deep inside where it wasn’t visible. Her face heated and her body felt awkward. It was as if every person in the room was staring at her. She looked back at the stage, her reason for being there, and blinked back the tears.
Gabe had purposefully dismissed her—in front of the whole town.
She tried to convince herself that it was nothing; that it was her own guilt getting the best of her; that he had shown up as promised. But an hour later, when the curtain closed and the final bow was had, Regan felt as if her body was going to snap from the tension.
Gabe’s seat next to his brother was empty and he was nowhere to be found.
Nothing made sense. He had seen her. He had ignored her. Then, without a word, he had left her. She grabbed her hat and mumbled a hurried good-bye to Jordan and Ava, ducking out before the houselights came up.
Earlier that morning, Gabe had brought over a big pink box with an even bigger red bow filled with a dozen doughnuts with pink sprinkles for Holly’s birthday breakfast. When he left he’d stolen a kiss and they’d made plans to take Holly to dinner after the musical.
Regan didn’t know what had transpired in the past ten hours, but it wasn’t good. She felt it in her gut. In the way his eyes had been cool and empty when he’d looked at her. It was like she had been beamed back to six years ago when Gabe had found her with Richard.
Whatever was going on would have to wait. Tonight was about Holly, her amazing performance, and her birthday.
Regan squared her shoulders and hurried down the hallway toward the dressing rooms. She was going to hug her little thespian and take her out for the best birthday dinner a newly turned six-year-old could imagine. Then tomorrow, after Christmas presents were opened, she would confront Gabe.
Regan turned the corner and slammed into a tiny brunette with big brown eyes.
“Abigail,” Regan blurted out. No introductions were needed. Even though the two had never met, the connection was immediate, intense, and might explode at one spark.
“I was going to call you after Christmas,” Regan admitted. Abigail only crossed her arms. “To talk to you about...” Regan looked at the dressing room door, only ten feet away, and knew that now wasn’t the time. Holly would come bounding out of the room, ready to celebrate her performance, and instead find her mom and teacher in a screaming match.
“Holly will be here any minute,” Abigail said, by way of calling a temporary truce.
“Yes,” Regan said, her chest relaxing a little. Abigail wasn’t hiding the fact that she hated Regan, but at least she was thinking of Holly. “Thank you. And thank you for tonight. Holly was so excited about this play, and with you being the music director, this whole event could have turned out a completely different experience for her.”
Instead of the tension easing, Abigail took Regan’s thanks as a direct insult. “I am not in the habit of ruining families.”
Okay, so maybe the implied truce wasn’t as strong as Regan had first thought. She needed to defuse the situation and get Holly out of there, pronto.
“Why don’t I call you Friday on my break and we can clear the air?”
“I don’t see the point. We will never be friends and this town will never be your home. So let’s cut through the niceties. I have an after-party to host and you have a daughter to collect.”
“And I have a question,” Gabe said. The chill in his voice was nothing compared to the pure disgust in his expression when Regan turned around.
Gabe stood, bouquet of pink flowers in one hand, stack of papers in the other, and stared down at Regan like she was a complete disappointment and waste of space.
Behind him was an army of DeLucas, one more intimidating than the next. With their chests puffed out and shoulders back, they took up so much space that there didn’t seem to be enough left for Regan.
She wanted to run. Grab Holly, get in her car, and drive until the pressure building in her heart stopped.
She breathed in slowly and tipped up her chin. Letting them know that they scared her wasn’t an option. So she took a step forward, knowing that if she could get Gabe alone things would be okay. She would be okay.
“Don’t.” He held up his hand, the one that was strangling the bouquet,