by Cathryn Fox
“I missed you at lunch,” Sara said, her high heel shoes clattering on the sidewalk as she hurried her steps to catch up to Rachel.
“Crazy busy day,” Rachel explained, her eyes focused on her flats as she maneuvered around the crowd and walked down the busy sidewalk toward her car.
“Uh huh.”
Rachel squeezed around a group of teens walking toward her and angled her head to see Sara’s blue eyes glistening in delight as they stared at her. “What’s that supposed to mean?” she asked, even though she wasn’t so sure she wanted to hear the answer.
Sara pulled a pack of gum from her purse, pushed a piece through the plastic bubble and popped it into her mouth. “It means you took my advice.” She held the pack out for Rachel.
Rachel shook her head, and as Sara studied her, she thought about lying. But there was no sense in denying it. Sara could always see right through her.
“That obvious, huh?” She slowed her steps outside a convenience store, utterly trumped.
“Sweetie, one look at you and I could tell you had sex last night.”
“Shh.” She glanced around to make sure none of the patrons entering or exiting the store had heard Sara. She lowered her voice. “What gave it away?”
Sara pursed her lips and circled her finger in front of Rachel’s face. “The glazed look in your eyes, the way your skin is glowing. Those are all tells, but the biggest giveaway is in the way you’re walking.”
“What?” she said mortified as Sara laughed. “I was not walking funny,” she shot back.
“You kind of were.” She licked her lips. “He was big, huh?”
“Oh my God,” she moaned and put her hands over her face as heat crawled up her neck.
Sara pulled her hands away and she looped her arm through Rachel’s and started them walking again. “Nothing to be embarrassed about. You’re both consenting adults.”
“I know but—”
“No buts.” Sara rubbed her hands together. “Now tell me everything.”
Her mind took that moment to reminisce about the way he’d touched her with deft hands, taking her to places she’d never been before. Her skin still tingled from his kisses, burned from his hot mouth. Heat flooded her core, and she pressed her hand to her stomach. As a shudder raced through her, she pinched her lips tight, not wanting to share the intimate details with anyone yet.
“Well,” Sara pressed.
“Well…I went to his room and it sort of happened.” She paused and crinkled her nose. “I think.”
“You think?”
“I don’t know.” She brushed her forehead, trying to make sense of it all. “Maybe on some level I went to his room with the intention of it happening.” After all, she had worn her pretty panties.
“I know I would have.” Rachel arched brow and Sara laughed. “Come on, the guy is smoking hot.” Sara snapped her fingers. “I can’t believe someone hasn’t snatched him up already.” Sara pulled her keys from her purse and hit the unlock button as they approached her car. “Interesting that he’s not taken, don’t you think?”
“Maybe, maybe not. Either way I probably shouldn’t be having sex with him.”
“Why not?”
“We’ve been over this.”
Sara leaned against her car. “You want him, he wants you. What’s the big deal?”
“The big deal is he’s James’s brother and after sex he told me we couldn’t allow it to happen again.” Plus, she was holding a huge-ass secret from him. Yeah, there was always that. But she couldn’t tell Sara that. At least not before Kyle. And now, the longer she waited the harder it was becoming.
“So he has a loyalty to his brother. I get it. It’s commendable. But seriously, wouldn’t his brother rather you be with Kyle, a good man who will treat you right, than some random guy who could very well turn out to be an asshole? Trust me, there are a lot of them out there.”
It was true. Sara wasn’t the only one who’d come up against a few jerks. “I don’t know. Even if you’re right, I don’t think Kyle would see it that way.” He idolized his brother and happily stood in the shadows while James lived in the limelight. Everything he did was for his brother, which was why he was having a hard time letting go of the guilt and allowing himself to love. What happened between them last night was right. In her heart she knew they belonged together. Perhaps they always had.
Sara opened her car door and slid in. “Then you know what you have to do.”
“What?”
“Make him see it that way. Show him how right you to are together.”
“How?”
“You’re a big girl and know Kyle better than anyone. You should be able to figure it out.”
