40. Kyle #2
As Mom went in, Elle shook his head. “You’re going to give that woman a heart attack, you know.”
“Yeah, yeah.” He cringed inwardly, though. Just wait until she hears about the SkyRun.
The sliding door opened, and Quinn, Dad, and Sloan exited, carrying several bowls and platters. They set it on a pop-up table Kyle had placed by the slider, where condiments, plates, and utensils were already set up with drinks.
Fancy drinks, too. When Kyle had mentioned a barbecue to Sloan, he’d pictured a cooler with beer and soda.
She’d bought glass drink dispensers and spent all morning making sweet tea and some fruity drink with berries in it, slicing lemons, limes, and oranges for the water.
The pop-up table had a tablecloth, too, and little stands announced the food in Sloan’s practiced script.
“Everything looks so nice,” Mom said as Sloan set the food out. “Now you all see why I can’t ever host. I can’t hold a candle to this younger generation. My mom’s specialty was a cheeseball with Ritz crackers and lime Jell-O salad.”
“I love a good lime Jell-O salad,” Sloan said with a grin. “My mom used to make it all the time when we were young.”
Mom’s face softened. “I bet she did, honey. She was a great cook.” She reached out and squeezed Sloan’s hand for a beat. Then she turned toward Kyle. “They were putting the dogs inside for you. I told them to come on out. Now, what’s this big announcement?”
“Announcement?” Sloan asked, shooting Kyle a glance.
He sucked in a breath. “Yeah, it’s just a little something I wanted to tell everyone together. About my new show.” That seemed to relax Sloan, but he could already read the question in her face. Why didn’t you tell me first?
Liddy and Callum came out, sitting next to each other at the table, completely unaware of the way Kyle’s heart started pounding the minute they sat.
Now or never.
As he opened his mouth to speak, Tara ran up to Liddy, “Aunt Liddy! Aunt Liddy, look, my tooth is wiggly.”
“Wow, that’s amazing,” Liddy said.
Charlotte went running up beside her sister. “Iggy.”
The interaction gave Sloan a few moments to cross toward Kyle. “What’s going on?” she asked under her breath.
He squeezed her hand. “It’s a good thing. Don’t worry.”
She didn’t look fully convinced.
As Elle helped her daughters sit, Kyle tried to calm his nerves. This would take a lot of convincing everyone , he was certain, but he also knew he needed to do it.
“So, my announcement . . .” Kyle said, running his hand through his hair.
With everyone’s eyes on him, he felt the weight of their curiosity.
“You all know I’ve been wanting to revamp the show.
I have to do a slightly different spin on it to make it work, but Davy has agreed to come out as a consultant and help me get the first few episodes off the ground. ”
“What about funds?” Dad asked, practical as ever.
“I’m getting to that part—” Kyle said with a look. “I’ve spent the past six weeks working on the logistics—getting a small crew together. And I’ve lined up a few minor sponsors . . . and one major one. Blue Ridge Sports will be sponsoring five of my episodes.”
“That’s amazing,” Quinn said, with an enthusiastic smile. Elle furrowed a brow at him. “They made my rucksack. They make top-notch outdoor gear.”
Kyle went over to the grill and took the hamburger patties off, keeping his tone casual.
“Yeah, exactly. They’re great. But the thing is, they want me to participate in an event they sponsor in the Tetons.
It’s called the SkyRun, and it’s a thirty-mile race, in pairs, in the mountains.
Two of the episodes are to be dedicated to it.
Initially, Tomas and I approached them, but Tomas isn’t up for the challenge—it’s an intense physical endurance thing—so he’s going to cover from the sidelines.
Dean agreed to go as my teammate. I started doing some weight training with Jeremy, but I’ll need to step it up to be ready. ”
As the meaning of Kyle’s words became clearer, he saw the expressions on his family’s faces change. Flickers of hesitation. Worry.
Just like I expected.
Sloan cleared her throat. “When is the race?”
“January. I’ll need to go a few weeks beforehand to acclimate to the altitude and continue training, but my surgeon has cleared me.”
