Chapter 27
A month later, Gabe tied every color of birthday balloon to the covered picnic structure at Lost Lake Park in downtown.
He’d already strung light and dark blue streamers for Lucy’s Bluey-themed fifth party.
She loved that character, and Gabe vowed to try to keep things as normal for her as possible.
He’d even bought a professional Bluey costume online and wheedled Jude into wearing it at the party. Gabe would probably owe the guy for the rest of his life, but if it was for Lucy, it was worth anything he had to pay right now.
Satisfied with his work, he stood back and looked at it with a critical eye.
His most important question? What would Kenna have thought of it?
His most loving, compassionate, and considerate best friend lost to him and Lucy.
The day of her funeral flashed into his brain, but whenever that happened, he forced it away to stop his pain from scaring Lucy.
All things considered, she’d handled the loss pretty well. Sure, she was upset a lot of the time and cried often. But she seemed to be able to dig herself out of the sadness by reminding herself that her mother was in heaven.
Gabe couldn’t do that. Yes, he knew she was in heaven.
A better place, but he sorely missed her.
He and El had spent a lot of time together this past month, and that helped fill the emptiness, but his sadness came upon him at moments when he couldn’t control it.
Like right now. Kenna would want to be sharing in this party.
She’d be with them in a way, he supposed, when he played her first video message for Lucy.
Could he hold it together for that or would he fall apart? God was with him, and he would do his very best for Lucy. That was all he could promise.
“You did a fantastic job.” El’s voice came from behind.
He spun to look at her. “I’m glad you’re here.”
She shifted a box of Bluey table items to her hip and touched the side of his cheek. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
“I wish I could hide my sadness from you as well as I hide it from Lucy.” He tried to smile, but couldn’t manage it, so he took the box to distract her.
“You’re thinking of Kenna. Of course you are. She would be here, right by your side. With Lucy.”
“Not here.” He stepped into the pavilion and set the box down.
“The party would be at Kenna’s place just for her, Lucy, me, Mrs. Z.
, and two of Lucy’s friends from preschool.
” He looked at the pavilion again. “Maybe I should’ve thought of that.
Maybe this is too much for Lucy right now.
She already had to change her daycare. Homes.
Living in my basic accommodations at the inn, for crying out loud. This might be too much to handle.”
“Hey, hey.” She took his hands. “You’re gonna freak yourself out. She knows about today’s plans, and she’s super excited.”
“You’re right.” He clung to her hands. “This dad thing is really throwing me for a loop. All I know on most days is that I love my little princess, and I’ll do anything not to screw up. Not to screw her up.”
“I get it. I have the same feelings, and I’m not an official guardian. Just someone who loves you and is trying to get to know Lucy. She makes it so easy to love her, and all the fear and misgivings are on me.”
“She really does like you.” He could smile in earnest now as he thought of all the time the three of them had spent together this past month and how happy Lucy had been with El.
He let go of her right hand and touched her ring finger.
“I don’t think it’ll be long before I can put a ring on this finger. ”
“I’m waiting for that day. I really am. More than you know. But being a mother?” She shook her head. “I don’t want to screw up either, but we have God on our side. All we need to do is trust that He wants us to raise this young lady. If we remember to talk to Him first, we’ll succeed.”
“I guess, when my doubts are really bad, I can remember that me being her dad is a far better choice than Sloan, who’s rotting in prison for years.”
Thankfully, he and the others took plea deals, sparing Lucy from testifying and giving up the missing girls’ location so they could be rescued. Tinsley and Ward were also doing lengthy stretches for their part in the terror Lucy suffered, too.
“I’d like to keep discussing this with you,” he said. “But my mother and Brad are coming our way.”
“I’ll get started with the tables,” she said, reaching for the box. “You can talk to your family.”
He took her hand. “You’ll soon be part of the family, and they need to know about you and me.”
“Son.” His mother stopped next to them. She cast a beaming smile his way. “Thank you for inviting us.”
“Ditto,” Brad said.
Gabe and Brad had spent some time together while Brad was healing in the hospital, but their contact ended when Brad was discharged.
Not because of a disagreement. No, they’d made peace with each other, and Gabe had even accepted that his brother had once planned to marry Kenna and be Lucy’s father.
