Chapter 20

“We’ve got a little bit of time to kill until it’s done simmering,” I told Patrick after adding the last of the ingredients to the Chicken Cacciatore I was making.

“I can think of something,” he said, wrapping his arms around my waist. I giggled, actually giggled.

“We don’t have that much time,” I declined.

“I can be quick,” he whispered, placing a kiss on my lips.

I was about to respond when there was a knock on the door. Patrick groaned as I pulled myself away from him. I figured it had to be a neighbor because I hadn’t buzzed anyone up. I realized I was wrong when I got to the door and opened it. I saw a teenage girl standing there who looked vaguely familiar.

“Are you Gabrielle Tunney?” she asked timidly. I noticed she had a gym bag with her on the floor.

“Yes, I am,” I told her cautiously. She looked relieved and nervous at the same time at my response.

“It’s Kaylen, Rachel’s daughter.” My eyes widened in shock and my breath caught in my throat. That was why she had looked familiar. It had been almost 10 years since I’d seen her, but she looked just like her mother.

“Kaylen, what are you doing here?” At my question she burst into tears and rushed into my arms. Not knowing what else to do, I pulled her into me and held her for a moment. “Okay, calm down. Why don’t you come in and we’ll talk?”

“Okay.” She sniffed before walking into my apartment. I walked over and grabbed her bag off the floor, a sinking feeling forming in my stomach. Had she run away? And why had she come to me?










Patrick waited in the kitchen for Gabrielle to get back. When she didn’t come back right away he started to wonder what was going on. Just as he was about to go see if she needed any help he saw a teenage girl walk around the corner. She jumped when she saw him, obviously not expecting him to be there. He noticed that she looked like she’d been crying.

“Oh, I’m sorry. She didn’t tell me anyone was here,” the girl apologized shyly. He smiled at her, not wanting to make her feel unwanted.

“That’s okay. We were just about to have dinner. Do you want to sit down and have some? There’s plenty,” he offered. She nodded and sat down at the table while he got up and grabbed another plate and set of silverware. Then he grabbed the Cacciatore off the stove and brought it over to the table. “Are you one of Gabrielle’s students?” he asked when he got back over to the table.

“No. She’s my aunt,” the girl told him. He looked at her in shock. Gabrielle’s niece? That couldn’t be. She’d told him she didn’t have any family.

“Oh, I didn’t realize. I’m Patrick,” he introduced himself, fighting the urge to question her.

“I’m Kaylen.” He placed the Cacciatore down on the table in front of her just as Gabrielle walked in. He looked up at her and gave her a questioning look. Gabrielle looked shocked herself.

“I’m going to go and let you and your niece catch up,” he told her, trying to keep the edge out of his voice. Gabrielle’s face fell at his statement and anger built up in him. So she had lied to him about not having any family. He grabbed his jacket off of one of the bar stools and headed right for the door.

“Patrick, wait!” he heard her call after him once he was in the hallway. He spun around on her.

“I thought you didn’t have any family,” he spat at her. He was both hurt and angry at the lie. Why would she have lied to him about that?

“I don’t,” she responded quietly.

“Is that or is that not your niece?” he asked pointing at her apartment, his voice raising a decibel. He saw tears well up in her eyes.

“You don’t understand,” she started.

“Cut the shit, Gabrielle. That’s not a hard question to answer. Yes or no?” He was losing patience with her.

“Yes,” she whispered so quietly he almost didn’t hear her. The anger surged through him at the answer. Instead of saying anything he might regret he turned and made his way to the elevator. “Patrick, please.”

“I need time,” he said through gritted teeth. The elevator opened in front of him and he got in without looking back at her.










I watched Patrick get on the elevator as tears fell down my cheeks. I wanted to chase after him, to explain, but I couldn’t. Right now Kaylen was in my apartment and something had obviously really upset her. Upset her enough to search me out and come to me. I wiped the tears away and shook Patrick out of my mind before walking back in.

“Did he leave because of me?” Kaylen asked.

“No, honey, he left because he wanted to give us time to talk. Why don’t you start by telling me what you’re doing here?” She looked down at her hands in her lap and stayed silent. After a few moments I knew she wasn’t going to tell me right then. “Okay, well, why don’t we eat first? Are you hungry?”

She nodded and I sat down at the table across from her. I handed her the serving utensils and she took some food. I did the same when she was done and we began to eat. Neither of us said anything while we did. It wasn’t until we were both done and I’d picked up the dishes that I turned back to her.

“Okay, Kaylen, you need to tell me what’s going on,” I told her firmly. I saw tears building up in her eyes again, but she still didn’t answer me. Then something hit me that I probably should have thought of before. “Do your parents know you’re here?”

“No,” she croaked out. I covered my face with my hands. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have come.” I sat up and looked at Kaylen.

“It’s okay, really. I just need to call your mother.” Boy did I not look forward to making that phone call.

“No!” she yelled out quickly. I turned back to her.

“Then you need to tell me what’s going on.”

“They didn’t want me,” she mumbled.

“Who didn’t?” I prodded.

“Mom and Dad. They don’t want me.” My heart broke for her when I heard that. I knew that feeling all too well.

“That’s not true, honey. They love you.” She shook her head adamantly.

“I heard them talking. They were fighting. They were saying that I was too much trouble and blaming each other for how I’d turned out.”

My heart broke for her. I highly doubted that my sister and her husband didn’t want or love Kaylen, but I also knew how hurtful hearing things like that could be. I let her talk, get everything out of her system before interjecting and giving her any advice or an opinion. I didn’t want to push her away and cause her to run out, because if she’d come to me, then she really wouldn’t have anywhere to go after.

She got everything she’d been holding inside of her out, telling me that nothing she did was good enough, they didn’t understand her, they didn’t support any decision she made. To be honest it was fairly typical problems a 14 year old might have with their parents. There was just one difference. That difference was Rachel and her husband Lance.

Rachel was the oldest of my two sisters and 12 years older than me. There was a big age difference between both Rachel and Bailey and I, but Rachel and I had always been the most distant. To Rachel, if it wasn’t perfect, it wasn’t okay. At least she’d been like that when I was growing up. I doubted that in the almost 10 years I’d been away from home that she’d changed much.

I talked to Kaylen for a while trying to reassure her that Rachel and Lance did in fact love her, and that there would always be fights. That didn’t mean that any of it was Kaylen’s fault. I eventually got her calmed down enough to get her parents’ phone number out of her. I picked up the phone and prepared myself for a phone call I didn’t want to make. I hadn’t spoken to Rachel since I’d left home and I really didn’t know what to expect when I called and told her that her daughter was currently with me. I took a deep breath and dialed.

“Hello?” a female voice answered.

“Rachel?” I asked.

“Yes,” she responded cautiously. I doubt many people called her and addressed her like that.

“Hi, it’s Gabrielle.”

Chapter 19

The ringing sound of a phone broke me out of a deep sleep. It took me a moment to realize what was making the sound and I felt Patrick shift next to me, the ringing waking him up as well. I blindly reached out for my phone in the dark as I glanced at the clock on the nightstand. It read 2:53 am. Who the hell would be calling me right now?

“Hello?” I half mumbled, half growled into the phone. I felt Patrick’s arm snake around my stomach and pull me back into him. I felt him nuzzle into my neck and smiled at the touch.

