“Very well done, Taryn.” Evan swam over to them. “I have to go and meet another client, but if you ask for one of my cards at the front desk, you can contact me any time if you want to continue working with me. Let's go ahead and get you out of the pool.”
Still catching her breath, Taryn turned her head away from Chris. “Thank you. Tonight was amazing. I never knew it could still feel this exhilarating.”
Chris swam, still holding her, to the lift and helped get her settled in it. His eyes blazed with pride. He couldn't stop smiling, which only aided in more grins from Taryn.
“Why don't we sit in the chairs over here until you're dry? That way, we don't get yours wet,” Chris suggested after they pulled her out of the water.
“Works for me. Thank you again, Evan. I feel great. A little worn out, but great.” Taryn beamed.
“You've got some spunk, girl. I don't see your kind of passion often. Most people have given up after their accidents. You've got some qualities I admire.” He helped get Taryn into one of the chairs before taking off.
Chris brought over a white towel and draped it over her shoulders before wrapping another one around himself. He pulled her wheelchair closer to them before plunking down on the seat beside her.
“So, I want to get back to doing the things I'd started, and that includes maybe going to school to finish getting my degree,” Chris draped an arm around her shoulders.
“Yeah? That's really great!”
A dark shadow crossed his face. “You ever feel like you're alive, but not living? I know it doesn't sound right.”
“I get it. I went through that myself for a while. Maybe even still.” She nodded.
“I don't like that part of me any more. Not that I ever did, but I'm ready to get back on track. No more roaming aimlessly. No more casual women in my bed. I want to get serious about living my life.”
He held something back, but Taryn couldn't be too sure. Either way, she wouldn't press him. Tonight had been amazing. Touching. Absolutely memorable.
“One more thing. I know we have some awkward moments, and I've added to them thanks to crazy jealous girls, but I like you a lot, Taryn. I wouldn't mind seeing where things go between us.”
She drew in air, completely caught off guard. “I don't know if I can be what you need.”
“What is it you think I need?” Chris asked gently, brushing a fingertip across her jaw.
She averted her gaze.
“Look at me, Taryn.” His voice tugged on her heart.
“I don't know if I'm good dating material,” she muttered, finally glancing back up.
“How about you let me be the judge of that?” His lingering fingers left a tingly trail along her jaw.
“What kind of judge are you?” Taryn cracked, way too nervous now to be serious.
He chuckled, his eyes never leaving her face. “I'm a fair judge.”
Jumbled thoughts swirled around in her mind. No one had ever made her feel the way she did right now. Chris stirred up feelings she thought were long dead and buried. Yeah, there were plenty of worries, but she'd always been a risk taker before. She could do it again.
“I'm not going to give up easily, Taryn. Take time to think about what you want and need, but know that I'm interested. I want to be around you a lot more.” Chris tucked a lock of hair behind her ear.
Chapter Sixteen
“I'm not sure I'm really ready for this. Are you?” Melody clutched Chris' hand as they exited the doors of the plane. “Part of me wants to yell at her for all the pent up hurt I've carried, but the other part wants to hug her and tell her never to let go.”
“Same thing I feel. What does she want after all this time? That's the biggest question I have. After no contact at all, now out of the blue.” Chris shrugged, ignoring the sting of Melody's nails in his skin.
As they rounded to the end of the terminal, Chris spotted a sign that read 'Welcome, Chris and Melody.'
“Wow. She looks nothing like I pictured,” Melody whispered. “I thought she'd look a lot older.”
“She's got your crazy hair and eyes.” Chris stared at Bridgette, recalling every memory he could about his life with her.
Bridgette spotted them, and her eyes widened. She nearly dropped the sign. “Look at the two of you. Wow.” Her voice came out hoarse and etched with pained emotion.
Chris bit back a retort. No, he'd play nice. For now, anyway. So many things needed to be said, and he wasn't even sure where the hell to start.
