Misty Reigenborn Romance Boxed Set (76 page)

“You Robyn Carmichael?”

“Yes.”

“Your boyfriend must have been in an expensive mood this morning.”

She took the flowers and the jewelry from his hands, her heart sinking with the thought that Gabe had bought her jewelry that was probably expensive.  “Yeah.  Thank you.  Have a nice day.”

“Yep.  You too.”

He turned and walked away.  Robyn walked back to the kitchen.  Neal took the flowers from her.  She wanted to throw the vase at the wall and burn the note that was nestled in the plastic holder. 

“You okay?”

Robyn shook her head.  “No.  I have such terrible taste in men.”

Neal chuckled.  “Thanks.”

“Previous taste in men.  Sorry.”

“It’s okay.  I knew what you meant.  Do you want me to read the note?”

“No.  I feel sick.  I just broke it off with him and he’s already sending me expensive flowers and jewelry.”

She opened the envelope that the note was in.  She took a deep breath and then let it out.  The note read ‘Only You.  I will be here waiting when you come to your senses.  I hope you like your engagement ring.  Yours Forever, Gabe.’

She handed the note to Neal.  He shook his head.  “Gabe never did strike me as someone who liked to take no for an answer.”

“What are we going to do Neal?  If I feel like this on the first day after I broke it off with him, I don’t think I’m going to be able to take another two months of this.”

Neal put his arms around her.  “Shh sweetheart.  It’s gonna be okay.  Do you want to stay with me or do you want me to stay with you at night until Ashlyn comes home?  I love spending time with you.”

“I’d love that.  But I want you to be safe too.  Gabe brags about beating the shit out of people.  I’m so afraid he’s going to hurt you.”

“What would make you feel more secure hon?  I’ll do anything.”

“I don’t know.  I need to change my locks again.  He has a copy of my key.”

“Okay.  Do you have a webcam on your laptop?”

“Yes.  Why?”

“Does it have motion detection?”

“I have no idea.  I’ve only used it a couple times because my silly mom and sister wanted to see a picture of my pregnant belly.”

Neal smiled.  “I’ll check out your webcam.  We should be able to set it up so that it records anything that moves while you’re away.  You might catch silly stuff like your curtains blowing in the wind since our windows definitely aren’t as air tight as they should be, but it’s better safe than sorry.”

“Do you think he’ll come in here while I’m gone?  Even after I change the locks?  Maybe I should move in with you.  But I don’t want him to freak out and hurt you.  And it’s going to be hard enough for your daughter when she first gets here-I don’t want to confuse her even more.  I also don’t want to put an innocent child in the middle of this.”

“We’re going to take precautions.  Change your lock, put alarms on your windows, set up your webcam to record your house while you’re gone.  Do you want to start carpooling to work
on Friday night?  That would make me feel better.  Gabe knows that I live here so it wouldn’t look strange to him.”

“He already suspects that we’re sleeping together.  I would feel better being in the same car with you, but I don’t want to raise more red flags for him.  Oh, I don’t know what the right thing to do is.”

“Hey, don’t stress.  If something goes wrong with the baby because Gabe’s an asshole no one will be happy.”

“Yeah.”

Robyn sighed.  She picked up the bigger jewelry box and opened it.  It contained an expensive looking necklace.  She showed it to Neal.

“Probably cost him at least a few thousand dollars.”

“Great.  Like I need to worry about him spending more money on me.”

“You didn’t ask for this.  You broke up with him remember?”

“I know.” 

She closed the box and opened the ring box.  The engagement ring looked even more expensive.  But looking at it made her heart sink even more.  It was big and almost gawdy and would not have been something she’d have been proud to wear even if it had come from an unattached man that she loved with all her heart.  It made her believe that Gabe had never really known her at all.

Neal made a face when he looked at the ring.  “It looks expensive but it’s downright ugly.  That’s not the kind of engagement you would want is it?  If I was picking out an engagement ring for you I would look for something soft and romantic, like you.”

