My Heart Lingers (A Hearts of Misty Mesa Story): BWWM Interracial Romance

by Brandi Boddie

  “I used to flit from party to party, especially during my senior year. It’s a miracle I retained any grades.”

  “Don’t be hard on yourself. Who wasn’t trying to party in their senior year? You came out alright, Attorney Grayson.” Amy’s green eyes twinkled with good humor in the morning sunlight. “Wait a second, I’ve been in town for eight months. How come I haven’t seen you until today?”

  “I’ve been in town for a week.” Kyra told her the purpose for her brief visit. “I’m leaving for Chicago in a couple days.”

  “Chicago. What have I heard about Chicago recently?” Amy tapped her chin with a painted black nail. “Oh, I know. I read an article online about a partner in a corporate firm there who got busted for tax fraud. Even his associates didn’t know. Can you believe it?”

  “I can.” Kyra looked at the gray concrete steps of city hall. “I was one of those associates.”

  Amy winced. “That sucks, Kyra. Sorry to hear that.”

  “Tell me about it. I was here in town when the firm called to tell me I got the ax. Please don’t say anything. I’m still dealing with the rumor mill from my teen years. I don’t need Misty Mesa to pin another scarlet letter on me.”

  “You got my confidentiality. Seriously, though, I know how it feels to be the little scapegoat.” Amy patted her shoulder. “The same thing happened to me at my first law gig in Amarillo. The boss got caught with a stripper.”

  “Sleazy, but not exactly a crime.”

  “It was a family law firm,” Amy finished.

  “Yikes.” Kyra cringed.

  “Yeah, the firm lost its credibility along with a lot of clientele. The partners figured since my department worked so closely with his, I should be the one to take a walk first. That’s life, though. What can you do?”

  “I wish I had your attitude. You seem to be doing well despite the fact.”

  “It took me a while to get it together, but once I did, I came back to Misty Mesa. It’s a shame how these local law offices try to pull one over on people, but the level of legal drama here is nothing compared to the gorefest in larger towns. I’m starting my own practice to help clean this place up. I just filed the papers this morning.”

  “Congratulations.”

  “Thanks. Hey, if you’re interested, we’re looking for another partner. One of ours took a job on the East Coast. It’s a small practice, but I could use an attorney with knowledge of corporate law.”

  Kyra didn’t know what to say. She mumbled a thank you. “I’m honored you’d ask me, but I don’t think I can live in Misty Mesa anymore. I’ve been away for so long I’ve gotten used to calling Chicago my home.”

  “Understandable. Just let me know if you change your mind. The position will be open for a little bit.” Amy handed her a business card. “It’s time for me to scoot. I’m meeting with a contractor to see if we want the walls of the office painted eggshell or ecru.” She scrunched her face into a scowl. “It’s supposed to be relaxing, but I think red and black are relaxing.”

  Kyra laughed. “Great talking to you.” She shook Amy’s hand.

  “Don’t forget the offer’s open.”

  Kyra began walking down the steps to the sidewalk when her cell phone rang in her purse. She pulled it out and saw the local number. Cole was calling. Her heart sped as she answered. “Cole, I just came out of the clerk’s office. Everything’s taken care of. I don’t want to talk at this moment.”

  “Then you can listen. I’m coming around the corner of city hall now.”

  “What?” Kyra lowered her phone from her ear when she saw him come into view. He walked up the steps of city hall to join her. “Cole, what are you doing here?”

  “Mike called the center and got Daisy upset. He told her he was searching for my land deed inside the records office. He said if my parents intended the land for the youth center to be used for the town’s commercial development, then he would get the mayor to start a lawsuit.” Lines formed around Cole’s eyes. “Kyra, Mike’s brought some money into Misty Mesa. He has the mayor’s ear. It’s not impossible for the mayor to grant his request.”

  Kyra saw the worry on his face. She shook her head. “Mike was lying to Daisy. While I filled out the accreditation papers, I took a look at the deed through the county’s online records. Everything’s legit. The deed specifically grants the land to you, not the town.”

