by Karen Rock
“Accept this pain and think of it as a lesson instead of a burden. Study your wound, then cast out the shadows. That’s how to be rid of your Han.”
Niall’s chest expanded as he absorbed Master Jung’s advice. He was right. He couldn’t—shouldn’t—avoid his pain, the blame he cast on himself, his life. A strong man would learn to accept what he’d done. And if he opened up to Kayleigh and she didn’t accept him, especially after hearing the truth about Chris, then he would bear that, too.
He contemplated his prosthetic leg. His mistakes would always haunt him. Better to face them directly. As soon as he finished coding, he’d reveal what had happened to Chris. Although Niall would be breaking military code, he cared too much about Kayleigh to hold back the truth any longer. Once the product was complete, he’d tell her everything. If she sent him away, at least he’d know she was taken care of. Had a working app that would provide for her and Chris’s family.
He hoped that she’d find a way to forgive him. The more he’d gotten to know her again, had seen her giving and generous spirit, the more possible it seemed. But if he was wrong...
He shook the doubt from his head. They’d cross that bridge when they reached it.
Until then, he would not run away, and he would not hide.
Not anymore.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
KAYLEIGH’S GAIT SPED up as she passed the nurses’ station at the assisted-living home. Even though it was midafternoon, and MaryAnne was nowhere in sight, Kayleigh didn’t want to risk running into her, didn’t want to deal with questions about the start-up or Niall.
He told me that he wants me, Kayleigh might blurt out. It’d been all she’d thought about since leaving him in the park. Did he mean he wanted her as more than a partner? More than a friend? Because she really, really wanted to know.
But the less she dwelled on his ambiguous confession, the better. She had other, important things to worry about. Namely her failure to develop her app, to finance her company and to provide for Chris’s family.
Her fingers tightened around her purse handle and she forced a smile at the residents she taught in her water-aerobics class. When she peeked into her grandfather’s room, she found it empty, and sighed in disappointment. He must be doing an activity. She put away the treats she’d grabbed after her subway stop, then set off back down the hall. This time she did run into MaryAnne.
“Hi, Kayleigh. How’d your meeting go today? Niall was telling me—”
Kayleigh’s eyes fled MaryAnne’s shrewd gaze.
“I’m so sorry, but I’m in a bit of a rush. Would you know where my grandfather is?”
MaryAnne reached for her hand. “You’re so cold, and you look pale. How about some coffee to go? It’s already made in the break room.”
Kayleigh clamped down on the temptation to follow MaryAnne. She didn’t trust herself to keep her tangle of emotions to herself.
“Next time.” Kayleigh gave her a wan smile. “Okay?”
After a moment, MaryAnne nodded slowly, a line appearing between her brows. “I’m guessing your grandfather’s in Annette Larson’s room, 228. If not, then playing Ping-Pong. Would you like me to have him paged?”
Kayleigh could only imagine the alarm that would raise. “No. And thank you.”
“Stop by on your way out if you want to talk,” MaryAnne called as Kayleigh waved and set off.
Down another hall and around a corner, she heard raucous laughter and a Buddy Holly tune coming from one of the open doorways. She glanced at the number. 228. Was she about to crash a party?
Inside, the seniors were focused on a board game set up on a folding table in the center of Annette’s room. Six folding chairs were pulled up to it.
“You didn’t shake the dice hard enough. Roll again. That twelve doesn’t count!” hollered Mr. Jennson, his red polyester dress shirt open at the collar, revealing several gold necklaces and a patch of white chest hair.
“It counts,” grumbled Mr. Tanner, whose thin wrist appeared below a loose cotton sweater as he moved his piece around the board. “And I’d like to buy Boardwalk, please.”
“Any chance I can buy it from you, Michael?” purred Mrs. Larson, her silky cream dress shirt and pearls contrasting with her bright red lipstick. Mr. Tanner gaped at her without answering. “I already own Park Place.” Her glossy lips parted in a smile to reveal perfect white teeth, her green eyes gleaming.
“I—I—” Mr. Tanner stuttered, seemingly paralyzed by Mrs. Larson’s smile.
