Page 18 of If You Stayed

I narrowed my eyes. “I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.”

“It’s a good thing,” he said. “A very good thing.”

“What exactly are the therapist vibes I give off?”

“Well…” He rubbed his cheek. “When you talk to people, youreallytalk to people and listen as if it’s a late-breaking news story. You look at them as if the most important conversation ever is taking place. I saw you inside earlier talking to Marc Christian about rocks for a solid fifteen minutes, and you looked so intrigued.”

“It was a very interesting conversation. I love to talk about a grown man’s rock collection,” I joked.

“It wasn’t interesting at all, and Marc has a very monotone voice. I fell asleep eavesdropping.”

“I thought I heard someone snoring.”

“It was when he spoke about his rock polish. He said that, and away I went.” He made snoring sounds, making me break into laughter.

Gosh, in the past few minutes, he’d made me laugh more than Henry had in the past three years. “What can I say? I like to know what people are thinking. Even if they are thinking about rocks,” I said.

“Sounds about right, Mrs. Therapist.”

Before I could reply, the sky was lit with fireworks. Our eyes instantly drifted up, and the lazy smile on Gabriel’s face returned. As he studied the sky, I studied him.

“Don’t read me, Mrs. Therapist,” Gabriel whispered, feeling my stare on him. “My thoughts are a little messy and jumbled in my head.”

“That’s my favorite type of novel.”

“Oh my gosh, Gabriel! Look! Fireworks!” Ramona said,reappearing out of nowhere and pointing at the sky. She’d somehow returned with another glass of champagne.

Gabriel gave Ramona a thumbs-up as she swung around, her dress swirling, and stared as if the sky had just exposed a new dimension. So manyoohs andahhs.

“I better get her home,” Gabriel murmured. “I hope you have a good night, Kierra.”

He began to turn away from me, but before he was too far gone, I called out to him. “Gabriel?”

He turned back in my direction, and my stomach fluttered as I rediscovered his gentle eyes. “Yes?”

“Are you happy?”

“Happy?”

“Yes. Sorry, I know it’s a super-random question, but I’m just curious. Are you happy with your life?”

He raked his hand through his hair. “Life has its ups and downs, but I lean toward happy.”

My troubled heart found comfort in that response. “Keep leaning that way, okay?”

The warm, lazy smile returned to his full lips. “I’ll do my best. Have a great weekend. Maybe on Monday I’ll beat you to the last cinnamon muffin.”

“Don’t threaten my life like that, Gabriel.”

“‘May the odds be ever in your favor,’” he said as he bowed slightly, delighting me with the surprise Hunger Games reference.

He began to walk away. And for a moment, I considered showing up at Florence Bakery and waiting all morning solely to fight Gabriel over the last cinnamon muffin.

5

Gabriel

“Gosh, that was amazing! Can you believe that we were at oneoftheHenry Hughes parties? Those things are legendary! And we were there!” Ramona exclaimed as she collapsed into my passenger seat. She raked her hand through her wild red hair, shaking her head in disbelief. “I bet that’s what parties were like inThe Great Gatsby. Oh my goodness. And he’s so intelligent. It was like talking to Einstein.”

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