Chapter 25
"Luke, take over here." Gabe stopped Sam's sideways motion when Paige walked through the door. His heart beat a little faster at the sight of her. "I'll help Paige today."
He'd been eagerly waiting for her arrival for the last hour, full of anxious energy that made it impossible to sit still.
Luke's shrug looked nonchalant, but the question on his face as he took Gabe’s place spoke volumes.
The younger man’s confusion was understandable since Gabe usually avoided working with Paige until the end of each PT session. He'd thought keeping his distance from her would curb his attraction, but it had only made him jealous every time Paige laughed at one of Luke's corny jokes.
"Hey, Paige, you're late," Nikki said from the middle table where she stretched her IT band.
"I know. I had to push my appointment back because I had a job interview this morning."
Gabe grinned as he prepped her heat packs. When he talked to her on the phone last night, she'd told him she might have an opportunity for a teaching job at the local elementary. He couldn't wait to hear how her interview went.
Things were falling into place.
"Really?” Gladys asked. “Where?"
"At the elementary school."
"Here in Providence? Are you planning on moving home for good?" Surprise lifted Gladys’ pencil-drawn brows.
"That's the plan." Paige grinned, brightening the room and his day.
He approached her with heat packs in his hands, a smile of his own on his face until Nikki beat him to the question he was dying to ask Paige.
"So how did the interview go?" Nikki forgot she was supposed to be stretching.
He locked gazes with Paige as he tucked a heat pack around her hip. "I'd like to know too." There were so many things he wanted to say to Paige without an audience.
He rehearsed all day yesterday what he planned to say to Dr. Stoker tomorrow, but he was still unsure how to approach Dr. Young. With him, the conversation would be about more than Gabe dating a patient. It would be asking for his daughter's hand.
"It went great!" Paige's cheerful voice pulled him from his thoughts. "By law, they have to post the job for a certain period of time, but you're essentially looking at the new fourth-grade teacher at Providence Elementary."
A chorus of "that's great" and "congratulations" swept through the room. Gabe wanted to wrap her in a hug, but he refrained, giving her a high five instead. It was another confirmation they were on the path they were supposed to be on.
He wanted to perch on the edge of Paige's table and simply talk to her, but the ladies had other plans.
First, Gladys shared tips for teaching fourth graders, then Nikki changed the subject to the latest chick flick to hit the box office.
Despite moving around the room as they did their exercises, they kept a string of conversations going for the next hour.
Gabe felt left out, but he loved it. This was exactly the comfortable atmosphere he'd hoped to have in his physical therapy office.
Around noon, he was working on Gladys' knee when the door opened. He looked up, thinking Travis was early, and froze when he saw Evelyn Tate, his mother's best friend.
What is she doing here?
He vaguely remembered Luke mentioning last week that Evelyn had scheduled an appointment here in Providence. At the time, he hadn't thought anything of it. But he got engaged Saturday night which changed everything.
His mom had promised not to tell anyone about the engagement until he’d had a chance to come clean with Dr. Stoker and Dr. Young.
Then she apologized yesterday for telling Evelyn he was engaged.
His mom’s friend knew she planned to give him his grandmother’s wedding rings, and she wanted to hear all about his reaction.
“But I didn’t tell her Paige was a current patient.
So if by chance it gets back to Dr. Stoker, he won’t know that you’ve been seeing a patient.
” Mom’s effort to smooth things over hadn’t been at all reassuring, and with Paige’s excitement over the prospect of a new job, he’d forgotten to tell her Evelyn knew of their engagement.
This could be bad.
"Hey, Evelyn," Luke greeted the woman before Gabe found his voice. "I can't believe you drove all the way to Providence for PT."
"It's better than working with that stuffed shirt, Toa. I try to make sure I end up on Dr. Stoker’s schedule, but with Gabe here three days a week, he’s busier than ever.
So I get stuck with Toa way too often." The tall, slender woman's lips turned up when she spotted Gabe.
"Congratulations, Gabe. I couldn't believe it when your mother told me the news.
" She crossed the room with her arms spread wide and wrapped him in a hug "She's so excited you’re engaged. "
Gabe's stomach plummeted so fast it created a vacuum that squeezed his chest and sucked the air from his lungs.
He'd never wished harder for the ground to open up and swallow him than he did at that moment.
