Left Together (30 page)

“Oh,
yeah. You almost made me forget. I asked if it would be all right with you if I
brought the Scirocco over to the house and parked it in the garage.”

“You
don’t have to ask my permission. You live there, too.”

The
smile he offers is sweet and
almost
innocent. His hand comes back to my
leg, palm up. I reach over with my good arm and place mine into it. “I miss
holding your hand while I drive. You need to heal faster.”

“I
agree. Did I say something to make you feel you needed to ask me about your
car?”

“No. I
just wanted to check with you. I know how much you avoid the garage and didn’t
want to make you uncomfortable about it.” He stretches my arm across my body to
bring my hand to his lips. Once he sets it back on my leg, he continues, “You
sure you’re okay with me living there?”

“I
love you there. What about you? Are you trying to tell me you’re ready to go
back to that quiet condo?”

“I’m
not going anywhere unless you tell me to leave. I’ve been giving you some time
to adjust before I start changing my address on shit. You need to make sure
this is what you really want, then I’ll put my place up for sale.”

“I
don’t care what you do with the condo, but there’s no way in hell you’re ever
moving back. I would have never imagined moving anyone into my house, but it’s
where you belong. It feels like home when your there.”

“I’ve
never been happier anywhere else.” He squeezes my fingers gently. “The day you
asked me to move in with you was one of the scariest moments of my life.”

“Did
you think living with me would be that awful?” I’m only half-joking. Why would
living with me be so scary?

“Not
at all. I thought you only asked because of the situation. I was terrified once
things settled down and you realized I wasn’t going away, you’d regret it. If
you did, even remotely, it would have crushed me.”

“I’ve
done some things in my life that I’ll regret until the day I die. Asking you to
move in with me definitely isn’t one of them.” It’s my turn to kiss his
fingers. “I may have fell for you fast and hard, Evan Pierce, but I fell
forever. You’re stuck with me.”

The
car comes to a complete stop and he turns to face me. “There’s nowhere else in
this world I’d rather be,” he whispers shyly. “You and me.”

“You
and me. Always.”

“I’d
love to kiss every part of that sexy body of yours until you forget where the
hell we are, but it’ll have to wait.” He points to a house on the opposite side
of the road. “We’re here.” How the hell did he sidetrack me long enough to get
us here without me completely falling apart? Diversion must be another one of his
super powers.

My
eyes rest on one of the cutest houses I’ve ever seen. It’s a gray-and-white ranch
with a two-car garage. The front door is set inside an arch, oversized windows
on either side of it. The front lawn is perfectly landscaped, and there’s a
small garden below each window. When I’m finally able to do a sweep of the rest
of the yard, I find a garden to the left of the house. If Evan had pulled up
any farther, I would have completely missed it. It has some kind of stone statue
in the middle, daisies surrounding it. Daisies? It has to be a coincidence. I
let out a long sigh. Kristen appears to be doing well. She doesn’t need any
interference from me.

Feeling
disappointed for some reason, I get ready to tell Evan to take me home. Before
the words are out of my mouth, a silver Honda CRV pulls into the driveway. The
driver pops out and the air suddenly disappears from my lungs. I don’t need anyone
to tell me it’s her. Her hair is the same color as mine and, even though it’s
pulled up, I know it’s curly. She’s definitely smaller, like me, but probably
not as short. She makes her way around to the back of her car and lifts the
rear gate. There are a bunch of white shopping bags and she starts rummaging
through them. When she starts grabbing some and placing them on her arm,
something drags me from my seat. I know I shouldn’t get out. I should be
telling Evan to stomp on the gas and get me out of the neighborhood before she
notices a strange car across from her house, but I don’t.

“Kacie?
What are you doing?” I hear Evan ask as the door shuts behind me.

