What Once Was Perfect

by Zoe York

  When two days had gone by without hearing from Laney after her first visit to his house, Kyle had convinced himself that she just wanted to sleep with him once for closure. The possibility of not tasting her again pained him, but he needed to accept what she was willing to offer on her terms. But now she’d stopped by again. On Christmas Eve. He couldn’t help but hope that meant something. Because he wanted more. A lot more. The sex was off-the-charts, and if she’d be open to it, hell yes he’d drive to Chicago for a booty call. Probably more than once. He wasn’t stupid enough to think Laney would ever open her heart to him again, but he’d tried searching for love elsewhere and failed miserably. And broken yet another heart in the process. He was done hoping he might find his everything in another person, but he’d stumbled into something spectacular with Laney again. Something would have to be enough, and if he had anything to say about it, Boxing Day wouldn’t be the last time they were together.

  His ringing cell phone snapped his attention back to the moment at hand. He glanced down the low reclaimed wood coffee table beside him and saw his niece’s photo on the call display.

  “Do you need to get that? I can let myself out.” She was fully dressed again, a lingering warmth in her cheeks the only evidence that they had just devoured each other.

  Kyle shook his head. “It’s my brother, I’ll call him once you go. Probably just wants me to pick stuff up on my way to my parents’ farm.”

  “If you stop at the grocery store, be prepared for the third degree by Karen Miller.”

  “Oh god, I’m sorry. Did you see her this morning? She’s a gossip.”

  She shrugged. “I think she’s trying to be a good friend to you. I’ll be honest, I prefer the anonymity of the big city, but it can’t be said that people don’t care here. I also got asked if I’d seen you by a few people at the coffee shop.”

  Kyle grabbed her coat off the floor and held it out for her. “Again, I’m sorry.”

  “I don’t see what you have to be sorry about. It’s the nature of small towns.”

  “It’s more than that,” Kyle shifted back on his heels. “My break up with Crystal was pretty public.”

  She turned, her lips pursed.

  “She, uh…she had the idea that I was still hung up on you.”

  “And everyone in town knows this?”

  He nodded, two awkward little jerks of the head, his gaze drifting over her shoulder.

  Laney zipped her coat up and moved closer to the fridge, looking at the family photo taken at his parents’ farm. Crystal was partially covered by more recent candids of his niece and nephew. She peeled back one of the pictures to get a better look. His arm was wrapped around Crystal’s waist and she was leaning into his side.

  “You look like a serious couple here.”

  “We were. We lived together for a year.”

  “What happened?”

  “We broke up.”

  “Why?”

  Kyle didn’t want to answer that question.

  She turned, leveling a far too insightful gaze at him. “When did you break up exactly?”

  “Two years ago.”

  “At Christmas?”

  “In November.”

  “Around my dad’s funeral.”

  His heart was pounding in his chest. This wasn’t how this conversation was supposed to go. “Yes, but…”

  “What happened?”

  “I’m not hung up on you. I promise you that. There’s a part of me that will always love the Laney I used to date, and I obviously like the Laney that you’ve become, but I’m not confused about what’s possible and what’s not.”

  “What happened?” She didn’t look mad, but she was guarded in a way he hadn’t seen since she’d first come over the other day. Giggling, teasing Laney had left the building.

  He took a deep breath. “I got drunk after I saw you. I don’t really do that anymore. I had a few wild years after you left, and then I put that behind me. So Crystal had never seen me blitzed. She didn’t like it. And I was rambling on about how I should have seized the opportunity to talk to you, tell you that I forgave you for leaving—”

  “Excuse me?” She flared with anger and he reached out to calm her.

  “—which I realize now is ridiculous and all on me, I promise. But I was rambling, and then we were fighting. We never fought. We had a simple, easy life together, and then in one big bang it was over. I don’t even remember exactly what was said, but I slept on the couch and the next day she boxed up everything I owned and kicked me out.”

  “This is all just … too weird. And why am I involved exactly?”

