Even though she had given him to people she knew in her heart, with all her heart, would care for him and love him as if he were their own, she’d still felt the agony of letting someone else raise her child.
Now, she could be losing Matthew all over again.
She heard Brian soothing her. “It’ll be okay, PJ. Matthew just needs time, but he loves you. And, he knows we’re all there for him. He’ll come around.”
PJ felt Gabe take the phone from her hand. “Brian, she’ll call you back.”
PJ would like to say she was strong, that she brushed away the tears and collected herself and all was good and well in the world….
It wasn’t. And she didn’t. Gabe lifted her and she let him. She rested her head against his chest and sobbed as he carried her to the house and into her room.
Gabe sat on the edge of her bed, letting her settle into his lap.
PJ couldn’t believe she’d let him see her fall apart like this. She was a grown woman, for heaven’s sake. But, she also hadn’t had any warning, had no idea she was about to hear what she had.What if Matthew didn’t ever want to speak with her? What if he didn’t want her in his life? What if she couldn’t be a part of his life? Couldn’t see him growing up?
Part of her knew it had been better for him to find out this way than to discover it when or if it leaked to the media, but that didn’t lessen the pain.
It took a long time for her tears to stop and when they did, she was spent. Beyond spent.
Gabe seemed to read her mind. He laid her on her bed and then pulled the covers back to tuck her in. As she closed her eyes, the last thing she was aware of was the sense of security, the feeling of unquestionable support, as Gabe stretched out and lay down next to her, one arm slung over her as he pulled her close.
Chapter 14
Gabe watched PJ’s breath as it evened out. She had fallen asleep in minutes, if not seconds. Her face relaxed in sleep as the grief fell away.
He couldn’t even begin to imagine what she was feeling, but he hated seeing her so torn apart. She had been ripped to shreds by all this, and he hated not being able to do anything to fix it.
He wanted to stay next to her for as long as she needed him, but he heard the faint buzz of the front gate alert from the kitchen, and didn’t want to risk it buzzing again. If the dark circles under her eyes were any indication, PJ needed to rest for a long time.
Gabe went to the kitchen and pressed the intercom to the front gate. “Yes?” he said into the speaker.
“Courier delivery for Gabe Sawyer.”
“What company are you with?”
The courier didn’t hesitate at the question. “Long and Short Overnight Service, sir.”
“Thank you. Come on up.” Gabe hit the button to open the gate and walked out to the front door to meet the courier at the top of the drive. His secretary always used the same company when she had to send something to him that couldn’t be done by fax or DocuSign.
Gabe still worked with a few people in the industry who were old school and didn’t trust the security of online document signing services. Although Gabe found that ridiculous, and more than once had been tempted to break ties because of the inconvenience, they’d been good companies to work with in all other ways, so he’d persevered.
Relationships were crucial to Gabe’s success. Burning bridges over the use of a courier to deliver a few things here and there didn’t seem worth the trade-off in the end.
The courier handed him a letter-sized envelope and waited for him to sign a paper before getting back in his van and leaving the way he’d come. Gabe waited until the gate closed behind the courier’s car and returned to the kitchen, tossing the envelope on the kitchen counter before grabbing a soda from the fridge.
Gabe chugged half the can before turning to the envelope and tearing it open. Instead of a contract, the stack of papers that slid out turned his blood hot and cold all at once.
Shit.
The pages were filled with nothing but the words, ‘It’s almost time, Pretty Pru’ over and over again. There must have been twenty or thirty pages with nothing but the same message. And right on top of the stack was a photo. A small, worn, wallet-sized photo of a baby. Gabe knew without asking Pru who the baby was. It was Matthew. Gabe was sure of it.
Gabe went to look in on PJ, and saw she was still sleeping in the other room. He dialed Zach’s phone and was relieved when Zach picked up right away.
“Zach, it’s Gabe. He knows she’s here. He knows she’s with me.” He quickly explained about the courier delivery, especially the part where the blackmailer or stalker or whatever the hell you call a guy who hasn’t actually made a demand for money, had used the same courier service that Gabe’s secretary always used.
“On my way,” Zach said before hanging up and Gabe knew he’d be there in half an hour, or less. That’s the way his friends in Connecticut were. It was the reason he had bought the house here, why he planned to settle here someday—probably sooner rather than later.
After the accident that killed his dad and sister, he didn’t have much family left. Only his mom and she didn’t recognize him most of the time now. That made the connections he’d found in the people around him all the more important.