She hobbled over to the swings in just her boot. Jayden skidded over and jumped on the one next to her, delighted. They grinned at each other and leaned back, legs pointed to the sky. Less than a minute later, Gabriella was in full swing, enjoying the rush. Jayden whooped and hollered next to her, sounding surprisingly like Amber. Eventually, they slowed until her one trainer scuffed the dirt, and finally swung to a stop.
‘Wow, that looked like fun!’ a mum called over from a nearby bench. She was feeding a baby and had another toddler at her feet. ‘I remember that feeling– total freedom.’ She laughed and shook her head. ‘Two babies in two years kind of changes things. Not that I’d have it any other way.’
Gabi dismounted and Jayden hightailed it back to his friends. She resumed her place on her own bench, thinking about what the woman said.
Maybe that was what her own mamma missed when Gabi was little. That sense of freedom. The ability to do whatever, whenever. If Gabi had followed her mamma’s example, she’d be living somewhere in Europe with a rich man who liked to show her off. She’d prioritise her looks and her figure, but not for fitness and health, more for arm-candy appeal. Gabi ran a hand through her crop and almost smiled at the thought of her mother’s face if she saw it. How she’d always insisted on keeping Gabi’s hair long as a child and got the au pair to brush it every night, while she’d gone out to a party or a club. After her mamma finally left for good with the most exciting new man she could find, Gabi took the scissors to her waist-length black hair, making her au pair scream when she came in to say goodnight. Gabi had been dragged to the hairdresser’s to repair what damage they could before her mother saw it. But she never did. Because she never came home again.
Maybe she’d followed her papà’s example more closely. He’d thrown himself into work after Mamma left, moving higher up at work until he spent all day yelling at his team in glass buildings and all night schmoozing clients at roof-top dinners. Maybe he couldn’t face seeing Gabi waiting for him when he got home. Maybe he couldn’t bear the silence left by his wife. But soon he ‘thought it best’ for her to go to a boarding school ‘with an incredible reputation’ on the other side of the country, and then, as if that wasn’t enough, she would stay with her aunt and uncle, and her cousin Isabella, in the school holidays– as they were closer to the school. It sounded like a business recommendation that he might make to the board. Little did Gabi know that it had already been decided. The fees had already been paid. The ticket was already in his wallet. Zio and Zia were looking forward to having her. And just like that, she was on her own. At first, Mamma remembered her on her birthday every year, sending something exotic and useless from a far-off place. Papà had originally messaged her regularly, asking for the details of her school life, checking in after exams and results, but over time, it slowed. Nowadays, he made sure to message her every month to assuage his guilt and make sure she was at least still alive. Whenever he asked her if she needed anything, she made a point of replying ‘nothing at all’. It was her small victory.
Her phone beeped. The Girl Gang WhatsApp group was popping off.
Wren: Is everyone around tomorrow afternoon?
Rosie: We need to celebrate. . . Walker saved Riley’s life today.
Amber: OMIGOD! What?
Isabella: Is she okay?
Wren: She’s fine.
Rosie: Thanks to Walker.
Isabella: Come to Tutto Mio for a late lunch. I’ll save a table.
Wren: Perfect. We just want to thank him properly– and he can blow off steam after the week he’s had.
Amber: Fab. Jayden’s on a sleepover so see you then.
Isabella: Count us in.
Gabi shook her head in disbelief as she took it all in. Walker McBride was an actual saint as well as a horny devil. The phone beeped again.
Isabella: Gabi, are you free?
Gabi typed a quick ‘yes please’ and added a smiley face before putting the phone in her lap. A chance to get out of the house, have some funandsee Walker again. Maybe she could mislay her crutches somewhere along the way. Shit, she might even snap a crutch in half herself if it meant he carried her home and finished what he started.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Walker
Walker was absolutely knackered. He’d had a terrible night’s sleep after the high ropes stress yesterday, and on top of a week of night shifts, it meant the last thing he wanted was to go out for dinner. What he actually wanted was a nap. But he was very aware Gabi might be there, and that was enough to drag him off the sofa and into the shower before setting off.
He spotted her as soon as he opened the door at Tutto Mio. She was talking with Amber, in jeans and a fitted top. Her body was so hot, with curves in all the right places, but still so strong. It was that combination that made her so irresistible.
He was halfway across the restaurant towards her when Wren shouted, ‘He’s here!’ and Rosie turned round and started singing ‘For he’s a jolly good fellow’ at the top of her voice.
‘The man himself!’ Wren said, standing up from the table.
‘Our hero!’ Rosie added, and then they were both on top of him in a double hug. He hugged them both, so that he could hide his face from everyone else.
‘Just doing my job,’ he said quietly into Rosie’s hair.
‘Well, thank you for being so good at it then,’ she whispered back, and her voice was choked.
‘Really,’ he said. ‘You didn’t need to do any of this. . .’
‘Of course we did,’ Wren said. ‘It’s not every day our daughter gets rescued!’