Robyn gave him a half-hearted smile.  “I made Fuller look at engagement rings with me once when I was still dumb enough to believe that he would eventually marry me.  The one that I liked
the most was simple and I guess you might have called it romantic looking.  Why do you know me better than Gabe does already?”

“I’m an exceptional listener in case you haven’t noticed.”

Robyn smiled again, though it felt more real.  “True.  I want to throw all of this away.  But you know what?  I have a better idea.  Do you know the woman in apartment six?  She has two kids and their dad just died recently.  She’s been struggling pretty hard.  If she could sell that necklace and that ugly ring it might help her out at least for a little while.  And the flowers might brighten up her day.”

“Bettina, yes.  She is a regular saint.  Even right after her husband died, if someone needed a hand, she was right there.  That woman would give you the shirt off of her back, even if it was her last one because she has faith that another would come for her.  Her boys are so well mannered too.  I hate to say it, but this generation of parents is not raising their children to have manners.”

“Oh, I know.  When I stayed with my older sister a few years ago and her kids had friends over, they were so rude.  Please and thank you did not seem to be in their vocabulary.  Elza and Jericho’s kids are polite, but their friends, not so much.”

Neal chuckled.  “It’s sad but true.  Adults who were raised with manners seem to forget their manners in this society too though.”

“Yeah.  Do you want to go with me to see Bettina?”

“Sure.”  He glanced at his watch.  “It’s late enough now that she should be home from church.”

“I forget sometimes that people go to church.  My parents never took us.  They said that when we were old enough to be curious about religion, we could decide for ourselves which one was the right one.  I think it was partly because they felt like their parents shoved religion down their throats though.”

“I always consider myself to be more spiritual than religious.  I have my own ideas about God, but they don’t fit with what an organized religion says and I’ve looked at a lot of them.”

“Hmm.  I don’t consider myself to be an atheist, but I’m not sure where my beliefs lie.  I guess that sometimes I’m agnostic, and sometimes I believe my own beliefs about God like you do.  I’m going to get dressed.  Thank you for breakfast.  You’re a good cook.”

He grinned.  “One of my many talents.”

“I think I’ll like exploring all of them.”  She winked at him and then walked back to the bedroom.

She dressed quickly and then they gathered the flowers and the jewelry and headed out to their neighbor’s apartment.

The pretty thirty something mother answered the door right away.  She gave them a bright smile.  “Hello Robyn, Neal.  I didn’t realize that you two were involved.  It’s definitely good to see you with someone better suited for you than Fuller was though.”  She shook her head and gestured for them to come in.  “I try not to speak badly of others, but that man was not worthy of you Robyn.”

Robyn smiled.  “Thank you.  How are the boys?”

“They’re regular balls of energy like usual.  They’re reading in their bedroom.  Would you like some tea?”

Robyn shook her head and Neal gave her a polite no thank you. 

Robyn cleared her throat.  “Bettina, I have something for you.  You don’t have to take it, but I would very much appreciate it if you would.  You help so many and I know that it’s been hard for you since your husband passed away.”

“It has.”

Neal handed her the flowers. 

“They’re beautiful.  Thank you.  I always did love roses.  The color is so unique.”

The roses were a deep, dark purple. 

“Yes,” Robyn said.  She’d been too busy thinking of how to get rid of Gabe’s gifts to notice how pretty the flowers really were.  She pulled the jewelry boxes out of her purse.  “These were a gift to me and the person that gave them to me won’t take them back.”  It wasn’t the complete truth of course since she hadn’t offered them back to Gabe, but she was sure he wouldn’t have taken them anyway.  “I want you to have them.  You should be able to get enough out of them that maybe you won’t have to struggle so hard for a while at least.”

Bettina opened the box for the ring.  “This looks like an engagement ring Robyn.  I can’t take this.  And it looks expensive.  I appreciate your offer honey, but the boys and I are fine.  We may not have much and we sorely miss Ezekiel, but we will make it through.”

