Second Chances (52 page)

Isabella barely had time to pay Jane, shove her out the door, carry Rebecca to her bed, and get ready herself before the phone rang.  Happily, she skipped to the phone.  “Wait just a minute,” she giggled into the phone.

“What am I waiting for?”  Gabriel asked, puzzled.

“Well, if you are calling to tuck me in, I should be in bed don’t you think?”  She turned off the lights, climbed under the sheet, and murmured, “There.”

He sighed.  “Now that I know where you live, I can picture you in your bed.  I love that.”  Gabriel paused for a moment.  “I have something very important to ask you,” he began seriously.

Uh oh
, Isabella thought, but aloud she only said tentatively, “Okay.”

“How about if you come to Montreal for the weekend?  Do you think Jack can take the kids?”

Is that what he had suddenly grown so serious about?  He wanted her to himself for the weekend in Montreal?  Isabella burst with excitement, but tried to hide it by saying simply, “I think I can work something out.”

They spoke eagerly to complete their plans for the weekend.  Gabriel intended to drive down and pick her up in his new BMW.  Then they were to meet his father, tour the house, go dancing, meet his friends, and generally have an amazing weekend. 

One key element of the weekend aroused curiosity in Isabella.  She pondered over how to phrase the question she burned to ask.  At last she decided just to speak her mind.  “Umm, Gabriel.  We have made many plans for this weekend, but one aspect of this trip we haven’t discussed is...where I will sleep?”  She held her breath anxiously while she awaited a response.

“Well...I thought maybe you would like to stay at my father’s estate, as you call it.”  He sat silently for a moment.  Isabella said nothing so he continued to expand upon his idea.  “You see, we have a guest wing that you could stay in, if you wish.”  There was another pause, but still there was no response from Isabella.  “Or, if you would be more comfortable...you could stay with me in my room.”

“With you?”  Isabella’s heart pounded fiercely in her chest, a combination of fear and anticipation.  “How do you mean ‘with you’?”

“Well, you could sleep in my bed and I could take the couch.”  He was willing to sacrifice a night’s sleep if it meant having her close.  Gabriel knew he wouldn’t be able to rest with her in the same room, but not in his arms. 

Isabella interrupted his thoughts.  “You have a couch in your room?”

Gabriel laughed, “Yes, Bella.  Or, we could share the bed.”  Isabella inhaled sharply.  Gabriel heard and responded.  “We have all the time in the world, Bella.”  He closed his eyes momentarily as he imagined what it would be like to sleep with her warm voluptuous form nestled against him and felt his body respond.  He spoke even more softly now.  “I just want to be close to you.” 

Isabella refused to allow herself to become too excited until she saw that the plans came to fruition.  She had spent years having her hopes and dreams dashed.  Dreams.  That word struck a chord in her.  What was it about dreams?  Oh, that’s right.  Dr. Pam told her to dream again.  She had so much to dream about.  So much had transpired in the last three and a half months.  Wouldn’t Dr. Pam be surprised?

The week seemed to drag by.  Isabella could count on phone calls and messages from Gabriel, but she had a terrible time filling these lazy summer days.  Rebecca and Isabella had fallen into a routine of working in the garden in the morning before she went to work, while Kyle played in the sand pit.  On the weekends they usually enjoyed a picnic lunch out on the patio, followed by some light cleaning, reading, and dinner once again in the great outdoors.  If the sun became unbearable, they would go to Jessie’s and swim in the pool.  Life, for the first time in a long time, felt good.  She had a new found sense of peace that had eluded her for so long.

“I’m supposed to be going to Montreal tomorrow,” Isabella mentioned casually to Jessie as they sat on the edge of the pool, dangling their feet in the cool water while the kids splashed around in the shallow end.

Jessie paused.  “You are just telling me this now?”  Then her face opened into a wide smile. 

Isabella hung her head.  “I’m afraid to tell anyone.  It’s like jinxing it.  I fear that it won’t happen if I say anything.”  She had never been so nervous and excited in all her life. 

“You will go and it will be fabulous,” Jessie exclaimed with confidence.  Then as an afterthought, “What is happening with the kids?”

Isabella smiled impishly, “Jack.”

Jessie threw her head back in laughter.  “Jack?  For an
entire
weekend?”

With everything she needed to accomplish, Isabella took Friday off from the studio.  Early that morning, she began to pack.  Since Gabriel would be picking her up at four o’clock, Jack agreed to claim the kids at three thirty.  At noon, just before she was ready to call the kids in for lunch, and moments after she started her second load of laundry, the phone rang. 

