Hometown Hope: A Small Town Romance Anthology

by Zoe York

  “We’ll be a family,” Kyle said, more to himself than the little boy who’d stolen his heart.

  “Kale, we already are.”

  Chapter 14

  Violet

  * * *

  VIOLET WAS IN the kitchen when she heard the garage door open and then Dakota’s footsteps running across the floor. He burst into the kitchen and threw his arms around her legs. “Mama, we got a turkey—the most giantest turkey in the whole store.”

  Kyle arrived with several bags of groceries. He dropped them on the counter and turned to look at her. His expression softened. “Hello, beautiful.”

  “Hey.”

  “We got everything you asked for. I’ll go back to the car to get the turkey.”

  “Dakota says it’s a big one.”

  “Wait until you see it,” he said.

  After he left, she knelt on her knees to talk to Dakota. “I have a surprise. My mom, your grandmother, is coming to turkey dinner tomorrow. Isn’t that exciting?”

  “I guess so.” His blue eyes widened. “Does she know me?”

  “You met her last year. Do you remember her?”

  He shook his head. His forehead wrinkled like he was suddenly worried. “Mama, Kale will be here, right? And Mollie?”

  “Yes, we’re all having dinner.”

  Kyle was back, carrying a big turkey. “This sucker weighs twenty-one pounds.” He plopped it into the sink.

  “Kale’s strong, Mama. He carried it like a ball.”

  “Hey bud, will you do me a favor and go play in your room for a little bit?” Kyle asked. “I need to talk to your mama.”

  “Okay.” Without a backward glance, he scampered off.

  He pushed her against the sink and kissed her like it was the first and last thing he would ever do.

  Mollie’s cry came through the baby monitor. He laughed. “Mollie needs better timing. I’ll work with her on that. You keep that in mind for later. I can’t wait to do all the things I did to you last night all over again.”

  The doorbell rang.

  “Are you expecting someone?” Violet asked.

  “No. Maybe it’s Lance. He said he might stop by and say hello.”

  They walked together to the doorway. When Kyle opened the door, a young woman with hair the color of a copper penny and a light dusting of freckles on her fair skin stood under the light of the front porch. In her left hand she carried a walking cane.

  “Hi Daniel.” A tight, shy smile lifted the corners of her mouth. A barely visible scar on the right side of her face spoiled her almost perfect complexion.

  Beside Violet, Kyle flinched.

  “Autumn?” Kyle sounded like his mouth had filled with sand.

  “I wasn’t sure you would know me.” A soft voice matched her shy smile. She turned to Violet. “I’m Autumn. Daniel’s sister.”

  Kyle seemed to have frozen beside her. Autumn was here. How had she found him? What would he do? Violet stepped forward and introduced herself. “I’m Violet.”

  “May I come in, Daniel?” Autumn asked. “I came a long way to see you.”

  “Yes, please.” Violet gently pulled Kyle into the foyer to give his sister room to pass.

  “May I take your coat?” Violet asked.

  Autumn nodded and shrugged out of a white peacoat. “The dampness works its way into a person’s bones, doesn’t it? What a lovely home,” Autumn said.

  “We’re renting,” Violet said. She glanced at Kyle. His complexion had gone from its usual ruddiness to the color of white chalk. As much as she’d studied him the past few weeks, she couldn’t read him now.

  “Our house growing up was the dark, small, and dirty variety,” Autumn said. “Very popular back then.”

  Quick witted like her brother.

  They walked into the family room. Violet turned on the gas fireplace.

  “What a cozy room,” Autumn said.

  “We’re terrified of all the whites and grays,” Violet said. “Because of my son. He’s three and perpetually sticky.”

  Autumn smiled. “This would be a better room for a single girl like me.”

  “Would you like something to eat or drink?” Violet asked. “We have some leftover pizza.”

  “I’ve eaten, but I wouldn’t turn down a generous glass of scotch.” Autumn leaned on her cane as she crossed the room, bearing the weight of her left leg. With the aid of her right hand, she lowered herself onto one end of the couch.

