First Last Chance, page 6
“No time for lessons, then. I wish you could stay longer,” Lisa said.
Ashley reached up and squeezed her hand. “Me too, hon. But I’m just a call away.”
The conversation stalled, and they continued in silence. She hadn’t said anything about Marilyn in the car. Her place in this had been made clear. Gabe had kept to the same silence. But then when it came to talk on Gabe and Marilyn, she didn’t want in on the glories Gabe had been parading last night. Some men were jerks, she just had a habit of bumpin into the worst of them.
Lisa leaned forward, breaking into her thoughts. “Look, we’re almost there?” She pointed to the small airport straight ahead.
“Is that the runway?” Ashley gripped her seat. “It looks short.”
Gabe frowned and he briefly brushed a touch to her arm before he pulled it away in the next breath. “It’ll be okay.” His tone was back to a more professional I’m the pilot, you passenger, but it only unsettled her more with his constant change that match the drops of turbulence that turned her stomach.
Ashley couldn’t hide her shaking. “That’s not where I flew into.”
“No, this one is a private airstrip closer to downtown. Perfect size for the Cessna.”
The plane slowed, and Gabe maneuvered the Cessna down onto the landing strip and pulled up along-side a metal building. She breathed a sigh of relief when he shut the engine down.
As he did the post-flight checklist, an airport worker came to them. Gabe opened his door once he was done and stepped onto the tarmac.
“Good to see you, Governor,” said the man whilst Gabe did a final check around the smaller plane. “You got company this trip.”
Ashley opened her door and got out, waiting for Lisa to follow.
“Yeah. How you doing, Bill?” Gabe shook the man’s hand as Ashley and Lisa joined him. “We’re here to do a little shopping. And you know I’m no longer governor, right?”
Bill tipped his cap. “Somethings just stick, sir.” He turned and pointed to a sedan next to the small hangar. “Your vehicle’s over there.”
“Thanks.” Gabe guided Ashley and Lisa to the car.
***
Lisa had added another shop to her list, which now made three dress shops and two shoe stores she wanted to visit, and Ashley buried a groan.
“Okay.” As they headed downtown, Gabe seemed to bury one too. “Seems I’m chauffeur today. Where to, ladies?”
Lisa leaned over the seatback and punched his shoulder. “You’re more than a chauffeur. You get to pay.”
Gabe laughed. “Lucky me.”
“In that case, let’s try the dress shop on Ramsey and twelfth first.”
Ashley eased into a grin, mostly for Lisa’s sake, but then Gabe’s glance at her made it pretty clear that’s all he was doing: tolerating her too. There seemed a warning in there as well, one that warned her off hurting Lisa. She wasn’t quite sure. But why would he think she’d hurt her?
His dark hair touched his collar, his square jaw formed an impeccably sculptured face, and his lips were full and sensuous, and all that played against his core, that don’t date the devil side of him he’d exposed last night.
“We’re almost there,” he said, losing his smile.
She sighed.
This was going to be a very long day.
***
Lisa’s excitement faded when she saw marketing at its worst: how lighting and a good photographer could make anything look good online, but see it on hanging in a shop? The dresses she’d sorted through weren’t as good as they’d seemed. In the third shop, she looked through racks of formal wear, and Ashley tried to bring some of her fire back.
“What about one of these?” She held up a strapless simple black chiffon gown with a split on the left side of the straight, floor-length skirt. In the other hand, she held a taupe silk dress with a sweetheart bodice, empire waist, and a full, fluid skirt.
“Okay, let’s try them,” Lisa said less enthusiastic than when they began.
The sales lady had shown them to a large dressing room earlier, leaving Gabe seated by the mirrors, flipping through a magazine, attempting not to look bored.
Lisa tried the black gown first. Even though it was a beautiful dress, extensive alterations would be needed to fit her slim figure.
“Let’s see how this one looks on you instead.” Lisa stepped out of the gown and handed it to Ashley, then opened the dressing room door. The saleswoman came over from finishing with another customer, and Lisa turned to Ashley. “What size are you?”
