Chapter Seventeen - Kenya
Chapter Seventeen
Kenya
K enya hadn’t run since college, and her body was letting her know that it had been a while. She’d found herself running with Gideon every morning at the crack of dawn for the past few days. It came easy for him. He was in shape. She, on the other hand, couldn’t remember the last time she’d done anything physical, except maybe if you counted the yoga class she took occasionally on Saturdays at the YWCA. It was pathetic, because she’d always been an athlete; had always been active. That is, until life had caught up with her. Now that Gideon had waltzed into Lu’s Seaside Inn, she was motivated again. In fact, she’d found herself doing many things she wasn’t used to doing.
Lu and Natalia were both skeptical when they’d heard about this new pastime— running . They’d done a three-way call that morning just to catch up on all that had been going on in each of their lives.
“Wait a minute, you’re running now?” Lu asked.
“Yes! I realize I’ve picked up a few extra pounds this past winter, and I need to get them off. Your wedding is coming soon and . . .”
“Mmm-hmm,” Lu interrupted. Her voice was riddled with skepticism.
“Maybe I should run with you,” Natalia offered.
“Gideon is a runner,” Lu interjected before Kenya could respond to Natalia. “Is that who you’re running with?”
“Well . . . yes, but . . .”
“Who’s Gideon?” Natalia asked.
“He’s Zach’s best friend.”
“Oh yes, the best man,” Natalia remembered.
“He’s staying at the inn,” Lu responded to Natalia and then turned her attention back to Kenya, “Are you sweet on him?”
“I wouldn’t say that I’m sweet on him . . . necessarily . We have been spending some time together, yes. A little bit. It hasn’t interfered with my duties at the inn . . .”
“You think I care about that? I trust that you’re going to take care of the inn, but . . . I never thought to pair you with Gideon.”
“Wait, so you have a new boyfriend?” Natalia seemed so confused.
She’d been spending so much time at the inn and with Gideon, she hadn’t gone antique shopping or to lunch in the city with Natalia—something they did quite often.
“I don’t have a new boyfriend, Nat Pack.”
“It’s actually kinda cute, though. He’s single. You’re single. You’re both professionals. Both very attractive people. Why didn’t I think to pair the two of you myself?” Lu asked to no one in particular.
“We’re just hanging out, Lu. Nothing more.”
“This man has got you running up and down the beach on Cape May. I would say it was a little more than hanging out.” Lu laughed. “Running? You don’t run!”
“She’s right, Kenya. You don’t run,” Natalia added.
“I run ... now .”
“Is he cute?” Natalia asked.
“Very,” Lu answered for Kenya.
“He is cute. And charming. He did this whole dinner-on-the-beach thing the other night. Had Lorenzo prepare a meal, with the whole bonfire, white tablecloth, soft music playing.” She’d been wanting to tell them about Gideon and the things she thought she was beginning to feel. Instead, she tried to will those feelings away.
“Wait, what?” Lu asked. “He had dinner prepared for you on the beach? Okay, this is more serious than I thought.”
“Do you like him, Kenya?” Natalia asked. “Because if you do, I’m rooting for you.”
“There’s no rooting for anyone. We’re just friends hanging out.”
“Glen would want you happy,” Lu said.
“Okay, ladies. I must go get my run on. Then I have an inn to run in the absence of my friend. Is there anything else?”
“I miss you both,” Lu said. “As soon as I’m back, I’m going to have Lorenzo whip up something extraspecial for us. We need to catch up.”
“Indeed we do,” Kenya agreed.
“Natalia, enjoy your day at the winery. And Kenya . . . I want to hear all about Gideon Harper and how he’s managed to turn your world upside down since I’ve been gone.”
“He hasn’t turned . . . you know what? I have to go.”
“We’ll talk soon.” Lu laughed. “I need details.”
“Goodbye.” Kenya chuckled.
She hung up, but their conversation lingered for a moment. Had he turned her world upside down?
“Heck no,” she whispered as she laced her sneakers and then stood to stretch before meeting Gideon downstairs.
After running the stretch of the beach with Gideon, she bent over, panting, tried to catch her breath. She wiped sweat from her brow with the inside neck of her T-shirt.
“You okay?” He slowed his stride.
“Yes. You go on ahead. I’ll catch up.”
“No, just take a minute. Breathe.”
Kenya did just that, breathed in and then out again. Then she stood straight up, veered up ahead—the inn was no longer in sight. “I’m okay.”
Gideon stretched his hands and caressed Kenya’s arms. “We’re done for the day. Did a half mile and then we’ll do a half mile back. That’s good.”
“We’re a half mile short, and I’m no slacker.”
Gideon smiled, shook his head, and mumbled, “Strong-willed.”
“What?”
“Nothing. Come on, Counselor. Let’s finish strong.” He took off, slowly.
