Keeping Secrets in Seattle - By Brooke Moss Page 0,4
crowd around us. I grinned wide, showing as many teeth as possible, as if that would prove my loyalty to him. When he turned to his aunt, my facade faltered, dropping from my face as quickly as I’d plastered it there. I looked at my lap and noticed that my melting makeup had left several dark spots on my circle skirt.
This can’t be. This just can’t be…
Gabe took his seat and leaned over to kiss his new fiancée on the cheek. I sniffled, thankful the chorus of “O Come, All Ye Faithful” covered the sound of my meltdown. While wiping my running mascara, I caught Nora’s eye.
Her face was not what I would have expected from the mother of a happy, newly engaged man. It was somber as her eyes locked firmly on mine. Her mouth had turned down, and her eyes were wide and sad. As Nora Parker sat there among all of the celebrators, champagne being poured, she mouthed three words to me that I never expected.
“I’m so sorry.”
Chapter Three
October 1, 2006
There were so many times growing up when Gabe and I were there for each other in a way that no one else could be. When his grandpa died, I was the one who held him for an hour while he sobbed. And he was the one who made me countless playlists for my iPod to drown out the sound of my mom, aka the former Miss Texas, entertaining a new boyfriend.
I left the Parkers’ house shortly after, stumbling to the door while everyone called out pie preferences. My chest was cracked open, leaving my heart raw and exposed. Every daydream I’d ever had about my future now lay sliced into pieces like the Christmas turkey.
The typical Christmas-in-Seattle rain was coming down in sheets now, matching my mood. As soon as I was a safe distance from the front windows of the house, I’d dropped a long string of expletives and stomped along the sidewalk, casting sprays of icy rainwater all over my legs. I’d gotten a block down the street before I’d heard the familiar, deep voice calling my name. “Hey, Vi!”
I swung around to see Gabe jogging toward me. He wasn’t wearing a coat, so his button-down shirt was soaked, and his arms and chest were visible through the fabric. It looked like a scene out of a chick flick. He was practically moving in slow motion.
I glanced at my reflection in the window of a car parked along the street and groaned another handful of swear words. The rain had drenched my hair while I’d struggled to open my umbrella, and it was now hanging around my neck in clumps. My face was bright red from crying, and my makeup was reduced to streaks running down my cheeks. I looked like a scary clown.
Gabe took my shoulders in his hands. “Why are you leaving? What’s wrong? My mom won’t cut the pies without you.”
I lifted the umbrella high enough to cover his head. “I’m…I just have a stomachache.”
He cocked his head to the side. “Gimme a break—look at you.”
“Gee, thanks.” I wiped at my stained face with the sleeve of my coat.
He released that deep laugh that always made my toes curl. “That’s not what I meant. I mean, you’ve been crying.”
“Oh, yeah…well…I…” I looked away and pretended to scan the street for the bus.
“What gives?”
I should have known I wasn’t going to escape Christmas dinner in tears without being interrogated.
I forced a weak simper. “The flu, that’s all.”
The sound of the rain on my umbrella nearly drowned out his voice. “Are you upset about Alicia and me getting engaged?”
“I…I just…” My emotions bubbled back up to the surface. Shock, despair, and anger churned in my gut like a stew. “Okay, seriously, Gabe. The last time we talked, you didn’t mention the fact that you were even considering proposing to Alicia. In fact, you sent me an e-mail saying you were ending things with her. What the hell?”
Gabe looked down at the wet sidewalk. “I know. I’m sorry.”
“We tell each other everything.” I glared. “Why wouldn’t you tell me something as major as this?”
“I didn’t…” He paused and scrubbed his hand across the back of his neck. “I didn’t want to surprise you. And I knew that if I saw you or talked to you, I would blurt it out.”
“You thought it would be better for me to find out over a plate of stuffing with twenty people around?”