Gabe smiled when he drove past the green, wooden sign into Haven’s Cove. He’d tried to call Nate a couple of times earlier in the evening, but wasn’t able to reach him. Knowing him, he was probably having dinner with his parents at the time or knee deep in princess attire. He glanced at the clock, wishing it hadn’t taken him so long to pack his car. He was hoping to drive straight to Nate’s, but now it was after ten and he didn’t want to wake Lily.
He’d have to wait one more night before kissing the man he loved until he could no longer breathe. Gabe had every intention of telling Nate how he felt the next time he saw him. There was absolutely nothing holding him back now, and his smile only grew wider with the thought.
Luckily, with all the papers signed yesterday, Jeremy was taking care of the details and tying up any loose ends per Gabe’s request. The knowledge that Gabe was going to make a few people’s lives a little easier was definitely the benefit in this whole ordeal. Pulling into the B&B, he no longer had the feeling he had about the place when he first arrived in town. This was a milestone on the path to his new life. This B&B, and Emily and Roger, would forever be a part of his new story, and it warmed his heart.
Laying down in his bed twenty minutes later, Gabe thought it was going to be impossible to sleep with all of the nervous energy flowing through him. Once his head hit the pillow though, the exhaustion from the last three days slammed into him. He closed his eyes and, again, found himself smiling at the thought of seeing Nate. Only a few more hours and he’d go to Nate’s bright and early. As he drifted off, he saw Nate’s gorgeous face and fell into a peaceful sleep.
The next morning, Gabe couldn’t wait to get to Nate’s. They needed time for a proper, and long overdue, reunion. As he pulled up in front of Nate’s house, he saw Vicky get in her car with Lily. And though he missed them too, he welcomed the alone time with Nate. When Vicky pulled out onto the street, Gabe exited his car and waved to her as she drove by. The look of sadness on her face worried him, as she quickly waved and kept on going. Odd, but Vicky was a ball of emotions sometimes.
Gabe looked back toward Nate’s front door. The cold stare he was getting was one he hadn’t seen in over two months, and it sent a chill down his spine. What was happening right now? Slowly, he made his way up the walkway, his pulse beating so fast he could feel it in his neck. It wasn’t until he got to the door—which Nate stood in front of like a wall, blocking him from entering—that Gabe spoke. “What’s going on? Has something happened?”
“I could ask you the same question.” Nate’s arms were crossed, his legs wide apart in a solid stance, his jaw ticking with anger.
“What are you talking about?” Gabe asked. Terror ran through him, remembering his father’s threats. Had he gotten to Nate?
“Tell me, Gabe…how disappointed were you when you found out I wasn’t married? Spoil the hunt for you a little?” There was bitterness in Nate’s voice, unexpected and confusing to Gabe.
“I don’t―”
“Of course, I knew there had to be a reason a guy like you was harassing a guy like me, but then, why the hell did you even bother after you knew I wasn’t married?”
Harassing? Gabe thought they’d passed that point. He should’ve known how he’d acted would come back to haunt him someday, just like Brody always warned. How ironic it chose now, after everything that had happened yesterday.
“I can explain, Nate. I’m…I’m not proud of my past, but I wasn’t exactly hiding it from you either. I told you about my father’s friends.” No, he’d never specified they were married, but he thought that was pretty self-explanatory.
“Past? You really must think I’m a fucking idiot, don’t you?” Nate barked. His eyes were filled with rage, and all of that anger was aimed right at Gabe.
“Yes, that’s all in the past―”
“I fucking saw you, Gabe! I was there, sitting at that bar, listening to the fucking bartender practically predict every move before you even made it because he’d seen your pathetic act before.” Gabe’s face must have shown the shock he was feeling as Nate continued. “Yeah, that’s right. Ring a bell, Gabe? I saw you with that fucking suit, flirting your ass off, and then, for the grand finale, you took him back to your place.”
Gabe opened his mouth to defend himself, but Nate plowed on. “If you think I could ever let someone like you be in my life―in my daughter’s life―you’re out of your damn mind.”
Someone like you. The words sliced through his heart as if they were the sharpest blade.
“Never again will I let someone make a fool out of me like Eric did…like you have. You don’t know the first thing about being a father, but I’ll tell you one thing, it starts with having some kind of respect for what a family is. I’m not surprised, with the family you grew up in, that you’re clueless, but I can’t let that affect my daughter in any way.”
And there it was. Gabe was never going to escape his family, no matter how hard he tried. And no matter what he did to show Nate he loved him, he would always be compared to Eric. It had all been for nothing, because in the end, he was still the one left out in the cold, wishing someone would just love him for who he was.
“So, you’ve got me all figured out, huh? I’m glad I was able to live up to your expectations. You never really believed in me, did you?” Gabe asked, his voice quivering.
