The faux grin melted. ‘I was kind of hoping there wouldn’t be a next time. When do you think you’ll be finished?’
He stopped himself from sighing. Keep it professional. ‘I’ve got a few more beams to cut and then I’ll be drilling and painting.’
‘Okay. Doesn’t sound like you’ll be making too much noise then. It’s just that Mum’s still in bed.’
Bruce’s eyebrows knit in the middle and he glanced at his watch. Twelve-twenty. And here he was making all this racket while she was trying to rest. But she’d been adamant about getting the gazebo up. He wanted to give her as much time as possible to enjoy it. ‘How’s she doing?’
‘About as well as you’d expect for someone who’s in bed during the middle of the day.’
‘Sorry. Dumb question.’
‘It’s alright.’ He rubbed his arm. ‘I’m just on edge.’
‘I’m surprised you’re still here. Don’t you have to get back to Sydney?’
He flinched. ‘Mum’s ill. This is where I’m meant to be.’ Gabriel walked past him and examined the gazebo. What was he looking for? Dodgy workmanship?
‘She was keen for me to get it finished quickly. Which makes sense considering …’
Gabriel turned and fixed him with a stare, his gaze steady and possessing. A look that saw more than Bruce wanted it to. Cold and calculating but not without allure. Bruce broke the contact. He didn’t need Gabriel Mora looking into his soul.
‘She always wanted one,’ Gabriel said. ‘Dad never allowed her to have one back home, but here she said there was no-one stopping her.’
‘Why didn’t she get it sooner?’
‘The money, I guess. And then it probably became less important.’
Bruce’s gut tightened. ‘About the money …’
‘How much are you charging?’
He hesitated.
‘As much as that, huh?’ Gabriel said.
If Bruce’s jaw tightened any further, he’d need a wrench to open it. He’d never overcharged anybody in his life. ‘Fifteen hundred.’
He scoffed. ‘That all? Is it going to fall down in the next storm?’
Gabriel’s lack of faith in his ability stabbed him in the gut. He crossed his arms, his muscles bulging. Gabriel’s eyes widened and his lips parted. At least that was some consolation. ‘Nothing I’ve ever built has fallen down, thank you very much.’
‘But you’re way undercharging.’
What was it to him? ‘Want me to double it? I was doing it as a favour for your mother.’
Not exactly true. He would have charged that for anybody; he was grateful for the work.
Gabriel held up his hands as he stepped back from the battle. He was flashing that wicked grin, wobbling his head like a pixie about to dance around him. For all the seriousness he projected, Gabriel had always had a cheeky side to him. That and the devastating way he lowered his lashes were two of the things he’d fallen for all those years ago. And still Bruce had landed in Jason’s arms.
Jason.
If there was ever a name he never wanted to hear again, it was that one. But now Gabriel was in town, it was going to be floating around for a while.
Jason Packer, the blond bombshell, and Gabriel became friends soon after Gabriel moved to Brachen. Gabriel had been fifteen, Jason seventeen. Though he’d been attracted to Gabriel, the twelve-year age difference had been enough for Bruce to keep all interactions with him platonic and beyond reproach. A couple years on, Bruce still never tried anything but also he was already going out with Jason—he was still unsure of how that had happened. While Gabriel had always possessed an intensity like a river in flood, Jason had been light, whimsical, a flit. What had he found so appealing about that manipulative twink? Forget blond bombshell, more like peroxide plutonium.
Gabriel’s fingers disappeared beneath his fringe and stroked the crescent-shaped scar on his right temple. He didn’t let it show often. ‘I guess I’d better leave you to it.’ He walked towards the back door. Whatever Gabriel had really wanted to say sank back down with all his other secrets.
‘How are things in Sydney?’ He cringed that he’d spoken but the words leaped out of his mouth before Gabriel got inside. He’d forced himself to never ask Sofia about Gabriel after he left with Jason. He avoided him whenever he came to visit. That didn’t mean he didn’t want to know. He craved it like an addict craved heroin.
Gabriel stopped. Shrugged. ‘The same. Nothing like here though.’
‘Here was never enough for you. Or Jason.’
‘I had my reasons for leaving.’
‘Like what?’ Perhaps now he’d get the truth out of Gabriel. He’d heard it from Jason: vile and poisoned words, unstoppable, during their last angry goodbye.
He shrugged again. ‘I needed to study. I needed to find work.’
You needed to sleep with my boyfriend.
‘How’s Jason?’
Gabriel flinched.
Gotcha.
‘How should I know? We’re not in touch.’
He scowled. More lies. ‘That’s hard to believe.’
‘Why? You of all people should know what an arsehole he is.’
‘Yep, found that out the hard way. No thanks to you.’
‘Excuse me?’ Fire flashed in Gabriel’s eyes and he took a step forward like he was about to attack.
What was the point in saying more? Gabriel had been able to lie about his secret relationship with Jason with a skill that had sliced Bruce’s heart into ribbons. He’d be sitting down for dinner with the Grim Reaper before Gabriel showed any remorse.
‘It doesn’t matter.’ His tongue tasted of sawdust and ash. He hadn’t wanted to expose himself. He hadn’t wanted to rip open a wound that was supposed to have stitched closed six years ago, but seeing Gabriel was maddening, a violent storm gathering on the horizon that threatened to ruin his day.
Or his life.
Gabriel’s nostrils flared. He was good at keeping up the lie. ‘You know what, Bruce, if there’s something you’d like to say to me, it’s better if you just come out and say it.’
‘I’ve got nothing to say to you, Gabriel.’
Not anymore.
He put on his earmuffs and kicked the saw back into
