hysterectomy years ago, but I didn't care. Colin was enough for me. But Mother convinced her that carrying on the Winter name was important to both of us, especially with Dad gone. Mother offered to pay Colin's way through Juilliard if Maureen moved to New York. Can you believe that?" Bitter laughter burst from him. "Maureen refused. But she didn't want to cause a family rift, so she ended our relationship."
He leapt up to pace the small room, his rugged good looks incongruously masculine in the feminine environment. "She sacrificed her happiness for mine. If I'd only known, I would have walked away from everything for her." He turned to face Tessa. "I tried so hard to love you, Tessa. And I do love you, but like you said before, just not in the right way. I know now it's because I've never been able to forget Maureen."
Her stomach clenched on a sickening rush of realization. For two years, they'd both been trying to force their relationship into something it could never be. How unbearably sad, for both of them. The only thing sadder would be if they kept up the charade. She swallowed hard. Even if she'd known what to say, the aching lump in her throat blocked the words.
Thrusting his fingers through his hair, Dale dropped back onto the love seat. "Colin never lost hope. When he saw our wedding announcement, he started following you. He hoped if he explained, you'd step aside, and he could reunite his mom and me." He threw her a sharp glance. "He told me what happened in the park."
She found her voice. "Gabe wouldn't have hurt him."
"Val, Gabe, whatever his name is, he's not your cousin, is he? And if he's gay, I'll eat my violin case, buckles and all."
Her face warmed.
"I thought so. I saw the way he looks at you."
The image of sparkling green eyes warm with promise invaded her thoughts. "We merely have … a business arrangement. He's leaving town." She frowned. "And none too soon."
"I almost ruined four lives with my inability to act. If you have feelings for him, don't wait until it's too late. Not everyone gets a second chance."
How did she feel about Gabe? The memory of lying under him in his bed burned through her whirling thoughts. She'd come this close to turning her back on everything she believed in last night. Tessa stared into the full-length mirror across the room and saw herself sitting there with Dale by her side. So right. And yet all wrong. If Gabe hadn't blasted into her life, she would have been standing in front of that mirror next week wearing her wedding gown.
Icicles of fear stabbed into her. No-commitment, freewheeling Gabe was the opposite of her ideal man. And he had a marriage phobia, to boot. Self-preservation demanded she remain indifferent. She may have been short-sighted in the past, but she was no masochist.
Dale held her gaze, his eyes tender. "Will you be all right?"
She gave him a wobbly smile. "I'll be fine." As long as she didn't make the mistake of wanting something she could never have. She slid off her diamond solitaire and held it out to him. "I hope we can still be friends."
"I'd like that. And I'd like you to keep the ring as a memento."
She gently placed it in his palm and folded his fingers around it. "I don't need it to remind me. I'll never forget what we shared. Good times." Tears pressed behind her eyes, and she blinked them back. Though their relationship wasn't meant to be, letting go of him, letting go of all her hopes and dreams was so hard. "Like that concert we gave in Schubert Hall where the conductor's toupee kept slipping, and every time we looked at one another we almost couldn't stop giggling long enough to play."
"Good times." His own smile crooked, he tucked the ring in his pocket. "I'm sorry, Tessa. I've known for a long time that things weren't right between us, but unlike you, I didn't have the guts to say so. You wouldn't be out of line to call me a few choice names. Or slap me upside the head."
She forced out a chuckle. "Not my style, and you know it. Mel, on the other hand, just might take you up on that offer." She stood on legs that trembled. "I guess that's it, then."
"Right. Let's go face our friends, and the Dragon Lady."