Nate’s stare was hard and unforgiving. He muscles flexed in his crossed his arms as stood his ground. “The only one you have to blame, Gabe, is yourself. I was such a fucking fool, but it ends here. Don’t come here anymore, stay away from my daughter, and stay away from my mom. You can play your little games as much as you want, but I won’t be a part of them, and neither will my family.”
Gabe felt anger wash over him, and he used that to hold back the tears. “I was a fool too, for thinking you were different. I’m such a fucking idiot for thinking you could ever love me back, when this whole time you were just looking for an out.” Fuck, he hadn’t meant to say he loved Nate, but what difference did it make now? “That’s the easy way out for you, right Nate? Place the blame on someone else. Then you don’t have to feel guilty when you find a reason to push them away? Maybe you’ll even put that old faithful wedding ring back on, provided you don’t attract piranhas like me, right?” Gabe took a shuddering breath and bit his lip. He’d be damned if he was going to let Nate see how he’d thoroughly destroyed him. “To think that I actually―” No, he wasn’t going there either. It was no longer Nate’s business what happened with his father the day before.
“Just go, Gabe. This whole thing was over before it ever really began,” Nate said in disgust.
Gabe turned to walk away, but then stopped and turned back around, his legs barely holding him up any longer. “I may not have had the best example of a family, and I have made mistakes in my life; I won’t deny that. But I will never let someone rip me apart again because who I am doesn’t meet their standards. My father may have owned my life, but never has someone torn it apart as you just have.” Gabe pushed his shoulders back, standing tall and walked to his car on shaking legs. As he got in the driver’s seat, he let the tears fall. There was absolutely no place for him now. In a matter of two days, his entire world had fallen apart, and now, what was he left with?
With strength he summoned from the deepest depths of his broken soul, he refused to look at Nate as he drove away. Everything was unknown to him now, except for the knowledge that he needed to get out of Haven’s Cove today.
Nate banged on Brody’s door with a boiling anger that could only be fueled by one goddamned person. Immediately, Brody opened the door, a confused look on his face that Nate ignored. “Where the fuck is he?”
Brody’s eyes grew hard and he snapped, “You’ve got a lot of fucking nerve coming here.”
“I have a lot of nerve?” Nate asked incredulously.
“Yes, you―”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake, Brody. Let him in the damn house.” Owen grabbed the door, opening it wider and moving Brody out of the way. “Come on in, Nate.”
“Thanks, Owen.” Once inside, he saw Jonah sitting on the couch. Fucking great. The gang’s all here. “Where’s Gabe?” Nate asked harshly, looking into the rooms that were visible from where he stood.
“He’s not here,” Brody said, and was clearly ready to take Nate’s head off as soon as his boyfriend gave him permission.
“Well, where the hell is he?”
“Nate, why don’t you go have a seat? I’ll get us some drinks.” Owen pushed Nate toward the living room and gave Brody a warning look that said he better behave himself.
Nate sat down on the couch, the situation extremely awkward as Jonah and Brody stared at him. Brody’s eyes were still spitting fire and Jonah―well, Jonah was eerily quiet, like Nate had never seen him before. He had one arm draped across the back of the sofa, and Nate couldn’t read the look on his face. Once Owen came back in, the tension let up slightly, but not much.
“So, what’s going on? Why do you need Gabe? I thought you guys were done?” Owen asked, handing Nate and Jonah a beer. He crossed the room and handed a bottle to Brody before he sat on the arm of the chair Brody occupied.
“We are, but then today I got this.” Nate reached across the coffee table and handed the piece of paper to Owen while he told the other two what it said. “My fucking mortgage was paid off. So I called the bank, and the manager said the money came from―guess who? Gabriel fucking D’Angelo.” He put his beer down, worried he might spill it with his shaking hands.
“You’re pissed because someone paid off your mortgage?” Owen asked.
Nate could feel the rage rising again. “I’m pissed off because he had no goddamn right! I can take care of my family, and I sure as hell can’t be bought. What? Did he think he could do this and all would be forgotten? It doesn’t work that way. Real life doesn’t work that way!” He was yelling again, but he couldn’t calm the fuck down.
“He wasn’t trying to buy your love.” Jonah was the one to speak this time, and it caught Nate off guard, his calm, easy tone more disturbing than if he’d been raising his voice. “God knows, he handed his heart over to you, and you threw it back in his face.” Jonah was usually the one to try and calm every situation, but there was anger in his eyes, and it was aimed right at Nate.
“I didn’t―”
“You broke his heart!” Jonah yelled, shocking Nate into silence. Okay, so a pissed off Jonah is pretty fucking scary. Taking a deep breath, Jonah lowered his voice again. “He changed, and it was all for you. The thanks he got was a slap in the face and a don’t-let-the-door-hit-ya on the way out. Why’d you let it go that far if you were never going to love him…accept him, wholeheartedly?”
