Chapter Thirty-Five
Gabi
Jayden was tired by the time they got home, and so was Gabi.
She’d had to wait on the riverbank on her own for an hour for Jayden to finish his rowing class, with Walker studiously ignoring her from across the yard.
Her good leg ached from standing on it for so long and her eyes burned with tears she would not let fall.
She couldn’t believe that Walker would say those things to her.
To think she’d been worried about it all being a bit too much, too soon, and he was just wanting to finish it all together.
What an arsehole. And all that bullshit about a connection?
What the hell? She could connect with people. She had to, for her job.
Jayden threw his rucksack at the peg and it hit the floor as he ran to hug Amber.
Gabi picked it up and hung it for him before dragging herself into the kitchen.
Gabi was dismayed to see Isabella was also there at the table, red-eyed and nursing a glass of wine.
Gabi checked the kitchen clock and Isabella saw it.
‘It’s twelve o’clock somewhere,’ Isabella said. ‘Don’t judge me.’
‘No judgement here,’ Gabi said, reaching for the bottle and pouring herself a small glass. She’d earned it. Amber sighed and joined in and the three women clinked.
‘What’s up? You okay?’ Gabi asked Isabella, as she made room for Jayden to sit at the table and open his iPad to play.
‘I don’t see the problem personally,’ Amber cut in, rolling her eyes. ‘Unless you think it’s a bad thing that your boyfriend who you are crazy about wants to marry you . . .’
Isabella huffed in frustration. ‘When you put it like that, it sounds daft,’ she said. ‘But I said I wanted a year when he asked me the first time. A year of “everything but marriage”. And now he’s trying to move the goalposts.’
‘But only to marry you sooner!’ Amber said. ‘If you ask me, it’s a nice problem to have.’
‘Well, I’ve told him that unless he stops asking, I’m not marrying him at all.
I want him to respect my decisions. Otherwise, it doesn’t bode well for our future.
You forget, I’ve been here before. Done this before.
So, for now, the wedding is off.’ Gabi reached over and squeezed her shoulder.
Whatever Isabella’s decision, she would support it. Isabella blew her a kiss.
‘How was Walker?’ Amber said, changing tack.
‘Don’t ask,’ Gabi said, shaking her head in frustration.
‘That bad?’
‘Worse. He practically dumped me and we’re not even boyfriend and girlfriend,’ Gabi glanced down at Jayden who was intent on his game. ‘Told me he doesn’t want to hook up with women who can’t connect.’
‘Ouch.’ Isabella sat back in her chair.
‘Wow.’ Amber blew out her cheeks.
‘Honestly, I now can’t wait to get home.’
Home. It gleamed in her brain like a shiny pin.
Everything would be exactly where she’d left it, there would be quiet and calm.
Which was the opposite to Amber’s multi-coloured house where chaos ruled, and clutter was the norm.
Teabags lived in the same cupboard as colouring pens.
Drawers bulged with plastic bags and school lunchboxes.
She was always flicking Jayden’s shoes out of the way with her crutch, and Amber’s bra often hung from the banister where she’d thrown it after getting home from work.
‘Maybe he really likes you,’ Isabella said, leaning in.
‘How do you figure that?’
‘Well, he’s never made me a tray before,’ Amber said as if that proved everything.
‘You haven’t got a broken leg,’ Gabi shot back.
Amber screwed her face up. ‘Good point, well made.’
‘He just sees me as someone who needs help. So, he’s doing what he always does – coming to the rescue.’
Isabella’s face softened. ‘Well, that’s nice in itself—’ she started but Gabi cut in.
‘He had to catch me when he thought I was falling. He has to make me a tray when he thinks I can’t carry a cup.
He has to swoop in. It’s probably in his nature.
That’s why he’s good at his job. He loves to be the hero.
’ Gabi sighed. ‘But he’s got me wrong. I don’t need help. I’m perfectly all right on my own.’
‘Seriously, though, don’t you think he’s hot?’ Amber persisted. ‘I honestly thought you’d make a beautiful couple.’
Gabi sipped her wine, remembering the feel of his body on hers. The light in those hazel eyes. The way he said her name.
‘Okaaaaay,’ she nodded. ‘He’s hot.’
‘That we can agree on,’ Amber said, raising her glass, and everyone cheersed.
‘But if he wants something more serious than Gabi does, it’s not going to work, is it?’ Isabella said.
‘Exactly!’ Gabi agreed. ‘It was never meant to be anything more than a holiday fling. I’m out of here in a month and I’ll have nice uncomplicated sex with someone on set called Aaron or Scott. And they’ll not care if I don’t sleep over. They’ll be happy to not have to make it more than it is.’
‘If that’s the way you want it, you go ahead, girl,’ Amber said.
‘You’ve always done your own thing,’ Isabella agreed.
Gabi nodded decisively. ‘Right. And I have more important things to be focused on right now. Like getting this leg back to full strength.’ She raised her glass again and took a sip.
‘What about Alex?’ she asked Amber. ‘Any updates?’
‘He rang a thousand times to say he was sorry if the song had upset me. That he’d like to meet and talk about it.’
‘Maybe you should?’ Gabi said but Amber put a hand in the air.
‘Nope. Been there, done that.’
‘You could just hear him out?’ Isabella said but Amber’s face said it all.
‘We’re better off without them,’ Amber said, putting her glass up in the middle.
‘Better off without them,’ Isabella and Gabi agreed, smashing their glasses together and finishing their drinks.
Gabi noticed Jayden lip-reading and caught a glimpse of something on his face as he watched his mum, and then he put the iPad down on the table and left the room.