Bad Traveler (24 page)
Authors: Lola Karns
“He won’t talk to me. I don’t know what’s going on.”
Keira shook her head, dismissively. “You are so naive. You rejected him.”
“How?”
“Duh. He asked you to marry him, and you said no. I’d call that a rejection.”
“But he didn’t mean it. Not really. He thought it would help me keep custody of Chloe, and he knows how much she means to me. He was just being a good, stand-up guy.” Her sister stayed quiet, arching her eyebrow. “It’s not as if he loves me.”
“Are you sure about that? He rented a car, abandoned his team during a tournament, and drove a couple hundred miles overnight to help you.”
“If he’s in love, he hasn’t bothered telling me. If anything, he’s let me know his contract is up this year, and he’ll probably end up somewhere else. He warned me not to get too attached.”
“Has it worked?”
“No.” Her shoulders slumped. “Even though I see him most mornings, I miss him like crazy. I love him, and this not talking is awful.”
Keira hugged her and offered her a tissue to wipe away the tears. “If it makes any difference, he’s a wreck, too.”
She glanced at her sister, but before she could ask what she meant, the bells over the door jingled.
“Back to work.”
***
Kyle poured himself into work, doing everything possible to ensure a victory on the night Coach Meyer made his return to the sidelines, but also to secure good seeding in the conference tournament. He hoped they could run out the year, the guys had earned it. Even with Coach Meyer back in place, Kyle did the heavy lifting. A good run in the conference and either the NCAA or NIT tournament would help him secure a job for next year. Hopefully, one far away and in a different conference. Corwin was too small. Every time he saw Gwen, his heart ached and bitterness welled in his stomach. He continued holding meetings at the Sweet Spot because the coaching staff loved the food. If he survived a few more months, maybe he could find peace again. But probably not.
She’d rejected him. He’d offered her his heart, and she’d stomped on it, leaving him as broken emotionally as he was physically. For a few brief months, she’d helped him think otherwise. His sole relief from the melancholy came in the momentary rush of success when his team held the high score at the end of the game.
During the off time, he and Logan had updated the hall flooring in his parents’ house. It was his duty to take care of a few projects before he moved who knew where. There was no guarantee he’d be less than an hour from their house much longer. Logan could have done the job on his own. So could he, for that matter, but they worked well together. When they’d finished, Logan put a couple of cold beers on the kitchen table. The cool, clean pale ale poured down his throat, a well-earned reward after his hard work.
“When are you going to patch things up with her?”
He wiped the froth from his lips, staring through hard eyes. “Never.”
“You’ve been pissy ever since getting back from Vegas and Phoenix. Clearly, something happened.”
The bottle offered no solutions. Pursing his lips, he decided to tell someone his private agony. “I asked her to marry me.”
“And she refused.”
After a hard swig, the beer had lost all flavor. Life lacked flavor without Gwen. “Yeah.”
“From what I hear, it wasn’t much of a proposal.”
Does he have to look so smug?
Logan shifted to a mocking lovey-dovey tone. “Oooh, baby. You’ve got such a great daughter. Let’s be a happy little family so that crazy guy, who’s now in jail, won’t try to run off with her and make you his wife. You don’t even need to get dressed up; we’ll just drive to Vegas. We can tell the ’rents later. No big.”
His jaw clenched and fingers tightened. Clearly, Logan noticed, too.
“Down, boy. Are you mad that I know, or mad about how you did it?”
“Both.” He growled. “How?”
Mr. Pain-in-the-Ass slurped his beer and shrugged his shoulders. “Keira and I talk. If it makes you feel any better, Gwen has been in a foul mood, too. She misses you.”
This was the best news he’d had all week. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.” Logan gave his shoulder a squeeze. “Do whatever you have to do to work it out with her this time. You already know she’s worth it.”
After a nod of agreement, he polished off his beer. There was nothing else to say. “Let’s get this all cleaned up. Mom hates coming home to a mess, and I’ve got something else to do.”
***
Still wearing her apron, Gwen finished her work in the kitchen area. Loud knocking on the glass startled her. She gestured toward the Closed sign, knowing her silhouette was visible. The knocking persisted. Moving toward the counter, she wondered what sort of person had such an urgent cookie crisis they would ignore both the dimmed lights and the Closed sign. The tall sandy-haired man standing at the door looked way too good in his suit, long coat, and shiny black shoes. She softened like a stick of butter left on the counter. Not that she’d let him know that.
“Hi.” She spoke loud enough so he would hear her through the glass.
“Can I come in?”
She unlocked the door, a mix of excitement and loss competing in her heart. “I’m not open now.”
“I know. I came to see you.”
She opened the door all the way. He pulled two chairs off a table near the counter, setting them on the floor before removing his coat.
Too tired to stand, she collapsed, and Kyle took the remaining chair. “I don’t like how we’ve been since Phoenix.”
“Me neither.”
“I blame myself. At first, I was angry with you, but I’ve done a lot of thinking since then.”
