by Melissa West
Setting down his beer on his nightstand, he turned around, torn between a shower he didn’t really want to take and going to sleep even though he wasn’t tired. That was when his gaze caught on the painting over his bed, and once again, his heart contracted.
He’d put everything away that had anything at all to do with Kylie…except that painting.
They’d known each other a long time, but it wasn’t until that one art class in high school that things changed. They were assigned seats beside each other, partnered numerous times. He was the classic jock and she was the classic nerd, and yet every time she laughed he became transfixed. It had taken him a surprisingly short amount of time for him to fall in love with her, but the moment he knew was when she was working on that painting.
The painting was of a tiny boat caught in a storm in the middle of the ocean. Forever she would paint these happy scenes, all bright and airy, but that day she came in and worked tirelessly on the stormy ocean scene. He found her there later that evening, after hours, when the art lab was open for finishing projects. He walked in and found her still working on the tiny boat in the middle of the ocean. Every detail about the sky, the waves, the rain, was intricate and lifelike. But the boat itself was blurry, nothing defined, everything about it forgettable. It was then she told him that it was her birthday. He asked if she was going out with her parents or if they were waiting on her, and she had simply said, “They didn’t remember.”
Brady had all but dragged her to the only decent pizza place in town, and they’d spent the night playing in the small arcade there and eating more pizza than either should ingest in a lifetime. It had been one of the best days of his life. He had asked for the painting, and with reluctance, she gave it to him.
Forever he viewed the boat as her, but then she left and he felt the world spinning around him, the pain so real he thought it would kill him. It was then his view changed and he saw it as himself. The painting carried from place to place with him—to college, his first job, and all the moves after that one, and then finally when he landed back in Crestler’s Key after his father’s heart attack and after Zac returned.
Well, there would be no sleep now for sure, so he finished off his beer and went on into his bathroom to take a shower and hopefully clear his thoughts.
He turned on the water and let it run to heat up to the desired scorching he preferred, then he undressed and stepped inside, allowing the hot water to cover him and ease some of his thoughts. Immediately, he regretted calling Kylie and thought through some excuses—accidental call? Question about the shop? He would need to come up with something before tomorrow.
Stepping out of the shower, he toweled off and went on into his room and threw on pajama pants. He picked up his phone to put it on the charger and froze at the missed call.
Kylie. Maybe she hadn’t screened after all.
He eyed the time, then hit call, once again too eager to hear her voice to let his fear stop him. She answered on the second ring.
“Hey,” she said.
He bit his lip. “Hey.”
“I had a missed call from you. It was probably an accident or something. I call people by mistake all the time and it’s always the most random people and at the most random of times. So I’m sure it was—”
“It wasn’t an accident.”
She released a breath into the phone, and Brady closed his eyes.
“Did you need to talk about something at the shop?” she asked, her voice lower now.
Brady sat down on his bed and leaned back against his pillows. “No.”
“Right.”
“Would you rather I not call you?” he asked.
She paused and he feared that his heart was about to take another beating, when she said. “No.”
“I’m sure you want to know why I called, but I don’t know. I just…”
“Needed to?”
“Yeah.”
Brady drew a long breath and released slowly. “Yeah.”
“Want to hear a confession?”
He contemplated whether he did or not. She could confess that she didn’t want to talk to him, that it bothered her, and then what? But he was never the kind of guy to let fear dictate his actions, so instead he said, “Shoot.”
“I almost called you last night. It was raining again and bits of sleet mixed in and I thought we might get our first snow. I don’t know, it just made me think about…well, anyway.”
A slow smile curled his lips. “Made you think about Fowler Park?”
She laughed. “Yes. It was so cold and everyone went out there for that Thanksgiving celebration thing with the bands and food, but everyone left early because it was so cold. So, we ended up…”
“Dancing all by ourselves while the band glared at us because they wanted to leave.”
“And then it started snowing. Just small flakes at first, and then huge ones. We rarely got snow in November, but there it was. It was a good day.”
“Yeah…it was.” Brady padded out of his room, opened his fridge and grabbed another beer. He’d need more liquid courage to survive this conversation. He went back to his room and sat down on the bed again, cracked the beer, and took a sip.
“What are you doing?” Kylie asked, her voice low again, almost a whisper.
He thought about the question and how weird this whole conversation felt. Like something out of their past. Like something binding the past to the future. “I’m sitting in bed, drinking a beer, talking to a pretty girl and wondering why the hell she’s talking back to me. Kind of reminds me of the first time you called me.”
“Me? I didn’t call you. You called me.”
He laughed loudly. “Still as stubborn as ever. No, sweetheart, it was you all the way. It was a week after that pizza date on your birthday and I was going out of my freakin’ mind. Then you called and acted all like you had some question about art, when I knew shit about it.” He chuckled again. “You never wanted to like me, but you couldn’t help it. I had mad charm back then.”
Silence filled the space, and he worried that this walk down memory lane was too much for her. It was too much for him, too. “You did. Though I think you have more now.”
