Storm Warning (21 page)

Gabe s
at down at the table and picked
his glass
up
. He would start with the article, he decided. Then he’d work his way up. He gave himself a moment to just look at her. She was so much thinner, he thought again angrily. The hair suited her. She had it pulled back in a stubby tail just the way Adam always wore his. The diamond necklace he had given her hun
g on her neck. His heart jumped. Maybe it wasn’t over. Maybe
he still had a chance. He s
e
t his glass
down
without drinking and met her gaze.

“Would you sit down, please?” h
e asked when she walked back to stand stiffly back to the counter.

“I’ll stand.”

Stubborn to the end, he mused.
“Fine.
Have you seen the article?”

She didn’t answer for a moment. She took
her time sipping her lemonade, staring blankly ahead.
Frustrated, he searched her face. What used to be so expressively clear was now closed off to him.

“Adam showed me today, actually. I’m impressed at the D-cups, Gabe. I always thought that was more
like
your type.”

“So you believe everyth
ing you read in the tabloids?” h
e asked
,
amused and annoyed at the same time.

Tory shrugged. “I couldn’t care less either way. You’re free to see whomever you’d like.”

“I brought the article up in reference to the things that were said about you.”

“I couldn’t care less about that either. You should know that about me.”
She was looking at the ground now. Anywhere but at him.

“I know you pretend not to care just like I also know it tears you up.”

Tory pushed off the counter and sat her glass in the sink
with a crack
. “
I was wrong.
You obvious
ly don’t know me very well.”

He got up and walked to her, but he didn’t touch her—not yet. He knew he wouldn’t be welcome. He leaned back against the counter opposite to her instead.
“Tory, talk to me.”

“I am talking to you!” She grabbed a rag off the counter an
d folded it neatly. An excuse,
he knew, for something to do with her hands.

“Really talk to me.”

“Oh, sure.” She gave a humorless laugh. “Let’s talk. You want to hear about the last time we were together? What I went through to wake up to you gone?”

Now, we’re getting somewhere
. “If I had known a better way—”

“If you had known a better way,” she said
slowly.  “A
better way
?” She slapped the rag down and advanced on him. Sticking her finger into his chest, she fumed. “How about a word? A fucking note! Anything.
Anything
would have been better than for me to wake up, still smell you on the sheets,
and get
up to see you crossing the parking lot without a backwards glance.”

Gabe’s
stared at her, shocked. “I didn’t know you saw me—”

“Saw you
walk away?” s
he finished for him. “I counted every step you took away from me. I made excuses for you the next morning to the crew when I was alone, confused, and
heartbroken
.”

He snorted.
“I didn’t break your heart.”

“What? Is it not capable of breaking? I guess I deserve that.” She jerked her shoulder and focused on a spot above his left shoulder. “Well, it did break, Gabe. It broke into a million
little
pieces
and it was my own damned fault. And why am I telling you all this?
”

“Yo
u told me you didn’t need me,” h
e accused desperately. “You wanted me to leave.” He was focusing all his energy into controlling the bitter rage and disgus
t he
felt
toward himself for how he handled it—how he didn’t handle it.

“That wasn’t true. You should have known that wasn’t true. And I shouldn’t have said the things I said to you that day. I was angry and scared of what I thought was happening between us.”

Past tense, Gabe thought brokenly. Well, he would have to change that. “And what did you think was happening between us, Tory?”

She was silent a moment before she answered. Gabe saw several things in her eyes while they bore, dark and brilliant
in
his. Fear, wariness, but th
e humiliation he saw gnawed
at
him.

“I thought
that maybe
you were
falling
in love with me.” She lifted her hands, palms up and let them drop.

Hope set like an anvil on his chest. But he wasn’t going to assume. He had to hear the words.
“And what made you think that?”

She flared again. “I don’t have to take this. Why did you come here, Gabe? I was doing fine without you.” Her voice would have been
stronger
if it didn’t hitch on every other word. “I was here, doing what I was supposed to be doing. And then you show up.” She jabbed her finger at him again. “What the hell do you mean popping in this way and ruining everything I’ve built?”

“I was worried.”

“Worried? You were worried about the jilted lover you left without a word three months ago because of some stupid article?” She snort
ed
and shook her head. “I find that hard to believe.”

“And you’re
right.”

“I make it a policy to be right
,
but what exactly
am
I right about?”
She
slipped her shaking hands into her pockets.

It was now or never, he thought, searching her face. She was so pale, and he just now noticed the purple smudges of exhaustion under her eyes.

“I was in love with you. Am. And I was afraid you didn’t love me back
,
so I left.” He came to her now when she only stared at him, her face
drawn
, her eyes dark. But he didn’t touch her. “I’m sorry I left the way I did. But when we had that fight before Vance took off with you, you said those things and I believed them. I should have seen through it
,
but I didn’t for a long time and that was my mistake.”