“I did love him!” The confession surprised him, and his voice cracked. He hung his head in his hands, swallowing the lump in his throat. “I do love him,” he whispered.
Nate felt the couch lower next to him as someone sat down and began to rub his back. The tears came freely now, releasing after he’d held them in for several days. When he looked up, he saw the Jonah he was used to. Jonah’s face had softened, and now he was consoling Nate.
“Then why’d you let him go, Nate?” Jonah took the paper from Owen and handed it back to him. “Gabe looked after the people he loved in the only way he knew how. You weren’t the only one.”
Nate looked at Owen and Brody who were nodding their heads then he looked back at Jonah. “He bought that building in town. He’s my new landlord, although, I don’t know if I can call him that for another five years, since that’s how long he’s letting me live and work there rent free. He’s made my dream come true, and there is no way I can ever repay him.”
Nate looked up at Owen. “He bought me new appliances for the kitchen at the bakery, complete with cappuccino machine and an extra oven. He also paid for the rooms at the B&B to be redecorated.”
Nate wiped away his tears, feeling like jackass, stalling before he looked at Brody. At first the guy didn’t respond, still giving Nate a death glare until Owen kicked him. “Ow! Fuck, Owen!” Owen widened his eyes, nudging his head toward Nate, and giving Brody a look of warning. Brody finally mumbled, “He bought me a new goddamn truck for the business. You haven’t been to work the past week, or you would’ve fucking seen it. Of course, you walked right past it on your way storming into my house.”
Shit, he really hadn’t even noticed it. He’d been too damn angry to see anything but red. Scrubbing a hand over his face, Nate sighed. “It still doesn’t change what I saw. You said it yourself, Brody, nothing takes Gabe’s mind off his shitty family like fucking his brains out. I just got there late, so he found someone else to do the job.”
Owen smacked the back of Brody’s head, giving him an annoyed look.
“What the fuck, Owen? Stop hurting me, goddammit! I didn’t mean he was going to take the highest bidder for fuck’s sake.” Brody turned his anger back to Nate. “You assumed you knew what happened without even asking him. Did you ever fucking let him explain, Nate? You didn’t, did you?” Brody was really pissed off—and quite frankly, Nate was beginning to see he had every reason to be.
“I didn’t…” Nate shook his head, the gravity of what he’d done weighing him down. “I never let him explain. Fuck.” He looked up at his friends―well at least he hoped they were still his friends―and his voice cracked again. “I fucked up, didn’t I?”
Brody crossed his arms and sat back, nodding his head in agreement then flinched when Owen hit his arm.
“You made a mistake, Nate. We all do,” Owen reassured him. “I mean…fuck…I even know of this one guy who used to bully his boyfriend when they were younger.” This time Owen only nudged Brody and smiled at him, getting a smile in response on Brody’s now red face.
Brody held his hands up in defeat. “Okay, fine. We all make mistakes”—he pointed a finger at Nate, his face letting go of some of his anger—“but you’ve gotta be the one to make it right.”
“So what’s it gonna be, Nate? You going after Gabe to make it right?” Jonah asked.
“Yeah, I am, but I don’t know where he is.” He looked at all of them again then focused on Brody.
“Yeah, I know where he is, but I’m not gonna tell you.” As soon as the words came out of his mouth, Brody threw his arms up to protect himself from Owen. “And I don’t care how many times you hit me!” He peeked around his hands, looking out at Owen, while Owen sat there with a scowl on his face and his arms crossed.
“Why won’t you tell him?” Owen argued.
Brody put his hands down and looked directly at Nate. “Look, Nate, I’m not saying I don’t want you guys together. If you find him, and he forgives you, then I’ll be happy for both of you. I really will.” He sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face. “But I’ve been a shitty best friend. Since day one that he showed interest in you, I have done nothing but warn him not to hurt you. Now, my best friend―no, my brother—has had his heart broken by you, and I have never seen him this way before. I should’ve been more concerned about his feelings.
“This is all I can give him now, because there is no way you can have him back unless you’re worthy of him. If you love him as much as you say you do then you should know where he would go.” He hesitated for a second, and then added, “Where some of his happiest memories are. That’s all I’m gonna say. The rest is up to you.”
Nate didn’t need Brody to say any more. He did love Gabe, more than he’d even realized, and he did know him. Nate stood up and walked over to Brody, reaching his hand out. When Brody took it, Nate pulled him up into a hug. “I do know him, and I’m gonna go get him and bring him home.”
Brody hugged him back, slapping him on the back a couple of times before letting go. “You do that. We’ll have the burgers and beer ready.”
“And merlot,” Nate and Jonah said at the same time then laughed.