“Bettina please.  The man that gave that to me isn’t accepting the fact that our relationship is over.  I never should have let it begin, but I broke it off and he still bought these things for me.  I was tempted to throw them away, but I know that you can use them, or at least the money that you could make from selling them.”

Bettina shut the ring box and opened the necklace.  She sighed.  “This must have cost thousands of dollars.  Between the two, I say the value is probably $15,000, if not more.  I can’t accept this Robyn.  It’s too much.”

“Please Bettina.  If you’d rather, I can sell them and give you the money.  But I want you to have it.  I’ve seen you feed hungry people.  I’ve seen you bring people into your home that have no place to sleep.  I know that you watch other people’s children for free and that you’ll loan someone your last dime because your children are taken care of.  There aren’t many people that deserve this more than you do.”

“Sweetheart, I treat others the way that I would want to be treated if I was in need myself.  Nothing more.  I act as all of humanity should.  I’m not special.”

“You are.  It’s sad, but people don’t act the way that you do anymore.  They don’t lend a helping hand because they’re too concerned that that person is going to stab them in the back and take advantage of their kindness, and all too often they’re right.  It’s not right, but it’s the way things are.  You look at people and see the good, you trust before you distrust.  You are special
Bettina.  I’m so sorry that Ezekiel passed.  He was a wonderful man and he was gone way too soon.  But I know what it feels like to face raising a child by myself.  It’s scary.”

“Some days it is.  I have sons.  They’re young now, but when they’re teenagers they’re going to want their father even more.  That’s what scares me the most, is that I can’t give my boys what they need the most.”

“You’re a wonderful mother.  If you’re not at work, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you without your boys.  Not many mothers can say that anymore.  I know everyone needs a break, but I don’t think I’ve seen a more devoted mother.”

“Thank you.”  Bettina looked at the boxes in her hands.  “Jonah’s birthday is coming up.  I’m afraid that I won’t have much to give him.”

“So take the jewelry.  I have no use for it.  If you want me to sell it and give you the money, I will.  It shouldn’t take more than a few days.”

Bettina bit her lip.  “I think I would be more comfortable with that yes.”  She handed the boxes back to Robyn.  “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”  Robyn smiled.  “Have a nice day Bettina.  I’ll get that money to you as soon as I can.”

“Okay.  Would you like to come to party Jonah’s birthday?  It’s a week from Thursday.”

“That would be wonderful.  Thank you.”

Neal offered her his hand and she stood up.  “I’ll see you later Bettina.”

“Goodbye Robyn.  Goodbye Neal.”

They walked out of the apartment together.  Robyn felt better knowing that the jewelry would be put to good use.  When they were back inside her apartment, she booted up her laptop so that Neal could check out the webcam.

“Do you think that we can sell this for enough at a jewelry store or should we try to sell it to a private person?”

“You might want to get it appraised to be sure what it’s really worth, but a private buyer would probably get you a better price.  It might take longer but the difference in money will probably be worth it.  If we can’t sell it before then, we’ll just buy Jonah a bunch of birthday gifts ourselves.  He’s her older son right?  He should be somewhere around Ashlyn’s age.”

“I think so.  Her little boy is three or four.  Benjamin I think?”

“Yeah.  I think you’re right.”

Neal messed around with her webcam and found the settings he was looking for.  “You do have motion detection so you’ll just set it up before you go to work or leave to go out.  Do you want to go buy a new lock now?”

“Yeah, I guess we probably should.”

Neal set her laptop up to his satisfaction and then they got ready to go out.  Before they went outside Robyn said “Do you think you should go with me?  What if he’s lurking around somewhere?”

“We can be careful, but we’re not going to let him win and plan our lives around what he may or may not be doing.  We work together and we’re neighbors.  It’s not strange for us to be out together.  Granted, we haven’t hung out together outside of work before, but that was because I wasn’t sure how you felt about me and I didn’t want to do something like kiss you when you didn’t want me to.”