Thankfully, Kenna hadn’t been ready for Lucy to find out about Brad until he made good on his promise and left the family business.
So he’d only met with Kenna when Lucy was sleeping, and she knew nothing about Brad.
His mother looked at El. “I thought you and Gabe were more than business associates when you came to question me.”
“We didn’t hide it very well, Mrs. Irving, did we?” El asked.
“No, and please call me Denise.”
El nodded, and Gabe hoped this meant his mom would someday accept El as her daughter-in-law.
“You should know.” Gabe put his arm around her waist. “Once Lucy settles in, we’ll be getting married.”
His mom clapped her hands. “How wonderful!”
“Congratulations.” Brad held out his hand for a fist pump, but sadness lingered in his gaze. “It’ll be great for Lucy to have a mom and a dad.”
Gabe bumped his brother’s fist, still surprised to see him show concern for others.
“How are you feeling?” El asked Brad.
“Good. Been able to work and get on with life.”
“I’m so proud of him.” His mother gave Brad a fond smile. “He found a great job working for a security firm. They contract with businesses to evaluate their security risks.”
“No one better than someone with a sketchy past like mine to determine risks.” Brad laughed. “But seriously. It’s a great job.”
“Are you still living at home?” Gabe asked.
“I left your father, and we’re sharing an apartment.” His mother lifted her shoulders as if the weight of living her former life with their father was gone. “Brad has saved enough money to help support me until I’m able to find a job.”
Gabe didn’t know what to say. A deep ache that had lived in his gut since the day he’d learned of his father’s profession evaporated. He might just float up like the balloons in the pavilion.
“We need to run back to the car for the present,” his mom said. “We just wanted to make sure we were at the right place before we hauled something so big over here.”
“Do you need help?” El asked.
They both shook their heads and turned to leave, but his mom spun back and threw her arms around Gabe’s waist. “I hope this changes things between us.”
He hugged his mom tightly for the first time in years. “It does, and I want you to be part of my life.”
She started crying and pushed back to get a tissue from her purse. “The present. We need to get the present.”
Dabbing at her eyes, she rushed away. Brad followed, a loving smile on his face.
El turned her attention to Gabe. “Looks like you’ll not only be able to leave your past behind you, but your mom and Brad can now be part of your life.”
“Thanks again to God, and we can pray that my dad realizes what he’s doing and makes a change, too.”
“Everything is working out for us.” She let out a contented sigh and rested her head against his chest. “I’m not naive enough to think we won’t have problems, but together? Trusting in God? We can get through it.”
He circled his arms around the woman he loved and wanted to be his bride. Only one thing that would make this moment even better. To kiss her and let her know how much he loved her.
El loved having Gabe’s arms around her, but she suddenly remembered they were in public. She leaned back and peered up at this handsome man she couldn’t wait to marry.
“Hey,” he said. “Don’t pull away. We haven’t had much time alone this past month, and this is nice.”
“We’re not actually alone,” she said. “Just look at all the kids on the play structure.”
“They really aren’t paying us any attention. So, before things get crazy here, I want to do this.” He lowered his head, and their lips connected.
The same jolt of love she experienced every time he kissed her raced through her. He drew her closer with one arm, eliminating all space between them, and plunged the other hand into her hair. She reveled in how confident he was about his love for her.
She kissed him back, hopefully showing him she felt the same way. She lost track of time. Of place. Of everything.
“Hey now,” a male voice in falsetto came from behind them.
She spun out of Gabe’s arms. A tall person completely hidden by a giant Bluey costume stood there.
“You’re early, Jude,” Gabe said. “You’ll be burning hot by the time the kids get here.”
He lifted off the head. “No kidding, I’m already sweating.”
“Jude? Oh my goodness. It is you.” El started laughing. “What does Gabe have on you that you agreed to do this?”
“It’s that kid.” Jude shook his head. “I know you feel it too. You can’t help but love the little squirt. But if you tell anyone I admitted it…” He chuckled, carefree as she’d seen of late.
She loved getting to know the off-duty Jude.
He was a great guy, and he’d been spending a lot of time with Lucy.
The whole team had devoted themselves to her, but him more than others, taking her fishing, to the batting cages, and watching Bluey with her, something he seemed to enjoy far too much for a man his age.