Nickels

by Karen Baney

  “I guess some dreams really aren’t meant to be realized.” She threw Kyle’s words back in his face as she slammed the door shut.

  Cranking her music, she backed out of the spot and pointed her car towards the road out of the Air Park, leaving her dream job behind. She stayed angry, knowing it was the only way she would make it home without drowning in tears.

  The second she was behind the safety of her garage doors, Niki turned off her car and dropped her forehead to the steering wheel. The tears came with a raging storm of emotion. Disappointment and failure sucked her under. As she grabbed her purse from the seat, guilt stabbed deep into her heart. She killed Melissa.

  Slamming the car door shut, she fumbled with her key in the inner door. Once it was open she ran to her room and collapsed on her bed into a heap.

  God, this isn’t supposed to happen. I trusted you. Now I’ve killed someone.

  Her phone rang seconds before she fully succumbed to the tentacles of hysteria. Glancing at the caller ID, she knew she had to pick it up.

  “Brian.” Her voice sounded a thousand times calmer than she felt.

  “Niki, what happened?”

  She tried to swallow the enormous lump in her throat, but it stayed lodged anyway.

  “Nevermind. I’ll talk to Kyle. Where are you?”

  “Home.”

  “Good. If you need a few days off next week, take it. We’ll talk on, say, Wednesday?”

  “I’ll be in Monday.”

  “Don’t push yourself. Take some time.”

  “I’ll be fine.” She lied, knowing as soon as she clicked the phone off she would slide into darkness.

  “I’m serious, Niki.”

  The line went dead. She threw the phone at the pillows on her bed. It rang again, the special ringtone Kyle set for his number when he was teasing her last weekend about not being able to tell when he called. She let it ring. A few seconds later two short beeps announced a voicemail.

  Niki kicked off her heels and fell face down on her bed, sobbing. She lost her dream client. She lost her project. Worse yet, Melissa could be dead in some hospital somewhere. All because of her. Because she failed to find a problem with her code—with her team’s code.

  Kyle was wrong. It was her fault. Her fault alone.

  “Come on. Pick up.”

  Kyle paced back and forth while he waited for Niki to answer. Another call beeped through. He took it.

  “Hello.”

  “Kyle? It’s Brian from Elite. What’s going on over there?”

  His jaw tightened. “There was an accident.”

  “I got that much from Todd. Niki sounded pretty distraught so I’m in the dark here.”

  Hope welled in his chest. She probably had made it home safely. “You talked to her?”

  “Yeah. She was at home.”

  Relief washed over Kyle. At least she kept it together long enough to make it home. He wished he could leave this chaos and follow her home to comfort her, but he had responsibilities to see to first.

  “So what’s going on?” Brian asked. “Was it the code? Is the pilot okay?”

  “Melissa is fine. She’s at the hospital being treated for minor injuries. They’ll probably keep her overnight for observation.”

  Kyle balanced his phone against his ear and walked over to the video recordings being reviewed by Helitronics’ staff. “The early reports look like it was pilot error. Your team is still checking the code. Our team is investigating everything else.”

  “Okay. Let me know the final results.”

  “Will do.”

  Kyle punched the end button on his phone and immediately redialed Niki’s number. He got her voicemail again.

  “Niki? I wish you would pick up so I can talk to you. Look, the initial findings are that it was pilot error. Melissa is going to be okay. Please call me back. I need to know you’re okay.”

  He hung up the call.

  Lord, please be with her. Help her to know it’s not her fault.

  He walked over to where Todd stood silently. His boss was giving Todd an earful. He stepped away. He couldn’t be responsible for what he might do to Todd if he started slandering Niki.

  Moving back to the video monitors, he heard one of the analyst say, “We got it. Pilot error.”

  The words were a double-edged sword. At one time he feared hearing those same words about his accident. Now, they were a godsend—exonerating the woman he loved.

  The sobs still wracked Niki’s body an hour later when Marcy arrived home. Marcy tried to comfort her, but she refused to talk.