She nodded, understanding full well what her friend meant. “Are you going to Matt’s this weekend for the barbeque?”
“Yeah, you?”
She gave a non-committal shrug. “Thinking about it.”
“Come. It will do you good to get out. Everyone misses you, you know.”
“I miss them too. I’ve just been busy.”
“Rach,” she said, her voice softer. “It’s time to put yourself out there again, to get out and join the living. I know you always put Ava first, but your needs are important, too. If you don’t start doing for you, you’re going wake up one of these days and Ava will be grown up and gone, and you’ll be all alone. Reach out to your friends, reach out to Kyle.”
“Sara,” she began cautiously. “Everyone knows Kyle is staying at my place, what would they think…” She let her words fall off. And what would they think of her when they found out about Ava, and that she’d kept the truth from Kyle.
Sara jumped from her seat, and pulled Rachel in for a hug. “They’re your friends. They don’t judge. Those who do, you don’t need in your life.”
She nodded, and with that last thought in mind, Sara jumped back in to her car and Rachel closed the door. With a little more spring in her step, she turned back around and hoofed it to the convenience store. She combed the aisles until she found what she was looking for. Then, waiting until there were no customers at the front counter to pay for her purchase. It was silly really. She was a grown adult and shouldn’t be embarrassed, but the store was close to her work and she didn’t want her coworkers to see her buying condoms. Better to have them on hand, than not…just in case.
The cashier rang her up and put her goods in a brown paper bag. She tucked her purchase under her arm and made her way to her car. She was anxious to get home, to see how Ava and Kyle’s day went. Ava had been so excited to go see the dogs and spend the day with Kyle. It truly warmed her heart how much she’d taken to him. Not that it surprised her. They were after all, family.
A few minutes later she pulled into the driveway and could smell the barbeque. She grabbed her bag and darted around the back of the house to find Kyle at the barbeque and Ava sitting on the patio coloring. Her heart missed a beat as she looked them over, taking in their sunburnt skin.
She hurried up the stairs and Kyle gave her a sheepish look when she met his glance.
“I forgot the sunscreen.” He gave her a pained smile. “But we did remember the water wings.”
“Mommy, look.” Ava dropped her crayon and held her bandaged finger out for Rachel to examine.
“Yeah, and there was a splinter too.” He gestured to the steaks, his look so boyish and adorable it took her back in time. “But I made dinner,” he added with an, “I hope I’m not in too much trouble and this gets me off the hook” look on his face.
She dropped to one knee and looked at Ava’s pink shoulders, then checked her bandage. “Are you okay?”
“Uncle Kyle used tweezers. But I was brave, wasn’t I, Uncle Kyle? And I got to have a donut.”
Rachel cocked her head. “A donut?”
“Don’t worry,” Kyle piped in. “She had a healthy lunch.” He laughed. “At least I got something right today.”
“We got you a donut too, Mommy. We went to the bakery and had so
up and sandwiches with Madison and Lexi.”
“What fun.” She gave her daughter a kiss on the forehead and was about to stand when Ava pointed to the bag.
“Mommy, what’s that?”
She grabbed the bag tighter. With the burns and splinters, she’d forgotten to hide her purchase. “Oh, it’s Mommy stuff,” she explained then turned her attention to Kyle.
“Kyle—” she began.
“I’m sorry,” Kyle said. “I feel pretty bad.”
Her heart turned over, and she reached out and touched his hand. He flinched slightly as their fingers grazed, and she pulled her hand back.
“What I was about to say is don’t be too hard on yourself.” Truthfully, the man carried a lot of blame. Too much blame. She snapped her fingers. “With kids, accidents happen in the blink of an eye. Once Ava was standing on the sofa looking out the window. I was beside her and the next thing I knew, she fell backward and hit her head on the coffee table. I was right there, and it just happened.”
He winced. “Was she okay?”
