It's Only Love(89)

Since she was standing behind her siblings and Gavin’s parents, no one noticed he was there. But Ella noticed. Every nerve ending in her body was on full alert, and her heart beat so fast she had to remind herself to breathe. With his big hand flat against her belly, a thousand thoughts went through her mind in the time it took for Dylan and Sophia to be declared husband and wife. What was he doing here? What did it mean? Why had he come? What would she say to him? What did he have to say? How would it change things?

Despite her iron-clad resolve to be done with him, his appearance here filled her with a tiny kernel of hope that couldn’t be easily snuffed out.

The applause of the wedding guests roused her from her frantic thoughts.

Gavin released her to join in the applause.

Ella turned to him. “What’re you doing here?”

“You really have to ask?”





CHAPTER 27




We must accept finite disappointment,

but never lose infinite hope.

—Martin Luther King, Jr.



The sight of her beautiful face, wary and uncertain as she looked up at him, settled the storm that had been raging inside Gavin since he last saw her. It had been the right thing to come after her, to try to fix what had gone so horribly wrong. But before he could do that, they had a wedding to get through.

His mother let out a happy little squeal when she saw him standing beside Ella. He hugged her and then his father.

“Good to see you here, son,” his dad said gruffly.

“Good to be here.”

One by one, the Sultans approached him, hugged him, welcomed him and said how happy they were to have him there. Dylan, who’d been receiving congratulations from his family and Sophia’s, drew him into a bear hug.

“I’m so f*cking glad you’re here, man,” Dylan said for Gavin’s ears only.

“Me, too. Sorry I was late. I caught the end.”

“Better late than never.”

“Glad you think so. Thanks for having me.”

“Dude, seriously? I’m thrilled you’re here, and so is everyone else.”

Judging from the glares he was receiving from Will and Hunter Abbott, not everyone was thrilled to have him here. That was okay, though. He didn’t blame Ella’s brothers for being pissed with him. Hell, he was pissed at himself. If he could somehow make things right with Ella, hopefully that would make things right with her brothers, too.

Hannah hugged and kissed him. “I’m glad you’re here,” she said quietly.

Her warm welcome gave him some much-needed encouragement. If her first thought hadn’t been to strangle him, maybe Ella would give him a chance to apologize and try to fix things. He could only hope so.

She hadn’t said a word to him since asking what he was doing there. He supposed he deserved her silence and her obvious reluctance to welcome him.

The wedding guests moved from the beach to an open-air pavilion that looked out over the Caribbean. While Dylan and Sophia and their wedding party took pictures on the beach, the guests were treated to succulent hors d’oeuvres and tropical drinks.

Gavin was too nervous to eat, and he didn’t dare start drinking. Not with so much at stake. He’d tried to arrive last night, but the earliest flight he could get out of Boston had gotten him here just in time for the wedding. During a sleepless night, the long drive to Boston and on the seemingly endless flights, he’d had plenty of time to go over all the many ways he’d managed to f*ck up the best thing to ever happen to him—and to figure out how he was going to undo the damage he’d done.

At the first sight of her, he knew for certain he wanted forever with her. He faced an uphill battle getting her to listen to him, but he was fully prepared to do whatever it took to win her back. Somehow, some way, he’d managed to go on without Caleb. After one full day without her, he already knew he’d never be able to go on without her.

Now he just had to get her alone so they could talk and work this out. With Ella surrounded by her siblings and their partners, Gavin felt squeezed out of the fortress they’d erected around her. He understood that if he wanted to get to her, he was going to have to go through them.

Okay then. He could do that. Steeling himself for battle, he walked over to where they were gathered by the bar. “Will, Hunter,” he said. Ella was talking to Cameron, Megan and Hannah, so he decided to take on her brothers first.

“Gavin,” Hunter said, the chill in his tone coming through loud and clear. “Nice of you to join us.”

“Nice to be here. Beautiful spot.”

“That it is.”

“Listen, I know you’re pissed and with good reason, but I come with the best of intentions toward Ella.”

“You’ll have to pardon us if we’re a little skeptical of your intentions toward our sister,” Will said.

Gavin had counted the two of them among his closest friends for almost as long as he could remember. However, in the Abbott family, blood was always thicker than water, and that had never been more apparent to Gavin than it was now. Time to go big or go home, as Caleb would say. “I love her, and I hope to spend the rest of my life with her. If she’ll have me.”

Judging by their shocked expressions, they hadn’t expected him to say that.

“You’re serious,” Will said.