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“Yes,” I say. “Of course. Everything is fine.”
“Are you sure? It’s midnight.”
“Oh right.” I glance at the clock and Gabe. “It’s midnight. Sorry. I just want you to keep a low profile tomorrow. What’s your plan?”
“I’m staying with Brandon. I’m going to stay here until the police interview and go from there.”
“Right. Good.” I turn away from Gabe, irritated at myself for being weird about this thing with my mother. She deserves a relationship. “He’s taking good care of you?”
“Yes, honey, and I’m taking good care of him. What about you? How are things with Gabe?”
“Gabe’s wonderful,” I say and Gabe chimes in.
“And very sexy!” he calls out.
My mother laughs. “He’s quite the character.”
“Yes, he is,” I agree, poking him and when he lays down, I do the same. “He’s the reason we have Reese Summer on our side.”
“I know that. He’s a good man. I hate he’s gotten wrapped up in this.” She’s quiet a moment. “He’s very into you very quickly.”
My brow furrows. “What are you implying?”
“He wouldn’t—he didn’t—”
I launch into a sitting position again, knowing where she’s going and on the phone of all places. “Don’t even finish that sentence,” I say, appalled that she would think Gabe killed Kenneth. “Please. Because I don’t want to get angry with you.” The words snap from my mouth and Gabe’s hand comes down on my leg. He’s willing me to look at him but I can’t. Not when my mother just suggested he did this.
“I really can’t believe you were going to go there,” I say, my voice low, but even to my own ears, it still manages to whip andburn. Dexter belly-crawls to lay in front of me, his head tilting as if he’s contemplating how badly I need a tongue bath.
“Well, for the record,” she says, “I wasn’t talking down about him. If he did it, which I know he didn’t, he would have been my hero.”
“My god, mother. How can you say that? A man is dead.”
“Kenneth was a bastard. He hurt you. We both know he hurt you in all kinds of horrific ways.”
I squeeze my eyes shut. “I dealt with it.”
“Did you? I don’t think you did. I still don’t think you have.”
“He would have hurt you,” I remind her.
“To hurt you. It was always about hurting you, Abigail. Enough. Enough about that man. Get some rest. We can talk about this when this is over because Reese assured me it would be soon. I love you.”
I exhale a breath lodged in my throat. “I love you, too.”
“Tell Gabe hi for me, honey. Goodnight.” She hangs up.
I set the phone on the nightstand. Gabe eases Dexter back out of my space and then pulls me down on the bed to face him, his hand settling on my face. “What just happened?”
“She thinks you did this and she thinks that makes you a hero.”
He studies me for several long beats. “She watched bad things happen to you. That’s not easy when it’s someone you love.”
“You don’t wish death on people, though. That’s not right. That’s not the way to handle anything.”
“Right,” he says and it’s like a wall slams down between us. “You’re absolutely fucking right.” He sits up, giving me his back, shutting me out.
Stunned, it takes me a moment to process but I’m certain I’ve hit more than one nerve, perhaps more than one demon of his past. Scrambling to my knees, I quickly follow him, settling on my knees beside him, facing him, my hands on his arm. “What just happened?”
