Jan froze. And stared at her.
Then she made a tiny whimpering sound.
Gabe closed his eyes briefly. Gave his head a little shake.
God how she hated being a source of pain for him. And loved that he knew why this was unbelievably funny.
She sighed. How she longed for emotions that weren’t hybrid: humor without anguish or guilt. Or love without longing.
“Look, Jan,” she said, “it’s been intense. Pretty good so far, but intense. Annelise is more than a little keyed up from the news, as you can imagine, though she seems pleased to know the truth and we’re all actually doing okay. We’re still working our way through it, and that means Jasper, too. We’d rather not deliberately make it public, if we can help it, and I know Jasper is keeping it under wraps, too, for Annelise’s sake. Maybe you can explain this gently to Caitlynn. Even so, I’ll be able to handle whatever comes up, if it does become public knowledge. But this is such a delicate time in Annelise’s life. I could use the support of someone as strong and smart as you. I would so appreciate it if you would keep all of this to yourself.”
Gabe was watching this with an expression, if she had to give it a name, akin to something like pride. More rueful than that.
“Of course, Eden. You’ve got my support. Whatever I can do.”
“Thank you.”
She smiled so warmly at Jan that Jan’s own face erupted into a sloppy, charming smile of bonhomie.
“Maybe we can get the girls together for a play date, just the two of them. Maybe take them up to Devil’s Leap to visit with my sister’s animals, or go swimming up there.”
“And maybe have a glass of wine,” Jan added.
“And definitely have a glass of wine.”
They smiled at each other again.
Eden turned back to Gabe. “Sorry to take up more of your time, Mr. Caldera. And I apologize again for Annelise’s behavior, no matter the circumstances. I’ll have a long talk with her about it. And I’ll do my best to make sure it never happens again.”
“Yes, thank you, Gabe. And I’ll make sure Caitlynn understands the consequences of her actions, as well,” Jan said to both Gabe and Eden. “And now, I must be off.”
She scooped up her sweater and her handbag.
Eden was about to follow her just as quickly.
“Eden,” Gabe said gruffly.
She turned.
“Don’t,” he said simply.
“Don’t...”
“...feel guilty about Townes being Annelise’s father and how it happened or Annelise getting into a fight. Because I know you’re feeling guilty right now. None of us really gets much of a say in our parents.”
She was dumbstruck.
“How’d you...”
She stopped.
Theygoteach other. That was how he’d known to say that.
She hovered there, her entire being twisted like a rag over knowledge of what they could have had. They got each other, but fundamental things in their characters—pride and stubbornness and a need to win—had blown it apart.
Why didn’t she know how to fix that?
Mrs. Maker appeared in the doorway. “Mr. Caldera, your next appointment is here,” she said, and melted away.