16. Gabby
My heart races and my hands shake when I pull into the driveway at Rosie’s. I’m second-guessing myself. After the dinner with Lacey’s family, I’d decided to open my heart to the possibility of something more with Heath, but now . . . I’m not so sure. I put the car in park and rest my head on the steering wheel. When I look back up, Heath is standing in the doorway.
Seeing him takes my breath away and pushes my reservations to the back of my mind. In this moment, I realize Lacey is right. If there’s something there, we should explore it. I take a deep breath to steady my nerves and open the door.
“Hey,” I say, as Heath walks up to the Jeep.
“Hey,” he says, reaching his hands out to take the bag of food. “Anything else?”
I shake my head. “No, just the one bag.” I put my purse over my shoulder and step down from the Jeep.
Heath reaches around me and shuts the door. “Thank you for coming. I’ve been looking forward to this for days.” He smiles. “So has Mom.”
I nod. My stomach is doing somersaults. “Me too,” I admit.
That makes his smile light up his whole face. I’ve missed that look—Heath genuinely happy.
“Let’s get this inside,” he says, holding up the bag.
“Right,” I say. Stepping into the house and sliding off my flats, I call, “Momma A?”
“In here,” she calls back from the living room.
Heath steps in beside me and motions for me to go ahead of him. In the living room, Rosie’s in her favorite chair, a crocheted blanket on her legs. She looks tired, but healthy.
“Gabby brought dinner. Do you want to eat in here?” Heath asks.
“Please, if you two don’t mind,” she says. “Heath, why don’t you go get everything together while Gabby and I catch up?”
Heath pauses,looking back and forth between us. “Uhh . . . Will you two be okay?”
“Go ahead,” I say. “We’ll be fine.”
He nods and heads off toward the kitchen.
“Now,” Rosie says. “I need to know. Do you still love my son?”
My mouth goes dry and my palms start to sweat. “Well, I, uhm . . .” I sigh and sink back into the couch. “I do, but it’s not that simple.”
She shakes her head. “You kids always complicate things. Of course it’s that simple.”
“He hurt me,” I say.
She nods. “He did. You hurt him, too. When you cut ties.”
Wait, what?“He broke up with me,” I argue.
“Yes, but you cut him out of your life. You two had been best friends for a lot longer than you’d been an item. You both lost a friend that day.”
I’m not sure why I feel like the tables have turned, but my goodness, I didn’t expect this tonight. “That’s true. But I heard about Olivia that day, too, and felt like I’d been replaced. Honestly, though, if I had known the truth back then, I’m not sure if I would have chosen differently. I’ve grown a lot since then, but I obviously still have trust issues.”
She looks at me for a moment. “You both were hurt back then. But if you can forgive each other now—and forgive yourselves—for the past, you might find happiness now. Can you forgive and let the future play out how it will?”
Can I truly forgive and look to the future instead of holding onto the hurts of the past?“I think so, yes.”
“It’s time to let go of the past,” she says softly.
Before I can answer, Heath steps back into the living room. He looks from me to his mom and groans. “Mom, what did you say to Gabby? Why does she look like she’s ready to bolt?”
“I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she says, looking at Gabby. “We were just talking about the future.”
I paste on a smile and nod my head in agreement. “She’s right. I’m ready for dinner,” I say, taking the plate Heath is holding out for me. “It smells delicious.”
After we eat, Rosie says she is ready to go lie down.
“Will you stay while I help her to her room?” Heath asks.
I nod. “I’d love to.”
While he’s gone, I think about what Rosie said. We both hurt each other. Back then, all I could see was how he’d hurt me. Now, I can see clearly that by blocking him out of my life, I was as guilty as he was. Something about that makes opening my heart a little less terrifying.
“Thanks for waiting,” Heath says, coming back into the room and sitting beside me on the couch.
“No problem,” I say, smiling. “I actually wanted to talk, if that’s okay?”
Heath shifts on the couch so he’s facing me more fully. “Of course.”
“I think I owe you an apology,” I say, looking at my hands in my lap. “All this time, I could only see how you hurt me. Your mom helped me realize that I hurt you, too. Part of me will always be that abandoned child, determined to protect herself from rejection, but I’m learning. I’m sorry I pushed you out of my life.”
Heath shakes his head. “No, Gabby. That was all on me. Of course, I’d have loved it if you hadn’t cut ties, but I should have made sure you were my priority and I failed. I’m so sorry.”
A tear slips down my cheek, and I wipe it away. “Your mom said it’s time to let go of the past, and I think I agree.”
“So what does that mean?” Heath asks, his voice quiet.
I lean back on the couch and smile at him. “I think it means we work on getting to know each other again.”
He smiles at me and reaches for my hand. “You know how I feel,” he says, lacing his fingers through mine.
“I do.” I squeeze his fingers gently with mine. “Want to watch a movie?”
He stares at me for a moment. “Princess Bride?” he asks.
“Of course,” I say, grinning at him.
“As you wish.” He grabs the remote from the coffee table and finds the movie on one of the streaming services. He scoots closer to me and presses play. We hold hands the entire movie, and I’m transported back to when things were easy between us. When falling in love happened so gradually that we didn’t even notice at first.
