Updrift (10 page)

“You’re delicious. I could eat you.”

“You’d have to like hairspray, then.” Kate wanted to make light of his comment, although it gave her a thrill. “I think we were each required to use two gallons…”

Gabe laughed. “That is one of the better things about being a guy. I got ready in twenty minutes. How long were you girls tied up?”

She shook her head sadly. “We had to be at the salon at nine, and they didn’t set us free until after one. You should have seen all the equipment and goo required to pretty us up. The army should consult with Ruby’s Hair Salon on how to whip our forces into shape.” He chuckled.

“So, when do you leave for boarding school?”

He sighed. “You had to bring it up, didn’t you?”

She rushed to reassure him. “No-no. We don’t have to talk about it.”

“Well, it’s probably a good idea if we do. I leave on Monday, and they’re pretty strict about getting calls and e-mails.”

She was instantly upset. “Monday? As in, two-days-from-now Monday? And why can’t you call or e-mail? I thought you called it a school, not a prison.”

“Two-days-from-now Monday is when I leave, and I’m of the opinion the term
school
is promotional in nature. It sounds more like a prison to me too.” His mouth drooped. “We can call and e-mail on Sundays.”

They danced without speaking for a minute while Kate tried to accept what he was saying—in less than forty-eight hours, he would disappear so completely from her life; they wouldn’t even be able to text. The music changed to something quicker paced, but they stayed in their waltz. “When do you come back?” she managed, her heart in her throat.

“The usual. Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, spring break.”

She hesitated, feeling she risked revealing too much by asking, “Any chance I could come visit you?”

“Virtually none. It’s all boys, and even if I could get you there somehow, which is unlikely, you’d have to pretend you’re a guy. I don’t think you could pull it off.” His thumb stroked the small of her back.

She blushed with pleasure at his words, but the thought of his departure again made her desolate. “So this is it then, until Thanksgiving.” She hoped she didn’t sound as hysterical as she felt.

Gabe located his parents, who glanced their way from time to time; and then searched out Cara and John, who were doing the same. “I’ve got an idea. Do you see the clock on the wall to my right?” She pretended to casually scan around her until she saw the clock he’d indicated.

“Yes.”

“We’ll finish this dance,” he continued quietly. “Then, I’ll talk with my parents for a few minutes. You should find Maya or get yourself some punch. I’ll tell my folks I’m leaving early so I can pack, and then I’m going to disappear. You hang around for another ten minutes; make sure they see you here without me. When it’s safe, try and sneak out to the lower garden in back, okay?” She nodded.

“I’ll be waiting for you.”

His plan worked. She saw him excuse himself from his parents’ company while she chatted with a couple of the Wilkes cousins. She waved to the Blakes and her parents. Providentially, the band played the beginning bars to a fast song, drawing a large, enthusiastic group onto the dance floor. Kate pretended excitement to blend in with them. Then, with the flashing lights and thick crowd, she escaped without notice.

She found Gabe by the pergola. “You made it!” he whispered and without pause, drew her into him. She wound her arms around his waist and rested her head against his chest while he reached down to guide her face up to his. Their gaze met briefly, a tenderness between them tapping a wellspring of happiness in Kate that flooded from her heart through her extremities. His kiss was sweet and gentle but evoked a powerful wave of emotion unhinging her from everything she’d previously thought important. Tears sprang to her eyes from the force of her feelings. Gabe leaned away to frown at them. “What’s wrong?”

She smiled. “Absolutely nothing. That was just amazing, that’s all.” He brushed her tears away and placed his forehead against hers, closing his eyes.

“This is probably not the best idea in the world but I don’t care.”

“Why is this not a good idea?” She thought this might be the best thing she’d ever done in her entire life.

“There’s a bunch of stuff you don’t know about me and my family, stuff I can’t really tell you. And it affects you if we’re together.” His expression became brooding. “It’s kind of a catch twenty-two. You should know more about me before you become involved with me but the things you should know are things I’m not allowed to tell you unless we’re involved.”

