Free First a Dream (Dreams Come True #1) by Emma Nichols Page A

it felt to have him hug me. I was his special girl, and Angelica was his special tomboy.” She paused to chuckle. “He had the best of both worlds I guess.” Isabella buried her head in his neck.
    “I’m so sorry to hear about your loss.” He murmured into her hair. “Since I seem to have already touched on nearly every sore subject, I don’t suppose you would want to tell me anything about Jack?” Gabriel bent his head to look her in the eyes and winked.
    “Checking out the competition?” Isabella attempted a joke. Then she must have recognized the worry in Gabriel’s eyes, since she grew serious. “Jack and I won’t be getting back together, if that’s what you are wondering.”
    His shoulders heaved in relief. “That’s good to know, even if I question how you could be so certain. After all, you were drawn together once.”
    “This is true.” She admitted with a nod. “Only he has done too much damage for me to ever trust him again. Suffice to say, cheating and lying are my deal breakers.” She grumbled for a moment under her breath before continuing. “I don’t want you to know too much about him, or the nature of our relationship and its demise. I don’t want you to hate him because of anything I may say.” She looked down at her feet and took a step back as the song they had been swaying to stopped.
    Gabriel moved a step closer and lifted her chin, forcing her to meet his face. “I won’t hate him,” he whispered. “I will pity him for not knowing what he had. And if I ever meet him, I will thank him. His stupidity has brought me great fortune.” Isabella’s face brightened while her cheeks turned several shades of pink. “Let’s sit and have another drink while we talk about something happy.” He took her hand in his and started walking back to the deck.
    “My kids,” Isabella murmured. “We could finally talk about Rebecca and Konnor.” Already she seemed happier. A smile even played at the corner of her lips.
    They found their way through the crowd and Gabriel pulled out a chair for Isabella to sit at the table. He could tell from her reaction, she was completely unused to being treated so respectfully. His heart thumped exuberantly as he realized how much pleasure it gave him to do these simple acts of gallantry.
    “Tell me all about Rebecca and Konnor.” He leaned in and waited for her to speak.
    A second later, Isabella opened her phone and began showing him images she had taken of the kids. These weren’t normal, ordinary photos. These were art. She had captured moments. The two were holding hands walking in front of her on a sidewalk. In another, she captured them snuggled together asleep in bed. There was one of them playing in a sprinkler. The sheer joy on their faces was positively contagious.
    Isabella shared pictures and stories for nearly half an hour when Gabriel realized he could listen to her talk about her babies forever. It was obvious she was the loving and devoted mother he imagined her to be. Being around her was like living an eternal spring, so much sunshine, everything fresh and new. Then he caught her glancing at the time on her phone. “Thinking about calling it a night?” He squeezed her hand.
    Frowning, Isabella nodded. “I have to work in the morning. And you have a long drive.”
    “This is true. Of course, the drive won’t seem nearly so long if I have you to talk to.” A smile broke out on his face. “I don’t suppose you’re ready to give me your phone number yet?”
    With a grin, Isabella pulled out a small lilac Post It Note and passed it to him. “You listened to me blather on about my kids forever without freaking out. You totally earned this.” She laughed. Standing, she held out a hand. “Care to walk me to my car?”
    Reaching up, Gabriel took her hand in his. He watched how effortlessly they knit their fingers together. Struck by how natural it felt, he doubted there was anything in this world that could ruin everything between