“Okay,” Lacey says, plopping a bag on the counter. “I’ve got all the things we need for our mocktails.”
I grin at her, pulling the fancy glasses down from the cabinet. “Perfect,” I say, setting them on the counter. “Anne should be here anytime. She’s bringing pizza.”
Lacey nods. “Karlee texted she’s on her way with cucumber slices and face masks.”
I do a little dance in the kitchen. “It’s been too long since we’ve had a mocktail party,” I say, adding ice to the glasses.
“You’re not wrong,” she says.
A few minutes later, Anne and Karlee come through the door together. “Time to party!” Anne shouts, raising the pizza boxes above her head and doing a little shimmy.
Everyone laughs and I take the pizza boxes and put them onto the counter beside the plates I’d taken out earlier.
“Who’s ready for a drink?” Lacey asks, motioning to the counter where her supplies are all laid out.
“Me!” Karlee says. “What are our options?”
“We’ve got the stuff to make Pina Colada, Citrus Fizz, Sweet Sunrise, and a Cinderella.”
“Oh, those sound good,” Anne says. “I vote for the Cinderella. I could get down with being a girl who finally finds her prince.”
I shake my head. “These two,” I say, waving my hand between Karlee and Lacey, “already have their Prince Charmings.”
“Hey,” Karlee says. “You could have yours too, anytime you wanted. I know Heath is all in. You should have seen him when we took them dinner the night Mrs. A came home from the hospital and she let it drop that he’s still in love with you.”
Lacey smacks my arm affectionately. “See, I told you!”
“So it’s just lil’ ole me without a Prince Charming, now?” Anne says dramatically. “I see how it is.”
“Can we please make a drink and have some pizza before we gang up on me about my love life?” I ask, pouting.
“Four Cinderellas coming right up!” Lacey makes quick work of the drinks, and we pile our plates with pizza before heading to the living room where I’ve turned on the top-hits music station.
“So, we have drinks, and pizza,” Karlee says. “Spill it!”
I shake my head. “And you say you’re my friends,” I say, grinning.
“Uh-huh. You’re stalling,” Anne says. “What’s the status?”
“Heath and I are friends. We are getting to know each other as the adults we are.”
“So, does that mean you’re spending time together? Dating?” Lacey asks.
I shrug. “I’m not sure what to call it,” I say honestly. “We watched a movie after his mom went to bed a few days ago.”
Lacey’s eyes go wide. “What movie did you watch?”
I blush. “Princess Bride.”
She claps her hands. “They’re getting together!”
“I wouldn’t go there,” I say.
“Did you cuddle?” Karlee asks.
Why are my friends so perceptive? “Not really,” I hedge.
“What does that mean?” Anne asks. “That’s pretty much a yes or no question, don’t you think?”
Lacey and Karlee nod in agreement.
“We held hands,” I say before taking a huge bite of pizza.
The girls high five each other.
“What’s that about?” I ask around the food in my mouth.
“We knew it was a matter of time. Now, anyone want to guess who gets engaged first?” Anne asks.
“What?” Karlee asks, surprise on her face. “Who said anything about getting engaged?”
“Oh, come on,” Anne says. “You and Evan have marital bliss written all over you.”
“It’s only been four months,” she says, frowning. “I was with Patrick for years.”
Lacey grins. “Yeah, but he was the wrong one for you.”
“What about you?” Karlee says, pointing at Lacey. “You could be engaged before all of us. Knox seems to be all in.”
Lacey sputters. “We’ll see, I guess. Are we doing facials or what?”
We all laugh. “Can we eat first?” Anne asks. “I’m actually starving.”
After the pizza and our Cinderellas are gone, Lacey makes up a batch of Sweet Sunrise, and we all pick a face mask.
“This is just what I needed,” I say, careful not to move my mouth and mess up the mask, or knock the cucumber slices off my eyes. “It’s been a stressful few months.”
“Agreed,” Anne says. “Who knew taking over the salon would be so stressful. I’ve worked there most of my life.”
“Being in charge is different than working there,” I say, remembering how inadequate I felt trying to learn to place the weekly order at the diner.
“You’re not wrong,” she says, sighing.
Once we are sufficiently relaxed, we clean up and settle in to watch a movie. I’m so grateful for these women sitting in my living room. Since Gram died, I’ve felt alone. I miss her more this time of year. Christmas was always my favorite holiday, but Halloween was hers. She’d go all out decorating, buying full-sized candy bars for the older kids and snack-sized ones for the younger ones.
When the end credits are rolling, Lacey stands and stretches. “I think it’s time for me to go.”
Anne and Karlee stand and stretch, before moving to grab their things.
“Thanks for this,” I say. “I needed a girls’ night.”
“Anytime,” Lacey says. “Besides, we’ve all been wondering about you and Heath. It was a good way to get the scoop.” She winks and puts her purse over her shoulder.
“If you guys find a good guy roaming around out there, send them my way,” Anne says, as she steps out the front door.
“You got it,” I call.
Closing the door behind them, I realize I have people in my corner. More than just Lacey. The thought startles me. I thought I was being careful not to let people in, and yet . . .