Avery settled in beside me, wrapping her feet under her and leaning in to me. “I’m sure you didn’t act like a fool. You’re just overreacting.”
The warmth of the drink lifted my spirits a little. “It’s worse. I was the middle school girl who couldn’t even put a few words together to form a complete sentence.”
“Please, you’re a strong, independent, educated woman now. Not to mention a total babe.” She changed positions, hoisting her fluffy pink slipper-covered feet onto the coffee table with a thump. “Besides, he can’t make you that nervous unless you like him.”
“Don’t start that again…” I rolled my eyes. “Kevin is the last man I’d want to be with.”
She looked at me with bows that nearly reached her hairline. “Why? He’s hot, handsome, available, and a good man.”
“He’s the type of man who everyone loves.”
“So?”
“The type of man who wins everyone over and then—”
“Leaves?” Avery set her hot cocoa down and sat forward, looking at me as if she were psychoanalyzing me. “Sweetie, Kevin’s not Dad. He won’t take your heart and then run off with it. Kevin’s lived here his entire life. Except when he went to college for a year.”
I heard my sister’s words, but they weren’t real. “Kevin is exactly the type of man who would do that. Dad lived here his entire life, but that didn’t stop him from running off three times and then finally for good.” I didn’t want to dig up old stuff. Avery had gotten over so much to be with Dylan, but he was a strong, loving type who would never leave her. “Let’s just enjoy this time together. Besides, we’re behind on our Hallmark Christmas movies. We better dig into them now.”
“Nice deflection, but I get it. I only have one question, and then I’ll leave you be.”
“What’s that?” I snagged the remote and turned on the television, settling in for a sweet, romantic Christmas movie that would make everything right.
“Does Edward make you forget how to speak? Make your heart beat faster?”
I didn’t look at Avery. Instead, I set the remote down and studied the television as if there would be a final exam after the movie. “Don’t be silly. I’ve been with Edward for a long time. It’s not as if we just met.”
“My heart still races every time I see Dylan walk into the room. He’s the only man who ever made me trip over my own feet and makes me warm inside with just a smile.”
“It was different for you and Dylan. You were a couple. Kevin and I have never been and will never be anything except tutor and student, football player and geek. I studied Faulkner; he studied football. We have nothing in common.”
Avery gave up and settled in for the duration of a Christmas movie, where the girl meets a man who is all wrong for her, yet it all works out in the end. It was fiction, nothing more. I abandoned my sister and headed to our room for some privacy. I retrieved my laptop from my backpack and sent a call request to Edward. His face popped on the screen.
“Hello.”
“I’m in. We can take a vacation together in a couple of weeks.”
“What?” Edward looked up from his desk and lowered his glasses. “Oh, right. Sounds good. Listen, I need to get back to work. Let’s work out the details tomorrow.”
“Actually, I’ll be volunteering at a rehab center tomorrow. Can I call you around this time?”
He removed his glasses and looked at me as if noticing I was even on the screen for the first time. “Volunteering? Is this some small-town Christmas project thing?”
“No, I had to cover for Sadie today, and they need more help. Besides, I kind of like it. Maybe I’ll give up literature and study medicine,” I said in a teasing tone.
His brow furrowed, and lines formed at the bridge of his nose. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
“Why is that ridiculous? Don’t you think I’d make a good therapist?”
His lip curled into an incomplete snarl, leaving him looking like he had a hook caught in the corner of his mouth. “You don’t know anything about medicine. Besides, you have a solid future in academia. You wouldn’t throw that away.”
“Actually, I have enough physical science courses to get a minor, and if I took two more, I’d have a double major in literature and life sciences. Besides, it doesn’t matter what my undergrad is in, as long as I have the grades, test scores, and volunteer hours.” I wasn’t serious, but part of me wanted to argue the point that I would make a good therapist if that was what I wanted to do.
“This is insane.” He shook his head and leaned back in his chair with a squeak. His eyes roamed over the desktop, and then he sat up and put his glasses back on. “You said that you’d be finishing up your graduate degree in literature and then taking a faculty job here.”
“That was the plan, but maybe I’m questioning my plan.” I took in a stuttered breath. “Today I tossed a ball back and forth with an elderly man, and it brought so much joy to him. The therapist told me she hadn’t been able to get him to lift his right arm since his stroke and that I’d helped him make a breakthrough. I mean, that really matters. Academia is so much politics, and you don’t help people. It’s not fulfilling like I felt today.” It wasn’t until this moment that I realized how much I enjoyed working with patients and with my hands. “I even fixed a leaky faucet, sanded some woodwork and stained it, and installed some light fixtures.” Kevin had been right. I fit there. More so than I had ever in the stuffy old professor offices.
“Isn’t fulfilling? Are you saying my job is meaningless?”
“No, of course not.”
“Listen, I don’t have time for your little crisis. You’ll realize you’re not cut out for therapy or blue-collar work and then return to literature soon enough. In the meantime, I need to get back to work.” He hit the button on his computer and the screen went dark.
“That didn’t go well,” Avery said from behind me.
