The Getaway Bride

Again, he shook his head. “I’ve told them I’ll be out of town for a few days. That’s all they need to know for now.”

Page plucked at a string that dangled from the hem of her top. “How is your family?” she asked, giving in to the curiosity that had been building inside her.

“They’re fine. Mother fell just before Christmas and sprained her back, which kept her down for a while, but she seems much better now.”

“How awful for her. As active as she is, she must have hated being laid up.”

He glanced at her, as though wondering whether she really cared about his mother’s discomfort or was just making conversation. “Yes. She did.”

He didn’t seem inclined to continue the conversation, but Page persisted, needing to fill the silence between them. She nodded toward the stack of photographs Gabe had replaced on the coffee table after Blake had examined them. “The picture of you and Gabriel at the park—I couldn’t believe how much he’s grown. He looks very much like you.”

“That’s what my mother and my sister both say. Curt sort of resents it,” Gabe said, grudgingly responding to her efforts as he mentioned his brother-in-law.

Page had been especially fond of Gabe’s only sister during the brief time she’d known his family. “Is Annie still working for Dr. Shewmaker?”

He nodded. “She still seems happy running his office.”

“Good for her. I’ve...I’ve missed them all.”

The look he shot her made her bite her lip. “They missed you, too,” he said. “I wasn’t the only one you hurt when you took off.”

She flinched.

He sighed. “Sorry,” he muttered. “I guess I’m on sensory overload right now. A lot has happened today,”

She nodded. They fell silent again.

Gabe finally shoved a hand through his hair and cleared his throat. “We’re both dead on our feet,” he said, making her struggle to suppress a wince at his unfortunate wording. “Let’s get some rest. You take the bed. I’ll sleep on the couch.”

She didn’t question the sleeping assignments. Nor did she argue. “Fine.”

“I’m going out to nail that plywood back into place over the window. You can have first shot at the bathroom.”

Page glared at him. “It isn’t necessary to nail me back into the bedroom. I’m not going anywhere.”

There was really no point in trying to escape tonight She had no idea where they were, and Gabe would just follow her, anyway. She knew when to bide her time.

He sighed impatiently. “I’m not nailing you into the bedroom. Obviously, that didn’t work before. I’m simply covering the glass again. I’d just as soon not have anyone peering into the windows without our knowledge.”

She shivered. “That’s a pleasant thought.”

“Yeah, well, this situation has me thinking that way.”

A few minutes later she heard him moving around outside, using the full moon for illumination as he hammered at the plywood with what sounded like a large rock hitting the nails still stuck in the board. She rubbed her hands over her face, dreading the next few hours.

Alone all night in a cabin with a man who was legally her husband. A man she’d once given her heart and her body to with equal abandon. A man who looked at her now as though he could hardly stand to be in the same room with her.

She took a deep, unsteady breath, and reminded herself that she’d locked the hurt away with those other feelings that were too intense for her to handle now. And then she headed for the bathroom to get ready for bed.

She didn’t wear a nightie, but a large black T-shirt over a pair of gray sweatpants, with white tube socks. Hardly sexy sleeping attire—but she wasn’t trying to seduce anyone. She was only interested in being ready to run at a moment’s notice, if necessary.

Or so she told herself.

She was in bed by the time Gabe came back into the cabin. He’d taken his time outside. Had he been patrolling the premises for signs of danger? Or trying to avoid being alone inside with her for as long as possible?

Either way, she decided she didn’t really want to know.

He went into the bathroom without looking at her as she lay in the darkened bedroom. The door closed with a snap. Lying on her side, idly fingering the chain around her throat, she stared blindly at nothing, and listened to his movements. She heard the shower running, and pictured him stripping off his clothes and stepping beneath the water.