“A concussion, but she’s okay now.” She glanced at her daughter, her sweet, happy, healthy daughter. “And the burn isn’t that bad. Yours is much worse.” Her gaze moved over his forearms, stopping when she met the short sleeves of his T-shirt. She could only guess he’d been shirtless at the pool, and the burn covered his entire upper torso. “Let me grab the aloe.”
“It can wait.” He recapped the barbeque sauce. “Dinner is ready.”
“I’ll set the table. Just let me get out of these work clothes.” She stepped inside and found a box of donuts along with three dinner plates loaded with cookies, muffins and squares. She picked one plate up, examined the sweets, then turned back around. “What’s all this?”
Kyle glanced at her through the screen door. “Your friends welcoming me to the neighborhood.”
What the heck? “Which friends?”
“Shari, Audra, and Krystal. I met them this morning, then again later at the pool.”
She dropped the plate back down on the counter. It hit with a thud. “How very nice of them.”
A surge of jealousy moved through her. How dare these women hit on Kyle? As she chewed on that a bitter taste settled on the tip of her tongue. She was about to dash upstairs to get changed and rinse her mouth when the reality of the situation stung like a slap. Honestly, why shouldn’t they hit on Kyle? Well, save for Shari, who was married. He was hot, hard, sweet…available. If she was single and she’d seen him hanging out in the neighborhood, she’d probably do the same.
Wait! What?
She was single, and he wasn’t just hanging out in the neighborhood, he was living in her house. Sure, he’d asked for friendship because of his loyalty to his brother. While having him as a friend was important to her, if she didn’t do something right now to prove how right they were for each other, to help him let go of the guilt of the past, then she could very well lose him again. Nothing was stopping him from up and leaving again, walking straight out of hers—and Ava’s—life like he did last time. Or, equally as bad, if she didn’t do something soon, one of those women could get their claws in deep. She couldn’t allow that to happen. She loved him too much.
The sound of Ava’s voice drew her attention. Yes, she had a huge secret, but if Kyle realized how good they were together, then maybe, just maybe he wouldn’t hate her for keeping it from him, or himself for his disloyalty. Maybe he could see that their daughter had been made out of love, not betrayal.
As she warmed to that idea, she darted up the stairs, placed her purchase into her nightstand, and slipped into a pair of jean shorts and a T-shirt. She pulled the elastic from her hair and reached for her brush. The bristles felt good on her skull after having her hair tied back in a tight ponytail all day.
She placed the brush back on her makeup table, her gaze going to her drawers.
Uncle Kyle used tweezers.
She pulled open her left hand drawer and rooted inside. No tweezers. A wave of unease hit as she sank down into her chair. Had he gone through her drawers in search of the tweezers? She checked her tabletop, moved the bottles of perfume around, but when the tweezers were nowhere to be found, she zeroed in on the bank of drawers to the right, to where she kept her very personal documentation.
Her fingers closed over the handle and she held her breath as she tugged it open. Inside she found everything in order, Ava’s medical papers intact. If he’d found the documentation and read it, would the pieces fall in to place for him, or would he breeze over Ava’s blood type and think nothing more of it?
A noise sounded at the door and she lifted her head but no one was there. The thought of him finding out before she had a chance to tell him spooked her more than she realized. Pushing away from the table she made her way to the bathroom, and found the tweezers and antibiotic ointment by the sink. Her heart twisted as she pictured Kyle bandaging Ava, his big hands so caring and gentle as he removed the splinter and applied the ointment.
“Mommy,” Ava called from downstairs. “It’s all ready.”
“Coming.” She shut the bathroom light off, took a breath to get herself together, then made her way down the stairs. Ava was setting the silverware on the table, while Kyle divvied up the meat and potatoes.
“Dinner is served,” he said with a smile when he saw her. He placed the plates on the table and pulled three water glasses from her perfectly functioning cupboard.
“Kyle, this looks amazing. Thank you. I can’t believe you even made a salad.”
Mimicking Ava, he put his hands on his hips. “I was informed that something green must always be on the plate.”
“I helped cut the cucumber,” Ava said.