“Gabrielle? It’s Officer Monahan.” I squeezed my eyes closed and fought back the annoyance. I was going to kill Nathan. Right before the Winter Classic too. He should know better. “I have a girl down here by the name of Gia Henderson.” Wait, what?

“Gia’s there?” I bolted upright out of Patrick’s grip.

“Yeah. She’s really upset and refuses to talk to anyone except for you.” I was already out of bed and searching for my clothes.

“I’ll be there as soon as I can.” I hung up the phone without waiting for a response.

“What’s going on?” Patrick asked, sitting up in bed.

“I have to go. One of my student’s is in trouble. Can I leave Loxley here until I can get back?” I was dressed even before the question was asked.

“Yeah, sure.” Patrick said something else, but I was already bolting out the door.

It was very unlike Gia to get into any trouble. She’d only been coming to me because she’d skipped some school, her grades had dropped, and she seemed depressed. There had been no sign that she was going to get into trouble with the police. I had no idea what to expect when I arrived at the police station nor did I know why she would only talk to me.

I pulled up in front of the station in record time and ran inside. I told the officer in the front that I needed to speak to Officer Monahan immediately and waited impatiently to see Quentin walk around the corner. When he did I looked at him expectantly and saw the grim look on his face.

“What’s going on?” I asked as he led me back towards the interrogation rooms.

“One of our officers found Gia walking alone down the street in torn clothes and crying. When they stopped to check on her she became hysterical, so they brought her in. The only thing she’ll say is that she needs to talk to you,” he explained.

I looked through the two-way mirror at Gia who was seated at a table. There was a bottle of water untouched in front of her. She lifted her head to look around the room and I could see her red-rimmed eyes along with what looked to be a forming bruise on her cheek. I heard Quentin curse when he saw it too. I made my way to the door and walked in. Gia began to cry again when she saw me. I rushed over to her and pulled her into a hug, allowing her time to cry.

“Gia, what happened?” I asked her when she’d calmed down a bit.

“I thought he was my friend,” she started quietly. She stopped just after speaking those words, turning her head away from me. I felt sick, knowing exactly what she was trying to tell me.

“Who, Gia?” I pushed, hoping for an answer. A sob was the only response she gave me. “Okay, it’s okay. We should get you to a hospital and make sure you’re alright.” She nodded and I helped her up and out of the chair.

Gia and I left the police station and I drove her to the hospital, my heart aching the whole time. A doctor came and checked Gia out, confirming that she was okay. While we waited she opened up to me a little more and I convinced her to have a rape kit done. A few hours later after talking to the police, we were able to leave.

“Let’s get you home,” I said as I led her out of the hospital and over to my car.

“No!” she exclaimed. I turned to her in surprise at the vehemence in her voice. She looked away quickly, seemingly embarrassed by her outburst. “My parents are out of town for a couple of days. I don’t want to be alone.”

So instead of driving Gia back to her place, I brought her to mine. The sun had risen by the time we got to my apartment, and Gia and I were both exhausted. I gave her some clothes to change into and cleaned up my studio and made the futon up like a bed while she changed. Gia was asleep within minutes of lying down, but I was wide awake, unwelcome thoughts running through my mind.

Gia slept through the morning while I made a phone call to Isaiah who had a phone number for Gia’s parents. Then I called her parents, and received their permission to let her stay with me until they got home, saying only that being alone was making her nervous. A little while later, my phone rang.

“Hey, I’m downstairs with Loxley,” Patrick told me. I cringed, not really sure about having him in my apartment in case Gia woke up. I didn’t want her to be uncomfortable.

“Okay, come on up.” A few minutes later, Patrick was walking through the door, Loxley in tow.

“Everything okay from last night?” he asked. I shook my head and put a finger to my lips to indicate that he should be quiet.

“It couldn’t be much worse. Gia’s here right now. She’s going to be here until just after New Years.” To his credit, he looked concerned, but nodded.

“Okay. I’ll just go then. I’ll call you later?” I was about to respond when a voice spoke up from behind me.

“Ms. Tunney?” I turned to see Gia walking from around the corner. She stopped when she saw Patrick standing in front of me. I noticed that she had changed back into her own clothes.

“Hey, can I get you something?” I asked her. She shook her head, but didn’t respond, instead keeping her eyes on Patrick. “I talked to your parents. I told them you were nervous about being home alone, and they agreed to let you stay here until they got home.” She nodded, but didn’t respond.

“Hi, I’m Patrick. I was watching Gabrielle’s dog for her last night and just stopped by to drop Loxley off,” he said pointing towards Lox, who was watching Gia cautiously. Gia turned her attention to Loxley and I saw a small smile form.

“I didn’t know you had a dog,” she said to me, her eyes still on Lox.

“Yeah, that’s Loxley. He’s really friendly, I promise,” I assured her. She knelt down and held her hand out for him. Loxley walked over, sniffed her for a moment and then let her pet him.

“I love dogs. I wish my parents would let me have one,” she said as she scratched his belly.

“You know, Gia, I’m going to be busy until New Years Day and won’t have much time to spend with my dog. If it’s okay with Gabrielle, how would you feel about watching my dog Dudley for me for the next couple of days?” Patrick offered. She looked up with a grin on her face as I turned to Patrick in surprise.

“Sure, it’s okay with me if she’s willing,” I said, trying to hold in my own smile. It was uncanny how well Patrick could read people and situations. The guy was a saint.

“I’d love to!” she exclaimed.

“Great. I have to get going, but I’ll be back later with Dudley. I’ll bring some dinner and let you know everything he likes and doesn’t like.” She nodded and turned her attention back to Loxley, who was eating up all the attention he was getting. I turned to Patrick and smiled gratefully at him.

“I guess I’ll see you tonight,” I told him.

“Let me know what she wants to eat and I’ll get it. Does 6 sound okay?” I nodded and he smiled at me before turning and walking out the door.

During dinner that night Gia talked more than I’d ever heard her talk before. I’d brought her home to grab some of her stuff and she’d been taking pictures of the dogs all day. When Patrick had come over she’d spent a long time showing them to him and he good naturedly let her. Was there anything wrong with this guy at all, because right now he was a saint.

The topic of the Winter Classic came up and despite not being into sports, Gia seemed fascinated by the idea of it. Patrick promised to get an extra ticket since I was already taking Nathan. Gia agreed, eager for the opportunity to take photos at such a major event. To be honest, I hadn’t seen Gia this happy in a long time, and especially after something so traumatic. Patrick was truly a godsend.

Patrick came over and I cooked dinner on New Years Eve. He stayed long enough to see midnight before heading home to get some sleep before the big game. The next day Gia and I left to pick Nathan up at the school. The three of us then headed off to the game. Gia and Nathan had known each other, but weren’t friends. That didn’t matter as we got to Wrigley Field. Just the excitement of the game had them both chattering away.

Despite the fact that the Hawks lost, the three of us still had a great time. Gia had her camera out almost the entire game taking pictures of the game, the stadium, and the crowd. By the end of the game I think almost everyone in there had posed for her at one point or another. Nathan had just been excited to be able to attend the Winter Classic for his favorite team, an opportunity he wouldn’t have had just a few months before.

When the game was over we all waited for Patrick and talked with the rest of the families of the guys that had gone to the game. Due to the atmosphere of the whole experience, no one seemed upset, and conversation was easy. When Patrick finally came out after all the interviews he’d had he took the three of us out for dinner.

