Cart Before The Horse by Bernadette Marie Read Free Book Online

picture of his wife, and continue his story. She should have pushed him down the stairs, but she needed to know every awful detail about this man who was the father of her child. “Where is she now? She didn’t move with you to Denver? She didn’t want to watch you working with the perky-titted girls who rake in the money for you?”
    He shook his head. “We were married for three years. This was our last vacation together. We were driving back to Boston, where we lived, and a truck crossed the center line of the highway.” He wiped at his eye, and his breath shook as he drew in air.
    There was no need to tell her something had gone terribly wrong, she felt it wrench in her gut and stab at her heart as she watched him relive it in his mind.
    His eyebrows drew together and his lips pursed. “I broke my leg. Didn’t even know it at first. It was just a pinch. I climbed out of the car and ran around the other side to get her out. She was driving, and in the confusion of the moment all I could see was a cloud of dust from the airbag under the truck’s head lights.” The first tear dropped, and it ripped Holly’s heart in half. “It had killed her instantly.”
    Holly covered her mouth as tears fell freely from her eyes. No matter what her eyes had told her, she’d been so wrong in her assumptions about him. “Gabe, I’m so sorry.”
    He nodded and kept his eyes on the picture. “I was devastated. I did what I could to piece my life together back in Boston, and I thought I had a good grasp on it. Then when my uncle said he wanted out of the restaurant business, I realized it was my calling. I came out here two years ago and started learning the ropes. When he moved back east a few months ago, I
 
    figured we’d see how it went.” He gave in to a chuckle. “I met you shortly after that. I guess it was fate saying move on.”
    “I’m sorry I accused you.” She rested her hand on his arm.
    “In my mind Jasmine will always be my wife, and she’ll always be in my heart. That doesn’t mean I can’t move on and love again.” He looked up at her. “Or have a family
with a friend.”
    She caught her breath again, and then looked at the mess she’d caused in the hallway. “I’m sorry I ran you over. I’ll clean it up and get home.”
    “How about we do it together and I’ll go get us some more. You need to eat.”
    Together they loaded the broken pieces of glass onto the tray. Gabe walked back down stairs as Holly wiped away the last of the tomato bisque from the wall.
    She went back into the apartment, rinsed out the rag, and set it in the sink. When she turned her head she noticed the picture on the table.
    She walked across the room and picked it up. Gabe looked happy. She was envious. There had never been anything so special in her life like the love that Gabe shared with his wife.
    Holly laid her hand on her stomach. She had that opportunity to have that something special now. All she had to do was embrace it.
    Even better, she had someone who understood the special opportunity at hand, and he wanted to be part of it.
    She took the picture and set it on the mantel, right in the middle.
     
    Gabe dumped the broken bowls and glasses into the trash and wiped down the tray.
    “Things not good with your date?” Juan, a line cook, teased.
    “And what would make you think that?” He smiled wide, hoping they’d assume he was a klutz and not read more into it.
     
    He filled two more bowls of soup and two more glasses with iced tea. Another loaf of bread and a few pats of butter were added to the tray and this time he added a slice of pie and stuck two forks in it. That would calm her down.
    When he opened the door to the apartment he found her seated at the table with his grocery list and a pen.
    “Are you going shopping?” he asked as he set the
tray down.
    She gave a little chuckle. “Eventually. But I was just brainstorming some things I need to think about.”
    He took a bowl of soup from the