Rachel sat and grabbed the tongs. She put a generous amount of salad on each plate, then patted the chair next to her. “Ava, come sit and tell me all about your day.” Her heart melted as Ava plunked herself down beside her. While she loved her job, some days she felt she was missing out on so much.
“Well, we went to see the dogs. I like Cuddles.” She dug her fork into her potatoes and steam rose from it as she brought a big bite to her mouth.
“Who is Cuddles?”
Kyle shrugged, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth as he reached for his fork. “Her name is Marley, but Ava calls her Cuddles for some reason.”
“Is it because she’s little and likes to cuddle?” Rachel asked as she cut in to her meat.
“No, Mommy, she’s big.” Ava held her hands out wide, then hugged herself. “But she likes to cuddle me.”
Kyle laughed. “More like she likes to knock you to the ground and lick your face.”
“Eww.” Rachel crinkled her nose.
Ava giggled and stabbed at a piece of cucumber as she fidgeted in her chair. “Then we went to see Madison and Lexi.”
The last time she’d seen Madison was at James’ funeral. “How is Madison?”
“She’s doing great. She said business has tripled since moving. Brad did a good job on renovations. As soon as lunchtime hit, the place was packed. You should stop by and see her. She asked about you.”
“Hopefully I’ll see her at the barbeque.”
“You’re going to go?”
She nodded and Ava started clapping. “Yay, I get to play with Lexi again.”
Rachel bit into her meat and moaned. So good. The man definitely knew his way around a barbeque. “It was nice of her to take the time off work to have lunch with you two, especially if she’s as busy as you say.”
“She only works half days,” he explained.
“Oh, I didn’t realize.”
“Yeah, afternoons are spent with Lexi.”
An invisible band tightened her heart. “That’s nice.” She wished she could do the same. But it didn’t feel right for her to be living off James’s inheritance. His folks already thought she was some sort of gold digger and she was hell bent on standing on her own two feet. But were they all suffering because of her stubbornness, her need to prov
e herself to her in-laws?
“Lexi is getting a baby brother,” Ava said.
“What?” Rachel’s fork stopped half way to her mouth. “Really? She’s pregnant again?”
Kyle nodded. “I hear it’s something in the water,” he teased and set his glass down as she picked hers up. Coincidental?
“Yeah, Lexi is going to be a big sister. I want to be a big sister too.” Ava went right on speaking over them, waving her fork around, as well as the piece of tomato dangling from the prongs. “Mommy, can I have a baby brother?”
Rachel nearly choked on her water and Kyle held his index finger up, his face contorting. “Uh, yeah, forgot to mention she asked about that earlier.”
“Ava, sweetheart, it’s not that simple. You need a mommy and a daddy for a baby.”
Ava’s eyes went wide, like a light bulb had gone off. “Mommy, why can’t Uncle Kyle be my daddy? That way I can get a baby brother and a puppy!”
Her gaze met Kyle’s and they exchanged a long, uncomfortable look as Ava squealed in delight. From her peripheral vision, she could see Ava’s pigtails bobbing around her shoulders as she chewed her tomato and bounced in her seat like she’d just come up with the most perfect solution to all her problems.
Kyle broke eye contact with her and put his hand on Ava’s. “That can’t happen, squirt. I’m only here for a couple weeks. I’m leaving right after Easter, remember?”
She frowned, and planted her elbows on the table. “But—”
“No buts, Ava. Now take your elbows off the table.”
They all went quiet for a long time, finishing their meals in silence, well, for the most part. Ava continued to fuss in her seat and talk about being a big sister as she made a nice dent in her food.
Kyle finally broke the silence between them. “How was your day, Rach?”
Rachel forced a smile. “Same old, same old. Lots of cleanings. I did find out the office is moving in a few weeks.”
“Oh.” He set his fork down and leaned back in his chair. “Where to?”
“Out in Westwood Hills. A bit longer commute than I have now.” She frowned. “Which means longer hours for Ava at the sitter.”
“I know it doesn’t help with that right now, but while I’m here I’d like to continue watching her. We still have a lot of work to do on the tree house. Don’t we, squirt?”