Gia’s parents came the next day to pick her up and she’d given me a hug before she walked out the door. I didn’t know what things would be like with her once school started back up, or if she would open up to me anymore, but I hoped that these past few days would help. As much as I wished I could say that I’d been able to get through to her a bit, I knew it was all because of Patrick, which I made sure to tell him that night.

“I really need to thank you for what you did not just for Gia, but for Nathan,” I told him.

“I haven’t done anything,” he denied. I looked straight into his eyes.

“Yes, you have. You have no idea what those two kids have gone through. I could have only gotten so far with them in this amount of time. If it wasn’t for you and the things you’ve done, they may not be how they are now. Nathan is going to school and getting his grades up ever since you agreed to let us come to games and being able to make Gia smile after what she went through the other night is more invaluable than you’ll ever know. Thank you.”

I didn’t say it, and I’m not sure I ever would, but helping them was really helping me. He didn’t know it, but Gia and Nathan were more like me than he could ever guess. I wasn’t ready to come out and tell him what had happened in my life yet, but seeing how he handled them gave me hope. It gave me hope that when I was ready for him to really see me that he may not run the other way.

Chapter 18

Two more days had passed in Thunder Bay with Patrick’s family and despite myself, I was having fun. His family was amazing. They were sweet, funny, and real. This was a real family, the prime example of a real family in fact. They laughed and joked with each other, telling embarrassing stories lovingly and without malice. I ached for that. My whole life I’d always ached for that.

Patrick and his father had gone outside to get something from a shed a while ago. Two days ago I would have felt awkward being left alone with his family, but not now. Now I hardly noticed that he was out of the room and I was alone with people I’d only just met. Periodically my mind would wander and I’d find myself almost waiting for the panic attack to come, because by now it should be, but it never did. It was never even close.

It didn’t even kick in a few hours later when the rest of Patrick’s family showed up for dinner. There were aunts, uncles, grandparents, and cousins. The house was alive with strangers and despite the crowded house the panic attack never came. Somehow throughout the evening the genuine smile remained on my face as I met and talked with each of them.

Everyone was curious about me, the girl that Patrick had brought home from Chicago for Christmas. I strangely didn’t mind the attention they all seemed to be paying to me as I was basically given the third degree about my job, my hobbies, and what I was interested in. Oddly though, the topic of my family never once came up in all the conversation.

“Did you need a break?” I heard a voice ask from behind me. I’d grabbed a mug of coffee and had made my way outside.

“No, it’s not that. I just think it’s so pretty here at night with all the stars out. I don’t get to see stars like this too often,” I told Elise truthfully. She smiled at me and nodded.

“I guess that’s the downside to living in a big city.”

“Only one of many,” I joked. She laughed a little and then we stood there in silence looking out over the stars for a while.

“You know, Patrick’s never brought anyone home for Christmas before, even when they lived close by. In fact, since he moved away from home almost 9 years ago he’s only introduced us to one other girl.”

Her words caught me by surprise and I wasn’t really sure what to say. I looked over at her and she simply smiled at me before turning and walking back into the house leaving me outside with that statement running through my head. She’d come out here to specifically tell me that and make sure I knew that I was different, but why? I wasn’t sure how I felt about that, or any of it.

“Are you ever coming back inside?” This time it was Patrick’s voice that I heard behind me. I turned back to him and smiled, trying desperately to hide the turmoil going on inside of me.

“Yeah, I was just about to.” He held the door open for me and followed me back inside.

A little while later we were all seated around a long table covered in food. Plates were passed around and everyone was encouraged to take as much as they wanted, because leftovers were not desired. The same jovial conversation I’d been witnessing the past few days continued through dinner and I found myself temporarily forgetting about what Elise had told me.

No one was in a hurry to get up from the table once we’d all been stuffed full of food. It was only when Ian decided it was time for after dinner drinks that anyone made a move to leave their chairs. I got up along with Patrick and prepared to head out into the living room with the majority of the others when Elise surprised me again.

“Gabrielle, do you think you could help me clean off the table?” she called over to me.

I stood frozen in my spot for a moment. She glanced back at me over her shoulder as she carried a dish into the kitchen, and smiled warmly. What she’d said to me outside on the porch suddenly came rushing back into my head as sudden understanding flooded my brain. I fought back the tears and picked up a dish myself, carrying it into the kitchen behind her.










Patrick followed his father across the snowy yard to the shed his parents had along the tree line in their backyard. He wasn’t sure exactly what they needed, but when his father had asked for help with something, he hadn’t questioned him. They stepped inside the shed and his father turned the light on.

“So what did we need to get?” Patrick asked, looking around at the boxes and tools that were stored in there.

“Nothing really,” his father replied. Patrick looked at him in understanding. His father wanted to talk to him about Gabrielle alone. He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back against the work table.

“What do you have to say?” he asked. Ian took a similar stance against the wall across from Patrick.

“Gabrielle is different, isn’t she?” Patrick knew what he meant, and he nodded.

“I can’t explain it, but yeah, she is. There’s just something about her.”

“You’ve never brought anyone home with you before. Especially over a holiday like Christmas.”

“I told you about her family,” Patrick started and Ian nodded his head.

“Yeah, you said she doesn’t have any. What happened?” he asked. Patrick sighed and shrugged.

“She hasn’t said and I haven’t asked. I can tell that whatever it was wasn’t good. She won’t talk about them. The pain in her eyes is very apparent when they come up and I can see how difficult it is for her. I think there might have been an accident,” Patrick told him.

“What makes you say that?”

“Well, something had to happen for her to lose both her parents and two sisters at the same time. I also noticed some scars on her arms that she told me came from glass in an accident, but she clammed up pretty quickly about those too. I think she was the only one that survived.” Ian took that information in and was quiet for a while.

“I’m sorry that anyone has to live with something like that. It can’t be easy,” he said after a while. Patrick agreed.

“That’s my only hesitation with her. Everything else is amazing. I just wish she’d open up to me about them and about what happened,” Patrick explained.

“People grieve in their own ways. Maybe when she lost them she lost the only people she’d been able to rely on. It takes time to be able to trust someone again.”

Patrick took that in, knowing his father was right. He would just have to be patient with Gabrielle and let her realize that he was here to stay as long as she’d have him and that she could trust him. Being here with her and watching her with his family had shown him even more that she was someone special, something different.

“If it helps, we all like her,” his father said. Patrick smiled over at him.

“Thanks.” Ian turned and began to search the shed, signaling the talk was over.

“We should probably find something in here to bring into the house. Otherwise they’ll wonder what we were doing out here.” Patrick laughed and began to help his father search for something.

Later that night Patrick watched Gabby help his mother and his aunt clean up the table after dinner. It was the last night they’d be here with an early flight back to Chicago the next morning. Even so, he couldn’t keep the smile off of his face when he thought about the break they’d had and shared together.

As the night wore on, everyone began to pack up and leave. He and Gabrielle hung back to say goodbye to his immediate family when the rest were gone. After doing so they got into the car and headed back to his house. The car ride was silent and Gabrielle kept her face turned towards the window and away from him. He wondered what that was about.

After pulling into the driveway he parked and got out of the car. When he got around it and reached Gabrielle he heard a sniffle. At first he assumed her nose might be running from the cold, but when he heard another immediately following the first he grabbed her arm and turned her to look at him. He was surprised to find tears flowing freely down her face.