“Cleared?” Callum asked with a frown. “Or cleared with restrictions?”
Dammit, Callum. He might understand this better than anyone, given his professional sporting background. “Uh . . . with restrictions.” He hated how that sounded, even to his own ears.
Sloan released a slow exhale, looking down.
“Anyway,” Kyle pressed on. “Blue Ridge has given me a bunch of spectator passes, and I went ahead and booked a short-term rental for us to all go and stay if you’re interested in coming out to watch the race—thought it could be fun for everyone. Jackson Hole is great that time of year.”
Crickets.
“That’s about four months from now?” Dad said, his expression the most unreadable. “Can you really risk something like that with your shoulder?”
“I think I’ll be good to go by then.”
“Have you . . .” Elle asked in a low voice. “Have you fully thought this through?”
Mom had paled and taken a seat at the table, pulling Charlotte onto her lap like a shield.
Sloan still hadn’t looked at him and that was worrisome.
Fuck. She’s angry.
“I-I’ve been working on this for several weeks.”
“So, you’ve known about it for weeks?” Sloan asked.
Oh God. Not what he was trying to point out.
Even Quinn didn’t seem to have his back on this one. “Seems a bit risky, mate,” he said with a grimace. He looked down at Elle. “I’m not even sure if we can go. Tara’s just started kindergarten. She’ll be in school in January.”
“I mean, we could pull her out for a few days, but it’s a matter of whether it’s a smart idea.” She gave Kyle a harder look. “Sometimes that’s more important than whether something can be done.”
“Elle . . .” Liddy warned softly, setting a hand on her arm.
“I’m not going to snap or anything,” Elle said with a sigh, glancing at her sister. “But Kyle shouldn’t be reckless. To be honest, I don’t know that much about the race, but it sounds fun. Maybe not even the most dangerous thing he’s done. But he’s coming off an injury.”
“I have thought about it—”
“It says on the website it’s a lot of vertical and climbing, along with alpine skiing,” Callum said, his phone in hand. He frowned. “Can you even do that with your shoulder?”
Sloan looked up then. Her eyes locked with Kyle’s, her eyes dark and unreadable—but turbulent.
“I should be fine. Dean’s a phenomenal climber and skier. He’s going to figure out a time to come out in the fall so we can train together.”
Elle pinched the bridge of her nose. “I love Dean, but he’s the definition of someone who leaps before he looks.”
This was going worse than he’d hoped. Or maybe he’d been too optimistic. “Anyway, I’d love for you all to join me if you can swing it.”
“I’m not sure how doable a trip is with work, since it’s right after the holidays,” Liddy said carefully. “But send the details, and I’ll see what I can do.”
“Aunt Liddy, look at this!” Tara interrupted once again, hopping at Quinn’s feet. “Daddy, show her the twisty thing. I can climb too.”
Quinn obliged, taking both of Tara’s hands as she climbed up his legs with her own, then flipped over.
As Liddy and Callum clapped, Kyle’s shoulders sank. Thank God for Tara defusing tension.
The awkward silence hadn’t dissipated, though. “Should we eat?” Mom asked, taking the plate of hamburger patties from Kyle. She gave him a worried glance but said nothing. “We don’t want all of Sloan’s amazing food to get cold.”
Pasta and potato salad, Mom. It’s already cold. Kyle didn’t say anything, though.
He deserved this for thinking his family would be excited for him.
That had all gone out the window in Cabo.
But Sloan . . . he’d thought she might understand. Might even see it as a huge thing for him if he presented it as a big surprise he’d been waiting to reveal. She’d seen the efforts he’d been putting into his business.
And she’d encouraged him during that time.
“That would be good,” Sloan said, a smile returning to her face as she went toward the serving table.
Ouch.
He wasn’t sure what was worse—her anger or her ignoring his announcement altogether.
Either way, any enjoyment he’d felt in having this family dinner had been sucked away like the air from a balloon, replaced only by dread, by worry, and by the sharp reality of the words from Granny’s letter hanging down over his head.