April's Promise (Forever Love Series) (7 page)

Gabe's
heart beat faster as he tried to deny how much he disliked the idea of April
and Nicholas going on a date.  And that's what it would be.  But as she'd said,
she was a free agent.  There was nothing he could do about it.  She probably
went to the theater and symphony all the time while she was in Boston. 
"If Nicholas shows you a good time, I guess you won't be bored while
you're here."

"I'm
never bored while I'm here, Gabe."  She moved away from him toward the
doorway.  "I'm going to go upstairs and read for a while.  I'll see you in
the morning."

She was
gone before Gabe could tell her good-night.

****

Chapter
Four

The
children played in Mrs. Norman's preschool as the parents milled about the
learning center.  April was studying the selection of games the children could
choose from, but her mind was on the silent drive over here with Gabe.  Ever
since she'd told him she was going to the symphony with Nicholas, he'd been too
polite and, most of the time, remote.  Not with Stephie, of course.  He gave
her warmth and smiles and plenty of attention.

Now Stephie
was showing Gabe a wooden puzzle with large pieces.  As always he paid complete
attention to her, listening carefully to what she had to say.  Would he still
be as loving and free if he knew Stephie wasn't his daughter?  Just how much
would the truth change his relationship with her?

April
had never had much of a relationship with her own father, and she missed his
presence in her life.  When other kids talked about the things they did with
their dads on weekends, April had always felt different.  Her father had
traveled so much of the time, and when he was home on weekends...

He'd
gone out—without their mother.  Oh, her mother and father had attended charity
functions together, dinners for civic causes, parties among a circle of social
elite.  But most of the time her father went out alone.  Only he wasn't alone. 
But it wasn't until she was in her teens that she realized
that
.

A
friend of hers had told her she'd seen her father in a restaurant in Richmond
over the weekend—with a woman.  Wanting to give Stanton Remmington the benefit
of the doubt, April had assumed it was a business dinner.  But then she'd
answered the phone late one night, and a woman had asked for her father.  When
she'd told the caller her father wasn't there, the woman wouldn't give her name
or the reason for calling and April had started putting two and two together—whispers
behind her mother's back at the Tennis Club, rumors that circulated throughout
the high school and got back to her.  Her father didn't have business dinners
with women on Saturday night.  No, he took them to fine restaurants and to the
theater.  As the years went by, his affairs became more blatant, but her mother
never said a word.  She'd never talk to April about it, and April hadn't said
anything to her.

Not
knowing how she'd tumbled into that train of thought, she was roused out of it
by two children who ran by her chasing each other.  There were parents and
children everywhere so she didn't know who they belonged to.  As she glanced
around, she saw Stephie sitting on the floor with a classmate putting puzzles
together.  Gabe was talking to Mrs. Norman who'd given a brief presentation
when they'd first arrived.

April
couldn't keep her gaze from Gabe.  He looked casually handsome tonight in a tan
sweater with an off-white oxford shirt underneath.  His slacks were camel-colored. 
She'd dressed in a pale-blue sweater and matching light-wool slacks.  When he'd
first seen her after she'd changed, she'd thought she'd seen male admiration in
his eyes.  But she couldn't be sure of anything where Gabe was concerned right
now.

Suddenly
a woman joined his conversation with Mrs. Norman.  She was pretty, blond and
wore a red sweater-dress that hung a few inches above her knees.  April's intuition
went on alert as she watched the woman whose gaze trained on Gabe's face more
than Mrs. Norman's.  She also moved a little closer to him.

Wanting
to get a better look at the woman's expression, April moved toward the table
with the punch bowl and cookies and dipped herself a cup of punch.  The two
children who had run by her before ran by again.  But April was more concerned
with the smile Gabe was giving the woman and his apparent interest in her,
especially when Mrs. Norman moved away to talk with another parent.  The woman
in the red dress kept speaking to Gabe as if they were old friends.  Maybe they
were.  Maybe they were more than friends.  After all, it wasn't as if Gabe told
her about the details of his life or confided in her his innermost thoughts.

She
wished he would.

Deciding
to find out who the woman was instead of guessing, April took a step forward
just as the two children who had been chasing each other made a complete circle
around the room, ran into her, then the table holding the punch and cookies. 
It was like a comedy of errors.  Not only did April spill the cup in her hand
as she tried to catch the little boy who had rammed into her, but on its way to
the floor, the punch bowl splashed red punch all over her light-blue slacks.  The
room had gone silent at the crash.  The two children froze, and all eyes were
on April.

She
could make a fuss, but the damage was already done.  From the look on the two
little boys' faces, she expected that they knew they'd be facing consequences
in a few minutes.  Touching them both gently on the shoulder so they'd know she
wasn't going to scream at them, she said, "Go the bathroom and get me a
bunch of paper towels.  Fast.  But don't run."

After a
few blinks at her, they took off at more than a walk but less than a run.  She
shook her head.

A
moment later, Gabe was at her side.  "Are you all right?"

She
couldn't help but roll her eyes and smile.  "More all right than those
kids are going to be when their parents' are through with them, I bet."

Gabe had
taken out a clean white handkerchief.  Pulling a folding chair from the side of
the room, he dragged it over.  "Take your shoes off."

She'd
worn black leather flat shoes with a strap over the instep.  The hem of her
slacks, her hose and her shoes were all splattered with the red punch, and she
could feel already, it was getting sticky.

Mrs.
Norman came running over with towels.  "I don't know how much these are
going to help, but at least they'll sop it up.  I'm so sorry this happened.  I
couldn't get to those two in time."

"There's
nothing to be sorry about.  It was an accident.  But if we don't mop up the
floor, you're going to have lots of sticky feet trampling across the room for
the next week."

