Page 65 of If This is Love

“Ruth,” he said with a little, startled lilt in his voice. His eyes flitted downward for a second like he wasn’t sure if he needed to cover himself, and he angled himself slightly away from me. I politely averted my eyes. “Hey. I thought you were Luke.”

I skimmed my gaze over his well-tended flowerbed. “I would have given you a heads up, but this morning… um…” I could still see his mouth-watering body in the corner of my eye and forgot why I’d come over here.

“Here, come on in, Ruth,” he said, taking the casserole dish from me and stepping aside. He clicked his tongue. “Jax,in.”

Jax immediately darted inside and sat on the rug next to where Gunner was sprawled out, rapidly drumming his tail on the floor. Gunner’s tail gave a few perfunctory wags, but he didn’t get up. Gabe slipped through the kitchen, pausing to set the casserole on the stove, and then into the adjoining laundry room. He reemerged a moment later, pulling on a thin, white t-shirt, and he returned to the living room to stand in front of me.

“Ruth.”

I cleared my throat. “Gabe.”

We slipped into a heavy silence, and my heart ached at the reason I had to come over like this at all.

I clasped my hands together at my waist. “I missed you during my run this morning, so I thought maybe we could have a little bite to eat while we catch up.”

One corner of his mouth quirked. “Catch up, huh?”

“Yeah.”

He took a step closer, enveloping me in his spicy, clean, male scent, and he seemed kind offriskyright after a shower. “You must’ve really missed me if we need to catch up after about eighteen hours apart.”

“Yeah, well…” I had to laugh, tilting my head back to meet his silvery eyes, and my heart rattled with a pang of endearment for him. “I did. It’s the first time I had to run alone in weeks.” I gave a little shrug and reached to cup the side of his elbow. “So come on in here and let me make you a plate, friend.”

I headed toward the kitchen while he followed me, and I gestured at the table. “I’ve got all this. You have a seat.”

He lingered behind me for a second. “I’m sorry about your hair.”

I looked back at him. “It’s okay, Gabe. I fixed it.” I smiled. “Go sit.”

He lingered for a heartbeat longer and then went to sit down.

His kitchen was well-appointed, fully stocked, and organized, so it didn’t take long to locate plates, glasses, and silverware. I set a place in front of Gabe and one for myself in the chair perpendicular to his, then placed the casserole dish on the center of the table. Picking up his plate, I served him a generous portion and set it down for him.

For a second, Gabe just stared at it. “Are you serious right now?”

I scrunched up my nose. “What? You don’t like shrimp and grits?” I snickered. “Sugar, you are from south Louisiana, so you’re going to have to give me some kind of explanation for this.”

He squinted one eye at me, and then he gave me that sweet, dimpled half smile of his. “No, ma’am.” He scooped a forkful and gave it a small wave. “You just seem to be an expert in cooking all my favorite foods.”

I smiled as he ate a few bites. “I’m glad. Good food seems to make you happy, and I’m happy that I can help you with that.”

We ate in silence for a few beats, and I couldn’t figure out how to talk about the things that compelled me to come over here.

“So,” he suddenly clipped, loudly and abrasively , and I nearly jumped right out of my skin. Gabe never interjected like that, and his quick change in tone had me worried. “I’m assuming you were sent over here to deal with me.”

An intense emotion whooshed through my body, but I couldn’t figure out what it was. Guilt, confusion, hurt, and even anger swirled up together in my chest, and I couldn’t help scoffing. “Gabe. Who in the world do you suddenly think I am?”

He gave me a single, slow blink. “I think you’re the person the newlyweds sent over here to deal with me after yesterday.”

The wall he’d put up couldn’t have been more obvious if it had been made of actual bricks. I stared at his gray eyes, and they were completely flat and blank, but not like they were when he was struggling yesterday. This was his wall, and it was so well-fortified that it made his eyes look different.

His ex-wife came to my mind. Surely, she had seen him do this. I wondered how she used to handle it. I looked back at my food and tried to think of the absolute best response to a person in his shoes. I knew he’d been mortified and that he felt as bad as he possibly could. And here I was, showing up unannounced at his house, basically cornering him and forcing him to talk to me.

“Okay,” I said evenly, pushing the food around with my fork. “That’s not the case, but I can see that I’ve made you uncomfortable, so I’m just going to give you some space. But I would like to talk to you when you’re feeling better.”

I left it at that so he could eat in peace, but the silence spliced with our forks tapping the plates was loud enough to suffocate me.

After a few beats, Gabe broke the silence by snapping at me, “Well? I thought you were going togive me some space.”

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