But none of that was true. This was just Connor.
The rest of their meal passed in their normal comfortable conversation. Discussion of classes, vacation, and repeated assurances from both sides of the table that they would miss the other deeply.
Suspense finally got the better of her as she swallowed her last bite. “Okay, buddy, out with it. What is behind that?” She pointed at the black sheet covering something on the wall behind the table.
With a mischievous grin, he set the sapphire cloth napkin on the table and stood. “That, gorgeous, is your Christmas present.”
Her foot involuntarily touched the paper bag sitting beside it on the floor. The one that was significantly smaller than whatever he was hiding. “But…I thought the dinner was my present…”
He winked and waved his hand. “Naw, that’s just a growing boy needing sustenance.” He held one hand near the top of the cloth and the other midway. “Close your eyes and don’t peek until I say so, okay?”
In an attempt to distract herself from the nagging concern about her gift choice, she rolled her eyes and huffed. “Anyone ever told you that you’re bossy?”
“Only Dean, but no one ever listens to the baby of the family anyway.” He dipped his chin and pinned her with a meaningful stare. “Eyes. Closed. Now.”
After making one more face just to see the adorable grin he gave in response, she obeyed and closed her eyes. The recently devoured meal churned in her gut with excitement and worry. She was certain it couldn’t compare to whatever he had up his sleeve.
The whoosh of the material tempted her to peek, but she stayed still aside from the slight tremor running through her. She hadn’t heard him move toward her, but his scent and his warmth wrapped around her, and she instinctively lifted her hands. He held them encased in his, close to his chest, and helped her stand.
They took a few steps in tandem before he halted their movement and slid behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist. “On the count of three, open your eyes, okay?”
She nodded, and a shiver ran down her spine as he softly spoke the numbers in her ear. Several blinks brought the image before her into sharp clarity and stole every molecule of air from her lungs. Her mouth opened and closed several times in an attempt to speak, but words failed her.
Connor pressed his lips to her neck. “For someone who talks an awful lot, you’re pretty quiet there, gorgeous.”
How could she not be? Before her hung a portrait of them dancing in the moonlight with a lake in the background and his Jeep beside them.
She spun in the circle of his arms and cradled his face in her palms. “Connor, that’s…” She shook her head.
He tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “It’s not nearly as beautiful as the real thing, but as close as paint and canvas could come.”
Wrong. He was so wrong. But they’d discuss that later. Right now her lips ached to kiss him and show him just how perfect it was to her.
But instead of the passion she was hoping for, he brushed his mouth against hers. “Can I open mine now?”
A heavy weight sunk in her belly. There wasn’t a chance she could back out now, so she reluctantly retrieved the bag from beneath the table and handed it to him. “It’s…nothing like you. Like your gift. It’s just something small, but something that made me think of you. And if you don’t like it, that is totally fine. I don’t know if it’s what you use or what you want or—”
He pressed a finger to her lips. “Have I told you how adorable you are when you ramble?” He kissed her again, slightly longer. “I’m going to love whatever it is because it’s from you.”
Connor peeled back the wrapping and stood silent, staring at the wooden box for several long moments before locking eyes with her. Without a word he captured her mouth in the desperate melding she was hoping for. He pulled her tight against his body with his free arm, and they stayed fixed, a haze of emotion and desire blocking out their surroundings.
Finally, he pulled back enough to break the kiss but pressed his forehead against hers. He pulled the gift between them. “This is perfect. Kels…we are perfect.”
She captured her bottom lip between her teeth. “But you spent hours working on that. For me.”
A slow smile spread across his mouth. “And you bought me more art supplies so I can paint you a million more. And managed to put them in a case that just so happens to have our song inscribed on the front. It’s kind of like the Gift of the Magi only neither of us really had to give up anything. And I’m really grateful you didn’t have to cut your hair.”
She giggled slightly as Connor set the box on the table and fully embraced her, pulling her tight against his chest. This time as they kissed something deeper passed between them. Something she hoped he felt as strongly as she did.
Chapter Seven
Connor
Present Day
Allen leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, and clasped his fingers together. “I said I had a solid lead. I never said I found them.”
The edge of the vinyl armrest bit into Connor’s hand as he tightened his hold on both it and his frustration. “It shouldn’t be this hard. There are accidents every day on the news with names and ages; hell, they dig up people’s pictures on social media and splash them across the screen with the announcements.”
Closing his eyes, the older man sighed and dropped his head for a moment before meeting Connor’s gaze straight on with his own steely one. “The reality is you were involved in one of the worst car accidents we’ve seen in this area. More than thirty vehicles were involved, including a bus. There were over a hundred people injured—”
“And eight died,” Connor finished for the private investigator. Numbers that had swirled through his mind since he’d awoken in the hospital and most of the blanks filled in that he couldn’t remember.
All but one very important one.
If he could somehow solve this, he hoped it would give him a shot at freedom from the nightmares. Or, at the very least, managing to find some good, some peace, from something that haunted nearly as many waking hours as it did while he slept.