  Some of the lines on his face disappeared. “I’ll let Daisy know everything’s alright. I’m glad you were still at city hall when I called.”

  The tall glass doors to the building opened and Mike strode out. He took hard, deliberate steps as he yammered into his cell phone. He swung his head when he saw Kyra and Cole standing on the steps. Mike shoved his phone in his pocket. “I guess Daisy delivered my message.”

  Cole clenched his jaw and narrowed his eyes. “You should be ashamed of yourself, scaring Daisy, an old woman.”

  “It wasn’t a scare tactic. I meant every word about combing over the land deed. The property the youth center’s standing on should belong to the town.”

  “Knock it off, Mike,” said Kyra. “We know you’re lying. I saw the deed. The land is in Cole’s name, and he’s using it for the town’s benefit. You can read all about the youth center’s accreditation in the computer system. Just ask the clerk for the file number.”

  Mike took an abrupt and menacing step closer to her. Cole got between him and Kyra. Mike put his hand on Cole and gave him a shove. “You’ve got to be kidding me.” His maneuver attracted the attention of a police officer standing at the bottom of the steps. The officer put down his coffee and turned his focus towards him.

  “She’s not kidding,” Cole said. “You’ll find I’m not joking, either, if you ever put your hand on me again.”

  Mike looked around Cole’s shoulder to peer at Kyra. “So you’re helping him? I don’t get you, Kyra. What is this, some twisted way of making up for aborting his kid?”

  Kyra recoiled as though she’d taken a punch to the stomach. She witnessed Cole making his hands into fists. “Cole, don’t.” She touched his arm. It was hard with clenched muscle.

  “Better listen to your easy girlfriend, cowboy,” Mike taunted. “Hit me and I’ll sue.”

  “And you’d lose. You shoved him first.” The police officer climbed the stairs. “I’m no lawyer, but he’d be operating in self-defense if he took a swing at you. You need to run along and think about things before you get yourself into trouble.” The officer touched the pair of handcuffs at his belt.

  He stood beside Mike until Mike relented and backed away from Cole. Kyra realized her hands were shaking. Cole looked at her and touched her. “Let’s get out of here.”

  She said nothing as she allowed him to walk with her down the city hall steps.

  ***

  Kyra watched Cole from the passenger seat of his Ford as he came away from the food vendor truck on the street corner, carrying a water bottle in his hand. He gave it to her through the window. “Here. Drink this.”

  She unscrewed the cap and took two gulps of the icy cold water, grateful to quench her parched throat. Her mouth had gone dry the moment Mike said those horrific words to her in front of Cole. Her hands were still shaking from nerves.

  Cole climbed inside the truck. He touched her forehead with the back of his hand. “Your skin doesn’t feel clammy anymore. For a moment, I thought you were going to pass out.”

  “I’m alright, but thanks for the water. I could use a refresher from the heat.”

  Cole’s blue irises expanded in the shaded interior of the truck. “Kyra, about what Mike said. He’s a fool. You were very young when you got pregnant with our baby. To some extent, I understand how you may have been scared and felt alone. It hurts me that you made choices without telling me, but I forgave you a long time ago. I’m not angry. In fact, these past ten years, I kept thinking of you.”

  A confusing mixture of sadness and relief came over Kyra. She slowly placed the water bottle in one of t
he truck’s cupholders. “There’s something you should know. I never had an abortion. I lost the baby in the first trimester.”

  Cole turned his upper body towards her and leaned forward. His brows formed a single line as he frowned in perplexity. “You had a miscarriage?”

  Kyra nodded. “The tales about me having an abortion and not telling you were nothing but ugly rumors.”

  She gauged Cole’s reaction. His lips parted slightly. Then he closed them and rubbed the stubble on his chin. “I feel like I’ve missed so much information. Can you start at the beginning for me? When did you first learn you were pregnant?”

