All I want is for him to pull me into his arms and tell me everything will be okay, but I know he can’t.
Turning without another look back, I pull the door open. The cold air hits me in the face, but I don’t feel it. The emotions twirling around inside my chest block everything out.
I hear my dad calling out my name, but I don’t stop as I open my car door and get inside, ready to go back to the cabin. I need to figure out exactly what I’m going to do.
It doesn’t matter if the man I really love is in there with his best friend. It doesn’t matter because I can’t be with him anyway.
Lance
The sadness in her eyes is something I never want to see again. I know how close she has always been with her parents, especially her dad. She has worked so hard to make him proud, and I know him saying those things hurt her. The urge to defend her almost took over the logical side of my brain, but I didn’t want to make things worse. But now that she’s gone, I feel like it’s only right I help smooth things over the best I can.
Reba stands behind her husband and looks conflicted about whether she should go after Kallie or stay here with Robert, but she quickly decides to stay. Her hand whacks the back of Robert’s head. His head jerks forward before he turns, giving his wife a confused look. “What in the world was that for, Reba?”
“For being an imbecile, Robert. How insensitive are you? She came back so she could work through things, and all because she’s not going back to New York, you think it’s okay to be an ass to her? It’s her life, Robert, and it’s not okay for you to make her feel bad for her choices. We are her parents, and that was uncalled for.” Deciding I should give them some space, I turn and walk into the kitchen.
I pull my phone out and send Kallie a text to make sure she’s okay.
Me: Are you okay, sunshine?
It goes unanswered, so I look around the already spotless kitchen. Kallie woke up this morning and made breakfast. And by made breakfast, I mean she burnt the pancakes and eggs—two different times. She’s good at a lot of things, but cooking isn’t one. We settled for a bowl of cereal and coffee before her parents showed up.
Robert makes his way into the kitchen, a hand running through his greying hair as he pulls out a bar stool and sits. I lean back against the counter and cross my arms. I can’t help but be agitated at how he treated Kallie, but I understand he just wants what’s best for her.
“Give it to me straight, Lance. Was I wrong?” He looks defeated.
“You know you’re my best friend, Robert, but you were a tad out of line with Kallie. She was in a rough state of mind when she got here. The night she came into the bar, all she did was drink until I took her home. Just the past few days, I’ve seen a real difference in her. She was smiling. She was happy. But you knocked her down with disapproval,” I tell him, pushing off the counter and gripping his shoulder. He looks deep in thought as Reba walks through the door. She grabs my hand and pulls me back into the living room.
“Give him a minute and he’ll get his head out of his ass,” she laughs. “Thank you for helping Kallie. I know you didn’t have to, but sometimes she thinks she has to do everything alone.”
I know exactly what she means. Kallie feels like she hasn’t had any control after Alex, so she's going to do whatever she can to get through all of this without anyone else. But I won’t let her do this alone. Reba must understand where my mind went, because she’s smiling at me when I look back at her.
“Go.” She winks at me before heading back to where her husband is.
“What about—” I go to ask, but Reba just shakes her head.
“Don’t worry about Robert,” she says, crossing the threshold to the kitchen.
I don’t waste time. Grabbing my keys, I open the door. I need to make sure she’s okay. I need to feel her lips on mine. I need to tell her everything will be just fine.
Chapter Fifteen
Kallie
The cabin has poweragain. The Christmas decorations are all in the same place, but they don’t feel right anymore. All I wanted was to spend the day with my parents, with Lance, even if I wasn’t able to kiss or touch him like I could before. He was still there, my anchor in the drifting sea, and now, I’m alone with my thoughts.
I grab the throw blanket and wrap it around me, plopping down on the corner of the couch. The large windows along the back wall give me a perfect view of the snow falling outside. It's a light dusting, nothing that will knock the power out again—though part of me wishes it would so Lance could come back and rescue me.
As if he can read my thoughts, the door of the cabin opens, and standing in the doorway is the man I was just thinking about.
“Lance? What are you doing here?” I stand, the blanket falling to the ground.
“I just needed to make sure you were okay, sunshine.” He moves forward, scooping me off my feet and into his arms as his lips press against mine.
I pull back and ask, “What about my dad?”
“Don’t worry about him. Your mom is talking some sense into him.”
“My mom—” I ask, confused. “My mom knows you’re here?”
