Let It Be Me (Let It Be Me #1) (20 page)

“I was wondering if I can visit you Sunday,” Kayla said.

 “Oh Kayla, of course we would love to have you here,” her aunt exclaimed. “Why don’t you come Saturday so you can stay for the night?” That was what she used to do before.

“Thanks, Aunt Heidi, but I have work to do on Saturday,” Kayla fibbed. As much as she missed seeing her relatives, she needed to take it slow with them. It has been two years after all since things were all normal among them.

“Of course, dear,” her aunt conceded, though she heard some disappointment. 

“I can’t wait to go home again,” Kayla assured.

And maybe she could learn to stop running away.   

Chapter 24

The train ride from New York to New Jersey that Sunday was quite calming for Kayla. The solitude allowed her to gather her bearings. She used to visit her aunt and uncle once or twice a month years ago. Riding the train back to New Jersey after all that time brought back some fond memories.

She was greeted outside by her uncle, when the cab she rode from the station stopped outside their home.

“Uncle Joe!” she greeted, running to him like she was a kid again. Uncle Joe gave her his famous bear hug which she’s missed so much. Her uncle has been her fatherly figure while she was growing up.

They heard the door squeak. They both looked to see Nick with his little boy Nate sitting on his arm. “Look who’s here, Nate!”

Kayla rushed to them to hug Nick and Nate together. 

“I’m so glad you’re here!” Kayla exclaimed. Nick and his family lived half an hour away, so Kayla didn’t ask her aunt to have them there too. She didn’t want to be an imposition. But she was glad they made it.

She kissed Nate on the cheek, as the boy looked at her with interest. She only saw Nate in the wedding briefly, so she wasn’t able to have a close look. He was still a baby when she last saw him, but has turned into a handsome toddler. Indeed Nate was the spitting image of his dad. 

“Are Meredith and Mona here too?” Kayla asked. 

“Of course!” Nick said. “Mom said you’d be coming over. We all missed you.”

“I hope the kids will like the gifts!” Kayla said, motioning towards the paper bag she had with her. Since she really didn’t have any work the previous day, she resorted to retail therapy and bought gifts for her relatives.

“I’m sure they will,” Nick said. 

“And Deirdre?” she asked curiously. She wasn’t really that ready to face Deirdre and Barry again, but if they were there, she was going to just handle it.

“She and Barry are still in Australia,” Nick said matter-of-factly. Good thing he didn’t make an issue of it.

Kayla nodded. She heard some time during the wedding Deirdre and Barry were going to Sydney for their honeymoon.

“You’re just in time for lunch,” Uncle Joe said. “Your aunt has been cooking all morning. She missed cooking for you.”

“And I miss her cooking!” Kayla exclaimed. She spent school breaks with them during her college years. Since she didn’t have enough money to splurge on food during the school days, her aunt would spoil her over the weekends, sometimes even preparing microwavable leftovers for her.

As the four of them entered the house, they were welcomed by Meredith, Nick’s wife, and Mona, their five-year-old girl. 

“Kayla, so good to see you!” Meredith said, enveloping her into a hug. Meredith was a petite all-American girl Nick met years back when they worked in the same insurance office. Meredith has very fair skin, blonde hair and blue eyes. “We didn’t get to talk during the wedding.” Since she and Nick were close, Kayla got to know Meredith too. Unfortunately, Meredith was one of the people Kayla unintentionally avoided since the Deirdre incident.

“I know! You were busy with the kids. Sorry I had to leave so early.”

“That was what I wanted to talk to you about,” Meredith teased, with a twinkle in her eye.

Kayla knew she was referring to Alex going with her to the wedding. Unwilling to think about him, Kayla feigned a laugh then knelt down to be almost eye-to-eye with Mona. Mona got her dad’s dark hair and Meredith’s eyes. She was bound to be a knockout when she grows up. “Mona, honey, I missed you,” she said, hugging the little girl. Mona hesitated; she was not as familiar with her aunt as she used to be when she was still a toddler. They used to play together every weekend when Kayla visited.

Kayla got sad about the lost time.

Just when she was about to pull away Mona suddenly said, “Aunt La-la,” and Kayla almost cried as her niece called her with the nickname she coined when she couldn’t say Kayla. She still remembered her. She hugged the girl another time.

