“Then take a different approach, Nadia.”
“Like what?”
She sounded helpless, at a loss. “Go home,” Gabe said gently. “Change course. You’re dealing with big changes in your life. Talk to your family and friends. Get professional help if you need to.”
She sniffled and attempted a smile, but there was no hint of it in her eyes. “Yes, well, you make it sound so easy.”
“I know it’s not easy. Being truthful with yourself and others is a place to start.”
“That’s a polite way to call me a liar.” She held up a hand. “It’s okay. I’m not mad. I know I haven’t been entirely truthful, but sometimes everyone is best served by a social lie that doesn’t hurt anyone.”
“I’m not here to tell you how to live your life.”
“Good.” She shifted back to the monument. “I loved David, Gabe. His energy, his can-do approach to life, his charm. His laugh—he has a great laugh. I was devastated when he left me. I never saw it coming. I blamed myself for the failure of our marriage. Part of me still does.”
“I’m sorry, Nadia.”
“He’ll do right by the company we—you built. He’s not why I’m here. Not directly, anyway. I’m here because I’ve been so lost. I didn’t have a relationship with my grandmother in her last years because I always put David first, and now she’s gone. It’s over. I can’t undo the past and have a relationship with her.” She looked back toward the library, lit up against the dark night. “Seeing the people here—your family and friends—has made me realize what I gave up and can never, ever get back.”
“You have family and friends,” Gabe said.
“Yeah. Yeah, I do.” She turned back to him, her expression less strained. “I know my relationship with David has nothing to do with you, but did he tell you he planned to leave me? Did you guess?”
“Nadia...”
“Unfair question, sorry. It’s not your fault my marriage dissolved. The signs were there. I just didn’t see them.”
“Nadia, don’t take on what he did. Why don’t I walk you to your car—”
“I can’t help but have regrets. You’re young, Gabe. You’re very young for what you’ve accomplished. Don’t isolate yourself the way I did. You have friends and family here in Knights Bridge. You matter to them. They matter to you.”
“I know that, Nadia.”
“Do you?” She crossed her arms on her chest, as if she needed to hug herself. “I’m parked in front of the country store. I don’t need you to walk me over there.”
“Where are you staying tonight?” Gabe asked.
“My grandmother’s house. The buyers are talking about turning it into a bed-and-breakfast. They shared some of their ideas with me. It’ll be a sweet place if they can pull it off. This has been difficult emotionally, but it’s also been...” She paused, sighing. “Cathartic, you know? In a good way. Has being back here been good for you?”
He didn’t want to talk about himself. “You’ll get through this, Nadia.” He motioned toward South Main. “I need to go. I’m chief box hauler tonight.”
She laughed, or tried to. “I can think of a dozen people off the top of my head who’d love to see you right now, playing the Knights Bridge hometown boy. Enjoy your box hauling, Gabe.”
“Take care, Nadia.”
He watched her walk across the common toward Main Street and the country store. He could see a car parked there. He waited until its headlights came on. Then he let out a breath and returned to the library. When Gabe crossed South Main, Felicity was shoving an empty box into the back of her car. She glanced at him with a measure of sympathy. “Nadia?”
“Yes.”
“Fun way to end the evening. You okay?”
He nodded. “I’m fine. Come on. I’ll help pack up.”
* * *
No way was Felicity going into her house first. Gabe could see that thought take root as she pulled into her driveway and turned off the engine. “What if Nadia booby-trapped the place?” she asked, hands still on the wheel.
“Do you believe that?”
She sighed, loosening her grip on the wheel. “No. That’s why it’s a what-if question. She doesn’t strike me as dangerous. That said...” She turned to Gabe in the dark. “I’d have felt better if she’d come inside tonight and enjoyed herself instead of lurking out on the common, but all this talk about locking my doors has me a bit on edge. She’s your friend.”
He felt his jaw tighten. “Friend is a stretch.”
“Yes, well—you go first. Reconnoiter and come back and tell me she didn’t short-sheet my bed or spread dog poo on the kitchen counters.”
“What if she’s hiding in the bushes by the driveway and jumps you while I’m inside?”
“Good point.” She let go of the wheel and reached for the door handle. “I’ll go with you and stand outside the screen door until you give me the all clear.”
They got out of the Rover, and, leaving everything they’d brought back from the library in the car, they headed across the driveway to the house. Gabe understood Felicity’s humor and intentional exaggeration were in response to his somber mood since they’d left the village. Nadia’s troubled state of mind didn’t automatically make her a danger to anyone. But wasn’t that often the way? People would see signs and ignore, downplay or dismiss them, only later to wish they’d done something when the unacceptable behavior first arose. At the same time, Gabe knew he’d done what he could to steer Nadia onto a better course for herself. Russ Colton had agreed they had no reason to do more. So had Marty, who’d spent hours on a plane with her the night before. Her family knew she was
