After a short drive, I reached Kevin’s a few minutes early. He greeted me at the door. “Come in and sit by the fire while I finish up dinner.”
“Can I help with anything?” I asked.
He took my coat and hung it on a hook near the door. “No, you have a job to do. I have the wallpaper books and paint swatches all over the floor by the fire for you to look through. I’ve put Post-it notes on the ones that I thought I might like. I’d love your opinion, though.”
The kitchen and fireplace near the dining room were warm and cozy. He’d even put up some holiday greenery on the hearth. The two leather chairs were gone, and the molding was taped for painting. Candles lit the room since the ceiling lights weren’t in yet. It was such a romantic scene. Something straight out of a story book.
I sat on the floor near the fire on a soft, plush area rug and flipped through the wallpaper book. “I like the monochromatic ivory with a shimmer pattern in it. There’s texture, but it isn’t overpowering.” I lifted the book for him to see.
He put a small wooden spoon to his lips and tasted a vegetable. “That was my favorite for the main hall.”
“That would be perfect.” I flipped through some more until he brought two plates over and sat next to me. “Here. Sorry, but no table in here yet. I hope to finish up this room next week.”
“That’s okay. This is nice. Sort of an indoor Christmas picnic.” I took the plate and could smell the aroma of stir-fried vegetables and steak. “This looks amazing.”
“Almost as amazing as you, friend,” he said in a sexy tone.
I balanced my plate on my lap and cut into the steak. One bite filled my mouth with hearty, peppery flavor. “Wow, you’re a good cook.”
“You sound surprised.” He dug into his own food but turned the wallpaper book around, flipping to another page.
“Maybe a little. Is there anything you can’t do? You help at the center, you restore old homes, get degrees fast, and now you can cook.”
“What can I say? I’m a man of many talents.” He stopped on a page with red, velvet-looking paper. “Do you think this is too much for the powder room on the main floor?”
“Maybe a little.” I reached for the book, covering his hand with mine, and I didn’t want to let go. We sat there looking at each other, the firelight glowing, candles flickering. I moved my hand finally, but the edge of the paper sliced my finger. I yanked it away, and a droplet of blood formed.
He took my hand, pressed his napkin to it, and kissed my knuckles. “Careful.”
My breath got lost somewhere between my lungs and my mouth, as if it was gorilla-glued to my heart.
He analyzed my finger until he noticed there was no more blood oozing from the wound and then allowed me to take the book.
I bought some time to recover by turning the page. After a full breath, I pointed to the gold-and-sage paper. “What about this? It’s still elegant but not overboard.”
He waved his fork. “Yes, that’s perfect.”
We spent the next hour choosing colors and paper as if we were working together on our home instead of his. Each opinion I gave mattered, and he valued it.
He returned the plates to the kitchen and then settled by my side, watching the fire. “Thanks for your help. All these choices were too much for a bachelor like me, and it was holding up the rest of the work.”
“I’m happy to help.”
Kevin put his palm to my cheek. “I don’t know what’s going on with you and Edward, but all I know is I’m not going to waste my chance again. Zoey Dixon, I’ve had a crush on you since we were in middle school. I’d be late for class so I could catch a glimpse of you before first period. Yes, I dated other women because I was a fool. It took me so long to get the courage to tell you how I feel. And more than anything, I want to kiss you. I’ve waited for years, and I can’t wait another second.”
“Yes,” I whispered.
“Yes?”
I looked at his shining silver eyes that showed so much compassion. Felt the roughness of his palm with his soft touch. Smelled his mix of wood and leather. “Kiss me.”
Chapter Eleven
The world as I knew it shifted. My skin heated, and my mind drifted to someplace near heaven. I’d left Kevin’s house walking with my feet off the ground. The night brought dreams of happily ever after. The feeling from that one kiss lasted minutes, hours, days. I walked through work at the bakery the next day living off that kiss, the best kiss of my life, and never wanted to come back down to earth.
Even the next morning when I woke up, I couldn’t wait to see Kevin and relive that kiss again.
Avery smacked me on the hand with a wooden spoon when I cleaned the same spot on our kitchen table for several minutes. “Are you going to see him tonight?”
I tossed the sponge at her and grabbed my keys from the counter. “Probably. I’m headed over to the center to work with a group of patients. He’ll probably be there. Then tonight, he’s going to pick me up and take me out to look at some home décor stuff.”
“Wow. Moving fast there, girl.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. I’m helping him with the house he’s restoring.”
“Riiiight,” Avery said before I could make it out the front door. Luckily I didn’t have to work at the bakery today, so I could avoid any further questions.
When I arrived at the center, Kevin was up on a ladder hanging decorations. The therapist already had the supplies set out, so I went to work. Mr. Shelton glued construction paper together for a chain to go around the tree. I had the other patients gluing and cutting. They all were laughing and doing things they didn’t even know they could do. Kevin sauntered over and slid his arm around my waist. I leaned into him, but then I realized we were at the center and pulled away.
“Where you going?” Kevin asked, keeping a hand on my arm.
“We’re in front of everyone,” I leaned in and whispered.
“So?”
