Finding Isadora (46 page)

“What are we going to do about Richard?” I asked, as we lay side by side facing each other, our hands clasped between our bodies.

“
We can’t sneak around and hide this,” he said positively.

I shook my head, relie
ved that Gabriel didn’t want to deny our relationship. “And we don’t want him to hear about it from someone else.”

“
So we have to tell him.” He sighed, looking despondent. “I’ll do it. He already thinks I’m an asshole.”

“
No, I should. You’re his father and the two of you are starting to heal things between you. If he’s going to hate someone, it should be me.” Though my heart ached at the thought.

“
Uh-uh. This isn’t your fault.” He jerked his head. “Fault. Stupid word. It suggests there’s something wrong with us being together. This is
right
, not wrong.”

I reached out to caress his cheek, his firm jaw.
“Yes. But Richard won’t see it that way.”

“
Not in the beginning. But Isadora, we won’t give up.”

I smiled at the earnestness in his voice.
“You’ve become a parent, Gabriel.”

He made a rueful face.
“Not a good one.”

“
But you’re trying. That’s all you can do. And I’ll try, too. I care about Richard.”

“
All we can do is keep trying, and hope he gets used to the idea eventually.”

Eventually
. Gabriel understood we had a future.

“
And keep letting him know we care about him,” I said. “He’ll take it personally, like we’re deliberately trying to hurt him. But we have to make him see that this is about us, not him.”

“
I’ll call him tomorrow, see if we can get together and talk.”

I had just reached out for Gabriel when my
phone rang. We both gave a guilty start. “The real world’s calling,” I said.

I hurried out of bed, grabbing Gabriel
’s shirt and pulling it on as I went to check call display. When I saw Jan’s number, I answered.

“
Hey, you are there,” she said. “I tried your cell and it went to voice-mail.”

“
I forgot to charge it. Hi, Jan.”

“
Say hi from me,” Gabriel said, and I spun around to see he’d sauntered in from the sitting room, wearing not a stitch of clothing.

“
Is that Gabriel?” she hissed.

“
Yes.”

“
He’s there again?”

“
Still.”

“
Oh, my god! Oh, wow!” Her exclamations were so loud I had to hold the phone away from my ear. “So is he as good as he looks?”

I studied him, in all his naked splendor.
“Better.” And winked.

He shook his head in mock dismay, then headed toward the bathroom.

I watched, enjoying the rear view. The man had a fabulous butt. The moment the door closed behind him, I said, “Good? Try incredible!”

“
I’m so jealous,” she wailed.

“
Jan…” I checked the bathroom door. It was still closed, but even so I whispered when I said, “I love him.”

“
Oh, my god!” This one nearly shattered my eardrum. “Have you told him? Did he say it back?”

“
No, I haven’t told him. I’m giving him some time to adjust.”

“
But don’t you think…”

I didn
’t catch the rest of what she said because Gabriel emerged from the bathroom, saying, “You done yet?”

“
Jan, I’ll talk to you soon. Bye for now.”

“
Kiss Gabriel goodbye for me,” she said cheekily.

When I hung up, he looped his arms around my shoulders.
“Does she approve?”

“
I think ‘oh, my god’ constitutes approval.”

I noticed I had a message on my
voice-mail. “Did you hear the phone ring earlier?”

“
Amid all the fireworks?” he teased.

“
Someone must have called when we went out this morning. I forgot to check.”

I
dialed in to retrieve the message and heard my mother say, “Morning, Isadora. Just wanted to tell you there’s a meeting on that disability rights thing this afternoon, if you want to come. It’s at Gabriel’s.”

“
Gabriel, there’s a meeting at your place?” I asked.

“
Oh, fuck,” he groaned. “I forgot about that.”

“
What time—” I started to ask Gabriel, then heard Grace’s voice continue with, “It’s at three o’clock. Give me a call if you want a lift.” As she rattled off Gabriel’s address, I checked the clock on the microwave. Twenty to two.

“
Oh-oh, it’s at three o’clock,” I said.

“
Damn. Why did that have to be today?”

“
We had to get out of bed some time.”

“
Why?” He sounded like a sulky child and I had to grin.

“
Grace offered me a ride. If I’m going to accept it, I need to call right away. And shower and get dressed.”

“
Why would Grace think you’d want to come to this meeting?”

“
Oh, uh…” Now I felt shy in front of this man who’d explored the most intimate parts of my body. “I told her I was interested in helping out.”

“
You did?”

“
You got me thinking about what I really want to do. Rather than worrying about what other people want, or what they think of me. And I want to do this.”

He leaned down, his breath toothpasty fresh, and said suggestively,
“What else do you want to do?”

“
I’ll show you later.” Doubt set in, and I hastily added, “I mean, whenever you have the time to get together again.”

“
Isadora.” He shook his head, smiling as if I were a foolish child. “After the meeting?”

I breathed a sigh of relief.
“Oh, yes.”

“
We could spend the night making love in my bed for a change.”

I loved it that he wanted me in his bed.

He snapped his fingers. “Sorry, forgot about the animals.”

