Room for You (11 page)

“I didn’t know you’d been seeing anyone,” Viper responded.

“I haven’t, just met her last week when I was stuck up north in that damn storm. I wasn’t even looking for anyone. I was driving along, minding my own business and bam! Now I can’t stop thinking about her.”

Viper was quiet, staring off into space.

I sighed. “Go ahead, asshole. Give me shit about it, I can handle it.”

“I’m not giving you shit, I was just trying to remember if in my whole life, there’s ever been a girl that I couldn’t stop thinking about. There have been girls I thought about for a night then forgot them shortly after I fucked them, but thinking about someone for a week? No way. That’s worth fighting for, dude. Season’s over, you have time. Turn the tables, prove her wrong. Then make her beg.”

Viper was right and I couldn’t say that often. Kacie didn’t know me, how could she possibly know that I was a dead-end road? She was making a snap judgment based on what I did for a living and if I wanted any chance with her, I had to show her who I really was.

“Now remember, you guys, you have to be quiet in here. Whispering only, okay?”

Lucy and Piper bounced along excitedly next to me as we made our way into the library. It was Princess Day at preschool storytime, and while the girls sang about tiaras, I was going to find a quiet corner to do some studying. Even though it was summer, I wanted to try and get a jump on next fall’s classes, but I hadn’t picked my textbooks up in over a week. Microbiology was going to eat me alive if I didn’t get my head out of the clouds.

I left the girls in the multi-purpose room with a woman who was way too old to be dressing up like Cinderella and found a secluded table along the window, overlooking the lake. I got all set up and cracked open my laptop. Up in the corner of my screen, the search bar still had my last search saved.

Brody Murphy

My heart sank a little at the sight of his name. My eyes drifted out over the lake, getting lost in the ripples, thinking about our texts earlier that morning. He seemed disappointed, and frankly, so was I. If it were just me I wouldn’t have to be so cautious, but every decision I made directly affected Lucy and Piper. That thought weighed on me constantly. I had made enough mistakes in my life. I couldn’t afford any more. Dating an athlete who traveled all the time and led a hectic, non-structured lifestyle was not a luxury I could afford.

“Kacie?”

“Oh my God. Lauren!” I jumped up and threw my arms around my old friend. I pulled back but didn’t let go of her hands. “You look fabulous! What are you doing in town? You normally call first—is everything okay?”

Lauren was a walking, talking Barbie doll, but not the plastic kind. She was an all-natural American beauty. I was convinced that her gene pool was made up of magical sparkling stream water from the tippy top of the Alps. She was taller than me, though that wasn’t saying much because most people were. She had long, wavy blonde hair, sky blue eyes and legs that were two miles long. Her toes were always perfectly polished and no hair was ever out of place. From her looks she should be a total stuck-up snob, but that was the furthest thing from the truth. She was in our same social circle in high school, but we got really close after I had the girls. When I got pregnant, most of my friends took off and distanced themselves, but Alexa and Lauren were my rocks. Zach was always somewhere else, but those two were constantly by my side massaging my sore back and painting my toenails.

“Tommy and I are both back, actually, just visiting our parents. I brought my niece to that storybook lady and saw Lucy and Piper, so I had to find you. Boy, Cinderella probably shouldn’t be wearing that outfit, huh?”

“Definitely not, but the kids go crazy for her. That’s all that matters, I guess. Wanna sit?” I motioned toward the table.

“Sure! I’m actually really glad I ran into you … I was going to stop by your house later.” Lauren chewed on the corner of her lip, her eyebrows creased nervously as she sat across from me.

“Okay, something’s up.” It was right then that I looked down at her hands and saw the huge rock on her left ring finger. “Oh my God! You’re engaged?” I squealed.

The Mr. Rogers lookalike at the next table glared from under his unkempt, bushy gray eyebrows and shushed me.

“Sorry,” I whispered loudly before I turned my attention back to Lauren. “When did this happen?”

“Yesterday. He took me to the park where we had our first date. At first I was annoyed because we were supposed to have dinner with my parents and we were running late. Once I realized what he was doing, I melted. I love him so much, Kacie.”

I scooted around to Lauren’s side of the table and sat down, pulling her into another hug. “I’m so happy for you guys.” That wasn’t a lie, I
was
happy for her, but I couldn’t ignore the twinge of envy inside me.

“Thanks. That’s actually why I was going to stop by later. I know it’s sudden and I’m not being very original about it, but I wanted to ask if you’d be a bridesmaid for me?” She had tears in her eyes, tears of pure happiness. Seeing her overflow of emotion was contagious as my own eyes started welling up for my dear friend.

“I would be honored to be in your wedding, Lauren. Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

She let out a sigh of relief and smiled at me nervously. “I’m glad you feel that way, because we gotta get moving. The wedding is in two and a half months.”

My jaw almost hit the table. “Are you pregnant?”

