Home Before Sundown (18 page)

She had to clear the whole Gabe business out of her head. There was no point in agonising about him when he hadn't bothered to respond to the messages she'd left. He was obviously in no hurry to listen to anything she had to say. But forgetting about him would have been easier if she hadn't been on the brink of telling Liz about that night at the ball. Her father's phone call had jolted her out of her cosy, talkative mood, and she'd decided she'd talked enough for one evening. But now, alone in bed, she felt as if she'd been left hanging . . .

All the stirred-up memories were still rushing around inside her like distracted ants.

Let it go. Get some sleep.

If only she could press a delete button and get rid of the annoying images in her head, but even when she closed her eyes, they kept playing . . .

She could see the country hall on the night of the ball, crowded with locals in their best gowns and dinner suits. The details were so clear – the band from Cairns, her white dress, Gabe, Sarah, all those rum and cokes she'd downed . . .

If Gabe was going to be at the ball Bella knew she had to look stunning, so she invested a huge slab of her savings in the most amazing, slinky white halter-neck dress.

From the first glimpse in the shop's mirror, she knew that she looked hot in the dress, and she wasn't being vain. There were times when a girl just knew these things.

Her brother wasn't going to the ball. He wasn't all that fussed about dancing, but perhaps he should have gone. He might have stopped her from making a fool of herself. Then again, she'd been pretty determined that night.

When she arrived at the dance hall, she was on the lookout for Gabe, but she hadn't expected to find him standing just inside the door, looking so groomed and gorgeous in his dark evening suit that her skin broke out in goosebumps.

His eyes widened when he saw her.

‘Hello, stranger.' She greeted him with a wobbly smile.

Gabe looked pretty damn emotional, too. His throat worked as if he'd swallowed something sharp. ‘How are you, Bella?'

‘Very well, thank you. Kind of you to enquire.'

His expression was mega serious and stern, but his grey eyes burned with unmistakable interest.

‘Great dress,' he said, and his mouth tilted into his trade-mark smile as he let his gaze travel over her, obviously appreciating the way the thin fabric clung to her breasts and thighs.

The hungry look in his eyes was exactly what she needed to see, yet his compliment unravelled her. She'd planned to be cool and distant, but all she wanted was to hurl herself into his arms.

‘Sarah looks lovely,' she offered graciously.

His sister Sarah was already dancing with Sam Johnstone and she did indeed look pretty in a soft, floaty blue dress.

Watching her, Bella asked, ‘So are you going to join in the fun tonight, Gabe?'

‘I'm here to keep an eye on Sarah.'

Somehow Bella managed to bite back the snapping response she would have liked to deliver. She supposed it was possible that Leila Mitchell had only allowed her daughter to come to this ball if Gabe was supervising her.

But surely he didn't have to stand on guard for the entire evening?

‘Come on,' she said. You can't stay here all night. We are going to dance together, aren't we?'

‘I didn't come here to dance.' Gabe nodded towards the crowded floor. ‘There are plenty of guys here you can dance with.'

Hurt, Bella gave him a tight little smile. ‘I guess I'll see you later, then.' She sailed away with her head in the air, giving a deliberately sexy sway of her hips.

She hoped Gabe got an eyeful.

Of course it was important to show him that she could have a fabulous time without him, so she danced with Adam Marsh and Sandy McMahon and with the Johnstone twins, with anyone who'd ask her, actually. And if they didn't ask her, she asked them. No one
else
besides Gabe refused her.

She had a hilarious time, aided by several rum and cokes. Well, yes, she had more to drink than she was used to, but why shouldn't she drown her sorrows when Gabe spent the entire night parked by the door with his broad shoulders braced for action like an unpaid bouncer?

More than once, Bella caught him checking her out, which was mildly reassuring. But as the night wore on, she grew madder and madder with him. They'd been friends all her life. Six weeks ago they'd been inseparable lovers.

Now he was stuck by the door and she was stuck here, dancing with guys who were either painfully shy and clumsy or overly brash and desperate to grope her. After a couple more rum and cokes for confidence Bella decided to take action.

Bravely she marched up to Gabe. ‘I think it's time you took a teensy break from your guard duty.' When he hesitated, she tugged at his hand. ‘Come
on,
Gabe. Sarah's being a very good girl.'

She practically dragged him outside onto the verandah where lucky couples were locked together in shadowy corners, while others were slinking off to the car park.