  Marcy stepped from Niki’s room at the sound of the doorbell. Voices filtered down the hallway getting closer.

  “Did you do this, Kyle?” Marcy asked.

  “No. There was a horrible accident at work. That’s all I can tell you.”

  The door creaked open. “She’s been like that since before I got home.”

  Niki heard Kyle suck in a deep breath. He was there. At her side. Lifting her to a sitting position. Leaning her head against his chest. Stroking her hair. Strong arms cradling her. Whispering her name.

  “It’s not your fault.”

  “Can I do anything?” Marcy asked.

  Niki couldn’t see her, but she heard the door click softly behind her.

  “I killed her.” Niki spoke the words burdening her heart. “I killed her.” The sobs hit with renewed fervor.

  “Oh, no,” Kyle said, rocking her back and forth. “Melissa’s not dead. She’s just bruised—maybe a broken leg. That’s all.”

  “How… Are you sure?”

  “Positive. She was responsive before the ambulance took her. And I called the hospital to get an update before coming here.”

  “It’s still my fault.”

  “No. It’s not.”

  “How can you know that?”

  “I told you before you left. I just know it.”

  “I’m sure that’s why Todd fired me—because he just knows it’s my fault.”

  Kyle sighed. “Todd has been looking for any excuse. No one else believes the accident was your fault. Doug double checked everything from Elite’s side. Everything checked out.”

  She stared at the desk in her room, not making a sound.

  “Look, I don’t know what Melissa thought she saw in that cockpit, but the readings on our video monitors did not jive with whatever she thought was going on.”

  He moved her away from his chest and looked into her eyes. “There will be an investigation, of course, but the early signs point to pilot error or mechanical defect. Nothing even remotely suggests there was an issue with the code.”

  She looked away.

  “Please trust me. Haven’t I earned it yet?” he begged.

  Niki pulled away and stood turning her back to him. He stood and wrapped his arms around her but she shrugged them off.

  “Please don’t retreat.”

  “I’m tired,” she said as she dodged his second attempt to hold her. “Please go.”

  “Niki—”

  “Go.”

  He dropped his hands to his side and walked to the door.

  Once he was gone from her room, she closed the door. She changed out of her work clothes and threw on a t-shirt. She shoved her purse and phone onto the floor in a heap, spilling the contents of her purse. She crawled under the covers, shut off the light, and begged sleep to claim her.

  Chapter 34

  “Rise and shine, beautiful!” Kyle’s voice boomed through her nightmares.

  He started to grab the blankets but Niki clamped down, twisting them about her body like a cocoon as she rolled away from him.

  “None of that.”

  “It’s early. Go away.”

  “It’s one o’clock. You’ve slept half of your Saturday away.”

  Niki groaned and burrowed deeper into the covers, her fuzzy brain trying to figure out what he was doing there.

  “Come on. At least put on a bathing suit and come out to the pool.”
>
  She grunted.

  “You know you want to.”

  She moaned, still not moving.

  “Okay. You leave me with no choice.”

  He pried the covers from her body despite her rigid grip. Then, he clasped his hands over hers and pulled until she sat upright.

  “Stop,” she whined weakly.

  He pulled her from sitting to standing in his arms. Then he kissed her forehead. She leaned forward into his chest, letting her arms hang limply. Then she closed her eyes. She could sleep standing up, right?

  She felt him tilt her chin upwards. Then his lips tasted hers. The fog lifted as he ignited a fire within her. When she started kissing him back, he pulled away.

  “I knew that would wake you.”

  “Is that your answer for everything that ails me?”

  Kyle grinned. “It works, doesn’t it?”

  She grunted.

  He walked towards the door. “You have ten minutes to appear by the pool or I’m coming back in to get you. So feel free to take your time,” he added with a devilish grin before pulling the door shut behind him.

