Betrayed

Take Two

By December Gabriel and I had fully returned to our old routine. Though the pain of losing a baby never quite goes away, it becomes a little more bearable as the days go on.

Sally had asked me to return to the diner for the winter, but I got an even more enticing job as an instructor at the community college. I would deliver a certain amount of theory content during the fall and winter semesters and in the summer I would take on the students at Gabriel's work sites in order to give them hands-on practice. After a long and thorough conversation with Gabriel I sadly declined Sally's offer and took on the college job. I loved having a 9-4 job that allowed me to be at home in the evening. Gabriel had secured a few building jobs around town and was also home every night. He frequently assured me he didn't find life with me dull and always looked forward to coming home and seeing me each night.

Our new house was everything I could have ever dreamt of. Gabriel had built me a green house and some planters where I was able to start growing some herbs and a few vegetable which I brought to the campsites in the summer. 

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"Gabriel Henry Mason" I said through clenched teeth as the cutlery drawer fell out of its track and clanged loudly on the ground, "I swear to god, if you don't fix this drawer before the end of the day I will hire someone to come all the way out here to fix it"

"It'll come out of your budget babe!" he called back, teasing. A few of his men sniggered around him and I glared at him earning me a mischievous grin. All traces of amusement left his face as I squatted awkwardly to pick up the fallen drawer still full of cutlery. He quickly made his way over to me, picking up the drawer and putting it on the counter top. With a serious face and a scowl he looked at me, unimpressed. "No. heavy. lifting!" he said, punctuating each word.

"Well fix the place up then" I replied frustrated placing my hands on my hips. The rest of the men arrived and proceeded to serve themselves, each one of them looking at the drawer on the counter. None of them dared say anything with Gabriel there except for Matteo.

"Drawer fell out again, eh?" he asked as he picked out a fork and knife. "Should probably get around to fixing that boss" he suggested, helpfully. "She dropped it this morning too and I caught her lifting it back in place," he laughed. I looked at my friend willing him to shut up, but Gabriel had heard enough. He stared daggers at me, his jaw clenched.

"It only happened once, Gabe, I promise, '' I said, trying to placate him. Realizing he had gotten me in trouble, Matteo quickly ducked out of the kitchen and joined the rest of his coworkers in the dining hall.

"I'll come by this afternoon and fix it okay?" he said, avoiding my eyes, grabbing a plateful of food and walking out of the kitchen.

"Thanks a lot Matteo" I yelled out into the dining room. My friend mouthed 'Sorry' and shrugged. I filled the sink with water in anticipation of the dirty dishes and waited patiently for the men to finish their lunch. Gabriel returned while I was doing the dishes and got straight to work. He didn't say a word as he worked away and I felt the terrible guilt of his wrath. My chest was tight at the thought that I had upset him, and I knew what I had done was foolish. We were both anxiously awaiting this baby and we both wanted the pregnancy to go smoothly. I watched him as he climbed up a step ladder to change a few of the burnt light bulbs in the dining hall and attended to the laundry list of items I had been nagging about since the beginning of the season. When all his tasks were done he came to the kitchen to help me finish the dishes.

"I'm really sorry Gabe, I know it was a stupid thing to do" I said and he simply nodded. We continued the task in silence, each second seemed like an eternity as Gabriel avoided my eye and my touch. If I had attempted to talk to him, I was sure he wouldn't have been listening to a word. Though he was standing right next to me, Gabriel was far away in his head. His body was tense and his mind was engrossed in whatever thought he was dwelling on. Every once in a while I caught him using hand gestures as if he was having a conversation with himself or weighting out different options. I kept quiet but followed him to our cabin when we were all done cleaning up.