“Aw, come on, Michael. That’s a bad deal. Don’t do it.” Mrs. Perry grabbed a handful of M&M’s and tossed them into her mouth, her floral housedress complementing the pink in her cheeks. “And stop flirting your way to a win, Annette.”
“The property’s his, dear,” Gramps said quietly, his voice barely carrying to the doorway. But apparently Mrs. Larson heard it loud and clear because she nodded and withdrew the money she held out to Mr. Tanner.
“Pete, it’s your turn,” she said, and handed Mr. Jennson the dice. He brought them to his lips and kissed them. “Now that you’ve touched them, I’m bound to have some luck.”
Kayleigh watched the small smile that passed between her grandfather and Mrs. Larson. Interesting. The two seemed to be close, the squabble over the bacon long forgotten. Perhaps Gramps didn’t need her compatibility app after all. She blinked back the sting in her eyes. Now that she’d lost her last shot at financing, he wouldn’t have gotten it from her anyway.
She must have made a sound because suddenly it grew quiet, and when she looked up from the tissue she’d retrieved from her purse, all eyes were on her. Gramps used his cane to push to his feet, concern deepening the lines around his mouth.
“Kayleigh. I wasn’t expecting you until tomorrow. Is everything okay?”
Her nod turned into a head shake as emotions welled. “I’ll come back tomorrow.” Her voice broke, and she swallowed hard over the lump in her throat. “I don’t want to interrupt your fun.”
Annette reached her before Gramps, the smell of Chanel No. 5 enveloping her. “Sweetheart. Come in. We don’t mind being interrupted. Besides, Mr. Tanner’s been cheating the entire time.”
The thin man’s eyes bulged. “That’s not true.”
“Oh, shut it, Michael,” drawled Mrs. Perry, pushing to her feet to join the circle of arms now surrounding Kayleigh.
“Can I get in on that hug?” called Mr. Jennson.
The group shouted an emphatic “No!” and dissolved into laughter as they led Kayleigh to an oversize futon couch covered in a denim rose print. Gramps sat on one side and Annette on the other, both holding her trembling hands.
Mrs. Perry pulled her chair up beside them and Mr. Tanner and Mr. Jennson turned around to watch the action, but not before Kayleigh noticed Mr. Tanner sneak a five-hundred-dollar bill into his pile. If she wasn’t in such a terrible mood, she would have smiled. He really was a cheater.
“What’s wrong, Kay?” Gramps’s blue eyes delved into hers, and Annette squeezed her hand.
“Man trouble,” pronounced Mrs. Perry. She tightened the knot on her head turban and nodded emphatically, her chins wobbling. “Don’t know why I wasted so many years on them. Worthless creatures. Whoever he is, you’re better off without him.”
“Hey. We can’t help it if we’re irresistible,” protested Mr. Jennson, undoing another button on his shirt and winking at Mrs. Perry.
She waved a heavily ringed hand. “Close that up, Pete. No one wants to see it.”
“Can still do fifty push-ups and a hundred sit-ups a day. Want to see my six-pack, Grace?” His hands rose to his buttons again but were stopped by another loud “No!” from the group.
“You don’t know what you’re missing,” he groused, and subsided back into his chair.
An iPod in a dock besid
e Annette’s bed shuffled to a slow song, the crooner wailing, “Moon River.”
“This song always makes me want to dance, which reminds me, when are we going to have that party for your company? The one where we get to try that thing on our phones,” Mr. Tanner asked. “I was getting jazzed about it.”
Kayleigh looked at their expectant faces bleakly. When they’d graciously taken part in her market surveys, she’d promised to hold a marketing event here. Only that wasn’t going to happen. Not now. She wondered if GSI’s version of her app would take into account the thriving dating pool in the sixty-five and over group. She hoped so. Everyone deserved love. If only she’d been able to help them find it.
Her chest burned at all that she’d lost today, and when she shivered, Annette and Gramps wrapped their arms around her.
“Can’t you see she’s upset?” accused Mrs. Perry, passing Kayleigh the bowl of M&M’s. “Stop pestering her about a party.”
