James nervously tapped her fingers against her coffee mug the next morning at breakfast. JC sat across from her, Landon on his lap, his iPad propped up in front of him on the table. He looked up at James and raised his eyebrows at her. She was off in her own world, her eyes averted away from the kitchen and out into the backyard. She was biting her lower lip, deep in thought.

"James," JC tapped her arm. "Honey, are you ok?"

James snapped out of her thoughts and looked over at JC. She shook her head, sipped her coffee, and sighed. "I just don't know how I'm going to tell Lesly what I saw last night."

"I told you. You tell her the truth and tell her he's not welcome over here next week," JC went back to reading the news on his iPad. 

"Josh, it's not that simple. For one thing, she may not believe me," James looked down at her coffee mug and then back at JC. "And I just don't want to see her hurt again."

JC shifted Landon to his other leg and moved closer to his wife. "James, I love Lesly. I do. But she hasn't really made the wisest choices lately when it comes to men. I mean, she should've called it off with Chris when he decided he couldn't commit to her in the first place. And this latest guy sounds like the poster child for a Tool. So maybe what you have to say to her might wake her up to reality. And no, he is definitely not welcome over here. If I could ban him from coming to Brewster's I would." JC went back to reading his iPad and James smiled weakly at him. 

"I'll talk to her today,"

**
He didn't come over like he'd promised. Lesly had waited until midnight, her eyes barely able to stay focused on the book she'd been reading to keep her awake. She looked at the clock every five minutes. He'd promised he'd be there before 10:00 that night. At 10:45, she called his cell phone. She called again at 11:00, only to have it go straight to voice mail. Her stomach was uneasy for some reason. He could've gotten held up at dinner with his parents, which is where he'd told her he would be. But the relationship between Gabe and his mother and father seemed strained from what Lesly had gathered. Finally, she gave up and fell asleep, hoping that he'd stop by the coffee shop tomorrow. 

Her alarm rang at 7:00 the next morning. Groggy from the night before, Lesly hit snooze and rolled over. She didn't need to be at work until 10, but normally liked to get up early and have breakfast, run errands, and check on her father. And lately, she and Gabe had stayed up so late that it was usually 8:30 before she rolled out of bed anymore. 

Ten minutes later, the snooze button rang and Lesly pried herself out of her bed, stumbling into her kitchen. She had her phone with her and hit redial, hoping for Gabe to pick up and tell her what she'd hoped would be true. That he had gotten stuck at his parents' and couldn't make it to her last night. But again it went straight to voice mail and the uneasy feeling in Lesly's stomach returned. Where was he? Maybe she was overreacting. They hadn't been seeing each other very long, anyway. Maybe he felt he didn't owe her an explanation. But, Lesly thought, it was kind of a jerky thing for him to assume. They'd been with each other every day for the last week and a half, which, she reasoned, wasn't very long. But still. Even if it was just a short lived fling, he still could've called. Right? Lesly sighed and turned on the coffee pot, slowly realizing that this thing with Gabe might not be anything she should have ever gotten her hopes up about. 

Her phone buzzed and the last thought went out the window. She picked it up and looked at the number. It was Chris.

"Hi," she answered immediately, her heart fluttering a little and her lips forming a slight grin. 

"I'm coming to Grayson next week, okay? I have a lot to tell you, but I-"

He'd said something else, but at that moment, Lesly heard a car door slam and ran to the window to see Gabe getting out of his rental car. She saw him coming towards her front door and the phone in her hand felt as though it were on fire.

"Um, Chris, I need to go. I'll call you back," she quickly hung up and opened the door for Gabe to come inside. Before she could even question where he'd been, he threw her against the wall, kissing her passionately and not giving her a chance to talk. Lesly threw the phone down and soon forgot about who had just been on the other line.

**
James was just finishing redoing the shelves for Halloween when Lesly came into work. Her heart sunk. She hated confrontation more than anything, but especially with someone like Lesly, who she felt was probably very fragile. Lesly, however, did not appear fragile. In fact she appeared quite ecstatic. The glow on her face gave it away and James knew that she'd probably just spent the last few hours in bed with Gabe. Or maybe she'd discovered what a jerk he was and James wouldn't have to tell her.

