Chapter 3
“Do you really think we’ll get out of here before…you know,” Misty asked.
“Of course we will! I bet we’ll be free within the hour.”
“What do you bet?”
“Huh?” It sounded as if Misty was willing to name stakes.Intriguing.“What do you want if you win? I mean besides an escort home. That’s a given,” Gabe said.
“Hmmm… Let me see. How about a kiss?”
What could he say to that? He wanted to. God, did he want to! But Parker would kill him…and Misty would too, eventually. He was never going to get serious about a woman and didn’t want to mislead her.
“Uh, Gabe?”
“Misty, this isn’t seven minutes in a closet.”
“No, it’s a helluva lot longer.” She was quiet for a moment, then asked, “Do you have a girlfriend or something?”
“No. Not at the moment.”
“Then are you still hung up on someone?”
“I’ve never been in a serious relationship.”
“Really?” Misty seemed shocked. “Aren’t you, like, twenty-six?”
“I made up my mind long ago. I’ll never get married, be a family man and all that. It has nothing to do with you.”
“Then what?”
He sighed. “You mentioned regrets… There’s one thing I don’t think I’ll ever get over. Do you remember our dog, Buddy?”
“Yeah. He was a good dog.”
“Yes, he was. Do you know how he died?”
“I heard he got off his leash and was hit by a car. I cried when I heard about it. Is that not true?”
“Oh, it’s true, all right. And it happened because of me. My girlfriend at the time was allergic, so I tied him to the railing beside the front door. As you must remember, we had no backyard. I was supposed to be taking care of him while my family was away. Instead of acting responsibly, I put him out front where anyone could hurt him, just so I could make out with a girl. Later, I found his collar unbuckled, still tied to the railing. Some asshole purposely let him go free. And then he got run over. I’ve never felt more terrible in my life. I can never put myself in that position again.”
“Gabe, I know it was horrible—believe me, I understand—but that’s not something you can change. All you can do is learn from it. And you’ll make different decisions. I took care of my grandparents, and my grandpa fell while I was out. After that, I had to get someone to take over for me, even if I just had to run to the pharmacy or go grocery shopping. And you can teach kids about the dangers of running into the street—looking both ways and so on. You can’t teach dogs that.”
“I know it’s not exactly the same thing, but pets depend on people to take care of them. You can’t just learn from mistakes. Frankly, you can’t make mistakes. I found Buddy as a puppy, rummaging around in the garbage behind a restaurant. I took him home, and after much begging, I was allowed to keep him. He became everybody’s dog, though. We all loved his adorable goofy grin, and he loved every one of us. When I went looking for him, I found him in the gutter. Just pushed aside like trash.”
“Oh, Gabe. I’m so sorry.” She moved enough to hug him, and he let her.
Finally, he took a deep breath and let go. “Yeah, well, the worst wasn’t over. I had to tell everyone else what had happened. The whole family cried and mourned like they’d lost a child.” Gabe had let everyone down. He was still angry with himself for being so stupid.
“That must have been awful. Absolutely horrible! And I can understand that maybe you don’t want to have another dog, but why—”
“Because every woman I’ve ever dated wants kids. If I couldn’t even look after a dog, how could I trust myself with a baby? A child is even more clueless than a dog.”
“Are you saying you’d leave a baby tied to the front door?”
“Probably not.”
“Probably? Oh, come on. You’d never do that, Gabe. There’s even a thing I’ve heard of where overwhelmed mothers can drop off their babies at a fire station, no questions asked. Sheesh!”