“Gabby, what’s wrong?” he asked, concerned.

“Your mom asked me to help clean off the table,” she said between sniffs.

He was confused for a moment. She was crying because she was asked to help with chores? Really? But as he looked into her eyes searching for the cause of the tears he found his answer. Guests were never allowed to help with any sort of chore in his parents’ house and he could blatantly remember his mother saying that to Gabrielle when she’d offered to help with something the first day she'd met them.

He pulled Gabrielle into his arms and let her continue to cry on his shoulder. He wasn’t sure exactly what to say or do and figured that just letting her cry was the best thing. Tonight she’d gone from being a guest with no family to being accepted into his. He couldn’t imagine the emotions that were going through her right now. He heard her crying begin to fade and pulled away just a little.

“Why don’t we get inside out of the cold?” he suggested. She nodded and let him lead her inside.

She took off her coat and walked straight upstairs. He followed her a few minutes later after grabbing some things that they would need in the morning and found her tucked into bed. She was no longer crying, and he changed before getting into bed beside her. She turned over to him and looked straight into his eyes.

“Thank you for bringing me here with you,” she whispered.

“You’re welcome,” he returned before placing a kiss on her forehead.

She buried her head into his shoulder and closed her eyes. He watched her sleep for a while as he thought about what had just happened. He felt like she’d just cracked open a door for him, no longer keeping him completely shut out. He couldn't have been happier.

Chapter 17

I stood back as Patrick checked our bags and printed out our boarding passes. I stood stiffly and warily as I looked around at all the people surrounding us. I’m claustrophobic and I felt like walls were closing in on me, like I needed clean air. Patrick glanced at me over his shoulder and gave me a smile. I smiled back at him. At least I thought I did.

When he was done he took my hand and led me through the maze of people to security and customs. I followed his lead on everything, having my passport out ahead of time. I couldn’t even remember the last time I’d been on a plane. I knew I’d flown before, when I was young, but I didn’t remember it. I couldn't even remember where I'd gone.

Once we were through everything he took my hand again and I followed him to our gate. Most of the seats already contained people, so we found an empty spot against the wall and sat on the floor. I pulled my knees up to my chest and reminded myself to keep slow, steady breaths. Patrick placed a hand on my knee and nudged me with his shoulder.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

No, I wasn’t. I was so far from being okay. I was using every ounce of my energy to fight off a panic attack. I wasn’t sure what was causing the fear and anxiety. It could have been the impending plane ride. It could have been meeting Patrick’s family. It could have been spending the holidays with a family for the first time since I’d lost mine. It could have been the fact that I felt like I was falling for Patrick more and more every time I saw him. It could have been a combination of any or all of those things.

“Just nervous. I haven’t flown since I was a child,” I told him.

I couldn’t tell him the truth. I couldn’t let him know that I was crazy. I couldn’t tell him that there was a bottle of Ativan that I hadn’t brought because I didn’t want him to know about it that I desperately wished I had with me. I couldn’t tell him that I wished I had something much stronger than Ativan. I couldn’t tell him that I hadn’t had the craving for something like that in seven years, but now I had twice since I’d met him.

“It’ll be okay. I promise,” he tried to assure me as he put an arm around my shoulders. I nodded and forced a smile onto my face to try to hide what I was really feeling.

We boarded the plane for Thunder Bay a while later and I strapped in between Patrick and the window. We talked off and on through the night flight. I felt like he was trying to keep my mind off of the fact that I was in the air, and it was sweet. A little misguided, but sweet. I clung to his hand as the plane touched down, and he placed a kiss on my forehead once we were taxiing to the gate.

“See, I promised that you’d be safe,” he whispered. I wasn’t safe. I’d never be safe around him.

We walked off of the plane and I felt the tightening in my chest when I realized that it was way too late to turn back now. I stopped walking, took a few deep breaths, and then caught up to Patrick who had stopped to turn back to me. Once again, he mistook my nervousness for something else.

“My family will love you. I promise.” I wanted to tell him to stop promising things. Promises could never be kept.

He took my hand again and led me through the airport, which was considerably smaller and less full than the Chicago airport had been. That helped. We reached baggage claim and I saw a guy standing there with the same eyes as Patrick. We headed straight for him and Patrick let go of my hand to give him a hug. I hung back as they greeted each other.

“This is my girlfriend, Gabrielle. Gabby, this is my brother, Chris,” Patrick introduced us.

I hesitated a moment, surprised by what Patrick had said. The word ‘girlfriend’ had never come up between us before. When had that happened? When had we gone from just dating to me being a girlfriend? Finally I stepped forward, put a smile on my face, and shook his hand.

“It’s nice to meet you, Chris. Patrick talks about you all the time. Let me assure you it’s not all good,” I joked with a wink. It even amazed me at how quickly I managed to shift from anxiety to good humor.

“Somehow, I’m not surprised. It’s nice to meet you, too. Come on, I’m sure you guys are tired. I’ll get you home,” he returned.

I insisted on sitting in the back seat of the car so that the two of them could talk and catch up. I kept an ear on the conversation so I could respond when necessary, but my mind was elsewhere. I hadn’t been with people for Christmas in nine years. Even when Olivia had taken me in and given me a home for a while, I’d spent Christmas alone. She’d gone to be with her family, and despite her insistence, I’d always refused to join. Now I was heading into a family Christmas with an apparent ‘boyfriend’ I still didn’t know all that well. Talk about jumping in head on.

Chris pulled into the driveway of a house with a porch light on in front and a light on in a room inside. He got out and helped with the luggage. When I noticed that there were no other cars in the driveway and no one came out to greet us I assumed this was Patrick’s house in the off season. Chris and Patrick carried the luggage inside and I followed them in.

“Okay, I have to get back to Faith. I guess we’ll see you for breakfast at Mom and Dad’s at 9?”

“We’ll see you then,” Patrick confirmed. Chris gave a final wave before walking back out the front door.

“Nice place,” I told Patrick when he shut the door behind Chris. He smiled over at me and pulled me into a hug.

“I kind of sprang the ‘girlfriend’ thing on you back there,” he said. I looked up at him in surprise. How had he known? As if reading my mind again, he gave a small laugh. “You were quieter than normal the entire trip back from the airport.”

“I’m sorry. I was just caught off-guard,” I replied truthfully.

“I hope it was okay.”

“It was.” I could hear the tremor in my own voice, so I tried to hide it with a smile.

“Gabrielle, whatever’s making you tense about me, about being here, I just want you to know that I can help. Let me save you,” he whispered. His words stunned me. They hit me harder than I would have liked them too, because God, I wanted to be saved. I just hadn’t realized that it had been so obvious that I’d been holding back and hiding things.

“I never asked you to save me.”

“I know.”

He said those two words very pointedly, his eyes boring into mine. He wasn’t just telling me that he was aware I didn’t ask him to, he was telling me he was willing and wanted to. I didn’t even know how to respond to that, short of just breaking down, and I wasn’t going to do that. All I knew was that my heart was surging and fluttering and my stomach was doing somersaults. How was it that he could make something so awful seem so tolerable?

“Why don’t I give you the tour?” he asked, obviously sensing I wasn’t sure what to say and wanting to change the subject.

“The tour can wait.” He looked over at me in surprise. I shrugged. Two simple words had made me need him again. “The house will still be here later.” He laughed and lifted me easily in his arms.

“Why don’t I show you the bedroom first?”

