Deliver the Moon (3 page)

Gabe refocused on her and bit back a grin, pleased she defended him in a round-about way. And pleased she was familiar with his work. Maybe she didn’t hate him as much as she let on. “Actually, I’m a documentary photojournalist, if you want to get technical.”

“Actually, we don’t,” Evan drawled. “What a coincidence that you happen to have
business
in the same town where your ex-wife resides on the very same weekend her brother and best friend are getting married.”

“Not a coincidence at all, Payne.” It was called having a good agent, and killing those two proverbial birds with one stone. The university had been hounding him for some time to speak to their classes, as he was an alumni, having done his grad studies there.

Louisa’s cheeks reddened, and her hand shook around her glass. She cleared her throat. “So, Gabriel, will your photos ever make it to Seattle?”

Evan glared down at her for the question.

Gabe allowed himself a satisfied smile. “That’s another reason I’m in town. To coincide with my lectures, one of the galleries in the U District is displaying my new series. The opening is Thursday night.”

Her eyes tinged with interest, but she didn’t have a chance to ask him more as Payne looped an arm around her shoulders. “Sarah needs us for the first dance.”

With barely a glance at Gabe over her shoulder, Louisa let Payne lead her back inside.

****

Louisa danced with the Best Man, a guy Gabe thought he recognized as an old frat buddy of the groom.

He’d obviously shocked the hell out of her by appearing out of the blue. And she obviously had a lot of emotions hidden away concerning him and the demise of their marriage. But beneath her nervousness and wariness, he’d sensed a bit of the old spark—a spark he’d thought would be extinguished by now.

She’d seemed interested in his work, too, which shouldn’t surprise him. After all, she’d stood by him all those years ago when his photography had been just a pipe dream. He wished he’d had a chance to talk to her about it.

Gabe didn’t know what to think about Payne. The man shared too many traits with Senator Rhodes—same patronizing tone, same practiced and fake smile. Gabe would bet Payne was in politics, too.

These internal rants sounded dangerously close to jealous ones. He hadn’t come here to get Louisa back. Had he? He’d wanted to see her again, sure, see how she was doing. Maybe even waylay some of his guilt.

He blew out a long breath. Five years was a long time. They had separate lives now. Besides, the old problems would still be there. Father Time wasn’t a miracle worker.

The song changed, and the couples on the dance floor switched partners. Louisa began dancing with her father. Her head rested against his chest, and her eyes drifted closed. Senator Rhodes caught Gabe’s eyes over the heads of the other dancers, and his hold tightened around his daughter.

Gabe sighed as he watched them. He’d never understood Louisa’s relationship with her parents. For as long as he’d known them, they’d been critical of her. He didn’t know if all politically powerful families had such unreasonable expectations of their children, but Arthur and Beverly expected perfection. Louisa had been kept on a fairly short leash, told what to do and when to do it, what to wear and whom to associate with. She let them make far too many decisions for her. He knew she just wanted to please them, to make them proud. But from what he’d seen in the past, she’d never quite managed that. In her school days, an A should’ve been an A+. Homecoming princess could have been queen. Nothing was ever quite good enough.

Why did she even bother trying to please them anymore? Why did it matter what her family thought?

Himself? He had no family to impress. Gabe doubted his mother knew who his father was. She’d said she did, but Cara D’Angelo hadn’t exactly been a one-man woman. Pregnant at 15, she’d been thrown out of her house for disgracing the family. She’d done her best to care for Gabe, but her succession of “fathers” for him, and her ever-increasing drug habit, had forced the state to place him in foster care when he’d been just six years old.

He’d gone through a string of foster homes by the age of 15, even spent time in a juvenile detention center. It wasn’t that he’d been a bad kid, just mixed up. He’d wanted nothing more than to live with his mother, to have a real family. But she apparently hadn’t wanted the same thing. She hadn’t needed him or anything else because she’d overdosed and died two days before Gabe’s sixteenth birthday.

Gabe let out a long sigh. What was it about today that made him think so much about the past? He usually succeeded in keeping it tucked safely away in the back corners of his mind.

