Authors: MJ Summers
December
December in London brought cool weather offset by the festive Christmas lights to brighten the evenings. Claire was still grappling with her new insight about why she left Cole. She wished she could call Cole and tell him the truth. It didn't seem right to her to have him thinking she was only here for his sake, when really she knew that Luc was right. This was a self-imposed exile to protect her fragile ego. She had cut the ties before he even had a chance to prove to her that he wouldn't leave her. The question of what would have happened if she had stayed haunted her. She had to remind herself repeatedly that Cole had indeed taken up with Gabriela already, which meant that she had made the right choice. If he could move on so quickly, surely their love hadn't meant much to him.
She did her best to put the whole thing out of her mind. She started going to yoga classes with Janet in the evenings and ran most mornings. In her quiet, private moments, Claire still ached when she thought of Cole. Sometimes she could almost hear his voice or smell him. When she went to sleep at night, she would dream of him, sometimes happy wonderful dreams in which they were still together and everything was perfect again. Other times she slept restlessly, dreaming that they were on the mountainside again, making love and then a huge dragon would come along and pick her up, dropping her into the valley below. She would wake up just before she hit the ground.
One evening, Claire and Janet went for hot chocolates after yoga class. Feeling peaceful and invigorated after the class, Claire smiled at Janet. "I think I should find my own place in London, maybe make this my home."
Janet beamed at her and gave her a big hug, "Oh, I have always wished we lived closer to each other!"
"My biggest problem will be finding a source of income."
"Yeah, that could prove tricky," Janet agreed, "With the immigration laws, you won't be eligible to stay in the country on a work visa... but you could start your own business."
"I was thinking maybe I should use my inheritance to open a cafe. I think dad would have wanted me to do that."
Janet's eyes filled with tears, she felt touched by her sister's desire to honour their dad, "I know he would have and I think that sounds like a wonderful idea. You'll finally run your own show, Claire. I can put you in touch with the right people to help you find a great location.
"Thank you, Janet. You are so good to me. I don't know how I can ever repay you."
"You moving to London is enough. I've missed you so much all these years. You know what? Forget getting your own flat. You should stay with us until you get all set up."
"I don't know, Janet. It will take me a long time to get everything up and running. I should find my own place. Let you and Ted get your privacy back."
"We've both really enjoyed having you stay, Claire. You are welcome to live with us as long as you like, honestly."
"Thanks, sis. I appreciate that."
"Tomorrow morning, I'll get a hold of a realtor I know to help you search for a space you can lease. I also have a friend who is an investor. He'll have some good advice."
Later that night as Claire lay in bed, she felt excited for the first time since she left Colorado. A new life lay in front of her and it was full of possibilities. She could start over with people who loved her in her corner. She could move on with her life and this was the perfect way to do it.
*
* *
At that moment in Colorado, Dustin waited impatiently at the arrivals gate for his brother. Trey finally stepped through the doors and the two greeted each other with a brief man hug, including hearty pats on each other's backs.
"Hello, Ugly," Dustin said.
"How the hell are you, you little turd?" Trey asked.
"Same as always - lookin' for trouble before it finds me," Dustin said, handing him a winter coat. "Here, Mom thought you wouldn't have brought one with you. She couldn't stand the thought of her little boy being chilly on the way home from the airport."
"She's a good woman. I do hate being cold," he held the coat in one hand as they walked over to pick up his luggage.
"Well you've been living in the right place then. That's quite the tan you've got. You ever make it to class?"
"I'll have you know I've made it to all of them. Turns out your brother is a bit of a genius, my GPA is in the top 10% of all the business students."
Dustin looked at him with wide eyes, "You serious, man? Good for you."
"Who knew, right?"
Trey grabbed his duffle bag off the conveyor belt and the pair exited the airport.
"You wanna grab a burger at The Dive?" Trey asked.
"We can't tonight. We're expected out at the ranch for a big supper, so we better not show up full. Mom and Dad will be there along with all the relatives. You'll get to meet Cole's baby boy."
"You mean
Ben's
baby, you moron. Claire wasn't pregnant, Alicia was."
"Nope, I meant Cole's, dipshit. It's not Claire's baby. Gabriela showed up last month with his son. Shocked the shit out of everyone."
Trey stopped in his tracks for a moment, his stomach doing a flip.
Dustin stopped alongside him and stared at him, "What?"
"I'm just shocked is all," he said, trying to brush it off.
On the ride out to the ranch, Trey couldn't hold two thoughts together. He found himself sweating and his heart racing. He could hear Dustin talking and hoped that his own responses made sense.
"Trey. Trey!" Dustin said, staring at him as they sat parked at the ranch, "You sure you don't have something on your mind? You've been acting weird since we left the airport."
"No, I'm just tired is all. I've been studying and partying pretty hard for the past week," he replied. He paused for a moment, trying to sound casual, "I guess I'm in shock about Cole too. That's gotta be hard for him and Claire both."