  “I was at the high school graduation ceremony. I had to go to the bathroom because I felt sick. I thought I was nervous about walking across the stage, but it was actually morning sickness. One of the girls from our graduating class saw me in the bathroom. She figured it out. I asked her not to say anything to you or anyone, but word eventually got out a few weeks after you left to go to college.”

  “Did you visit the doctor?”

  Kyra shook her head. “I took a couple home pregnancy tests, but I was in denial for weeks. I wouldn’t say anything to my parents or my friends. That’s why I made excuses not to go out with you, and why I eventually stopped returning your calls. I was so scared. I may have technically been an adult at eighteen, but I still had the mind of an adolescent. I didn’t know what to do or where to turn.” Kyra wiped at a corner of her eye. “I hate to say it, but at the time, I didn’t want to be pregnant. I was certain my life would be over.”

  Cole took her hand. “What you felt was normal. Please go on.” He stroked her hair. “How did the abortion rumors get started?”

  Kyra swallowed a lump in her throat. This was the hardest part. She tried to steady her voice. “About a week after you left, I lost the baby. It happened fast, but it was painful. I thought I was dying. That’s how my mother found out. She suffered a miscarriage before she became pregnant with me. She knew what was happening.” A couple tears trickled down. Cole wiped them before she could. She smiled thankfully at him through blurred vision. “Another three weeks passed, then two months. People figured since I wasn’t showing, I must have done something to terminate the pregnancy. My high school reputation led them to think the worst of me.”

  “Kyra, I’m so sorry you had to go through that without me. If I had known, I would have been there for you. We would have faced it together.”

  “I can see you would now, but at the time, I felt so much pain and guilt. I believed it was my punishment for not wanting the baby.”

  “You carried guilt with you all this time? Kyra, there was no reason to.” He cupped the side of her face and wiped another tear. “You couldn’t help what happened.”

  “That’s what the doctor told me when my mother took me to see her. She said things can happen in the early stages of pregnancy. So much has to line up correctly, and most of it is beyond our control.”

  “The doctor was right.”

  “Yes, but it still didn’t help with how I felt. I couldn’t just get over it and move on. I don’t think I ever will. I’ll always carry the memory of our child with me.” Kyra looked up and saw the moisture in Cole’s eyes.

  “I will, too,” he said. “We suffered a loss. It doesn’t matter how long ago it happened.”

  Kyra studied the tears forming in his eyes. “I never thought I’d be saying this to you. I thought I blew my chance to tell you ten years ago.”

  “I tried to reach you after I left home. You closed your email account and my letters were always returned to me unopened. When I called your house, your father said you left town, but he wouldn’t tell me where.”

  “My parents didn’t know where I was. I ran away to Dallas in the fall of that year. I didn’t speak to my parents for months, and when I did, I never gave them any information they could use to find me. I made it clear I had no intention of ever stepping foot in Misty Mesa again. Of course, we know how well I kept that promise.”

  Cole planted a kiss on her forehead. “I’m glad you were eventually able to talk to your parents again and come home.”

  Kyra reached for her water. “I should’ve talked to someone, maybe gotten grief counseling, but I thought I was strong enough to handle it by myself. If it weren’t for female friends I met in college and law school who went through the same thing, I think I would’ve fallen apart.”

  “I now understand why you left the ranch the other day after I showed you the letter from my mother. I wasn’t thinking clearly. I believed it was what you needed to see because you told me before how you thought my parents disliked you. Please forgive me, Kyra.”

  She nodded. “Don’t think any more about it. I should’ve said something to you then instead of running off. I’m sorry. Old habits die hard.”

  “I’m not done asking for your forgiveness.”

  She blinked through her tears and gazed at him, confused. “What else is there? You didn’t know I was pregnant until after I lost the baby.”

  “Yes, but even though I tried to reach you for two years after the fact, I chose to believe the abortion rumors because they were all I had to go on.”

  He looked for her for two years after she left, even though he was thousands of miles away. Kyra considered how their lives would have been if they could have somehow closed the gap, but it wasn’t meant to be during that previous time. “It’s not your fault. I didn’t say anything to combat the rumors and I made it hard for you to find me.”