Totally
ignoring all of the things that could go horribly wrong in the next few
minutes, I make my way over to the edge of the driveway. I am only one car
length away from my mother. In the distance, I notice the sound of another car
door closing. I’m not sure whether it’s the sound of the doors or Evan’s
footsteps running up behind me, but something alerts Kristen to the fact that
she’s no longer alone. She turns around and her attention immediately settles
on Evan, who is just stopping at my side. Then she glances at me. Her
expression is clearly one of surprise and disbelief. Both of her arms go slack
and the bags she’s holding slide down to her wrists. None of her fingers react,
letting two of the bags fall to the ground. She doesn’t move to pick them up. I
feel Evan’s hand slide to my lower back, letting me know I’m not alone.

We
remain like that, staring at each other for a long, excruciating time. Just as
I’m about to apologize and turn away, she speaks first. “Your…your arm?” I have
no idea what she’s talking about. Tears form in her eyes, leaving me even more
confused. “What happened to your arm?” Thank goodness Evan’s here because he
runs his fingers lightly along the scar, reminding me I’m still wearing this
stupid brace.

“C-car
accident.” I shake my head, dismissing it, then something occurs to me. “You
care what happened to my arm?”

A tear
falls from each one of her eyes as she attempts to smile. She doesn’t wipe them
away or pretend they aren’t there. “Kacie, I’ve cared for you since the second
I found out I was carrying you, and I haven’t stopped.” She bends over to set
the rest of the bags down on the ground beside her, not taking her eyes off me.
I have this need to go over and help her pick them up, but my feet are rooted
into the cement. “You weren’t supposed to find out about me.” Sadness fills her
face and her cheeks become a little wetter.

“So
I’ve heard.” A large lump has formed in my throat and I swallow hard to push it
away. “I’m not one to really let people tell me what I can and cannot do,
though.” She grins and I relax a bit. “I’m sorry for just showing up here. I
didn’t mean…”

She
shakes her head, stopping me. “Don’t apologize.” A car driving by slows and the
driver calls for Kristen. She waves and it cautiously pulls away. “That’s just
a nosey neighbor,” she informs me.

“I
have a few of those myself,” I respond, making Evan chuckle next to me. “Oh,
I’m sorry. This is Evan.” Kristen takes a deep breath and comes toward us. As
she gets closer, I can see her eyes are a familiar hazel color. Sam was right. Anybody
could tell Kristen and I are related. Realizing just how much I’ve tortured
Sophia simply by the way I look seems like a huge victory.

Kristen
holds her hand out to Evan and he lets go of me to shake it. “It’s nice to meet
you,” she says. She appears nervous. “Would you two like to come in?”  

Evan
starts to answer, but I stop him. “We couldn’t. I’ve taken up enough of your
time.” She nods, as if that’s what she was expecting me to say.

“Kacie,”
Evan says, nudging me. “We could hang around for a few minutes. Maybe help
Kristen carry the bags in.” Our eyes meet and he gives an encouraging smile. I
could do anything with this man standing beside me.

“Are
you sure you don’t mind?” I ask, turning back to Kristen. “I don’t want to keep
you from something.”

“There
isn’t anything important enough to keep me from you today…or any day,” she
answers.

“Okay,”
I say softly. Evan puts his arm over my shoulders and kisses my head. Then he
walks up the driveway toward the back of Kristen’s car.

“He
loves you,” she states, matter-of-factly.

“Not
nearly as much as I love him,” I say, making her smile.

By the
time we catch up, he has gathered all of the bags and his hand is on the raised
gate of her car, ready to close it. “Need anything else from here?”

She
checks her pocket for her keys. “No. I’m good. Thank you.”

“No
problem.”

“You’re
handy to have around,” Kristen teases. He winks at her.

“Very,”
I confirm. Evan and I follow her to the front door and wait patiently for it to
be unlocked. “I can take some of those for you.”

“I
don’t let you carry this shit at home. You think I’m going to let you do it
here?”

“There’s
nothing wrong with this arm.” He only laughs and shakes his head. How
ridiculous of me to think that would matter.