  One thing Niki learned in the last month, maybe more, is that Kyle would do just what he said. She dug through her clothes until she found her blue one piece suit. She hurriedly brushed and braided her hair. Ten minutes later, she stepped onto the hot concrete curbing next to the pool, searching for Kyle.

  Arms came up around her, followed by a kiss on her neck.

  “You’re way too happy,” she said.

  “You’re way too grumpy. I keep forgetting you’re grumpy when you wake up.”

  “I’ve lost my job. I’ve lost my dream client. I caused a major accident. Probably caused all kinds of grief for my boss. I think I’m entitled to sleep all day and be grumpy when I’m awake,” she said, disengaging from him.

  “I was kinda hoping you’d forget about all that.”

  She dropped her towel onto a chair and kicked off her flip-flops, trying to ignore him. Seeing her raft in the pool, she climbed in slowly to adjust to the cool water. She lifted her body onto the raft, face up—glad she remembered her sunglasses.

  A half hour later, a soft splash sounded by the edge of the pool. Probably Kyle. She wished he would leave her alone. She didn’t feel up to being around anyone. She just wanted to sleep until she forgot yesterday.

  Cool water droplets fell onto her stomach, soaking through the bathing suit. She played this game with him before, but not today.

  “I’m not in the mood.”

  More water.

  “What, you have a death wish or something?” she snapped, opening her eyes this time.

  He shrugged and tossed more water on her.

  “Stop.”

  Kyle scooped up more water with his hands and dropped it on her.

  “You don’t listen, do you?”

  “Nope,” he said shaking his head as he splashed her again.

  “I think I need to call my pest control people and have them come out again.”

  “Why’s that?”

  “Because I have a very large pest in my pool.”

  He grinned.

  Niki tried to remain serious, but she couldn’t. She felt a smile crack the corners of her mouth.

  “Ah, there’s my beautiful Nickels.”

  Warmth rushed to her cheeks. It felt good to hear him call her that.

  He was still looking at her intently, sending shivers down her spine despite the midday sun beating down on her.

  “What?”

  Kyle traced his fingers along the line of her neck. “I love you, Nicole Turner. I can’t tell you how much. It broke my heart to watch you in so much pain yesterday, knowing I really couldn’t do anything to help you.”

  Each word penetrated her wall and landed softly on her heart. She looked at him through her sunglasses. He loved her? Could he really know that already?

  Soon enough the sweet, peaceful effect of his words faded as she panicked. Love was a pretty serious thing. Everything within her pushed her towards declaring similar sentiments, only to be batted back down her throat. She cared for him, but love? She still wasn’t sure she even knew what that was.

  The seconds ticked by and the air grew expectant.

  “Kyle—”

  “It’s okay. I shouldn’t have sprung that on you, not yet, and not today. But, it’s out there and it’s true.”

  He pulled his hand back to his side. Bending his knees, he dropped lower in the water next to her raft until only his head and part of his neck were above water.

  “Hungry? I figure you are two or three meals behind. We could run out and get some lunch or dinner.”

  “Yeah,” Niki said scooting off the raft. “Where’s Marcy?”

  “She said something about dragging Chad to a whole bunch of cake tastings.”

  “I completely forgot! I was supposed to go with her. Some maid of honor I’m turning out to be.” She got out of the pool with him following close behind.

  “She said you’d freak out about it. She didn’t want you to worry. This was one of those decisions that she wanted to make with Chad anyway.”

  She toweled off, still feeling bad for missing the appointment with Marcy. She opened the sliding glass door and walked inside. She grabbed a glass of water and downed it before heading back to her room. Kyle followed, stopping at the hall bathroom.

  “Mind if I borrow your shower?”

  She nodded before disappearing into her room. Twenty minutes later she joined a well-put-together Kyle in the great room.

  As they rode to the restaurant, she checked the messages on her phone which she had been ignoring since yesterday afternoon. Six were from Kyle—two from yesterday and four from this morning. She smiled as she listened to each one, hearing the concern in his voice. How had she ever thought anything bad about him?

