“Too much?” he asked.
With tears pressing behind my eyes, I turned to him. “No,” I said, shaking my head. “Perfect.”
His worry transformed to excitement, and he hopped out of the car, making it to my side just as I was exiting. Hand in mine, he pushed my hair from my face, his eyes flitting between mine as if searching for my approval.
“I love it, Gabe. I love everything about this day, and I love you.” I pulled him toward me, our lips meeting in a passionate kiss that ignited my body. “Let’s go pick out our first tree.”
His grin spread wide, and he hurried us off to the trees. Dragged from tree to tree, I tried not to laugh at how adorable he was. At every tree, he stopped to evaluate it and get my opinion. None seemed to meet his expectations of perfection.
As we trudged through the tree farm, I was glad I’d worn a pair of dress boots with low heels. The weather was still in the sixties, but I pulled my sweater around my chest, trying to keep up with his long strides. I had long legs, but his steps were ridiculously large.
“Did you have real trees when you were little?” I braved, hoping I wouldn’t drag his mood down.
“Always,” he answered, musing over a thick evergreen that stood a few inches taller than him.
“Were you always this excited about picking one?”
Pulling at branches, he said, “I never got to pick one. My father always had them delivered.”
I mulled that over as he stooped to look at the trunk.
“You had someone deliver your tree?”
“My father had someone who did it for him and…” His head shot up, his eyes wide as if he realized he’d said too much. He swallowed, and I could see him scrambling to cover his admission.
“Part of the past you’ll tell me about one day?” I said, hating how angry I sounded.
“Tori, I?—”
I put a hand up. “It’s okay. I know I need to be patient, but a little at a time would be helpful rather than something every few months.”
Guilt shadowed his irises as he stood. Brows knitted, he tucked his hands in his pockets. “We had money. Well…we have money. I told you about the trust fund, but…” His jaw clenched, that shadow spreading to turn his hazel eyes closer to brown. “My father is successful, and we had more advantages than ordinary families.”
He turned and stomped away, and I couldn’t help but wonder why it had been so hard to tell me that. There was nothing in it other than that he came from money. It wasn’t a surprise to me. I recognized it in the way he dressed, the way he insisted on paying for everything even though I made a good salary. And my family wasn’t poor. They did well running the resort, and we had never gone without. So what was it about Gabe that made it something he had to keep from me?
I ran after him, grasping his elbow and forcing him to stop. The sparkle had disappeared from his eyes, and I wanted it back. Taking his face in my hands, I lowered his head to mine. “Come back to me, Gabe.”
“I’m right here, Tori.” There was a harshness in his tone and an authoritative quality that surprised me.
“No, you’re not. You went wherever you go when you think about your past. Do you not understand that I love you no matter what? I don’t care if you have money, I don’t care if you have ghosts, I don’t care that your mood shifts when you talk about those ghosts. I love you, Gabe. Don’t you see that? There’s nothing you could do to make me stop loving you.”
“I’m terrified of losing you.” His words were a whisper of fear that shredded any lingering irritation.
“You won’t lose me. I promise you.”
Eyes dropping to the ground, shoulders drooping, he looked so wounded. Vulnerable and not the strong man I knew. He yanked me into his body and buried his face in my hair. His hands clung so tight to me it almost seemed like a tornado would drop on us and rip me from him if he didn’t hold on.
“I will,” he murmured, and my chest lurched because I knew in my heart that something in those secrets he kept led him to believe this. How did I compete with something I didn’t understand and couldn’t see? I dug my face into his chest, a sense of foreboding chasing away the light in my day.
“I’m yours, Gabe. I will forever be yours.” The words came freely from me. An admission that I was certain was true.
His soft declaration followed. “I won’t ever stop loving you, luna mia. Never.”
I sank further into his hold. The safety of his arms too comfortable to leave, that sense that some impending event was lurking in the distance to shatter our happy ending not allowing me to leave it. Whatever was coming, Gabe feared it, and while Irefused to let it damage what we had, I couldn’t deny that I was beginning to fear it as well.
Chapter 10
Gabe