  “You’re the golden girl of Wardham, didn’t you know that? The fancy doctor.” He grinned, hoping that she’d take his teasing as an olive branch. “The town took that opportunity to rehash how I broke your heart. I got a bit defensive at first, I admit, but then I realized they were right.”

  “I had no idea. My mom...my sister...they didn’t say anything. I would have thought everyone would have forgotten about me.”

  He took a chance and stepped forward to pull her against his chest. “Impossible to forget you, Laney.” He kissed her head. “Now, you have to go before your mother figures out what we’ve been doing. Please tell me that you’re still coming over on Boxing Day.”

  She took her time responding. She squeezed her lips together and opened the front door. Backlit by sunlight, all he could see was wisps of blond hair and a face in shadow. Kyle felt an unexpected pressure in his chest. He should have come clean fully the other day, instead of letting his dick take over.

  “This would be a lot for anyone to deal with,” she said in a quick breath. “Luckily I think emotions are overrated. And you’re fantastic in the sack, so yeah, you’ll see me again.”

  And with that she was gone. Kyle thought he heard a little giggle as the door clicked shut, but it was probably wishful thinking.

  The farmhouse was empty when Laney returned, a small miracle for which she would be eternally thankful. Evie had propped a note next to the kettle, explaining that she had taken the boys sledding, and they’d be home at noon. She glanced at the clock and decided to put some soup on for lunch, a gesture that was much appreciated when two frosty little boys bustled in twenty minutes later.

  “Isn’t Mom with you?”

  Evie shook her head. “She popped over to Ted’s with some cookies. I thought she’d be back by now.”

  Laney notched one eyebrow at her sister, who rolled her eyes. “What? It’s possible. It’s been two years. I’m not saying they’re in love, but she’s a beautiful woman with lots of life still to live.”

  “Bite your tongue, Laney. Besides, I think there were a bunch of them meeting over there.”

  “Them?”

  “There’s an informal group of older single people, they play bridge and gossip.”

  “Hot stuff.”

  Evie laughed. “Don’t make fun, we’re not far off from that ourselves.”

  It was Laney’s turn to roll her eyes now, and without thinking, she said, “I can think of a number of better things to do with a willing and able man.”

  Evie shot her sons a quick glance, but they were absorbed in debate about the best Transformer. “Do any of them at Kyle’s place today?”

  “Evie!” She felt the heat flood up her chest and spread across her face. So much for not caring if she was caught. “Uhhhh. I stopped there. To talk.”

  “Is that why you just turned purple? It’s not the best look for you, you’re too fair to pull it off.” Evie leapt out of swiping range as Laney lunged at her. “It’s okay, little sister, rumour has it that you’re a trained medical professional, I’m sure whatever you did was entirely clinical.”

  She groaned and buried her face in her hands. “Don’t tell Mom. Please. It’s…I don’t know. It’s a fling, it’s something we just need to get out of our systems. I’m not deluding myself into thinking it’s anything else.”

  Evie waved in the air, abandoning th
e conversation. “Okay, mum’s the word. I think you’re playing with fire, but maybe you need to get burned.”

  Claire returned from across the road shortly after lunch, carrying a tin of all butter shortbread courtesy of one of the bridge players, which Laney happily dug into while thumbing her nose at her sister.

  "You two are worse than Connor and Max, seriously. Now, what should we do this afternoon? Puzzles? Charades? Monopoly?"

  The boys started hopping in excitement at the last option, so Claire and Laney joined them in a rousing competition of real estate development while Evie busied herself in the kitchen, popping in occasionally to capture some of the tenser moments on video. By four o'clock, it was obvious that Connor was going to slowly bleed them all dry with his hotel resort complex on Boardwalk and Park Place, and before Max threw a low-blood sugar induced hissy fit about losing, Claire suggested that they call it a game and get cleaned up for dinner.

