AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“We’ve been texting a bit. I didn’t expect him to be so...” A querying silence fell over her, and her mother didn’t try to fill in the gaps. “I don’t know. Understanding. Supportive. Constant.”
“Then what’s the problem?”
“I don’t know how long it will last.” Damn, that hurt to admit. “I can’t move home, Mom.”
“It’s too soon to worry about that.” Claire sighed. “I hate to suggest that you just have a fling, but you’re a grown up. Just because Kyle lives here doesn’t mean he can’t make the drive to Chicago. And I’d love it if you visited more, even if your primary reason was a booty call.”
Laney laughed. “Oh god, Mom!”
“What? I understand how the world works these days.”
The receptionist chose that moment to call her name, and Laney quickly told her mother that she loved her.
As she sat in the salon chair, she closed her eyes and mused. He’d called her twice. All morning she’d thought about calling him, taking the initiative and demonstrating that she was in, committed to whatever this was between them. Sending the photos had been easy. Flirting was easy. Actually making a call was something much more dangerous. An acknowledgement that she cared about him beyond hooking up. With their history, caring was a slippery slope. What could love between them look like? Two homes, five hundred kilometres apart. Two weekends a month, coordinating vacation time, big phone bills and long empty nights.
Not being with him at all, though...the idea of saying goodbye, of pushing Kyle away, caused hot tears to well up behind her eyelids. Blinking furiously, she redirected her attention to the magazine in her lap. The salon wasn’t the place to think about breaking up with someone. The other options weren’t really options at all. She couldn’t move home. And she couldn’t ask Kyle to leave Wardham. He’d made it clear that was his happy place, where he’d invested years of teaching service. Where he’d literally started to build his own home. His friends, his family. And it’s not like she’d be offering him much. An hour before bed. Half of her weekends.
Isn’t that his call, though? Kyle didn’t need her protection. He’d drawn that boundary before, he would again if it got to be too much. Stabby pains danced through her gut at that realization. This wasn’t completely her decision. He seemed all in, but for how long?
Someone tapped her on the shoulder and guided her over to the wash station. As the highlight foils slipped out of her hair, she bristled at herself. Would she really let it fall apart again?
She needed to go for what she wanted.
Laney pulled out her phone as she left the salon and dialled his number. Fear be damned. He answered on the first ring, his voice eager but breathless.
“Did I catch you at a bad time?” She stepped into the street and hailed a cab. “I’m just heading home, I could call you back when I get there.”
“No, it’s fine, I was just unloading the truck. I’m glad you called. Are you all ready for tonight?”
“Pretty much. My hair and makeup are done, my introduction notes are written, I’ve memorized all the key points about donors.”
“Do you have your dancing shoes picked out?”
“I don’t think I’m going to do much dancing tonight.” She flushed as vivid memories of the last dance they shared crashed into her head.
“You love to dance.” Kyle lowered his voice. “You should let some fat cats twirl you around the dance floor and make you feel beautiful.”
“You wouldn’t be jealous?”
He laughed. “Are you kidding me? But at the end of the night, you’d call me. They get you for a moment. You’re mine for...”
“For what?” Laney whispered. It was time for the hesitation to end. “I’m yours. Right? I’m yours for...”
Kyle cleared his throat. “Are you almost home?”
She nodded, then remembered he couldn’t see her. “Yeah. One more block.”
He didn’t say anything, and into the silence she spilled all sorts of possible meaning. She took a deep breath and pressed her hand against her stomach. “Kyle...”
“Shhh, it’s okay.”
“What is that, your new catch phrase? Hang on, I just need to pay the cab.” She reached into her purse and grabbed a twenty. She didn’t bother to wait for change. It was New Year’s Eve, after all. And she had a phone conversation to get back to.
She exchanged nods with the doorman as she walked toward the building. “Please, Kyle. This is really hard for me. I don’t know why I’m so scared, I just am.”
“You don’t need to be scared, beautiful. Look up.” She heard the words through the phone and in front of her at the same time. Kyle was standing in her lobby, looking nervous and handsome and oh so very real. He wore a black suit jacket over jeans and a dress shirt, and he was clean shaven. She squeaked as her phone tumbled to the ground and she flung herself into his arms, driving him back a few steps.
“You’re mine forever, sweetheart. Forever.” Kyle eased her back to the ground and cupped her face in his hands. “I love you so much, Laney Calhoun. I love you here, in Chicago. I love you at the end of a 24 hour shift. I love you in this giant glass building that doesn’t seem to have parking for pickup trucks, and I love you even though you don’t think you have time or space in your life for a relationship.”
