Going Down Easy (Boys of the Big Easy #1)(29)

Addison lifted her chin. “She sounds like a heartless bitch. You should just forget about her.”

Gabe shook his head. “Wish it were that easy. But you should see the way she eats beignets.”

Her eyes widened, and she seemed to swallow hard. “Beignets? You’re basing your impression of her character on how she eats beignets?”

He nodded. “I know it sounds weird, but I think there’s something to my theory.”

She pulled in a breath and shook her head. “Yeah, that does sound weird.” She started to move around him, presumably to end their conversation, but Gabe caught her elbow.

“Are you more mad that I got you here with pralines—and knew that would work—or that I talked about how I feel about you to the group and made you feel a bunch of things you don’t want to face?”

She sighed and looked up at him. “Do you still have a son?”

He gave her an eye roll and a nod.

“Then it doesn’t matter how I feel.” She pulled her arm free and headed back for her chair.

Gabe watched her go, his heart squeezing with every step she took away from him.

“Ah, so the woman you’re in love with is Addison.”

Gabe looked over at Bea, who had come up on his side without him noticing. He sighed. “That obvious?”

She laughed. “Um, yes.”

“I don’t know if I’m in love. But yes, Addison is the woman I’ve been—was—seeing.”

“Well, you are in love,” Bea informed him.

Gabe didn’t argue. It wasn’t like the notion hadn’t occurred to him. But since he’d never been in love before, and the woman in question wanted nothing to do with any of it anyway, he’d been ignoring it, for the most part.

“And she’s a mom,” Bea added. “I can see why you’re frustrated with her not wanting to meet Cooper.”

Gabe nodded. “Any advice?”

Bea glanced in Addison’s direction. “Keep after her,” she said. “You might have to make her face whatever she’s afraid of.”

Gabe thought about that. Then he said to Bea, “Cooper is fascinated with alligators. I’m debating about taking him on a swamp-boat tour. He wants to, but he’s also nervous about the idea. It’s like he wants to know about alligators—the cool stuff, the interesting stuff, the fun stuff—but he wants nothing to do with the real-life, possibly dangerous stuff. My mom thinks I should just make him go. Logan thinks I should just leave him alone. What do you think?”

Bea gave him a smile. “Tell you what, ask the group. I’ll give you my answer in front of everyone.”

Gabe frowned but nodded. “Okay.”

Bea went back to her chair, and Gabe rejoined the circle as well, and for the second hour, everyone brought up a parenting challenge they were facing. They covered everything from teething for Ashley to rules for borrowing the car for one of Bea’s grandsons. Frustratingly, Addison didn’t share much about Stella. Just that she was excited about her new house and room, but that she was missing New York as well. Gabe found himself dying to know more. He wanted to ask all about Stella: What was her favorite color? Did she like sports or music or books or all of the above? What was their morning routine like? But that was all way too much. Not only would it completely scare Addison off, but it would raise eyebrows around the circle. And Caleb and Austin, at least, wouldn’t hesitate to corner him later with a What the hell, man? But speaking of being scared, Gabe really wanted to hear Bea’s advice to him about Cooper and the alligators. As he had when he’d first asked her, he sensed that there was something applicable to Addison in there somewhere.

So, when they got to Gabe, he told them about Cooper’s new interest and his hesitation about the swamp boats. He told them his mom’s and brother’s feelings on the subject and asked what they all thought.

The group was pretty well split on the whole push-him-to-try-something-new versus the you-shouldn’t-make-him-do-it-if-he-doesn’t-want-to thing. And Addison didn’t give an opinion at all.

“But I think he does want to do it,” Gabe said, catching Addison’s eye. Just like he really thought Addison wanted to have a relationship. But the reality of it was unknown and a little scary. “So at what point do I trust that I know him and want what’s best for him and will keep anything horrible from happening and push him to let me prove it?”

Yep, there was definitely a secondary meaning to his words. He knew her. He wanted what was best for her. And he definitely wanted to prove to her that he wouldn’t let anything horrible happen.

And he thought maybe Addison picked up on all that.

“Well, I have a thought,” Bea finally said. “Nearly every situation in life has a positive side and a negative side. Staying home and just reading about alligators will keep his shoes dry and clean and all his fingers intact, but he’ll also never know what it’s like to touch an alligator. And until he actually touches one, he won’t know if he likes it or not.”

Gabe looked at Addison. Yeah, not getting involved with him and Cooper would keep her heart intact and her life clean, but there was a lot she was going to miss, too.

Finally, Addison spoke. “You don’t think that a person, even a little boy, can know that he doesn’t want to do something without doing it first and having a bad experience? We can’t just sometimes know that something doesn’t fit us?”