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His eyebrows rose. Kiera quickly added, "I mean, I didn't know you lived here. I didn't know you’d left Madison."
Cobalt eyes bored into hers as he clipped, "I left after the love of my life shattered my heart into a million pieces and ran off with another man."
Kiera stepped back and wrapped her arms around her stomach. Bumping into the counter behind her, she looked at the floor as a tear slid down her cheek. "There were ..." Swallowing, she tried again, softly saying, "There were extenuating circumstances."
4
David walked into Kiera's home with a sense of dread and foreboding. His senses had just been shocked. He would recover, but he wasn't sure he could tolerate meeting her husband. That left a bitter taste in his mouth he would never be rid of. His eyes searched the living area, ever observant, and he saw her warm brown leather sofa with a soft cream-colored throw laying across one arm. The tall windows to the left of the sofa treated him to a beautiful view of Harmony Lake, and several pleasure boaters glided across the water in the no-wake zone directly in front. The flat screen television was affixed to the wall directly across from the sofa, and a beautiful antique oak dresser sat below it with a smattering of picture frames on the top. He quickly looked away. The last thing he wanted to see was pictures of her family—smiling and enjoying family moments, the moments that were stolen from him. Quickly turning around, his eyes fixed on Kiera as she moved into the kitchen in the open concept space. She had a limp in her gait, though it seemed she was trying to hide it.
He remembered warm summer days sitting in the park with her. They were college students and money was not plentiful, so they would linger in the park, holding hands, stealing kisses when they could and drink raspberry tea. She had a favorite fuzzy blanket that was ever present everywhere they went.
He closed his eyes a moment. Opening them, he watched as Kiera opened the refrigerator and pulled out the glass pitcher containing the amber-red liquid.
She was still beautiful. Her hair was still deep brown, though she had added caramel highlights to it. Her waist was trim, her legs lean. As she poured her tea, he detected a slight tremor in her hands. She raised the glass to her lips, and he noticed she wasn't wearing a wedding ring.
Crack. Another bolt of lightning, straight to his heart.
Then she’d saidextenuating circumstances,and the anger raged through his body at the speed of light.
"Really? That's it? Your excuse for breaking my heart is ‘extenuating circumstances’?" Letting out a huff of breath, he turned his back to her and stared out the windows. Unfuckingbelievable.
"David, I'm so sorry. I would have given anything not to hurt you. Anything. I didn't have a choice."
Whirling around, his jaw so tight he thought it would break, both hands balled into fists, he growled, "I don't want to hear your lame ass excuses. No explanation, no phone call, and no reason other than something you had to do on a fucking shitty note?” Taking a deep breath, he continued his rant. “We were together for three fucking years. We talked about getting married. I thought you were happy. I was delirious. And then I find a note on the kitchen table when I wake up in the morning and you were gone. I tried calling you. I tried finding you. I called all of your friends. Nothing!"
Tears rolled down her cheeks—she stepped forward; he took a step back. She froze. Shrugging and holding her hands out to the side, she whispered, "I don't know what else to say."
His heart beat out a rapid staccato. "Look, the best I think we can do now is nothing. I'll send one of my men over to take a look at this job. I won't say anything to Gray about this if you don't want me to. I just can't …” He stopped, heaving out a breath. "I can't do this."
Turning, he walked to the door, twisted the knob, pulled it open, and walked out.
He stomped down the steps. He could have taken the elevator, but he was pissed, and he needed the physical activity to blow off steam. When he reached the bottom step, he took off at a run. Since he’d parked a fair distance away, the run would help expel some energy. Unfortunately, he reached his truck far too soon. Dammit. Hitting the button on the fob to unlock the door, he slid inside and slammed the door closed. After putting the key in the ignition, he sat in his truck, looking up at the building. A sob escaped before he could rein it in. He pushed the heels of his hands to his eyes and took deep cleansing breaths to calm himself. Swallowing down the bitter taste and willing his heart to slow, he slid his hands back to the nape of his neck and looked straight ahead.
He should probably go back in and apologize. He didn't give her the chance to explain what the extenuating circumstances were, and fuck, he’d made her cry. He hated it when she cried. Surprisingly, it still bothered him, after all these years. Slapping his hand on the steering wheel, he cursed. He couldn't go back up there now; he was too wired.
Driving back to the office, he drove faster than he should have and took a couple unnecessary risks. The look of a little girl in the back seat of a car when he sped past brought him back to reality. He had no business putting others in danger because he was in a mood. Fuck it all, anyway—he hadn't seen Kiera in close to 30 years, and the blasted woman still affected him. Just seeing her knocked all sense out of his head. But watching her move across her room, doing mundane things like pouring fucking tea, caused his cock to harden and his balls to ache with a vengeance. When he saw her tears, he reacted badly. Because of her, he had cried more than any man should ever cry in one lifetime.
His phone rang. He hit the button on his dashboard to connect the call and barked, "What."
"Whoa, what's up, boss?"
Letting out a long breath, he responded, "Sorry, Jason. What can I do for you?"
"Ahh, well, I'm done with the job at the Jacksons’ and wondered if you needed help at the Donnelly place."
Breathing in a deep breath, he said, "As a matter of fact, I do. I didn't finish–I needed to leave. Why don't you go on over there and run the estimate? And while you’re there, get some time frames from the client as to when we can go in and install."
"Okay." After a lengthy pause, Jason asked, "Everything okay, boss?"
David's mouth formed a straight line as he watched the car in front of him maneuver a sloppy turn. Shaking his head, he said, "Yeah. Just a tough day. Sorry I snapped before, Jase. You'll do well on the job; I have faith in you."
Jason's smile could be heard through the phone. "Thanks, boss. That makes me proud. Anyway, gotta go. I'll talk to you later.”
* * *
Kiera limped across the hardwood floors in her tan house slippers. Looking through the peephole, she saw a man with a name badge from David's company standing at her door. Today was install day. It had been a long darn week. She’d cried nearly every night, picked up the phone several times to call David, to see if she could explain. It was time to explain. She didn't even know if he was still married. Did he have kids? She didn't want to disrupt his life, but she believed in the adage that everything happens for a reason. There was a reason God brought her here to Harmony Lake at this time in her life. After she signed the papers for the sale of her house, she had stopped at her favorite coffee shop. Sitting at a little table next to Gray and Sam, the happiest looking couple she’d ever seen, she smiled as she watched them under her lashes. They laughed and held hands, talked about their kids and grandkids, and it was fantastic to see a couple their age behaving like newlyweds.
Over coffee, they shared stories of buildings they had each designed and some architectural philosophies. It was meant to be.