Bury him alive. He deserved it. It couldn't be any worse than having to claw his way out of the pit his lies had created.
Weights clanked on the other side of the room, and audible gasps filled the space that had gone utterly silent. His gaze jumped to Paige, his eyes full of apology.
Her face registered confusion and panic.
Oblivious to the collective shock of the room's occupants, Evelyn dumped a truck load of dirt into his pit. "Your mom says Paige is perfect for you. She absolutely adores her."
"You and Paige are engaged?" Nikki's voice, full of surprise and excitement, sounded shrill in the quiet room.
"Every time I asked how things were going with your fake relationship, you told me there was nothing to report.
But now you guys are suddenly engaged?" Her accusing gaze darted between him and Paige, who stood next to the weight set attached to the wall, eyes closed, her head slowly shaking.
Luke's eyes were almost as wide as his grin.
Gladys wore a similar expression.
Even the right side of Sam's lips turned up, the twinkle in his eyes showing his amusement.
"Fake?" Evelyn's jaw dropped as her own gaze darted around the room. "What is she talking about?" Her full focus landed back on Gabe again.
"Do you have something to share with the class, Gabe?" Gladys blinked up at him with innocent eyes. She was giving him a chance to come clean with them, but he wasn't fooled. She wanted the scoop just as much as Nikki.
He looked at Paige again. Posture rigid, her expression was a mixture of shock and desperation. She gave a small shake of her head, but he was tired of lying, so he pasted on a smile.
"Paige and I have an announcement to make." He walked over to where she stood stiff and unmoving and put his arm around her. She didn't reciprocate. "We got engaged on Saturday."
The room erupted.
"Yay!" Nikki cheered. "I can't believe you didn't keep us in the loop like you promised."
"Congratulations!" Gladys smiled like she'd known all along.
"I knew it." Luke pointed at them. "It was so obvious you two had a thing for each other."
Even Sam grunted something that sounded like, "Attaboy."
"Wait a minute." Evelyn's voice rose above the rest as she walked toward him and Paige. "This is Paige? A current patient? Not a former one?" Her brows inched up with each question. "And what is this about a fake relationship?"
The rest of the room quieted, and Gabe scrambled for the words that wouldn't cause his world to come crashing down around him.
"Evelyn, I'd like you to meet Paige Young, my fiancée. Paige, this is my mom’s best friend Evelyn Tate." He lifted his chin and met Evelyn’s gaze. "Yes, she is a current patient."
"But you told your mom—"
"I know what I told my mom, Evelyn. I lied to her to make her final days happy." He recalled his mom's tears of joy when he and Paige returned to the living room hand in hand Saturday night. "And it has." He stared at her, daring her to argue.
Coming clean with his mom and knowing Paige would be by his side through it all had helped him find a measure of peace concerning letting his mother go.
He would always wish he had more time with her, but he was trying to focus on gratitude.
Gratitude for the last twelve years he’d enjoyed with her.
Evelyn pointed at Nikki. "But she said this was a fake relationship."
"It started out that way, but we fell in love." He tugged Paige, who had yet to soften, a little closer to his side.
"So, you're dating a patient?" Evelyn's expression hardened as she folded her arms. "Isn't that against your code of conduct or something? Does Dr. Stoker know?"
He kept his head high, hoping they wouldn't notice the perspiration forming on his brow.
"Yes, it's against the ethical guidelines of the American Medical Association, and I could very well lose my job over it.
I will be discussing my engagement with Dr. Stoker tomorrow.
I would appreciate it if you'd keep this information to yourself for now.
" His heart raced, pounding against the tightness of his ribcage.
He'd asked so many people to keep his secrets that he was losing track.
"At least until I have a chance to talk to Paige's dad and Dr. Stoker.
" He looked around the room with a pleading expression.
"That goes for all of you. Please, give me twenty-four hours before you say anything to anyone. "
Evelyn's expression softened a little, but her disapproval was apparent in the lines around her mouth. "And when do you plan to come clean with your mother?"
"I told my mother the truth after Paige and I got engaged. She knows everything." That had taken a huge load off his mind.
"I sure hope you know what you're doing." Evelyn shook her head, disapproval still lingered in her eyes. "You could lose your license for dating a patient."
"I know, but it's a sacrifice I'm willing to make for the woman I love." He turned to Paige, but she stepped away.