Gabe smiles warmly.
“It’s been nice to have you. I know we haven’t spent a lot of time together and never got a Scrabble night going since you arrived, but I think we’re friends. Right?”
With a sigh, I lean forward and spill my guts because I need to talk to someone about this.
“I think I fucked things up with Diamond this morning. We’ve been…close. Friends with extras, you know?”
“Believe me, I know.” Gabe smiles and laughs. “What exactly did you do? Diamond doesn’t even hold a grudge against his ex, and that guy was something else. He’ll get over whatever it is you think you did.”
“I think I was too dismissive of his help. I appreciate it, don’t get me wrong, but it’s hard for me when I’m so used to people…I don’t know. Maybe not caring?” With a huff, I sit back in my chair, and a lump forms in my throat. “He wants to be a mother hen, and while it’s nice, I just felt a little smothered and told him I could do things on my own.”
Gabe sighs and reaches for the file folder. As he arranges stacks of papers, I say nothing and hope he has some kind of close-friend advice.
“You know about his cancer, I assume?” I nod, and Gabe continues. “He’ll tell you the experience only strengthened him. Everything about it, from diagnosis, treatment, his fiancé walking out…all of it. While he’s probably right, the part he leaves out is that it left him yearning more than ever for something he wants.” Gabe places a gold pen with his name on it in front of me. “Diamond never wants anyone to feel how he did then. So he helps and flirts and smiles. He’ll call you Mr. Handsome because nobody will tell him to stop, and the adoration he has from people who go to his business keeps him going.”
Gabe taps his pen on his desk, and I hang on to the silence, waiting for him to tell me what to do. How do I fix this?
“Diamond needs to love, Rhett. He needs to put that part of himself somewhere. As his close friends, it’s usually unannounced baking or ‘hey,I saw this tie and thought it wouldlook great on you.’ He once brought us a stockpot of chicken noodle soup when both Hunter and I were sick and barely moving. You might be friends with extras, as you call it, but I’d bet the farm that he loves you more than unannounced baking.”
“What? You think he loves me?”
Gabe shrugs. “Obviously, I don’t know, but I’ve been in his shoes. I understand where his thoughts are, and if it were me…I’d wish we were more than friends.”
Gabe changes the topic and talks about the documents in front of me and where to sign. We continue for several minutes—there are so many documents to buy a house—until I break from the conversation.
“If I asked him to help me with this house stuff tomorrow, would that be…is that leading him on?”
“I guess it depends on what you want and how you ask, Rhett. He’ll be happy to help you. I know that without even asking, he’ll always do that. Butareyou leading him on?” Gabe cocks his head. “I don’t know your entire dynamic, but if you’re asking, there must be a reason.”
“No. I told him when this all started, I couldn’t make a commitment. I was very clear, and he understood.”
“And now it’s different?”
“Very.”
We sign more papers, and Gabe initials in a thousand places. He hands me a sheet with the amount needed for the down payment and leans back in his chair.
“Bring a draft for that amount. We should be able to close no problem tomorrow. If you send Diamond for the keys, I can give them with your permission.”
“Thanks, Gabe. I really appreciate this.”
“You’re welcome.” He bites his lip. “Do you mind if I ask a personal question?”
“Not at all.”
“My husband’s bluntness has rubbed off on me.” He chuckles before returning to seriousness. “Do you think you’ve moved beyond casual? Is that scaring you because you think he’ll one day be gone like the others?”
“You should be a therapist.” Gabe shrugs and waits for my answer, which I’ve yet to say out loud, but Gabe will be the first to hear it. “I think I’m falling for him and I’m…I guess I’m afraid of exactly that. He might take my heart, and I don’t know if I can do that again.”
Gabe helped with my legal issues when my grandfather died. He had a front-row seat to the vultures that are my family. He probably knows my past more than anyone in Kissing Ridge. He definitely knows how much I went through during that time and how hard it is for me to open myself up again.
“You need to talk to him, and my advice is to just say it all, because if you don’t, you’ll regret it, Rhett. Trust me. He deserves the truth if things have changed. The good and the bad.”
My phone buzzes with an alert from the pharmacy, and I stand.
“Thanks, Gabe. I’ll be back later with the draft. Thanks for listening.”
As I turn towards the door, Gabe offers a final word.
