grudge against her obviously wanted her gone from Stewart. They’d have no reason to bother her in Boston.
“Uncle Mike can look after her in Boston, right? He kicks bad guys’ butts all the time!”
Derek shot her a warning look, but he let her get away with the comment. Because for an eleven-year-old, she was smarter than her dad. “Yeah. Uncle Mike can keep an eye on her.”
Derek might not like the distance between them, but he had to admit she was safer in Boston than she would have been here.
GABRIELLE PLANNED TO GO home, get some sleep, wake up and be back in Stewart the following morning. Life and routine got in the way.
She awoke, showered, made herself a cup of coffee and called her mother, just as she did every day. She’d spoken to Juliette while she was in Stewart, but now that she was home, her mother had
“So I thought we’d have an early lunch at Le Petit Croissant and then we could go shopping at Neiman’s at Copley. Your father is teaching summer classes and so he won’t be joining us.”
“I won’t be able to make it, either,
“Then we can have breakfast early and you go do your interviews later in the day. I miss you,” her mother said.
Gabrielle smiled. “And I miss you, too. I’ll meet you in an hour.” Breakfast with her mother turned into a two- hour chat fest centered around Derek.
The small cafe was a favorite of her mother’s. Even when Gabrielle was a little girl, they’d often come into Boston and stop here on their shopping trips. Now that her parents lived in the city, her mother frequented the quaint cafe almost daily.
Juliette reached across the table and placed her hand over Gabrielle’s. “He hurt you badly,” her mother said, concerned.
She didn’t need the reminder. She’d lived it. “Not because he didn’t love me. I know what I’m dealing with now.” At least she hoped she did.
“Well, I always liked him. Derek was a nice boy. He treated you well while you were together. He made you happy and that is what counted then,” she mused. “But now? I want for you what your papa and I have.”
Gabrielle smiled. Her parents had a happy marriage. They understood each other. It was exactly what she wanted for her own life, Gabrielle thought.
Just as their brunch ended, her father called and invited his favorite women to dinner, which Gabrielle ended up accepting. She was an independent woman who lived her own life, but when her parents invited her, she always felt compelled to go. As if she didn’t want to miss out on any time with them.
But spending time with her parents didn’t mean she’d forget about Derek. And she certainly didn’t intend to let him forget about her.
Her first night home, she climbed into bed and called him before falling asleep.
The phone rang and rang. She was about to hang up when she heard his voice. “Hey, there,” she said.
“Hi, yourself.” His voice sounded huskier than usual.
“Did I wake you?” she asked.
“Not really.”
Gabrielle grinned. He never used to admit she’d woken him in the past, either. “I’ll take that as a yes. I’m sorry. I just didn’t want to go to bed without hearing your voice,” she said honestly.
“I’m glad you called.”
She curled on her side and snuggled into her pillow, the phone cradled against her ear. “And why’s that?”
“Your voice will be the last thing I hear before I go to sleep.” His deep tone rumbled through her.
Closing her eyes, she let herself imagine him lying in his bed, wearing nothing but the boxers he favored. She could almost feel her fingertips gliding through the coarse hair on his chest.
“Gabby?”
His voice brought her back to reality. “Hmm?”
“I asked how your parents are doing. Are you falling asleep on me?”
She licked her dry lips. “Not a chance,” she murmured. “My mother is fine. We had a nice breakfast. And we talked about you.”
He let out a groan. “I can only imagine how she feels about me these days.”
“She remembers you as a nice boy. I assured her that hadn’t changed. And my father is doing well, too. He loves teaching and I think he finds the summer even more challenging because the classes are smaller and his students really want to learn.”
Derek chuckled. “I do remember him trying to engage me in academic debates. I wasn’t much good against him.”
“Don’t feel bad. Nobody is. Anyway, they both said to say hi,” she said, fudging the truth.
In reality both of her parents were wary about her getting involved again with the man who’d broken her heart years ago. It didn’t help that he now had a child. An eleven-year-old child who only reinforced their opinion that he’d moved on and she hadn’t. Since Gabrielle wasn’t about to get into personal issues-or curses-with her academic- oriented parents, she decided to let it go. They’d been critical of the beliefs most of the people in town had even back when they’d lived in Stewart. She wasn’t about to assume their feelings had changed.
She’d just have to let time and Derek prove them wrong. Or so she hoped.
“Tell them I say hello, too.”
“I will.”
“When are you coming back?” he asked.
A touch of longing sounded in his tone. It matched the way she felt, too. She missed him. His laugh, his smile. His touch.
“Tomorrow. I’d like to conduct some interviews for my book.” And she hoped by stirring the pot, she’d smoke out whoever was after her.
He cleared his throat. “With whom?” he asked gruffly.
She curled her hand into a tight fist as she answered, knowing he wouldn’t like her reply. “I called Mary Perkins’s office today to make an appointment. Her granddaughter, Elizabeth, answered the phone. She said the mayor was out of the office and she didn’t have access to her appointment book.” But Gabrielle didn’t believe it for a minute. Elizabeth was totally anal, Gabrielle doubted the mayor could breathe without the younger woman knowing about it. Gabrielle knew she was being stonewalled and she’d decided to just show up tomorrow and wait until the mayor made the time to speak with her.
Derek expelled a harsh breath. “Why would you bother with her? She’s an old, bitter woman with an unreasonable hatred for my family and an unbelievable need for power.”
“That’s exactly why. She masquerades as a politician who wants the best for her town and constituents, but the more people I talk to, the more I learn that she’s almost universally disliked. She uses her family name to manipulate people. It’s part of the ramifications of believing in curses. I want to get into her psyche,” Gabrielle said.
“What you’re going to end up doing is upsetting whatever nutcase ransacked your room.” His voice rose in frustration.
“Shh! You’re going to wake Holly,” she said, hoping to calm him.
She pulled herself into a half-sitting position in bed, leaning against the headboard and pillows. “You knew I was going to interview people affected by the curse. I can handle myself. I promise.”
“I’m not sure I can handle you,” he muttered.
She smiled, knowing he’d given in. He might not like her choices, but his tone indicated he wasn’t going to fight them.
More relaxed, she eased back down into the bed. “I think you can handle me just fine.”
More important, he obviously still wanted to.
“How’s Holly?” she asked.
“Fine. I kept her busy planning her birthday party. Since her school friends are in New York, it’ll mostly be family, but she seems happy with it.”
