Helen Lacey - Once Upon a Bride

“Ah...I suppose.”

“Well, that sounds...like fun.”

Not.

That was what she was thinking. Shallow and meaningless and hollow. Gabe thought so, too...even though he’d drilled himself to accept his present and future. But he suddenly lost his appetite.

“It is what it is,” he said, and pushed back in his seat. “I’m not looking for...anything.”

She watched him, her brown eyes darkening. “I’ve always believed that we’re all looking for something...love or sex, belonging, companionship. Or maybe something more complicated, like peace of mind...or even isolation.”

Which one are you looking for?

That was the question in her words. Gabe shrugged a shoulder casually. She was so close to the truth. “Is that why your marriage didn’t work out?” he asked, shifting the focus back to her. “Because you wanted different things?”

She gripped her wineglass. “My marriage failed because my husband and I had nothing between us but fleeting physical attraction. Which isn’t enough,” she added.

It explained why she wanted a passionless relationship...sort of. “And now you’re looking for more?” he asked. “Or maybe less?”

“Sometimes less is more,” she replied. “Which is why I’m determined to think with my head next time...and not my—” she paused, smiling “—libido.”

Gabe tensed. Thinking of her libido didn’t do his any favors. “Or your heart?”

She smiled. “Precisely,” she said.

He remembered what his cousin had said to him the night before. She’d lost someone. She’d lost love and settled for sex. The fact that she now wanted a middle road made perfect sense. “Someone did get it, though?”

Her gaze was unwavering. “You mean my heart? Yes. Someone did.”

“Who was he?”

Silence stretched between them. He shouldn’t have asked. He shouldn’t want to know. The more he knew, the harder it would be to stay away from her.

“My first love. My only love, I guess.”

She said the words so quietly and with such raw honesty, his insides contracted. He didn’t want to hear any more. “You don’t have to—”

“His name was Tim,” she said, cutting him off. “We met in college. I was nineteen and studying business. He was across the hall in engineering. We fell in love. A few years later we got engaged. And then...”

Gabe knew what was coming, but he asked anyway. “And then, what?”

She drew in a sharp breath. “And then he died.”

“Was it an accident?”

She shook her head. “No. He was sick.”

Sick...

Gabe’s stomach churned uneasily, and he forced the next words out. “What kind of illness did he have?”

“Primary glioblastoma,” she replied. “It’s a—”

“I know what it is,” he said quickly and pushed his chair back some more.

Brain tumor...

An aggressive, unforgiving kind of cancer that usually left a patient with months to live rather than years. It was all he needed to hear. It was time to go. He needed to finish eating and leave.

“I’m sorry,” Gabe said, and spent the following few minutes pretending interest in his food. Even though he felt sick to his stomach. He pushed the meal around on the plate, finished his wine and declined the coffee she offered to make.

“I need to get going,” he said as soon as he felt it was polite to do so, and stood.

“Oh...sure.” She got to her feet. “Thanks again for looking after Jed.”

“No problem. Thanks for dinner.”

Once they reached the front door, he lingered for a moment. He liked her. A lot. She was sweet and warm and funny and so damned sexy, he could barely think of anything other than kissing her perfectly bowed mouth. He wanted Lauren in his bed more than he’d wanted anything for a long time.

But he wouldn’t pursue it.

She’d lost the man she’d loved to cancer.

And he’d bet his boots it wasn’t a road she’d ever want to travel again.

He needed to forget all about Lauren. And fast.

Chapter Four

Spending the evening with Gabe confirmed for Lauren that since her divorce, she’d gone into a kind of lazy hibernation. She’d quit volunteering at the surf club, rarely joined her mother for the tai chi classes she’d always loved and avoided socializing regularly with anyone other than her two closest friends. It hadn’t been a deliberate pulling away, more like a reluctance to go out and put on her happy face.

That needed to change.

Lauren knew if she was going to find someone to share her life with, she actually needed to start having a real life.

But that real life didn’t include her sexy neighbor.

On Friday night she went to the movies with Cassie and Mary-Jayne, stayed out afterward for coffee and cake and got home by ten.

There was a light on next door. Lauren ignored the fluttering in her stomach and headed inside. As soon as she’d crossed the threshold, she heard Jed’s whining. Minutes later she discovered her great plan of leaving him locked in the laundry was not such a great plan. It was, in fact, a disaster. He’d somehow chewed a hole in the back door, and his big head was now stuck between the timbers. Lauren groaned, cursed her brother under her breath for a few seconds and then attempted to pull the dog free. But he was lodged. His neck was wedged around the cracked timber, and she didn’t have the strength to pull him free.

Surprisingly, the dopey dog was in good spirits, and she patted him for a moment before she grabbed her phone. She could call her father? Or perhaps Mary-Jayne might be able to help?

Just get some backbone and go and ask Gabe.

She reassured the dog for a little while longer before she walked next door. The porch light flickered and she sucked in a breath and knocked.

Gabe looked surprised to see her on his doorstep.

“Lauren?” He rested against the door frame. “What’s up?”

He wore faded jeans that were splattered with paint, and an old gray T-shirt. There was also paint in his hair and on his cheek. She wanted to smile, thinking how gorgeous he looked, but didn’t. Instead, she put on a serious face.

“I need help.”

He straightened. “What’s wrong?”

“It might be better if you just see for yourself.”

He was across the threshold in seconds. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. Jed, on the other hand...”

“What’s he done now?” Gabe asked as they headed down the steps.

“Like I said, you need to see this for yourself.”

A minute later they were in her house. They moved to the laundry and were facing Jed’s bouncing rear end. And Gabe was laughing loudly. Really loudly. In fact, he was laughing so hard he doubled over and gripped the washing machine.

“It’s really not that funny,” she said crossly and planted her hands on her hips. “He could be hurt.”

“He’s not hurt,” Gabe said, still chuckling as he moved across the small room and knelt down beside the dog. “The goofy mutt is just stuck.”

“Exactly. He’s wedged in and I can’t pull him free.”

He examined the door. “Do you have a hammer?”

“A hammer?”

“I need to knock a bit of this plywood out the way,” he explained.

She nodded and grabbed the small toolbox under the sink. “I think there’s something in here.”

He opened the box, found the small hammer and got to work on the door. Jed whined a little, but Lauren placated him with pats and soothing words while Gabe made the hole large enough for the dog’s head to fit back through. It took several minutes, but finally Jed was free and immediately started bounding around the small room, whipping Lauren’s legs with his tail.

“Oh, that’s good,” she said on a relieved sigh. “Thank you.”