stomach can grow, I pull out my phone, distracting myself. “I’m going to order pizza for lunch. What kind do you want?”
Hallie’s eyes light up, and I take pride in putting some brightness back into her expression. She’s always been a sucker for pizza. “Veggie lover’s for me, please.”
I pause. “Veggie lover’s?”
She laughs, and for once, the sound is unburdened. “Yes, Gabriel. I’m a vegetarian. It’s pretty standard.”
My jaw drops. “Since when ?”
She shrugs. “Since I moved off the island. Really, since grade eight.”
“Grade eight ? The Hallie I used to know loved a good pepperoni.”
“No,” she says. “The Hallie you used to know just wasn’t very good at making her voice heard.”
Looking back on all the pepperoni pizzas Hallie and I split while Clara devoured her Hawaiian is like a punch to the gut. Did I ever ask her preference? Evidently not.
“Veggie lover’s it is, then,” I say.
Hallie offers me another small smile, and then she turns back to wiping down the counter in the kitchenette.
Once the pizza is ordered, I pick up my own cloth, but I don’t go back to cleaning yet. “Hallie?”
“Yeah?”
“The other day, when I implied you weren’t visiting Pops enough, I didn’t mean it like that. I wasn’t trying to say you did anything wrong.”
When she looks at me, her eyes are sad. “It’s fine. You were right. I didn’t visit him as much as I should have. I shouldn’t have…left.”
The air in my lungs disappears, and I struggle for breath. She holds my gaze for another moment before she looks away. I swallow, forcing down every question that sits on the tip of my tongue.
Why did you run?
Are you staying for good?
Why didn’t you love me back?