is this not a good idea?” She thought this might be the best thing she’d ever done in her entire life.
“There’s a bunch of stuff you don’t know about me and my family, stuff I can’t really tell you. And it affects you if we’re together.” His expression became brooding. “It’s kind of a catch twenty-two. You should know more about me before you become involved with me but the things you should know are things I’m not allowed to tell you unless we’re involved.”
Kate considered this information before answering him. “Why don’t you just tell me, Gabe? This should be obvious, but say whatever you need to say, I promise to keep it to myself, and then we can decide what to do from there.”
Rather than answer, he bent to kiss her again. She felt intoxicated.
When their kiss ended, he pulled back. “Tempting, but I can’t. It’s not that simple.”
Kate had forgotten what they were discussing and had to think before it came back to her. “It’s as simple or as complicated as we decide to make it, Gabe.” She put her hand tentatively up to his face.
He seemed to deliberate hard before responding. “Well, I’m going to tell you something. This,” and he gestured between them, “is going to get more difficult for me as time goes on. That’s one thing. If I come back to visit you next year and grab your wrist and start mooning over you, run away or be prepared to be stuck with me for the rest of your life.”
“Next year ?” Kate’s heart sank. “I don’t know what you’re saying. And I actually would like an explanation of the wrist-holding thing. Why do you do it?”
Gabe held her hand to his chest, wrapped the fingers of his other hand around her wrist, and then bent to kiss her once more. He stopped when his lips were almost to hers and whispered, “I’m checking your pulse. Please don’t ask me to explain.” Then he closed the remaining distance between them, and Kate once again forgot their conversation.
“This is going to sound weird but I’m hoping to put the rest of this conversation off for another two years. Can we do that?”
Her heart seized at the torture in his eyes and at the idea of putting this, whatever it was, off for two years, which seemed like an eternity. She told him the truth. “I want to be with you, and I don’t want to wait two years.” She felt pathetic and knew her laugh sounded weak. “Is that selfish?”
He sighed in frustration. “No, but it’s not really possible, either. I actually am leaving for school, and I really won’t be around.”
Kate’s shoulders sagged. “How about if we think of it in smaller chunks. You’ll be home for Thanksgiving, right? And then a month later, for Christmas? Easter’s a couple of months later…if we consider it that way, we’re not talking about two years, which sounds like forever. We’re just talking a month or two between visits, right?”
Gabe laughed softly. “Yes! We’ll be like drug addicts kicking our habits! One day at a time!”
At that moment, she heard several people calling them. “Gabe? Kate?” Both sets of parents were searching for them. She and Gabe became perfectly still. Carmen scanned the garden from ten yards away and then drifted toward the front of the building.
Kate resigned herself to all of it—Gabe leaving, their more imminent separation because of their parents, and how she didn’t and wouldn’t know why she couldn’t see him. “I guess you’d better get going, and I’d better get back.” She attempted a smile…“One more kiss, please,” and she perched on the balls of her feet.
“Yes.” Gabe leaned down to meet her. The intensity of their kiss drowned out every other sight, sound, and thought as they pressed themselves to each other. The moment was airless, timeless, and as profound as anything Kate had ever experienced.
John’s voice brought them up short. “Kate? Gabe?” he called from too close. They stilled and waited until they heard him
“There’s a bunch of stuff you don’t know about me and my family, stuff I can’t really tell you. And it affects you if we’re together.” His expression became brooding. “It’s kind of a catch twenty-two. You should know more about me before you become involved with me but the things you should know are things I’m not allowed to tell you unless we’re involved.”
Kate considered this information before answering him. “Why don’t you just tell me, Gabe? This should be obvious, but say whatever you need to say, I promise to keep it to myself, and then we can decide what to do from there.”
Rather than answer, he bent to kiss her again. She felt intoxicated.
When their kiss ended, he pulled back. “Tempting, but I can’t. It’s not that simple.”
Kate had forgotten what they were discussing and had to think before it came back to her. “It’s as simple or as complicated as we decide to make it, Gabe.” She put her hand tentatively up to his face.
He seemed to deliberate hard before responding. “Well, I’m going to tell you something. This,” and he gestured between them, “is going to get more difficult for me as time goes on. That’s one thing. If I come back to visit you next year and grab your wrist and start mooning over you, run away or be prepared to be stuck with me for the rest of your life.”
“Next year ?” Kate’s heart sank. “I don’t know what you’re saying. And I actually would like an explanation of the wrist-holding thing. Why do you do it?”
Gabe held her hand to his chest, wrapped the fingers of his other hand around her wrist, and then bent to kiss her once more. He stopped when his lips were almost to hers and whispered, “I’m checking your pulse. Please don’t ask me to explain.” Then he closed the remaining distance between them, and Kate once again forgot their conversation.
“This is going to sound weird but I’m hoping to put the rest of this conversation off for another two years. Can we do that?”
Her heart seized at the torture in his eyes and at the idea of putting this, whatever it was, off for two years, which seemed like an eternity. She told him the truth. “I want to be with you, and I don’t want to wait two years.” She felt pathetic and knew her laugh sounded weak. “Is that selfish?”
He sighed in frustration. “No, but it’s not really possible, either. I actually am leaving for school, and I really won’t be around.”
Kate’s shoulders sagged. “How about if we think of it in smaller chunks. You’ll be home for Thanksgiving, right? And then a month later, for Christmas? Easter’s a couple of months later…if we consider it that way, we’re not talking about two years, which sounds like forever. We’re just talking a month or two between visits, right?”
Gabe laughed softly. “Yes! We’ll be like drug addicts kicking our habits! One day at a time!”
At that moment, she heard several people calling them. “Gabe? Kate?” Both sets of parents were searching for them. She and Gabe became perfectly still. Carmen scanned the garden from ten yards away and then drifted toward the front of the building.
Kate resigned herself to all of it—Gabe leaving, their more imminent separation because of their parents, and how she didn’t and wouldn’t know why she couldn’t see him. “I guess you’d better get going, and I’d better get back.” She attempted a smile…“One more kiss, please,” and she perched on the balls of her feet.
“Yes.” Gabe leaned down to meet her. The intensity of their kiss drowned out every other sight, sound, and thought as they pressed themselves to each other. The moment was airless, timeless, and as profound as anything Kate had ever experienced.
John’s voice brought them up short. “Kate? Gabe?” he called from too close. They stilled and waited until they heard him
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