I felt a stab of fear when the alarm sounded the following morning. This was it. What had I gotten myself into? We took turns showering and then got into a car he leaves there when he goes to Chicago for the season and headed over to his parents’ house. Patrick gave me more assurance that his family would love me before he opened the front door and we walked in.

“Sweetie! How was your trip?” a woman I assumed was his mother exclaimed, immediately coming down the hallway and hugging Patrick. An older man came around a corner with a smile on his face, followed by Chris and his very pregnant wife.

“It was, fine. No problems. Hi, Dad.”

“And you must be Gabrielle,” the woman said, turning her attention towards me. I smiled and started to stick my hand out to shake her hand. “Oh, we don’t shake hands in this family.” She wrapped me up in a hug that took me by surprise. When she pulled away, I saw Patrick holding back a laugh as his eyes met mine.

“It’s very nice to meet you, Mrs. Sharp.”

“Nonsense. We don’t do formal here either. It makes me feel old. Call me Elise and this is my husband, Ian. I believe you met Chris last night, and this is his wife, Faith,” she said, introducing me to everyone.

After the introductions were over I followed the family back into the kitchen where the table was set for all of us and food was already on the table. There was more food sitting out than I thought was possible for just six people to eat. Apparently I underestimated the Sharp family. Hardly anything was left after the meal.

The conversation had been light and amusing. I heard stories about Patrick and Chris as they were growing up, some of which they’d probably wished had never been brought up again. I spent more time laughing than I would have liked. There was a comfort in feeling uneasy about being in a family setting. Enjoying it meant I was enjoying being around a family, which meant I was growing to like them, which meant that it was going to hurt even worse when they were torn away from me.

“Let me help you clean up,” I offered to Elise. She brushed my offer away with a wave of her hand.

“We don’t put guests to work in this house. The boys will help me clean. Go on out and enjoy your coffee with Faith and Ian.” I gave her a smile and nodded at the dismissal.

We sat around a truly charming and inviting living room finishing off the coffee and letting the breakfast feast digest before I was informed it was time to find the Christmas tree. Usually the whole family went along, but Faith stayed back because of her 8 months of pregnancy and Elise stayed to keep an eye on her. The rest of us bundled up against the Thunder Bay cold and walked out into the woods.

“This one looks good,” Ian suggested, pointing to a tree nearby.

“I think it’ll work,” Chris agreed. Patrick turned to me.

“What do you think?” he asked. I wasn’t sure what to say. I’d never gone out searching for a Christmas tree before. What were the requirements of a good tree?

“It looks good to me,” I said, agreeing with the first two. I wasn’t about to know any better than they were.

They got to work chopping the tree down as I sat back and shivered. I’d never experienced a cold like this cold before. I didn’t know it was humanly possible for someone to get this cold and still survive. I couldn’t feel my toes or my fingers and they were under layers and layers of socks and gloves.

Finally the tree fell and I was appointed the very top to carry. The four of us trekked through snow that was up to my knees as we carried the tree back to the house. Elise opened the door for us when she saw us coming and we tried our best to shake the snow off of us before entering the house. I saw with gratitude that she had hot cocoa waiting for our arrival.

The next couple of hours were spent decorating the tree with a variety of ornaments. Some were fancier, some were goofier, and some were homemade. I laughed at the stories they told of how some of the ornaments were made by the boys when in grade school. I laughed harder at a picture of Patrick from when he was 8 years old stuffed into a ratty old tuna can with glitter and fake snow.

Despite all the laughter as we finished decorating the tree, I was overcome with a feeling of sadness. With my family there’d never been a family search for the perfect tree, there was no family decorating, and I couldn’t recall ever making a homemade ornament. Even if I had, I doubted it would have ever been allowed on the tree.

Later that night, long after dinner had ended, Patrick and I returned to his house. We fell right into bed, both exhausted from a long day. The only difference between us is that he fell asleep with a smile on his face, while I struggled to keep him from waking up to see my tears. His family was perfect, and made me long for a family of my own. I didn’t want to feel this anymore, yet it had only been the first day of four here. I wasn’t sure how I’d make it through the rest.

Chapter 16

A week had passed since the night I’d taken Nathan to the game. Patrick and I had only been able to see each other once that week because of his schedule. It was getting to the point that I was realizing that I was going to have to get used to a distant relationship with him. We just weren’t going to be able to see each other as much as other couples might.

I thought about it even as I painted a scene that didn’t reflect my feelings on that at all. I’d woken up this Saturday morning feeling hopeful and a little dreamy. I couldn’t explain where that feeling had come from, but I also couldn’t say I hated it. As I worked on the painting I heard my phone ring. I noticed it was the number that would come up if someone was downstairs calling from the lobby directory.

“Hello?”

“Hey, it’s me.” I smiled at the unexpected sound of Patrick’s voice. “Dudley and I are downstairs and were wondering if we could come up.”

“Of course! I’ll buzz you in.” I hit the button on the phone necessary to unlock the door and then made my way to my apartment door to open it for them.

We hadn’t had any plans for today so I was caught a little off-guard. I glanced down at the paint stained sweats and t-shirt I was wearing as I self-consciously put a hand to my ponytail. There wasn’t time to change, so Patrick was just going to have to live with seeing me look like a mess. A moment later I heard him and Dudley walk through the door.

“Hey,” I greeted him when he walked around the corner, led by Dudley.

“Hi.” He walked immediately over to me and kissed me lightly. “I didn’t know you wore glasses.” I put a hand up to my face, touching the frame, suddenly remembering I was still wearing those, too.

“I don’t often. Usually I have my contacts in, but I just hadn’t gotten around to that yet today.”

“I think they look good on you.” I smiled into the second kiss he gave me.

“Not that I mind, but what are you doing here?” I asked.

“I got home after practice and realized that I’d have much more fun spending the day with you than spending it alone. I hope it’s okay that I just came over.”

“It is. I’m just sorry you had to walk in on me looking like this,” I told him, grabbing onto my t-shirt and glancing down at myself. He laughed.

“I really don’t mind,” he assured me.

“I was just painting, so I didn’t want to wear anything nice, you know?” He nodded in understanding.

“Can I see what you were working on?” he asked.

I smiled at his interest and led him back to my studio. I pointed at the painting that was maybe only half complete and waited to hear what he had to say. I was never nervous about showing anyone what I had painted. I held no delusions that I was the next Rembrandt or Picasso and I was very aware that people had differing tastes in art as well. Patrick looked at it for a while before he spoke.

“There are no people on the beach,” he commented.

“I know. It’s on purpose,” I told him.

“You don’t like painting people, or you didn’t want there to be people?” he asked.

“I didn’t want there to be people, or hotels, or tourist traps,” I explained.

“Why not?”

“Because that right there is paradise.”










Patrick glanced over at Gabrielle when she said that. He could tell by the tone of her voice that there was more to her calling it paradise than it being just a peaceful beach. Her gaze had changed as well, like she’d gone into the painting for a moment. He stayed quiet as he watched the faraway look in her eyes and wondered what had happened to her.

He had a feeling there was more to her strange silence about her past than just losing her family, but he’d never been sure before. Now he believed it even more as he watched her disappear from the moment. Her idea of paradise was away from people, away from everything. He knew losing family could be traumatic, but there just had to be more to her story than that.