“
Mr. Schultz,” I murmured. “Marvelous Mr. Schultz will help out. I’d love to stay at your place.” Maybe I could persuade him to play the guitar. And perhaps I could make some tactful suggestions about his décor…

“
I’ll take you for dinner at this terrific little Portuguese restaurant, and then— Damn, we’ve got to run if we’re going to be at my place before three.”

“
I
have
to shower first.” Bad enough I had to face my parents fresh from being in bed with Gabriel, but at the very least I did need to be
fresh
. “Okay if I get a ride with you?” I’d put off facing my perceptive mother as long as I could.

“
Great. But I need a shower, too, so we’d better get a move on.”

This time there was no monkey business. We took turns in the shower to make sure of it, me dashing in and out before him, then scurrying around getting ready. While I dressed in beige
capris, a mauve tee, and the earrings he’d given me, Gabriel converted our bed back into a couch. The next time I pulled it out, I’d be unfolding memories of the two of us together.

“
Ready,” I told him.

“
A woman who can get ready in under ten minutes.” He urged me toward the door. “Gotta love that.”

Aha! He was willing to confess that
he loved
something
about me!

As soon as I
’d locked the door, he grabbed my hand and we sprinted down the hall and took the stairs. He seemed in top form, but I bit back a groan. My legs felt like mush. Aching mush. A six mile walk around Stanley Park was nowhere near as exhausting as making love with Gabriel.

Predictably, a parking ticket protruded from under his car
’s wiper. “Money well spent,” he said with a grin as he thrust it into his pocket.

“
How are we going to play this?” I asked when we were on our way. “You can drop me a few blocks away so we don’t arrive together.”

His face squinted up in a troubled frown.
“I don’t like deception.”

“
Me either. But until we deal with Richard…”

“
Yeah, I guess.” He squeezed my thigh. “It’d be so much easier if this was just a one-nighter.”

“
I guess you’d be the one to know about one-nighters,” I said tartly.

“
Nothing wrong with one-nighters if that’s what both people want.” He chuckled. “Funny thing, that’s exactly what I had in mind when I first saw you at that fundraiser. Figured we’d be in bed that night, for just the once.”

“
Isn’t life full of surprises?” I asked sweetly.

“
Mmm. Like finding out you were Richard’s fiancée.” He stopped at a red light and glanced over. “Then I got to know you and realized that, even if it hadn’t been for Richard, we’d never have been a one-nighter.”

“
When did you know that?” I asked, guessing he might say when we first kissed on the beach.

He thought a moment.
“When you started naming off those damned police horses.”

“
What?” Back then, in our very first conversation?

“
You were so earnest and passionate and lovable. I knew that if we ever got together, it would be something real.”

Lovable
.
Something real
.

The light turned green and he put his foot to the gas.
“I’m out of juice and soda pop.”

Juice and soda? How could he go from
lovable
, and
something real
, to juice and soda? Trust a man.

“
Should also get some cheese and crackers,” he said. “How about I drop you at the store and you bring the groceries along to the apartment? Hopefully, I’ll get there before anyone else, and have a chance to change. You should get there about the time others start arriving.”

“
I’ll spend the afternoon trying not to look at you.”

“
I’ll spend it trying not to think about what we’re going to do to each other when everyone’s gone.”

I gave a little shiver and thought about the long afternoon we
’d have to get through. “Grace and Jimmy Lee will be there.”

He darted me a quick glance.
“You want to tell them?”

“
Yes, but not today. As soon as you tell Richard. I hate having secrets from my parents. Is that okay?”

“
Christ, your dad’ll want to string me up.”

“
Gabriel, he thinks you’re wonderful.”

“
For a lawyer, a colleague, a friend. Bet he won’t be so impressed that I’m his little girl’s lover.”

“
My lover.” I tested it on my tongue. Drop one letter off the end and it was still true.

“
Sounds good,” he commented.

And what would he say when I got up the nerve to say
“my love”?

“
So it’s all right with you that I tell them?” I asked.

“
Isadora, they’re your parents. Of course you’ll tell them.” He gave a mock shudder. “Just don’t let Jimmy Lee hit me too hard.”

He pulled his car in to the curb in front of a corner grocery, then fished out his wallet and handed me some bills.

“Juice, soda, cheese, crackers,” I recited. “Anything else?”

“
I have beer and wine. Other folks will bring stuff. We should be fine. Oh, you remember my apartment building? It’s a couple of blocks up, on the right.”

“
I remember. See you soon.”

He leaned over and kissed me.
“Soon.”

The shopping was easy. I
’d done the same thing for my parents often enough. I hefted the straining bags and lugged them toward Gabriel’s building, arriving as three people climbed out of a battered car and headed for the front door.

We established that we were all heading for Gabriel
’s. I let them buzz up, and went in with them. His door was open and just hearing his voice from the living room gave me sexy shivers of awareness. My lover. My love.

I slipped the groceries into the fridge, then went nervously to join the eight or nine people in the living room. Gabriel, barefoot in jeans and a black T-shirt, hair loose on his shoulders, was talking to a young couple in shorts and Birkenstocks.