“What does Angi have to say about that?” Cam asked softly.

“She agrees with me.” At least she must after he’d been such a jerk last night. “I’m sure Emma told you our whole relationship thing was a pretend arrangement to keep her mom and my grandma from playing matchmaker all through the holidays.”

“Bull.” Cam spit out the word like it tasted rotten on his tongue.

“It’s true.” Gabe took his receipt when it printed. “We were going to break up after the new year anyway.”

Cam inclined his head as he studied Gabe. “Did you get dropped on your head as a baby?”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Gabe crossed his arms over his chest. “Did you ask for a face-to-face goodbye so you could hurl insults at me on my way out?”

“I want to talk some sense into you. You have a good life here, Gabe. Why walk away? You know as well as I do how hard happiness is to come by.” He held up a hand when Gabe would have spoken. “And don’t expect me to believe for a second that you weren’t happy with Angi. I don’t care how the relationship started, the two of you are the real deal.”

“We aren’t anything at this point,” Gabe said, keeping his voice steady. “She’s better off that way. Does happiness count when I was living a life that didn’t belong to me? I came here for my grandmother, and took care of her house and her business. Neither of which I can claim at this point. I have nothing to offer Angi, even if I wanted to.”

“That’s not true,” Cam argued. “Stay. Just stay and try to make it work.”

Gabe wanted to agree. He wanted to turn his truck around as much as he wanted his next breath. But that was the problem. Where was he supposed to go? He had no home. No job. He’d made a place for himself in Magnolia, but his mom’s arrival wiped it all away. She’d always treated him like he was worthless, and there was no way he was going to stick around and let her go after him again.

He didn’t have it in him.

Maybe that made him a coward after all.

“Keep an eye on Ang and Andrew,” he told Cam. “That kid has a heart of gold, and I hate to think about some jerk-wad boy with his own daddy issues bullying it out of him.”

“He needs you,” Cam answered.

Gabe gave a sharp shake of his head. “I wish I could be the kind of man that kid needs, but I’ve even managed to screw that up at almost every turn. They’ll both be better off without me.”

Before Cam could argue, Gabe reached out a hand. “You’re a good guy, Cam. Just please keep an eye on the boy.”

“I will,” Cam said quietly as they shook. “If you ever need anything...”

“Appreciate it.” Gabe forced a smile. “I’ll figure something out. I always do.”