Kate considered this information before answering him. “Why don’t you just tell me, Gabe? This should be obvious, but say whatever you need to say, I promise to keep it to myself, and then we can decide what to do from there.”

Rather than answer, he bent to kiss her again. She felt intoxicated.

When their kiss ended, he pulled back. “Tempting, but I can’t. It’s not that simple.”

Kate had forgotten what they were discussing and had to think before it came back to her. “It’s as simple or as complicated as we decide to make it, Gabe.” She put her hand tentatively up to his face.

He seemed to deliberate hard before responding. “Well, I’m going to tell you something. This,” and he gestured between them, “is going to get more difficult for me as time goes on. That’s one thing. If I come back to visit you next year and grab your wrist and start mooning over you, run away or be prepared to be stuck with me for the rest of your life.”

“Next
year
?” Kate’s heart sank. “I don’t know what you’re saying. And I actually would like an explanation of the wrist-holding thing. Why do you do it?”

Gabe held her hand to his chest, wrapped the fingers of his other hand around her wrist, and then bent to kiss her once more. He stopped when his lips were almost to hers and whispered, “I’m checking your pulse. Please don’t ask me to explain.” Then he closed the remaining distance between them, and Kate once again forgot their conversation.

“This is going to sound weird but I’m hoping to put the rest of this conversation off for another two years. Can we do that?”

Her heart seized at the torture in his eyes and at the idea of putting this, whatever it was, off for two years, which seemed like an eternity. She told him the truth. “I want to be with you, and I don’t want to wait two years.” She felt pathetic and knew her laugh sounded weak. “Is that selfish?”

He sighed in frustration. “No, but it’s not really possible, either. I actually am leaving for school, and I really won’t be around.”

Kate’s shoulders sagged. “How about if we think of it in smaller chunks. You’ll be home for Thanksgiving, right? And then a month later, for Christmas? Easter’s a couple of months later…if we consider it that way, we’re not talking about two years, which sounds like forever. We’re just talking a month or two between visits, right?”

Gabe laughed softly. “Yes! We’ll be like drug addicts kicking our habits! One day at a time!”

At that moment, she heard several people calling them. “Gabe? Kate?” Both sets of parents were searching for them. She and Gabe became perfectly still. Carmen scanned the garden from ten yards away and then drifted toward the front of the building.

Kate resigned herself to all of it—Gabe leaving, their more imminent separation because of their parents, and how she didn’t and wouldn’t know why she couldn’t see him. “I guess you’d better get going, and I’d better get back.” She attempted a smile…“One more kiss, please,” and she perched on the balls of her feet.

“Yes.” Gabe leaned down to meet her. The intensity of their kiss drowned out every other sight, sound, and thought as they pressed themselves to each other. The moment was airless, timeless, and as profound as anything Kate had ever experienced.

John’s voice brought them up short. “Kate? Gabe?” he called from too close. They stilled and waited until they heard him leave.

Gabe was more still and silent than any human being she’d ever encountered. “
Sshhhh
.” And after a pause to let John get well away, said, “I’d better get out of here. Try to scoot back to the reception, and I’ll call you tomorrow.” He kissed her briefly once more, saying, “Ha! I snuck in another one.” Then he was gone.

Even though she’d let him go, Kate felt bereft. Tears filled her eyes and her throat closed in an effort to stave them off. She was irrationally hopeful and profoundly disappointed at the same time. On one hand, she was thrilled she would see Gabe again and to know he cared for her. But she was devastated to think of the next two years without his companionship or any answers to the riddles he’d just posed. And what if he met someone at boarding school? She consoled herself with the reminder it was an all-boys’ facility. As she wound her way around the building to the entrance, John and Cara found her.

“Kate! Where did you run to?” Her mother seemed far too concerned.

She knew she sounded defensive when she answered her. “I just came out for air.”

John became suspicious, scrutinizing her face. “Did you run into Gabe on your way out?”

She didn’t have the guile to lie well, so she told the truth. “I did see him as he was leaving. And I’ve been up since forever, and I just got a little hot and tired. It felt good to get away from all the noise and the crowd. We should get back to the reception, though.” She hurried past them through the door.