"Hi, James!" Lesly came bouncing over to her like a giddy teenager. James cringed, but tried not to let disgust show all over her face.

"Hey," she answered, forcing a smile. "How are you?" The question seemed stupid to ask, but it was a formality and James needed to keep it up as long as she could. She wished she could've been more like JC, who wouldn't have cared and told Lesly straight away that Gabe was a jerk and he wasn't welcomed in their home. But James wasn't like that and it was going to take all the courage in the world to fake this as long as she could.

"Great. I'm great!" Lesly was literally floating in the air or so it seemed to James. 
James took in a breath and let it out slowly. "Um, Les, I need to talk to you. While there aren't any customers, I mean," 

Lesly saw the expression of concern on James' face and immediately the smile left. "Oh. Um, ok. Is everything alright?"

James bit on her lower lip and shook her head slowly. "Les, did you, um, did you see Gabe at all last night?"

Lesly leaned into the counter and her face became blank with no expression readable to James. "No. But he was at his parents eating dinner and then-"

"Lesly, listen, this isn't easy for me to say okay? Chad and I were at that, um, sex store. You know by the highway and the interstate?" James was trying to drag this out as long as she could. Lesly only nodded at her question. "And, well, we saw Gabe there. He was flirting with the girl behind the counter and from what we could hear, I'm pretty sure that's where he was last night."

Lesly turned her head to the side and looked down at the floor and then back at James. "Oh. Well, are you sure? How do you know?"

"She basically asked him to sleep with her and he didn't take long to object," James gripped the back of one of the chairs next to the table she was standing near and waited for Lesly's response. 

"Did you see them?" Lesly sounded somewhat defensive. "Did you see them sleep together?"

James was taken aback. "Well, no, Les, of course not! But I know what I heard and-"

"Well, maybe he said something flirty. Gabe is a flirt and I know that," Lesly snapped.

"Ok, fine. But Les, Josh and I have talked and we'd just feel more comfortable if Gabe didn't come over while you were at our house next week. We don't know him and I'm sorry, but after what I witnessed, I just don't want anyone like that in my home," James felt a sinking feeling come over her because Lesly looked as though she was ready to hit James.

"Oh, really? Because you were at a sex store and overheard something you might have assumed was something else?" Lesly could've started spitting darts she looked so angry. "Look, James, I know you and Josh want me and Chris together but it's not happening. I'm having fun with Gabe right now, okay?"

James looked at her friend in disbelief. "Lesly, Chris has nothing to do with it. We're just concerned about you and we don't think it's a good idea for some guy we don't know to be in our house watching our child! You can at least respect that!" James raised her voice and then shook her head. "Look, do with it what you want, okay? I'm just telling you so you know." James walked towards the door leading to the office and turned around. "If I didn't care, I wouldn't have said anything. But really, you can't expect me to keep quiet when it comes to a friend's well being." She went back to her office and slammed the door, leaving Lesly alone with her thoughts and completely confused until the next customer came in.

**

Gabe tried not to blow his cover when Lesly confronted him later that evening. They'd been eating dinner at her house yet again and Lesly had asked him about what James had seen. He tried not to grimace when he heard her name. He'd never liked James Chasez. In high school she'd kept to herself, running for student council offices and seeking to be the first woman President of the United States or so it had seemed to Gabe. He'd heard she'd gotten knocked up and was now having some former boy band member help her raise the kid. Apparently, they'd done quite well with their little coffee shop venture, but Gabe felt that, especially now, James was just a little too much on her high horse for him.

"Well, babe, apparently your friend was hearing bits and pieces of the conversation. Yes, that girl did ask me up to her apartment but I told her 'no.' My parents have been on my case about me not seeing them as much since I've been in town and I had to fill my obligation as their son and stay with them. I left my phone in my car and that's why I didn't call and I guess it died before I could charge it, which was why it went to voice mail," Gabe was good. He could pull the wool over anyone, so he thought.

Lesly nodded slowly. "Ok. But why were you out there in the first place?"

Gabe reached in his back pocket and pulled out a pair of skimpy panties, playfully throwing them at Lesly. "I wanted to get you something," he stood from the dinner table and went over to where Lesly was sitting. "Let's go see how they fit, okay?" Lesly giggled softly and led him to her bedroom, forgetting all about what James had told her.