9. Kylie
Chapter 9
Kylie
I left brunch and went home to take a nap. Day drinking is not for me anymore. I wake to the ringing of my phone. I don't answer it in time but see the missed call is from Patrick. I let the voicemail come through and listen.
“Sorry, Kylie. I’m stuck here for a few more days.”
Story of my life. And I get a vision of ten years from now, getting this same call on a birthday, an anniversary, Christmas. Mrs. Byrne’s words run through my head and I know what I have to do.
It’s now or never, Kylie.
I get up from my bed and walk out onto my deck, which overlooks the water. The sun is just about to set and something about this scene gives me the peace I need to make this call. He picks up after three rings. Again, I'm not a priority.
“Hey, Ky. I'm really tired. Did you get my message?”
There’s no affection in his tone. No real concern. Just the dull sound of someone who checked out a long time ago. I feel it like a cold splash of water to the face.
“I did. And that's why I'm calling you right back.” I take a breath. “Patrick, this isn’t working.” He’s silent and I give him a minute to process.
“What do you mean, Ky?” he asks after a moment, but it's more of a resolved statement than a question.
“You know what I mean. I’m always in Starlight Bay. You're not. I’m planning this wedding. You’re not.”
“I'm trying to get things set up for us.”
“Are you? Or are you setting things up for you?” He doesn’t respond. There's only silence. And that’s the biggest answer of all.
And then, something settles inside me. For the first time, I know I’m not alone in feeling this. And I know my gut instinct has been right all along.
“You agree with me, don’t you?”
I hear him inhale heavily before letting it out. “I do.” He laughs. “Well, I guess it’s I don't now, huh?”
I laugh too. “Thanks for breaking the tension.”
“I know you haven't been happy. I know my work schedule is not what we thought it’d be, and I’d be lying if I said it will get better. It won’t.”
“I know, Patrick. Your dad has big plans for you and I was just a sidekick to make you look good.”
“No, that wasn’t?—”
“It was. And that's okay. Your dad and your grandfather are leaving you a wonderful family legacy but it's not my legacy. And you deserve to find someone who wants that.”
He lets out a long sigh. “You're an amazing woman, Kylie, and it’s why I fell for you to begin with. And if we were still back there, at a time where it was simple, things would be different.”
“I don't know that they would be, Patrick. You still won't watch football with me.”
He laughs again. “You get really aggressive when you watch those games.”
“It’s the only way to watch.”
Silence falls across the line, and even though I feel a bit sad I feel so much more relief. “Thank you, Patrick, for not making this awful.”
“Thank you for being honest with me.”
“Do you want me to pack up your stuff? There isn’t much here.”
“You don’t have to. I can come get it when you aren’t there, if seeing me will be weird.”
“Why don’t you call me when you get back in town and we’ll figure it out.”
“Okay. Goodbye, Kylie.”
“Goodbye, Patrick.”
I end the call, hold my phone, and lean back in the chair. The last few rays of the sun disappear and I exhale. This feels good. This feels right.
Me: Can you come over?
Sadie: Everything ok?
Me: Perfect.
Sadie: Be there in ten.
* * *
“So he didn't even fight for you?” my sister angrily asks, and I wave off her temper.
“He didn’t fight for me when we were together. I didn’t expect him to put up a fight now.”
“I guess it’s better this way, right?”
“Absolutely. It didn’t have to be volatile because nothing about us was. We just didn’t work together.”
We sit in silence, gazing at the moon that has finally made its appearance.
“I’m sor?—”
Sadie cuts me off immediately. “Don’t you even dare finish that sentence.”
“You don’t even know what I was going to say!” I protest, but she just leans forward in her chair and points at me.
“I’m your sister. I can feel everything you’re going through right now, everything you’re thinking.”
“Okay, smartie. Tell me what I was going to say.”
She raises a brow. “You were going to apologize for not giving me a wedding to plan, weren’t you?” I narrow my eyes at her and she flashes a smug grin. “Told you.”
I shake my head. “I was going to say that, but I was also going to say thank you for always letting me be me. I know my ‘change with the wind’ attitude can be a lot.”
“That’s what makes you you, and if someone can’t handle that, they’re missing out.”
“Kathleen said the same thing.”
Her eyes light up. “Oh my god! Tell me about lunch! I forgot you guys went out today.”
“Was that just today?” I groan and shake my head. “Well, she got me drunk on mimosas and then I came home and fell asleep.”
She giggles. “Champagne drunk is fun.”
“I should call her and check in. I’m sure Phil is taking care of her.” We giggle together before I get quiet. “She saw it too. She knew it wasn’t right.”
“Is she trying to push you and Matt back together?”
I shrug. “I mean, she mentioned us as a couple a few times. She thinks him being back here is a sign too.” I grow quiet. “She said she always thought we’d end up together, and I had to agree with her.”
Sadie reaches for my hand. “I think we all did.”
“I never stopped loving him, but I had to move on for my own sanity, ya know? When I came across his social media profile and saw his relationship status, I knew I had to make a decision for my own heart to heal. And it did, for a little. I had to let him go. I had to accept that it was never going to be Matt and Kylie. But the moment I heard he was back here?” I turn to my sister. “Sadie, I still love him. I don’t know how to go back to living in the same town as him without being together.”
She reaches for my hand and squeezes it. “I think you just have to go day by day and see where it takes you. You’ve always lived your life that way. You’ve never planned, so why is it different now? We’re all planning the Wine Day event together, let’s just have fun with it. Don’t look ahead to a what if , or can it happen, just enjoy rebuilding the friendship you guys always had.”
I nod. She’s absolutely right. I can do my best to put my heart in a holding pattern and just take each moment as it comes.