See Jane Love - By Debby Conrad Page 0,42

the folding chair on the deck, Sara placed her hands on her hips and yelled, “Travis, what I have told you about hitting your sister?”

“I’m sorry, Mom, but she was bothering me.”

Janie grinned while listening to Sara give Travis a lecture on hitting people, members of the female species in particular. “Sorry,” Sara said finally, sitting down again. “Where were we?”

“I was telling you about how I got the hiccups when I--”

“Stop!” Sara shouted, raising both hands. “I really don’t want to hear any more of this.” Leaning forward in her chair, she lowered her voice. “This whole business of you sleeping with Gabe has me nauseous. And you can’t even imagine what keeping it from Alex is doing to me.”

“I never asked you to keep anything from Alex.”

“I know that, but . . .” Sara shook her head. “I think he’d go berserk if he knew.”

Janie sighed. “I don’t care if the whole world knows I’m sleeping with Gabe. I feel like shouting--”

“Please don’t,” Sara interrupted her. “I have to live in this neighborhood, not you.”

Rolling her eyes, Janie said, “Sara, stop being so melodramatic. And it wouldn’t hurt for you to let your hair down once in a while. You’re such a prude about some things.”

“I am not a prude. Just because I don’t want the whole neighborhood to know our business . . .”

“You mean my business,” Janie corrected her as she got to her feet. She’d had enough of her sister’s holier than thou attitude. Why couldn’t Sara just be happy for her? “I have to go. If you want me to baby-sit tonight so you and Alex can go out . . .” Janie knew Saturday nights were date nights for her sister and brother-in-law.

“Thanks, but I already asked Kristen across the street. We have a wedding reception tonight. One of the guys who works for Alex,” Sara explained.

“Oh, okay,” Janie said, feeling disappointed that Sara hadn’t asked her to watch the kids. She didn’t have any plans for this evening, and she hadn’t heard from Gabe all day. They’d spent two glorious days and nights in bed together, and when he’d left her apartment this morning he hadn’t said a word about calling her. Not that she expected him to. It’s just that it would have been nice since she knew he was planning on going back to New York tomorrow.

Sighing, she headed for the deck steps. “I just want to say good-bye to the kids.”

“Janie,” Sara said, and Janie spun around to face her. “You realize Gabe’s leaving tomorrow?”

“Yes,” she said, trying not to sound miserable. “What’s your point?”

“My point is, I think you’re stuck on him. And, well . . . honey, this isn’t easy for me to say, but Gabe isn’t going to make a commitment, or anything like that, just because you and he . . .”

“Nor would I want him to,” Janie said with a flip of her hand. “Me and Gabe Montero? Get real. It would never work.” With that, she hurried toward the swing set, blinking back her tears.

Once she was home, Janie sat at the kitchen table staring at the wall. She was lonely, which surprised her because she’d never been lonely in her life. She’d always appreciated having her own space and lots of quiet time, especially in the evenings. Her creative juices flowed best then, and she could usually pump out five or six pages of a manuscript before bed.

But not tonight. She’d tried to write, but nothing had come out.

Maybe she should think about getting a goldfish. At least it would be someone to talk to. Someone to bounce her ideas off.

Someone to stare at instead of a boring wall, she thought, sighing loudly.

Just as she’d feared, there’d been no messages from Gabe on her answering machine when she’d come back from Sara’s, though it was probably for the best. They’d had an affair, plain and simple. What better way to end it, than to just fade off into the sunset. Besides, if Gabe would have said good-bye to her, she might have fallen apart. Although, she had been entertaining the idea of seducing him tonight.

The doorbell interrupted her melancholy mood and she got up to go answer it. She recognized Gabe through the peephole and smiled wholeheartedly.

“What a surprise,” she said, trying not to sound too eager as she opened the door.

Shifting the pizza box and brown paper sack to the side, he leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek. “I