She put her hand in his outstretched one, letting the tension drain from her body. He used it to pull her into his arms.
"In case it's not obvious, my talk with your father went well." His breath against her ear sent shivers racing down her spine. "So far, I still have a job."
"Good." She leaned back enough to see his face. “He wasn’t angry?”
“I think he was more concerned about finding a new therapist than he was about the fact that I’d fallen in love with his daughter.”
She laughed and leaned in for a kiss. Tingles of electricity zinged through her body as Gabe tightened his embrace and claimed her mouth.
Her euphoria was interrupted, however, by her mom's not so quiet whispers. "What's going on? Did you know about this, James? Why am I the last to know?"
"Hush, they'll tell you everything when they come up for air."
Gabe pulled his lips from hers and laughed. "Your dad is looking forward to hearing us share the whole story with your mom."
"Right." A hint of tension returned to her shoulders.
She peeked around Gabe. At least her dad already knew, and he didn't look upset. Her mom should be an easy sell. She took Gabe's hand and approached the table.
"Surprise!" She gave a cheerful, if somewhat tense, smile as she and Gabe took their seats.
"Hope, our daughter has something she wants to tell us." Her dad gave her a pointed look that held only a hint of the disappointment she'd expected to see on his face.
"I do." Paige fiddled with the edge of the new menu she'd helped Amy design. "But first, I owe you both an apology for lying to you over the last month." She paused, expecting a barrage of questions, but evidently her and Gabe's public display of affection had already answered most of them. "I haven't been spending my Saturdays with Angie. I've been spending them with Gabe and his family."
"Why would you lie to us about that?" Mom's eyes were full of hurt.
Paige's stomach clenched as it dropped. That look. That was the look every child hated seeing on their parents' faces. Paige hated knowing she was the cause of it.
"Because I asked her to." Gabe took Paige's hand, easing her discomfort. "I knew there could be dire consequences to dating apatient, but I needed Paige to pretend to be my girlfriend, so I asked her not to tell anyone."
"Pretendto be your girlfriend?" Mom's disappointment changed to confusion, creasing her brow. "Why on earth would a good-looking guy like you need afakegirlfriend?"
"That was my thought too," Paige said. She leaned forward in her seat and looked her mom in the eye. "His mom has pancreatic cancer."
Her mother lost a good friend to pancreatic cancer two years ago. It was already well into stage four by the time it was diagnosed, and her friend passed away five weeks later. Mom understood how deadly the disease was.
Mom's eyes grew misty as she looked at Gabe. "I'm so sorry you and your family are going through this."
"Thank you."
When Gabe's Adam's apple bobbed repeatedly, Paige jumped back in. "His mom was heartbroken that she never got to see Gabe and his sister get married."
"Married?" Her parents said in unison, before Dad's gaze cut to Gabe.
Gabe raised both hands in surrender. "I only wanted my mom to see that I was in a happy relationship. I never intended for it to go that far."
Dad's brows hiked up, his eyes widening.
Oh boy, that didn't help.
"You didn'tintendfor it to go that far?" A fresh sheen of tears filled Mom's eyes. "Did you guys elope?"
Realizing how quiet the diner had become, Paige looked around. Every head was turned in their direction. Marie, their waitress, hovered off to the side, uncertain whether she should approach their table to take their orders.
Paige turned to Gabe with a grin. "Instead of rumors flying that you're dating a patient, the gossip mill will be full of the news that we secretly eloped." This was one time she didn't mind being the subject of gossip. As far as she was concerned, the sooner she was married to Gabe, the better.
"What?" Gabe's eyes bulged. Before she could explain to him how fast news traveled in a small town, he rushed to assure her parents. "No, no, no. We're not married."
