Perfect Fit - Brenda Jackson [103]
Breaking off the kiss, he scooped her into his arms and turned to leave the kitchen.
“Wait, I need to turn off the stove.”
With her cradled tenderly in his arms, he walked across the room to the stove and turned it off. They would worry about breakfast later. “It’s done.”
A quick look out of a window they passed indicated it was still snowing heavily. Neither minded since they had plenty of things to do on the inside to occupy their time, and not a one of them was worrying about what was happening with the weather on the outside.
PART THREE
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
—Philippians 4:13
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
The following weeks flew by in a furor of activity for both Sage and Gabe. The snowstorm had held everyone hostage inside of their homes for two full days. Then afterward, they were faced with the chore of playing catch-up with those things they had put off during the time they were snowed in.
Gabe immediately met with Parnell to make sure the construction of Eden would resume as soon as possible. Initially, they had considered the effects of the weather and had made allowances for it. Parnell had found another woman to watch the girls but wasn’t completely satisfied with her. She was good at keeping an eye on his daughters but was a disaster everywhere else. She did not keep the house tidy the way the former live-in housekeeper had done, and he’d found himself picking up after the older woman more than he was picking up after his girls. She was notorious for keeping a messy kitchen, which was one of Parnell’s pet peeves. He found himself coming in from a hard day’s work only to tackle another hard day of work cleaning his house.
“You’re okay?” Gabe asked his foreman when the two of them had finished going over some items that had cropped up.
Parnell rubbed his hand over his face. “Yes, but I don’t know how much longer I can last, Gabe. Mrs. Miller is getting worse every day, and all those good housekeeping habits I’ve instilled in my girls are being thrown out the window. I had to explain to them last night why they can’t eat in their bedroom when Mrs. Miller eats in hers.”
Gabe leaned back in his chair and nodded. “Sounds to me like you and the woman need to have a long talk.”
Parnell’s face took on a look of frustration. “That’s just it. We’ve had a long talk, and it got us nowhere. She thinks she can do just what she pleases because she knows I need someone to care for the girls.” He shook his head, clearly upset. “If this keeps up, I may have to send them back to Mom until this job is over, and I really don’t want that.”
Gabe nodded again. He knew how much having his daughters with him meant to Parnell. He checked his watch. He was meeting Sage for lunch. “Well, I’m sure something will work out. What about Bill Phelps’s wife? Hasn’t she kept them before?”
Parnell shook his head as he folded up the blueprints he and Gabe had gone over. Bill Phelps was one of their electricians whose wife had come to Anchorage with him. She had volunteered to watch the girls during the day. “Yeah, but she’s too easy. The girls run all over her, and she lets them. Besides, Marcy Phelps can curse like a sailor when her soaps aren’t going the way she wants them to go. You wouldn’t believe what the twins have repeated after visiting with her.”
Gabe chuckled as he stood and put on his coat. “Well, like I said, I’m sure something will work out.”
Parnell looked at Gabe expectantly. “You seem happy, Gabe.”
Gabe raised his brow, wondering when he’d ever not been in a good mood. Even when he’d gone through that episode with Lindsey, he had kept his pain from showing. “I’m always happy, Parnell.”
“Then, you seem happier.”
Gabe smiled, knowing where the man’s thoughts were going. “Yeah, I am happier.”
“Would it have anything to do with a certain woman by the name of Sage Dunbar?”
Gabe snapped shut his briefcase as his smile widened. “It might.”
Moments later while riding in his car on the way to the restaurant to meet Sage for lunch,