  “I’d like one too, Lettie,” Kyle said, his voice odd and strangled as he sank into one of the gray armchairs.

  “Sure.” Violet scooted over to the bar and busied herself pouring them both a glass of scotch. Behind her, the siblings were quiet. Silence had a sound of its own just then, like the pained throbbing of a broken heart.

  Drinks in hand, she returned to the sitting area.

  “Did you fly here from Denver?” Kyle asked.

  “That’s right.” Autumn hands fluttered in her lap. “You know where I live?”

  “I do.” Kyle said. He didn’t look up when Violet handed him the drink.

  Conversely, Autumn thanked her with a smile, then gripped her glass with both hands. White knuckles gave her away. Kyle watched Autumn like a man in fear for his life.

  Violet hesitated, unsure if she should stay or go. “I should let you two talk. I’m sure you have a lot of things to catch up on.”

  “Stay.” Kyle lifted his face to look up at her. “Please.” His eyelids fluttered ever so slightly. She knew that panicked, humbled look in his eyes. He’d had it the first night they had Mollie.

  Autumn took a sip of her drink and closed her eyes for a split second. “This is just what I need. I had an early flight this morning and then drove here from San Francisco.”

  Violet studied her. The siblings looked nothing alike, other than the intense way they peered at someone or something. Violet had once thought Kyle’s intense glittering stare was meant to intimidate, but she knew now that it was a deep curiosity from a man who remained an outsider despite appearances to the contrary. Under the designer clothes and expensive cologne, Kyle remained the little boy who gawked at the big white house and dreamt of the girl inside. When one was unseen and disposable and dismissed, the world was experienced through a distance, like a detective gathering information.

  “How’d you find me?” Kyle asked.

  “I read about the opening of Cliffside Bay Lodge in a travel magazine. They had your photograph. I knew it was you, despite your name being slightly changed. I’ve looked for you for a long time. This was the first lead I had. I took a chance I might find you at the resort, but your staff wouldn’t tell me anything. I decided to head into town and ask around. A woman at the grocery store said to head over to The Oar and ask Zane Shaw for information.” A flash of pain crossed her face. “It took a photograph to convince him I was your sister. He said you guys go way back.”

  Kyle didn’t respond, other than to cross one leg over the other.

  Autumn reached into her handbag and pulled out an old photograph. She deposited it on the glass coffee table and flicked it with her finger toward the chair where Kyle sat as still as a statue. “Fortunately, I had this one. He said he knew it was you right away.”

  Embarrassed by his lack of response, Violet reached out for the photograph. It was of a little girl around two and a rough little boy of about six. She grinned into the camera, but the boy’s expression was stoic bordering on hostile. The way he glared at the camera reminded her of photographs from the late 1800s of people on the frontier. No one ever smiled in those photos. She’d always wondered why. No question, however, that this was a young Kyle. He had the same sharp features and dark hair. Unlike now, his hair was cut unevenly and stood up on one side in a ratted tangle. Both faces were smeared with grime. An old rusted truck behind them made a dreary backdrop.

  “Where did you get this?” Kyle asked from behind Violet.

  She jumped. Enthralled in the photograph, she had not seen K
yle get up from his chair.

  “From the house after Dad died. I found it in a book,” Autumn said. “It was stuck in one of those paperback books Mom used to read.”

  “You can’t possibly remember that. You were only six when she left.”

  “I vaguely remember her sitting in that orange chair reading,” Autumn said. “Stone tells me about her when I ask. He said she read all day to escape.”

  “Until she left,” Kyle said. “The ultimate escape.”

  “Until then, yes,” Autumn said.

  Kyle returned to his seat without taking the photograph. Violet held it for a moment before leaving it on the table.

  “It’s the only one I have of the two of us.” Autumn turned to Violet. “Our brother Stone is between us in age. There aren’t any photos of the three of us together, unfortunately.”

  Violet crossed over to the bar and poured herself a glass of wine. Afterward, she perched on the edge of the couch, unsure what to say or do.

  “You look so different,” Autumn said. “He was always so thin.”