The
inside of Kristen’s house is just as beautiful as the exterior. The foyer leads
to a large open kitchen, which connects to the living room. The woodwork, from
the cabinets to the floor to the furniture, is all dark cherry. The fabric of
her sofa and chairs is a light cream. She has tossed in splashes of light blue
and pale green. From where I’m standing, I can see out of the windows at the
back of the house. There’s a small patio right before a huge yard, which
stretches to a white vinyl fence in the distance.

In the
background, the chatter of Evan and Kristen fades as my eyes find a framed collage
hanging on the wall. I slowly stroll over to it. I don’t understand. How is
this possible? Every picture is of me. They are mostly school portraits from
when I was younger, with an occasional snapshot from home thrown in. The most
recent one is from high school graduation. It’s hard to see through the tears.
I try to blink them away, but a few manage to escape. This is one motherfucking
emotional day and it’s not even lunchtime.

“Kacie?
What’s wrong?” Evan asks, concerned.

“Oh
no!” Kristen cries. “I’ll take it down.” She goes to reach for the frame, but I
place my hand on her elbow.

“Please,
don’t,” I choke out.

“I
didn’t mean to upset you,” she says, lowering her arms. “Sam would sometimes bring
me pictures. I could never bring myself to put any of them away.”

It
shocks me that my father would do something like that. “I’m not upset. It’s
just that no one’s ever hung a picture of me up on a wall before.”

Another
sad look fills her eyes. “I’m so sorry.” It’s almost as if there’s something
else she wants to say, but changes her mind. “When did you find out about me?”
She watches a tear fall over my cheek.

“Only
a week ago.”

Her
eyebrows draw inward and she releases a breath. “Just in case this is the only
time we speak, will you please have a seat and allow me to explain a few
things? If nothing else, I’d like to give you my side of the story. Maybe then
you won’t completely hate me for what I did.”

“I
don’t hate you, not even a little, but I’d really like to hear what you want to
tell me.” She nods and motions for me to have a seat at the table. After
another glance at the pictures, I head that way. Evan intercepts me, placing
his hands on both sides of my face. “I’m fine. I promise.” He relaxes and
kisses my nose, then leads me to a chair.

“Can I
get you something to drink? Eat? Anything at all?” We both decline. I’m too
nervous to put anything near my mouth. She joins us at the table and watches me
shift, trying to get comfortable. “How bad is your arm?”

“It
was bad enough that Noah had to fix it, but he says I’m healing well.”

“You
had to have surgery?” She obviously knows what my brother does for a living.

“She
did,” Evan answers. “And she handled it better than the rest of us.”

“Noah
wanted to come with me to see you, but I hadn’t planned on coming until this
morning.”

Kristen
smiles, but it quickly disappears. “I’d love to see him again, but I’m not
supposed to. You’re the only one I’ll risk talking to.” My heart breaks and
feels whole all at the same time. She clearly feels bad for leaving my brother,
but she picked me over him. No one’s
ever
done that.

“About
that…,” Evan says, pulling a paper out of his back pocket. He hands it to me
and smirks, knowing he got caught doing something he shouldn’t have. “I’m
always prepared, sweetheart.”

“How
the hell did you get this out of the house without me knowing?”

“When
you jumped in the shower, I took it out to the car.”

“Sneaky
bastard,” I mumble. I place the paper on the edge of the table, then slide it
across to Kristen.

“What’s
this?” she asks, unfolding it.

“Sam
released you from your previous agreement. You can talk to whomever you want.”

“I
don’t understand. Why would he do that?”

Evan
laughs. “Because his daughter forced him.”

“You
did?”

I
shrug. “He has no right to control anyone, especially you.”

“I
don’t know what to say.”

“How
about we just get back to what happened?” I suggest.

She
sets the paper aside and folds her hands. “I’m assuming you know I was Noah’s
babysitter?” I nod. “Well, by the time my senior year of high school came to a
close, I felt as though I had worn out my welcome at my boyfriend’s parents’
house. My parents were killed in a car accident, and his parents took me into
their home. I had no other family.”