“I haven’t been invited to the dance,” Ashley teased but gave the woman her size. She returned quickly and handed the dress to Ashley.
“Put it on while I try this silk one. I want to see what it looks like on someone else,” Lisa said, her smile returning as she started to dress.
“All right.” As Lisa undressed, Ashley stripped down and stepped into the gown, pulling it over her hips, which had widened over the years.
“Oh, honey” She caught Lisa in the mirror. “You look stunning.” She adjusted the thin straps on Lisa’s shoulders. “What do you think of it?”
Lisa turned from side to side, checking herself out in the mirror as she chewed on her bottom lip. It looked like a win. “Do you think Curtis will like it? I mean Michael.”
Ashley placed a hand on her shoulder and laughed. “I’m positive both of them will love it.”
Lisa turned back and forth several more times. “Maybe we should test out Dad’s reaction on Uncle Gabe. Do you think he’ll think it’s okay?” she asked nervously, staring down at the scooped neckline.
Ashley tucked a strand of Lisa’s long, auburn hair behind her ears. “Go out and show him what a gorgeous young woman you are.”
While Ashley waited in the dressing room, Lisa rushed out. Ashley heard Gabe showering her with all the right compliments, and hearing his care when it came to Lisa had Ashley resting her head against the wall of the dressing room. For a while last night, it had felt good between her and Gabe. It had been too long since she’d let go and allowed herself to miss a man’s touch, too long since she’d needed touching, and when she did…
Shaking her head, she reached for the zipper to remove the black gown before stopping to study the woman in the mirror.
Was she really only good enough nowadays for a one-night fumble away from the girlfriend?
“Ashley?” Gabe stood outside the dressing room, and his awkward tone shook her from her self-assessment. “Lisa is waiting to see your dress.”
Lisa stuck her head around the door. “Come on. Show us. We’ll wait for you in the back by the mirrors.”
Ashley looked herself up and down in the mirror, then grabbed the brush from her purse and ran it through her hair before piling it high on her head and fastening it with an old clip she carried.
Gabe had taken her kiss. He wouldn’t take her self-respect.
After adding fresh lipstick, she stood back from the mirror, then headed out.
Wearing her taupe dress, Lisa sat with Gabe in overstuffed chairs as the saleswoman stood next to him, staring down as he smiled at something she’d said. He chatted up someone else? Ashley stiffened and was ready to hide back in the changing room.
“Wow. You look great.” Lisa got to her feet and started over, but Gabe was to his, holding her back.
“Yeah, that’s…” Gabe scratched at his head as a soft smile touched his lips. “You look…stunning.”
His look was far too intimate, and for a moment she was back in the library, his touch tracing her skin, her stomach fluttering in the low light as his breath brushed her neck. Maybe he was caught there too because he skimmed his fingers over her shoulder, pushing back the hair that had fallen from the clip.
Get out from under his touch. She needed to. It carried poison, and she swore she’d never be the other woman. A run of anger in Gabe’s gaze didn’t seem to ask her to be. He seemed as confused as her, and a shiver raced down to the small of her back.
“Yeah, you look good.” A lot of sadness carried on his voice as he pulled away.
Lisa hugged her. “You’re beautiful. Wish Dad could see you. He’d be speechless seeing her in this dress, wouldn’t he, Uncle Gabe?
Gabe stepped away, seeming to want a wall between them. “I’m sure he would.”
Anger bit into her. She hadn’t known about Marilyn. She wasn’t the cheat here, yet his fold of arms as he rested against the door called out otherwise. She wanted to bite back, call him out on it, but frowned and looked away in the next breath. Like it or not, he’d made her the other woman, just good for touching. Easy to leave after sex and get back to real family.
Only they hadn’t had sex. He’d been a gentleman, backed away with just a kiss, just a….
She shook it off.
Cheating. It was still all cheating.
