Mine to Keep (2 page)

Gabriel sat at his desk and opened the file on Amy. She’d been seventeen when she first fell pregnant with the twins. He couldn’t believe Steven hadn’t been arrested at the time. Instead, she’d been married off, and nothing else appeared. She spent a great deal of her time indoors looking after twins. In her high school photo she looked happy. A plump, teenage girl on the verge of womanhood. He turned the page over coming to the next picture, which was taken a few months after Steven’s arrest. The bruises were gone, but the woman looked sad to her very core. There was nothing happy or joyful about her. She was a single mother of two with nothing in the world.

He would gladly beat the shit out of her ex-husband again. Steven had refused to divorce her, and Gabriel had gone to one of his friends who happened to be a judge who’d granted the divorce. Slamming the file closed, he locked it away in his desk for safe keeping. Seeing her today in the shop had been good, even though the women had darkened the moment for him.

Her long dark black hair fascinated him with the colour. He knew she didn’t dye her hair, and he loved the way it looked silky cascading down her back. Her brown eyes held a world of pain and fear, which for a woman as young as her was wrong. Where she was once skin and bones, with the food he’d gotten her to eat, she’d filled out her figure. Her hips were round and full with a small waist. Her breasts were large as well. Gabriel loved her fuller figure as it showed, to him, how far she’d come since she’d gotten rid of that bastard of a husband. He knew how her weight used to be controlled through starvation. The thought of any man starving a woman made him sick to his stomach. He finished his work, filing paper work and making calls to lawyers for the rest of the afternoon. When four came, he closed up his office and made his way back to her shop. The shop’s light shone on the sidewalk. He watched her close up. The cold made him shiver. Winter was almost upon them, and he knew it wouldn’t be long until the whole town was alight for Christmas. The festive season always crept up on him when he least expected it.

Amy came out, and the light turned out. She locked the door and turned to him.

“Shall we, Miss Grant?” He offered her arm. She chuckled as she took his arm. Gabriel liked the sound. They walked towards the nursery where her two children spent the days while she was working. He wanted to care for them all and give them a home. The house he lived in was cold and left nothing for him to come home to.

“It will be Christmas soon,” he said, trying to find something to fill the time. He liked hearing her talk. Her voice soothed in a way classical music couldn’t.

“I’ve got my Christmas cake maturing in the pantry. I can’t wait. I love Christmas, always have, ever since I was a little girl.” She sounded happy when she talked about the festive season. For Gabriel the festive season meant more calls from the dispatch unit. Drunks, accidents, and killings were the things that had taken up his time. “It will be nice to spend Christmas with the kids without Steven telling us what we can and can’t do.”

Gabriel stopped in the middle of the path and cupped her cheek. “I’ll never let anything happen to you,” he said.

“I know. Steven is behind bars. There is no way he can hurt me.”

He smiled and leaned down to kiss her. Her lips were too tempting for him to ignore. He’d imagined kissing her since the moment he met her.

“Gabriel,” she said. He heard the hesitation in her voice and pulled away. “I’m not ready.”

He brushed her lips with his. “Don’t worry about it.”

They walked the last few yards to the nursery in quiet. Gabriel knew he shouldn’t be sniffing around Amy. She was younger than he, and he was too dark for a woman who’d experienced so much pain. He couldn’t stop thinking about her.

Laura and Dean Riley were walking out of the nursery as he walked up to the front door. Dean held his son in his arms, laughing and smiling. Laura was rubbing her tummy. Gabriel noted the round curve and knew they had news to share.

“Hi,” Amy said.

Dean looked at him with a frown. “Your twins are causing some chaos in there, Amy,” Laura said.

“Great. They’ll be starting school in a few weeks. They’re both five, but huge pains in the butt.” Amy pulled away and made her way inside.

“She’s going to have a hard life here with the way the community are with her,” Dean said.

“I know. Two women were talking shit to her earlier.”

Laura tutted and grabbed her son. “I’ll go and get him settled. I’ll leave you men to have your little talk.”

Gabriel watched the other woman go.

“She’s concerned that you’ll hurt Amy,” Dean said.

“I care about Amy, and I would never hurt her.”

