Room for More (6 page)

I tucked the girls in and collapsed on my bed, hugging my cell phone while I waited for Brody’s call. I’d gotten so used to having him at the inn, it was hard not being able to run up to his guest room and snuggle up with him for a bit.

My text alert went off and I jumped, not realizing I’d dozed off.

B:
YOU STILL AWAKE?

I didn’t waste time texting back, I needed to hear his voice.

“Hey.” A big sigh sounded in my ear as he answered the phone.

“Uh oh, that doesn’t sound good.” My heart sunk.

Does he know something about Zach? No, there was no way. Right?

“Sorry, just a long day.” He yawned. “I’m glad you’re still awake.”

His yawn was contagious. “Barely.”

“How was work?”

Awful. Terrible. Horrendous.

“Good. There was a five-car pileup. That was exciting.”

His husky laugh tickled my ear. “Sometimes I think I should be worried about the weird things that excite you.”

I giggled. “What about you? How was practice?”

“It was okay. I probably won’t be able to walk tomorrow. My quads hurt
so
bad.”

“Mmmm, sounds like you need a good rubdown.”

“You have no idea. I would sell my soul to the devil himself to have you here with me right now.”

“Me too, Brody. This is harder than I thought it would be. How are we going to make it seven, eight months?”

“We’ll just have to make more of an effort to carve out time for each other. Maybe tomorrow, as soon as practice ends, I’ll grab D and head straight up there?”

I paused for a second, excited at the thought but not sure we had space. “I’ll have to check with Mom; I don’t know if there are any rooms available.” The girls knew that Brody and I were together now, but I still didn’t think it was appropriate for them to know we were sleeping in the same bed, so Brody still stayed in a guest room when he was here.

A suspicious laugh filled the line. “You check with her and get back to me.”

“I feel bad, though, making you drive all that way for just one night.”

“Kacie, I’d drive twenty hours for just one kiss from you.” Hearing him say that made my belly warm. How was I so lucky to snag the greatest guy in the world? “I’d expect a little tongue with that kiss, but you get my point.”

I laughed loudly. “There’s the Brody I know and love.”

“I want to see you, though. It’s only been a couple days and I already miss my girls—all three of you.”

“We miss you too. I’ll check with my mom in the morning and get back to you, okay?”

“You do that.” I could tell he was smiling.

“Okay, I’m off to bed.”

“All right, babe. Dream about me. I love you.”

“I love
you
, Brody.”

“Good morning!” I bounced into the kitchen.

“Hi?” Mom said, turning to face me from the stove. “What’s with you today? You’re unusually perky.”

“Nothing. Just excited to see Brody tonight.” The girls had already finished eating and were coloring at the island as I walked over and kissed them on the tops of their heads.

Mom rolled her eyes and chuckled. “It’s only been a couple days since you two have seen each other.”

“I know.” I went over to the stove and scooped up some scrambled eggs on my plate before I sat with Lucy and Piper at the island. “I’m pathetic.”

“A little, but it’s sweet.” She winked at me.

“Wait! Before I get too excited, is there a guest room available tonight?”

Mom turned back from the stove with a blank look on her face and stared at me. After a second she pulled her brows in and tilted her head to the side suspiciously. “Did he not tell you?”

I was confused. “Tell me what?”

A slow grin grew on her face and she slowly shook her head. “Oh, that boy. You better hold on to him, Kacie.”

“What are you talking about?”

“When he told me about you being uncomfortable, um…” She glanced at the girls and back at me. I could tell she was trying to speak in code because of them. “…being roommates at night, I told him that he was welcome to a guest room anytime he wanted one. I said I’d save one for him.” She walked over to the island and put her hand on her hip while I continued shoveling eggs into my mouth. “He insisted I not be out any money because of all this, so he prepaid for one guest room for an entire year. Three hundred and sixty-five nights.”

My mouth fell open as my fork dropped to the plate, making a horrible clanging noise. “He paid for a
whole year?
”

She nodded. “A whole year. He’s crazy about you, girl, and clearly confident in your relationship—at least for a year.”

“Be right back!” I jumped off the stool and ran to my bedroom, grabbing my phone off the nightstand.

YOU PAID FOR A WHOLE YEAR?!?!?

My foot tapped impatiently for two minutes as I waited for his response. Finally, my phone beeped.

B:
YOU TALKED TO YOUR MOM, HUH?

WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME?

B:
WHAT? AND MISS THIS MOMENT? ARE YOU KIDDING? SURPRISING YOU IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE THINGS IN THE WORLD, KACIE. WELL, THAT AND WATCHING THE LOOK ON YOUR FACE WHEN YOU COME.

My stomach flipped as I read his last text. That man was perfection.

B:
YOU STILL THERE?

Oh, shit.

SORRY, I’M HERE. JUST THINKING ABOUT… YOU. EVERYTHING YOU’VE DONE FOR ME, THE SURPRISES, THE GESTURES. I HAVE NO WORDS. HOW CAN I EVER REPAY YOU FOR ALL YOU DO FOR ME?

B:
WELL, YOU COULD REPAY ME TONIGHT BY SHOWING ME THAT LOOK I WAS TALKING ABOUT.

UH, ABSO-FREAKING-LUTELY. YOU MIGHT SEE IT MORE THAN ONCE. ;)

B:
HOLY SHIT! THE WINKY FACE! I’VE BEEN WORKING FOR THAT ELUSIVE LITTLE BASTARD FOR MONTHS NOW!

What?

WHAT?