I turned to find her leaning in the doorway.
“Eavesdrop much?”
“Have you met me? Like, all the time.” She sat next to me on the bed and patted my shoulder. “You sure this guy is worth your time?”
“It’s not what you think. Edward is solid. A good guy who plans everything. He’s dependable, reliable.”
“So is a good car, but it doesn’t mean you have to buy it.”
I ignored her sarcasm. “He was just surprised that’s all, and if there is one thing Edward doesn’t like, it’s surprises. I shouldn’t have been teasing him like that. At first, I only meant it as a joke, but then I bated him to argue. It was my fault. Trust me, tomorrow he’ll call and tell me he supports me on anything I want to do. Then I’ll explain that I wasn’t serious.”
“Why aren’t you serious about it? You sounded more excited about that place today than you’ve sounded in the last year about anything.”
“Let it go, Avery. I’m a lit major. That’s where I belong.” I stretched, relieving some of the kinks that had formed in my neck. “I am and have always been a bookworm.”
Avery rested her head on my shoulder. “You know, when Dylan came back into town, I didn’t want to give him a chance, but my sisters convinced me to because they saw what was best for me. Perhaps you should trust us and open up your mind to the possibility that there are other men out there who might be better for you.”
“This again? I’m not interested in Kevin, we have nothing in common, and just because he makes my pulse rev doesn’t mean he is the commitment type.”
“Doesn’t look like Edward is any more into the commitment thing than you are. Besides you’ve spoken to Kevin more than Edward in the last day. According to Joe and Kaley, Kevin wanted everyone to meet you. He’s been talking about you constantly.” Avery studied her nails and sighed. “Come on, Zoey. He’s keeping you a secret. You’ve got to see how messed up that is.”
“You don’t understand, and you need to leave this alone. Edward and I talk plenty. He’ll call me soon, and everything will be right. I’m with Ed
ward, and if you can’t accept that, then I’ll go back up to school for the holidays.”
Avery held me tight to her side. “No, I won’t let you go. I promise to behave. Okay?”
I caved, never able to be mad at her for too long. “Okay, but let it go. And promise me you’ll give Edward a chance. I’d like us all to meet for dinner next week. Would you do that for me?”
“Yes, I’ll do that for you.” Avery sat straight up. “I have a great idea. Let’s invite Aunt Cathy to dinner, too.”
I smacked her. “Never going to happen. She’d chase Edward off for sure.”
“As I said, we should invite—”
“Avery.” I shoved hard, and she landed on her backside on the hardwood floor.
“Fine, fine.” Avery pushed from the floor, rubbing her backside.
My phone buzzed, so I snagged it from my pocket. “See, I told you he’d call back.”
Avery crossed her arms over her chest and looked down at me. “Really?”
The number was local. I answered, “Hello?”
“Hi, Zoey. It’s Kevin.”
Avery sauntered out the door with a back-hand wave and comment. “I told you so.”
Chapter Six
The darkness in the house made me yawn. I snuggled underneath the quilt on the couch.
“You still there?” Kevin asked.
“Yes, I’m still here.” I glanced at my watch and noticed four hours had flown by. It was three in the morning. But for some reason, I enjoyed talking to him and didn’t want to get off the phone. “So you went to college for one year and decided it wasn’t for you?”
“It really wasn’t. It wasn’t the academics or the culture. It was that I was called back to Magnolia Corners. I wanted to do more here. I’ve managed to finish my bachelor’s degree online, though.”
“You already finished?” I tried to hide my jealous tone, but I was sure he could hear it.
“Yeah, I took extra classes and finished a year early.”
“How did you do that? I mean, you co-run a company, volunteered, and still went to school?”
“Yes, but I’ve had no social life. Only building things and studying, but I finished last week. It’s just a general business degree, but it’s still a degree. I kept my promise to my father.”
A hint of jealousy yet happiness filled me. “He was so proud of you. At every football game, he’d stand at the front of the stands screaming ‘that’s my boy.’ I’m sorry he passed away last year.”
“Me, too.” Kevin cleared his throat. “He had a long battle with cancer, so it’s a good thing he’s resting in peace now.”
“I’m sorry I wasn’t here for you.” I eyed my college sweatshirt I’d tossed on the back of the chair. “Is that why you came back?”
“No, he wasn’t diagnosed until after I returned.”
“I don’t understand. You gave up a full college ball scholarship to return to Magnolia Corners to build a rehab center?”
“Yes,” he said with no further explanation.
“Why?” I asked.
Kevin cleared his throat. “You don’t know, do you?”
“Know what?”
There was a long pause. “Joe, he’s in a wheelchair because of me,” Kevin said, his voice sounding hollow, broken. I wanted to reach through the phone and hold him until he blessed the world with one of his winning smiles.
I looked at the crack running down the living room wall, as if to find answers. “I don’t understand.”
“No, you wouldn’t because you have always been too nice to ever dare someone to risk their life.” Kevin must have moved, because there was rustling over the phone.
I took in a long breath, searching for the right words. “I know that you’d never do anything to hurt someone. Besides, it didn’t appear as if Joe had a problem with you.”