The song changed again, and the Senator passed Louisa to her brother. After a few moments, Gabe made his move, tapping Arty’s shoulder. “May I?”

Louisa’s face faded to white, and she clutched Arty’s arm as if to tell Gabe that dancing with him was the last thing she wanted to do, which was probably the case. But Arty placed Louisa’s hand into Gabe’s.

Her fingers trembled as they entwined with his, and Gabe slid his other hand around her narrow waist. He closed his eyes a moment. God, it felt good to hold her, even though she was stiff as a board and just as tense. How long had he yearned to have her in his arms again? For more than the five years he’d been gone, certainly. He opened his eyes to find her parents glaring at him from beyond across the dance floor. He swung her out of their view.

“What are you doing?” she hissed at him.

“I’m dancing with the most beautiful woman in the room,” he said into her thick hair, which was the same fragrance as her perfume. He remembered she’d called it “layering” or something, when her perfume, lotion, and powder were all of the same scent.

Her body remained rigid. “That’s not what I meant, and you know it.”

“What did you mean, then?” He pulled her resistant form closer. Her shoulders heaved, but she ignored his question. “I’ve missed you, Lou.”

She stiffened even more. “You’ve got a strange way of showing it, five years later.”

He bent his head to whisper in her ear. “Did you miss me?” He held his breath for her answer.

“I stopped missing you years ago.” Her fingers dug into his shoulders, and she peered up at him with fire in her eyes. “You can’t just waltz back into my life like this. It’s been too long. I’m with Evan now.”

Ah, yes. Mr. Payne. Such an appropriate name. “What is it with you two? You’re not serious about him, are you?”

Louisa’s eyes widened as if he’d just insulted her, which he probably had. “Yes, I am, not that it’s any of your business.”

“Come on, Lou. He’s not your type.”

“And you are? Is that what you’re saying?”

She tried to put a little distance between their swaying bodies, but Gabe pressed his hand against the small of her back, preventing her from moving away.

She gasped against his shoulder as their hips touched. “Gabriel!” she hissed. “My family’s watching.”

Gabe ignored his sliver of annoyance that she was still so concerned with her family’s opinion. He pictured her mother’s reaction and almost smiled. “Just relax and dance with me.”

When he heard her sigh, when he felt the way her heart pounded against his chest, his own heart almost skipped a beat. She still felt something for him.

“How long are you going to be in town?” she asked, sounding carefully nonchalant.

Long enough to win you back.

The realization hit him hard. He swung her around and tightened his hold on her waist. “A week or two. Until I find a place to live.”

“You—you’re moving back?” She was all tense again, her voice laced with uneasiness.

“Yes. I’ve been wanting to get back to the Northwest for some time.” Truth was, this was the first he’d thought of it. However crazy it might be, it was the right thing to do. He knew that with sudden clarity.

****

Louisa sensed Gabe’s gaze on her throughout the toasting ceremony. His piercing stare was a laser burning into her, turning her on and annoying her at the same time.
Damn him!

She scooted closer to Evan, determined not to let anyone see how Gabe affected her. Especially not Gabe himself.

After the best man and the fathers of the bride and groom made their toasts, Evan stepped up to the microphone. “I have a toast of my own to make,” he proclaimed.

Louisa could tell he’d had too much to drink. He always had to be the center of attention when he was drinking. He only drank too much when he was on edge. Gabe’s presence here certainly would’ve done the trick.

“First of all, I’d like to toast the bride and groom.” He raised his champagne glass to Sarah and Arty who stood hand in hand to the right of the microphone. “May your lives together be long and prosperous.”

Four hundred guests raised their glasses in agreement.

Leave it to Evan to interpret happiness as prosperity, Louisa thought with a tight grin.

He tapped on the microphone to get everyone’s attention again, and raised his glass. “And now I’d like to toast the lady in my life.” He held his hand out to her. After a brief hesitation, she took it. “As many of you know, Louisa and I have been seeing each other for almost a year now. Last night, I asked her a very important question,” he paused to let the ripple flow through the crowd, “and she promised me an answer tonight.”

