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She was also doing more than running up her father’s credit card in that store. She’d told me her father had grown ill in recent years, so she had taken on more responsibility. It was her birthright, and I knew how much pride she had in it.
I’d once had something that was my birthright too but my uncle had stolen it out from under me. Now, if I wanted to make my professional dreams come true, I needed to figure out what Franklin Blake had found out and finish what he’d started. Gabriel didn’t know all of my reasons for this, but he would one day soon. If we were lucky, it would be tomorrow.
I looked over at him, and he was silent. I could tell something was bothering him now that hadn’t been before and I realized what it was.
“Charlie has a big mouth,” I said aloud.
Gabriel’s jaw tightened, but he didn’t say a word. We soon arrived at Union Station, and I looked over at him again.
“I have our boarding passes ready,” he said in a clipped tone.
“Okay,” I replied, then got out of the car.
I took a few minutes to add my purchases from Mitchells to my carry-on bag before I followed him into the station. I had only ridden a train once, and we’d been much younger. It was actually a fun trip. I could remember traveling from car to car with him, mostly pretending as if we were grown. The train ride had only been from Chicago to Detroit, but this would be a much longer trek because we were going east to Washington, D.C.
We checked in and I hadn’t realized between the time spent in the store and the traffic how close we were to boarding. Maybe that was what had Gabriel so upset. He hated to be late to anything. I kept telling myself that, even though I knew he’d heard Charlie mention Portland.
We hadn’t really had a chance to discuss future plans last night. We loved each other. If nothing else, that was enough for me. I had a business and life out west, and he had one here. Long distance didn’t work so well for us before, but I’d be willing to try it again, if he was.
Gabriel had gone ahead and booked us in a bedroom suite. Since this was an overnight ride, I was glad he had. I decided to ignore his surly mood, and I pulled out a book from my laptop bag, then I kicked off my sneakers and climbed onto the bed.
Gabriel looked at me, then his watch. “We’re about to take off. I’m going to the lounge car to get a drink.”
I wanted to jump up and join him, but I just nodded, knowing he needed some time alone. “I’ll be here.”
I then opened the book and put it in front of my face. When I glanced over the top of it a minute later, he was gone. I closed the book, then sighed.
I laid there in bed and stared at the ceiling. I had thought it was his feelings for me that held us back from rekindling what we’d lost, but I now realized the one holding us back was me and my own insecurities. If only life could’ve been simpler, like it was for the couple in this romance novel I’d been reading over the last several nights. Last night, I’d felt like the heroine in my very own novel, but now it was all over.
I reopened the book and tried to get into it, but I just couldn’t. This was going to be a long night. Maybe some rest would do me some good.
Hating to sleep in clothes, I got up and after placing my novel back in my bag, I grabbed the T-shirt of Gabriel’s I had been wearing off and on, and removed my other clothing. I had just pulled it over me when the door to the room opened.
I spun around and clutched my chest. “Thank God! You scared the hell out of me, Gabriel.”
He still looked upset, and that was confirmed when he walked to the bed and sat down. He pulled off his own shoes, and I waited for him to say something. When he didn’t, I finally turned and crossed my arms.
“Are you going to tell me what has you so pissed off?”
“Are you that clueless, Harper?”
He got up and although the room was micro-sized, it still allowed him some space from me. I didn’t want to fight with him since this might be one of the last nights I got to spend with him, so I closed off the distance between us.
“Is this really about Portland?”
When he spun around, I could smell the vodka on his breath, and remembering his accident after graduation, I was glad he wasn’t in the position to drive anywhere. I also remembered how questions about me and our future had been the spark which led to that terrible decision by him. I didn’t want to hurt him, but I needed to be honest.
“Did anything that happened between us last night mean a damn thing to you?”
I closed my eyes to ward off the tears threatening to fall. “Last night meant everything to me.”
“Everything, huh?”
“I’m sorry you heard what you did. I’d planned to tell you—”
“When, Harper? When you were on the plane? Or maybe back at your place? When were you going to tell me that despite claiming to love me, you still planned to walk—”
“It’s complicated,” I interjected, and he turned to regard me with a sneer.
