Chapter 29 #2
Kylie frowned. Oh. Right. Tuba Christmas. She knew Harriet had begged Luke to take her. Normally, she’d go, too, hoping to run into Luke, but right now she felt sleazy. Slimy.
Unworthy.
Stuffing her face with bi bim bap was her punishment.
“Do you know Kylie?” Colleen asked Eun-ah, who gave her a suspicious look, eyebrow cocked.
“Sure. New to town. Don’t sleep with her brother yet,” she added, pointing to Colleen. “Wait until February 2.”
“Excuse me?”
Colleen and Eun-ah burst into laughter, and Kylie got the point. The betting pool Luke mentioned.
It was so widespread, it had reached Mountain Dragon?
Kylie gave her a wan smile as she took her bag of food. “I don’t know what to say to that.”
“Your blushing face says it all,” Eun-ah added, patting the back of her hand before disappearing into the kitchen, leaving Colleen chuckling.
But the laughter faded fast as Colleen went quiet.
“Luke asked you out tonight. Six, right?”
“Does everyone in this town know everything about everyone else's business?” The question out of Kylie's mouth was unequivocally rhetorical.
“He asked me to babysit. Can't. Working.”
“Oh. Right. He said your mom was watching Harriet tonight.”
“I guess that whole 'don't bang your nanny' thing is out the window.”
“Hey!”
They laughed, a comfortable feeling that quickly turned tense, making Kylie's head spin.
“I wanted to ask you something,” Colleen said, her voice slow with meaning.
Assuming this was about Christmas, Kylie smiled and leaned against the wall of the foyer, close to the outside door.
“Sure.”
“Are you really leaving Maine when your lease is up?”
Uh oh.
A lump formed in Kylie’s throat, swift and full.
“I–”
“Because you need to understand how tender-hearted they both are.”
“I, well…”
“My brother has made Harriet the center of his world. Which is how it should be. No little girl deserves to lose their mommy. And not the way we lost Amber and–” Colleen choked up.
“I’m so sorry.”
Colleen sighed, long and sad, the sound one of bonding more than frustration. Lifting her eyes, she locked her gaze with Kylie’s.
“Luke may have a messy house, and wash his reds with his whites and end up with pink underwear, and his shirts may get half-ironed and dinner around there is take-out or PB&J, but he also never misses a Daisy Scouts meeting. The guys at the station make sure he has time for every conference, every concert, every field trip. Luke coaches T-ball for Harriet’s team, and soccer, too.
He learned how to braid her hair from me and YouTube videos, and has back-up bottles of nail polish remover because Harriet loves to paint his nails. ”
“He’s a wonderful father.”
“He is.” Colleen looked away. “But he’s lost sight of what it means to be something other than a father. You know?”
“I guess?”
“I’ll lay it all out there, because I’m not good at being subtle, Kylie: Luke likes you.
It’s obvious. Harriet adores you. But you’re leaving soon.
He told me. Two more months on your lease, and you’re job hunting in New York.
That’s great. Really. You do you and all that.
But I have to say my piece. And my piece is this: Don’t jerk my little brother’s heart around. ”
“I’m not! I would never.”
“Maybe not on purpose. But you’re falling for him, too. The whole town knows you two are a great match. You’re both just too stupid to go for it. And I’m telling you, you either need to go for it, or walk away–but walk away before you hurt Luke and Harriet.”
“I would never hurt them!”
When Kylie was younger and lived here, Colleen was the older, smarter girl who had more common sense than charisma, and who seemed to know who she was long before any of Kylie’s friends had a clue about life.
Three years older than Luke, she was off to college the year The Divorce ruined everything Kylie loved most.
And took her away from the boy she loved even more.
She softened.
“Do you want to stay?”
“This is a lot, Colleen.”
“I see. That’s your answer.”
“I didn’t say yes or no.”
“You did. Just not in those words.”
“For someone who doesn’t know me, you make some huge assumptions.”
“I don’t need to know you. I know Luke and Harriet.
I knew Amber,” she said fiercely, pain in her eyes.
“I can’t watch my brother and niece lose someone they’re attached to like that again.
It would break them. No one’s allowed to break people I love.
A cruel accident did it once. I can’t let you do it again. ”
“I–”
Colleen’s head reared back, as if from shock, then her steely features softened, her palm going up in a gesture that said, Wait.
As she took a deep breath, Kylie’s whole body tensed, head beginning to pound.
Conflicted eyes met hers, half apologetic, half fierce. “That comment was out of bounds. I’m being presumptuous. I’m also overprotective.”
“For good reason.”
A dip of the head acknowledged her words. “Thank you for that. You’re being gracious. I came on too strong.” The skin between her eyes folded into wrinkles at the bridge of her nose as she visibly wrestled with too many emotions.
“It’s okay.”
“I just love them so much.”
“I see that.”
“And when they hurt, I hurt.”
“I understand.”
“Do you?” Colleen tilted her head, studying Kylie. “Do you really? Because it seems like you want it both ways.”
“I do want it both ways,” Kylie admitted. “But I’m grown up enough to know that’s not how this works.”
“Mom said she invited you to Christmas and you accepted.”
“I did.”
“In our family, that means something. You’re not just a guest she’s inviting to be polite.”
“Is this an audition?” Kylie joked.
Colleen laughed. “No. Not like that. But… if you join us, it’s not casual, you know?”
“I know.”
“And you’re still coming?”
“Yes.”
“And you’re still job hunting in New York?”
If silence had a sound, it would sound like her heart screaming.
Disappointment made the outer corners of Colleen’s eyes turn down even more. She chewed on the inside of her lip, taking a deep breath before walking away.
As she opened the door, a blast of icy wind made Kylie gasp.
And breathe in cold steel.