“Thanks, but I don’t have a dance to attend,” Ashley replied. One thing was for certain, she hadn’t been the only one affected by that kiss. Gabe had too. That was fine by her. She could walk away knowing she’d gotten under his skin, that she irritated him enough to make him want to show off Marilyn in front of her. Gabe could make this all about him, but Ashley wasn’t playing along.
“I think she should get it anyway, don’t you, Uncle Gabe?”
Gabe shrugged. “It’s up to her, sweetheart.”
Ashley sighed and swiped at Lisa’s cheek. “It’s all about you today, hon.” She flicked a look at Gabe. “Right?”
Gabe went to say something, then dug his hands in his pockets and nodded. “Yeah,” he said gently to Lisa. “All about you.”
***
On the way to the café, Lisa stopped on the sidewalk in front of a drug store, nearly bumping into Gabe and forcing him to bite back a curse. “Why don’t you and Ashley go ahead and get a table. I want to run in here and get nail polish. I’ll meet you there.” She opened the door and headed on in, leaving Gabe standing there on the sidewalk.
“All right.” He watched her go, then looked over at the restaurant, then at Ashley. “That’s us two then.” He pointed the way, wanting today over with.
Ashley turned away and pushed on through to the restaurant as if it was the quickest way out for her too.
As they reached the table, he eased a chair out for her more through routine over dining with a woman, and she sat, offering him a curt smile that called out she wasn’t a…routine, she wasn’t Marilyn, and like fining her own way into a restaurant, she didn’t need her chair pulling out for her.
He’d been an asshole at Jake’s. He knew that. There was nothing between him and Marilyn, but he’d wanted there to be last night, just to drive some of the hurt back into Ashley.
Ashley seemed to pick up on it. “Look, Gabe—”
“Not here.” He took a seat opposite, his body language stiff and his grab of the menu rough, but he kept a hold on the anger with Lisa not being here. “Let’s keep today about Lisa. We kissed, nothing more. Drop it. I have.”
Ashley’s slight frown called her hurt out. Well that sorted that, then. Kissed… nothing more. She picked up her menu, almost hiding behind it, and Gabe felt more of an asshole for how she forced him into a corner to get defensive.
“You should have told me about Marilyn.” It came so quietly, and Gabe lowered his menu so slowly.
“I should have told you about—”
“Hey.” Lisa came over and took her chair, tossing water on Gabe’s fire on her, Jason, and the whole not telling him bullshit. “They didn’t have the shade I wanted. I’ll have to try another store.”
God damn it. More shops? Gabe buried his look behind the menu but caught Ashley’s eye. Brow raised, she bit at her lip, and for the first she held back a laugh that called out his “so today is all about Lisa, huh?” Gabe sighed softly, his stroke on the menu lost to the feel of her skin as she’d stood wearing that dress. “No doubt there’ll be other stores, right?” he asked Lisa. “Better eat, then, build on stamina.”
They placed their orders and handed over the menus as Ashley rubbed at her ankles. “It’s good to slip my shoes off for a moment.”
“Well, there are only two more shops to visit,” said Lisa, thumbing through her phone. “I need perfume. That should save your feet.”
Gabe hoped the service here was good. He was hungry, but he loved to see Lisa enjoying the normal things in life again. Losing her mom had been difficult. A young woman needed her mom at this time in her life. “All right, then. Cloe’s next,” he said.
“Are you still seeing Marilyn? Dad said she was at the bar with you guys.” Lisa looked at the dish the server placed in front of her. She turned to Ashley as Ashley stilled in her seat. “She always smelled so nice.”
Lisa wasn’t Ashley. He wouldn’t lie and dig into her over a kiss. Truth was his relationship with Marilyn had ended several months ago, and he wasn’t interested in starting anything with her again. But Lisa liked Marilyn, they got on well, and Lisa had lost enough in her life. Her eyes seemed a little more alive at the thought she was back on the scene. And there he was, caught by the lie. He couldn’t take Marilyn away from her, not with how she frowned at how long it was taking him to answer.
“She’s around for a while,” he said gently. “Why don’t you meet up and ask her for tips on perfume?”
