Chapter Twenty-One
Gabi
Spring had well and truly sprung. The trees were covered with blossom, the sun had some warmth in it and the park was busy again after school. Gabi made herself comfortable on the bench while Jayden hung off the climbing frame with his mates, back from a week-long residential with the school.
Gabi was surprisingly glad he was back. The days had been longer without Jayden there to break up the afternoons.
And he’d surprised her, running to give her a hug after Amber had finished squeezing him.
Amber had made the most of her time with Jayden away; Gabi knew she’d met up several times with Alex for some ‘grown-up fun’.
Although Amber swore it was nothing more than that when Gabi pressed her.
The opportunity for a little bit of adult activity of her own had been out of Gabi’s reach all week, not that it stopped her thinking about it.
That ‘almost’ night with Walker had certainly given her hope that her time in Honeybridge might have a few unexpected benefits to it.
Every time her phone rang, it made her squeeze her thighs together at the memory of that phone call.
His voice, that accent, his taking command.
But Walker had been on nights all week and she’d had to make her own entertainment – which reminded her, she needed to pick up batteries on the way home.
She put her head back to feel the sun on her face.
She hadn’t felt any sort of heat since Australia on that film set, working beneath wide-open skies.
She could feel the tension in her body easing with the warmth.
The film would have wrapped now, everyone going their separate ways to their own corner of the globe for a break or moving on to the next project.
The only person she’d heard from was the wardrobe manager who wanted to know where to mail the headphones she’d left there by mistake.
Maybe she’d meet the rest of the crew again down the road, the next time she jumped out of a building or dived from the roof of a train. Maybe not.
The thought jogged her into action, and she dialled her agent.
‘Gabi! You must have read my mind. I was going to call you today, there is something I think you’d be perfect for.’
Gabi listened as her agent described the opportunity, a film – big budget – which would start shooting in Los Angeles in late June, which was perfect timing.
She’d be the primary stunt double for an A-list actress for all dangerous and fast-moving scenes.
She felt the buzz of excitement. Los Angeles – she’d never shot there before.
Box office hit. Everything she heard was exciting.
‘So shall I put you forward?’ her agent said.
‘That would be great, thanks,’ Gabi replied. ‘Let me know the next steps when you hear.’
She hung up. God, she had so much energy stored inside.
She needed a release. Walker flashed into her mind again, holding her hands above her head as he took in her body.
Fuck, he was sexy. And he’d made sure she wasn’t holding on to any tension when he rang her later that night.
He was due to finish nights yesterday; maybe she could text him later.
Might as well make the most of this holiday romance.
But at this moment in time, Walker was nowhere to be seen, and she needed to distract herself.
She hobbled over to the swings in just her boot.
Jayden skidded over and jumped on the one next to her, delighted.
They grinned at each other and leaned back, legs pointed to the sky.
Less than a minute later, Gabriella was in full swing, enjoying the rush.
Jayden whooped and hollered next to her, sounding surprisingly like Amber.
Eventually, they slowed until her one trainer scuffed the dirt, and finally swung to a stop.
‘Wow, that looked like fun!’ a mum called over from a nearby bench. She was feeding a baby and had another toddler at her feet. ‘I remember that feeling – total freedom.’ She laughed and shook her head. ‘Two babies in two years kind of changes things. Not that I’d have it any other way.’
Gabi dismounted and Jayden hightailed it back to his friends. She resumed her place on her own bench, thinking about what the woman said.
Maybe that was what her own mamma missed when Gabi was little.
That sense of freedom. The ability to do whatever, whenever.
If Gabi had followed her mamma’s example, she’d be living somewhere in Europe with a rich man who liked to show her off.
She’d prioritise her looks and her figure, but not for fitness and health, more for arm-candy appeal.
Gabi ran a hand through her crop and almost smiled at the thought of her mother’s face if she saw it.
How she’d always insisted on keeping Gabi’s hair long as a child and got the au pair to brush it every night, while she’d gone out to a party or a club.
After her mamma finally left for good with the most exciting new man she could find, Gabi took the scissors to her waist-length black hair, making her au pair scream when she came in to say goodnight.
Gabi had been dragged to the hairdresser’s to repair what damage they could before her mother saw it.
But she never did. Because she never came home again.
Maybe she’d followed her papà’s example more closely.
He’d thrown himself into work after Mamma left, moving higher up at work until he spent all day yelling at his team in glass buildings and all night schmoozing clients at roof-top dinners.
Maybe he couldn’t face seeing Gabi waiting for him when he got home.
Maybe he couldn’t bear the silence left by his wife.
But soon he ‘thought it best’ for her to go to a boarding school ‘with an incredible reputation’ on the other side of the country, and then, as if that wasn’t enough, she would stay with her aunt and uncle, and her cousin Isabella, in the school holidays – as they were closer to the school.
It sounded like a business recommendation that he might make to the board.
Little did Gabi know that it had already been decided.
The fees had already been paid. The ticket was already in his wallet.
Zio and Zia were looking forward to having her.
And just like that, she was on her own. At first, Mamma remembered her on her birthday every year, sending something exotic and useless from a far-off place.
Papà had originally messaged her regularly, asking for the details of her school life, checking in after exams and results, but over time, it slowed.
Nowadays, he made sure to message her every month to assuage his guilt and make sure she was at least still alive.
Whenever he asked her if she needed anything, she made a point of replying ‘nothing at all’. It was her small victory.
Her phone beeped. The Girl Gang WhatsApp group was popping off.
Wren: Is everyone around tomorrow afternoon?
Rosie: We need to celebrate . . . Walker saved Riley’s life today.
Amber: OMIGOD! What?
Isabella: Is she okay?
Wren: She’s fine.
Rosie: Thanks to Walker.
Isabella: Come to Tutto Mio for a late lunch. I’ll save a table.
Wren: Perfect. We just want to thank him properly – and he can blow off steam after the week he’s had.
Amber: Fab. Jayden’s on a sleepover so see you then.
Isabella: Count us in.
Gabi shook her head in disbelief as she took it all in. Walker McBride was an actual saint as well as a horny devil. The phone beeped again.
Isabella: Gabi, are you free?
Gabi typed a quick ‘yes please’ and added a smiley face before putting the phone in her lap.
A chance to get out of the house, have some fun and see Walker again.
Maybe she could mislay her crutches somewhere along the way.
Shit, she might even snap a crutch in half herself if it meant he carried her home and finished what he started.