“You look … really good,” Melody managed.
“So do you! My baby girl, all grown up, in a band and engaged! Let me see the ring! I want to see pictures of Jameson!” Bridgette's eyes lit up.
Chris watched the exchange between his sister and mom, trying to be as objective as possible. Melody held up her hand with the ring, then pulled out her phone to show off photos of Jameson.
“And you?” Bridgette looked at him next. “You called me Taryn once when I called, so is that your girlfriend? Wife? Fiancée?”
Chris let out a laugh. “Working on it. The girlfriend part, that is. It's a little too early to call her anything else. Taryn's great. She's a drummer about to take my place in Melody's band.”
“She used to play for Kyra Sanders,” Melody added.
“Now that's a name I know. My … I know someone who's a fan.” Bridgette's voice came out much quieter.
“We know Kyra. She lives about twenty minutes from us. Baby Stetson, the band I'm in, is touring with her this summer.”
Bridgette smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. “I love this chatter, but we should probably go somewhere more private. Are you hungry? I could take you out to eat.”
“Sounds good to me, but I'm going to have to ask now. Are you going to tell us the reason you've contacted us after all this time?” Chris hoped his voice didn't come out too harsh.
“Yeah, I am. I promise.” With little warning, Bridgette hugged them both tight. “Thank you for coming.”
He stiffened and said nothing. Words weren't coming easily to him, and he'd probably say the wrong thing. Melody was in tears when Bridgette let them go.
“Do you have any luggage to pick up?”
“No. We both have carry ons only,” Chris held his up as to offer proof.
All the way toward the car and even most of the ride, Bridgette didn't say much about her own life, only asking questions about theirs, which was fine. At least she wanted to know, but Chris had a feeling she was avoiding things. At some point during this visit, he planned to get to the bottom of this, whether she offered up information or not.
“I would guess your tastes have changed and that your favorite restaurant is no longer IHOP.” Bridgette adjusted her rear view mirror, peeking back at them.
“Our tastes have definitely evolved since then,” Chris answered.
“But we won't be opposed if it's where you want to go,” Melody added.
“Sounds good. IHOP it is.”
Awkward, tense silence filled the car.
“What made you choose to live in Kansas?” Chris decided to be the one to ask questions now. It was harmless enough, and maybe it would prompt other discussions.
“Umm,” Bridgette drummed her fingers against the wheel. “My husband got a good job.”
“So you're married.” He nodded. Okay, fine. After so long, he couldn't really expect anything else.
For sixteen years.” Her voice wavered.
Sixteen years.
Four years after she up and left them. Maybe she she'd met him while still at home and just waited long enough to get married. Dad did mention once that it took a while for divorce papers to show up. A year or two, if Chris recalled correctly.
“Do we get to meet him? Does he know about us?” Melody asked, her voice hardening with each word.
“He knows about you.”
So what was her reasoning for leaving, and what did her husband know about it?
“Look, I know you have a lot of qu
estions, and you have every right. I have explanations. Take them or leave them, but you will have my side of the story.”
“Just so you know, Dad never badmouthed you,” Chris stated in defense.
“I know. Your father never had it in him to badmouth anyone, no matter how hurt he was. I never said he did. But I'm sure the three of you have different memories and versions of what happened.”
“It doesn't help that you're being vague,” Chris snapped.
“I know that, okay? Look, I'm not happy about the way things went. I'm not happy about having to call you and ask for you help, especially since you haven't heard from me in so long. I thought I'd have more time to gather my composure about facing you two before things escalated.”
What the hell did that mean?
“Are you dying?” Melody's voice choked up.
“No! I'm fine. I mean, I'm not sick. Look. I need you to meet somebody, and I'll explain.” Bridgette pleaded. “Can we do that after dinner?”
“Are you going to explain things before or after?” Chris demanded, “because I'm not in the mood for any kind of run-around.”