‘I'm only asking for a moment, Gabe,' she said. ‘You owe me a moment.'

Bella actually believed he owed her much more than a moment, and now she was standing so close to him she could smell the same scrumptious aftershave he'd worn in Townsville and all she wanted was to nestle closer.

Surely everything would be fine if they had one little kiss? One of their kisses could solve everything.

She turned to him, planning to make a joke to lighten the moment – even try one of their silly word games. She slipped her arms around him and that was so much better. She wasn't wearing a bra – it would have ruined the slinky lines of her dress – and only the thinnest silk separated her from Gabe's shirtfront.

Gabe tensed. ‘Bella, give me a break.'

‘Give you a break?' She snuggled closer. ‘Isn't this is why people come to balls?'

‘You've had too much to drink.'

‘When did you become such a bloody wowser, Gabe?'

‘Since I became responsible for my sister. I told you. I'm here to keep an eye on Sarah.'

‘Don't blame poor Sarah. I bet she hates having a nosy big brother like you.'

Gabe sighed. ‘I'm sorry, Belle. You don't understand.'

‘You're damn right I don't.'

‘There's . . . there's a lot going on at home.'

Recalling this exchange, Bella sat up in bed, startled by her memory of the pain in Gabe's eyes. So many times since, she'd winced at the way she'd behaved that night. Now she could see so clearly what
should
have happened next.

When Gabe had told her there was a lot going on at home, she should have picked up on the signal. Should have understood that Gabe needed a caring and empathetic response, just as Liz had offered to her this evening.

She should have encouraged him to open up:
I'm sorry to hear that, Gabe. I'm here if you'd like to talk. You know you can rely on me. I still love you.

Instead, she'd been totally self-centred. She'd felt hurt, rejected and totally sorry for herself.

She'd let fly with her anger. ‘There might be plenty happening at your place, but there's certainly nothing happening
here
.'

Maybe she could blame the drink, but she'd been bloody immature. Bella cringed now, recalling the way she'd taken a step back from him, trying to be haughty, but wobbling precariously on her high heels.

‘I'm not so dumb I don't know when I'm being dropped.'

‘Bella, don't be silly.'

‘Fuck you, Gabe.'

It was only as she'd teetered back inside that she'd realised she was probably drunk.

But that was too bloody bad. It was Gabe's fault.

Back inside the dance hall, Adam Marsh brought her yet another rum and coke and she downed it, and when they started dancing again to a slower pace, she clung to him, mostly to stay upright. He began to nuzzle her neck and she let him. She might as well. There was no point in saving herself for Gabe.

Bella's memories of what happened after this were hazy, but at some point she left the dance hall and ended up in the back of Adam's ute. She could remember giggling as she staggered across the stony car park in her sexy high heels. And she remembered Adam helping her roughly to climb up to the back where his swag was already unrolled and spread out.

Thankfully her memories of pashing with Adam were a blur, but she did remember very clearly the moment Adam pulled away from her and looked back over her shoulder, his eyes suddenly wide and scared.

‘Oh, shit,' he said and a heartbeat later, strong hands yanked Bella out of Adam's arms.

Before she could work out exactly what was happening, she was scooped up and flung over a massive shoulder. Suddenly she couldn't breathe as the weight of her body pressed her chest into hard muscle and bone. She tried to struggle.

‘Keep still,' Gabe growled as he carted her away. ‘You're going home.'

‘Put me down!' she gasped.

Gabe took no notice of her and Adam didn't come to her defence.

As Gabe continued marching across the car park, she tried to thump his back with her fists, but he took no notice. And even though half the district seemed to have gathered in the hall's wide doorway to gape at them, no one made any attempt to rescue her.

Showed what a useless mob her friends were.

Unfortunately she was too pissed to put up a decent struggle, and her next clear memory was of being unceremoniously dumped onto the back seat of Gabe's Pajero, while his sister protested loudly in the background.

‘It's not fair,' Sarah moaned at the top of her voice. ‘You're supposed to be looking after
me
, Gabe. Not Bella. I'm not ready to go home. Just leave her to sleep it off. I'm not going yet. It's not fair.'

Gabe's reply had been terse. ‘Get in.'

After that, there'd been a noisy slamming of car doors –
very
noisy on Sarah's side. The Pajero started up, and from the front passenger seat, Sarah turned and glared back at Bella.

