Helen Lacey - Once Upon a Bride

Gabe raised a brow. “Really?”

She scowled. “Really.”

“You’re mad at me because I repaired your gate?”

“I’m mad at you because it wasn’t your gate to repair. I don’t need anyone to fix things. I don’t need a white knight, okay?”

A white knight? Yeah, right. But there was an edge of vulnerability in her voice that stopped him from smiling. Was she broken? Was that part of what drew him to her? Like meets like? He knew she was divorced, and at her brother’s wedding she’d admitted her marriage hadn’t been a happy one. But Gabe didn’t want to speculate. And he didn’t want to ask. The less he knew, the better.

“Okay,” he said simply.

For a moment, he thought she might argue some more. Instead, she dropped her gaze and asked an obvious question. “What happened to your shoe?”

He glanced down. The back of his left sneaker was torn and the lace was missing. “Jed.”

She looked up again, and he saw her mouth curve. “Was that the only damage?”

“Other than chewing my car keys and making a run for it whenever he got the chance.”

She moaned softly. “Sorry about that. I’ll get Cameron to replace them when he gets back.”

Gabe shrugged. “No need. It’s only a shoe.”

She nodded, turned and walked back around the hedge. Gabe shook his shoulders and made a concerted effort to forget all about her.

And failed.

* * *

I really need to stop reacting like that.

Lauren was still thinking it forty minutes later when she emerged from the shower and pulled on frayed gray sweats. Her reaction, or rather her overreaction, to Gabe’s news about the fence was amplified by his interference with her gate.

She didn’t want him fixing things.

Lauren didn’t want any man fixing things.

It was a road she’d traveled before. She knew what she wanted and white knights need not apply. Her ex-husband had tried to fix things—to fix her—and it had ended in disaster.

James Wallace had ridden into her life in his carpenter’s truck, all charm and good looks. He’d arrived at The Wedding House to make repairs to the changing rooms, and she’d been unexpectedly drawn to his blatant flirting. An hour later, she’d accepted his invitation to go out with him that night. They ended up at a local bistro for drinks and then dinner, and by midnight he’d kissed her in the car park, and she was halfway in lust with him.

Three months later, she had a fairy-tale wedding.

Even though it was the wedding she’d planned to have to someone else.

To Tim. Sweet, handsome Tim Mannering. Her first love. Her only love. He had been her college boyfriend and the man she’d intended to marry. They’d made plans for the future. They’d talked about everything from building their dream home, taking an African-safari vacation, to how many kids they would have. They’d loved one another deeply and promised each other the world.

Except Tim had died three weeks before their wedding.

And Lauren walked down the aisle with another man less than two years later.

She swallowed the tightness in her throat. Thinking about Tim still filled her with sadness. And she was sad about James, too. She should never have married him. She hadn’t loved him. They’d shared a fleeting attraction that had faded just months into their marriage. They’d had little in common and very different dreams. Within a year, James was gone, tired of what he called her cold, unfeeling heart. And Lauren was alone once more.

But she still hoped to share her life with someone. And she wanted the children she’d planned for since the day she and Tim had become engaged. Only next time, Lauren was determined to go into it with her eyes wide-open and not glazed over by romantic illusions. What she’d had with James wasn’t enough. And what she’d had with Tim had left her broken inside. Now all she wanted was the middle road. Just mutual respect, trust and compatibility. No fireworks. No deep feelings. Lust was unreliable. Love was painful when lost.

There was nothing wrong with settling. Nothing at all. Settling was safe. All she had to do was remember what she wanted and why. And forget all about Gabe Vitali and his glittering blue eyes and broad shoulders. Because he was pure heartbreak material. And her heart wasn’t up for grabs.

Not now.

Not ever again.

Chapter Three

Gabe went to his cousin’s for dinner Wednesday night and expected the usual lecture about his life. Scott Jones was family and his closest friend, and even though he knew the other man’s intentions were born from a sincere interest in his well-being, Gabe generally pulled no punches when it came to telling his cousin to mind his own business.

Scott’s wife, Evie, was pure earth mother. She was strikingly attractive and possessed a calm, generous spirit. Gabe knew his cousin was besotted with his wife and baby daughter, and he was genuinely happy for him.

“How’s the house coming along?” Scott asked over a beer while Evie was upstairs putting little Rebecca down for the night.

Gabe pushed back in the kitchen chair. “Fine.”

“Will you stay there permanently?”

“I doubt it,” he replied.

“Still can’t see you renovating the place yourself,” Scott said, and grinned.

Gabe frowned. “I can fix things.”

Like Lauren’s gate, which hadn’t gone down so well. He should have left it alone. But she’d hurt herself on the thing and he didn’t want that happening again. There was no harm in being neighborly.

“Job still working out?”

Gabe shrugged one shoulder. “Sure.”

Scott grinned again. “And how’s it going with your next-door neighbor?”

He knew his cousin was fishing. He’d told him a little about the incident at the wedding, and Scott knew he’d bought the house next door. Clearly, he’d told him too much. “Fine.”

“I like Lauren,” Scott said, and smiled.

Gabe didn’t respond. He didn’t have to. His cousin spoke again.

“You do, too, judging by the look on your face.”

Gabe didn’t flinch. “You know my plans. They haven’t changed.”

“Your five-year plan?” Scott’s eyes widened. “Still think you can arrange life to order?” He looked to the ceiling, clearly thinking about his family upstairs. “No chance.”

“I know what I’m doing.”

It sounded good, at least. Pity he didn’t quite believe it.

“You know she’s divorced?” Scott asked.

“Yes.”

Scott nodded. “Evie knows more about it than I do. And, of course, about the other guy.”

His head came up. The other guy? “I don’t—”

“He died about five years ago,” his cousin said, and drank some beer. “They were engaged, that’s all I know.”

Gabe’s insides contracted. So she’d lost someone. And married someone else. The wrong someone else. It explained the haunted, vulnerable look shading her brown eyes. But he didn’t want to know any more. Hadn’t he already decided the less he knew, the better?

“Not my business.”

Scott’s eyebrows shot up. “So no interest at all?”

He shrugged again. “No.”

Scott chuckled. “You’re a lousy liar.”

I’m a great liar. His whole life was a lie. Gabe stood and scraped the chair back. “Thanks for the beer.”

He left shortly after, and by the time he pulled into his own driveway, it was past ten o’clock. There were lights on next door, and when he spotted a shadowy silhouette pass by the front window, Gabe fought the way his stomach churned thinking about her. He didn’t want to be thinking, imagining or anything else. Lauren Jakowski was a distraction he didn’t need.

And he certainly didn’t expect to find her on his doorstep at seven the next morning.