“You’re insane,” I said, holding the bag to my chest as if she was going to grab it from me. “As if I’d let you take this back now. It’s mine.”
She grinned, happy for me and happy she’d gotten her way. “It should fit. Let me know if it doesn’t.”
The waitress came and delivered the next starter, which seemed to be the vegetarian option. It tasted divine whether it was cabbage or cardboard.
“You’re too good to me,” I said. “But that’s been true forever.”
“You’re just as good back to me. It’s so amazing to have you in London. I still can’t believe we’re both here.”
“I can’t believe how much I like it here. Oregon is familiar but it doesn’t feel like home anymore.” I wasn’t sure that London felt like home either, but it was getting that way. Having Hollie here helped. And Gabriel.
She nodded her head as if she knew exactly what I was saying. “How is Gabriel doing?”
“He’s good. Busy at work but no change there. The guy is a workaholic. But he’s so kind and easy to talk to and you’ve seen him with Bethany. He’s taking her to paint pottery today; can you believe it? He’s such a good dad.”
“Not to mention hot. How’s he coping with the divorce and everything? I can’t believe that wife of his wants to talk to him after all these years.”
I paused, a forkful of who-knows-what suspended mid-air while I repeated what she’d said in my head to make sure I hadn’t heard her wrong. “His wife what?” I asked, just to be sure.
Hollie’s eyes widened as she realized I didn’t know what she was talking about. I tried to keep my breathing steady despite my tightening jaw and the uptick in my pulse. “I thought he would have told you.”
That makes two of us. “What’s going on, Hollie?” There was no way she was going to clam up now.
“Maybe I have it wrong, but I think Gabriel told Dexter that his ex-wife wanted a meeting before she agreed to a divorce.”
My stomach roiled. I put down my fork and leaned back as if to get as far away from what she was saying as possible. “He hasn’t told me that.” I tried to file through the reasons why he wouldn’t have said anything to me.
It was no big deal and he’d forgotten.
He’d told her he wouldn’t meet her.
He didn’t want me to know. He didn’t want me to know. He didn’t want me to know.
“I’m sure he’ll tell you. He’s probably just trying to process it.”
I nodded, trying to swallow down the sharp pangs of insecurity that stuck in my throat. This couldn’t be as bad as it seemed. I just wouldn’t allow it to be. “It’s probably because it’s no big deal. Or he’s said he won’t meet her.”
She sighed. “I think he’s agreed to meet her. I’m sorry. I’m sure it’s just to sign the papers. Or maybe she wants to explain herself or something.”
I focused on keeping my breath steady. This was a private thing between Gabriel and his wife. It was okay that he’d not told me he was meeting her. “It’s very personal,” I said, trying to convince myself this was fine—I was fine. “And nothing to do with me if you think about it.”
“I’m not sure about that,” Hollie said. “I mean, you’re a couple now, aren’t you?”
It felt like we were a couple, but no words had been exchanged. I knew he wasn’t sleeping with anyone else. Not only because we shared the same home but because of the way he touched me, the way he looked at me. But we didn’t wake up in the same bed. We weren’t together in front of Bethany. Perhaps he wasn’t part of a couple in his mind.
“He certainly cares about you,” Hollie said, trying to be reassuring. “There’s no way he would have risked upsetting Dexter if he didn’t.”
That was true. I knew how much Gabriel cared about his friends. And I was certain he cared about me. I knew he did. I just didn’t know what that meant. The strength of our bond hadn’t been tested and I had no idea whether it would last an argument about pineapple on pizza, let alone the stress of a divorce or a wife who might want him back. I knew what I felt for him was nothing I’d felt for anyone. But even I didn’t know what that meant for Gabriel or for our future as a couple.
“I think he just wants to get it over with,” Hollie said. “The meeting, that is.”
“He hasn’t seen her since she left.” Perhaps when they met, she’d realize she was still madly in love with him and want him back. I swallowed, trying to keep my breathing steady. “What if she wants him back?”