Page 74 of For Always
She’d thought of her life up until this point. The decisions she’d made. The things she should have done or said. She considered her situation with Austin and the child she’d lost because of it. She pictured Adriana becoming a mother and how happy Parker would be to become a father. She wondered about her job and what would happen after the company heard about everything that had happened here in Hobbs Creek. Especially the fact that she’d fallen in love with her client. One of the biggest taboos in a professional setting.
And then she’d thought of Tyler.
Slowly, she lifted her head to look at him.
While they’d waited for the police to arrive he’d slipped into sweat pants and a t-shirt. She’d pulled on a pair of jean shorts and one of Tyler’s t-shirts. She wore only socks on her feet and had no idea how her hair looked at this moment. And she really didn’t care.
Tyler looked tired. His normally neat beard was scraggly, his bright blue eyes, shadowed. He had bed hair, which always made her want to run her fingers through the thick dark brown strands again and again. And his shoulders slumped a bit. She wanted to go to him, to wrap her arms around his waist and hug him tight. But she remained still while thoughts continued to run through her mind.
“Should we get into the kitchen to help Dessie?” he asked.
Gabriella watched as he finally put down the glass he’d been holding. She squared her shoulders and replied, “No. I think we should talk first.”
He didn’t say another word, but came to sit on the love seat next to her. He didn’t touch or look at her, he just sat. And she continued.
“My family and I have wondered for five years if Monica and Alex were ever going to get married. I think it’s ironic that another one of my mess-ups was the catalyst for that to finally happen,” she said.
“This wasn’t your mess up. It was Noah’s,” he stated seriously.
She sighed. “I know. I’m not at all taking any of the blame for that. But I am owning up to the mistake I made. The misjudgment and the decision to keep it all a secret. That was on me.”
“Everybody decides to deal with a situation in their own way,” he said. “I didn’t have to leave and stay away from here. I could have come back and continued to be connected. I chose not to.”
“What are you going to do about that now?” she asked him.
“I’m going to make it work,” he replied. “I’m going to move back to the ranch primarily, but I’m also going to work with Stephen on taking more managerial responsibilities for the times that I have to be away on Ty-Fitness business.”
“That’s a good plan,” she said with a nod. “My dad always says it’s good to have a plan.”
“Do you have one, Gabriella? Is that what you want to talk about?”
She waited a beat and then extended her arm across the space between them until she could lace her fingers with his. He squeezed her hand and she looked down at them sitting on the leather love seat. Black and white. Man and woman. Lovers and friends.
“I love you, Tyler. I meant that when I said it. And I know that I don’t have a glowing track record in the area of love, but I know what I feel. And this, what I’ve felt in the time that I’ve been here with you is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced or imagined.”
“But?” he said the moment she paused.
“But I have to go,” she told him. “I have to go back to Connecticut and deal with Austin.”
“You can let the police deal with him,” Tyler said.
He squeezed her hand again until she looked over at him. “Stay here with me. Move into the house that you’ve helped to make a home with your innovative design and your enthusiastic presence. We can both travel for work and—”
“Stop,” she said, using her free hand to reach up and cover his lips. “Don’t say anything else. Don’t ask me to do anything. Not right now.”
Looking into his eyes and telling him she was leaving may have been the hardest thing Gabriella ever had to do. But she knew it was necessary.
“I’m going to fly back to Connecticut with Alex and Monica. Naomi can supervise the last days of the project. And I’ll be sure to report that she did to the Proctor Group. I’m going to go back and deal with Austin. Because if I don’t, it will never be over with him. He won’t stop unless I stop him,” she said.
“Then I’ll go with you,” Tyler said over her hand.
Gabriella smiled and moved her hand from his mouth to cup the side of his face.
“No. I got into this on my own. I tried to handle it on my own once before. It’s only fitting that I go back alone and fix it.”
“But you’re not alone anymore, Gabriella. I’m with you. I told you I would never leave you. I love you,” he said.
Gabriella eased over to him. She leaned in to drop a soft kiss on his lips. “I love you so much Tyler. That’s why it’s so important that I do this. I don’t want to come to you with all this baggage. And you’re not leaving me,” she said with a tentative smile. “I’m technically leaving you.”