Though her legs felt like lead was weighing them down and her feet seemed to be stuck in the white sand, she willed them to move, one in front of the other in a slow jog at first, then her stride quickened as she caught up to him. As they approached the second half of a mile, Gideon slowed to a jog. Kenya slowed, too. Proud, because she had pressed on, challenged herself not to give up. She suddenly felt a burst of energy.
“Yes!” She leaped into the air. Before she realized it, her arms were wrapped around Gideon’s neck.
“You did it.”
She pulled away, embarrassed. She’d invaded his personal space.
He reached for Kenya’s hand and pulled her back to him. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders. His nose touched hers as he looked down into her eyes. His lips touched hers, and she tasted the sweetness of his kiss. Her head told her to pull away, to take off running back to the inn, but she couldn’t move. She was paralyzed. Instead, she relaxed inside of his embrace, found comfort there. Her heart was beating uncontrollably, her breathing off. Kissing Gideon was everything she didn’t want but was everything that she wanted at the same time.
Gideon caressed her face gently. “Come on, let’s get back. You have an inn to run.”
“Yes, I do.”
His fingers intertwined with hers as they walked back toward the inn.
“Tell me something about you, about your life,” she said. “Something I don’t already know.”
“I cheated on my wife. That’s why we’re divorced.”
“Wow. Okay. That was very . . . transparent.”
“We were in a slump. The marriage, I mean. She was working a lot, traveling . . . a lot. And I’m not making excuses, but she wasn’t present, and it just sort of drove a wedge between us.” He sighed but held her hand a little tighter. “I started seeing someone at the hospital.”
“Did you love her—the woman you started seeing?”
“I thought I did.”
“Your wife found out,” Kenya determined.
“Yeah, something like that,” Gideon stated. “I know, I know. I’m a terrible person.”
She judged him for a moment, but then resolved that she had no right to. “People make mistakes.”
“Terrible ones. Life-changing ones,” Gideon wrapped his arm around Kenya’s shoulders. “What about you? Tell me something about you that I don’t already know.”
“I was the cause of my husband Glen’s death.”
“What? Did you shoot him?”
She hadn’t shared this information with anyone. She closed her eyes, wondered why she was sharing it now—with a stranger. Well, he wasn’t quite a stranger anymore, but still strange nonetheless.
“No, I didn’t shoot him.” Kenya laughed at Gideon’s candidness. It was one of the things that attracted her to him. “He died in a car accident. He drove his sports car on the wrong side of the street and right into an eighteen-wheeler.”
“Purposely?”
“He was depressed about something.”
“I’m sorry. I don’t quite follow. How was it your fault?” he asked.
“The night before his accident, he wanted to talk to me . . . needed to get something off his chest, he said. I told him to let me finish writing this brief and then we could talk. When I finished, he was already fast asleep. I didn’t want to wake him, so I just slipped an Afghan over him and went to bed myself. When I woke up the next morning, he was already gone.”
“Did you ever get a chance to talk to him about it?”
“The next day I was in court. He left me a message on my phone, saying he needed to talk. Needed to get something off his chest . . . I, um . . .”
Tears came out of nowhere, causing a lump in her throat, filling her eyes, chills rushing up and down her spine. Gideon stopped her from walking, pulled her into an embrace, and wrapped his arms around her and held her tight. He didn’t offer any advice, no words of encouragement, no let me fix this for you . He just held her, and she was so grateful that he just allowed her to be . He wiped the tears from her eyes.
“When I got the news that he’d pretty much run his car into that truck, I knew . . .”
“You are not responsible for his death.”
“I still have that message saved on my old cellphone. I still listen to it from time to time. Not as much as I used to, but . . .”
“Did you hear me?” He pulled away from her, pulled her chin up, and looked deeply into her eyes. “You are not responsible for his death.”
She heard his words, took them in—every syllable. They soothed her like salve on a wound. It was almost as if his words freed her, gave her permission to free herself. Almost .
“I’ve felt so guilty all these years. I should’ve stopped what I was doing that night and listened to what he wanted to say. He might still be alive today.”
“I can’t say whether he’d still be here . . . or not, but I know you can’t blame yourself for other people’s choices.” His lips brushed against her ear and he whispered, “Forgive yourself.”
She exhaled. Breathed in. Exhaled again. Then she collapsed in his arms. “I’ve never shared that with another human being.”
“Thank you for trusting me.” He kissed her tears away.
When she’d regained her composure, he placed an arm around her shoulders. She placed hers around his waist. Together they continued the walk toward the inn.
When they stepped up onto the veranda, she looked deeply into his eyes. “Thank you.”
“I did nothing.”
She kissed his cheek. “Got to get back to work.”
No doubt their lives had changed since they’d first started their stride.