There
was amusement in her tone, and Mrs. Norman stopped trying to wipe up the mess
and looked at April.  "Thank you for taking this so calmly.  Your clothes
are probably ruined."

April
had learned long ago that some things are more important than clothes.  The
children who had run into her were doing their best to mop up some of the spill,
too.  Farther away from April, their parents were standing over them with stern
expressions.

She
said, "I didn't want to call any more attention to them in front of
everybody.  After all, it was an accident.  When adults have accidents, we take
it as a matter of course.  But children...  They're just doing what they do
naturally."

Returning
with her shoes, Gabe handed them to her.  Then he knelt down and swiped at her
foot with a wet cloth.  "This isn't going to fix the problem," he
said, "but it might help you be a little more comfortable driving
home."

Gabe's
ministrations were adept, quick and gentle.  She could smell his cologne, and
when his fingers brushed over the arch of her foot once, twice and then around
her ankle, she could feel the heat from his touch all the way to her face.

As he
started on her other foot, Stephie came over and sidled up beside her. 
"You're a mess."

April
laughed.  From the mouth of babes.  After she gave Stephie a quick hug, she
tapped Gabe on the shoulder.  When his gaze met hers, she wanted to...to what? 
Tell him the truth about his daughter?  Tell him she was falling in love with
him all over again?  Tell him she was as afraid now as she had been five years
ago?

Instead,
she took a deep breath and held out her hand.  "I can do that, Gabe."

He
studied her silently, then handed her the towel and held his hand out to Stephie. 
"C'mon, Pumpkin.  Let's see if we can find a janitor's closet and
something that'll help get this cleaned up."

April
almost breathed a sigh of relief as he moved away.

A short
time later after April had tried to clean her slacks in the bathroom and Mrs.
Norman had apologized again, they drove back to Gabe's.  April kissed and
hugged Stephie good-night, then showered.  When April finished in the bathroom,
Stephie's night light was on, so she knew Gabe had gone downstairs.  With her
stained clothes over her arm, she headed downstairs, too, and straight to the
laundry room.  But Gabe was in the kitchen, sitting at the table with a glass
of milk and a package of chocolate cookies.

"I
guess you didn't get any punch and cookies at the open house," April said
with some amusement.

He
grinned.  "Nope.  By the way, I forgot to tell you.  While you were in the
bathroom cleaning up, the parents' of the twins said you should buy yourself a
new outfit, and they'll be glad to pay for it.

"They
don't have to do that."

"They
felt responsible."

"I
know, but I'm going to see if I can get the stains out, then send them to the
cleaners."

Gabe
tilted his head, and she could see that he was wondering why a woman who could
buy as many new clothes as she wanted, would worry about removing a stain. 
"This is one of my favorite outfits, Gabe.  Mother gave it to me two
Christmases ago.  So if I can save it, I want to do that."  Then she took
her clothes to the laundry room.

After
she cleaned them up the best she could and went back to the kitchen, Gabe
motioned to the second glass of milk he'd poured and the bag of chocolate
sandwich cookies.  "Join me?"

With a
smile she sat beside him.  "You know I can't resist these any more than
you can."

He
dipped one into his milk.  "Yes, but
you
like to take them apart. 
I don't."

He was
right about that.  Twisting a cookie apart, she stole a quick glance at him.  "Mrs.
Norman's school looks as if it has a lot to offer."  Not knowing how to
lead into her question any other way, she asked bluntly, "Who was the
woman talking to you just before the punch bowl fiasco?"

Plucking
a cookie from the pack, he gave her a curious look.  "That was Debra
Evans.  Her daughter was putting puzzles together with Stephie.  She's a single
mother.  And very considerate.  After Vanessa died, she brought me a casserole
about once a week."

Considerate
or moving in on a handsome, eligible man?  But April couldn't voice those
thoughts.  "She's very pretty."

After
dipping another cookie in milk, Gabe ate it.  "Yes, she is."

April
wanted to tell him to be careful, to realize that the woman probably wanted
more than just to feed him.  But then she remembered his warning about Nicholas
and how
she'd
reacted.  April realized she was jealous of this woman she
didn't even know.  Instead of just being protective, had Gabe been jealous of Nicholas,
too?  If so, did that mean he had feelings for her?

It was a
ray of hope and gave her something to hold on to.  She dipped half of the
cookie she had divided, then popped it into her mouth.  Maybe after she went to
the symphony with Nicholas Saturday night, she'd find out if Gabe was jealous. 
And if he was...

Then
maybe they
did
have something to build on.

****

 
Guarding Nicholas zealously, Gabe matched his opponent's movements step-by-step
and feint-by-feint.  Nicholas wasn't getting away with anything today, not if Gabe
could help it.  Their friendly game of basketball had become something more
than a competition for points.  As Nicholas moved to the side, Gabe blocked
him.  As his friend pivoted and dribbled, Gabe was right there.

Finally,
trying to stare Gabe down, Nicholas asked, "What's gotten into you today?"

"We
play for points, and we play to win.  Don't we?" Gabe asked as his gaze
didn't leave Nicholas for a second.

"A
beer isn't worth the effort you're putting into this today," Nicholas answered.

Low man
out always bought the winner beer at the local watering hole, where after the
game Gabe and Nicholas caught up on what had happened since their last game or
else just watched their favorite teams battle it out on the big-screen TV.

Gabe
kept remembering the fact that Nicholas and April were going out tonight. 
"Want me to ease up?"  He backed off a little, but still watched Nicholas
carefully.

"Not
on your life," his friend goaded with a smile as he tried to push past
him.