Question C

[Jonetta]

Everly and Gabe have completely different reactions once learning each other’s identities. She panicked and he got incensed. She thought he was out of her league and he thought she was sleeping with Maddox. Did they both overreact?

[Lynn]

A little, but since they each knew nothing about the other, it was inevitable that there would be backlash from that.

[Sharon]

I agree Lynn. I was surprised by Everly's response more than Gabe. We know Gabe is worried about his sister. Listening to the office gossip only confirms his feelings that there was another woman.

Everly is a smart, talented woman. I don't like to see women think they are out of anyone's league.

[Jonetta]

It was a long, one-night stand but both of them should have been able to step back and weigh what people were rumoring about them with their own experience. Yes, it should have created some doubt and uncertainty but Gabe shouldn’t have accepted office gossip as gospel and Everly shouldn’t have swallowed all the internet postings as the definitive truth.

I hated that Gabe wouldn’t believe the woman in front of him. It bugged me to no end. And why in the world would Everly think for one second that Gabe would have had anything to do with Maddox’s murder? I wanted to spank both of them.

With that said, both of them fell hard for each other, fast, and it scared them. That fear fueled all that mistrust.

[Sharon]

You're right, Jonetta. They were both acting like middle school kids at times.

[Lauren]

While I could understand both of their perspectives given the circumstances, I think that Gabe's attitude and reactions were particularly excessive. He seemed to ignore all of his feelings and instincts and decided to believe the worst about her without anything to back it up.


Everly's feelings were more believable given their vastly different backgrounds. That said, I am not a fan of the "I'm out of his/her league" trope. Everyone is worthy.

[Jonetta]

Yeah, the only thing in Everly’s background to suggest she had self image issues was being abandoned by her mother. There was that one example of all the tall, thin, model-type women getting all the attention in the bar but...it’s a bar! Everything’s superficial.

[Anita]

They both overreacted. I can see why Gabe was sure she had slept with Mad, but refusing to even entertain that she didn’t was wrong. She wasn’t any better in her preconceived ideas about Gabe. I didn’t blame her after he bought the office trash about her

[Jonetta]

She might have given him the benefit of the doubt if he’d done the same.

[Anita]

That would have been nice, but Gabe was so set in his opinion that was never going to happen.

[Michelle]

First reactions? That I can understand. Everything you all said is how I felt about it.

But then he never steps back and thinks the woman I spent a weekend with and what is present via office gossip (which one always takes with a grain of salt) can't be the same person. I think it was Dax that saw straight to who she is and he hadn't spent all that time with her.

Yes Maddox has a history and yes I could see how that would need to be taken into consideration. I just don't like how he couldn't get past those.

[Lauren]

Michelle wrote: "I just don't like how he couldn't get past those.."

Exactly! I really annoyed me that he didn't change his mind about her until the truth of her relationship with Mad was revealed. He should have just believed her and known that she would not lie.

[Sharon]

I agree that Gabe took it too far, but I think his sister's pregnancy clouded his thinking.

In Gabe's mind the only reason he could come up with for Maddox to walk out on his sister was another woman. He couldn't get past his sister's pain, and his disappointment in Maddox.

That said, If he started to come around a little sooner, I could forgive Gabe easier.

[Michelle]

Exactly Sharon. If he had come around sooner it would have made a difference for me.

Surely those 3 nights spend with her would have made him realize that she was not Maddox' usual type. Everything was there for him to know he needed to take a minute and think about it.

[Karen ♐]

Jonetta wrote: "It was a long, one-night stand but both of them should have been able to step back and weigh what people were rumoring about them with their own experience. Yes, it should have created some doubt a..."

I agree, Jonetta. They both acted like children.