“She doesn’t mean that kind of hurt. Look, I don’t know what she’s gone through, but from what I hear that girl has never known true happiness. If you’re sniffing around her for a good time, then I’m warning you to back off.” Dean moved closer. The threat was not lost on Gabriel.

“I don’t respond well to threats.”

“Amy is Laura’s best friend and Anna’s. I’m sure the Steer brothers would have no problem helping me kick your ass. I know you’re not a country bumpkin sheriff, but I’m warning you. If you hurt Amy, you’ll pay.”

Gabriel tapped him on the back. “It’s good to know you care for her. Don’t worry about me. I care about her.”

“Good. Laura was starting to worry about your presence in her life.”

“How is your life with Laura? You know, with the age gap?” Gabriel had always been with women his own age or older. Amy was the first woman he’d ever felt anything for who was younger than he.

He hated the fact he was asking.

“I love Laura and couldn’t imagine my life without her, but I do get concerned. She’s a lot younger than I, and I know she’ll have to cope with life when I go. I try not to let it worry me too much. I love her, and she loves me. And that is all that matters.”

Dean shook his hand, and Gabriel watched the other man leave. Amy walked out looking stressed with two children who had red faces and tears streaming down their faces.

Amy walked with Gabriel as they made their way towards the pizza place. Her children had started fights, and they were no longer accepted at the nursery. Two weeks were all that remained until they would be starting school full time. The nursery was more of a play-group that acted as a nursery for beginners.

Gabriel held the door for her, and she thanked him. She gasped as her arm brushed his, the electric shooting straight through her body. Steven had never made her feel like this. She knew her attraction to Gabriel was wrong. He was older and the man who’d rescued her from her husband. Is that why she was attracted to him?

They found a table in the back. She looked at Billy and Mia. Her two children had seen more violence in their life than she cared to think about. What would she do with them? Her parents had disowned her, and she didn’t want to ask the two friends she’d made in case they felt she were using them.

She’d become a parent too young, and she knew she couldn’t do it on her own. The stress of trying to raise them was too much. Staring down at the menu, she tried to read, but it became blurry as the tears filled her eyes and dripped down her face. For many years she’d learnt how to cry without making a sound.

Glancing around the pizza place, she noted the sniggers and the pointing of other townspeople. She hated this. The judgement and pain. A woman came to their table.

“What do you want?” The treatment was appalling compared to the times she’d gone with Steven. Those times with Steven had been few and far between. He didn’t like to spend money. The only thing Steven liked was to cause pain on those people he claimed to love. She shook the thought of her ex out of her mind. Steven was her past, and she refused to be held by his actions a moment longer. Gabriel stared at the waitress.

“A better attitude,” he said.

The waitress stared at him. Amy watched him take a stand. Eventually the woman stared at the floor with a red flush.

“You know what? I make better pizzas than this shit-hole. How about we go and have some quality food rather than eat here.” Gabriel threw the menu on the table and stood. He grabbed Billy and Mia before turning to leave. She saw Tim the owner standing in his way.

“We don’t take kindly to that kind of language,” Tim said.

Amy didn’t want to cause any trouble, and she knew Gabriel would be spoiling for a fight. In the short time she’d known him, she had learned he didn’t like the judgement of others.

“Get out of my way.”

“You may be the Sheriff in town, but folk don’t take kindly to you spending your time with trash.”

What?

She couldn’t believe the way people were talking about her. Her husband abused her and almost killed her, and yet she was the one in the wrong? No fucking way.

“You ought to be ashamed of yourself, Tim. I’ve known you my whole life, and I went to school with your son. This used to be a place to come for fun. You’ve lost your way, and the whole town has lost their way. Come on, Gabriel. They don’t need our money, and I certainly don’t need them.” Amy grabbed his shoulder and brushed past the owner, holding her head high. She was done being the scapegoat. Steven had almost killed her, and she wouldn’t let a backwards town make her feel small for sticking up for herself.

“My truck is parked over there. Come on. Let’s go and have some real fun.”

She followed behind Gabriel. Her heart pounded inside her chest. Her pulse was beating rapidly, and she felt like she was going to throw up. Standing up to the people in there had felt good. She never dreamed of speaking back to the people who’d been her friends. Amy knew she had to get past her thoughts. CapeFalls was her town, but the people were no longer there for her.

