CHAPTER NINE
Gabe
“Come what sorrow can,
It cannot countervail the exchange of joy,
That one short minute gives me in her sight.”
-Shakespeare
Every minute with her is more perfect than the last. It doesn’t matter if we’re talking, making love, goofing off, or hacking into computers on opposite sides of a quiet law office, every second with Caitlin confirms that this is where I’m supposed to be.
I understand now why, since coming home from the surgery, I’ve felt like a guest at Darby Hill. Darby Hill isn’t my home, my home is five feet, one inches of hard-working, hard-loving, fearless, fragile, beautiful blonde and I never want to leave that home again.
“I’m not going back to Darby Hill tonight,” I say, gazing across the office to where Caitlin sits cross-legged in Charlene’s chair, clicking through her email. “I won’t be able to resist the urge to strangle my parents.”
Caitlin doesn’t say a word, and I’ve started to think she hasn’t heard me when she says—
“We can’t go back to Hawaii, either.” Her voice is trembling, and I know she’s found something bad, even before I cross the room to stand beside her and she looks up at me, a haunted expression on her face. She points to the screen in front of her. “Look at this.”
I lean down, rubbing her back in gentle circles as I read through a series of emails between Charlene and two lawyers on the island of Maui. She solicited them to assist her in transferring a property to “a deserving young family” who would only accept the property if it seemed to come to them through the will of a dead relative. I read the entire string of messages, but I realize by the third response from Sumiko and Associates what has happened.
“My parents bought you the house in Maui,” I say. “To make sure there were a few thousand miles and an ocean between us.”
Caitlin’s breath rushes out. “And you were right. My dad was in on it. They paid him ten grand to help them pull off the inheritance story, and get me out of town. I found an email Charlene wrote to him before I found this one, but it didn’t mention anything about why they were offering the money, or why he’d agree to it.”
I brush her hair over her shoulder. “Are you going to be okay?”
Her cheeks puff as she blows out a long stream of air. “I mean…my dad is breaking my heart all over again, even though he’s dead, and the kids and I are homeless, but…”
“You’re not homeless.” I urge her up out of the chair before taking her place, and pulling her into my lap. “The house is in your name. There’s no reason you can’t keep living there.”
“It feels tainted now.” She curls into me, wrapping her arms around my neck, allowing me to comfort her in a way that makes me feel like the luckiest man alive. I never imagined being there for someone could feel like a gift instead of a responsibility.
I also never dreamed it would be so devastating to learn I was almost a father.
The thought makes my stomach turn to lead, so I push it away, even as I hold Caitlin closer. I can’t think about how things might have been different—if Caitlin and I had been allowed to stay together, if she’d been there for me after the surgery, and I’d been there for her during the pregnancy. I can’t imagine a scenario where our child lived without wanting to kill my parents for what they’ve done more than I do already.
“Finding answers sucks,” Caitlin says, reaching out to click the browser closed.
“But we still have one very big question left.”
“Why did they go to all this trouble,” Caitlin says, completing my thought with an ease that is more evidence that we belong together. “All told, this deception must have cost almost a million dollars.”
“And even to my parents, that’s not a small number.” I hum a tune I can’t put words to, but for the first time since the surgery, the hole in my memory doesn’t bother me. I recovered the most important part of who I used to be, and she is threading her fingers through my hair, twisting it in idle circles as she thinks.
“Your mom was angry with me,” Caitlin says. “She said she only put up with having me around because she hoped I would convince you to have the surgery, but that she should have known better. She said she never should have trusted a girl who could fall in love with the heartless person you’d become. She thought the tumor had changed you, made you…ruthless and cold. I think those were the words she used.”
I grunt. “Amusing that she could accuse someone else of being ruthless with a straight face.”
Caitlin turns to me, her brow furrowed. “But she did. And she was really upset. She was crying her eyes out, just…shattered. I never doubted for a second that you were really dead, not until Sherry started trying to find out where you were being buried, and the pieces didn’t add up.”
“So I’m guessing getting me on the plane to Michigan wasn’t an easy job.”
Caitlin’s frown deepens. “They might have drugged you or something.”
“Seems extreme, but after learning they dumped half a million dollars on a house in Hawaii…” I curl my fingers into Caitlin’s hip as I turn the chair away from the desk to face the window, where the moon is rising. “But I still have no idea why. They could have kidnapped me, and taken me to the clinic, but the doctors wouldn’t have operated without my consent. And why would I give consent in a situation like that, without at least calling you first?”
She shakes her head. “I don’t know, but until we do, you need to stay away from Darby Hill. And we have to make sure your parents don’t know the kids and I are in town. I was considering having the kids skip the funeral anyway, because it will be so upsetting, but now I’m definitely having them stay with Sherry.”
“What about you?” I ask. “My parents know what you look like.”
She curses. “I know. And with your dad being so big in the law community, I don’t know how I’m going to find a lawyer to represent me without him finding out about it.”
“We’ll hire someone from Charleston if it comes time to lawyer up,” I say. “But I’ve been thinking about this thing with your sister, and I think we should make sure we’ve exhausted all our options first. A woman with her history must have a few skeletons in her closet she won’t want the court finding out about.”
Caitlin’s cocks her head, shooting me a look out of the corner of her eye. “So you think we should do recon? Look into this perfect new life in Florida? See if we can find any holes in her story?”
“I do, and I think you should skip the funeral. My parents were acting very interested in whether or not I planned to attend. They may come by to check on the festivities.”
“I’ll go get a hat with a veil tomorrow morning, or something to cover my hair and face,” she says. “No matter how mad I am at Chuck right now…he was my dad, and I don’t want to miss his funeral. At the end, he was sorry for what he did.”
“Too little, too late,” I say, having no empathy for anyone involved in this deception.
“Not really. I might not have come back for the funeral if it hadn’t been for the emails he sent. But your parents aren’t sorry, Gabe. I want you to be careful.”
“You’re afraid they’re dangerous.” I clench my jaw, the thought of my parents ripping Caitlin and me apart again making me want to pack our bags and leave Giffney tonight.
“I know they’re dangerous,” she says. “Do you have anywhere you could tell them you’re going where they won’t ask questions? A friend’s house, or something?”
I shake my head. “I’ll just get a room at the hotel where you’re staying.”
“Okay, but you’ll need a story to tell your parents, and we’ll have to park your car somewhere else,” she says. “Just in case they decide to check on you. Surely you have someone you can count on to keep a secret, or who will at least let you park your car in their driveway.”
I make a face, because there is only one person I can think of, and I burned that bridge on the way to Caitlin’s hotel.
“What?” she asks, a smile teasing the edges of her lips. “Is it a girl?”
I shrug, and Caitlin laughs.
“Call her. If you were really just friends, she might still be cool.”
“And you’d be cool with that?” I ask, lifting a brow.
“I’m cool with anything that keeps you safe, and with me.” She kisses me and I know it’s true. I can feel it in the way her tongue teases across my top lip before slipping into my mouth, in the way she melts against me when I pull her closer. She knows I belong to her, body and soul.
“Just call her,” she says, kissing me between the words. “Then we can go get the rental van from the hotel, and get things taken care of before it gets too late.”
I pull reluctantly away from her addictive lips. “I’ll call now. She lives in an apartment building, and they clean the streets every few days. I’ll have to drop off the keys so she can move the car if she needs to.”
“Perfect,” Caitlin says. “And if we hurry, we’ll still have time to christen the bed in your new hotel room when we get back.”
I’m up and out of the chair with my phone to my ear in seconds, the chance to get Caitlin in a bed more than enough motivation to get my ass in gear.