Free Still Mr. And Mrs. by Patricia Olney

nodded. “Yeah, you were always so strong and independent. You remind me a lot of Evelyn in that way.”
    “Gabe, I—”
    “Reb, do you remember why we broke up?”
    She blushed a light pink. “We had this huge, stupid argument.”
    He sensed she was stalling, but then she continued.
    “I remember you had to plan out our vacation to the tiniest detail, the hour, the minute, pinpointing each and every thing we were going to do. I felt like a business meeting, not a wife.”
    “I wanted to give you the best.”
    “You didn’t have to. It was as if you were trying to buy my love. As if just being with me wasn’t enough for you.”
    He felt a heavy twinge of regret and emptiness. “I didn’t want anything to go wrong.”
    “Life has no guarantees. Just like in business, you take risks. You should know that.”
    “But in business you have more control if you plan carefully.”
    “Life can’t always be controlled.”
    “This is crazy.” He shook his head. “And so were those arguments. It wasn’t just the arguments that broke us up. They were a symptom of bigger problems.” A stab of sadness went through him as he thought about all they had lost.
    He sighed. “You are the most exciting womanI’ve ever known. I want you to know that. I will treasure the memories forever.”
    He paused for a second, seeing only the bittersweet desire in the depths of her eyes.
    “Since that argument, I’ve had a lot of time to think about things,” she murmured. “We both said a lot of hurtful things, Gabe. I want you to know that I made a mistake by threatening to divorce you. It was supposed to be a wake-up call. I didn’t think you’d take me up on it.”
    He swallowed the lump that suddenly had formed at the back of his throat. “It was a dangerous argument that backfired.”
    “I know.”
    “You hurt me, Reb. I lost all the trust I had in you. I can’t ever be sure you wouldn’t do it again.”
    “I know you tried to give me everything,” she said, hesitation clear in her voice. “When you stormed out that night, it reminded me of my mother …” She struggled for the words. “When my mother abandoned me at the foster home.”
    “What are you talking about?” he asked. “I thought Allen and Rosemary adopted you when you were a baby. You never mentioned any foster home.”
    “I never liked to talk about it.”
    He lifted her chin to meet his gaze. “Why couldn’t you tell me?”
    “I didn’t want you to feel sorry for me. I was supposed to be strong. That’s what, Teri, my biological mother, always told me to be. I’m tough, you know.” She straightened her shoulders with false bravado.
    He ran his fingers down the side of her cheek, lingering at the corner of her mouth.
No, you’re not tough
, he wanted to tell her.
You’re sweet and gentle and oh, so fragile.
    “How old were you?”
    “Seven.”
    He sucked in a breath. “Sweetheart, I’m so sorry.” He shook his head. “I’m stunned, shocked.”
    He stared out into the distance. He’d experienced some of the same things as a child. Things he’d never told Reb about either. Technically his father hadn’t abandoned him as Reb’s mother had. But the pain of being sent away to boarding school felt the same.
    Gabe’s chest tightened as the resentment surfaced. The need to hold her, tell her everything would be all right overwhelmed him. “Is this why you want children so desperately?”
    She nodded. “I wanted to make sure I was doing this for the right reasons, so I went to some adoption seminars. I even talked to a psychotherapist.”
    “So you’re sure.”
    “Yeah, I’m sure. My heart and soul are screaming for me to do this, Gabe.”
    “I wish you would have told me about this sooner, Reb. At least then I’d have been able to understand you better.”
    “When you walked out after that fight, all those horrible memories came flooding back. I couldn’t stop thinking about them.” Her voice drifted into a hushed