Chapter 31
Chapter Thirty-One
Kylie
Every time Perry had taken Kylie to dinner with Tommy and Kris, back when they were together, she'd come away from the event with a head full of comments that could be interpreted two different ways: neutrally, or with bite.
Over time, she realized that there were lots of teeth in Perry's family.
Lots.
And boy, did they know how to sink them, deeply, into your weakest spot.
“Tommy!” Luke called out, his voice confident, with a deep timbre that instantly made Kylie feel safer.
“Luke? That you? How's it go... ing?” The change in Tommy's voice came as he looked at Kylie, his wife gripping his arm as Tommy leaned toward Luke, the two men shaking hands.
“Kylie?” Kris said with a light laugh, eyes cunning. “How are you?”
Luke moved an inch closer to her, the nonverbal cue clear: She was just fine.
“I'm good. And you?”
“We just had a wonderful meal at Bilbee's. Who ever says that?” she chortled. “They have a guest chef from New York visiting for the holiday brunch, and the food was divine. Gastro-pub–a special, invitation-only event.”
Kylie just smiled and nodded.
And waited.
“Didn't expect to run into you here, and certainly not with a police officer,” Tommy said, addressing Kylie, eyes on Luke. “You arresting her for doing something wrong?”
“I'm thoroughly enjoying her delightful company,” Luke said, unblinking.
“I thought you moved,” Kris said. “Back to Iowa? Indiana? Wherever your mom lives.”
“Kylie's one of our own,” Luke answered, her own words stuck in her throat, crouched behind a fortified wall of fear she didn't understand. It was just there.
“One of what?”
“I lived here until I was fifteen. Born at the local hospital,” she finally managed, tilting her head in contemplation as Kris shot her a carefully cultivated look of boredom.
“I had no idea!”
“Of course you did. I told you the first time we met,” Kylie replied with a sweet-as-pie smile, finding her backbone.
Kris's eyes turned cold.
“I can't be bothered to remember all the details of Perry's dates,” Kris replied.
Luke opened his mouth to say something, but Kylie squeezed once to signal to him, I've got this.
Never the type to say the exact right thing at the exact right moment, Kylie typically fumbled, then spent the next few hours after a conflict beating herself up, thinking of all the retorts she could have come back with. Luke's steady defense made a difference.
Or maybe she just didn't care anymore what Perry's parents thought.
“I was with him for seven years.”
Kris just gave a single-shoulder shrug.
“I understand, Kris,” Kylie said, leaning closer to pat the woman's hand, the gesture warm but also a power move. “Remembering that anyone but you exists is hard.”
Tommy cleared his throat.
“How dare you–”
Luke pulled Kylie forward, past them, as he said, “Goodnight, Tommy and Kris.”
Heart slamming in her throat, Kylie stopped, turned around, and said, “By the way, Perry's blowing through his trust fund. Maybe you wouldn't bother to notice that, either. Not that I care, but you might want to know.”
Luke leaned down and whispered, “Ouch.”
Shaking, she didn't say a word until they made the right turn toward the famous hot springs. Then she slumped against him, pure fury pumping through her.
“Those jerks! They can't even be civil to me in public!”
He brushed her hair off her face. “You dished it right back.”
“Then why do I feel simultaneously triumphant and awful?”
“That's what standing up for yourself feels like.”
“I know how to stand up for myself and not feel this way, though. What is it about them that makes me shake and stammer and feel so afraid?”
“Everyone has strange triggers they don't understand.”
“You don't.”
“Sure do.”
“Like what?”
“My kid walking on the side of the road where there's no sidewalk.”
“You have a reason for that, Luke. A very sad, good reason I understand now.”
“And I'll bet Perry's parents–and Perry, from the sound of it–kept you on edge so they could feel better about themselves. Enough time spent in that kind of environment re-wired you a little differently.”
Reaching around her waist, he pulled her close, the hug forcing her to release a long breath she didn't realize she was holding.
“That was weird,” she muttered, instead of thanking him, which was what she meant to say.
“Eh. They're full of themselves. Folks like that consider themselves above the town, but they sure do love the money Love You brings to the ski resorts.”
“You're 100 percent right. They mock Love You.”
“Everyone around us does.”
“And it doesn't bother you?”
“That's on them, not us. Not me. If someone doesn't like how this town works, they can just drive on by.”
“And they didn't like me.”
“Ah. Is that what it's about? You never felt accepted by them?”
“Yes.”