“Listen, I’ll keep you updated as soon as I find out anything definitively but…” He tilted his head and regarded Connor solemnly. “I don’t know what you’re looking for here, but getting a couple of names won’t change what happened.” He pushed to his feet and took a few steps toward the door. “And by all reports, you were a damned hero.”
Connor didn’t respond or even acknowledge anything the man said. He kept his eyes fixed on the soft flannel pants that had become his uniform of choice since the accident. When the soft click from the front door heralded Allen’s exit, Connor released the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding on a slow exhale.
Silence crowded in around him, and he looked for an escape. His office door at the end of the hall stood open, but the stacks of work beckoning to be handled were beyond him right now. Instead, he pushed the wheels of his chair until he was close enough to the couch he could transfer himself onto the soft surface. He sank into the cushions, grabbed the remote, and flipped through the channels before mindlessly landing on a European soccer game.
The soft strumming of a guitar from a Beatles song broke through, and he grabbed his phone to silence the ringtone he could never really bring himself to change. One look at the screen brought a frustrated groan. “What do you want, Wyatt?”
“Well, hello to you too, little brother.” The heavy accent no one ever understood Wyatt affecting drawled across the line. “Just a head’s up I’m pulling in your driveway. I can let myself in. Just stay wherever you are.”
“No, Wyatt, I really—” A click stole the rest of his words, and he glared at the device as though it was to blame. More than anything, he regretted ever giving his family the code to his garage and made a mental note to change it as soon as possible.
Something he’d never do. Just in case Kelsey…
A creak from the door leading from the
garage to the kitchen followed, but thunderous steps interrupted the path he was wandering down, a train of thought he definitely did not need to be aboard.
Connor laid his head back down on the small square pillow and threw an arm over his head. “You’re an obnoxious asshole. You know that, right?”
“Point of pride, brother, point of pride.” Wyatt settled his tall frame into an overstuffed chair angled near the foot of the couch. “It was either me or his royal pain in the ass himself. I figured you’d be damn near giddy to see me instead.”
Even though both their parents were alive and well and nearly as overbearing, Tanner had appointed himself the patriarch of the next generation of the Carlisles long ago. And Wyatt, Connor, and Dean took nearly every opportunity to talk shit about him behind his back, despite all of them being grateful for it.
Connor lifted his arm enough to stare at Wyatt for half a beat. “Good call.”
His older brother adjusted his ever-present cowboy hat and settled back in the chair, folding his arms across his midsection. “So. Kelsey. Wanna talk about that?”
“Nope.” He covered his eyes again for good measure. “Nothing to talk about.”
A quiet Wyatt was far more concerning than the arrogant, mouthy version everyone was more accustomed to. As the silence stretched between them, Connor finally lifted himself up on the couch enough to meet his brother’s gaze and rested his back against the upholstered arm. “What?”
With a cocky smirk Connor had more than once wanted to wipe off his face, Wyatt propped his boots on the coffee table and crossed his legs at the ankles. If Kelsey had been here, she would have swiped his hat until he promised never to defile her furniture again.
Not hers. Not anymore.
“Your ex-girlfriend, the one you’d been with for six years and were planning to marry, has been your physical therapist for more than a week now and you don’t feel like that’s anything that needs discussed? C, I might have hit my head more times than I care to remember, but that doesn’t mean I’m stupid.”
The irritation he’d marginally managed to bank with the private investigator bubbled over with his brother’s comments. He flexed his jaw once. Twice. The third time offered no addition to his patience, only a fear of a cracked molar. “What the hell do you want me to say, Wyatt? This isn’t a damned romance movie where she came in and fell down sobbing, explaining everything and begging for the second chance she knows damn well I’d give her. This is real life, and the only thing Kelsey is to me right now is my get out of rehab free card.”
His brother’s nostrils flared, and he stood, muttering under his breath as he stomped toward the door.
Connor spun on the cushion and once more cursed his inability to follow after Wyatt and give him the smack upside the skull he so richly deserved. “What the hell are you mumbling?”
Wyatt spun on his heel, propped his hands on his denim-clad hips, and narrowed his gaze. “I said you need to pull your head out of your ass and take this chance to figure out what the hell went wrong. You don’t go from the damn near Tanner and Izzy level of disgustingly happy to…” Wyatt waved an arm to encompass the room, “…this without a damned good reason.”
He took his hat off long enough to run his fingers through his hair before setting it back in place. “You’ve got a second chance here, brother. Another shot at the dream.” When Connor opened his mouth to object, Wyatt held up a hand. “I don’t care who is to blame, you, Kelsey, or the man in the moon. Just don’t screw this up or you’ll be kicking yourself for the rest of your life.”
With that, his brother left and the dark cloud around Connor descended. His mind ticked off all the reasons it wasn’t his fault she was gone and wasn’t his job to fix it.
But his heart tapped softly to remind him it didn’t give a damn. All that mattered was figuring out a way to bring Kelsey’s light back into his dim existence.
***
Kelsey
Present Day
Kelsey stood with her hand on the etched glass door for several moments. She stepped out of the way as yet another group left the building. From previous experience, she knew this meant she had spent forty-five minutes loitering outside or scurrying back to her car, ready to leave in defeat.
