Rush(127)

Almost as if reading her mind, Ash turned again. “If it makes you feel any better, Gabe looked like shit today. He doesn’t look or sound any better than you do.”

It was hard not to react to Ash’s words. It took all her strength to act unfazed, as if she didn’t care. She wanted to yell at someone—anyone—and scream out that it didn’t have to be this way. All Gabe would have had to do was speak up. Given her any sign that he wanted her. She would have never left him. She’d be with him even now if only he’d given her any indication that it was what he wanted.

Instead he’d trotted out that crap about how it was better this way. Better for whom? Because it damn sure wasn’t better for her. And it didn’t sound like it was so damn good for him either.

“I don’t want to talk about him,” she said in a low voice. “I don’t want to hear his name.”

Jace nodded his agreement and shot Ash a quelling stare. Ash shrugged. “I just thought she might want to know.”

She did. Of course she did. But she’d never admit it. She had pride too, even if she’d sacrificed it all for Gabe.

“We’re taking a trip for Thanksgiving,” Jace said as he glanced up in the mirror again. “We leave Wednesday and we’ll come back Sunday.”

She lifted an eyebrow. “Where are we going?”

“The Caribbean. Someplace nice and warm. Lots of sunshine and beaches. It’ll cheer you up.”

She doubted that, but she wasn’t going to be a spoilsport. Jace’s eyes were hopeful. He was trying so hard to help her pick up the pieces. He’d never been able to stand her being upset about anything, and he always pulled out all the stops in his bid to make her feel better.

“And hey, you’ll get to see me in a swimsuit,” Ash said, a devilish grin on his face. “That should make your entire year.”

She rolled her eyes, a smile toying with the corners of her mouth. But she sighed because Ash wasn’t spending Thanksgiving with his family. He never did. He always spent his holidays alone or with her and Jace, or with Gabe. Her heart ached because, except for Jace, Gabe and herself, Ash was alone, and she well knew that feeling now. It sucked.

“That’s better,” Jace said, approval and relief gleaming in his eyes. “I want to see you smiling again, baby girl.”

The smile felt frozen on her lips. It was pretty damn hard to smile when her heart was splintered and lay in pieces. Dramatic maybe, but it was appropriate.

“Do you need to go shopping for the trip?” Ash asked in a coaxing voice. “Jace and I have the rest of the week off. We could take you shopping tomorrow if you need stuff for the beach.”

They were both trying so hard that she wasn’t going to make it any more difficult for them. So she smiled and nodded. “That sounds like fun.”

The relief in Jace’s eyes told her she’d done the right thing. The last thing she wanted was to worry him—and he was worried.

He and Ash would keep her busy through the Thanksgiving holiday. And on Monday she’d return to her old life. Working at La Patisserie. Living with Caroline in her apartment. Trying to forget that for a brief time she’d meant the world to Gabe Hamilton. Or that he still meant the world to her.





chapter forty-one



Gabe sat brooding in his office, his head aching and dull, his heart even heavier. It was early—he was the only one in the office after the holiday—but he hadn’t slept since Mia had walked out of his apartment, so much hurt and betrayal in her eyes.

He stared at the two pictures of her in his phone, one of which he’d had printed and framed. It lay in his desk drawer. Often, he pulled that drawer open just to see her smile.

The Mia in those pictures was the Mia he’d done his damnedest to destroy. He’d taken the life and joy right out her eyes, and he’d damn sure taken her smile.

He ran his finger over the image of her in the snow, holding up her hands in delight as she tried to catch snowflakes. She was so goddamn beautiful that she took his breath away.

He’d spent Thanksgiving with his parents, their happiness and growing contentment almost too much for him to bear. It was hard for him to be happy that they were on the path to reconciliation when his own life was in shambles.

And he only had himself to blame.

After leaving his parents’ home, he’d returned to his apartment to find it empty and barren of life. And then he’d done something he rarely ever did. He’d gotten roaring drunk and attempted to drown his sorrows in a bottle—or three.

He’d self-medicated the entire weekend, itchy and impatient because he knew that Jace and Ash had taken Mia on holiday to the Caribbean. She was out of reach, not just physically, but emotionally as well.