“I guess at dinner then.” Bridgette nodded. “Thank you again for giving me this chance.”
Yeah, we'll see what comes out of this.
*****
Taryn had dug around in her boxes and came across the old recorded swim meets she still had on tape. The VCR was probably on its last limb, and these things would need to be converted to DVD or something, but they were still in decent condition.
As she watched her younger self barrel across the pool in quick, effortless strides, someone knocked on her door. She paused the video. “Come on in.”
Kyra opened the door and stepped in. “You're home early.”
“Yeah, your mom let me go a little earlier than normal, since she was taking off early as well. She gave me a ride home.”
“It's because she's doing something with Amy today. A mother/daughter thing for her upcoming graduation.”
Kyra's younger sister, Amy, planned to head to Nashville after graduation. She'd finally come out about her love of singing, but still had problems about being in her sister's shadow. Taryn hadn't seen much of her lately, but wasn't too surprised by that. Amy and Kyra had never been that close.
“What are you watching?” Kyra pointed at the TV.
“Old videos of my swim meets. This was even before I met you,” Taryn answered.
“Ooooh! How come I haven't seen them before?” Kyra pouted.
“Oh, let's see, because we were too busy touring the world.”
“Well, who would want to tour the world with me when they could have been a professional swimmer?” Kyra laughed. “You know I can't leave without watching. And if you make me leave, I'll find these and watch them on my own. The choice is yours. But before that, I do have a question, which is why I knocked on your door. I'm getting together with Avery and Blaine to plan Melody's bridal shower, and we wanted to invite you. We're going to Blaine and Randy's. Matt and Andrew are coming too, but that's because the men are getting kicked out. We don't trust them not to open their mouths.”
“Really? How come I'm put in that category?” Matt asked from the doorway, pretending to scowl.
“Yeah. Matt's good at keeping secrets. He hasn't told you what I told him, otherwise I would have heard it by now.” Taryn winked, totally instigating.
“Say what?” Kyra gasped, glancing between the two of them.
“Huh? You told me something?” Matt's eyes were wide and confused.
Taryn laughed. “First off, Matt, you ruined it. And Kyra, your expression was priceless. I was kidding, you big dopes!”
“Damn! I should have caught on to that.” Matt grinned sheepishly.
“Oh my God! Don't do that!” Kyra socked Taryn on the arm. “You know too much!”
“Oh? And I don't?” Matt raised a questioning brow.
Kyra threw her hands up in the air. “I admit defeat. My boyfriend and best friend teaming up against me.” Then a smile lit up her face.
“It's all out of love,” Taryn shot back. “We got way off the subject. I'd love to go.”
“Sweet. We don't have to leave for another half hour, just so you know.” Kyra gestured at the TV. “Play some Taryn memories.”
“Sure. You two are welcome to sit on my bed. Just no hanky panky stuff. I have to sleep there.” She made a face at the two of them.
“We'll have a tree house for that soon.” Kyra winked before taking Matt's hand, leading him to sit.
Taryn laughed when Matt's cheeks reddened. “You're not used to us yet with our inappropriate comments?”
“We'll break him in soon enough.” Kyra chuckled. “Don't worry, Matt. I don't give her all the details.”
“I'm glad for that one,” Taryn shot back.
“You two are worse than Andrew!” Matt exclaimed. They all laughed before settling down.
Taryn pushed play again and reminisced as her teenage self hurdled through the water. And her heart ached, remembering that Dad had been the one to be in the crowd recording her.
“Not that I'm surprised, but wow. You were really good. I didn't know you competed,” Kyra remarked.
“Yeah, for about three years. Why do you think you always found me at the pool at the hotels? I had to get my swim in.” Taryn stopped the video for now. She'd seen enough. Enough to know she wanted to continue working with Evan, or at least somebody, to get back to swimming.
“Well, whenever you feel comfortable, my pool is always available to you. If I need to make some kind of accommodations, let me know.”
