CHAPTER TWENTY

GABE WOKE ON Christmas morning to the sound of Patsy Cline blaring through the house.

He stifled a groan and rubbed two fingers against his temples. He knew what that music meant. His mother had always gravitated toward music about broken hearts when her mood was down, and her mood was always bad during the holidays.

It was as if every slight or loss she’d had throughout the year—even her lifetime—was compounded at Christmas. As an adult, he’d learned it wasn’t unusual for people to be depressed at this time of year. Despite all the magic that Angi and her family seemed to find in the holidays, plenty of people struggled with unrealistic expectations or comparisons of their own imperfect life to the cheery images on Christmas cards or endless social media posts.

Hell, before this year, he’d been one of them.

But he’d been given a huge gift, one that no money could buy. The gift of hope and joy. And love. Most importantly love. Even though he missed his grandmother, he knew she’d want him to find happiness.

Her love was truly unconditional, and she’d always wanted him to focus on the good moments in life. In the end, he’d been able to offer a bit of that back to her. As awful as it was to have his mother in the house now, he tried to remember the joy that had surrounded him when he’d been working to make his grandma’s dream come true again.

Although the noise from the first floor seemed intent on drowning out whatever Christmas spirit he could muster.

He threw off the covers and glanced at his phone as it vibrated on the nightstand.

A text from Angi.

With a sharp ache in his gut, he cleared the home screen without reading her message. What the hell was there to say at this point?

They hadn’t spoken since those final moments when he’d held her in his arms on the dance floor. He knew she’d been surprised that he hadn’t taken the opportunity to embarrass her in front of those grown-up mean girls.

How could she believe he’d do anything other than choose her? Even when he’d been holding on to his anger and bitterness like a lifeline, she’d had his heart. He understood that was why he’d been so bitter in the first place. It was the only defense mechanism he’d had. The only way to keep his heart safe.

But she’d managed to move past his defenses like they were made of jelly instead of the brick walls he’d tried to build. There was nothing he could deny her when she looked at him with those soft chocolate eyes.

At least not until his mother had arrived back in town, reminding him that he didn’t belong in Magnolia. This place wasn’t his home.

Gabe dressed, brushed his teeth and headed downstairs. “Mom?” he called as he entered the kitchen. “Can you turn down the music?”

The only answer was a dull thumping sound. He eyed the mess of dirty dishes and leftover food in the kitchen with a sigh, and then headed toward the front of the house, following the banging and swearing.