Jacob's Ladder: Gabe (Jacob's Ladder #1)

“His name was Elliot, and he worked at Hart Collision with your father.”

Suddenly, it hit me. I remembered a man name Elliot. He had always had candy for me and my sisters when we were really little and visited my dad at the shop. I also remembered him being at the house once or twice. “Wait, did this happen like over twenty ago? Like before Kennedy, Ellie, and I were in school?”

“No, it was more like forty years ago.”

I furrowed my brows at her. “But I remember an Elliot.”

“As you should. He worked at the shop until he died twenty years ago.” A ghost of a smile appeared on her lips “Just because we broke up, that didn’t mean I had him wiped off the face of the earth or fired from his job. I can be pretty petty, but not that petty.”

“What happened between you two?”

“While there were other men after George, none of them were Elliot.” Drawing her shoulders back, she added, “I’ll cut to the chase and leave out what led to me finding true love again at fifty, because the most important part of the story is how I lost him.”

“Okay,” I said tentatively.

“There was another woman in town, Viola, who Elliot had dated before me. When she saw we were getting serious, she started a campaign to make me believe Elliot still loved her. One day he didn’t come over to walk me to church, and when I went by later to check on him, I found Viola leaving out his back door.”

“Oh, hell no!”

“Yes, I thought as much too.”

“What did you do?”

“Why I marched right up the front steps and banged on the door. When I confronted Elliot, he promised me nothing had happened, said he’d been sick and stayed home from church then when he woke up, he found her there in his house.” Narrowing her eyes, she said, “He tried to say she still had a key from when they had dated, but I wasn’t buying it. I told him he must have thought I was an idiot to believe such a story, and I left. For days after that, Elliott pleaded with me to believe him. He swore on his life that nothing had happened with Viola and said he could never love anyone like he loved me. Finally, he got so frustrated, he stopped calling or coming by. Although I would see him in town from time to time, he never talked to me again.”

Since I knew how the story ended, I asked, “Why couldn’t you believe him?”

“Plain and simple stubbornness.” She gave me a knowing look. “The same kind of a stubbornness that is keeping you from calling Gabe and trying to make things work.”

“Wait a minute. What happened between you and Elliott is not the same as what happened between Gabe and me,” I protested.

“Is it not?”

“No. You believed a lie of betrayal perpetuated by a jealous woman where Gabe truly betrayed me.”

“Betrayal is a pretty strong word for what Gabe actually did.”

“Aunt Sadie, I told Gabe my history. He knew about Ryan and Mom, and how because of music, they had left me. He knew how I felt about Lincoln having a guitar, and how I feared I would lose Linc too. Is that irrational? Now, I can probably say yes. But at the time, I was terrified. Linc is my world. How do I trust someone who didn’t show any remorse for helping my son to not only disobey his mom, but to do so publically?”

“Yes, I’m well aware of that.”

“Are you sure you are because it doesn’t seem that way from what you’re saying.”

Aunt Sadie pursed her lips at me. “Yes, Gabe broke your trust. And yes, in the moment, he claimed he didn’t feel any remorse. But you and I both know in the heat of the moment, we say things we really don’t mean. Perhaps time has tempered his anger. Maybe he’s had time to contemplate more about the complexities of parenting a child, and how the adults must stand by each other’s decisions, and never sabotage them.”

I contemplated what Aunt Sadie was saying. “I guess.”

“You have to remember that Gabe’s insensitivity comes from the fact he’s never been a parent. It was his ignorance that led him to say and do the things he did. The Gabe I know would never knowingly hurt you or Linc.”

“I really don’t think he meant to hurt us either,” I said softly.

She nodded. “Relationships are hard and people make mistakes. Sometimes they make colossal mistakes, and sometimes they are minute ones. In the end, it isn’t the mistakes themselves, but it’s how you handle them. It’s the ability to look past the mistake and see the heart and motive behind it.”

Reaching over, she cupped my chin. “Reagan, I love you very much. I’ve always been immensely proud of you for finishing high school and going to college when the chips were stacked against you. Not only are you a wonderful mother, but you’re also a very good businesswoman.”

I swallowed hard. Although the words seemed inadequate for how I was feeling, I replied, “Thank you, Aunt Sadie.”

“So hear me out. You’re being a stubborn idiot over this mess with Gabe.” When I opened my mouth to protest, she shook her head. “And he is too, because he hasn’t tried to reach out to you. But you know as well as I do that men are emotional babies. Trust me, you don’t want to end up like me—alone and having to live each day with regret. I’ll never know what could have been with Elliot where you have the chance with Gabe. You need to decide if you can look past the mistake. He needs to decide if he can learn from it and avoid making it again. And then you both need to begin to forgive and heal.”

After surveying her words, I slowly nodded. “Okay. I’ll try to talk to Gabe.”

Relief filled her eyes. “I’m so glad you saw things my way.”

I laughed. “You certainly didn’t give me much choice. I was waiting for you to beat some sense into me with your cane.”

She gave me a sly smile. “Well, that was my plan B.”

“I’m glad it didn’t come to that.”

“Me too.” She reached over and patted my leg. “I’m so glad you said you would talk to Gabe.”

“Really?”

With a nod, she replied, “Well, firstly, he’s terribly handsome.”

“Aunt Sadie!” I laughed.

“But mostly because he’s on his way here.”

My stomach plummeted to my feet. “Excuse me?”

“I said Gabe is on his way to see you.”

“But…what? I mean, how do you know that?”

“He called about an hour ago to make sure you were here.” Winking, she added, “I was going to have to fake a stroke or something if you tried to leave.”

I bolted out of the swing. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me until now. I can’t let Gabe see me like this!” I gesticulated wildly to my grease-pit hair, lack of makeup, and the Star Wars pajama pants I was wearing.

“He was in Ball Ground when he called.”

“Oh shit! That means he could be here any minute. Shit!”

“Go ahead and get in the shower, honey. I’ll stall him for you.”

As Aunt Sadie sat there leaning on her cane, I couldn’t help but think how much she reminded of me of Olenna Tyrell from Game of Thrones. All she needed was the medieval headdress thing and she could be her twin.

“Okay. You do that.” I sprinted away from Aunt Sadie and into the house.