“There’s not going to be a party,” Kayleigh managed. “In fact, the compatibility app is over.”
“Over?” Annette leaned back and studied her while Gramps pulled her close and kissed her cheek.
“What happened?” Mr. Jennson buttoned his shirt up to his neck, his cocky smile gone.
“Folks, I’m going to take my granddaughter back to my room. Please excuse us. I’m sure she’d like a word in private.” Gramps put a hand on his cane, but Kayleigh stopped him before he rose. The kind faces surrounding her stopped the sensation of free-falling that’d taken hold earlier.
“It’s okay, Gramps. I want to stay.” Her words quieted the protesting seniors. “I don’t have a big family, but you all feel like part of it.”
Mrs. Perry’s eyes grew moist, and she leaned over to hug Kayleigh. “We feel that way about you, too, honey. Tell us what happened.”
“I see more of Kayleigh than I do my own grandchildren,” muttered Mr. Tanner, whose chair scraped the linoleum floor as he pulled it closer and patted her knee. “We’re all ears, toots. Go ahead.”
Kayleigh clasped her shaking hands and spoke. “The last finance company on my list turned me down today.”
The group looked at her blankly, as if waiting for her to get to the bad news. And maybe it wasn’t the worst part. Niall’s hurt face flashed before her eyes. She’d lost him, too.
After a beat, Gramps squeezed her hand. “Sounds like it’s time to make a new list, then.”
She shook her head miserably. “It’s not that easy. These were the only companies that agreed to meet with me. I could cast the net farther, but I’m out of time. And besides, my app idea got stolen by Brett and GSI.” She scanned the group. “They’re my old employer, and Brett was my—”
“Cheating ex-fiancé,” snorted Mrs. Perry, pounding the table with her palms and making the game pieces jump. “Annette told me. What a fink. Like I said. It’s man trouble. Sorry, sweetie.”
A murmur of sympathetic noises and agreement rose from the crowd, and Kayleigh nodded glumly. Yes, she supposed at the heart of things, it was. She filled them in on the rest, Gramps’s steady back rub helping her go on until she ended without mentioning Niall. If she couldn’t figure out her feelings, how could they understand?
“So you’d need funds to pay the new programmer you hired,” Mr. Jennson said, glasses now perched on the end of his nose.
Kayleigh glanced at him in surprise, as did the rest of the gang. “Yes, and—”
“Capital to get it approved by Apple, connect it to the iTunes store, hosting and servers, marketing events and advertising campaigns with the biggest fee, of course, going to your lead programmer, who will charge a pretty penny to create this layered program.” Mr. Tanner pulled a green see-through visor over his head, his eyes sharp beneath its brim.
“Watch out, Pete’s put his old CEO hat on,” cackled Mrs. Perry, grabbing a ball of yarn and knitting needles from a bag by her feet. “I think better when my hands are busy.”
“I may be retired, but I’m not dead,” Mr. Jennson protested, pointing a pencil.
“The only thing he likes more than women is money,” Annette whispered, leaning across Kayleigh to speak to Gramps. Her grandfather’s eyes twinkled at her.
“So how much is this fella charging you?” Mr. Jennson stopped scribbling on a paper pad and assessed her.
“Niall is a partner, so he’s doing it for free.”
Mr. Jennson pursed his lips and whistled. “You’ve got a good one there. Those guys can charge thousands of dollars. He must believe in this app to give up payment for potential profits.”
Kayleigh’s heart stuttered to a stop. Niall did believe in her. Brett never had, but Niall... He’d been there for her. It’d taken him a while to warm up to the idea, but once he’d come around, he’d been “all in.” Did that include his heart, too?
Sure they’d quarreled, disagreed, scoffed at each other, but at the end of every day, they were still a team. And wasn’t that what counted? They’d known each other for so long that she failed to see that more than friendship held them together. Maybe taking their relationship out of the friend zone wasn’t the treacherous step she’d imagined all this time. And even if it was a risk, hadn’t she vowed not to play it safe anymore?
She couldn’t imagine Niall ever letting her down. Deceiving her. Misrepresenting himself. When he’d said he wanted her, he’d meant it. Not her company, not her friendship. Her. And she should have believed him, answered and not retreated.