As he watched her he saw light slowly come back into her eyes. He knew she was coming back from wherever she’d gone and just waited her out, not wanting to rush her. Finally she turned and looked at him, a smile forming on her face. He couldn’t help but smile back at her.

“I’m really glad you came over,” she said to him. He reached out and pulled her into him.

“I am too.”

They walked out of the studio and sat on the couch in the living room. They watched Dudley and Loxley run around playing with each other while they talked. After a while they decided to take the dogs for a walk in a nearby park. It felt surprisingly warm for a late afternoon in December, but Patrick wasn’t complaining.

They held hands as they walked. He was struck by how nice it was to be holding hands with someone as they walked their dogs. He’d never had that feeling with anyone before. It felt amazing and unsettling at the same time. If he wasn’t careful, he was going to fall for Gabrielle. He was already on his way. He’d be more than happy to willingly let it happen if it wasn’t for that secret of hers. He just wanted to know what it was before he let himself fall completely.

“I’m hungry. Do you want dinner?” she asked, as they walked back into her apartment.

“Yeah, dinner sounds great. What are you in the mood for?” he returned. She shrugged and then opened her refrigerator.

“Not sure. What about you?” He watched as she moved things around and opened drawers, before opening the freezer to do the same.

“Are you planning on cooking dinner?”

“You need a home cooked meal once in a while,” she told him, turning to look at him over her shoulder and raising an eyebrow. It was adorable.

“Well, thank you. Anything you want to make would be fine,” he assured her.

She got to work taking things out and placing them on the counter. He sat down at a stool at the island in the kitchen and watched her work. For someone who was not a cook like he was, he was amazed at her. She never measured a single thing. Just over an hour later when a plate of fantastic looking lasagna that Gabrielle had made from scratch was placed in front of him, he forgot about wanting to hold off on falling for her.

“This is amazing,” he complimented her.

She beamed over at him. He was telling the truth. He’d been to Italian restaurants run by real Italians that couldn’t cook lasagna half as well as she had. When they were done he grabbed her plate and took it to the sink, where he got to work doing dishes. It was the least he could do for a meal like that.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“Doing the dishes,” he responded.

“I can see that. Why are you doing my dishes?”

“Because you cooked me dinner, so I should do the cleaning.” She smiled, sat back, and didn’t argue. When he was done, he walked over to where she was playing with the dogs. She turned to him, put her arms around his neck, and kissed him.

“Thank you for doing the dishes.”

“I’ll keep doing them too, if that’s the thanks I get.” She grinned up at him and kissed him again.










I don’t know where I got the balls to just walk up and kiss Patrick the way I did. I’d never been that kind of person. Somehow he just brought it out of me. Now as we stood there in the middle of my living room, kissing like the world would end if we stopped, I wondered why I’d spent so long avoiding guys. Then again, I somehow had the suspicion that no other guy would have made me feel like Patrick did.

His hands had been planted on my hips, but now he was running them slowly up my sides. I shivered at the touch, and pulled myself as close to him as I could get. The kiss became more and more desperate as we clung to each other and I was struck by a feeling I’d never felt in my life. I wanted him. I really wanted him.

Never before had I felt this need to be with someone before. It was a little unnerving and so right at the same time. I’m not sure who initiated the movement, but I soon realized that we were heading in the direction of my bedroom, our lips still connected. Part of me wanted to stop him, and the other part of me was making sure we made it there safely.

Once in the bedroom Patrick broke the kiss to trail his lips over my jaw and down my neck. I felt like everywhere he touched me was on fire, and I let out an involuntary moan. His hands trailed back down my sides and grabbed the hem of my shirt. They hesitated there for a moment, but once he realized I wasn’t going to stop him, he lifted my shirt over my head. I couldn’t have stopped him if I wanted to. He pulled away from me and looked into my eyes.

“If you don’t want to do this, tell me now. If we go any farther, I don’t know that I’ll be able to stop.”

I took in what he said and only hesitated for a second. Not trusting my words, I instead used my lips to kiss him long and hard. I realized I didn’t just want this, I felt like I needed it. It felt right and I had to know that my past experiences with this weren’t the real thing. I wasn’t at all let down. There were feelings, touches, emotions, I’d never experienced before. As we lay there cuddled up afterward I was struck by the feeling of being safe, satisfied, and happy. If I had been an emotional person, I might have cried.

“What happened to your arms?” Patrick asked me, running a hand over them. I took in a sharp breath as I looked down at them. I’d completely forgotten about the scars on my forearms. I’d never before forgotten about them. Now I covered them self-consciously.

“There was an accident,” I started, hesitating slightly. “The glass.” I let my voice trail off, not finishing the sentence.

I felt awful about the answer, and now was not the time to talk about it. Patrick’s only response was to take both of my arms and kiss his way down one and then up the other. The chills that ran through me were unexplainable. I’d always gone out of my way to keep the small scars covered, but now I resisted the urge to do that and cuddled back up to Patrick.

“What are your plans for Christmas?” he asked after a long silence. I turned my head at the unexpected question.

“Probably spending it here with Loxley like I usually do,” I told him. He didn’t say anything in response and I nestled back into the spot I’d been in.

“Come home with me,” he said a moment later. I bolted upright, bringing the sheets up with me, and putting some distance between us.

“I’m sorry, what?” He couldn’t have just said what I thought he did.

“Come home with me for Christmas,” he repeated. I shook my head vehemently.

“Patrick, I can’t…..it wouldn’t…..I just…..” He sat up as I stammered over my words.

“No one should spend Christmas alone. I want you to come with me. I want to spend Christmas with you.”

As I looked into his eyes I thought of a million reasons why I couldn’t possibly go home with him for Christmas. I continued to keep a small distance between us and shake my head no. Even as I did all of those things I heard myself tentatively agreeing. He smiled and pulled me back to him, placing a kiss on my forehead as he did so. I settled back down next to him, but my brain was going a mile a minute. I hadn’t spent a single Christmas with anyone for the last nine years because it had been too hard. What had I gotten myself into?

Chapter 15

I watched Gia walk out of my office sadly. She was lost and I had yet to figure out how to help her. I’d asked her to bring in some of her photography to show me, and she had. I thought maybe it would help spark conversation between us, but it had done the opposite. I didn’t know much about photography, but I knew that when I looked at her photos I felt overwhelmingly sad. She remained as tight lipped as ever, and I became even more worried about her.

I spent the next little while making notes on Gia and brainstorming possible ways to get her to open up and let me in. I added my notes to her file and packed them away just in time for my next appointment. Nathan walked in just on time, with a smile on his face. He greeted me cheerfully and plopped down on the couch.

“How’s school going this week?” I asked him. I knew most of the answer to that already, but I wanted to hear what he had to say.

“I just came from biology. I got a B on my last test,” he announced proudly. I grinned back at him.

“That’s great, Nathan. I’m really glad to hear that. How about on that English essay?” He shrugged.

“We haven’t gotten them back yet.”

We talked a little more about how things in school were going and then he segued into other subjects. I didn’t really care what we talked about as long as we were talking. In the last few weeks since Nathan had gotten into trouble, he’d been doing really well. He hadn’t missed any school, he’d been getting better grades, and as far as I knew he hadn’t gotten into any trouble. Of course, he knew this as well.

“So, the Hawks are at home Sunday evening,” he started hopefully. I glanced down at the calendar in front of me, where I’d written down all the games.

