Chapter 12: Gabrielle

Chapter 12 – Gabrielle

I send Nelle and Betty home after a long shift and finish the kitchen clean-up myself. After a long, and at times frustrating, day I should be exhausted, but I’m not. I’ve gotten my second wind, and I’m excited about going out with Hannah tonight. I’m all for a girls’ night out.

After finishing up in the restaurant, I head up to my apartment to freshen up and change.

Hannah texts me, telling me to meet her out front. She’s parked in her reserved spot near the lodge entrance. I run out and climb into the front passenger seat of her Jeep.

“We’re just waiting on Maya,” she says.

Killian is standing at her open driver’s door window, his hands casually gripping her car door. “How long do you think you’ll be?” he asks Hannah as he flexes his fingers.

“I’m not sure,” she says. “We’ll have to play it by ear. I guess it depends on the others.”

“You won’ be out past midnight, will ya?” he asks.

“I doubt it,” she says.

I swear, Killian looks like he’s pouting. I’m trying to keep a straight face, but it’s hard.

“Why don’t you invite some of the guys to the lodge to play poker tonight?” she suggests. “I’m sure you could get Owen and Burke to play. Probably Travis and Micah, too.”

Maya comes through the lodge doors and heads straight for the Jeep. She opens the rear door on the driver’s side and climbs in behind Hannah’s seat. “Sorry about that. I got waylaid in the lobby by a guest asking questions about tomorrow’s climb.”

I turn in my seat to face Maya. “So, you’re a rock climber? I’d love to hear more about it.”

“Have you climbed before?” she asks.

I laugh. “I don’t think the kiddie rock wall at my rec center back home counts as rock climbing.”

“It’s a start. You should join us one day. Travis and I teach climbing. We’d love to have you.” Maya glances at Killian, who’s still talking to Hannah. She leans forward and pries Killian’s hand off the door frame. “We gotta go, pal. Don’t worry, you’ll see her again.”

Killian takes a step back and lets his hands fall to his sides. He nods to Hannah. “Have fun. Call me if you need anything.”

Hannah waves to him. “You have fun, too.” Then she starts the engine and backs out of the parking spot, turns, and heads down the lane toward the main road.

Maya leans back in her seat and sighs dramatically. “My God, he is such a baby.”

I notice Hannah is smiling.

“I think it’s sweet,” I say. “Obviously, he’s going to miss her.”

“Those two are attached at the hip,” Maya says, rolling her eyes. She pats Hannah’s shoulder. “It’s good for you to have some away time from the Cajun. It’s good for him, too.” Maya redirects her attention to me. “So, Gabrielle. What’s your relationship status?”

“Nonexistent,” I say with a chuckle.

“Ooh, Hannah!” Maya leans forward eagerly. “We should set her up with Micah.”

Hannah glances at Maya in the rearview mirror. “Put your seatbelt on.”

“Fine,” Maya grumbles as she buckles her belt.

“Who’s Micah?” I ask.

“Have you met Ruth yet, as in Ruth’s Tavern?” Maya asks.

“Yes.”

“Micah is her younger brother. He runs the auto repair shop in town. He’s a former military helicopter pilot. He even has his own chopper. He helps us out when we need air support during rescues. In fact, Hannah, didn’t Micah pull you out of the Eagle Ridge valley during that blizzard?”

I remember hearing about this. “Wasn’t that when Killian led a search and rescue mission to find her?”

Maya nods. “Yep. Killian, Maggie, and Owen were all there. Micah took Hannah down off that mountain in his chopper, but the others had to hike out.” She laughs. “I guess it worked out well for everyone. Hannah got a boyfriend out of the ordeal, and Maggie got a husband and a baby. Be careful, Gabrielle. If you go missing around here, you’ll end up married and pregnant.”

“What about you?” I ask Maya.

She scowls at me. “Me, married and pregnant? Oh, hell no! Besides, I don’t need to be rescued. I can rescue myself.”

“No, I mean are you seeing someone?” It seems like she and Travis are together every time I see them. They work together. They eat together. “Are you and Travis—”

She cuts me off. “Oh, God, no. We’re coworkers and climbing partners, that’s it.”

“Oh, sorry. I just assumed—I mean, he seems like a really nice guy.”

