You can do this.It’s like ripping off a Band-Aid.One good hard yank and it’ll be done.
With a deep breath, she blurted it out.“Gabe and I—we’re married.”
The words landed like an explosion, and slowly, every voice in the backyard was swallowed by a heavy silence.Her brothers stood, moving closer to where she and Gabe stood with her parents.Yep, it was going to be bad.Reaching, she grabbed Gabe’s hand, anchoring him by her side.
Ms.Patti’s face froze.She blinked several times, as if trying to make sense of what Nica had said.Her mouth opened, but no sound came out.Nica’s heart cracked under the weight of her mother’s silence.
“Married?”Ms.Patti repeated, her voice a soft whisper of disbelief.“Did I hear you right?You…and Gabe?I don’t understand.You haven’t even been dating, and now you’re married?”Her eyes narrowed, and in that moment her expression looked so much like Rafe’s Nica almost laughed.
Straightening her spine, she met her mother’s gaze.“It wasn’t planned this way.It just…happened.”
“Acne just happens.Appendicitis just happens.Getting married doesn’t just happen, daughter.Are you telling me you eloped?”
Douglas cleared his throat.“We should’ve been there for you, kiddo.Would have been if we’d known.”There was no hint of accusation in his tone, only a sad disappointment, which made Nica feel about two inches tall.Her dad wasn’t blaming her, but she knew inside it had to be tearing him apart—because it certainly was tearing her up into a million tiny pieces.
She started, before he raised his hand, stopping her.
“I’m sorry we weren’t there for you.I love you, Nica.I’m your dad, and I will always be there for you, no matter what.You’ve gotta admit, though, it’s a shock.Nobody knew you and the good doc here had been seeing each other.”He paused for a second, his gaze filled with a bone-weary agony that nearly broke Nica.“How long has this,” he waved a hand between them, “been going on behind our backs?”
Gabe took a step forward, placing his arm around Nica’s waist, his voice steady.“I know this wasn’t the wedding you imagined, Ms.Patti.We’re sorry for keeping it a secret.”
Her mother’s eyes shimmered, but she didn’t shed a tear.Instead, she crossed her arms, her lips trembling.“You eloped.Without me.Without your father.Without your family.Not a single word to any member of this family.Do you have any idea how that makes me—us—feel?”The hurt was palpable in her voice.“We dreamt of your wedding day, Nica.You and I talked about everything.I imagined it from the moment you were placed in my arms in the hospital.You and I looked through bridal magazines together, oohing and ahhing over wedding dresses.You always talked about me and your dad being there to help you pick the perfect dream dress, even laughed at the thought of your dad sitting through dress shopping and how he’d hate every minute of it, but he’d do it because you were his baby girl.Your dad was supposed to walk you down the aisle.Your brothers and all the Lost Boys, standing in the church.These were all things you, Nica, said you wanted.What changed?”
Nica’s heart ached as her mother’s disappointment wrapped around her like a thick blanket.“I know, Momma,” she whispered.“I never wanted to disappoint you.It wasn’t how I imagined it either.But we…we had to do it this way.”
“Had to?”The hard-edged question from her daddy had her rushing to answer.
“No, no, nothing like that.I’m not pregnant.Some things happened, and then things escalated and got more complicated, and we eloped.”
“Things?What things were big enough that you thought you had to marry without your family?”Douglas’ voice was rough, and Nica could hear his disappointment along with his barely contained anger.
She looked at Gabe, and he nodded.“Dad, Momma, Gabe has some—stuff—that happened in his past, when he lived and worked in San Francisco.Somebody’s been gaslighting him.Things started out small, simple phone calls in the middle of the night.Hang-ups without saying anything.But they got increasingly more sinister and have evolved into actual threats.He’s contacted the police in California as well as checked with Stanford, and they’re looking into the issue, but they keep saying it’s going to take time.And with there being a possible escalation of the threats against him, we were worried that whoever is doing this might think to use you if they thought it would hurt him.Please understand, we didn’t want to hurt any of you.We wanted to keep you safe.”
Ms.Patti didn’t respond immediately.She just stared at her daughter, then at Gabe, who was standing at her side.Guilt ate at Nica because she’d been the one who had wanted to keep everything secret, and now he was the one taking most of the blame.It wasn’t right or fair.
“I only have one question,” Douglas stepped closer, his gaze directed straight at Gabe.“Do you love her?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Baby girl, do you love him?”
Nica nodded.“I do, Dad, with all my heart.”
“Good enough.”Douglas looked from Nica to Gabe, before holding out his hand.“You better take good care of her, or we’re going to have a problem.”
“You have my word, sir.”
Finally, Ms.Patti took a step forward and wrapped Nica in a tight hug, her voice cracking as she spoke.“I don’t know what to say.I’m sad, honey.And I honestly don’t understand all the secrecy or the rush, but I trust your judgement.You’re still my baby girl.And I want you to be happy.”
Nica blinked back tears, hugging her mother back, the weight of everything finally starting to lift.“I’m sorry, Mom.I really am.You should know it was my idea to keep it a secret.Gabe wanted to tell you from the beginning, but I wanted some time.Time to figure out how to tell you about how much I love him.About the escalating threats.There’s been so much going on—graduation, moving back to Shiloh Springs, Gabe spending weeks going back and forth between College Station and here until the hospital there could get a cardiovascular surgeon—everything just snowballed.Then with all the stuff happening with Gabe, the anonymous phone calls, the relentless threats, it just never seemed to be the right time.Then when Rafe found out, he kind of forced the issue.”She shot a glare at her big brother, who was grinning like he’d won the lottery.
Douglas placed a hand on Gabe’s shoulder.“I expect you’re going to explain to me and my wife all about these phone calls and threats my daughter’s talking about, especially if it’s putting either one of you in danger.But right now isn’t the time, not with this bombshell you’ve just dropped on the family.”
“We’ll tell you everything, sir, you have my word.”
“Momma, I swear I never meant to hurt you or Dad.I love you both so much.Please understand, I want to have a marriage just like yours.I hate that it’s started out with me keeping secrets, but I promise, there won’t be any more.”
Ms.Patti pulled Nica into a hug.“I’m holding you to that promise.You’re not too big for me to pull over my knee.”