Gabriel had two booster seats in the back of his truck, and she found herself touched by him thinking about her. Billy and Mia travelled to his home without a hitch. Her hands were shaking from the anger inside her. She couldn’t believe she’d never fought back. Steven had kept her trapped from the moment he put the ring on her finger. She’d been too young and stupid to see what an asshole he was. Gabriel was a different man. She saw the goodness inside him even though he tried to keep it contained. The way he looked and treated her touched a part deep inside her heart that she’d thought had died. Steven hadn’t taken every part of her and to know it made her so happy.

Twenty minutes later, Gabriel pulled up outside his house. She’d never been there before. There was a light on in the front. The garden was large and open. She saw a couple of trees in the garden with a swing hanging from one of the branches. Amy felt instantly at home. Her gaze kept going to the swing. It had been ages since she’d let go on one.

“Your house is beautiful,” she said.

“I see you’re eyeing up my swing. Come on.” He took her hand, leading her over to where the swing hung. Gabriel helped her on. She didn’t think about protesting. Amy held the onto the rope handles. She wasn’t ready to let go. All she did was sit and take in her surroundings. “You can let go and fly. I’ll be here to catch you.”

Gabriel smiled at her. She knew he would catch her no matter what. The trust she felt towards him scared her, as she’d never trusted anyone else in her life. “I’m not ready.”

He cupped her cheek, his thumb grazing her cheek in an action filled with so much tenderness that she thought she’d cry. “One day soon, Amy Grant, you’re going to be ready for everything.”

She hoped he was right. Her world seemed to be full of so much fear at times that she never saw beyond her problems.

“Come on. You haven’t seen inside. I’ve not got ‘round to unpacking everything. I’m decorating a room at a time.”

He helped her grab the kids. He opened the door, and they all entered his home. From the view at the front of his house, she saw how much he loved his home. There were several boxes placed along walls, but underneath all that, she saw the care he’d taken. Gabriel took pride in his home. She smiled thinking about him holding a feather duster and cleaning down shelves. A smile broke out on her face, and when she turned to Gabriel, she noticed he was looking at her funny.

“Follow me. I’m going to show you the next best thing to proper pizzas.” Gabriel led them through to his kitchen, which was at the back of the house.

There was a counter in the centre of the kitchen with stools for them to sit on. She helped her children into the stools and sat in between them, watching as he grabbed some bits from the fridge. He turned on the grill and came back to face them on the opposite end of the counter.

“How are you kids doing? Are you hungry?”

“Starving,” they both said.

Gabriel pulled out a loaf and cut two squares of bread. She watched as he pulled faces at her children and spread tomato sauce on the base of the bread.

“Pick your topping of choice.” He pushed over three containers for them to pick their toppings. Billy picked out the sausage slices and Mia some ham pieces. Amy picked out the chorizo. She loved spicy food.

“Bread pizza coming right up.” Amy hadn’t heard her children laugh in ages. Gabriel pulled faces and began singing a tune as he made the pizzas. Mia and Billy joined in, laughing with him. “Come here, guys.” He gestured for them to stand with him. He placed the pizzas under the grill. “You’ve got to watch the cheese melting in case it burns. We don’t want burnt cheese, do we?”

Mia and Billy shook their heads. She watched them at the grill. Gabriel had an arm wrapped around the shoulders of each of her children. They never got so close to their father. Steven would lash out or shout. He was under the impression that children were to be seen and not heard. The life they’d lived had been awful, and she’d been too weak to see beyond him.

They pulled the pizzas out, and Gabriel served them up. They sat at the counter, eating their food and drinking milk. Her kids were enjoying themselves, and she didn’t want to pull them away from the fun. She couldn’t help but laugh when he made a puppet out of his oven glove. He relaxed, and she started to see the Gabriel Anderson not many people had seen. Amy felt herself relaxing at his easy manner. He captured her attention and held it. She wanted to know everything about him. What did he like? What did he dislike? What types of hobbies was he into? The list of stuff was amazing. She watched him and knew her infatuation with him was growing with every minute she spent with him.