  Max immediately protested having to put on fancy clothes, a campaign Connor could support with ease, so while the boys pled their case to the unswaying judges of holiday decorum, their mother and grandmother, Laney snuck away to grab the first shower. Scrubbed clean, she considered the two holiday outfits laid out on her bed: a dark green jersey dress with long sleeves and a cowl neck, and black pants and a sparkly red top. She had planned to wear the red top for Christmas morning, to go with an elf hat that she picked up, but the growing darkness prompted her to grab the pants. The hat would go just as nicely with the dress, and she would be less likely to be asked to sit on the floor and play with the boys in the morning when they are absorbed in their new toys.

  She was the first back downstairs, so she pulled the bread pudding from the oven and lit the candles in the center of the table. Next down the stairs were Connor and Max, in matching buttoned down white shirts and knit vests with contrasting Argyll patterns on the chest. Grandma and Mom had obviously compromised with the boys, as they both still wore jeans, and Laney's heart squeezed. In front of her stood two little men.

  "You look beautiful, Aunt Laney," Max said, and the squeezing turned into a full on bittersweet ache.

  "And you both look dashing. Wasn't it a good idea to dress up after all?"

  "I guess so," Connor said. "As long as we don't have to do it every day."

  She laughed. "I agree."

  Evie and Claire soon joined them and they settled in around the oversized kitchen table.

  Claire lifted her wine glass, and the others followed suit. Connor and Max had goblets as well, filled with ginger ale, and they grinned proudly as their grandmother began her toast. "Our lives have changed a lot over the last two years, and that has been challenging, but tonight I am just...happy. I'm so happy to have both of my daughters home for the holidays. I'm blessed with good health and the ability to keep up my amazing grandsons. Connor and Max, you keep me young!"

  "Really? I think they're aging me at a stupendous rate," Evie muttered, but the happy tear in her eye betrayed her words, and the boys squeezed her from either side.

  "It has been a year of stepping back into the world," Claire continued, her words slowing as she considered what to say next. "And I hope that I'm setting a good example for all of you. Evie and Laney, you have both always been fearless, have followed your dreams, and I want that to always be true. You have far exceeded anything your dad and I ever did. He would be so proud of both of you."

  Laney looked across the table at her sister. Evie was the textbook definition of fearless, barely stumbling after her separation. Laney didn't feel nearly that brave, just lucky in her career and not much else. She swallowed hard, trying to get rid of the lump in her throat, not sure what to say. Her gazed slipped over to her mother, who beamed at her with overwhelming love and understanding. A tentative smile crawled up her cheeks. "Thanks, Mom. That was really sweet. I hope..."

  "I know, sweetie. We're all our own worst enemies. Trust yourself."

  After second helpings of bread pudding, Laney and the boys settled on the couch to watch A Christmas Story before bed while Evie and Claire tidied up the kitchen. Connor suggested they also track Santa on the NORAD website, so the movie was interrupted every few minutes by Max poking Laney’s side, urging her to refresh the screen.

  When Santa moved across the Atlantic Ocean, Connor and Max scrambled up the stairs and brushed their teeth without being asked. Evie joined them as they tucked into their beds, and Laney left her sister in charge of bedtime stories.

  The bottle of champagne had been chilling in the fridge since she arrived. She set it on a tray. It wasn’t likely that her mom would have flutes, but Laney pulled a chair over to the cabinets to take a quick look just in case. Her parents had renovated the kitchen when Laney was in college, and her mother had insisted on extra tall upper cabinets. The extra storage shelves at the top housed large serving platters and soup tureens. If fancy wine glasses existed anywhere in the farmhouse, that’s where she would find them.

  She found the smooth black pressed cardboard box hiding behind a set of googly-eyes hardboiled egg cups. She’d forgotten about the pair of crystal flutes. They were a wedding gift to her parents from a family friend, and she’d often seen them pull the box out on their anniversary when she was younger. She didn’t want to add any unnecessary melancholy to the holidays, but her gut told her that they would only bring happiness to the evening.

  “Goodness, Laney, be careful up there.”

