Page 57 of More Than a Fling
“What’s to explain? My fear of getting involved with him was well-founded after all.”
“Don’t go assuming you know everything.”
“He admitted to me that he had a fling with her, I’m sure the pregnancy wasn’t planned, but he lied to me. He said it was over a long time ago. She isn’t even showing much yet. I wouldn’t put her over three to four months along at best.”
“There are two sides to every story.”
“This changes everything, I refuse to be that girl,” Annie said, choking back tears. “She said they had been trying to work things out until I came along.”
“Oh honey.” Zoey wrapped her arms around her friend and rocked her while Annie cried quietly into her shoulder. “Promise me you’ll keep your date tonight and let him explain.”
“Zoey, after my disastrous relationship with Bradley ended, I had decided to take a long break from dating, then Gabe appeared and despite my best intentions I fell for him. I’m afraid that I’ll always have terrible judgement when it comes to men!”
“Don’t say that. You can’t blame yourself for this and by the way, Gabe can be a great guy and still make mistakes. Nobody is perfect.”
“I’ve really got to go…thanks Zoey, you know I appreciate you,” Annie said.
“I know this is a huge blow, take care. Hopefully I’ll see you tomorrow then?”
“Hopefully.”
“Good luck!”
Giving her a watery smile, Annie hurriedly left the salon before she broke down for real. Safely in her car the dam broke and sobs racked her body. She cried so hard that she felt like she couldn’t catch her breath. Her phone rang and she let it go straight to voicemail. With a heavy heart she headed toward the farm to confront Gabe.
26
Gabe couldn’t wait to have Annie in his arms again. Opening the oven door, he checked on the enchiladas to see if the cheese was bubbling yet. The timer said there was still ten minutes to go. He frowned at his wristwatch. Annie was late. That was unusual for her.
He glanced around his tiny kitchen, satisfied that he had pulled it all together. Checkered tablecloth, tapered candles burning, wine glasses, wine chilling in the champagne bucket, a dozen red roses in the center vase, now all he needed was his date.
The back door opened and there she was. The first thing Gabe noticed was her bright red nose. “Annie girl, have you been crying?” He walked over to her and lifted her chin to look into her eyes. “Baby what’s wrong?” He attempted to pull her into his arms, but she jerked away from him like she’d been burnt.
“How could you?” she blurted out.
He was so thrown he reeled like he’d been struck. “How could I what?”
“Why didn’t you just level with me? I can always handle the truth, it’s the lies I can’t deal with.”
“Whoa! What the hell are you talking about?”
“Robbie, remember her? Your baby mama.”
“What the fuck are you talking about Annie? You aren’t making any sense.”
“Robbie paid me a little visit at my salon today,” she said.
“And?” Gabe said, his temper rising as his voice became lower.
“I’d say about four months along or less. But you can probably tell me?”
“Let me guess, and she told you some fantastical tale about me being the father and you believed her?”
“You admitted it yourself, you had sex with her!”
“I shared with you that we had a one-night mistake many months ago, period.”
“Well first of all, it must not have been that long ago, since she said you two were working on your relationship until I came along.”