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CHAPTER FORTY

AMELIA

T he ringing of my phone wakes me out of a light sleep. I grab it from the nightstand, silencing it as fast as I can so it doesn’t wake Elliot. Glancing at the display, I see Gabe’s name and consider just ignoring it, but I’ve been doing that for far too long.

It’s time.

Elliot is still curled around me, his mouth open slightly, his breath coming in soft puffs.

He told me once that sometimes when he goes dark, his body shuts down, almost as if it’s hiding out in sleep.

Pressing a kiss to his hair, I slide carefully out from under him and out of bed, grabbing one of his T-shirts out of the dresser and pulling it on as I pad into the living room.

I detour to the kitchen to pour a cold Diet Pepsi into one of the mugs Elliot got for me and grab a handful of gummy bears to fortify myself for this conversation.

I set everything down on the coffee table and pull one of Elliot’s fluffy throw blankets around me while I tuck myself into the corner of the couch.

At absolute peak comfort for what is sure to be a very uncomfortable call, I take a fortifying breath and unlock my phone, prepared to dial Gabe’s number.

But when my screen comes to life, before I have a chance to hit the phone icon, my eyes land on the Genesis app.

I see it a million times a day, but somehow, after my run in with the dean today and taking care of Elliot, this thing I made, all by myself and without help or input from anyone, or even any formal training, feels even more significant.

I fucking did it. Me. No one else. It’s mine.

And suddenly, I know exactly what to do. With one more deep breath, I dial Gabe’s number and bring the phone to my ear.

“Ames!” Gabe says when he answers, and I can hear the smile in his voice.

“Tell her I’m mad at her!” I hear Molly call from the background.

“Did you hear that?” Gabe asks.

I grin, everything inside of me glowing at the sound of their voices. “I sure did. What’s she mad at me for this time?”

“Something about a list of true crime podcasts you were supposed to send her, I think?”

I wince, remembering my promise to send her that list before Elliot and I went to Maine.

Then I got caught up in the big Clara and Henry discovery, and Elliot and I saying I love you, and coming back to Boston and telling his family about everything we found out.

Turns out, I’ve been kind of an asshole lately.

“Tell her I promise I’ll send her the list as soon as we get off this call. ”

“Her middle of the night insomnia thanks you.”

I chuckle before something occurs to me. “Hang on—why does she have middle of the night insomnia? Soph has been sleeping through the night for months, hasn’t she?”

“She has but…” Gabe breaks off, hesitating.

“But what?” I demand.

I hear Gabe and Molly murmuring to each other and a rustling on their end of the line. “Hey, Ames,” Molly says, her cheerful voice immediately making me smile.

“Why aren’t you sleeping?” I ask by way of a hello.

“Oh, that. Yeah, Gabe wanted to wait to tell you in person, but you know I don’t have that kind of patience, and I suck at keeping secrets. I’m pregnant.”

“You’re…” is all I can manage as tears flood my eyes.

“Yep.” I can hear the grin in her voice, and it has the tears spilling down my cheeks.

“Baby number two is happening way sooner than we planned. The idea of two kids under two is low-key terrifying, and no margaritas for another forty damn weeks is not my idea of a good time, but we’re rolling with it. ”

“Oh, my god, Mol,” I say through my tears. “I’m so fucking happy for you guys.”

“For us, Ames. All of us. You’re part of this family too, my sister just as much as you’re Gabe’s.”

“I really miss you guys,” I whisper through my tears. “I miss you so much.”

“We miss you too,” Molly says, voice laced with concern. “Amelia, are you okay?”

I take a deep, shaky breath, trying to get myself under control. “I’m okay. Or, at least, I will be. Do you think I can talk to Gabe for a few minutes?”

“Of course. Here he is. And Ames?”

“Yeah?”

“Call me. Day or night or anytime in between. For advice or help or if you need to bury a body or don’t know what color shoes to wear. If you need me, I’m here.”

I close my eyes, feeling so fucking grateful for this family of mine. It was so stupid to feel like I didn’t have a place with them. I glance at Elliot’s closed bedroom door and smile. I have a lot of places now. “I will, Mol. I promise.”

“You better. Love you. Here’s Gabe.”

I hear the two of them talking quietly to each other, and then Gabe’s deep voice comes through the phone. “So, what’s up, Ames?”

“I don’t work at GenTech anymore,” I blurt out, cringing. Probably should have practiced my delivery. “I haven’t for months. Nine months, to be exact.”

