One Night with her Bachelor(25)

Liar. She’d given him one longing look, and it had filled him with confidence. He couldn’t show her everything—not without baring far more than his body. He couldn’t cope with that yet. Being here was overwhelming enough. But her look had made him feel like more of a man than he’d felt in a long-ass time.

Just before he got to them, he overheard Molly say, “Honey, is this because I told you Gabriel would clean your room?”

There was an empty chair next to Josh’s, and Gabriel sat so he wouldn’t tower over him. He just barely stopped himself from giving the boy a huge kiss on the forehead for saving him from Mrs. Schwartz’s clutches. “Hey, big spender. Looks like you bought me. Maybe we should set some ground rules, though. I can clean a bedroom, but I’m much better at playing video games.”

“Mom only lets me play video games for thirty minutes a day. And besides, we don’t use our TV anymore.”

He leveled a quick glance at Molly, noting the blush spreading across her cheeks. “Why’s that?”

Molly’s hand shot out and covered Josh’s mouth. “We turned it off so we could spend more quality time together.”

Josh shoved her hand away. “And because we’re saving electricity by unplugging as much as we can.”

Molly’s bearing went so stiff he thought she might crack. “Josh, that’s private information. I told you not to share it with anyone.”

“It’s okay. It’s Gabriel. He’s not just anyone”

Shock rushed through him, swiftly followed by burning anger as he realized why Molly was so embarrassed. They weren’t just trying to conserve electricity; they were in danger of not being able to pay to keep it on. Jesus, he’d had no idea it had gotten to that point. When he’d been building her a ramp, he should’ve figured out a way to illegally connect her to the grid.

He had to work hard to swallow his frustration. “Okay, so no TV and no video games. How do you want to spend our day together?”

“Oh, I didn’t buy you for me,” Josh explained in a rush. “I bought you for my mom.”

Molly sucked in a breath. “What are you talking about?”

“You’ve been really sad lately, and it makes me sad. The only time I see you smile is when you’re looking at that old photo of Gabriel and Uncle Scott in their uniforms in Afghanistan.”

“I… I smile because I’m remembering Uncle Scott.”

Josh shook his head. “But you only smile when you touch Gabriel’s face.”

Oh, Jesus. Something cracked in Gabriel’s chest. His fingers clenched around the armrest of Josh’s chair. Molly had turned beet red and gotten a panicky look, and that was all it took for his training to kick in. He recognized the signs of distress. This might not be the kind of distress he was used to dealing with, but Molly Dekker needed him all the same.

And maybe he needed her a little.

“Well, Molly,” he said, his voice dropping in timbre. “Looks like we have ourselves a date.”

*

Her son had bought her a man. How freaking pathetic did that make her feel? Forget the fact she’d needed the town to bail her out. Forget that Gabriel now had an inkling of how suffocating her debts had become. Josh had just capped off the trifecta of humiliation. She barely heard anything that was going on as Beau took the stage. There where hoots and hollers, but all she could focus on was the boy who looked like she’d just stolen his puppy and the man sitting next to him wearing nothing but his jeans and a T-shirt that accentuated his body every time he moved.

God help her.

“Gabriel, it’s really kind of you—”

“Mom, please. I worked hard to save this money.”

Her heart tightened. “You’ve only been home two weeks.”

“I know, and I had to earn all that money quickly.”

What on earth? “How did you earn money without me knowing?”

“I told Aunt Lily what I wanted to do, and she paid me to do some stuff on her computer, like putting together the brochure for the auction.”

That settled it. Lily was a dead woman.

Gabriel’s fingertips brushed the thin skin on the back of her hand. “We’ll have fun. I promise.”

Fun. She vaguely remembered what that word meant. But stress had built up for so long she could hardly stop herself from evaluating all the potential disasters. What would Josh do if she went on a date? What would she do? She hadn’t been on a date in years. She would’ve been rusty and nervous anyway, but now—dealing with everything she had on her plate—she’d probably end up annoying Gabriel by worrying about Josh all night.

“Aunt Lily and I have it all planned. She invited me over for dinner on Wednesday, so you’re free then. Gabriel, my mom likes Italian food and movies, as long as they’re not scary. You can pick her up at six.”

Worse than her son buying her a man? Her son planning dates for her. “You know what, Josh? I really appreciate what you’re trying to do. Really. But—”

Josh grabbed her hand, his eyes widening as he gave her his serious look, the one he’d perfected as a toddler when he’d tried to make his extreme disapproval of broccoli clear. “Mom, I didn’t want to have to say this, but I need my space.”

The breath whooshed out of her. She barely heard Gabriel’s murmured curse. “What do you mean?”