Page 26 of Kyle
He looked pleased at that.
"She lit up a room," he remembered. "And yes, she was beautiful." He shrugged. "Dad loved her to pieces. I often thought she was the glue that held everything together. They would do everything together. It was obvious he adored her." His fingers tightened on the cup. "She wanted four children." He smiled at that. "She told me once that she wanted to fill the place with children."
"But she only had you and Jessica."
At the mention of his sister, he stared into his coffee cup.
"We're not close," he admitted sadly. "We each went our own way and never tried to get along. Mother certainly tried, but hell, we were too different. She had her friends and her life and so did I."
He sipped the coffee and wondered why he was telling her all this.
"Anyway, to answer your question, yeah, I miss her."
She didn't think; if she had, she wouldn't have reacted. So, she reached out to place her hand over his, her fingers curling around his.
"She was a beautiful woman," she told him quietly. "And you were fortunate to have her."
He stared down at their joined hands before looking up at her.
"I wasn't flirting with her. Your mom. She was the one," he cleared his throat. "She was the one trying to move, I mean--"
"It's fine Kyle," she patted his hand before sliding hers away. "I'm used to Iona's tricks and have been since I was a child. As a teenager I had to endure her trying to come onto my dates. Itwas so bad, I stopped having friends over. She adored Matthew, because he looked more like her and was--I wasn't thin like she was, and my height was a problem."
"What happened?" he asked quietly, already knowing the answer.
"She took digs at me all throughout my growing up. I should try eating healthier, go on diets, how did I expect to land a good man if I didn't put in the effort. Things like that." She picked up her cup. "Dad stood between us and took up for me."
"You have a soft spot for him because of it."
Her smile was slight.
"That's putting it mildly. He became my fricking hero. The more he stood up to her where I was concerned, the more I loved him for it. Then she discovered that Matthew was gay and tried 'to fix him.'" She shook her head. "God, it was awful. He went from being the favored child to an outcast and he had no idea what to do. He wanted so much to please her that he started accepting invitations from the girls at school.
"He would pretend to be having fun and then in his room, he would cry himself to sleep. Jesus! I could cheerfully murder her for what she put him through."
She was silent for a minute and this time, he was the one to reach out. Jarred out of her musing of the past, she stared first at their joined hands before looking at him. This time she could not ignore the heat, the connection his touch brought to her.
"I'm sorry."
She nodded and had to swallow the lump in her throat.
"Look at us," she laughed shakily.
He drew his hand away and took up his cup.
"We're quite the couple."
She felt the jolt and felt her heart banging against her ribs. She had to get out of here.
"Anyway, I have to go."
"Yeah, me too." He finished his coffee and rose. "I guess I'll see you later." He left before she could respond.
"Well, hell," she muttered blowing out a breath. Rising, she went to dump the cold coffee into the sink and tidied the kitchen. "Okay girl," she told herself firmly. "This has got to stop. The man is clearly recovering from a broken heart. And you're no one's second choice."
*****
"You're quiet."