Gabriel’s voice on the other end of the line sounded hurried.  “Isabella,” he said briskly, “I have to change our plans.  I won’t be bringing you to Montreal for the weekend.”  He paused for a reaction.

Isabella was shattered.  It felt as though everything in her world had come to a crashing halt.  To her, it only confirmed her suspicions that they had no future, that their worlds were too different, that even a forty-five minute distance would impede their ability to have a relationship.  “I understand,” she finally managed, desperate to hide her disappointment and nagging sorrow.  “Do you have time to talk, or do you have too much going on right now?”  She wanted to hear that he would always have time for her, that he still cared about her,
and that he would make it up to her as soon as possible.

Instead, Gabriel said none of those things.  Instead she heard, “Well. I wish I could talk longer.  I have so much to tell you, but I have about a hundred things to get done in the next three hours.  I’ll explain next time, okay?”  He sounded out of breath, as though he might be running around even as they spoke.  “I’ll talk to you soon, beautiful one.  Goodbye.” 

The phone clicked before Isabella even had time to say goodbye.  She looked at the neat piles of laundry she was preparing for various suitcases and duffle bags.  With one arm, she swept the clothes from the kitchen table into the laundry basket she stood holding, then walked upstairs to refold and put them into their respective drawers.  She emptied her suitcase wordlessly, breathing deeply, and blinking back bitter tears of disappointment.

Don’t ever let them see you cry
, she repeated to herself, as she paced her bedroom.  She moved back and forth across the room.  Through the open window she could hear the sounds of her children playing happily outside.  The mechanical hum of the dryer penetrated to the third floor.  The sounds of life went on.  At last she went happily numb. 
There will always be work to do around here
, she thought calmly to herself. 
I need to keep busy
.

One terrible thought occurred to her. 
I have to call Jack
, she whimpered to herself. 
I can’t bear to hear his reaction to my bad news
.  Knowing there were many other tasks requiring completion, Isabella decided to put off calling Jack as long as possible.  After making a quick mental list, she prepared to work on one task or another until bedtime.  Maybe if she worked hard enough it wouldn’t hurt so much to crawl into bed alone, again.  And this
would
happen just when she was beginning to like the idea of having him close.

Around five thirty, Isabella realized that she had forgotten to call Jack, but since he never arrived to collect the kids, she decided not to bother.  Despite not feeling the least bit hungry, Isabella knew the kids would be eager to eat soon, since they had been playing outside with the neighborhood children all day working up an enormous appetite.   In all of her zeal to fill the day with work, she had gone above and beyond in preparing a healthy meal.  She had chicken marinating in the secret family marinade, aluminum foil pouches of potatoes, onions, fresh chopped garlic,
home grown carrots, and butter waiting to go on the grill.  And she currently sliced cucumbers from the garden for the fresh tossed salad. 

The doorbell rang at just six o’clock.  Wiping her hands on the refrigerator towel, Isabella prepared to answer it.  As she reached for the door and opened it, a single white rose was thrust in her face.  She laughed, “What’s this?”

Gabriel peeked around the door sheepishly.  “Well, look at this as my white flag.  I surrender,” he said solemnly, one hand over his heart.

Isabella smiled widely.  “You surrender?  To me?  I accept.”

With a sweeping gesture, she beckoned Gabriel inside.  He entered carrying an overnight bag, a bottle of wine, and a movie.  He saw her eyeing the bag nervously.  “I hope I’m not being too presumptuous,” he explained.  “I was working with my father on some business earlier, which is why we didn’t keep our original plans.  I finished sooner than I imagined.”  He watched her carefully for a reaction.  Isabella seemed to be relaxing at his explanation.  “I’ll be more than happy to sleep on the couch, if you want.  I just wanted to stay here with you and the kids tonight.  Any objections?”

Before Isabella could respond, Rebecca came running in the back door screaming, “Mom!  There’s a car here!”  She stopped in her tracks the minute she saw Gabriel in the living room.  Isabella held her breath nervously; unaware that she was even doing it.  She watched as Rebecca studied him suspiciously for a moment before speaking. 

“

Oh.  Is that your car?”  Gabriel nodded with a light hearted smile on his face.  Rebecca tipped her head to the side as she asked, “Are you the one Mom keeps going to see at night after we’re in bed?”