She quickly wiped away a single tear that escaped as she stood up. Nick was there beside her, placing his arm around her shoulders.

“Come on, Mom doesn’t know you’re here yet,” he said, leading her into the kitchen. What she loved about Nick was that he knew when not to make a big deal of something. He was helping her adjust back to them naturally.

The two of them entered the kitchen to find her aunt taking out a tray from the oven.

“Kayla!” she greeted as Kayla gave her a hug. “I’m so glad you’re here.”

“I’m glad I’m here too,” Kayla said. She looked around the kitchen. “You prepared all my favorites, Aunt Heidi. You wanted to fatten me up?”

“Yes,” her aunt said. “You’re so thin; even thinner than when I saw you in Deirdre’s wedding with your hunk of a man.”

Kayla didn’t comment. It was still too painful to say that Alex was no longer part of her life, and that she was thinner because she really didn’t have the urge to eat much for the past weeks.

“Let’s eat then,” Nick said.

They all helped out in setting the table and bringing out the food. She’s done it with them so many times before that it didn’t feel awkward even if it’s been almost two years since she joined them for a meal.

It wasn’t long till they all sat around the table.

Aunt Heidi led the prayer. “O Lord, thank You for the food we are about to partake. Thank You for the gift of love and family. And most of all, thank You that our dear Kayla is here with us.”

Kayla looked up from her bowed head in surprise as everyone chanted “Amen”, and saw that her aunt and uncle, Nick and Meredith were all looking at her with gratitude.

She smiled at each one of them, silently thanking them for welcoming her.

Lunch became chaotic as Uncle Joe cut slices of the roast pork, Meredith helped Mona, and Nick started preparing Nate’s food. Aside from the roast pork, Aunt Heidi prepared her favorite
arroz con gandules
, a rice dish which was a meal in itself since it had beans, meat and spices. Her mom also used to cook that as their Puerto Rican mom taught it to them. She also prepared corned beef stew. 

Despite everything else, Kayla enjoyed the food and the company. She heard about Nick’s work as well as Meredith’s – they no longer worked in the same office. She heard about Nate’s play group and his music potential. Nick and Meredith got him a play drum set and Nate had a good ear for beats.

“You should play for me sometime, Nate,” Kayla told him. Nate looked at her shyly.

Mona was taking beginners’ lessons for ballet and she was enjoying it.

“Who would have known that your kids would be so talented, Nick,” she kidded. “All you did before was play video games!”

Everyone laughed, as Kayla and Nick exchanged a grin.

She listened to her aunt’s latest book club reads, and about her uncle’s baseball team winning their latest game. He was a huge fan of the Baltimore Orioles since he was originally from Maryland.

Kayla gave a rundown of the projects she was working on.

They feasted more on the food when Nick suddenly said, “Hold on, we might as well address elephant in the room.” 

Kayla looked at him, and worried it was time for Deirdre and Barry to be mentioned. 

Nick looked at her and asked, “What the hell was Alex Stone doing with you at the wedding?”

Kayla gulped. Although she was sure his name was going to be brought up, she wasn’t prepared enough to answer.

“He’s a client who became a friend of mine,” she plainly answered, trying to control her voice and her emotions. “We are working on a housing development with his foundation.”

“A pretty close friend for him to go with you to the wedding,” Nick teased.

Kayla shrugged, trying to act nonchalant. “Someone from the party squealed though,” she said. “Good thing, Alex’s bodyguard found about it just in time.” She didn’t hear about any photo in the tabloids. There weren’t any reporters calling her so she assumed she was clear.

“Must be one of Deidre’s friends,” Nick guessed, shaking his head. 

“Oh, I saw you in the newspaper,” Aunt Heidi said excitedly. 

“Really?” Kayla said. She worried she spoke too soon and that a photo did come out. 

“I’ll get it,” Uncle Joe volunteered. “Your aunt cut it out.”

Her uncle came back right away with a newspaper clipping. He handed it to her before sitting back down.

Kayla recognized the picture from the fund-raising event. The whole team was there along with Alex, Ben and Henry. Alex was standing beside her. It must be the only picture they had together. Although sad, Kayla smiled at the glimpse of him. She’s been avoiding looking at tabloids or the television to see what he’s been up to. But seeing a photo of them together when they were still okay reminded her of the better times.

