Second Nature (His Chance 2)

Gabriel seemed surprised. “I never would have guessed you’d go into that field. What made you choose it?”

“It was because of you,” I admitted.

“Seriously?” When I nodded, he asked, “How did I inspire you to choose your career?”

“It’s a long story.”

He touched my cheek and searched my eyes as he said, “I still can’t believe you’re here. I missed you so much.”

“I missed you too, Angel. I mean, Gabriel. Why didn’t I know your real name? We used to talk about everything, and that’s a pretty big thing to miss.”

A little smile curved the corner of his full lips. “I told you my name was Gabriel the day we met, and you immediately started calling me Angel.”

“I thought everyone called you that.”

“Nope, only you. It was sweet. You told me it was fitting that my name was Gabriel because I looked like an angel, and from that point on you always used that nickname for me.”

“I can’t believe I forgot that. All this time, I was so upset about not knowing your real name, because it was impossible to track you down without it.”

“Hey, don’t beat yourself up,” he said, when he saw me getting upset. “We were both dealing with addiction at the time, and there are a lot of holes in my memory, too.”

“I hate to think what else I’ve forgotten.”

“Let’s start fresh.” He stuck his hand out. “Hi, my name’s Gabriel Moriarty.”

I shook his hand. “Riley Palma. I was right when I said you look like an angel.” He grinned at that, and I added, “I always thought you were Latino, but with that last name I’m doubting myself.”

“I am. My mom and her family emigrated from Mexico, and their last name is Morales. But she decided to give me the name of the rich white guy who knocked her up, because she hoped his stuck-up family would welcome me into the fold. Big surprise, they never wanted a thing to do with me.”

“So, you should just tell people you’re named for Sherlock Holmes’ arch enemy.”

He grinned and said, “That’s a much better story.” Then he asked, “Your last name’s Spanish, isn’t it?”

“I looked it up once and Palma can be Spanish, Greek, Portuguese, or a bunch of other stuff. In my case, it’s probably Italian, according to my aunt and uncle. They weren’t totally sure, though. I don’t come from the type of family that takes pride in its heritage.”

“You’re talking about your relatives in Reno, right?” When I nodded, he asked, “What are they like?”

“They seemed nice. They didn’t really know what to make of me when you sent me to them, but they cared enough to make sure I got into rehab and checked on me a couple of times. Afterwards, they gave me some money and suggested the best place for me would probably be back in California. I got the message, and I didn’t blame them. Why would they want to open their home to a stranger with what was then a very recent drug problem?”

Gabriel frowned and said, “Because you’re family.”

“I was more of a stranger. They were estranged from my mom, and they’d never even met me before I showed up on their doorstep four years ago.”

“Did you ever reconcile with your parents?”

“That’s not an option,” I said. “My dad took off before I was born, and my mom didn’t bother to let me know where she was moving after I left home at sixteen.”

“That breaks my heart.”

“It is what it is. What about your mom, are you two close?”

“We’ve had our ups and downs, and I don’t know if I’d call us close, but we get along pretty well.” I’d almost forgotten we were in the dining room with a lot of other people until Gabriel leaned in and whispered, “What do you think about blowing off this dinner party? I just really want to keep talking to you, instead of sitting around making polite small talk with everyone.”

I looked around and saw Phoenix chatting with Will and Lorenzo, so I told him, “I’m all for it. My friends are amusing themselves, so they probably won’t miss me.”

He grabbed my hand and led me into the adjoining commercial kitchen, where a couple of guys were getting ready to serve a mountain of food. Gabriel said, “Colt and Ren, this is my friend Riley. We have a lot of catching up to do, so we’re going to be antisocial and skip out on dinner. Hope you don’t mind.”

The older of the two was a handsome guy with dark hair and a short beard, and he smiled at us and said, “We don’t mind at all. Have fun.”

Gabriel found some silverware and used a dishcloth to pick up one of the desserts on the counter as he said, “I baked six pies for a total of fourteen people, so I’m going to steal one of them. I think there’s still plenty to go around.” Then he asked me, “Do you want some of the main course, too?”