  “You shouldn’t have built such high cupboards, it’s your own fault.” Laney turned and grinned at her mother. To reach the top shelf, she’d climbed up on to the counter, and that never went over well with parents. “I found your wedding champagne flutes, can we use them tonight?”

  “Of course, pass them down to me. There’s only two … let me see if I can find a third wine glass that would work.” Claire set the box on the table and moved across the room to the china display. “Here!”

  Laney slid to the floor and took the spare glass flute from her mother. Much lighter than the others, it was embossed with the name of a local winery.

  “Your dad and I went to a class about sparkling wine at Water’s Edge. You know how your dad was about wine, it was never his thing, but he surprised me with the tickets.” Claire’s voice was soft with memory. “That was just six months before he died. He wasn’t much of a romantic, you know, but then he would do something like that and blow my socks off.”

  Laney inspected the wine glass with new appreciation. “Way to go, Dad! And it’s kind of cool that they gave you a souvenir to take home.”

  Claire’s eyes, bright with happy tears, crinkled into silent laughter. “Oh no,” she gasped. “Your dad stole that for me. We got a bit tipsy, you see, and I told him that it was one of the best nights of my life. We had…I hope this isn’t too much information, but it really felt like we had been flirting all night. And the wine was really quite good. It was a heady combination. At the end of the night your dad pushed me against the bar and kissed me, and apparently, he took that opportunity to slide his glass into my purse.”

  Laney stared at her mother, mouth agape. She didn’t know what shocked her more, her parents making out or engaging in petty theft.

  “Don’t look so horrified, Delaney.” Claire slipped back into her usual prim personality.

  “I’m not, I promise. I think I’m impressed, actually. Up against the bar, eh? That’s hot.”

  This time laughter washed over and through them both, and that’s how Evie found them, hugging in the kitchen, tears of joy streaming down their faces.

  Claire kept the souvenir glass for herself and the girls each took a crystal flute. Laney popped the cork and as the golden effervescence overflowed, they giggled and cheered. They settled in front of the Christmas tree and the twinkling coloured lights bounced off their drinks, a dazzling backdrop for a special announcement. Not that Laney wanted to do make a big deal about it, but she’d made a decision that she hoped Evie would understand and appreciate.

 
“Evie, do you know how impressed I am with how you’ve handled the divorce? Starting your own business, putting up with Mom—” Claire poked Laney in the ribs for that one “—and having energy to run around with the boys every day?”

  Evie raised her eyebrows, looking unsure as to where the conversation was going, but she couldn’t keep a smile off her face. “Keep going. Champagne and compliments, a girl could get used to this.”

  “I know that you don’t need anything.”

  Evie winked. “Mmmm, I wouldn’t say that. I wouldn’t say no to a pool boy.”

  “Okay.” Laney laughed. “I’ll put in an order for one. But seriously, even though I know you don’t need it, I want to do something for the boys. Set up an education account.”

  Evie sat up. She didn’t say anything, but Laney could tell she was considering how to say no.

  “Don’t say no. Please. I’m not offering this because I feel guilty for not being here, or because I think that you need any help. It’s just that I have the means, and they’re so smart, it would be nice if when they get to university, money isn’t a factor.”

  Laney had incurred significant student loans, because their parents hadn’t been able to help much past her first degree. She was paying that debt off at an accelerated rate now that she was fully trained, and it would soon be gone, giving her financial freedom.

  Claire touched her back. “Something like that would have made a big difference for you, wouldn’t it have?”

  Laney shook her head. “Mom, that’s never been a thought for me, I promise. I’m lucky that I’m going to be debt free soon, but there are many graduate school tracks that don’t lead to my level of income, and if Connor or Max ever want to study art or animal migration or whatever, I hope they graduate in the clear.”

  Evie still hadn’t said anything, but she nodded silently, swiping away tears. Laney crawled over to her sister and cuddled into her side. “We’re family. What’s mine is yours.”

  Evie pressed her cheek into the top of Laney’s head and swallowed hard. “Thank you. You mean it?”