“Oh, he is. I’m just not interested in having some guy thinking he can tell me what to do.” Maya gazes pointedly at the back of Hannah’s head. “That would drive me nuts.”

I notice Hannah hasn’t said a word during this entire conversation, but she still has a smile on her face. I’m guessing thoughts of Killian are the reason.

It doesn’t take us long to reach downtown Bryce, if you can call it that. Hannah parks in front of the tavern, and we all climb out of the Jeep. Inside, the bar is bustling, and there’s a pretty good chatter of voices. Ruth’s standing behind the bar. When she catches our attention, she points across the room at a large wooden table where Maggie and Jennie are already seated.

I follow Hannah and Maya through the small crowd, and we take our seats with the others.

Ruth joins us a moment later, dropping off a large tray holding a frosty pitcher of beer, five empty mugs, and a Coke. “Help yourselves, ladies. I’ll be right back to join you.”

Hannah, Maya, and I take the three seats opposite Maggie and Jennie. I’m seated across from Maggie.

“So, Gabrielle,” Maggie says, “how do you like our fair little town so far?”

“I like it a lot,” I say. I have to speak up to be heard over the dull roar of voices and the music coming from the jukebox.

Jennie hands Maggie the Coke, and then she picks up the pitcher of beer and starts pouring. “Would you like beer, Gabrielle? Or something else?”

“Beer is fine,” I say. “Thanks.”

Ruth returns to the table with another tray, this one laden with appetizers. It looks like she brought one of everything on the menu—wings, fried pickles, cheese sticks with marinara for dipping, loaded potato skins, nachos, and pretzel bites with cheese sauce for dipping. “Dig in, ladies,” she says. “There’s plenty more where this came from.”

“How’s Claire doing?” Hannah asks as she reaches for a pretzel bite.

“Great,” Maggie says. “She’s already sleeping through the night, thank God. I was not doing well on only four hours of sleep a night.”

“How is Owen handling fatherhood?” she asks.

Maggie grabs a mozzarella cheese stick. “Like a trooper. He was born to be a daddy.”

“I’ll bet,” Maya says with a snort.

Maggie blushes. “Let’s not go there, okay?”

While they all catch each other up on what’s going on in their lives, I sit back and listen. The only one I know here is Hannah, and honestly, I don’t know her that well. We met only a few times back in Chicago when she attended McIntyre family events—weddings and baby showers. I was at those events because one of my best friends, Beth, married into the McIntyre family. That sort of made me an honorary member.

It’s nice they’re welcoming me into their group here. I assume that’s Hannah’s doing.

“Eat something, Gabrielle,” Jennie says to me, motioning to the tray of appetizers.

A shouting match at one of the pool tables breaks out, and Ruth hollers, “Mark Mitchell, you settle your ass down right now, or I swear I’ll kick you to the curb.”

The argument quickly dissipates, and I’m impressed with Ruth’s command of the situation.

Ruth shakes her head. “Idiots.”

Maya leans close to me. “They’re scared shitless of Ruth. She has a reputation around here.”

I’m not sure what kind of reputation Maya is referring to, but sure enough the two guys who were arguing have made up and are back to playing pool.

The conversation continues.

A blond guy wearing a red plaid shirt walks up behind Maya. “Hey, Maya. Wanna dance?”

“Get lost, Tony,” she says, not even bothering to look at him.

“Who’s your new friend?” the guy asks. “Care to introduce me?”

I glance up and realize he’s looking at me.

“Forget it, Tony,” Maya says, still not bothering to look at him. She takes a long swig of her beer. “The girl has standards, and you don’t meet them.”

Ruth makes a shooing motion. “Move along, Tony. You’re barkin’ up the wrong tree.”

Once he’s gone, Maya says to me, “Be prepared to get hit on a lot, Gabrielle. This is a small town, and there are way more single guys than girls living around here. They get overly excited when fresh meat rolls into town. They’re like sharks at a feeding frenzy. If only half-a-dozen guys hit on you tonight, consider yourself lucky. I’ll let you know which ones to avoid. Like Tony. He’s after only one thing.”

The night proceeds. Someone from the bar brings us another pitcher of beer, and later someone brings us another tray of appetizers. The beer is good, as is the food. I’m not very familiar with country music, but I do recognize some popular songs that I know and like.

