Chapter 25 Kane
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Kane
I can feel my phone vibrating in my pocket. It’s my mom.
I knew she would be calling. I was planning on being home by now, but I’ve been so lost in my thoughts that time slipped away from me.
With Oliver at school and nothing imminently pressing that needed to be done at the bar, I hopped on my motorcycle. I needed time to think and hopefully move past some things that have been plaguing my every waking minute.
Well, one thing in particular. Abby.
I’ve done nothing but think about her since leaving the house a few hours ago. As for processing things, I don’t understand anything more now than I did earlier, and I certainly haven’t moved past anything.
The vibration against my thigh jerks me back to reality. I drive my bike off onto a dirt pull-off on the side of the small mountain highway.
“Hi, Mom,” I say. I key off the engine, so she can hear me better.
“Hi, honey,” she says. I can’t see her face, but I know she’s smiling. Sinthia Bradley spends more time smiling than not.
She has lines on her face to show for it, but she wears them like a badge of honor. She says they’re the mark of a life that’s been worth living each and every day.
She tells me about how Dad fell asleep in the waiting room at his dentist’s appointment and about the colors they picked out to paint their newly remodeled bathroom.
We only live three hours away from them now, but missing them is the hardest part of living here in Aspen Springs. I secretly hope we can get them to move here with us one day, but I don’t want to tear them away from the life they have built together in Steamboat Springs.
“How’s Oliver?” she asks, and pure love shines through in the way she says his name. Being away from him has been hard for my parents, but they have seen how good this change has been for him.
They were supportive of the move from the first time I mentioned it. Honestly, they’ve been supportive of pretty much everything I’ve wanted to do in my life, aside from a few truly tragic teenage ideas.
“He’s good.” I swallow past the emotion building in my throat. “He, um… actually.” Fuck. Why can’t I get this out? “He said ‘yeah’ when I asked him if he wanted pancakes.”
Normally, this is something I would have told my parents the minute it happened, but the immensity of it had me keeping it to myself for a few days. I told Linc and Wyatt, but no one else.
My mom lets out a soft gasp followed by a barely audible whimper. I’m pretty sure she’s crying. “Oh… Kane. Are you okay?”
I blink past the tears that are building in my eyes. “More than okay, Mom.”
“I miss you all more than you know, but you all are where you are meant to be. That boy needed a fresh start. I think you all did.”
I nod because she’s right. We all needed it for different reasons, but it all led us here.
“How are my other two boys?” she asks. I love how much my parents care about Linc and Wyatt. They’re every bit their sons just as much as I am.
“You should call and ask them,” I say, shaking my head. She talks to them all the time, so I’m just giving her shit.
“You boys aren’t very good about telling me when things are wrong, so I have to ask around the group.”
My body shakes with laughter. “Quite the detective, Mom.”
“I wouldn’t have to be if you three could be trusted to tell me when things aren’t peachy keen.”
“Mmhmm…” I hum.
She can say whatever she wants, but my mom would be meddling and checking up on us, no matter how many details we told her about our lives.
“Any special ladies I should know about?”
Abby’s face flashes through my mind, but I shove it away. “No, Mom.”
“For Linc or Wyatt?”
Abby’s face makes a repeat performance in my mind.
I’ve seen the way they both look at her. It’s pretty clear they have feelings for her, and I know Wyatt kissed her.
There’s also the fact that Wyatt didn’t come home after he drove her home from the bar. He said she asked him to stay because she didn’t want to be alone.
He didn’t disclose any more than that, and I haven’t had the courage to ask. I don’t know if it would be better to know or to be left in the dark.
They both carry their own kind of misery.
“You know them. They’re happy with their single lives.” This has always been true, but as soon as the words leave my mouth, I don’t know how much truth they hold anymore.
“And are you happy with your single life?” she asks.
I hesitate, not knowing how to answer her questions. I want to be with someone. And there is someone I wish could fill that role.
“It’s not the time.”
“Kane,” she says with exasperation and sadness.
“Maybe one day.”
I can tell she wants to press the subject further, but she stays quiet. The only thing I can hear is the river flowing by that runs parallel to the highway.
“Where are you?” she asks. I’m quiet for too long, so she adds, “You’re out on your bike, aren’t you?”
She doesn’t hate that we all ride, but she worries when we ride in conditions she deems less than ideal. “There isn’t any snow or ice on the roads.”
I glance around, seeing only a few tiny patches of snow along the side of the road that are left from the last snowfall. It’s a chilly day, but it was as perfect a day for a ride as you can get this high in the mountains this time of year.
“You boys are going to make me go gray.”
I laugh loudly. “We’ve been doing that since we were five.”
“True.” She lets out a breath as she laughs quietly. “Just be careful, okay? I don’t know what I would do if anything happened to you.”
“Promise. I will.”
“Good. Video call me this weekend, so I can talk to my grandson.”
My parents have worked so hard at maintaining a strong relationship with Oliver since the move. Their video calls might not have a back-and-forth verbal conversation, but they all enjoy spending time together.
“Will do. Give Dad a hug for me.”
“I will. Love you.”
“Love you, too, Mom.”
With my phone secured in my jeans pocket and my helmet back in place, I pull out onto the highway. I need to head back into town, but I want to finish this last loop around the lake first.
I’m not quite ready to rejoin society with my thoughts raging so loudly in my mind.
I can’t even lie to myself anymore and say I don’t want anything to happen beyond friendship with Abby. I absolutely do.
Things are messy with Wyatt and Linc in the mix now, but attempting to lie about it to myself isn’t doing anyone any good.
I have feelings for her, and I have since the first time I saw her. Things might have changed and shifted to the background over the years when we weren’t in each other’s lives, but the feelings never went away.
Having her back in my life has just brought all of that into stark clarity. All of this is still a horrible idea, but at least I can be honest with myself.
My speed drops as I drive into town. A sense of comfort hits me because this town has truly become a safe landing after so many obstacles being thrown in our path.
One second, I’m appreciating the old-school feel of the buildings leading to downtown. The next, the world seems to move out from beneath me.
Searing pain explodes through the right side of my body as something hot and unforgiving collides into me.
I’m vaguely aware it’s a car slamming into me, but I don’t even have time to process it before I’m sliding across the asphalt and away from my bike.
A series of faces flash through my mind, like a strobe light.
My parents.
Linc and Wyatt.
Abby.
Oliver.
Everything goes black.