Goose bumps spread across his skin at the compliment, and he worried that he was walking down a road that was sure to come to a dead end and leave him lost and alone.
“Ky…”
“Can we not talk about that tonight? Can we just pretend?”
Brady stared out into his room, that inner need of his to fix whatever was wrong before moving forward so great that he almost said no, they needed to talk about it. But he’d made the mistake of pushing too hard last time, and look where that left him. Broken and without her. And though he didn’t know what was happening right now, probably nothing at all, he didn’t want it to end. Maybe they would only have this one call and go back to despising each other tomorrow. But for tonight, yeah, he could pretend that everything was fine and normal.
He pushed under his covers and slumped down, clicked off his lamp and allowed darkness to surround him. “Whatever you need.” The last time, he’d been so sure of them that he hadn’t considered what she needed. Only what they needed, or really what he needed. He was older now, and he hoped with that age a bit more selfless.
“How are you liking being back?” he asked.
But she didn’t answer.
“Ky?”
The sound of sniffling met his ears and his chest tightened.
“I am sorry.”
Swallowing hard, he tried to push away the memory of her walking away. And the memory of him not going after her. Not begging her to try, to work things out. Of not telling her that she was the most important thing in the world to him, because now he knew that had been the problem―she had never been number one to anyone. Why couldn’t he have seen that she would back away at the fear tha
t she’d dropped to number two on his list?
He tried to draw a breath again, but the ache in his chest made it hard.
“Yeah…me, too.”
Chapter 7
Kylie woke the next morning with a smile on her face, a fresh attitude, and a giant desire to succeed. At first, she thought the call the night before had been a dream, but then she glanced at her phone and scrolled until she saw Brady’s name there. It was real. She had talked with her ex for over an hour, until they were both too tired to keep going, the call about nothing at all, and yet it was everything.
She showered quickly and got dressed, dotted a bit of concealer under her eyes, swiped blush on her cheeks and applied mascara. Then she swiped her trusty Lip Smacker Dr. Pepper lip balm on her lips and went on downstairs to grab some coffee. Franny wasn’t awake yet, which was unusual, but it was only six a.m.
Turning on the coffee maker, she waited for it to brew, then searched for directions to the Target she intended to stake out that morning for Rena’s toy. All she needed was to leave a note for Franny so she could open the shop.
Hopefully, if everything went as planned, Kylie would have the goods in hand by eight when the store opened and then she would be back to Merrily Christmas by nine. Easy peasy.
The smell of fresh coffee filled the room, and Kylie drew a long breath. It had been a long time since she’d felt this hopeful about life, and she intended to build on it. Today she would score Rena’s toy. Today she would post the list of weekly activities at the shop. Today she would see Brady.
The giddiness in her stomach was almost too much, though she told herself to take things slow. They had one night of decorating a tree and one phone call. Neither equaled happily ever after.
“You’re up early.”
Kylie jumped and spun around to find Franny in the doorway. She looked tired, her general uplifting spirit darker.
“Are you feeling okay?”
Franny waved her off. “Yeah, just didn’t sleep much last night. I’m good. Where are you off to?”
Kylie made her godmother some coffee and helped her sit at the kitchen table, which earned her an annoyed look.
“I’m old, not dead.”
“I know,” Kylie said. “Doesn’t mean you don’t need some help from time to time.”
Franny took a sip of her coffee instead of answering. “Where are you going? Or are you going to make me guess?”
“I’m going to Target to see if they have any of those toys Ally wants.”
“It’s six a.m. The store doesn’t open until eight. You’ll be there by seven, maybe earlier. You’re going to sit outside?”
“I’ve got gloves and a beanie and I just bought that North Face down coat. It’ll be a good excuse to test it out.”
Her eyebrows lifted. “Is this about the American Girl doll?”
Damn, why does everyone have to bring that thing up? “No. It’s about me helping a little girl’s Christmas wish come true.”
“It’s about the American Girl doll,” Franny muttered. “I still don’t know why you never asked me for it. You know I would have bought it for you.”
“I know.” But the truth was she never asked her for anything. She loved Franny so much and Franny loved her so much that she was afraid to be too needy. Consequently, she never asked Franny for anything and instead appreciated every single thing the woman ever bought her.
“Your parents did a number on you with that thing.”
“I don’t know why all of you are focused on that thing. I’m over that. It’s not about the doll.”
Franny lifted her head. “Wait. All of who?”
And now it was time to go. “No one. Just, Brady might have mentioned it yesterday.”
The smile that split Franny’s face could have lit the whole town. “I see. And how is Brady these days? Cute as a button, that’s for sure. Some men just age well. He’s definitely one of them, wouldn’t you say?”
Um, yes. Yes, she would definitely say. But not to her godmother. She thought of what Brady had said at the shop about cutting his hair because he didn’t want anyone else running her hands through it. It sounded a little like maybe, just maybe, he wasn’t over her. And then he called her. He called her. Surely that meant something, right? Or maybe it was nothing and she was getting her hopes up and―
“Ky.”