“Then I'm sorry they rejected you. Fired you, even, when Perry broke it off with you. But you know what? I'm grateful to them.”
Surprise made Kylie pull back.
“What?”
He slipped his arm around her shoulders and began guiding her toward the steamy water. “If Perry hadn't met–what do you call her?”
“Systina the Wonder... well, you don't want to know the rest. Starts with F.”
“Systina the Wonderfart?”
She giggled. “Let's go with that.”
“If he hadn't been so shallow, and hadn't met her, and hadn't broken up with you, and had done the right thing and come for his stuff, you wouldn't have been dumping it in that donation bin, and you never would have gotten stuck.”
“That's a huge gratitude stretch.”
“I'm going with it. And if his parents hadn't been assholes and fired you, I could never have hired you to be Harriet's nanny.” His voice softened as they approached the water's edge, the air magical. Luke paused and looked down at her. “And we wouldn't have this.”
“This?”
“This.”
Bending at the knees, he crouched, took off his glove, and dragged his fingertips along the water's surface.
Sheer amusement made her nearly guffaw.
“Come on, Kylie. Touch the water, too.”
Joining him, she did as asked, always surprised by the water's warmth, even in the dead of winter.
“This is such a cliché,” she whispered, though why she kept her voice down was a mystery, even to her. Not another soul was anywhere nearby.
“Clichés exist for a reason.”
“That's a clichéed response, too.”
“How about I kiss you now and just become a stereotype?”
And then he did, their ungloved hands freezing cold, only the fingertips warmed by the hot springs. Both of them were carefully balanced as they crouched, his lips soft, his hot breath a mist that warmed her nose.
Every kiss they'd shared had been better than the last, but this one–oh, it was so much more.
Until practicality hit them both.
“We're going to freeze or fall in if we keep this up. I prefer to respond to emergencies, not be one,” Luke said as he stood without effort, still holding her around the waist with his free arm, body balanced with an athleticism she admired.
And needed right now, because she was wearing high heels, after all, on the edge of a body of water, in late December, in Maine.
What were they thinking?
Step by step, they moved to a safer spot. Kylie's body was glowing from the inside out, although even so, she couldn't defy nature. Her fingers felt like icicles and, against her better judgment, she shoved her hand into her glove, the wetness a problem if they stayed outside for too long.
Mist wafted up between them, the steam rising enough to make her feel enveloped by warmth and love, the stark contrast of the icy cold with the water's magic so surreal.
Surreal and beautiful.
“You came back, Kylie,” Luke said, his hand still ungloved but dry, cold fingers brushing her hair away from her neck. A shiver shot through her, body full of too many emotions to contain.
“I did. Not quite the way I always imagined.”
“You imagined coming back to Luview?”
“Are you kidding me? It's all I thought about for years. I dreamed about this place. Cried myself to sleep every night for a year. Wondered why you ghosted on me...” Her voice faded in recognition of what they'd learned earlier about Amber's role in that.
“I didn't know Luview meant so much to you.”
“It's the only place where I ever felt like I belonged. Until everything happened with my father.”
“What do you mean?”
“My mom left for a reason.”
“You said it was because she was embarrassed.”
“She was.”
“Why would what your dad did have an impact on you? People here aren't that small minded. No one would ever reject you because your dad had an affair.”
“Mom always said she could handle the cheating, but she couldn’t handle being pitied by every single person in town.”
He reared back. “I deeply understand that feeling. Half the time, I think my full name is Poor Luke.”
“Right. So I know that what my dad did wouldn’t affect me here–at least, I know it intellectually. But…”
“I want you to know it here.” Luke's palm pressed flat over her heart, and she reached up to cover his hand. Breathing together, they made their own mist, each exhale a cloud that lifted and dispersed, as if taking the pain of lost chances and moving joy and potential into the now.
Now, they were together.
Now, she was part of Luview.
Now.
Kylie's jaw began to twitch, her teeth starting to chatter. Luke gave her a quick kiss on the lips, then turned them both back toward the street.
“You're cold. Let's get you home.”
No argument here.
The walk back to The Food Alchemist was expeditious, no meandering allowed. Luke's car was ice cold but he turned the heat on full blast. As they pulled out of the parking lot and turned toward her place, it hit her.
What was next?
They weren't fifteen and seventeen years old.
He'd been to her apartment and they'd shared hot kisses. She'd spent enough time with him to feel every drop of chemistry–so much chemistry, they might as well be a discovery lab–and so now the question loomed.
Would they make love?