"Yeah, a little too hard. Claire left. It was like watching a train wreck. I think he's trying to make a go of it with Gabby, but I can't see it working."
Trey exhaled loudly, "Shit. That sucks," he said, getting out of the truck.
He felt as though his feet were moving towards the restaurant on their own accord. He never thought that he would see Gabriela again, and now without any real warning he was about to come face to face with her and possibly his own son as well. What was a horrible mistake that should have been left in the past was about to smack him in the face.
When they walked into the restaurant, the warmth of the fireplace and festive sounds filled the air. The entire family was there to greet Trey. He hugged his parents and his aunties and uncles. Ben brought him a beer as he chatted with everyone. It was several minutes before he saw Gabriela standing over by the Christmas tree with her back to him, holding her baby. His mouth went completely dry as he watched them.
His mom walked up beside him, seeing him staring at Gabriela, "That's quite the situation Cole's in now," she said under her breath.
"No kidding," Trey said.
"Have you met Tomas yet? He's such a cute little guy. He sure takes after our side of the family. Reminds me so much of you and Dustin as babies."
Trey swallowed hard, "Really?" he squeaked out.
"It's uncanny actually. Makes me nostalgic," she replied, "I'll have to wait years to get a grandbaby out of either of you two boys, but seeing that little guy makes me hope you'll hurry it along a bit."
Trey practically choked on the beer in his mouth at her words.
'You might not have to wait at all,
' he thought.
They watched as Cole walked over to Gabriela and took Tomas from her. He carried him over toward them, "Hey Trey, I guess you heard by now that I'm a dad. This little man is Tomas!"
Tomas smiled at Trey, shaking the little plush toy car he was holding. Trey stared from Cole to Tomas, feeling his body go clammy. He was going to have to come clean with Cole about what he had done and things were about to get ugly.
Gabriela looked on with absolute panic. She saw the look on his face and knew that she was going to have to act fast and work hard to prevent Trey from ruining everything. She tried to look relaxed as she crossed the floor in their direction.
"Here, Cole, I should change him before we all sit down to eat," she said reaching out to take Tomas.
"Oh, I got it, Gabby," Cole said. "You haven't had a chance to say hi to Trey yet." He walked away with Tomas, grabbing his diaper bag and heading towards the bathroom.
"Trey, I know what you are thinking, but stop," she hissed at him. "This is definitely Cole's baby. There is no way he is yours, so don't even think about telling him."
"How can you be so sure? Did you have DNA testing done?" Trey asked quietly, putting on a fake smile for anyone who might be watching, although his eyes were filled with terror.
"There is no need. Cole has no doubt that this is his son," Gabriela matched his phony smile, "We are starting over and things are going very well. We will soon be a proper family, so just leave it well enough alone."
They didn't notice Mary watching them from across the restaurant. She could tell something was up and it didn't take a genius to realize what it might be. Just then, Trey's dad asked everyone to take their seats for dinner, ending their conversation. Mary kept a close eye on both of them throughout the meal, seeing them each glance at each other from time to time.
After supper, Mary caught Gabriela and Cole as they were saying their good nights to everyone. Cole was walking beside Gabriela while he carried Tomas and the diaper bag. The three looked very much like a happy, young family.
"Can I help Gabriela tonight, Cole?" Mary asked, "You should stick around and visit with your cousins a while and I need to spend as much time as I can with this little guy."
Gabriela gave her a weary look. Cole looked over at Gabby, "Is that okay with you, Gabby? I wouldn't mind sticking around."
"You should both stay. Spend time with your family while everyone is here," she replied, smiling at him.
Mary's mouth was curled up in a smile, but her eyes were full of ice. "I insist," she said in a crisp voice, taking the diaper bag from Cole.
"Okay, great!" Cole said, without noticing the body language of either woman.
He gave Tomas a kiss on the forehead before he handed him to Gabriela, "Good night little man. Love you."
"Night, Gabby," he said as he held the door open for them to make their exit.
They walked along the path to the cabins without a word to each other, their feet crunching in the freshly fallen snow. The tension between them rose as they neared her cabin. Gabriela could feel her heart pounding through her body as she realized that her carefully laid plan was about to unravel. She knew that Mary was onto them. If Cole found out that she had slept with Trey, it was all over. She would never be able to regain his already wavering trust for her. Even if Tomas turned out to be his son, he would never forgive her.
Gabriela unlocked the door and turned on the interior light, stepping inside the warm living room. "You know, Mary, I can get Tomas off to bed. You go back and enjoy the party."
"Aren't you thoughtful? I'll join them soon enough. I need to have a talk with you first," Mary said in a clipped tone. She closed the door behind her and took off her coat.
Gabriela put Tomas down on the floor of the living room with some toys to play with. She did her best to look casual but Mary could see the fear in her eyes, "What do you need to talk about?"