  Cole shook his head. “It doesn’t excuse how I acted. I was immature for believing gossip and thinking the worst of you.”

  “I forgive you.” Immediately, a weight lifted from Kyra’s shoulders. She didn’t realize until it left how heavy a load she carried for so long.

  Cole took her face in both of his hands. “I love you, Kyra. I never stopped.” He brushed his lips over hers. “I’ve been waiting forever to tell you and I thought I’d never get the chance. Now let me prove it. Say you’ll stay in Misty Mesa for a little while longer. Don’t make me have to say goodbye after I just found you again.”

  Kyra shut her eyes and touched her lips to his. “I love you, too, Cole. Yes, I’ll stay.”

  One month later

  Kyra stretched out on the picnic blanket beneath a shade tree overlooking the pond on Cole’s ranch. She took in the peaceful midsummer scene of waterfowl swimming and pastel wildflowers moving gently in the breeze. A dragonfly touched down to skim the surface of the pond. Feeling calm and relaxed, Kyra closed her eyes. She smiled as the sun filtered through the tree leaves and kissed her face with its golden warmth.

  “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you look this relaxed and peaceful.”

  Kyra opened one eye to see Cole’s handsome face smiling down on her. “I’m happy. Things are working out.”

  “Are you talking about your parents’ house?”

  “The new owners move in this Wednesday, but I’m happy for other reasons, too. Your center got accredited, Mike left town to focus on his other properties, and I started working at Amy’s new firm. Now I get to spend Sunday afternoon with you.” She kicked off her sandals and moved her feet from the blanket to wiggle them in the plush grass. She hadn’t done such a thing since she was a teenager. It was one of the little pleasures Kyra enjoyed while living in Misty Mesa. The small town’s calm pace allowed her to let her hair down and balance work and leisure. Although the pay would be less than what she earned in Chicago, her life would be filled with peace and a real sense of belonging, things money and status symbols could never bring.

  Cole settled beside her, propping his chin with his hand. “Have I told you how happy I am that you decided to take a permanent job in town?”

  Kyra smirked teasingly. “Is it because it means you‘ll always have a trusted attorney down the road?”

  A spark of mischief appeared in his eyes when he tickled the bridge of her nose. “That’s number ninety-nine on my list of reasons.”

  “O
h? Do we have time to hear the other ninety-eight?”

  Cole raised his eyes skyward. “Sunset will be here in a few hours. How about I summarize by giving you the number one reason?” He sat up and reached in his pocket, withdrawing a small black velvet box. “I’m glad you decided to stay in Misty Mesa because I love you and want to spend the rest of my life with you. But I would never try to persuade you to stay with me if it wasn’t what you wanted.” He opened the box to reveal a ring with a sparkling diamond in the center.

  “Cole,” Kyra whispered.

  “I want to do things right this time.” His face was awash in deep emotion. His chest expanded with a deep breath. “My love for you hasn’t changed, not even after ten years and a thousand miles of separation. Kyra Grayson, if you say you’ll marry me, you’d make me the happiest man in the world.”

  Kyra felt the tears rolling down her cheeks. “Cole, I’m not sure if I’m able to have children. I know how much you love kids.”

  “I want you, whether or not we have another child. I’m satisfied with the life I have teaching and mentoring at the youth center. My life is good, but it would be a blessing if I could call you my wife.”

  Kyra dried her eyes. Love for him coursed through her. “In that case, yes, Cole. I’ll marry you.”

  Cole slid the ring on her finger. He watched as it refracted the sunlight in tiny patterns across the blanket. “The ring has been in my family for generations. It looks like it was made for you. Welcome home, the soon-to-be Mrs. McCrea.”

  Kyra drew him down for a kiss. It was good to be home.

  From the Author:

  Thank you for reading My Heart Lingers. Please take a few minutes to leave a review of this e-book on the site where you purchased it. This helps me to continue writing stories for you to enjoy.

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  About the Author