“He wouldn’t, because after it happened, it changed him. It changed us all. Kaley remained by his side. She never left Magnolia Corners, but I did. I ran far away in hopes of never facing Joe again, but I couldn’t hide from my guilt.”
I let out a long breath of realization. “Joe is the reason you were called back to Magnolia Corners?”
I allowed the silence to remain for several seconds until Kevin finally spoke. “Yes.”
The one word carried so much sorrow and regret that my chest ached.
“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, but what happened?”
“It was after graduation. We were all partying on the lake. I dared Joe to race me on the jet skis. It happened so fast, yet it still plays over and over in my head like a challenged replay. He ran aground, flipping the jet ski. His body flew into the air and slammed into the trees on the embankment.” He spoke at full speed, his voice cracking every few words. He inhaled a quick breath then continued. “We all laughed. Joe had always been a prankster, so none of us ran to him. It must’ve been several seconds before I realized there was something wrong. In that time, someone had rolled him over and moved him. He suffered a T-12 fracture. To this day, we don’t know if it was the accident or the fact that he was moved that caused his spinal cord to partially sever.” His voice choked.
I wanted to reach through the phone and hold him. “Kevin, you were a kid. You were having fun, and Joe made a choice. You can’t hold on to so much guilt.”
“It was only three years and six months ago.” A long sigh sounded. “I don’t know why I’m telling you this.”
“I don’t know why we’ve told each other so much in the last few hours. Why I told you about when I dyed my hair bozo orange when I tried to darken it to look more mature, or why I told you that I backed my car into a police officer in the rain outside the student center, or that I failed my first literature test. No one else knows about my failure on that test.”
“Not even Edward?” he asked.
“Not even Edward,” I said in the softest tone, as if I said it too loud Edward would hear.
“I hope that boyfriend of yours knows what he has in you.”
A yawn took hold, and I couldn’t stop it.
“I should let you get some sleep. You have a demanding boss who’ll expect you to be there at seven a.m.,” Kevin teased.
“Seven?” I screeched.
“I’ll make it eight o’clock since you're the best volunteer we have. I’ve never seen a girl put together a light fixture so fast in my life. And goodness, you are amazing with an Allen wrench. Oh, and if you bring some scones from the bakery, I’ll make it eight thirty.”
“Deal.” I was tired, but I didn’t want to hang up. It had been a long time since I’d impressed someone, and it felt good. The last few hours, I’d felt connected to someone, entertained, and not lonely. “I guess not having a dad made me Ms. Fix It.” I didn’t want to talk about my father. That was one subject I wasn’t ready for. “Kevin?”
“Yeah, beautiful?”
“You need to forgive yourself. That kind of guilt will eat you up.”
He chuckled but in a sober tone. “Great… One day at a rehab center and you think you’re a real therapist.”
I pulled the quilt up to my neck and closed my eyes. “I thought you said I’d make a good one.”
“And I still believe that.”
I smiled. His words meant so much to me. “Kevin?”
“Yeah, beautiful?”
“Thanks. It’s nice to talk to a non-sister friend who believes in me.”
“Ouch. I’m getting the let’s be friends speech, aren’t I?”
“I do have a boyfriend, you know.”
“I hope he realizes what he has. If not, cut him loose. You deserve someone who believes in you. Zoey, you can do anything, be anything. I always knew you’d be the one from our high school who would be something special to the world.”
My chest warmed at his words. “Kevin?”
“Yeah, beautiful?”
“You need to stop calling me beautiful.”
“I will,” he said.
Part
of me was relieved that he agreed. Another part of me would miss it. “Thanks.”
“When you start believing it.”
Chapter Seven
After delivering scones to the staff, I spent most of the morning with Kaley assembling some equipment. Working together was fun—and strange, considering we’d lived in the same town our entire lives but had barely ever spoken.
“Pass me the three-eighths,” I requested, lying on my back looking at the underside of the standing desk.
Kaley knelt on her knees at my side and handed me the seven-eighths.
I slid out from under the large standing desk and pointed. “That one.”
“Sorry. I’m not tool savvy.” She handed me the right tool, and I went to work.
After a moment, I spoke again. “Can I ask you a question?”
“Sure.”
I paused midturn of the wrench. “Is it true what Kevin told me? I mean about the jet ski accident?”
Her feet shuffled left and then right. “Yes, I’m afraid it’s true. We all blamed ourselves, but Joe and I have gotten past it. I’m afraid Kevin never has.”
“Do you think if he understood that the accident wasn’t his fault, he’d leave Magnolia Corners? Or do you think he’d still want to live here?”
“If you’re asking if Kevin would follow you somewhere, I think it’s possible.”
“No, I didn’t mean that. Kevin and I are just…acquaintances.”
“Acquaintances that spend all night chatting on the phone like kids?” Kaley bounced on her knees. She still had that peppy manner about her, the way she turned her head and her blonde pony tail flopped over her shoulder.
“How’d you know about that?”
The Sweet Bride Page 3