She scrambled to her feet, ready to run all the way to Bed-Stuy, to Niall, if she had to. He deserved his answer, and she was ready to give it to him. Needed to take this leap of faith with her heart. “I’ve got to go. You were all so kind to listen, but really, there’s nothing anyone can do.”
“Hold on there, little lady.” Mr. Tanner held up a hand, forestalling her. “How much money does she need, Pete?”
“About two hundred and fifty thousand to start and that much again in six months.”
Her helpless gaze wandered to Gramps. What must he think of her colossal failure? He’d told her that the only way to win was not to give up when success was around the corner. But she’d made every turn and come up with nothing.
“Sounds reasonable,” Annette Larson murmured. “Doable.” And, to Kayleigh’s surprise, all heads nodded.
“Agreed. Not a problem at all.” Mrs. Perry looked up from knitting. “What do you think, fellas?”
Mr. Tanner and Mr. Jennson looked at one another then nodded, turning to Kayleigh with confident smiles.
“I don’t have that in my bank account.” She met her grandfather’s gaze and mouthed, “What?” to him. He shrugged, looking as puzzled as she at his friends’ strange reaction.
“But we do, honey,” Mrs. Perry said, her needles clacking together. “Or at least, we’ve each got a fifth of it. Am I right?”
Mr. Jennson nodded again, along with Mr. Tanner and Mrs. Larson. A faintness stole over her, and she sank back down on the futon. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”
Mrs. Perry waved a needle. “No fink is going to get one over on our girl. That’s why I want to invest in your up-start.” She glanced around the table. “I mean, start-up. What did I say?”
“You got it right, Grace.” Mr. Tanner smiled at Kayleigh. “You remind me of my daughter. I’m in, too.”
“You’re a winner, and you come from good genes,” Annette Larson said, her warm eyes twinkling at a dumbfounded-looking Gramps.
“And I’ve always been a gambler. A smart gal like you, someone who could rope a programmer in for free like that, is a sure bet. I’m putting my money on you,” piped up Mr. Jennson.
“I’m sorry. I can’t accept,” she protested, floored at this generous offer. They lived in an assisted-living facility, and that didn’t come cheap. She knew her grandfather exi
sted on monthly payments subsidized by his social security and his military pension. He didn’t have that much in the bank, and if she took their money, she’d leave them just as broke.
“We’re not asking you on a date. This is a bona fide business proposition. Are you going to let this chance slip through your fingers?” Mr. Jennson took off his glasses and peered at her, his sharp brown eyes making her squirm. He was right. She needed to think through this logically.
“We’d need to draw up a business agreement...” she began.
Annette nodded, her short curls bobbing beneath her ear lobes. “My son’s a business lawyer. He can do the paperwork.”
“We’ll need to form a Limited Liability Corporation,” Mr. Jennson put in, jotting notes on his paper pad.
“Who knows, we might want to fund other projects if this makes us a profit,” crowed Mr. Tanner. He brushed back the comb-over of gray hair that had flopped in his eyes. “When it makes us a profit, I mean. Just because we’re retired doesn’t mean we’re out of the game.”
Mr. Jennson rubbed his hands together. “Back in the game, baby!”
“That’s what we should call ourselves.” Mrs. Perry looked excitedly around the room. “Back in the Game.”
Annette clapped her hands. “I adore it. What do you say, Frank?”
Kayleigh’s heart squeezed when she saw her grandfather’s embarrassed flush. “I’m not sure—” she began.
“I’ll do it!” he interrupted, his voice firm. She glanced at him sharply, wondering where on earth he would ever find that kind of money. She needed to get him alone and ask, make sure he wasn’t just trying to save face in front of his friends.
“Thank you so much!” She gave everyone a hug and helped her grandfather to his feet. “Gramps and I have a bit more to discuss. I’ll be by tomorrow to iron out the details. Sound good?”
“You got it, toots.” Mr. Jennson took off his visor and slid into her grandfather’s vacated spot on the futon, cozying up to Annette. “Maybe Annette and I can get started on some market testing.”