Page 6 of Mine to Love
She hated that for him.
“Hey there, buddy.” Charlie wrapped his arm around Gabriel. “How are things going?”
“I didn’t know you were coming today,” Gabriel said.
For the first month they had lived in this house, Charlie had started to become a distant memory for Gabriel. It had been hard, since he’d been so attached to the man for years. However, Gabriel was a smart young man, and he’d been there on so many nights when Liberty sat in her room, crying. She’d tried to be quiet, but Gabriel still heard her and every once in a while, he came in to comfort his big sister.
He was good that way.
He knew Charlie had hurt her, but he believed one big whopper of a lie that Charlie had told, and that was the one wedge that existed between brother and sister that she’d never be able to fix because it meant telling Gabriel the truth. It would break his heart to learn of that kind of betrayal by another human in his life, and he’d been through enough. Not to mention that for Gabriel, every day was a struggle. He was neither high-functioning, nor low-functioning, but somewhere in the middle. He had a base level intelligence and could hold his own in conversations, if he felt comfortable. But that was the rub. He had few social skills and without her, he would never get along in this world.
“Charlie just came by to tell me something,” Liberty said. “He was just leaving.”
“Oh. Okay.” Gabriel nodded.
Ever since Charlie rolled into town, Gabriel had flip-flopped between being glad to see him to not wanting to be around him at all. She didn’t want to poison Gabriel’s thoughts against Charlie. That wouldn’t be right. And the therapist she spoke totold her it wouldn’t help Gabriel adjust to his new environment anyway. It would only cause him stress. It was one of the reasons she waited for her divorce to become final before moving.
Making it all that much harder on herself.
But Gabriel’s adjustment was more important.
“Um, Miles is outside,” Gabriel said. “I told him I’d come get you because I didn’t recognize the car in the driveway.”
“That’s because I just bought it. Isn’t she pretty? I’d love to take you for a spin,” Charlie said, giving Gabriel a squeeze.
Gabriel’s eyes grew wide.
Fuck.
Gabriel loved cars. Had a passion for them and when Miles had offered him a job, it had been a godsend in more ways than one.
“Just a quick ride, and then I’ll be on my way.” Charlie smiled. “Promise.”
“Please, Liberty. Can I go?” Gabriel asked. The man was twenty-two. It broke her fucking heart that he had to ask her permission. It didn’t matter how smart he could be, his emotions were that of a toddler sometimes.
“Sure,” she said. “But not too long. We have dinner and you have work bright and early.”
“I’ll have him back in a half hour.” Charlie turned, his arm still looped around Gabriel’s shoulders, and sauntered toward the front door.
She followed, stepping out onto the front porch.
“Hey, Miles.” Gabriel waved. “I’m going for a ride in that,” he said with excitement laced in every syllable. “It’s a Porsche 911 GT3. Isn’t it cool?”
“She sure is and she looks like she was just driven right off the showroom floor.” Miles leaned against the big palm tree in the front yard. “Charlie.” He nodded.
The two men had met in passing half a dozen times or so. While it had been cordial, it had never been completely pleasant. More like chest-pounding gorillas sitting in their corners, sizing each other up, waiting to pounce on one another.
“Miles, is it?” Charlie paused by the tree, looking Miles up and down, as he did with most people. And he sure as hell knew the man’s name because he asked who he was and why he was stopping by all the damn fucking time. His words, not hers.
Charlie certainly didn’t like that Gabriel was working for Miles either. He thought Gabriel should come work with him, in fucking real estate. That was no job for Gabriel. He struggled with strangers. And even though he knew his way around a computer better than most, that man liked to tinker with cars. Miles said he was damn good too. A natural.
And it made Gabriel happy.
Especially when moving had put him in a funk, including some self-harm issues, but that had all changed when Miles came into the picture.
She wasn’t sure what to make of that.
Or Miles.