  “The word is scrawny,” Kyle said.

  “You wouldn’t know it now,” Autumn said. “The lodge is beautiful too. You always had a flair for making beautiful things out of nothing.”

  “Isn’t it the opposite?” he asked.

  “It wasn’t your fault,” Autumn said.

  They looked at each other like two kids in a staring contest.

  “Zane told me you have a baby daughter,” Autumn said. “But he didn’t mention a wife.”

  No response from Kyle.

  “I’m not Mollie’s mother. Or his wife,” Violet said.

  “We’re together,” Kyle said hoarsely.

  “Does Mollie have a mother?” Autumn said.

  Kyle drank from his glass. “She died.”

  “I’m sorry.” Autumn’s gaze remained on her brother. She must be curious, but how did one ask about the sudden appearance of a baby?

  “Her mother and I weren’t together. I met her in a bar—it was a casual encounter,” Kyle said.

  “I’m still sorry. For the baby, especially.”

  “Kyle learned of Mollie’s existence after she was born,” Violet said.

  “And you didn’t mind?” Autumn asked.

  “I don’t mind.” Violet smiled to hide her embarrassment. “It was before me.”

  “I’m sure it’s a shock to see me,” Autumn said.

  “Yes,” Kyle said.

  “You did a great job disappearing.” Two bright pink spots blazed on Autumn’s cheeks.

  “You guys were better off without me.”

  “We disagree.” She drank the rest of her scotch and put the glass aside. “Like I said, Stone and I have been searching for you for some time now.”

  “Why?” Kyle asked.

  “Because it devastated us when you left. Stone joined the Marines after high school.”

  “I know,” Kyle said.

  She looked surprised but didn’t ask how. “He’s had some problems since he got back from Afghanistan. Seeing you would help him. His psychologist thinks it would be good for him to have closure. Even if it’s only to explain why you disappeared out of our lives. She believes it would help him to move forward. He’s stuck. Depressed. Anxious. He saw things over there no one should have to see.” She pulled a card from a pocket and pushed it across the table. “Here’s my contact information. We’re staying at the resort for the long weekend. If you decide you’d like to see us and talk, we’d welcome it.”

  “I’ll think about it,” Kyle said.

  “Please do. We don’t want anything from you. We’re both fine financially. I’m a pharmacist. But maybe you know that too?”

  “I do.”

  “You’ve checked up on us but haven’t given us the chance to do the same? It makes no sense,” Autumn said.

  “The scar’s less visible,” Kyle said.

  “Your money paid for a plastic surgeon.” Autumn placed her fingertips over the scar.

  “They did a good job,” Kyle said.

  “As good as it gets,” Autumn said. “After I got insurance through work, I had an operation on my legs. They reset the bones and used some pins and various other techniques. After physical therapy, I’m able to walk without pain. My right leg’s almost normal, but my left can’t take too much weight. But my friend here helps.” She wrapped her right hand around the head of the cane and stood. “It’s better than those awful braces. Remember those?”

  A terrible darkness seemed to cloud Kyle’s face. “Do you really think I could ever forget?”

  Autumn shook her head as if suddenly weary. “The Miller boys did this, not you.”

  “I was driving,” he said. “I took that corner too fast.”

  “They were right behind us,” Autumn said. “We were scared for our lives. Those boys tortured you for most of your childhood. Don’t forget that part.”

  “If I hadn’t been such a pathetic loser, then they wouldn’t have come after me in the first place.”

  “Daniel, for heavens’ sake, you were barely eighteen years old and taking care of the entire family. You were trying to protect me, like always.”

  Kyle downed his drink and slammed it down on the coffee table. “Do you know how many times I’ve gone through that moment in my head? If only I’d done this or that or the other thing?”

  “They were chasing us. You did the only thing you could do.” Autumn looked over at Violet. “The roads were slick from rain.”

  Kyle put his hand out like a traffic cop. “We’re not doing this. I don’t revisit the past. Ever.” He leapt to his feet and headed toward the bar. “Seeing you is just a reminder of all the ways I failed you.”