“No, don't go that far. I'll figure something out. The pool Chris took me to has a chair to lower me in the water. If I had someone set me at the edge of the pool here, I think I can manage from there. Honestly, it'll be a long while before I'm ready to swim on my own. I loved being in the water that night, but I have an irrational fear of drowning.” She shuddered.
“It's not that irrational of a fear, all things considered. I'm glad you got to get a taste of something you love again,” Kyra said softly.
Taryn smiled. “You know, so do I. It's nice. I'm starting to feel human again.”
*****
“I'm not sure where to begin.”
Silverware clinked against dishes as Bridgette finally said something after their food arrived. Chris hated this whole awkward situation. So he'd been right. She wanted something and had a hard time asking about it. Well, considering how she abandoned them, she should feel guilty. But her words sounded ominous and no matter how upset he was with her actions, Chris didn't want anything to happen to her. They'd lost enough already.
“At the beginning maybe? Why you left, where you've been, what you've been doing, and why you're sitting with us now, hesitating to ask a question.” His tone came out clipped and bitter, and Chris knew it.
Bridgette stared at her plate. “I suffer with severe depression. I had for years, maybe even since before you two were born.”
His hand trembled. Hell, now he understood where his came from. Depression was considered hereditary, wasn't it? Or at least, some mental disorders were, and some forms of depression were considered a mental disorder.
“So you left because you were depressed?” Melody asked quietly.
“Something like that. There's so much more to it.” Bridgette picked up her napkin, wiped her eyes, then dropped it beside her.
“We've got time,” Chris pointed out.
“There are some things better left not to discuss in public,” she choked out, visibly shaken.
One step forward, two steps back. Damn. Chris bit into his steak, unsure what else to say at the moment. He chewed slowly, savoring the taste as he processed his mother's admission.
“What I do need to prepare you for is that I have other children.” Bridgette's voice came out timid. She brushed another wave of tears away. “And one of them needs your help.”
“Aha. The reason you decided we're worthy of t
alking to- because your new family needs something from one of us,” Chris snapped. God, he sounded callous.
“Maybe we should hear her out more,” Melody suggested, turning her tormented gaze his way.
“I've heard enough!” He shoved his plate away. “I've battled with how I'd handle this day if it ever came, but I never expected you to have a new family and need us to help you with them. She left us, Mel, and wants our help with the new life she made. How fair is that?”
“I never said any of this was fair, Christopher! Because it's not! Your father made it clear that if I walked out and didn't seek further treatment, that was it. I wasn't thinking clearly when I left, and the damage was done! I couldn't do anything else!” Bridgette cried. She gripped the edge of the table, her haunted eyes staring back at them in agony.
“Really? I call BS,” he challenged, narrowing his eyes.
“You can call what you want, but maybe reserve judgment until you hear everything, and it won't be easy. I didn't walk away for the sake of walking away. There were a lot of tough years and choices that led me to that point. My sixteen year old daughter has aplastic anemia. No one else is a match in the family so far. Her situation went from bad to dire recently.”
She left it at that.
Chris and Melody stared at each other, both wide eyed, confused, and stunned.
“So you want to see if one of us is,” Melody stated.
“Would you have contacted us if this didn't come up?” Chris exploded. His chest tightened to the point he couldn't breathe without deep inhales.
She was in a desperate position. It wasn't his half sister's fault she was sick, and it wasn't her fault their mother had to go for whatever reason. Fine. He blew out a breath in an attempt to calm down.
“I'd like to think so.” Bridgette's eyes were still full of immense pain. “I think of you guys all the time. I want to make this weekend full of explanations. I want you to meet Lissy and make a decision. Please don't make a decision about helping her based on what I did. It's not fair.”
“Does she know about us, too?” Melody asked.
Bridgette bowed her head. “I told her a few weeks ago. Before that, no.”
Offbeat (Love and Music In Texas Book 5) Page 16