wondered why her friend was so irritated by the topic of Gabriel Gentry. “So I’ve heard from Caleb. As I said, people do change. I suppose only time will tell if Gabe has.”
Rachel took a sip of coffee before answering. “He did tell me he came back to try to make amends.”
“That’s promising, but I’m here to say that Caleb is struggling with the idea that Gabe is even back after so long. There’s been a lot of bad blood between them.”
Rachel nodded. “I certainly understand how he feels.” Perhaps more than Caleb.
* * *
That conversation stayed with Rachel as she drove the buggy back to town. Like Caleb, she was having a hard time accepting Gabe’s return. Because he broke your heart and trampled your woman’s pride beneath his fancy handmade boots.
True enough. That aside, surely she was mature enough to put the past into perspective. As terrible as it had been, she had learned from the experience. She was a better person. Stronger and more tolerant of others’ mistakes. So why not Gabe’s?
No doubt about it, she thought, giving her head a shake. She was a terrible, terrible person! Not forgiving wasn’t an option to a Christian, but like Caleb’s, her forgiveness of Gabe would come hard.
She prayed he would heal and move on soon. If he chose to stay, she wasn’t sure how she would deal with seeing him on a regular basis. Stop borrowing trouble, Rachel Stone. No one had any idea what he would do once his injuries healed. Still, there was the remote possibility that he would stay in the area, which meant her father had a point. She had to tell Danny and pray he understood.
But not today.
* * *
To her dismay, she and Danny found Edward and Gabe sitting at the kitchen table playing a game of chess. Gabe sat ramrod straight in the chair. He looked awful. He was far too pale, and there was no masking the pain shadowing his sapphire-hued eyes or the challenge in them as he looked at her. He expected her to rail at him for being out of bed, but she was too weary for another battle and kept silent.
“Can I play, Pops?” Danny wheedled, shoving his small body beneath Edward’s arm so he could get a better look at the board.
Intent on the game pieces, Edward gave the boy a distracted hug. “Not this game, Danny.”
“No one ever wants to play with me,” he said, his shoulders slumping.
“That isn’t true,” Rachel told him, hanging her coat by the door. She turned and took two plates out of the basket she’d carried in. “Pops plays with you all the time.”
“Supper?” Edward asked, spying the plates.
“Turkey and all the trimmings,” she replied. “I’ll stick them in the oven for a bit,” she said, doing just that. “They’ll be hot in no time.”
Finally reaching a decision, Edward moved a piece and then gave his attention to his daughter. “Makes my mouth water just thinking about Mary’s dressing.”
“I wasn’t sure if you liked turkey or not, so I brought ham, too,” she said to Gabe. Even as she spoke the words, she regretted showing any concern for his likes or dislikes.
“Either is fine, thank you. And I’ll play a game with you sometime, Danny, but I think I’d best get back to bed after I eat.”
The unexpected thanks and offer to Danny took Rachel by surprise, though it shouldn’t have. Gabe Gentry epitomized charm and grace and friendliness.
What he lacked was integrity and common decency.
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