Either strength or desperation finally won out, and she crossed the threshold. It had only been a little over four months since she’d stopped coming here three times a week for yoga classes with the woman who was once set to be her sister-in-law, and nothing had changed on the interior, but everything had shifted for her. She was no longer Connor’s fiancée, no longer set to be the next member of the family, and…could easily be kicked out in less than five seconds.
But with her sister in Europe on a belated honeymoon, there was no one else, no where else she could go.
Nerves coiled low in her belly, her hands shook as she greeted the new face at the reception desk. Her hand shook as it hovered over the sign-in sheet, and her heart and mind locked in a valiant battle for control of her body. Logic dictated that seeking guidance and support from her ex-boyfriend’s family was one of the stupidest decisions of her life. But her ever-optimistic soul reminded her of the years she’d spent already welcomed as one of them, whether she was legally or not.
Just as her brain won the war and she dropped the pen, turning to leave, a voice reached her ears.
“Kelsey?”
She winced as she turned once again and faced the music. In this case, Isabelle Carlisle. “H-hey, Izzy.”
The other woman hesitated for a brief moment before flying across the room and gathering Kelsey into her arms. A few strands of Izzy’s long, dark hair had escaped her ponytail and tickled Kelsey’s face.
“Kelsey, honey, I am so happy to see you. I’ve missed you so much.” Authenticity coated every word Izzy spoke, and it bathed Kelsey’s heart in a balm she never knew she needed.
Unchecked tears she’d held back for longer than she ever thought possible, ones she had only shed in front of her mother or sister, burned the corners of her eyes. “I-I missed you, too.” She pulled back slightly and stared into Izzy’s chocolate irises. “You…you aren’t mad at me?”
A beatific smile softened Izzy’s face. “Kelsey, you know me. You know nearly everything I’ve been through with Tanner. Honey, if anyone can understand the complexities and the changes that happen in relationships, you’re looking at the poster child.”
“Yeah, but Connor didn’t do anything wrong like—” Kelsey winced at her own words. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that.”
Amusement, of all things, danced in Izzy’s eyes. She grabbed Kelsey’s hand and led her toward the back of the yoga studio. “Addy, I’m going to be in my office for a few minutes if you need me.”
Once the door was securely closed behind them, Izzy kicked off her bright pink flip-flops and settled in one of the two teal-colored papasan chairs, tucking her legs beneath her. She motioned for Kelsey to take the other one. “We both know what Tanner did, and while I’m not saying I’m okay with it, it managed to help bring back the magic in our marriage.” She nodded to the bouquet of daisies on her desk on the other side of the room. “And made it better in some ways.”
A small bubble of laughter escaped Kelsey’s mouth, and she toyed with a loose string on the edge of her lightweight jacket. “Caroline has called him Prince Charming for as long as I’ve known her.”
“She has called him that since the first day she met him.” Izzy’s smile faded, and she shivered slightly. “The best of friendships forged in the worst of places.”
Kelsey’s brows drew together, and her lips turned down at the corners. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you guys met on the battlefields of Normandy.”
Izzy tilted her head and chuckled lightly. “Our own sort of battlefield, yes. You mean I never told you that story?” When Kelsey shook her head, she continued. “Caroline and I met in the NICU.”
Ice coated the rock in the pit of Kelsey’s stomach. “I…didn’t even
realize the twins had been in the NICU.”
The other woman pressed her lips together and looked down at the floor. “It’s not something we talk about a lot.” She looked up at Kelsey, clouds forming in her eyes. “We could have lost them, could have lost me. Tanner…sometimes I can tell when he’s thinking about it. He grabs me and just holds me extra tight, for no reason at all. He’ll act like he just wants to hold my hand, but his fingers wander over my pulse point.”
Kelsey had been present for what she thought was the hardest part of Tanner and Izzy’s marriage just a little over a year ago when everything fell apart. But now she was beginning to believe that the couple had been through much more than she ever realized. “Connor never said anything.”
Izzy shrugged. “He was away at school, and Mike and Tracy…” She smiled softly at the mention of her mother and father-in-law. “They were there, and they were an amazing support, but they also respect us and know that it isn’t something we like to relive a lot.” She released the band holding her thick mane hostage and ran her fingers through her hair. “I’m not ashamed of it, but it was a dark point in my life. Once I woke up from surgery and Tanner told me…”
The ivory clock on the wall ticked by the moments as silence descended over them, and Izzy stared out of the window across the room. With a sigh, she brought her eyes back to Kelsey. “I thought I’d lose Tanner. We’d talked about having a dozen kids, and here I was with two that had been born weeks too soon and were in the NICU and the chance to have any more taken from me in order to save my life.”
Every molecule of air was ripped from Kelsey’s lungs with the bright flash of pain that lanced through her heart. Since the first time they’d met, Kelsey had shared a kinship with Izzy that she attributed to an overflow from the deep bond all four Carlisle brothers had. It was a gift she treasured, having an ally and friend in the woman she once believed would be part of her family. But now…
Meant To Be Family (Meant To Be Series Book 3) Page 5