“Yes, that was from the fund-raising dinner their foundation organized,” Kayla explained as Nick got the clipping from her to look at it. 

“That’s so exciting!” Meredith said. She got the clipping from Nick and said, “Your dress is gorgeous!”

“Thanks!”

“Mingling with Hollywood stars, eh?” Nick further teased.

“Everyone ready for dessert?” her aunt asked, and Kayla was grateful for the diversion. 

Her aunt entered the kitchen and quickly came back out with a tray. When she placed the dish on the table, Kayla saw it was bread pudding.

“Oh I missed this!” Kayla said.

“Don’t worry dear, I will prepare some for you to bring home,” her aunt said, winking.

“I’ll make coffee for everyone,” Kayla volunteered, standing up.

“I’ll help you,” Nick offered, standing up too.

The two of them went to the kitchen to collect the pot of coffee and some saucers.

“Are you okay, Kayla?” Nick asked. Nick’s known her for thirty years. He must have picked up on her mood.

“Given the circumstances I think I’m okay,” Kayla answered as truthfully as she could, even it was just half of it. “I know it hasn’t been this way for over a year now, but you guys are being amazing.”

“Of course, Kayla, we are your family,” Nick said. “I’m sorry if we didn’t try enough to reach out to you sooner. But we just thought you needed the time.”

Kayla nodded. “And you were right.”

“You’re sure there isn’t anything else bothering you?” he asked.

Kayla ignored his question then just said, “They might be waiting for the coffee.”

She walked out with the tray of saucers along with the containers of sugar and milk. Nick brought out the pot.

“Hope you haven’t finished up the pudding,” Kayla kidded.

“I made two trays, Kayla,” her aunt assured. “I think you’ll be able to bring home food enough for the entire week!”

“Oh no, I have to make time to go to the gym!” Kayla exclaimed with a smile.

Mona and Nate obviously loved the pudding as they happily gorged on the servings they had on their plastic bowls. 

When they were done with dessert, Aunt Heidi stood up. “You boys watch the game. Meredith also has to clean up the kids. Kayla, kindly help me with the dishes.” Kayla knew she wanted to talk to her alone.

“Nothing like watching the game after a wonderful meal,” Uncle Joe said. 

It was just like old times.

Kayla followed Aunt Heidi to the kitchen. “I wash, you wipe,” she said.

Kayla took the dishtowel and waited as her aunt started rinsing the dishes.

“Are you and Alex dating?” her aunt asked directly.

“No,” Kayla replied quickly. “Uh, he’s a good friend.”

A friend she hurt badly. And terribly missed.

“I see. It’s a good thing you’re surrounding yourself with friends,” her aunt said. She passed Kayla a dish to wipe.

“Your uncle and I are part of the cause of your pain those years ago,” she said. “Maybe we spoiled Deirdre too much. She got used to getting everything she wanted.”

Kayla started to shake her head, thinking it was wrong they were even partially blaming themselves. She and Uncle Joe have been wonderful to her all those years.

“But we’re proud of you for surviving this, Kayla,” she continued. “You’re a very strong person, but give yourself a break sometimes and allow other people to share your burden. Especially when they are willing to do so. When you allow that to happen the more free you will be.”

Kayla looked at her aunt in wonder. It seemed like her aunt knew what she was going through more than she was letting on. 

Chapter 25

Her aunt’s words resonated as she took the bus back to New York. She has forgotten how wise her aunt could be. When her mom was sick, it was her aunt who was comforting her even if she was suffering herself from having a sick sister.

Allow other people to share your burden
.

Alex has been there for her. She told him things about herself that not even Jenny knew about her. Jenny didn’t know about her relationship with Barry or about Deirdre. No one outside her family knew about how she lived with her mom. 

Except Alex.

She remembered what Alex said. She would have survived going the wedding on her own. But she chose to allow him to come with her. She could have given him a harder fight if she really didn’t want him there. 

It turned out she’s been opening up to Alex without her realizing it. She forgot his stature as she shared that part of herself with him. She considered him her equal as she disclosed all those stuff to him. Yes, he led a high-profile life, but when it really mattered, he was the Alex she actually learned to trust.