B:
NEVER MIND, I’LL EXPLAIN LATER. GOTTA TAKE POOR DIESEL OUT. HE’S STANDING AT THE FRONT DOOR WITH HIS LEASH IN HIS MOUTH, GLARING AT ME.

OKAY, LOVE YOU! CAN’T WAIT TO SEE YOU TONIGHT!

B:
LOVE YOU TOO, KACIE.

I went back out to the kitchen with a smile cemented on my face. Mom was bent over, loading the dishwasher as I sat back at the island in a daze, happily eating cold eggs.

“Give me these. At least let me warm them up,” my mom hissed playfully when she stood up. She put them in the microwave and turned back to me, trying not to laugh. “What has happened to my little Kacie? She’s all grown up and madly in love.”

I felt my face flush, but I didn’t care. “I totally am, Mom.”

“I can tell. You’re glowing. Happiness looks good on you.” She walked over and kissed my cheek as she set my plate down in front of me. “I’ve never seen you like this, not even with Zach.”

My stomach rolled as I tried to force the eggs to stay put. His name used to freeze me in my tracks and annoy me, now it terrified me. The first year after he left, I prayed every day that he would realize his mistake and come back for us. The last five years, I’ve prayed every day that he would stay far away, and that the girls would belong to just me forever. The room started to spin as my breathing increased.

“Uh oh, what’s with the face?”

“What?” I tried to sound as normal as possible.

“Don’t ‘what’ me, Kacie Jensen. I know you. You clam up when I mention him, but you don’t look ill.”

My brain started arguing with itself. I didn’t want anyone to know I’d seen him. If I said it out loud, it made it seem more real. I wanted to take that secret, lock it in a box, and bury it in the middle of nowhere. Maybe then it would stay hidden forever and my life would never change. On the other hand, I desperately wanted someone to talk about it with. I hadn’t seen Alexa yet, and I knew she was going to lose her mind and try to kill him. Telling Brody was out of the question right now. Lauren knew I’d seen him, but she lived on the other side of the world for the next year. I couldn’t just grab the phone and call her every time I needed to talk about it.

“Where are the girls?” I craned my neck, looking for them in the family room and down the hallway.

“When you were in your room, they got dressed and went outside to rake leaves with Fred. Spill it.”

“I saw him,” I said in a barely audible voice.

“Him? What him? Zach?” Her eyes opened so wide I thought they might fall out of her head. “When? Where?”

I sighed. “At work. He works there. Well, kind of. He’s an EMT, so I’ve seen him a couple times.”

She didn’t speak. Her mouth hung open, her green eyes still wide as can be, her face completely frozen in shock.

“I saw him my first day. I was in a room waiting for a patient and two EMTs brought her in. He had his back to me—I didn’t recognize him from behind. When he turned around, I almost died.”

“That son of a bitch,” she growled. “Have you talked to him since you saw him? I can’t believe you didn’t tell me about this sooner, by the way.”

“I ignored him the first time I saw him. Actually, I freaked out and hid in the bathroom. Then last week, the day Brody brought the girls to the hospital to have lunch with me, Zach saw them. Us. Sitting together, having lunch.” She sat at the island across from me with her chin resting on her hand, mesmerized by every word I was saying. “Anyway, on my way back to the ER, he grabbed me, pulled me into a janitorial closet, and asked me about them. He wanted to talk to me, even offered to buy me a coffee.”

“Wow,” she said, shaking her head back and forth. “You should’ve taken him up on it.”

“I should have?” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

“Yes. You should have ordered the biggest, hottest coffee on the menu then thrown it in his face.”

“Mom.” I let a slight giggle escape as I rolled my eyes. “Fun as that would have been, it’s slightly violent.”

“But fitting.” She curved her lips into an evil smirk. “What does Brody think about it?”

I covered my eyes with my hands, ignoring her question.

“You didn’t tell him yet?”

I just shook my head, still hiding from her.

“Kacie! What are you thinking?” She crossed her arms across her chest.

“I know, I know.” I sighed. “I’m going to tell him. Soon.”

“You better,” she demanded.

“Anyway, I don’t know what to do. I can’t exactly ask for a transfer or it’ll delay my graduation. I just have to do my best to avoid him until I’m done.” I swallowed a huge lump in my throat as tears stung my eyes. “I’m so scared, Mom. I don’t want him back in our lives. Can he take the girls?”

Mom got up and hurried around to my side of the island, pulling me in close. “Honey, he will never, ever take those girls. Do you hear me? He hasn’t been around for five years. No court in their right mind would grant him any sort of custody. The most he could hope for would be minimal visitation, but if I have to sell this damn inn to hire the best lawyer in Minnesota, so be it.”

Court. Custody. Visitation.

Those were things I hadn’t even thought about. The knot in my stomach was so big and heavy, I felt like it might crush me. I thought telling my mom about Zach would make me feel better, but she had brought up things I wasn’t prepared to deal with. The last thing in the world that I wanted right now was a court battle.

My head dropped down to my folded arms on the island and I sobbed.

After another mediocre practice, I was frustrated and stressed and decided I needed to take care of something that had been disrupting my focus.

I showered at the rink and drove straight to Andy’s office. My palms started to sweat as the elevator stopped at the forty-second floor and the doors opened. The
Shaw Management
sign stared me right in the face. I hadn’t spoken to Andy since he showed up at my condo right after Piper’s accident. Everything between us was fine that day, but it wasn’t like us to go this long without even a harassing text. I also couldn’t remember a time in my whole life when I was nervous to talk to him.