Chapter 12 She Said Yes
she said yes
Lana leaned over the sink in the bathroom, washing her face free of her tears, when she heard a yell.
It was Kayden, and he was worked up about something, and she wondered if she should tell him what happened for a moment.
She couldn’t get Maureen’s threatening words out of her mind, though, and she decided against it.
Despite her attempts at “shielding Kayden” from the pain about Rachel, what she would do to him in a few days would be far worse.
It would make her no better than Kim, Maureen, or anyone else who had hurt and turned their backs on him in the past, and there was nothing she could do about it.
She was no actress, but she would put on her best performance to secure her physical freedom as well as Kayden’s future.
Beaming the brightest smile she could muster in the mirror, her face showed no signs of the previous twenty minutes of her life.
Kayden sailed into the bathroom and literally swept her off her feet, as he spun and kissed her.
Realizing all at once that these would be some of the last kisses they’d share, she returned them passionately, vowing to herself to make the remaining days with him memorable.
Her only hope was that someday he could find it in his heart to forgive her, or that somehow he would see through the farce eventually.
The truth was, this time next year, he could probably be married to Kim.
There was no doubt in Lana’s mind that Kim would swoop in to comfort him once she was gone.
Kayden began talking a mile a minute about what had happened downstairs.
It took a lot of effort, but Lana put on the best show she could to appear excited about it.
He was so busy talking and pacing back and forth about contractors, interior designers, and city permits; he didn’t notice the few moments the facade of smiles fell away and turned to heaves as she fought desperately to keep it together.
As he spoke, his words faded to a mumble, and she studied him as he continued.
The thought of her missing waking up to him every day was unbearable.
She also wouldn’t be around to help Aunt Mae’s diner and see how it all came together, either.
Whenever she finally became a mother herself, she would NEVER do to her child what Maureen is doing to him.
That’s an understatement, she thought as his voice broke the trance.
“I’m going to go call Taylor,” he said finally, giving her a peck on the lips and running from the bathroom.
She followed him into the room as he left, and when he descended the stairs, she closed the room door quietly and locked it. She walked over to the bed and fell onto it, grabbing a pillow and burying her face. She let out the loudest muffled scream she could and wept until the pillow was soaked.
LATER THAT NIGHT, they cooked dinner together, and all he could talk about was the restoration of the diner.
He was on full throttle, and there was no way she could think of to tell him the truth without serious repercussions.
After they had gone to bed for the night, she waited for him to fall asleep before rolling out of it.
Lana put on his bedroom slippers and his thick coat, then went downstairs, where she turned the dimmer switch to a low glow.
The snow had stopped and had blanketed the town again.
Through the glass windows, it looked like a million twinkling lights, the way the moonlight hit the snow.
She eased the doors open and stepped onto the frosty lanai.
It was so quiet you could hear a butterfly’s breath.
There was no wind blowing, no birds, not even the rustling of leaves from the enormous trees. Everything was just silent.
It was as if the town was holding its breath, and it was the calmest moment she’d had since arriving in town.
Everything with Kayden had been danger, excitement, adventure, and drama.
Why did you have to step in and help at Aunt Mae’s that night?
she asked herself. Because that’s who you are, an inner voice replied to her.
Why did you have to fall in love with him? she asked herself.
Because you don’t get to choose who that is, the inner voice replied to her again.
Looking up at the moon and the beautiful light show it cast, she knew she would never see this view again.
Not him, not this house, never step back into the town of Hamby.
The tears sprang to her eyes again, and this time she didn’t wipe them away.
She reached into the jacket pocket and pulled out her cell phone.
She pressed “Paula” on the screen and waited for the familiar tone of her best friend’s voice.
It rang three times and went to voicemail.
She hated leaving messages and hit “End”.
She looked down at the phone and hit “Messages”, and then “Carmen”.
She pressed “Reply” and typed through her saltwater-drenched face.
LANA: I’m coming home.