Oh God, Evan. Not like this. Not with Gabriel watching.
Evan dropped to one knee. Louisa glanced at her family. Her parents smiled smugly. Arty and Sarah smiled, too, but they looked embarrassed for her.

“Louisa Maria D’Angelo, I asked you last night to be my bride and make me the luckiest man on earth. What do you say? Will you marry me?”

Four hundred guests hushed to await her reply. Louisa glanced through the crowd. Aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends watched her with baited breath. But she wasn’t looking for any particular member of her huge extended family. She was looking for Gabe.

She found him standing in the back of the room, leaning against one of the marble pillars that marked the corners of the gigantic dance floor. She wasn’t surprised he was somewhat removed from the other guests and her family. He’d always been a loner. His gaze cut into her, almost willing her to say “no” to Evan’s proposal.

A few minutes ago, she’d been in Gabe’s arms, and it had been easy to imagine herself back in the early days of their relationship, when she’d lived for moments like that. Being pressed against him made her ears hum and her body throb in places it shouldn’t be throbbing. Not with him.

Guilt tore at her soul. She had no business thinking such thoughts while being proposed to by another man. She swallowed and refocused on Evan. Her mother, standing behind him, nodded almost imperceptibly.

“Should I repeat the question?” Evan joked, but his gaze burned into her. The wedding guests laughed nervously because she took so long to answer.

She glanced at Gabe again, forcing painful memories to pour through her. She remembered the sleepless nights, how she’d cried herself to sleep in the bed they’d shared, missing him so much it hurt. She remembered waking each morning, desperately hoping it had all been a bad dream, only to find the pillow next to her empty and cold.

He’d deserted her when she’d needed him most.

Like a movie screen flashing through her brain, images of the past five, lonely years swept over her. For a while, she’d been so depressed she’d wanted to die and had even imagined ways to go about it. Because of her depression, she’d lost her job, her apartment, and was forced to move back home. It wasn’t until a couple of years ago, right before she’d met Evan, that the fog of misery had finally begun to lift. Since that time, Evan had been there for her. He’d supported her. He’d become her rock. She conjured up all the things she appreciated about him—his strength, his generosity, his stability, and his easy way with her family.

Feeling strong again, she smiled down at him. “Yes, Evan, I’ll marry you.”

He swept her into his arms for a long and showy kiss. Her family gathered around to congratulate them, and 399 people applauded.

Chapter Two

“So?” Sarah asked as Louisa helped her off with the headpiece and veil.

“So…what?”

Sarah blew an exasperated sound between her teeth and finger-combed her short, sandy blond hair. “So…what was with that mega hesitation after Evan’s proposal out there?” She turned to be unzipped.

“It was a
slight
hesitation, made only because Evan caught me off guard.” Louisa maneuvered the gown over her friend’s shoulders and down to the floor. Sarah stepped over the mounds of shimmering satin and lace, then Louisa gathered it all up and hung it on a padded hanger.

“Uh-huh,” Sarah muttered, taking off her crinoline slip and nylons.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Louisa handed Sarah a sundress to change into for her honeymoon flight to Fiji, courtesy of Senator and Mrs. Rhodes.

Her new sister-in-law slid the dress over her head, her voice muffled a moment as she said, “Oh, puh-leeze. You’re my best friend. Don’t pull that innocent act on me.”

“Sarah, I honestly don’t know what you’re talking about,” Louisa lied.

Sarah shimmied into the dress then rapped on Louisa’s forehead with her knuckles. “Hello? Is anyone in there?”

Louisa shoved the hand away, making a face.

“Your ex-husband shows up out of the blue after five years, and you have to ask what I’m talking about?”

“And your point is…?”

Sarah rolled her eyes. “Now, I know you’re not really this dense, but I’ll play along. Could it be that you hesitated and made everyone think you were going to turn down Mr. Payne because Gabe was here? Could it be that Gabe’s presence brought just a niggling little doubt that Evan is the man for you?”