“They are, but it’s a 6:00 game. Pretty late with school the next day,” I replied. His smile turned into a pout.

“But Miss Tunney, it’s the last chance I’ll have to see a game until after Christmas! I’ve been doing really good lately!” he protested.

“Doing really well,” I corrected. He rolled his eyes at me and I refrained from laughing. “Okay, if you did better than a C on that English essay we’ll go.” He jumped up off the couch with a yell of excitement. I couldn’t help but laugh at his reaction.

He thanked me repeatedly before his session was over and he headed back to classes. I placed a call to his teacher and asked her to let me know what his grade was when she’d finished grading the papers. I wasn’t about to have Nathan pull a fast one over on me. I hoped for his sake that he’d done well. He was a smart kid and just needed a little push and some guidance to be successful.

Patrick and I had dinner that Thursday night, with it being his only available night that week because of games. I told him about my arrangement with Nathan and he promised to just leave the tickets, because he said he had faith in Nathan as well. We spent the majority of the dinner talking about students at school, anonymously of course. It was even more endearing to me that he seemed to care about them too.

The following day I received a phone call from Nathan’s English teacher informing me of the grade he’d gotten. I’d barely hung up the phone before Nathan burst through my office door. He ran in waving a stapled bundle of papers together. He thrust it in my face with a laugh.

“I got a B-!” he exclaimed. I took the paper from his hands and glanced down at the score written across the top.

“Yes, you did. Nice work.”

“So we can go to the game on Sunday?” I handed him back his paper and smiled.

“I’ll pick you up here at 4:30.” He let out a shout of glee before yelling another thanks to me and leaving to make it to his next class on time.

I did just that on Sunday. Nathan was waiting for me and got into the car when I pulled up. He talked away the entire trip there, and it was hard to keep the smile off of my face. Nothing made me happier than seeing one of my kids happy. We got our tickets and passes at will call and then settled in for what turned out to be a blowout. Chicago beat Phoenix 7-1 and Patrick had a goal and an assist.

Happy to see Patrick play well, I led Nathan downstairs with a smile on my face. We took up our usual position in the hallway to wait for Patrick to come out. I hadn’t thought about it until I was down here, but now I felt a little awkward. I’d met some of these girls a while back when I’d gone out with them, but it had been an off night for me and I couldn’t even remember who was there or what their names were.

“Gabrielle, right?” a pretty girl asked, walking up to me a moment later. Oh, great, here we go.

“Yeah,” I replied, trying to figure out if this girl had been out that night or not.

“I’m Julia. I saw you out the other night with Patrick after the game, but I didn’t get to say hi,” she introduced herself. I forced a smile onto my face as I shook her hand. I didn’t miss the questioning look I got from Nathan.

“Yeah, it was a pretty chaotic night,” I returned.

“Don’t worry about it. It’s never easy to talk in clubs like that.” My stomach churned a little more at her statement as Nathan took in the interaction. Julia then turned to him. “Hi, I’m Julia.”

“Nathan,” he replied, shaking her hand as well. She looked like she was trying to make sense of my relationship to Nathan. He was obviously too old to be my son, but too young to be a brother.

“Nathan is a student at the school I work at. He’s a big Hawks fan and comes to some of the games with me,” I explained. She nodded and smiled.

“Why don’t you two come into the room? I’ll introduce you around and there’s plenty of food and drinks if you want some.”

We followed Julia into the family room. Nathan immediately made a beeline for the food that was set out on a buffet table, while I hung next to Julia. I looked around and saw that the room was really nice, with TVs set up around the room tuned into the channel that had the game on. Couches were set up so that you could easily see any TV and still talk to the others in the room.

There were many different options as far as food was concerned on the buffet table. I noticed that Nathan skipped past anything that looked remotely healthy and went straight for the pizza. He walked back over a moment later and handed me a bottle of water he had grabbed out of the cooler.

Julia did as she said she would and introduced or reacquainted me with the rest of the girls. As we talked a bit while we waited for the guys to come in after the game I realized that they weren’t quite as bad as I’d feared the night we’d gone out. They were all sweet and welcoming. They also didn’t have a problem including Nathan in the conversation and I could tell he was loving it.

“Patrick!” I heard Nathan exclaim. I turned around to see him walk into the room with a smile on his face. His eyes locked with mine for a moment and his smile grew before he turned his attention to Nathan.

I stayed back and continued to talk to Julia and let Nathan and Patrick talk a bit about the game. Even while I talked with her I had a hard time keeping my eyes off of the interaction between the two of them. Just watching Patrick really listen to Nathan and not have a problem standing there talking to him made my heart flutter. I’m not sure if he knew the impact he was having on Nathan, but I did, and I didn’t know that I’d ever be able to thank Patrick for it.

“It’s pretty late. I should be getting Nathan home since there’s school tomorrow,” I finally cut in.

“Well thanks for coming. I’m glad you got to see a good game,” Patrick said more to Nathan than to me. The three of us walked out of the arena together.

“I’ll see you guys later,” Patrick told us as we continued on towards my car. We called back our goodbyes and finished the walk in silence.

“Are you and Patrick dating?” Nathan asked as we got in the car.

“What? Why would you ask that?” I returned, not really sure what to say. I had the rule of keeping students out of my personal life for a reason.

“I heard the other girls talking about you being out with him after a game, you had fresh flowers on your desk last week, and I saw the way he kept looking at you,” he explained. I was so busted.

“You know, I don’t really think it’s appropriate to discuss my private life with a student,” I told him. He just smiled at me and laughed before settling back into his seat.

“Whatever you say, Miss Tunney.” I continued to drive Nathan home when my cell phone lit up. I glanced down at the text and couldn’t keep the smile off of my face.

You looked beautiful tonight. It took every ounce of strength in me not to kiss you in front of Nathan.

“Is that from Patrick?” Nathan asked. I quickly closed out of the text and put my phone down.

“Tell me what you have coming up this week in school,” I said, changing the subject. Nathan laughed again, and despite feeling my cheeks turning bright red, I laughed right along with him.

Chapter 14

I leaned against the wall in my bedroom with my arms crossed over my chest and watched as Paige laid out about a dozen different outfits on my bed. She was muttering to herself and switching tops to go with different bottoms. I felt like she’d rearranged everything and then put it back where it was.

“Okay, I can’t decide between these two,” she said, crossing her arms over her own chest. I looked down at the almost identical pairs of jeans and black tops.

“Uh, Paige, it’s the same outfit,” I told her. She whipped her head around to look at me in surprise.

“They’re not even close! It’s a good thing you have me here to help you out. Otherwise you might walk out that door looking like a hot mess.” I rolled my eyes at her but kept quiet and let her decide.

I’d already listened to her debate about the type of bottoms I should wear. No dresses or skirts because I was just going to his house. Leggings were probably out because I didn’t want to look like I was trying too hard. Jeans seemed right, but they had to be dark, and she just wasn’t sure what style. Skinny or wide leg? Eventually she’d chosen skinny since wide leg seemed to be a more professional look and I apparently wanted to look comfortable. It had given me a headache.

If it were up to me I would have grabbed a pair of boot cut jeans and a sweater, but I guess that wasn’t good enough. I don’t know why she insisted on dressing me every time I saw Patrick. Wasn’t he going to figure out eventually that I just didn’t give a shit about trends and style? He’d just have to be happy being around a girl that lived in yoga pants and t-shirts when she wasn’t working if he wanted to be with me.