A few seconds passed, then her phone vibrated.
CARMEN: Why?
LANA: Long story. Ask the charge nurse to put me on the schedule in seventy-two hours. The shift doesn’t matter.
CARMEN: OK...Where’d you go again?
LANA: Hamby, GA.
CARMEN: What, too hot to handle?
Lana looked up at the sky, then at the birdbath covered in snow.
LANA: Heat’s the thing that’s the problem here.
She turned the phone off and slipped it back into her pocket.
She wiped her face, then took a long, icy breath in.
Out of nowhere, Kayden’s warm arms were wrapped around her waist, his chin resting on her shoulder, and it made her jump.
She tried keeping her head tilted to the sky, hoping he wouldn’t see her still wet face, then he kissed her neck.
“What are you doing out here?” he whispered in her ear.
She shrugged, being unable to form words and trying to hold back everything she wanted and needed to say. He turned her around, and when he saw the tears on her face, his brows furrowed.
“What’s the matter?” he asked.
“It’s, it’s...,” she had to stop herself now as it was on the tip of her tongue.
Maureen’s threat was a real one. She looked into his handsome face and, for the second time, she lied to him, and it killed her inside.
“It’s just so beautiful out here,” she replied, wrapping her arms around him so she didn’t have to look him in the eyes anymore.
“Those don’t look like tears of someone enjoying the view,” he replied, tilting her head up.
“You sure that’s it?” he asked, searching her face.
She tried averting her eyes from his for far different reasons than before.
“I’m sure, baby, it just overwhelmed me, was all,” she said, forcing a big smile, and that wasn’t a complete lie.
“When we build our house, it’ll have a view three times as good as this. You’ll need an IV if you keep this up,” he teased, kissing the top of her head.
She wanted to say no; she wouldn’t get the chance to live in that house with him, because his mother’s actions against her would not only make her a liar but also another person on a long list of people who had betrayed him.
But she didn’t say anything. She held onto him for dear life, trying to mentally remember every curve of his body, every kiss, and every touch.
Pretty soon, it would be all she had left of him and Hamby.
Just memories that would eventually fade away and her with them.
HEATHCLIFF TROTTED OUTSIDE in the snowed-over parking lot of Hamby P.D.
, his thermos and keys in hand. It had been a long, boring day of Hulu marathons at work, and he looked forward to his warm bed.
As he reached the P.D.’s snowmobile, the flip phone on his belt clip started to ring.
“Maureen” flashed across the small green LCD panel on the front, and he flipped it up in a hurry.
“Hey there,” he answered, the grin on his face deepening the wrinkles on the corners of his mouth.
“I’m in the mood for company,” she replied, and the line went dead.
He looked around the empty street, surprised at her candor, but giddy like a schoolboy.
He put his ski cap on, jumped onto the snowmobile, and took off down the street.
He’d waited almost an entire lifetime for Maureen Capshaw, and he wasn’t about to let the fact that it was two o’clock in the morning stop him now.
THEY WERE UP before dawn, and Kayden was in a remarkably chipper mood, as was to be expected.
He thought his mother actually was having a change of heart when it came to him.
Lana observed him as he excitedly held a conference call with Taylor about when the construction would begin.
The living room was serving as his makeshift office until he could secure office space in town.
The snow plows were moving in from Shelby, and pretty soon, people would be able to roam about again.
She’d be able to do what she had to as well. When he was done on the phone, he beamed another smile her way, and she tried her hardest to match it, hoping he would believe it and not question it.
“You ready?” he asked her, holding out his hand. She grabbed hold of it, and he pulled her in close, giving her a warm hug and a quick kiss on the neck.
“Ready for what?” she replied, not in the mood for an adventure. She really had to figure out how she was going to leave when they were together practically every second of the day.
“It’s a surprise,” he replied and started walking her to the door.
She followed him, grabbing the leather jacket from the coat rack and out onto the porch.