  Once they arrived at PF Chang’s, they were seated immediately. Guess it helps to get there right after they open. Who eats dinner at four anyway? Niki ordered two entrées and an appetizer with a promise from Kyle that he would share some of his entrée. When the appetizer arrived, she dug in. She was much hungrier than she thought.

  “How you doin’?” Kyle asked biting into a lettuce wrap.

  “Okay, I guess. Which makes no sense at all. I mean, my career took a nose dive with that helicopter yesterday. I’m kinda surprised I’m not hiding out in my room with a tub of Ben & Jerry’s.”

  “Good.” He paused. “I have to confess something.”

  Her stomach tightened into a knot. Even though she felt like she was bouncing back some, she didn’t think she could handle any more bad news. “What?”

  “I called our study group and asked them to pray for you. I just told them something really bad happened at work and that you needed their support.”

  Prayer.

  “I never even thought to do that,” she whispered.

  “That’s just human nature. I think of it for others, long before I think of it for myself.”

  “Thanks,” she said, taking a final bite of her lettuce wrap.

  “I also talked to Brian. Twice.”

  She lifted one brow in question.

  “I told him everything that we knew and that I didn’t think it was your fault. He said if you wanted to take a few days you could. He’ll be in the office most of the week. Said you should stop by when you’re ready.”

  “I’ll go in Monday. Can’t stand to sit around you know,” she laughed nervously.

  “Everything is going to work out. You’ll see,” he said, giving her hand a squeeze.

  Kyle’s phone rang. He glanced at the caller ID. “I’m sorry. I have to take this.” Punching the button, he said, “What’s up?”

  Niki watched him intently as the color drained from his face and his smile fled.

  “Why is Alana in the hospital? Slow down. What happened?” His hand tightened on the phone and he leaned forward, thumping his leg up and down rapidly. He must be really close to this cousin, Ala
na.

  “No, of course I’ll come. I just have to take Niki home. Then I’ll get the first flight out.”

  The server came by and Niki asked him to box up the rest of their meal. Judging by Kyle’s half of the conversation, they would be leaving shortly.

  “I’ll have to be back here for work on Monday, unless you think I need to take more time?”

  The server delivered the boxed up food and left the check. Kyle motioned for him to wait as he pulled a credit card from his pocket. He handed it over and waved the server on.

  “Is she okay? Really?”

  As soon as the server came back with his card, Kyle scribbled his name and some amount on the slip. Then he motioned for Niki to grab the food. He stood, still on the phone, leading her from the restaurant.

  “I’ll call you back when I know my flights.” He clicked the phone off.

  As he climbed into the driver’s seat, Niki couldn’t wait any longer. “What’s wrong?”

  He pulled out of the parking lot and pointed his vehicle north on a side street towards Niki’s house before answering. “We need to talk. But, not right now. Look, I’ve got to go to Colorado Springs. We’ll talk when I get back. I promise.”

  He let out a frustrated sigh.

  “I’m sorry to cut our time short. And I hate leaving you—especially right now,” he said pulling the truck to a stop in front of her house. “You’ll be okay?”

  She nodded.

  “I’ll try to call you once I get there. Please tell Marcy to call me as soon as she can.”

  “Be safe,” she said sliding down from the passenger’s seat.

  As he turned the truck around and drove off, she got that sinking feeling in her stomach again. Why did they need to talk?

  And about what?

  Kyle frowned as he opened the door to his townhome. Sometimes he wished he wasn’t so incredibly gifted with bad timing. He felt awful for leaving Niki right now. But his daughter was hurt and in the hospital. If he really wanted to be a good father, there was no choice. He had to put his daughter first.

  He booted up his computer and drummed his fingers on the desktop while he waited impatiently for everything to load. He search for flights and found one leaving in an hour. It would be tight, but if he took a small carryon bag and left immediately, he might be able to make it. He clicked purchase and print before shutting down his computer.