LAUREN

 

“Tell me everything.”

Peta sat at her kitchen table, coffee cup at her mouth and waiting expectantly. I took a sip of my own drink and smiled slowly.

“Out with it!” she demanded. “How did your mother take it? What made you want to tell everyone? Spill everything.”

I laughed. It was so good to be around her again. Peta was my girl. The one I knew would be there for me no matter what.

“Well,” I said, deliberately talking slowly. Peta made a ‘move it along’ motion with her hands. I had already explained to her how I had decided that I no longer wanted to keep Gabe a secret and invited him to come to my parents’ house. “I got up Christmas morning, and there was Derek sitting there like an unwanted present.”

“Derek? What the heck was he doing there?”

“Mother.”

Peta held up a hand. “No need to say anything more, but what on earth did she think it would accomplish? Did she really think you two might get back together?”

“Not when Gabe knocked on the door.”

Peta slapped her thigh. “I wish I could have been there.”

I shook my head. “It didn’t exactly go as planned.”

“You didn’t plan on revealing to your family that you were dating a man almost a decade younger than you in front of your ex-fiancé? Why ever not, Ren?”

“Mother had no idea of the real reason that Derek and I broke up. She thought it was solely over the lying-man-stealing-bitch.”

“You never told her?”

I shook my head. “It was too painful. I just never knew how to broach the subject. How do you tell your own mother that her daughter will never be able to give her grandchildren?”

Peta patted my hand. “I wish I could have been there for you.”

“Gabe was wonderful,” I said, thinking of the way he stood up for me. The way he comforted me.

“Did your mother warm to him?”

I shook my head firmly. “Not even slightly. She called him a child. Dad could barely look him in the eye and Morgan kept on doing this thing whenever she was around him, like she wanted to jump him or something. It was rather disturbing.”

Peta sighed. “My Christmas was so boring in comparison. The most exciting part was when Shrek announced he had a surprise. For a moment I thought maybe we were going on holiday. You can imagine how annoyed I was to discover it was merely that he was going on a sugar-free diet for January and wanted the whole family to join in. Did you know that sugar-free also means wine-free?”

“Surely not!” I exclaimed with mock indignation.

“Five days in. Only twenty-five to go.” Peta sighed dramatically, before perking herself back up. “So, tell me about his family.”

“Do you remember Willa from high school?”

“Willa Peterson?”

I nodded. “She’s married to Hamish Thornton now.”

“You’re shitting me.”

“Nope,” I said, taking another sip of my coffee and smirking behind the ceramic. “Not shitting you.”

“She’s the same age as us.” I nodded again. “And she’s married to your boyfriend’s father.” Again, I just nodded. “That had to be awkward.”

“You’re telling me. She’s also younger than Hamish’s oldest son.”

“Gabe has a brother?”

“Gabe has two brothers. Had three. Two half-brothers, Tyler and Jake. Clark, his full brother, died a couple of years ago in a car accident.” I didn’t tell her of the family dramas that went before the accident. To do so would have felt like a betrayal of Gabe. It was his story to tell, not mine.

“My goodness,” she said in a hushed voice. “Do they look anything like Gabe?” Her eyebrows hooked into a question.

I pulled out my phone and flicked through a few of the photos I had taken while we were away, until I reached the one of Hamish Thornton flanked by his sons. Billie had begged them to pose for it, and none of them were keen. None of them smiled. Jake had his arm flung around Gabe’s shoulder but it was the only affection shown in the photo.

“Here,” I said, holding it out to her. “Tyler, Hamish, Jake and Gabe.”

Peta studied the photo, her eyes growing wide. “Wow,” she said. “Those are some mighty fine genes.”

“Jake has just returned from a stint with the army and Tyler works for his father.”

Peta pointed to where Tyler stood at the edge of the photo, a frown firmly planted on his expression and glaring at the camera. “Which one is the tall, dark and dangerous one? He’s pretty much sex on a stick.”

“That’s Tyler,” I replied without even checking which one she was pointing to. “The eldest.”

Peta whistled and handed my phone back. “Not a bad family to marry into.”

