couldn’t help smiling even though he was feeling the pressure. Things going well with the sample rainbow cake would result in an order of a dozen more for the month-end Pride celebration.
Turning, the smile slid off his face when he spotted Natalie. Her eyes were puffy and red as she swiped at a tear on her cheek. He strode over to her. Before he had a chance to comfort her, she threw her arms around his shoulders and buried her face in his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and stroked her back. This wasn’t the strong, confident Natalie he was used to.
She pulled away and paced the room, wiping away another tear. “I’m so sorry.”
His eyebrows twitched. “What happened?” he signed.
“I promise,” she signed. “I never meant to hurt you.” Natalie exhaled a breath through her pursed lips.
He cocked his head. Waiting.
She finally stopped pacing and blew out another breath before signing. “I tease Gabe…a lot. I give him a hard time about things because we know each other so well.” She chewed her lip and swiped at another tear. “But I never intend to hurt him. Never. He’s my best friend and the one person I’ve always been able to count on, even when he’s hundreds of miles away on a trip.” She took a step closer to him. “I see how much you mean to him, how happy he is since you two have been together. I just thought…I thought it would be good for Dad to see that too.”
“Did he say something to you before leaving?”
Her eyes misted.
He grabbed the chair from the small office in the corner and motioned for Natalie to sit. Flipping one of the empty buckets onto the ground to use as a second seat, he sat in front of her.
“When I was little, I used to follow Gabe everywhere. I mean, everywhere,” she signed with a smile. “If he went to the store, in the backyard, out front to play baseball in the street with the guys in the neighborhood…everywhere. And never once…never…did he ever make me feel as if I wasn’t wanted.”
Ben’s own eyes welled. He would have given anything to have felt that wanted by his own sister.
Her entire body bounced with a sudden laugh before she started signing, “I remember once, he was going to the movies with two of his friends. He had just started in high school, but he was always really big. So he made the football team right away. We were so proud of him. It was the first time a freshman made the varsity team. Like always, he clicked right away with his teammates. And there he was, on a Friday night, getting picked up by two teammates. Seniors. They were big, thick guys. And here I was, this skinny, long-legged girl wanting to tag along with her big brother. The two guys laughed. They thought I was joking around or maybe they thought Gabe would tell me off. Pick them over me.”
She stood and grabbed one of the tissues from the table before returning to her seat and resuming with her story. “But he took my hand, yelled out at Mom to let her know I was going with them, and we left.”
“And the two other guys from the team were okay with that?” Ben signed his question, raising his eyebrows.
She nodded. “He didn’t leave them much of a choice. And when it came time to pick the movie, one of the guys had an older brother working at the theater. So he was going to sneak them into one of the R-rated movies with all the explosions and car chases they liked.” She wiped at her eyes to catch another tear. “Gabe turned to me and asked me what I wanted to see.” She threw her head back and laughed. “Of course, I wanted to see the princess movie.”
“I imagine the guys didn’t like that?” Ben couldn’t hold back the start of a smile as he signed.
“Hell no!” She shook her head as she signed. “But after Gabe talked to them, they didn’t know if they were coming or going. He told them that seeing the movie might give them a few pointers on romance. And that being the big tough guys sitting in the cartoon fairy tale would make every girl drool at the movies.”
“Did it?”
A huge wicked grin spread across her face. “That night was the premier and the theater did this big promo dress-up thing. We walked