  “Is that why you left?” Autumn had started to cry. “Because you couldn’t stand to look at me.”

  Kyle turned back to look at her. “I ruined your life. You’re better off without me. You know that.”

  “My life wasn’t ruined,” Autumn said, her voice just above a whisper. “I don’t even remember what it was like before.”

  “You mean before your legs were mangled and your perfect face scarred?”

  “Yes, that. This is my life. I’d rather it be different, but hey, it got me out of P.E. the last few years of high school.” Autumn wiped under her eyes. “How could you leave us?”

  “When I left home it was for good. I started fresh,” Kyle said.

  “But what about Stone and me? You left just like Mom did. Nothing. Just evaporated.”

  Kyle buried his face in his hands and let out a long, shuddering sigh. “It’s what I had to do to save myself. I had to save myself to save you guys.”

  “Why couldn’t you do that and stay in our lives? Is it because of me?”

  The second hand on the clock above the mantel clicked away the seconds. Finally, he answered. “Yes. It kills me that I did this to you. All I ever wanted was to make sure you guys were okay. I failed you.”

  “The only way you failed us was to disappear. Stone needs you. Please, can we see you? Talk things through?”

  “You could come to Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow,” Violet said. Why had she said that? It just slipped out of her mouth. Kyle glared at her. She looked away, flushed.

  “I’d like that. Very much,” Autumn said.

  The sound of Mollie crying through the monitor interrupted them. Violet stood, but Kyle shook his head. “No, I’ll get her.” He rose from the chair. “Yes, come tomorrow. Bring Stone.”

  “I will.” Autumn smiled.

  “I’ll see you tomorrow.” Kyle headed out the door. His footsteps echoed through the house.

  Autumn picked up the photograph from the table and stared at it like she’d never seen it before. “Do you know how many hours I’ve spent staring at this picture? I could have circled the earth twice on foot.” She looked up and over at Violet. “I should go.”

  “I’ll walk you out,” Violet said.

  When they reached the front door, she help
ed Autumn into her coat and escorted her out to the driveway where a rental car was parked next to Kyle’s Lexus.

  At the car, Autumn opened the driver’s side door and placed her cane inside before sitting. She looked up at Violet. “Do you think he’s all right? I mean, for real. Is he happy?”

  Violet gripped the top of the car door. “I think so.”

  “He has friends?”

  “Yes. The best kind.”

  “He basically raised us after our mom left,” Autumn said. “Until he left for college, he took care of everything.” Her voice softened. “I missed him more than I can say. Stone wouldn’t admit it, but he did too. We never missed our mom much because we were so young when she left, but Kyle, well, that was hard. I would never have predicted he was the leaving kind. I guess he got that from our mother.”

  “I’m sorry. My family’s estranged too.”

  “This was more like abandonment, not estrangement.”

  “Kyle’s complex. He has demons, clearly.” More so than I could even imagine.

  “I’m one of them,” Autumn said.

  So it seems.

  Autumn started the engine. The driveway filled with the smell of engine fumes. She rolled down the window. “Are you guys in love?”

  Violet nodded. “Very much so.”

  “Be careful. Kyle will leave when you least expect it and break your heart.”

  “People change,” Violet said.

  Autumn looked up at her with a sad smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “I hope so. Was it dumb to come? Are my hopes for reconciliation futile?”

  “I don’t know. But you have to try.”

  “Yes, I do. Thanks for the invitation to dinner. I have a feeling you may have to pay for that,” Autumn said.

  “Sometimes you have to take a risk for someone you love.” Violet pulled her sweater tighter around her waist. “Honestly, it slipped out. But my gut tells me this is the right thing. For all of us.”

  “I hope so. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  Violet shivered in the night air as she watched the car back out of the driveway and onto the street. When the lights were no longer visible, she looked up at the moonless sky. A few stars twinkled between the clouds. The roar of the car’s engine faded, replaced by the sound of waves crashing to shore. She wrapped her arms around her middle and closed her eyes. Please God, help them forgive and become the family they’re meant to be. Please help Kyle forgive himself.