Lisa brightened at the idea, and Ashley lowered her gaze, which got under Gabe’s skin more. Had she needed to hear something different? What right had she to expect something different? She was the cheat. No matter how Gabe wished he’d been the one holding Ashley’s hand at Jake’s, she was Jason’s. Her reactions, the jealousy he’d forced out of her, it said she didn’t love Jason, and Jason had been through enough. They all had, and for her to step into Susan’s high heels and find she wasn’t happy with the fit no matter how pretty she looked… Gabe shook his head and finished up his meal.
Lisa took a sip of her iced tea. “We having dessert?” she asked, looking from Ashley to him. Before they could respond, Lisa said, “That’s a yes.” She swallowed her last bite of sandwich and leaned over to Ashley. “We’ll have dessert, then go on to Victoria’s Secret. I saw online last night they’re having a sale.” She checked out the dessert menu and ordered a chocolate lava cake. “We might find some good buys there, and I need a new bra to wear with my new dress.”
“I can never turn down a sale.” Ashley ordered cheesecake, then offered alook at Gabe.
“Cheesecake,” he said over to her. When dessert arrived, Gabe concentrated on the table and eating. This morning, he’d seen Jason leave Ashley’s room looking like he’d spent the night apologizing over and over again for not being able to be with them today. That meant they’d spent the night together. A small part of him hated how he wished he’d been the one walking out her door, and the whole implications of that made him lose his appetite. If Jason found out he’d kissed Ashley… Gabe wiped a hand over his face. He felt wrung out and forced a smile. “Are we fortified for the afternoon?”
“I need to hit the restroom.” Lisa stood and reached for her purse, then helped pull Ashley’s chair back.
As Gabe watched them go, he took a sip of his coffee. He wanted someone to share his life, but had never found a woman who wanted to live on a ranch in northern Wyoming. Or a woman who wanted him, and not the Coulter name or money.
After he’d left Jake’s with Marilyn, they’d stood outside her apartment and he’d made it clear to her there was nothing between them and suggested she give Denver a few more months. The job he’d helped her get was an excellent start if she was serious about art. He should tell Ashley, stop the digs under her skin, but…
But?
He shifted uncomfortably and his foot caught something under the table. A small paper bag lay on the floor between Lisa and Ashley’s chairs. Frowning as he tried to pick it up, the bag slipped away, revealing what had his inside.
A pregnancy test?
He turned the small box over and over in his hand as his mind rushed through several possibilities until he quickly replaced the test in the bag as Ashley and Lisa came back to the table.
He stared at them, wondering which one to address. “This must have fallen from your purse.” He held the bag out between them.
Lisa’s face reddened, and Ashley reached for the bag. “Thank you,” she said, dropping it into her purse.
Gabe didn’t react. With all of his soul, he tried so hard not to react.
***
The small town of Willow River and the Coulter Creek Ranch were approximately three-hundred miles northwest of Cheyenne. During the flight home, an early spring storm blew in, and even avoiding it as pilots were trained to do, Gabe felt the edge of the storm wind lift the Cessna, twisting and releasing it as crosswinds whipped at the small plane. Gabe held it steady as they touched down on the ranch’s narrow runway, conscious of Ashley’s fear of flying. He wouldn’t play games over her natural fears Once they pulled into the hangar, Ashley breathed a sigh of relief and Gabe gently brushed his hand over hers, grounding her.
“Planes have radar for a reason,” he said gently as they unbuckled, anxious to plant his feet on solid ground. “You were safe. It was just a tailwind.”
“We just beat the rain too.” Lisa muttered, waiting for him to gather their purchases from the aircraft.
As they headed for the Tahoe, large drops of water splashed the ground around them.
“This could turn to snow, especially higher up.” He glanced at the darkened sky as he shifted the SUV into gear and pulled out on to the main road. Keep it mind when you go to the cabin. As they were driving back, a call came through and he clicked Answer on the steering wheel.
“Gabe?” Jason covered his cellphone. Muffled voices drifted over from his end, then—“I’m in Chicago with Susan’s mother. Remember I said I’d catch up with her?”