There’s a pause on the other end of the phone and then—“I know.”

What. The. Fuck.

“You…how?” I manage.

“Not because you told me,” he says wryly.

I blow out a breath. “Yeah, sorry about that. It’s a whole thing, and I’ll tell you everything, but how did you find out and why didn’t you tell me you knew?”

“The CEO of GenTech sits on the board of my women in STEM non-profit. You know, the board you refused to take a seat on because, nepotism?”

Gabe’s voice is full of humor, but I wince anyway because fuck, I wanted that board seat so badly, but I passed it up because I didn’t want anyone thinking I got it just because Gabe started the organization.

As if I couldn’t have shown anyone on that board that I earned the seat just by being me.

I’ve been such a short-sighted asshole. “I’m sorry about that.

Maybe we can revisit the conversation about the board seat once we finish with this conversation. ”

“Yeah?” The excitement in Gabe’s voice at the thought of me sitting on his board is so palpable that tears burn my eyes again.

“Definitely. So, the GenTech CEO told you I resigned?”

“He did. At our board meeting back in October he mentioned to me how sorry he was to lose you, and I pretended like I knew exactly what he was talking about, but you know I’m a shit liar, Ames.”

I laugh because yeah, he really is. “Why didn’t you say something? I was in Pittsburgh for a week for Thanksgiving, and then for ten days for Christmas. And you call me literally every day.”

I can practically hear Gabe’s shrug through the phone line.

“You’re one of the calmest, most reasonable and level-headed people I know.

I figured if you quit, you had a reason, and I hoped that eventually you would tell me what it was.

I know my default is to get involved and try and fix everything for the people I love, but I thought maybe this time you needed to work it out on your own. Call it a fatherly instinct.”

I let out a watery laugh. “You are so not my father.”

Gabe chuckles. “Brotherly instinct, then. So, since you’re telling me now, does that mean you’re ready to tell me what you’re doing instead of GenTech?”

“You mean you don’t already know?”

Gabe lets out a long-suffering sigh. “I was ready to deep dive and do all kinds of things of dubious legality to figure it out, but Molly wouldn’t let me. She reminded me that you’re all adult and stuff, and I needed to let you do whatever it is you’re doing on your own, if that’s what you needed.”

“You’re welcome,” Molly yells from the background, and I miss them so much I wish I could reach through the phone and wrap my arms around them both.

“It’s a long story,” I say, wondering where in the world to start.

“I’ve got nothing but time,” Gabe says, and I hear shuffling in the background, like he’s flopping down on the couch, settling in for whatever story I’m about to tell him.

“Okay, well, I guess first things first. Do you know the Genesis app?”

“You mean the app that’s been number one in the Redwood store for like a million weeks? The one developed by someone hiding behind a web of IP addresses and an impenetrable LLC? I’m aware.”

“I made it.”

There’s almost a full minute of silence on the other end of the phone before Gabe speaks again. “Hang on. Explain this to me like I’m five years old. What do you mean you made it?”

“I mean, I came up with the idea, mapped out the app, coded it, and put it up on the Redwood Store. Genesis is mine.”

“You developed the app people are calling the most stable app ever created in the history of the smartphone? The one that has been downloaded more than twenty million times since the day it went live? The one the PR department of my former company gets like thirty media requests a day about because everyone wants to find the creator and hire that person? Or advertise on the app?”

“Seriously?”

Gabe laughs a little incredulously. “Yeah, Ames. Seriously. Fucking shit, I think I need a minute or five. I’m so damn proud of you. I always knew you had mad coding skills—way better than mine—but this? This is something else entirely.”

Everything inside me warms at the pride in Gabe’s voice. At the way he just casually accepts what I’ve been doing without asking a million questions or pushing me for more than I’m ready for or doing anything, really, but listening to me. It makes me want to tell him everything. So I do.

“There’s more, Gabe. So, so much more.”

“Lay it on me, Ames.” The smile in his voice is unmistakable.

“I’m enrolled in a computer science PhD program at MassTech with a focus on UI and UX design. Also, I’m in love with Jordan’s brother, Elliot.”

Gabe coughs and splutters on the other end of the phone and I laugh hysterically, listening to him try and get ahold of himself. “Uh, how did that happen?”

“The PhD program?” I ask innocently.

“Uh, no, Ames. The part where you’re in love with Elliot Wyles. I’m putting you on speaker because Molly says she will absolutely die if she doesn’t get to hear this story firsthand.”

I laugh at my dramatic sister-in-law. “Go for it.”