“So I didn’t think you wanted—”
“Anyone to know I’m mad about you? Guess again.” Kevin leaned down and planted a kiss on my lips. I couldn’t believe he was willing to show everyone we were together. Were we together? Had I officially broken up with Edward?
I shook off my doubt. After all, Edward hadn’t called or texted me since he sent my purse back to me in the mail, and Kevin was here. When he moved away from me, I snagged his hand. “Don’t go too far. We need you to help us with the tree.”
“I’ll never go too far from you.”
My insides were like little lightening bugs fluttering around. “You promise?”
He turned me into his arms and looked down at me in the sincerest way. “I promise.”
“Hey, you two, break it up.” Kaley charged in with a box and dropped it on the table. “Joe needs the staple gun. Where is it?”
“It’s in my truck.”
One of Kevin’s workers busted through the main therapy door, his shirt drenched. “Hey, Kevin, need ya, man. There’s a problem in the bathroom again.”
Kevin took off running but paused at the door and tossed his keys at me. “Do you mind getting it for Joe?”
“I’m happy to.” I snagged my coat and headed to Kevin’s truck. There wasn’t a staple gun in the tool box in the bed of his truck, so I checked inside, under the seats, and in the glove box. A paper with a Texas A&M logo sat on top of the owner’s manual. I opened it out of curiosity. Inside it said, “It is our great pleasure to accept you into…”
I dropped the letter. An icy chill went up my spine and pierced my heart. With no staple gun but the heaviest piece of paper I had ever held in my hand, I made my way back inside the center. Kevin stood in the lobby with water stains on his shirt. He and Kaley were laughing.
“There was no staple gun,” I mumbled. “But I found this.” I held out the paper to him.
Kaley looked at it. “You finally did it? You’re leaving Magnolia Corners to go to grad school? That’s awesome.”
Kevin s
hoved the paper at Kaley and stepped toward me. “I can explain.”
A lump rose in my throat. I stepped backwards. “I just realized something.”
Kevin grabbed hold of my arms. “Let me explain.”
“At least when Edward abandoned me that night, I expected it and I knew he’d return, so it didn’t hurt. This, though.” I choked on my words. “This is like nothing I’ve ever felt before. Wait, I have. When my father left.”
I shoved from Kevin and ran to my car, ignoring his calls for me to stop. In minutes I pulled up into my driveway, only to see Edward’s car there. He got out and walked to me.
“What are you doing here?” I asked but didn’t really want to know. Not at this moment.
He eyed my purse and smiled. “Oh good, I’m glad you got it. I gave your address to my secretary to mail it, so I wasn’t sure if it made it on time.”
“I asked you what you’re doing here.”
Edward grabbed both of my arms in a more assertive way than he’d ever touched me before. “I need you to listen to me. Your sister was right with her southern colloquialism. It’s time to make some decisions, and I’ve decided that I want you in my life. I already spoke to the director of human resources, and they’re thrilled. There’s no reason we can’t be together. As a matter of fact, it’ll benefit us both. It’ll show the board that I’m a committed individual with a solid future, and it’ll help you advance within the university, too.”
They were words I’d waited so long to hear, yet I felt nothing when he said them. I shook my head. “I don’t know. What makes you think it’ll work this time?”
Kevin’s 4X4 squealed to a halt at the edge of our driveway, and he trotted toward us.
Edward pulled a ring from his pocket and slid it onto my finger. “Because we’ll be married.” He eyed Kevin and then me. “That is, unless you’re involved with someone else.”
I looked at Kevin and then at Edward. “No, I’m not. There’s no one in Magnolia Corners that I’d ever trust to spend the rest of my life with.”
Chapter Twelve
Avery dragged me to the kitchen. “You can’t seriously marry that man!”
Sadie pointed to a chair at the table. “Listen, we love you, and we’ll support you no matter what.”
My head throbbed. I wanted to close my eyes and make the world stop moving long enough to catch up.
“No, we won’t!” Avery pushed up her sleeves. “Thank goodness he fled like a coward, or I would’ve handled this southern style.”
I sat in the middle of the kitchen, feeling like I was in shock after an accident. Everyone was talking and yelling at me, but I sat there as if I was stuck inside a plastic room with muffled sound from the outside world.
“We’ll support you, and you know we will.” Sadie pulled out a chair, sat down, and then pointed at the one next to her. “Now sit, Avery. You’re not helping anyone.”
Avery acquiesced.
I stared at the nice ring on my finger. It was a gold band with a diamond solitaire. It was pretty and a big diamond. Of course, I expected no less from Edward. “You ran him out of town. What do you expect?”
Avery bit her bottom lip, which I’m sure was to keep her from saying anything to make this worse.
“Can you please just tell us why you want to marry him?” Sadie asked in a sincere tone.
I ran my nail along the crack of the table. “He’s perfect for me. An intellectual, romantic, and we have a lot in common.”
“You have a lot in common with the guy who bags our groceries, but you’re not marrying him,” Avery said.
“He didn’t ask.” I laughed, but when it went stone silent, I decided there was no place for humor in this discussion.
Sadie shot Avery a sideways glance and then sat back and crossed her arms over her chest. “Tell us what happened with Kevin. I know something happened.”