Over the next hour, three more guys come up to Maya and ask her to dance. She says no to the first two, but she says yes to the last guy—someone named Kent. “I’ll be back,” she says, rolling her eyes at me. “It won’t kill me to dance one dance.”

Jennie dances several times, with a different guy each time. Ruth turns down several offers. No one asks Maggie or Hannah—I guess everyone knows they’re already taken, and therefore off limits.

Even I get a couple of offers, which I politely decline. It’s not that I don’t want to dance, or that I’m against meeting someone. It’s just—well, I keep thinking about John. I almost wish he were here. Maybe after a couple of beers, I’d get up the courage to ask him to dance. But then I wonder if dancing would hurt his leg. If it did, I’d be just as happy to sit it out with him.

“You’re not dancing?” Ruth asks me when I turn down a third offer.

I shake my head. “I had a long day. I’m tired.”

“Suit yourself,” she says.

It’s almost eleven-thirty, and we’ve been here a little over two hours.

Hannah catches me yawning. “We should think about getting back,” she says to the group at large. “Tomorrow morning will be here before we know it.”

As soon as we say our goodbyes, Owen appears out of nowhere, walks up behind Maggie, and puts his hands on her shoulders. He leans down to kiss the top of her head. “Ready, babe?”

“Yes,” she replies, looking up to smile at him. This time, he leans down and kisses her on the mouth.

“Hi, Gabrielle,” Owen says. “I’m glad to see you came out with the ladies. Welcome to the club.”

“How’s Claire?” Maggie asks as she rises from her chair.

“She was sound asleep when I left her with the boys.”

“My sons, Ryan and Brendan,” Maggie explains. “You met Ryan the other day at my store. Brendan is sixteen. They’re both wonderful big brothers to their baby sister.”

Owen takes Maggie’s hand. “Come on, Jennie,” he says. “We’ll give you a ride home.”

As Owen walks Maggie and Jennie out the back door, Hannah, Maya, and I thank Ruth for her generous hospitality. We leave by the front door, where Hannah is parked.

“Where does Ruth live?” I ask.

“She has a cabin a little ways out of town,” Hannah says, “but she also keeps an apartment over the tavern. She often crashes up there.”

It’s a short drive back to the lodge. When Hannah parks in her reserved spot near the front entrance, we climb out and head toward the double set of glass doors.

Killian comes out to greet us. “Have a good time?” he asks Hannah as he pulls her into his arms. He gives her a tight squeeze and kisses her forehead.

“We had a great time,” she says. “Ruth plied us with food and alcohol.”

For a split second, I experience a pang of envy. Clearly, Killian dotes on Hannah. Just as Owen seems to dote on his wife. I’ve never had a relationship like that. Honestly, I was always too busy working at Renaldo’s to date much. My job—my career—always came first. But this time around, I’m hoping to find a healthier balance in my life.

The doors open and out walks John. His limp is a bit more pronounced than usual—he must be tired. “’Night, ladies,” he says, tipping the brim of his hat.

“Goodnight, ya’ll,” Maya says as she trudges inside the building. “I’m hitting the hay. Got an early morning group to take out.”

Hannah and Killian climb into the Jeep and drive around the building to the lane that leads to their log cabin up the way.

“Did you have a good time?” John asks me.

We’re the only two left.

“I did. Hannah’s friends are nice, very welcoming.”

He nods. “Glad to hear it.” He motions in the direction of his cabin. “It’s late.”

I nod. “Yeah, me too. I’m so tired I’ll probably be asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow.”

John lingers a moment, then he nods toward the doors. “I’ll wait until you’re inside.”

The lodge doors are only twenty feet away from where we’re standing. The lobby is fully lit, and I can see two staff members working behind the counter, and a third person vacuuming the entryway. There is absolutely zero risk to me as I make my way inside the building.

“Thanks, John,” I say. I can feel my lips curving up of their own volition. John’s the kind of man who would dote on his partner. He’d make sure she got home safely. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

He nods. “Goodnight, Gabrielle.”

I’m grinning ear to ear all the way to my apartment. I let myself in, grab a bottle of water, and get ready for bed.

As I’m lying in my comfy bed, feeling sleep fast approaching, I wonder if a cowboy like John Burke could ever be interested in a city girl.