supposed to be sitting down and returned to her chair. Lori didn’t understand what she was asking. “If he’s shutting people out, what makes you think I’ll be able to reach him?”
“Because he loves you! It’s obvious.”
Nic rubbed her belly with both hands. She didn’t want to call him. She’d sworn to herself that she wouldn’t contact him until the babies were born, and even then all she intended to say was that they were healthy. But if he’d really considered killing himself in the past …
“Please, Nic.”
She blew out a sigh, took a sip of lemonade, and said, “Oh, all right. Hand me the phone.”
Gabe sat on a boulder beside the bubbling mountain creek downhill from Eagle’s Way and tried to work up the enthusiasm to fish. Davenport was coming out on Saturday and he’d promised him trout for supper. Considering that he’d yet to stock the freezer with a single fish since his return to Eagle’s Way, he needed to get a hook in the water.
But fishing wasn’t any fun anymore. Not without Nic. Without his family.
Gabe watched a small green leaf turn and swirl its way downstream
“Carried along to its destiny by forces beyond its control,” came a voice from behind him. “Do you feel that way, John Gabriel?”
Startled, he almost fell off the boulder. “Celeste? Where did you come from?”
She waved toward where her Honda Gold Wing stood in the parking area, not fifty yards from where he sat. How had he not heard her arrive?
Immediately a more pressing thought occurred. Why had she come? His blood turned to ice as the likely reason exploded like a nuclear bomb in his brain. Nic. Celeste had his phone number. She’d have called unless it was something big. Something bad.
Had Nic gone into labor? It was too early. Despite the miracle of modern medicine, the babies might not survive this early. Was that why Celeste had come? To deliver that news?
Gabe shoved off the rock and turned to face her, his hands fisted at his sides, bracing himself against the news he’d anticipated for weeks. “What happened?”
“Nic and the babies are just fine, Gabe. I spoke with her this morning. You, on the other hand …” Celeste clucked her tongue. “Aren’t you a sorry sight. Have you misplaced your razor?”
Gabe dragged his hand down the two-week-old beard he’d started growing for no good reason and ignored her question to ask one of his own. “Is there a problem at Angel’s Rest?”
“No, no problem. You’ve brought in good people to do the necessary work.”
“In that case, what brings you to Eagle’s Way?”
“It’s a good day for a drive, and besides, I have a gift for you.”
“A gift? What for?”
“We’ll talk first. Walk with me back to the house, will you? You’ll have better luck fishing later. I have a feeling.”
Talk. Ugh. Gabe nodded, picked up his fishing pole, and followed Celeste back toward the house. It appeared that the time had come for the talk he’d expected from Nic’s friends since the day Nic left town and he’d quit answering the phone. He wasn’t surprised that they’d sent Celeste. Sarah would go after him with a shotgun. Sage would look at him with those big, sad green eyes and sigh at his stupidity.
Celeste, on the other hand, was certain to ask questions. Probing, personal, rip-his-heart-out-to-answer inquiries into his emotional health. Still, he guessed he should be grateful he’d had this much of a reprieve.
“Can I get you something to eat or drink?” he asked, attempting to put off the moment.
“No, thanks. Let’s sit beside the pool, shall we? It’s so peaceful and beautiful there. You did a lovely job with the design, Gabe. Both here and at Angel’s Rest.”
“Thanks.”
Rather than take a seat in one of the lounge chairs, Celeste sat at the pool’s edge, removed her boots and socks, and rolled up her pant legs. She plopped her feet into the water, smiled, and said, “Come sit with me.”
After working with her for months, Gabe knew it would be a waste of time to argue, so he did as she asked. “Okay, let me have it.”
“You think I’ve come to scold you?”
“Of course. I deserve it, don’t I?”
Celeste gave his leg a motherly pat and suggested, “Why don’t you tell me what you think?”
“Okay, I will. If I could turn back the clock, I’d do it in a heartbeat. I’m doing the only thing I can do. I’m giving her time. Nic left me. She doesn’t want to