‘Oh God, Gabe. She's turning grey. She'll probably be sick all over your car.'

Sarah was apparently psychic.

It was late the next day when Bella drove over to Redman Downs to apologise, armed with upholstery shampoo and carpet freshener.

She was aware, as she knocked on the homestead's front door, she'd only ever been to Gabe's house a handful of times, and she was nervous as Leila Mitchell came down the hallway.

Gabe's mother was attractive with auburn hair and delicate features, but today she looked weary and much thinner than before, and she glared at Bella through the flyscreen door. No doubt her daughter had told her all about last night. ‘Yes?' she snapped, tight-lipped and frowning.

‘Hello, Mrs Mitchell.' Bella fumbled with the cleaning stuff she carried. ‘I . . . um . . . was hoping to see Gabe.'

Leila's expression made Bella feel like an insect that needed swatting. ‘Why do you want him?'

Bella squirmed. ‘To help with cleaning the Pajero.'

‘Gabe's already cleaned it,' Leila said bluntly.

‘Oh. Right.' Bella felt as small an ant as she held out the cans of cleaner. ‘I also wanted to apologise, Mrs Mitchell, and maybe I can at least give you these as . . . um . . . replacements?'

Leila opened the screen door and took the cans without thanks. ‘Gabe's busy,' she said, closing the door again and turning to go back down the hallway. Over her shoulder she snapped, ‘He doesn't need you wasting his time.'

Shaken and a little shocked, Bella went back down the steps to the ute. She was behind the wheel, about to start the motor when Gabe appeared from behind a shed.

Her heart thudded as he came over to her. She opened the ute's door and got out.

‘How's the head?' he asked with a look that was both concerned and just-ever-so-slightly amused.

‘It's finally starting to ease. I wanted to die this morning.' But she hadn't come here to get sympathy for her hangover. ‘Gabe, I'm really sorry about throwing up. It was disgusting. And I'm sorry about the brainless things I said to you, too, and the way I went off with Adam Marsh. It was stupid. I was pissed. Out of my skull.'

Gabe sent a frowning glance towards the house. ‘Let's go for a walk,' he said sternly.

Hope flared in Bella's heart. He wanted to talk and he didn't want his mother to overhear their conversation.

They walked away from the house till they reached a fenced paddock where they leaned their elbows on a fence rail, looking out over earth Gabe had recently ploughed. Brolgas were everywhere searching with long bills for grubs and insects in the overturned earth.

‘I behaved really badly,' Bella said, watching the birds. ‘But it's because I've been so miserable for weeks now.' She saw a muscle tighten in Gabe's jaw. ‘Not as miserable as you, of course. I've said it before and I mean it, Gabe. I'm really, really sorry about your father.'

She wanted him to turn to her, to show at least that he accepted her sympathy, but he kept staring at the field of foraging birds.

‘I don't understand what's gone wrong with us,' she said a little desperately. ‘I mean, I do understand about your father, but I don't understand why you've shut me out.'

His handsome face was stony, a carved image of misery and he still stared straight ahead. ‘I'm sorry. You should just get on without me, Bella. I don't have time for this now.'

She was quite sure the ache in her chest was the pain of her heart breaking. Had she let him down in some vital way, not just last night, but at some time in the past? ‘Look, I know you have a lot of responsibility now, Gabe. Maybe I could help?'

‘I don't need any bloody help.' His voice was unnecessarily fierce and his hands clenched so tightly it was a wonder his knuckles didn't snap.

None of this made sense to Bella. Apart from last night's fiasco, she hadn't done anything wrong. She could only suppose it was all tied up with his family. Were there pressures she couldn't understand? Problems Gabe chose not to explain?

‘Am I reading this right?' she forced herself to ask. ‘Are you breaking up with me?'

His expression grew even tighter. ‘It's for the best.' His shoulders lifted as he drew a sharp breath. ‘You always said you wanted to go overseas to visit your aunt. You should do that.'

‘But––'

‘Bella, there's nothing for you here.'

Nothing? Bella wanted to roar her distress and bewilderment.

Somehow she clung to her dignity. She wanted to make Gabe look her in the eye and swear he didn't love her, but she was too terrified of the answer he might give.

Fighting tears, she lifted her chin and gave a haughty sniff. ‘Okay. That's . . . that's fine. I've been thinking about going overseas anyway.'