John and Cara followed silently, and in Kate’s opinion, flung silent accusations. She raced into the reception hall to avoid a full-on inquisition.

True to his word, Gabe called the day after the wedding but seemed to be under the watchful eye of one or both of his parents because they didn’t talk long and Gabe’s conversation seemed guarded. He promised to call or text
from time to time
. She told him to try and have fun and to hurry back. “I’ll miss you,” she settled on after a brief silence where she struggled to say something that didn’t make her sound as needy as she felt.

His response was too light. “I’ll miss you too, Kate. We’ll get together at Thanksgiving, okay?” And that was the end of their talk.

She left later in the week for Philadelphia to stay with Will and Dana, grateful for the change in scenery and the distraction her camps and cooking obsession afforded her. She sent Gabe an e-mail about her classes and experiments in the kitchen. He responded they ran like slaves at his new school. He couldn’t wait to try some of her concoctions personally.

I’m not supposed to write to you too much, Kate. If you don’t hear from me, please know you are always in my thoughts.

XXXXXX!

Gabe

Kate was happy to be in his thoughts, because goodness, he was certainly in hers. And she was confused as to why he wasn’t allowed to communicate with her. By whom? His parents loved her like a daughter, and Cara and John thought just as highly of Gabe. Why all the secrecy?

When she returned home from Philadelphia, she touched on the topic with her mother. Without revealing any details about her exchange with Gabe at the wedding, Kate told her about Gabe’s e-mail. “Do you have any idea what he meant?”

“A little bit,” Cara hedged. “I’m sure everyone would be very happy if you and Gabe end up together, Kate. We just want to make sure you both get through school first.”

Kate was incredulous. “Am I the only one to notice tons of people date and do other things in life at the same time? Don’t you and John date
and
each hold down jobs, for example?”

Her mother avoided her gaze. “Well, of course you’re right.” When she faced her again, her expression was apologetic but her tone was firm. “Honestly, you need to try and put it out of your mind for a while. There are very, very good reasons not to get involved right now.”

More half-answers and mysteries. Kate threw up her hands and stomped out of the room.

As it turned out, she wasn’t given any other option than to wait. Carmen called a few weeks later to report Gabe was spending Thanksgiving with a classmate, and they were going to Europe for Christmas as a family.

In addition, Cara and John had some very big news to share with her.

As discussed, they held a small wedding ceremony in September with the local justice of the peace at the courthouse. Kate had never seen her mother so radiant, and she’d been pretty radiant since John came into their lives. Immediately following the ceremony, they signed adoption papers, making the three legally, officially a family, and then Kate stayed at Maya’s house while John and Cara took a short honeymoon. Afterward, Kate, Cara, and John resumed their habits of the previous three months, except John was there late nights and early mornings too. They’d somehow found time together outside of what Kate saw however, which she learned when they called her to the living room for a family meeting.

Cara began the conversation, and she was worried about something. “Here’s the thing,” she announced. “You’re going to have a little brother or sister running around soon.”

Kate clutched her excitedly. “Really?” Then she realized her mother and John had only been married a month. “When you say
pretty soon
, when do you mean, exactly? Don’t people typically wait to announce these things until after the first trimester?”

“Yes, that’s right. They do. And we are through the first trimester…” Her mother glanced at John.

“Cara is due in March, Kate,” he stated. “We’ve known about this for a while but we waited to tell you because we wanted to involve ourselves, you in particular, so this transition wouldn’t be a shock for you.”

She counted the months in her head and thought back to the party at Carmen and Michael’s house, wondering if that was the start of all of this and thinking it probably was. “That night at the Blake party…” she began, but then closed her eyes and extended her palms. “Wait. Forget I said that. It’s none of my business, and I don’t really want to know.”

John stifled a laugh. Her mother settled her arm on Kate’s shoulders. “This really is the last way I would want to announce this to you. But the night of the Blake party did set everything in motion. And I’m breaking all the parenting rules here by saying,
do as I say not as I do
, but this is exactly what we both are telling you now.”