Dear Gabby (11 page)

"Oh, there you are, dear," Meredith spoke.
"We were wondering where you'd gotten off to. Katherine will have the table set in a few minutes."

"I didn't keep everyone waiting, did I
?”

"No, I was going to send Cole looking for you if you hadn't shown up just now."
Meredith stood and walked toward Gabby. "If you're all ready, we'll go into the dining room and have dinner."

Cole walked with Samantha, and Gabby matched her steps to Meredith
’s. When they entered the dining room, Gabby waited for Meredith to show her where she wanted her to sit. She sat and glanced at Cole. A frown of concentration lined his face. She wondered what the expression meant.

The meal progressed slowly, but Gabby couldn't do justice to the food.
She could feel the heaviness of the atmosphere surrounding everyone at the table. Cole didn't bother making conversation and his sister was  equally quiet. The only one bothering to keep a conversation going was Meredith.

A silent sigh left Gabby
. They finished eating and Cole suggested an after dinner drink. Gabby declined. "If you don't mind, I feel tired and want to have an early night.”

Before leaving the room, she glanced at Meredith.
"Will it be all right if I make a call to my employer? Its long distance and I'd be happy to pay you for it." She had forgotten her cell phone at home in her haste to get ready after work on Friday. Cole had the same problem when she noticed how he had to use public telephones since their arrival in California.

"Nonsense, you go ahead and make the call," Meredith told her.
"There's a phone in your bedroom you can use for privacy."

"Thank you," Gabby
turned to look at the other two before standing. "I'll just say good night now."

She walked slowly to her bedroom and began dialing Joe's home phone number.
On the second ring, he picked up.

"Joe, Gabby here. We've found Samantha, but I'll need tomorrow off. We’ll probably catch a flight home on Tuesday morning.”

"I'm glad you found her
. I'll make sure Emma covers the column Monday and Tuesday. Be careful on the trip home because I wouldn't want to lose my ace employee."

"Why thank you for the compliment," she said, with a slight chuckle.
"You'll be seeing me on Tuesday for sure. Good night."

"Good
night and take care." She heard the line disconnect on his end.

She sat for a long time with the silent phone in her hand.
Joe had called her his ace employee and for some reason this made Gabby feel good.

Feeling a restlessness overcoming her, she knew she didn’t want to go downstairs and join the rest of them in their private discussion.
She wandered the room aimlessly, touching the vase that adorned the night table, then moving over to the dresser.

Glancing in the top drawer of the bureau, she found a family album beneath a stack of books.
She picked it up and carried it over to the bed. Slowly, she turned the pages and gazed at the pictures inside. She didn't have a doubt that the little boy with dark hair in the picture was Cole. He could have been six or seven years old at the time, standing with a stringer of fish near a lake. Lifting the picture, she read what was on the back of it. Sure enough, she'd been right.

It was Cole on a fishing trip
and someone had snapped his picture. By the date on the photo and his age marked on the back, she calculated what his age was now. She'd been right about how old he was. Thirty-two.

The other pictures were of family members that Gabby didn’t know.
She thought she saw one of Samantha, but she couldn’t be sure. She sat for a long time thumbing through the thick album, until she felt tired. Glancing again at the clock, she saw that it was only ten. This was the first time she had been to bed by ten in years.

After undressing, she removed her pajamas from her luggage and put them on.
Once she crawled beneath the cover, Gabby reached around and plumped up her pillow before settling into a more comfortable position.

Everything was quiet in the house.
Just on the point of sleep, Gabby heard a light knock on her door. She quickly got out of bed and hurried across the room to answer.

When she opened the door, she found Cole standing in the hallway.
“Do you care if I come in?”

“Of course not
.”

Chapter Eleven

“I had to talk to you before going to bed
.” .

“Is it about Samantha?”

“Yes.” He shook his head. “If you wouldn’t mind, maybe you could talk to her tomorrow and find out what plans she’s made. It seems she doesn’t want to confide in me. I get the feeling she’s keeping something to herself. She just might talk to you.”

Gabby thought
about what he had just said. She didn’t have any idea what was going on in Samantha’s head, but she felt she had to try to help solve his sister’s problem. “I’ll see what I can do.”

“I’d really appreciate it
.” He moved slowly across to where she stood.

For the longest time, he
looked down into her face. The seconds turned into minutes and he still didn’t speak. Without a hint to his intentions, he reached for her and cradled her close in his arms. Gabby didn’t miss the burning light radiating from his eyes.

When his lips slowly moved downward, Gabby didn’t even think about resisting him.
She cradled his head with her hands feeling a rapturous sensation racing through her over the havoc his lips created on hers.

Gently, lowering her to the bed, it didn’t take him long to join her.
The only light in the room was a pink glow from the lone lamp near the bed. Gabby didn’t stop to think how she’d feel later about going so willingly into his arms. She only felt this burning desire rising in her for Cole to appease her with his lovemaking.

He
removed her pajamas easily. Gabby lay across the bed, fully nude, and watched Cole remove his clothing. When he lay down beside her, the familiar excitement stirred in her looking at his muscular body. Her hands moved compulsively across his chest. She rained kisses on the spots she didn’t touch with her fingers.

Her mouth started a downward
descent reaching his stomach and following through until reaching his swollen cock. Again, she wanted to give him pleasure. Her mouth closed over his junk and she moved her mouth  back and forth filling her throat. She kept up the strokes until she felt him reaching for her and drawing her head up to his again.

