Finding Peace (Finding Series Book 1) (31 page)

“Sir. I’m sure that Kayla is upset with me and she has every right to be, but things happened that I had no control over. I hate that I upset her, but I really just need to be allowed to explain everything to her. Please, Sir. She means everything to me.” I sit and listen with hope for an answer.

“Lisa, I need to take this call in my office. Can you come over and hold this receiver until I tell you to hang it up please?”

He’s talking to someone. I hear what I assume is him handing the phone over to Lisa, whoever that is. And then he is back on the line.

“Lisa, please hang up the phone and make sure that no one picks it up.”

“Yes, dear.”

I hear a click and then it gets quiet again.

“Mr. McGinnis, I’m not sure that you should be allowed to talk to Kayla. She was very upset last night. You tell me that she is everything to you and yet you did not show up when you said you would. Then you didn’t even have the decency to call until now. If you truly care for Kayla you would not have treated her the way you did.”

I don’t know how to respond to that, under normal circumstances, he would be completely right. However, last night was anything but normal. I knew she’d be upset, I just tried to push that thought out of my mind. The thought of her sitting there waiting for me and me not showing up. She must think I’m horrible. “Mr…”

“Mr. Brooks. Troy Brooks.”

I take a deep breath. I’m going to have to go through him to be able to even talk to Kayla. How can I prove to this man that I have never even met that I am truly in love with Kayla? Honesty. That’s my only hope.

“Mr. Brooks. I had to help an old friend and my best buddy last night who had gotten themselves drunk and was barely able to stand. If I had left them and something had happened, I never would have been able to look myself in the mirror again. I wanted nothing more than to be there with Kayla. I hate that I hurt her. I’m planning a future with her, Mr. Brooks. I want to spend the rest of my life with her. Last night just couldn’t be helped.

Once I got them settled some things happened that made the situation even worse. So by the time I got things under control, it was past a reasonable hour to call. I felt like I would have woken everyone in your home up and I didn’t think that would be a good thing to do.”

“Umm. You should have called, son. She was really hurt. I think I could have excused a late night call considering the circumstances.”

Okay, he doesn’t sound so mad now. Maybe there is a chance I can still see her today. “Mr. Brooks is there any way you could find it in your heart to allow me to drive to your home today and spend what is left of this weekend with Kayla?”

He’s quiet for a minute. “I don’t know if that would be a good idea. I’m not sure she would even want to see you.”

He has to say yes. Even if she thinks she doesn’t want to see me, I have to try. “Please Sir. I have to see her. If I get there and she doesn’t want anything to do with me I will leave. I promise.”

He makes some grumbling noises and lets out a loud breath. “Before I tell you yes, I want to make some things very clear to you, Mr. McGinnis. If you tell Kayla that you are going to be here, you very well best be here. If you tell her you are going to be here at a certain time, you will not be even a minute late. If you are, you might as well turn around because I will not allow you to see her. I don’t care if you are on our street, one minute late hitting our driveway and you will be turned away. A man never stands a woman up. You will treat her with respect and kindness. Kayla has been through a lot and she deserves nothing less. Did I make myself clear enough?”

One minute. This guy doesn’t play. I can respect that. He’s only looking out for her. It is his house and he is her guardian, I have to abide by his rules. “I couldn’t agree with you more, Sir. Kayla deserves nothing but the best. When I say I am going to be there, I will be there. You have my word.”

“Good. So what time will you be here today?”

I swallow hard. “I know I can’t be late, but is it okay if I’m early?”

I hear a deep laugh come through the phone. “Yes. You may be early in fact, I recommend it. Just don’t be too early.”

Don’t be late. Don’t be too early. My head is spinning. It is ten thirty now. Twelve thirty gives me exactly two hours. “I’m going to say I will be there by one o’clock.”

“I think that’s a good estimation, Mr. McGinnis.”

“Are you going to let Kayla know that I’m coming? And please, call me Blake.”

“I think it would be best if you just show up. I have a feeling if I tell her you're coming she may say she doesn’t want to see you. Besides, if you are late you’re not going to get to see her anyway.” He says with a laugh.

“I can’t thank you enough, Mr. Brooks. I’ll be there by one without a doubt. Nothing will keep me away today.”

I grab my stuff, lock the apartment door and run to my truck. I have two hours to figure out what I’m going to say to her. If Mr. Brooks thinks that she isn’t going to be pleased to see me, then I’m going to have my work cut out for me. Then add the stress of not being able to see her if I’m even one minute late. I pray there are no accidents or traffic backups.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kayla

I stretch and roll over barely opening my eyes, trying to avoid the sun that is now glaring in my window. Last night comes crashing back to me. All of the hurt makes my chest tight, making it hard to breathe. I can’t dwell on this. If he doesn’t want me, then so be it. I survived before him and I’ll survive after.

It’s just that colors seemed brighter and the days were sweeter when I had the thought of him, because honestly, he was never really mine.
Don’t get depressed, you can’t let it pull you down.
Oh God, I’m not going to survive this.
I’m just kidding myself. Why did he have to be such a good actor? Why did I have to fall for him? He played with my heart and now it’s broken more than ever. I want to rip it out of my chest so this pain will go away.

It’s twelve o’clock already. I can’t believe they let me sleep this late. Then I remember that I locked the door last night. I decide a day by the water will be therapeutic so I grab my robe and head to the bathroom to shower. Yes, I’m that girl. The one who showers before I go anywhere even if it’s to lay in the sun.