“Marry?” I replied. “That’s getting ahead of yourself. Gabe and I have only just gone public and now you’re marrying me off to him?”

“Speaking of going public…” Peta glanced at me and winced.

“What?” I asked.

“Mark may have let the cat out of the bag a little prematurely. Everyone at work knows.”

“Everyone?” I asked, letting a slight hint of panic into my voice.

“Everyone,” she confirmed. “Should be a fun shift for you two tomorrow.”

“Can’t wait,” I said, groaning.

For the rest of our visit, I filled Peta in on every detail I could think of concerning my time away. She filled me in about her family Christmas and how the in-laws gave her children too much sugar, bringing on her husband’s announcement for a sugar-free January, and all the university students who had covered shifts over the holiday break. Things had not gone as smoothly as she had hoped and she was looking forward to Gabe’s and my return. Part of me thought she was just pleased that Gabe and I had finally resolved things and there wouldn’t be a need for him to repeatedly miss his shifts.

* * *

Gabe and I were both scheduled to close the café the following day. He had spent the last few days at his own house, catching up with his flatmates, and dodging the repeated harassment they threw at him for abandoning everything to spend Christmas by my side.

Gabe arrived before I did and I flashed him a hesitant smile before heading into the storeroom to pull on my apron.

“Well, well, well,” Mark said, leaning against the doorframe. “Mrs Robinson finally returns to face the music.”

“Good to see you too, Mark,” I replied, giving him a wry smile. “How was your time off?”

“Time off?” he said. “What time off? Unlike you, I was chained to this god-forsaken place for all of the holiday break.”

Peta walked in from the back, sweeping past Mark with a steaming tray of muffins. “God has not forsaken this café, thank you very much, Mark Hofstadter. Ren?” she called back over her shoulder. “Can you man the register? It’s getting a little hectic out here.”

Mark stuck his head around the corner to peer into the café.

“Someone’s acting as your protector today.” He smirked.

I rolled my eyes and walked over to the counter to serve the one person waiting in line. I keyed in their order and repeated it to Gabe who moved to fill the jug with milk, brushing himself against me every time he moved past. Jordan was just finishing her shift and looked at me with daggers. Gabe grinned at her, but she refused to smile, huffing loudly as she removed her apron.

“I don’t know why we didn’t just let everyone know earlier,” Gabe whispered in my ear. “This is going perfectly.”

“I think our definitions of perfect are a little different.”

Gabe laughed, a carefree happy laugh that made my heart sing as he pecked a kiss to my nose.

“Am I going to have to speak to you about PDA in the workplace, Gabe Thornton?” Peta asked as she walked back from where she was filling a basket with the still warm muffins. “This is an order for the business two doors down. Be a dear and deliver it for me, would you?”

Gabe bowed. “Anything you say, boss lady.”

He took the basket off Peta and kissed me again before heading out the door, grinning stupidly at Peta’s over-exaggerated frown.

Someone cleared their throat behind me, and Peta glanced up before giving me a warning glare. “Derek,” she said tightly. “I didn’t expect to see you here.”

“I’ve come to talk to Lauren,” he said.

I turned around slowly, unsure of why he was there. “Can I help you with something?” I asked, crossing my arms.

“Your mother told me you were returning to work today.”

“How nice that you two are still talking,” I said.

Derek cleared his throat and looked uneasily around the café. “I just came to apologise. I had no idea what your mother had planned. I would have never put you through that, if I had known.”

“Okay,” I said.

“I didn’t know that you hadn’t told her everything. I thought she knew about…” He left the sentence unfinished.

The door opened and Gabe walked back into the café. He froze when he saw Derek, before his shoulders rose and he walked behind the counter to stand beside me.

“Gabe,” Derek said and nodded in his direction.

“Derek,” Gabe acknowledged. “Is there something we can help you with? Another soy latte perhaps?”

“I just came to apologise to Lauren. I had no idea what her mother had planned. I had no idea that you two were together and I must admit it took me by surprise.”

Gabe slung his arm around my shoulder. “And?” he asked.

“And I just wanted to apologise. I felt awful for the way things went down.”