“I think this one. Go try it on,” Paige ordered. I grabbed the outfit and made my way into my closet to change. I glanced at myself in the full length mirror and decided that it worked perfectly fine.

“How do I look?” I asked when Paige came in to inspect me.

“It’s a winner!” she exclaimed, clapping her hands together. Then her smile faded. “Shoes. What shoes are you going to wear?”

In complete horror I followed her out of the closet and watched as she dumped a bag of shoes onto my floor. Oh no, we weren’t going to do this with shoes now, were we? I settled back against the same spot on the wall as before as Paige took each pair and held them out to my feet to decide. Finally she settled on a pair of flats. It didn’t matter to me, I was probably going to kick them off as soon as I got there. Not only did I not want to trample dirt around Patrick’s place, but I didn’t like wearing things on my feet. It was too confining.

I humored Paige a little more as I let her do my makeup. She explained the entire time about how to wear makeup that made it look like you weren’t wearing any. I couldn’t see the point, but I let her go. I drew the line at the makeup, however. She wasn’t getting her hands on my hair. I was going in a simple ponytail whether she liked it or not.

“You know, I have to admit, the ponytail actually looks cute on you right now,” she said in surprise.

“See? Less is more,” I replied. I helped her pack up her stuff and we walked out to the parking lot together, Loxley in tow. Patrick had said I could bring him.

“Have fun,” she told me with a wink and a smile before getting in her car. I gave her a wave and got into mine.

The nerves didn’t hit me until I started on my way. The second my GPS started giving me directions to Patrick’s house, I felt like I was going to be sick. I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why I was always so nervous to see him. It was ridiculous, really. He obviously liked me if he wanted to keep seeing me, so there was nothing to be nervous about. Only I did know why I was nervous. It had been that kiss.

I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about that kiss since it had happened more than a week ago. Add in what Paige had told me about it and it only made me more nervous. If what she had said was true, then that meant there’d probably be another one. Only this time it was going to be at his house. Oh God, was he going to expect more?

Maybe going to his place for dinner wasn’t such a great idea. I was not at all ready to be sleeping with the guy. It had been years, literally, since the last time. Even then it had been awful. What if he tried? Was he going to hate me and kick me out and never want to see me again if I turned him down? Would he be understanding? Whoa, Gabrielle, getting ahead of yourself a little bit. You haven’t even gotten there yet.

I didn’t have much time to think about anything else. My GPS indicated that I had arrived as I pulled into the driveway of a nice house that wasn’t too big or too small. I turned off the car and took a deep breath before getting out and letting Lox out as well. Patrick opened the door before I’d made it all the way up the sidewalk.

“Hey, how was the trip?” he asked with a smile.

“Fine. Easy. My GPS didn’t get me lost,” I joked. He laughed and held the door open for us.

I walked in and Loxley and I were immediately greeted by his dog, Dudley. Dudley and Lox liked each other immediately and made their way further inside ahead of me. I took a few more steps inside and looked around. It was definitely a bachelor’s house, devoid of much decoration. It was still nice, in a very simple way, and I found myself imagining the little things I could add here and there to really make it inviting.

“I actually just got dinner on the table, so you have great timing,” Patrick told me.

“I do my best.”

He told me I could put my purse down on a table in the hall before leading me back into the kitchen. I spotted a couple of plates set out on a dining room table with some platters of food laid out. I also spotted a pile of dishes in the sink and the kitchen was spotless. I couldn’t help but laugh when I saw them.

“What’s funny?” he asked.

“Either you are the cleanest cook in history or you ordered food and then tried to make it look like you cooked it.” I was trying to be funny, but as soon as I’d said it I realized how bitchy it had sounded. Thankfully, Patrick laughed.

“Not fooling you, huh?” he asked. I smiled over at him.

“You did yourself in when you told me you couldn’t cook weeks ago.” He laughed and led me over to the table.

We talked and laughed while we ate and ended up lingering at the table long after we were both full. Lox and Dudley were sitting at our feet impatiently, eyeing the food still on the table. We’d fed them a long time ago, but apparently they still had an appetite. Just when I thought the evening was perfect, Patrick hit me with a bomb I hadn’t seen coming nor was I prepared for.

“Tell me about your family,” he said. My smile faded immediately and my stomach clenched. They were the absolute last topic I ever wanted to discuss with anyone.

“I told you. It’s just me,” I replied quietly. He looked at me sympathetically before continuing.

“I know, for nine years. I was just curious what they were like before.”

“Perfect,” I told him without hesitation. He smiled at me sadly. If only he knew. “My father worked, my mother was a stay at home mom. I had two older sisters, Rachel and Bailey. Rachel followed in dad’s footsteps and was a lawyer. Bailey was going to be a surgeon.”

I stopped talking there. My mind was wandering to a place I didn’t ever let it go. I took a deep breath and pushed those thoughts away. Now was not the time or the place to go there. Patrick seemed to sense how withdrawn I’d gotten and how much I did not want to talk about my family.

“So I usually take Dudley for a walk after dinner. I can wait until later if you’re not interested.” I smiled at him and nearly cried at the change of subject. It was uncanny how well he could read me so well so soon.

“A walk sounds great.”

Patrick and I grabbed both of their leashes and walked out the door together. I walked along with him as he led me through his neighborhood. We were quiet for a lot of the walk, but the silence was far from awkward. It was actually nice to just be sharing a quiet moment at night, walking our dogs. I noticed Loxley stop at a spot to sniff, and Dudley joined him. Patrick and I stopped walking as well to let them sniff.

“I’m not interested in dating anyone else,” Patrick announced out of left field. I whipped my head around from watching the dogs to look at him in shock. He was looking back at me with a curious look on his face.

“I’m sorry, what?” I asked. I wanted to be sure I’d heard him right.

“I really like you, Gabrielle, and I only want to date you. I’m hoping you feel the same way.” I was quiet for a moment, simply because I couldn’t make my vocal chords work. He kept his eyes on mine until I spoke.

“I do. Feel the same way, I mean,” I managed to force out. His grin grew and he lowered his face to mine.

“Good.”

Then his lips were on mine. I felt like they were on fire at the touch, but in the best way possible. My entire body went haywire as jolts of electricity seemed to spread through me. I lost track of all sense of time as we kissed, and I probably could have stood there on the sidewalk kissing him until it was time to die. Loxley jumping up on me jarred me out of that trance.

“Hey!” I yelled in surprise as I looked down at him. Loxley stood there, his tongue hanging out of his mouth, wagging his tail. I heard Patrick laugh next to me.

“I think they got bored,” he said. I laughed too.

“I should probably get going anyway. I have school in the morning,” I told him. He nodded and we walked back to his house.

I grabbed my things and he walked me out to my car. He kissed me again before I left and promised he’d call me tomorrow. I’m not quite sure how I made it home. I don’t think my brain started working again until I was in my apartment, changed, and in bed. I laid there in the dark, staring up at the ceiling, with Loxley curled up in his usual position near my feet.

Tonight had been one of the most amazing nights of my life, and yet there had been a blemish. I was more than overjoyed at the way the relationship between Patrick and I was going. Even so, I had my family clouding over that feeling. He’d asked about them, and he’d probably ask more the closer we got. The thought that in the near future I was either going to have to tell him about them or leave him to avoid the heartbreak of him leaving me had me crying myself to sleep.