Going back into my room, I walk over to my dresser and dig out my pink and black polka dot string bikini and my cut off blue jean short shorts. I don’t bother drying my hair, it’s going to get wet anyway. I slip my bikini bottoms on and then tie my top the best I can. It’s hard to get it straight by myself. Normally, I have Tessa make sure it’s tied straight before I go out, but I don’t even know if she is home. I shimmy into my shorts and walk over to get a hair tie for my hair. Pulling my hair up into pony tail, I grab my sunscreen, sunglasses, and then head out to the linen closet to get a beach towel.

I walk into the great room and it’s empty. I wonder where everyone is. I walk over to the sliding glass doors and look out at the lake. They’re all there. It looks like Troy is taking the speed boat out. I would love to get out on the water today. How could they be planning to leave without me after the night I had?

I rush to the stairs and make my way out the back door onto the patio. I make a straight path to the dock. It’s going on twelve thirty now. Actually I’m shocked they haven’t launched the boat already. Troy usually likes to get an early start.

Just as I get in hearing distance, I hear Tessa talking. “Dad, she’s going to be so mad. I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

“I know what I’m doing Tessa.”

“Hey!” I yell. “Were you all just going to leave me here alone again?”

Lisa starts walking toward me. “No. Not at all honey. We were just letting you sleep. You can come with us if you want to.”

“I’m not ready to pull off just yet.” Troy says.

I’m confused. Everyone is here and ready. “Is something wrong with the boat? What are you waiting on?”

Tessa gets a really weird look on her face. Everyone is now staring at me and I’m feeling very uncomfortable. No girl wants that much attention focused on her when she is standing there in nothing but a string bikini. Tessa nods her head in my direction as if to tell me to look behind me. This does nothing but make me look down at my bikini again and try to cover myself with my beach towel.

“Behind you honey.” Lisa says.

I slowly turn around and there he stands. Ball cap over his jet black hair, tight white T-shirt stretched across his broad chest, khaki shorts snug over his glorious back side, boat shoes on his feet, and piercing hazel eyes staring back at me. He looks about as shocked as I do.

I swallow hard before I’m able to get my wits about me and ask, “What are you doing here? Why did you come?”

Chapter 32

Blake

I pull into a gas station and call Mr. Brooks to get specific directions to their house. He answers on the first ring like he has been waiting on me to call.

“Hello.”

“Hello, Mr. Brooks. It’s Blake. I’m at a service station by the marina. Can you give me directions to the house from here?”

I listen carefully as he tells me where to turn and where to park once I get there.

“Blake she hasn’t come out of her room yet. She’s a late sleeper but never this late. We are going down to the dock to get the boat ready for today. When you get here walk around the house and down to the lake. We have a private dock, that’s where you’ll find us. Don’t go to the house. She’s not expecting you. Just come down to the dock.”

“Yes, Sir. I should be there soon.”

“I’m glad you made it on time today.”

I can tell by his tone that he is smiling. “Me too.”

I get back in the truck and follow his directions to the house. Hopefully she won’t stay in her room much longer or this may have been a wasted trip. It’s probably going to take me hours to even get her to talk to me.

I pull onto the street Mr. Brooks told me that their house is on. Their house is beautiful. It’s a mushroom shape, its slate gray siding with white trim. The lower level is smaller than the top floor, which is basically walls of windows. It’s an architects dream. There’s also a beautiful deck on the top floor overlooking the lake. I would love to sit there and watch the sunset. Whoever built this, put a great deal of thought into every detail.

I park and do as he said, I walk around the house to the lake. In the distance, I can see everyone is busy doing stuff on the dock. As I reach the corner of the house I hear a door open. All the air escapes my lungs when I see her. She is even more beautiful than I remember. I step back around the side of the house so that she can’t see me. I’m acting like a punk ass. I came all this way to face her and now I can’t do it. I peek around the corner and watch as she walks toward the dock. I take a deep breath and follow a safe distance behind her.

Hey!” She yells at them. “Were you all just going to leave me here alone again?”

Some blonde tiny woman speaks to her. “No. Not at all honey. We were just letting you sleep. You can come with us if you want to.”

“I’m not ready to pull off just yet.” Troy says.

“Is something wrong with the boat? What are you waiting on?”

Tessa is the first one to see me. Her expression changes and Kayla must notice it because Tessa nods her head in my direction telling Kayla to look behind her. She still doesn’t understand what Tessa is trying to tell her. 

“Behind you honey.” The blonde woman who spoke before says.

She slowly turns around and I can’t breathe. All I want to do is run to her and pull her to me. She has on the sexiest pink and black polka dotted bikini and some cut off shorts that should be illegal. Her hair is pulled up and exposing her beautiful neck, I can clearly see her pulse and it’s going crazy. She seems to be appraising my appearance as much as I am hers. My brain can’t even come up with one word to say to her.

I bring my eyes back up to hers. The eyes that I see every night in my dreams. And then it happens. Her posture changes and her face goes hard like stone.

“What are you doing here? Why did you come?”

“I needed to talk to you and I wanted to do it in person.” It doesn’t look like that made her happy at all.

“You didn’t have to drive all this way to tell me that you want nothing to do with me.”

“What? Why would I tell you that?” She turns away from me and walks down onto the dock.

“Is the boat ready? Can we go now?”

She is talking to who I assume is Mr. Brooks.

“It’s ready. Come on and join us Blake.”

She turns and storms past me back toward the house.

“Where are you going?” Tessa yells after her.

I’m just staring at everything in disbelief. I really screwed up. She thinks I don’t want her. I close my eyes and take a deep breath.

“If he’s going.” She says, pointing at me. “I’m not.”

Ouch. I knew this was going to be hard but this is going to be impossible if she won’t even hear me out. “So, I drove all this way and you’re just going to walk away from me.”