“Well, you’ve apologised now,” I said, jutting my chin out a little. I didn’t want Derek here. He wasn’t part of my life anymore. He had chosen a different path, and now he needed to let me find my own.

“I have,” Derek said.

We all stood in an awkward silence, Derek fumbling with the keys in his hand before finally speaking again. “Do you think I could talk to you for a moment alone?” he asked me, then added, “Please?”

I narrowed my eyes. “What about?”

“Alone?” he said again, jerking his head in Gabe’s direction.

I expected Gabe to protest, but he merely kissed the tip of my nose and said he would be in the kitchen if I needed him. As soon as he walked through the doorway, Mark bellowed at him to leave, but Peta quickly hushed him. I was sure they were all standing just out of sight, straining to hear what Derek would say.

“I received a call from a Tyler Thornton,” Derek said once we were alone.

“From Tyler?” I asked, confused.

“Yes. He claimed to be checking out your work history but it felt like something more. It felt like he was digging for information on you. He asked how long we were together.”

“He did?”

“Yes,” Derek said, getting annoyed. “Do you think I’d lie to you?”

“You’ve done it before.” I couldn’t help the dig at our past.

Derek chose to ignore the comment. “How well do you know the Thorntons? Are you considering working for them? Are you aware of their reputation?”

“I hardly see how it is any of your business,” I said.

“I still care for you, Ren.”

“Don’t call me that,” I warned.

“I’m just looking out for you. The Thorntons are a powerful family. They could destroy your career in a heartbeat, if they wanted. They are ruthless when it comes to business.”

“Destroy my career?” I laughed. “You mean the one I gave up for you?”

“It wasn’t just for me, Ren. It was for the baby too.”

“I told you not to call me that.” Tears smarted in my eyes.

“I just don’t want to see you hurt.”

The tears quickly dissolved, replaced with anger. “See me hurt? How can you even say that with a straight face? You were the one who hurt me, Derek. You hurt me when you walked out, remember? You hurt me when you told me you no longer wanted me because I couldn’t give you children. You hurt me when you fucked another woman!” I was yelling, but I didn’t care.

The few customers that were in the café looked over at us, but I refused to back down. How dare he come in here and claim to care about me. He had been the person to hurt me the most, and yet, he was worried about a business partnership with the Thorntons.

“Leave,” I ordered.

“They are powerful people, Ren. They will—”

“Leave!” I ordered again.

Peta shuffled out of the kitchen and over to Derek, smiling apologetically at the startled customers. “I think it best you leave.” She ushered Derek out the door.

“I was just looking out for you, Ren,” Derek called over his shoulder.

Peta gave him an extra shove at the door and then turned to apologise to the customers, offering them a free cup of coffee for their inconvenience. I walked out to the storeroom, trying not to cry. Gabe, Mark and Peta all followed.

“I’m so sorry,” I said, bursting into tears. “I never meant to do that in front of the customers. It was very unprofessional of me.”

Peta hushed me and pulled me in for an embrace. “Hey,” she said. “They got coffee and a show. I should be charging them extra.”

“I didn’t know whether to come out or not.” Gabe stood awkwardly beside Mark, looking on as Peta embraced me. “What did he say to upset you? Do you want me to go after him? I’ll knock some sense into him if you say the word.”

“How brutish and manly of you,” Mark drawled.

“It was nothing,” I said, pulling myself away from Peta and wiping my eyes. “I don’t even know why I’m crying. It’s stupid. It was nothing.”

Mark and Peta shared a knowing glance and left the storeroom, leaving me and Gabe alone. He pulled me into his arms and I sighed, feeling stupid for letting Derek get under my skin once again.

“I’m sorry,” I said, my mouth against the fabric of the t-shirt covering his chest.

“You’re not the one who needs to say sorry. I should have stayed. I shouldn’t have left him alone with you. What did he say?”

I shook my head. “It was nothing. It was stupid,” I repeated. I don’t know why I didn’t tell him that Tyler had called Derek. It seemed like such a strange thing for Tyler to do, and yet, I guess maybe with the unconventional way I had got the job, he decided he needed some references. Maybe it had nothing to do with the fact that I had been engaged to Derek. Maybe it was simply because I had worked with him.