Page 91 of Second Time Around
A strange pleasure expanded in his chest because she had confided her worries to him. “Schuyler will do her best to keep it out of court, and her best is damned good. Allen should be very, very worried.”
“Thank you for being willing to bring your family into this. It’s really generous of you and Schuyler.”
“We’ll get this straightened out.” He spoke with conviction. Because he desperately wanted to help her.
“Right. Thanks again. Um, good-bye.”
Before he could say anything else, she had hung up. He slammed the phone against his thigh in frustration.
Kyra sent Emily a text, explaining that Schuyler Chase would be contacting her, if she hadn’t already. Then she dragged a stool into the pantry, closed the door, and let the tears roll down her cheeks.
Hearing Will’s voice had ripped the bandage off the wound of their parting and set it bleeding again. She wished she could blame a hangover for the agony pounding through her today.
She didn’t just miss his company ... and his body. She missed the feeling that someone else in the world cared enough about her to put her needs first. Will had made her feel that way, even though he didn’tlove her. And now he had drawn his sister into Kyra’s problems. It felt so much like love that it devastated her to know that it wasn’t.
His kindness teased her, seduced her into thinking she wasn’t alone when she really was. She hadn’t expected their brief fling to weaken her defenses so much. It was that old friendship that had fooled her into lowering her barriers with him, as if they were back in the ivory tower of college, where real life differences didn’t matter.
Now she was going to have to reconstruct her tough shell. She couldn’t afford the luxury of unrequited love. She needed all her strength to survive.
Stripping the plastic off a new roll of paper towels, Kyra wiped her eyes with the rough material and stood up.
No more contact with Will.
A couple of hours later, Emily Wade walked into the kitchen. Instead of her usual mug of coffee, she carried a cardboard box bearing the logo of a bakery a couple of blocks away. “The world’s most decadent chocolate cupcakes,” Emily said, flipping open the box. “For comfort endorphins. We both need them.”
Kyra put down the knife she was using to chop carrots. “It’s that bad?” She grabbed two plates and slid them onto the counter. “Would you like tea or coffee?”
“I’ve had so much coffee I’m vibrating, so herbal tea would be wonderful,” Emily said as she set the cupcakes on the plates. “Even the caffeine in the chocolate will probably make my hair stand on end, but I need it. And you look like you do, too. I’m so sorry about Will.”
Kyra kept her gaze on the teakettle she was filling at the sink. “It was a rough weekend, but it’s over. You’ve got the bigger problem.” Setting the kettle on the stove, she busied herself with getting out cups, saucers, spoons, and tea bags.
Emily waited for Kyra to sit before she laid a hand on her forearm. “You care about Will. I have to say that I think he cares about you, too, since he got his sister to take on our case.”
Kyra sighed. “That’s the kicker. He does care about me. Just not as anything more than a friend with benefits.” Kyra looked down at Emily’s comforting hand and felt the glow of a budding friendship. “I feel more for him than he does for me and that doesn’t work for either of us.”
“Well, crap.” Emily sighed. “Maybe he just doesn’t recognize how he really feels about you.”
Kyra met Emily’s eyes. “Let’s face it ... his world and mine are so far apart they might as well be separate planets. It would take a heck of a lot of feelings to bridge that divide, especially since his mother thinks I’m poor white trash.”
“I believed that about the differences between Max and me,” Emily said. “But it turns out that the problem of money can be overcome.” She made a comic face. “His mother I can’t help you with.”
“His mother is just a symbol of the biggest divide. I’m blue-collar Pennsylvania and he’s blue-blood Connecticut. College sort of smooths out those kinds of differences. You all live in the same dorms. You all take the same classes. You all go to the same frat parties. Some people dress better than others, of course. But it’s more of a meritocracy. If you’re smart, you’re accepted. That’s one reason I loved it so much.”
The teakettle whistled and Kyra got up to pour the tea.
“I never went to college,” Emily said, her voice wistful. “I took classes at the county extension, but that’s not the same. I envy you.”
Kyra didn’t remind Emily that her higher education had lasted only two years and led to nothing but debt. At least she had been given the experience Emily had missed, so maybe she should feel some gratitude. “Brunell was like the best dream I’d ever had, except better because I learned so much.”
As Kyra sat down, Emily picked up her cupcake and held it toward Kyra as though it were a glass of wine in a toast. Kyra touched her cupcake to Emily’s. “Here’s to the healing powers of chocolate!”
Kyra bit into the pastry and closed her eyes as the flavor and aroma of rich, dark sweetness filled her senses. “Oh my God, who needs a man when you can have this cupcake?”
Emily giggled. “Men are less fattening.”
The giggle was infectious and Kyra found herself joining in. Even though their laughter was pure release of tension, it felt good to be silly and girly while they savored their cupcakes. Kyra had so little free time that she’d never been able to build close friendships with other women. Cleo at Stratus was probably her closest female friend, and that relationship rarely extended beyond work because they were both so tired at the end of their shifts.
Kyra had always seen Emily as the center’s director, not someone she could relax with. But maybe Emily could be a friend. Kyra certainly needed one.