“Hm?” she asked as she screwed on the cap to her Yeti mug.
“Be careful, okay?”
“I will. It’s less than an hour away.”
“Not with the ride. With Brady.”
Kylie shook her head. “I’m not going to get hurt.”
The smile returned to Franny’s face. “Actually, I meant be careful with him.”
That threw her. “What do you mean?”
“You know your issues, child. He knows your issues. You don’t mean to pull back, but those parents of yours did more damage than just forgetting to get you a doll you wanted. He’s a good man. Be careful.”
Kylie went numb as she took in her godmother’s face. Had it really all been Kylie’s fault?
“Trust me, it’s not like that. We’re just…well, I don’t know what. But not that.”
“Whatever you say.”
Franny turned on the TV to watch the morning weather and Kylie grabbed her coffee and keys. “See you at the shop. Hopefully with the goods in hand.”
But as Kylie slipped into her car and turned on the heat, she no longer felt so hopeful. If it was all her, her unwillingness to compromise, her fears destroying what they had, then how would they ever find a way back to good?
Needing a distraction, she turned on Christmas music and started on her journey to Target. “Jingle Bell Rock” filled the car, and she sang along as she drove, thankful that traffic wasn’t a problem at the early hour. With any luck, she would get there, grab the toy, and leave without much of an issue. Maybe they even opened the store early for hot items like this, or handed out hot chocolate. Which, come to think of it, hot chocolate would make an excellent addition to her Meet Santa Day on Black Friday.
Kylie made a mental note to pick up some good hot chocolate mixes from Target while she was there, and half an hour later, she pulled into the lot. There were very few cars parked, causing that hope of hers to bloom. Until she parked the car, put on her gloves and beanie, and stepped out, only to stop dead in her tracks at the line stemming out from Target’s door, lining the wall, and disappearing around the side.
There were people in foldout chairs, in sleeping bags, people wrapped in thick blankets. One guy even had some sort of battery operated heater that several others were crowded around. Kylie didn’t even know they made such a thing. Her heart sank.
Frowning at her stupid fleece gloves, she made her way to the back of the line. It was seven in the morning! What were all of these people doing here and what time did they get here? Had they been there since the previous night? Surely not.
She leaned against the building, prepared to suffer for the good of Rena and her Christmas wish, when the couple in front of her turned around, their faces a bit too cheery for the hour and the cold and the lack of Target employees passing out hot chocolate. She’d need to put in a call when she left to recommend that for another day.
“Hi, I’m Rick, this is my wife, Nina. What are you waiting on?” the man asked, while Nina waved hello. “Doll or gaming console? That’s Bree. She’s here for the game,” Rick said, pointing to a woman in front of him, who also turned around to wave. “But those three up there are for sure doll. We’re guessing everyone else in line is a seventy-thirty mix, with the majority here for the doll. I hear they’re going for three hundred on eBay now, but we haven’t checked since we scored our last one.”
“Last one?” Kylie asked, her eyebrows lifting. As far as she knew, these things were rarer than gold. How had they already secured o
ne? And what did they plan to do with the second?
“Yes,” Nina said. “We managed to get one a few weeks ago for our eldest daughter, but now our son is hoping for one, too, so here we are. This is the third time we’ve waited, and we’ve been watching the crowds. The trick is to alternate who waits in line and arrive super early. Then you walk up to join your group. Target lets each person buy one. The two women first in line are always here. They must have a dozen or more by now.”
“Wait a second,” Kylie said, waving her hands and instantly regretting it because now her hands were cold. “Why so many? Are they supplying for foster kids or something?”
Rick’s face etched in anger. “No, they run Rare Treasures, the eBay shop. Been selling them for a fortune for weeks now.”
“That’s horrible. Why doesn’t Target refuse to sell to them?”
Bree turned around to answer. “They can’t, now can they? But at least they aren’t as bad as Walmart. They allow their employees to buy them, so you don’t even stand a chance there.”
“How the heck are we supposed to get one of these with those odds?” Kylie asked, her chest heaving in aggravation.
“Girl, I know,” Bree said. “My son put nothing else on his list. Just this. What am I supposed to say on Christmas morning?”
Kylie shook her head. “I know.”
“Do you have a boy or girl?” Rick asked her.
“Me? Oh, neither. I’m here for a friend. She has a daughter, and my friend can’t come wait in line, so here I am.”
Nina placed her hand on her chest. “That’s the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard. Must be a good friend for you to go to so much trouble.”
Actually, Kylie barely knew Ally, but she couldn’t bring herself to say that in front of these people, so she just nodded. “She is.”
The line started to move, and Kylie checked her watch. It was only seven thirty. “What’s going on?” she asked as grumbling from the front of the line started trickling back.
It was Rick who answered. “The store manager just came out and told the crowd that they only received two. Everyone’s leaving now.”