His lips pressed firmly to the hollow in her throat, with his tongue flicking away at the fast beating pulse tapping just beneath her smooth skin.
Moving with a purpose, he started down her body until reaching her heated pussy. He spread her legs just a little wider to receive him. The strokes of his tongue set her on fire with wanting. She needed him desperately in that moment and didn’t give another thought to denying herself the enjoyment of Cole’s possession. All she wanted was to experience his lovemaking one more time knowing he would be out of her life once they reached Chicago.

He
moved across her body again, licking a trail upward toward her peaked nipples. When his lips covered first one hungrily, he moved to the other.  Her body shuddered with desire for him. Her urging brought him closer to her and she felt him mount her. In the next few moments, she experienced pleasure over his possession.

For several seconds, she could see the look of delight lighting his eyes
. He watched the rapture lining her face at his entry. His strokes began slowly, but soon sped up as passion mounted between them like a burning fire. Gabby matched his strokes, raising her hips to accept what he offered her. Their frenzied lovemaking knew no bounds that night. Each gave to the other, pleasing and satisfying their needs.

Suddenly, an eruption
, so exhilarating, quaked through her body, feeling like an explosion that rocked her senses. She could feel the same eruption going through Cole spewing hot cum into her. Continuing to lie on top of her, Cole didn’t seem to be in any hurry to break his tie with her. In that moment, Gabby felt as if they were one, with the continued closeness in which he held her to him.

Eventually, he rolled on his side, but he continued to snuggle her.
Raining kisses along her throat, his lips found her mouth. When he captured her lips again, thrill after thrill shot through her.

Before they could
continue in satisfying each other, a noise sounded outside her bedroom door. Gabby caught Cole’s gaze with her own. He put his finger up to his lips and slowly slipped from the bed. She lay, watching how he dressed quickly before leaning over her.

“I’m going to go out the balcony window to my room,” he whispered to her.

Gabby nodded her head. She watched him opening the door and within a matter of seconds, he disappeared into the night.

When
they had first arrived at his aunt’s home, Gabby had noticed the second story balcony, but she hadn’t given it a thought that you could get from one room to the next. Whoever was outside her bedroom door must have left.

Gabby walked into the bathroom and showered.
When she returned to her room, she put her pajamas back on and crawled into bed. She lay for a while listening to the rustling sound of the wind blowing through the trees outside. A contented feeling enveloped her over the way Cole had made such passionate love to her. On the point of going to sleep, she heard a light tap on her door.

Gabby
made her way across the room and pulled the door open expecting to see Cole again. She was surprised to see Samantha gazing in at her, looking pale and exhausted. She reached out and took the young woman's arm, encouraging her into the room.

"What is it, Samantha?"
Gabby immediately noticed the distress filling her eyes. "Aren't you feeling well?"

"No, I’m feeling all right, but I need someone to talk to
.” Following Gabby into the room, Samantha claimed a chair next to the bed. "I've tried talking to Cole, but he doesn't seem to understand. I can't tell him what's really bothering me.”

"I thought you
and Cole had made an effort to straighten out your differences this afternoon," Gabby said soothingly, placing her hand on Samantha's trembling shoulder. That had to be the reason Cole had asked her earlier to talk to Samantha.

"Not really,
” Samantha sniffed. "I have no one else to turn to, but you." Another loud sniff filled the room.

Gabby reached for a tissue and handed it to Samantha.
"I did notice the strain at the dinner table. That's the reason I came up to my room so early."

She felt sympathy for Samantha, but she wasn't sure whether she wanted to become embroiled in another heated dispute with Cole.
Hadn't she already given too much advice to his sister?

"You were aware of it, too?
Even Aunt Meredith sensed something and she's usually in a world all her own."

"You can tell me anything and I'll keep it strictly confidential,
” Gabby reassured her. "I want to explain something to you first. There's a reason I helped Cole search for you. I thought something had happened to you, after I'd given you advice. If I'd known you were safe, I would have had second thoughts about coming with him to California."

Gabby didn't know if her statement was entirely true.
She probably would have wanted to come with him any way, after discovering she loved him. The more she thought about it, the more she knew she would have followed him anywhere.

"I trust you, Gabby," Samantha
said, calmer than when she had first arrived at her door. "It's Cole who won't listen to reason. I can't tell him the whole truth, because I don't know what his reaction would be." Samantha twisted her hands nervously in her lap, again showing the depths of her upset.

Gabby felt puzzled
listening to her. What was the whole truth Samantha kept talking about?

"Now you have me really confused
. I thought it only had to do with you canceling your wedding plans and leaving.”

"That was the main reason, but there’s much more," she sighed heavily
and stopped long enough to take a deep breath. "Are you certain you won’t tell Cole I talked to you?"

Gabby felt even more confused
. Things were more complicated than she had first believed. She needed her help and she planned to give it to her, no matter what the results was.

"You can trust me, Samantha
. I'll not breathe a word to Cole if you want to keep it from him."

"You don't know how much I do
. If I can straighten my life out before he finds out, he can't do anything about it."

"Go ahead, I'm listening," she urged
.

"I'm not pregnant by Michael," she stated in a soft tone, reaching down to brush her hand tenderly across her still flat stomach.