“Nothing to tell. Same old thing that always happens around here. He made me think he cared about me, but the entire time he was planning on leaving.”
“I don’t believe that.” Avery smacked her palm to the tabletop. “No way.”
“I saw the letter of acceptance myself. He’s going to Texas.”
Sadie took my hand. “Oh, hon. I don’t understand why he would do something like that. Have you spoken to him about it?”
“No. What’s to talk about? He’s leaving, I’m not. It’s our father all over again.”
Avery and Sadie looked at each other. “Not every man is like our father. Look at Dylan and Ashton.”
“And look at Edward. He wants me with him. Don’t you care that I’m with someone who won’t run away?”
Sadie rubbed her temples and leaned toward the table. “Yes, of course, but I want someone who loves you more than himself.”
“He does, I promise. Listen, nothing I say will change your mind. You’ll just have to trust me.” I pleaded with my eyes to them both but saw they weren’t budging. “The idea of me marrying a man you won’t accept into your lives is going to crush me.” I shifted in my chair and eyed the ring again. My chest ached so bad, I rubbed my sternum. “I supported both of you when Ashton and Dylan swept you off your feet.”
“We didn’t say we wouldn’t accept him. If you marry him, then he’s family,” Sadie said, but Avery couldn’t even look at me.
“Wait.” I pushed my chair back. “I can’t tell you, but you can read how much he loves me. I’ve got a pile of letters from him in my backpack. Hold on.” I ran to the bedroom and eyed the backpack. The letters inside showed how much he loved me. Would cherish me forever. He’d spent so much time handwriting these notes and searching for the perfect, most romantic quote. There was no man in the world who would do that besides Edward.
I grabbed my backpack and returned to the kitchen. “He’s always copying poems and short story quotes and sending them to me. They’re perfect and written in the most elegant script.” I froze at the idea of his perfect handwriting. It was the same. Always.
“What is it?” Avery asked.
I eyed Avery. “Where is the package that my purse was sent in?”
She shrugged. “Garbage, I think. Why?”
I grabbed the trash can and dumped it upside down, sending a mess of food and trash onto the floor.
Sadie came to my side. “What’re you doing?”
“I’m not cleaning that up,” Avery teased.
I saw it, the package with the perfect script. I picked it up and then one of his letters from last year. I blinked as if the handwriting would change, but it wouldn’t. The same person who wrote the love notes also addressed the box that my purse was in.
“Tell us what’s wrong.” Avery’s tone changed from hostile to concerned.
“It’s not him writing these.” My chest tightened and my legs wobbled. I collapsed into the chair and dropped the paper and package onto the table.
“I don’t understand.” Sadie lowered to my side.
“He said his secretary had addressed the package, so he wasn’t sure I got it. All this time, Edward never wrote these. His secretary did.” I wanted to crawl into bed, pull the covers over my head, and never face life again. “I was right. Edward would never leave me. But he’s never been with me either.”
Chapter Thirteen
The next morning, after a strong cup of coffee, I called Edward. I’d been up all night thinking through our relationship over the last year. Was the entire relationship a lie? In the beginning, Edward had more time to spend with me, but then things changed. It hadn’t been good for a while, but did I run away from a relationship? Did that make me like my father? No, not when he’d lied. Not when he’d left me behind at a party.
The phone rang a few times before Edward answered. “Hello. When will you be home?” He sounded rushed, as if I needed to get to him quick.
“Home? To my dorm?” I asked. “No thanks. It’s not exactly my favorite place for the holiday season. I thought we were supposed to go on vacation together? Of course, I also
thought that you wrote all those notes to me, too.” I pushed up my sleeves to really dig into him. “How many other things have you lied to me about in the last year?”
There was a pause, and then Edward cleared his throat and changed his tone to calm, speaking slowly. “Zoey, what has gotten in to you? Now calm down.”
“I won’t calm down. You abandoned me at that party. I only hope you didn’t do it intentionally. That would be a horrible way to treat me.”
“I don’t appreciate your tone. And as far as how I’m treating you, I asked you to marry me, didn’t I?” he asked, but the tone of his voice made him sound like he’d done me a favor.
“No, you placed a ring on my finger and announced we’d get married. Then you left. What man in love with a woman would want to leave her side to race back up to school to tell the powers that be that he was getting married? I’m nothing more than a tool in your arsenal to rule the university someday.”
“You’re being ridiculous. Childish,” Edward said. “Let’s talk about this in person. I’ll meet you at our lunch spot.”
“Why? So I can wait an hour for you to ditch me at some party with a man who was handsy? A man who, if I thought about it long enough, I’d think you knew how he was and still abandoned me there.” God, was that the truth? My stomach churned with the realization that he’d sold me for a chance at a job. “That you thought that my sacrifice would better your career. No. I don’t want to meet you in person. I’ll mail your ring back. I’ll at least take the time to address it myself, instead of my secretary doing it for me.”
Silence. I’d finally made Edward speechless. I hung up the phone this time.
Avery clapped. “Now that, dear sister, was a proper breakup. I only wish I could’ve seen his face. I only have one question for you… What about Kevin?”
The Sweet Bride Page 6