“Me, too.” She wanted to feel out his intentions, rather than make a fool of herself.
“You were right to turn down my marriage proposal. I hid my feelings behind Chloe. A child should never be a pawn, but I didn’t act any better than Cody did in that regard.” She nodded. He reached under his coat and pulled out a book that looked like an inexpensive photo album. “I made this for you.”
She accepted the book and turned to the first page.
Reasons we should not get married
, inscribed in black ink across the white paper, caught her attention. She read on.
10. I don’t know where I’ll be next season.
9. You might prefer someone who can leap across the threshold, not hop.
8. My apartment doesn’t allow children, and there’s not enough room for a king-size bed in your room.
7. I’d get fat because I’d insist on sampling everything you make.
6. So you can prove to everyone that you are the best mother ever and don’t need anyone else to help you raise that amazing daughter of yours
.
The list stopped. She turned the page, seeing his neat black script.
5. I’m an idiot
4. I’m an idiot
3. I’m an idiot
2. I’m an idiot
1. I’m an idiot.
She laughed, and he joined her with a sound missing from her life far too long.
“I’m just trying to figure out for which five actions you’re claiming to be an idiot.” One, maybe two, came to mind, but not five.
“I’m sure there are more than five things for which I should apologize. I am sorry, proposing like I did.”
“You were trying to help, I suppose.”
His eyes gave nothing away as he spoke. “Are you going to finish reading?”
“Assigning me homework?” Another page flipped right to left under her fingers.
“It’s for your own good.”
Reasons to take a chance on us
. “Do you always make such extensive plans?”
He shrugged and revealed nearly every tooth in his mouth with a huge grin.
She turned the page and burst into laughter. He’d titled the page
Because we make a cute couple
. The accompanying photo took the cake. They had their arms wrapped around each other’s shoulders, intoxicated at a party sophomore year. Her mouth hung open wide enough a car could park in it, and Kyle had that one eye open, one shut look as he held a beer bottle at a precarious angle. Soft white lines intersected at various angles, like the photo inside the plastic sleeve had been crumpled at some point.
“That’s a terrible photo!”
“I know.”
“Where did you find this?”
“I printed this one off the computer. The original was pretty beat-up, so I scanned it. It was the only picture I had of the two of us together. I carried it everywhere. It’s been my good-luck charm.”
“Really?” He’d kept this photo of them all these years? Could it mean he cared?
“You’ve been with me more places than you know. You were in my shirt pocket when I interviewed for this job and for every game I’ve coached. We went to boot camp together, and you were in my right boot the day I stepped on the land mine. Along with my parents, I should add. I didn’t have a scratch on my right side, by the way. You missed my first wedding, but I suspected you wouldn’t have wanted to be there.”
“Thanks for leaving me home that day.” His smile melted her heart.
He tapped his fingers on the picture. “I don’t know if you remember that party or not, but I do.”
“We both look pretty out of it in that picture.” She wanted to hear what he remembered.
“You kissed me that night. We stood near the corner of the porch. We said the same thing at the same time. I don’t remember what it was, but I remember that you laughed, then stretched up on your toes and kissed me. I was so surprised, it took me a few seconds to catch up.”
“It was a great kiss, the way you pulled me in close, lifting me up off the ground, like one of those posters of V-Day in Times Square. When I replay it in my head, you’re in your uniform and I have on heels.”
“Good thing I held on to my uniform.”
She arched an eyebrow. That uniform better still fit because she wanted to slowly undo each and every single button, maybe more than once.
“I sometimes wonder what would have happened if I hadn’t lifted you up. After all, you did kick that guy with those heavy shoes you always wore.”
“And then that guy bumped into us, spilling beer on your shirt, and it was over.” She looked at him, seeing love reflected back at her.
“I don’t want it to be over.”
“Me neither.” She put the book aside, leaning toward him. He wasn’t close enough to kiss. But she believed he’d do his part.
He pushed it back at her. “You haven’t finished reading that.”
“It worked.”
“But you missed the best part.” He picked up the book and flipped to the end. “I’ll read it out loud.” He showed her the page decorated with a red heart. “I love you, Gwen. I always have, I always will.”
That was all she needed to hear. She reached for him, putting her hands on his knees, but he silenced her with a finger. He knelt on the floor and turned to the last page. A small envelope sat in the middle of the page with the words
open me
.
His voice held clear and steady as she opened the envelope with a slim gold band. Taking her hand in his, he uttered those words she’d dreamed of hearing. “You have my heart for now and always. Will you marry me?”
“Yes, yes, a thousand times yes!”
Having worked as a bartender, shipping clerk, secretary, concierge, technical translator, doctoral candidate (in history) and more as she moved through Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, New Jersey, Georgia, and Virginia, Lola decided she needed a portable career. Writing fit the bill.
Lola currently resides in Minnesota with her husband, two children, two hairless cats and a fluffy former stray cat. When not writing, or even while she is, Lola enjoys a good cup of coffee and a decadent dessert.
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