“Get out.” Her voice hitched so she covered her mouth with her hand and gave herself a minute. Gabe only continued to stare at her. “I want you to leave.”

“I’m sure you do.” He helped himself to more
lemonade. The truth of it was—
he was terrified it was too late for them. He thought of the diamond necklace she still wore. The necklace he gave her when words couldn’t say he loved her. And she still wore it. “You’re not comfortable with anything that’s out of your control. I just bared my soul
to
you. Now it’s your turn. How do you feel?”

“Tired,” s
he said achingly. “Please, go.”

“I’m not leaving.”

“
Go back to your blond bimbo and take your stupid pictures
,
but do it out of Oklahoma and out of my sight. I can’t take this an
ymore. It hurts so much, Gabe, s
o damn much and I can’t do it.”

Undone, Gabe slammed his glass down and took her by the arms.

“No,” she sobbed, shoving at him
.

“Tory, stop.” He kept his voice gentle when the storm was raging inside him. He
hadn’t realized how badly he’
d hurt her
,
but he knew the answer to his last question. “Please tell me how you feel about me. I need to know.”

“I love you!”
she cried into his shoulder. H
er arms had come around him and she held on tight.
He felt like slime for making her cry, but it would be worth it. He promised himself it would be worth it for both of them.
“You left me alone and I still love you and I hate myself for it.”

When she finally slumped aga
inst him, Gabe gathered her in
his arms and held on. The joy that he felt in that moment was worth the weeks of emptiness he had endured in California.

When her tears subsided, she eased away. “I need a moment to pull myself together. Excuse me, please.” She walked out of the kitchen and he listened to the sounds of her footsteps fade
away upstairs.

Upstairs, Tory flipped on the bathroom light, shut, and locked the door. She was shaken to the core
,
but she only blamed herself now.

A fresh ro
und of tears erupted and Tory sa
nk down to sit on the toilet
lid
. Oh, how could she be so stupid? She had confessed to being in love with him and had wept right on his shoulder. He had told her he was in love with her, too. Did she dare believe him?

It felt so good to be held in his arms again,
she
thought
as she scrubbed her tear drenched fa
ce with
cold water. She looked up and
what she saw in the mirror astonished her.

S
he looked so broken. She looked how she felt, she knew but this… No, this wouldn’t do. Tory scrubbed her face
until the red splotches of emotion were gone,
ran a brush through her hair
,
and pulled it back again. She was toying with some blusher when she realized with a jolt she was wearing his necklace.

Oh, God.

Mortified, Tory’s first instinct was to tear it off
,
but she stopped. He had already seen it. The man was observant and she would only look more like a
n idiot if she took it off.

After a final appraisal, Tory left the bathroom and walked slowly back down the stairs. Her tennis shoes were soundless on the carpeted
steps.
She pasted on an indifferent expression and walked into the kitchen.

He was sitting at the table rummaging through a small cardboard box.
She
stopped at the doorway and folded her hands.

Gabe glanced over and stopped.

“I have some
things for you. For the team,” h
e finally said.

“Oh?”

“Yeah.” He waited until she came to the table
,
then
pulled out a book. “This is my nature portfolio. I thought you’d like to see it.”

She leafed through the pages idly and no expression crossed her face. In truth, she was enormously proud of Gabe. She could have told him she knew where each photo was taken
, even
without the subtitles.

And she was immensely grateful to him for giving her these few moments to get herself under control. She had told him she loved him only minutes ago and instead of
hightailing
it out the doo
r—
not that
she would blame him if he did—
he was letting her down easy this time.

“These are great,
”
s
he said after closing the book.

“Thanks.” He slid a manila envelope to her. “You guys can keep these.”

She opened the envelope silently and pulled a number of prints out. Some were of the clouds and of the twisters they had chased. There were a few of the equipment and of the team using the radars. Tory smiled at a
posed
picture of Adam looking all rugged and manly in his cargo pants and black boots
,
covered with mud. He had one booted foot propped up on a log and was scratching his chin.

“The team will love these. Thank you.” She replaced the pictures and sat the envelope aside.

“And
here are
the reviews for the show I did last month. They mentioned the
Pirates
a lot.” He handed her a framed newspaper clip
ping. “You can read them later,” h
e said absently and handed her the next framed photo.

“Oh my…” Tory trailed off as she stared at the picture of herself running in the field toward a tornado.

“I won an award for t
hat one,
” Gabe told her quietly.

An award?
She realized with a jolt that she’d basically cut herself off from the outside world over the past few months. Who was this person who locked herself away from everyone? Who cried at the drop of a hat? Who only showed love and affection to her dog?

“It’s amazing.” Her gaze met his for the first time since she came back downstairs. His eyes were as dark as the clouds in the picture she held and they held h
ers. “You must have snapped it—”

“Right as I took off running after you. Yeah, I don’t even remember taking it. I just clicked it and ran.”