“Is it over between you two?”
“I don’t know. Ivy said she needed space. I tried to give her space.”
“Okay, but it’s been three weeks, and she’s still speaking to you. Did you tell her what you want?”
“No, she knows. I don’t want to freak her out or anything.”
“You need to takecharge, Gabe. Like you used to, remember? And stop this wallowing in indecision.” Nick plucked the glass out of his hand.
“What do you think I should do? Beg her to come back?”
“It’s a start. But why does she have to come back to this?”
“That’s my fucking’ point!” Gabe said.
“No, I mean you can go to her. Show her that you want to be where she is. So what, she makes more money than you; do you really care?”
Gabe stood out on the balcony overlooking the vista they both loved. His dad made fun of him, but his dad was a bully and made fun of him for everything, and his brother followed. But he didn’t care about money, not really.
He liked Ivy, and she was good at what she did. It filled her up; for the past year, that light in her eyes had been missing, and he had helped put it out.
“So what do I do? Find a job out there? Pack this up and move.”
“Yeah. I hear people do it all the time.”
“But about Bandit Brothers?”
“Hey, once you’re in, you’re in. We don’t kick you out, ask Erik.”
Gabe stared at the ceiling. “Team Stealth, I mean.”
“You quit working for Axis Management. Look, Quinn is just about out of fieldwork. Logan will probably be the permanent leader, and I’m still not bored. You could come back when we need an analytical mind with medic training. You don’t have to do it full time.”
Gabe stood up and started pacing the room.
“Then I could show Ivy I am serious about supporting her. You think it’ll work?”
“I don’t know, but you gotta take the risk.” Nick raised his glass to him.
“Yeah. I do.” His mind whirled, making plans.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX – IVY
WhatamIdoinghere?
Ivy glanced at her phone, hoping Gabe would call, and spun her water glass between her hands. The conversation from the over-packed restaurant was buzzing in her ears.
Last weekend, she and Alice went for a trail ride at the McNeil’s, and Alice mentioned she had a reporter friend at theHerald,and reporters were good contacts for Ivy to know. Alice casually said that her friend Nate was single while grooming the horses.
“Alice! I’m not looking for anyone, Gabe—”
“I thought you and Gabe were on a break?” Alice grinned.
“We are, but I don’t think it’s over.” Her mouth tasted sour on those words. She didn’t want it to be over. Gabe was going to therapy; Ivy felt he was trying to sort out what he wanted to do.
Since leaving Vancouver, Ivy has had nightmares about what Cole did to her. But it wasn’t Gabe’s fault.
“Then just have dinner. Don’t think of it as a date. It’s just two people getting to know each other over dinner. I think Aunt Wendy has her improv group over, so if you want to stay home and join in the fun, I know she always needs another actor.”