Lauren laughed and shook her head back and forth. “No, but Tommy got accepted into the Master’s Photography Program at the Liberal Academy of Fine Arts in Florence. We leave at the end of August and we won’t be back until late next spring. We didn’t want to wait that long to get married, and of course, we want our family and friends there, so … we’re bumping it up. Big time.”

“You’re moving to Italy? That’s amazing!” My twinge doubled in size, just the way the Grinch’s heart grew. I was ecstatic for Lauren, but she was living the life I wanted. Being a single parent of twins and still living with my mom at twenty-four wasn’t exactly what I had planned. My petty jealousy disappeared and guilt took over when I saw the joy dancing across Lauren’s face. She was glowing and I owed it to her to ditch my pity party and be the best bridesmaid ever.

“I know, I’m beyond excited. I’m gonna grab some wedding magazines and we can browse. Be right back.”

Pulling into our driveway, I had forgotten it was Friday and was momentarily taken aback by the slew of new cars in the driveway. “Wow girls, lots of new people today,” I said to them, and to myself.

“Mom, Piper got in trouble at storytime,” Lucy blurted out.

I spun around to face them in the backseat.

“I didn’t get in trouble,” Piper argued. “Cinderella told me to keep my voice down.”

“Why? Were you yelling?”

“No. A second grader thinks she knows everything. She said her mommy was running a marathon tomorrow and I told her she was wrong. People can’t run marathons. Marathons are when the same show is on TV all day long.” Piper smirked and looked out her window, mighty proud of herself.

There goes my chance of winning Mother of the Year.

“Come on, weirdos. Let’s go tell Gigi your story, she’ll love that one.”

We climbed out of the car and made our way to the front door. I stopped dead in my tracks, my heart leaping into my throat when I saw a familiar black pickup truck parked further up the driveway. The girls didn’t skip a beat, one passing on each side of me on their way to the front porch.

Okay, Kacie, stop being a freak. You saw his truck once and it was during a torrential downpour, no way is that the same truck
.

I filled my lungs with crisp Minnesota air and exhaled slowly, urging my heartbeat to return to a normal pace.

The girls made their way through the front door, with me a few hesitant steps behind. I was putting our shoes in the closet when I heard the girls squeal from the back of house. “Brody!”

My body froze.

Holy shit.

He was here. Why? To torture me? I closed the closet door and turned to make my way toward the kitchen, pausing in front of the mirror, making sure I looked presentable.

My mom was standing in the kitchen, leaning against the island with her arms folded across her chest, while Brody sat on a stool across from her. He had a baseball cap on, pulled down low. His eyes were shadowed so that I could hardly see them, but I knew he was staring at me. Lucy and Piper were kneeling on the ground petting Diesel, who was licking the leftover cookie crumbs from Cinderella off their faces.

“Hi, honey. How was storytime?” My mom beamed at me like it was no big deal that the sexiest man I had ever laid my eyes on was sitting three feet to her left.

“Um, it was good. They had fun. What’s going on?” I looked back and forth from my mom to Brody.

A small, cocky smile crossed his lips, but he didn’t say a word. His stare was too intense. I looked back to my mom.

“Nothin’, just hanging out. Brody called this morning to see if we had any vacancies and we did, so he’s staying for the weekend. Fred’s a little giddy. He’s out back re-stringing his fishing poles.” Mom chuckled. “Come on, girls, let’s take Diesel outside and give him some fresh water on the deck.”

The girls hopped up and followed Mom to the back door with Diesel on their heels.

“Gigi, Piper got in trouble at storytime.” Lucy babbled to Mom on their way out the back door.

“So, what? You just needed a weekend getaway?” I said dryly to Brody once the back door closed.

“No, I missed Fred.” He shot back with a wicked grin.

I rolled my eyes and turned to the fridge, grabbing a bottle of water and a bowl of grapes. Without turning around I asked, “Can I get you anything, since you’re a paying guest and all?”

He let out a short chuckle. “No thanks, but don’t eat too much. We’re leaving for dinner in a couple hours.”

I spun around and locked eyes with him. “Dinner?”

“Yeah … dinner,” he replied confidently.

“But this morning we agreed-”

“We agreed to be friends. Friends have dinner together. I already asked your mom to babysit.”

“You … when…” I sputtered words but no sentences.

“So, like I said … don’t eat too much.” He got up and pushed the stool in, locking eyes with me one more time. “I’d like you to be … hungry … when we go out later.” He winked at me as he turned to head out the back door.

My room at the inn was painted a calming shade of bluish gray, and thank God I don’t mind that color because I stared at it for two hours while I was hiding from Kacie. Not that I wanted to avoid her, but I knew I got under her skin in the kitchen and I wanted her thinking about me for a couple hours before dinner, so I was out of sight. I stretched out on the bed, wondering what she was doing right now. Was she down in the kitchen giving the girls dinner? Was she reading on the back deck? Was she sitting at the island chewing on her bottom lip while concentrating on her nursing stuff? It was killing me to be this close but not talking to her so I grabbed my phone.