Dear Gabby Read Online Free Page A

at the young girl, she gave her a straightforward look. "Go ahead and tell me what you think," she said calmly, watching the surprise flit across Cole's face. "I'm Gabby Fallon, the newspaper columnist who gave your aunt the advice."
    Susie's cheeks flushed to a crimson color. She stood looking at Gabby with an incredulous expression filling her face. "What are you doing with my uncle?" Her dark eyes suddenly filled with an accusing look. "You certainly have some nerve coming here tonight, Ms Fallon. What you did is inexcusable.”
    Gabby decided things needed straightening out with Susie, since Cole wasn't offering to help. "The advice I gave to Samantha is what I thought she needed,” she replied in an even tone, although her insides were more than a little agitated. “We're going to try to find Samantha and bring her home. I want you to know I didn't have any idea your aunt was pregnant when she wrote me. My answer may have been different to her.”
    Her confession seemed to startle Cole’s young niece.  Obviously, Susie hadn’t expected her to stand up for herself and her response took some of the bravado out of her.
    " Are you trying to tell me you aren’t responsible for my aunt’s disappearance?”
    "You can believe what you want, but it's the truth." She continued to watch the confused expression lining the girl’s features. Eventually, the expression changed to one of bewilderment.
    "We've got a lot of things to discuss tonight, Susie, so how about bringing a menu and taking our order. With his suggestion, Cole effectively put an end to their conversation.
    Susie nodded and turned toward the back of the diner. It wasn’t long before his niece returned carrying the menus, along with a pad and pencil.
    Cole finished glancing through his menu and gave his order, while Gabby still hadn't decided. She finally settled on a salad and hoped she would be able to eat it. Her stomach felt in knots from the traumatic evening so far.
    Cole had given her an odd look when she placed her order. After Susie walked away to get their food, he glanced at Gabby. "Let's start looking at the notes you brought with you concerning my sister."
    Gabby reached into her folder and handed Cole the letter and the other notes she had scribbled onto a separate sheet. She watched him unfold it and noticed a tenderness covering his features as he began reading. A gentle smile soon accompanied the tender look. Gabby hadn't witnessed either emotion in the man in the two times she had seen him. He finished with the letter, and then looked through her notes before glancing at her.
    "There are definite clues in what she’s written . I noticed she mentioned an aunt of ours by name. Aunt Meredith lives alone in California and Samantha's always been very close to her."
    "Well, there you have your answer ." Relief spread through her. “Why not call your aunt?”
    "I'm not going to bother with telephone calls.” He folded the letter and notes and placed them in his pocket. "This is just a hunch I have. She m ay not be there at all." 
    Susie walked across the room balancing their plates. Placing her napkin on her lap, Gabby eventually picked up her fork and pushed it through the salad. It looked cool and inviting, but she didn’t have an appetite.
    "Are you going to prod your salad to death?" Cole's question startled her as he chuckled softly. "You've been pushing your fork through it for the last five minutes."
    “I’m going to eat,” she answered in a quiet tone. "I had to mix my dressing through the salad.” That was the dumbest thing she had ever said in her life. She caught the amused expression lining his face, but he didn't comment.
    "Do you want desert?"
    "Not for me.” The salad was hard enough to eat. She would surely choke on anything sweet.
    When Susie brought a slab of pie over, covered in whipped cream and a layer of ice cream, Gabby wondered how he could eat it after the huge dinner. She continued to watch him dig in and eat