Indomitable Spirit (21 page)

She dangled the keys for a moment. “Step back. I don’t want them to hit you. Just let them fall on the snow,” she said and all of the kids stepped back.

When Jacob had them in his hand, she gave them a wave and hurried back to the bedroom to get ready.

As she searched through her drawers she also brushed her teeth. After rinsing away the toothpaste, she began pulling a brush through her hair.

She spun out of the bathroom and nearly screamed aloud when she saw John standing in her bedroom door leaned up against the door jamb casually, just as he’d been outside against the side of the building.

“Dear Lord, you scared me.”

“The kids are kicking things downstairs. I hope that’s okay.”

“Of course.”

“Good,” he said standing up straight and moving toward her. “I missed you so much I had to come see you.”

“You missed me?” she asked as he wrapped his hands around her waist.

“Jacob says I can keep kissing you.”

She opened her eyes wide. “He knows what we did?” She could feel the heat rise in her cheeks.

“He says people who spend the night together on TV eventually get married.”

Kym pressed a hand to her chest. “Oh, what does that really mean?”

“It means he’s so innocent and he watches too much TV.” He lowered his mouth to hers and consumed those thoughts that had begun running through her head.

When he pulled back he looked at her. “This is where it gets complicated. I can’t curl up with you in your bed. I can’t invite you to stay in mine. And when I come asking you to share a meal with me I bring an army.”

“I love your kids.”

“They seem to be very fond of you as well.”

“You missed me?” She repeated his statement from earlier which had stuck in her head.

“I said I did, didn’t I?”

Kym nodded. “I just needed to clarify because I was missing you all night.”

He ran his hand over her hair. “We can make this work. It’s just going to take some dancing around.”

“I get that. I’m willing to do that to be with you.” She wrapped her arms around his neck. “I’m a very patient woman.”

“I’m not a very patient man.”

“I suppose we could both learn something from the other.”

“Well, I want to learn how you order your eggs. I’m starving. Let’s go.”

Chapter Twenty-Two

Maggie had in fact saved them a booth in the restaurant with a hand drawn sign that said RESERVED. Kym smiled wide when she saw it.

“You must be pretty important in this town,” she said to John as she slid into the booth next to Mason.

“I’ve been known to fix a thing or two for a few people.”

“Something tells me it’s much more than that.”

Maggie walked toward the table with a smile. “Family outing I see.”

The words made Kym slightly uncomfortable.
Family
. But she wasn’t part of their family. She was very much alone in the town now. Kym shifted a glance around the restaurant. There were many families seated there.

“Mason was hungry for Maggie pancakes this morning. I couldn’t disappoint him.”

“We can get him all fixed up then,” Maggie said and then turned to Kym. “I’m glad to hear you’re safe too. That pass is very tricky in this kind of weather.”

Kym opened her mouth to speak, but Cody tugged on Maggie’s apron and diverted her attention. “Pancake.”

“You too?” Maggie lowered her forehead to his. “I’ll make it special for you.”

Maggie took the rest of the orders and hurried away.

John reached across the table and rested his hand on Kym’s. “Are you okay?”

“Does everyone know I was stupid enough to try and come down that pass?” she asked quietly.

“No one thinks that.”

She lifted her eyes to meet his. “I could have died up there,” she said with her voice hushed as much for those around her as for the kids.

“But you didn’t.”

Maggie returned with coffee and juice. Kym sat back in the booth and occupied herself by coloring a picture with Abby.

John hadn’t liked how Kym closed up after Maggie had mentioned the pass. Hell, he’d gotten stuck up there more than once—though not as desperately as she had where they had to take shelter.

He noticed how uncomfortable it had made her when Maggie lumped them together as a family too. Well wasn’t that logically the next step? They had kissed, made love, and told each other they loved one another. It shouldn’t make her jumpy when people included her in their family.

John looked around. A few heads gave him a nod and then went back to their conversations and meals. He’d thought bringing her along to breakfast wasn’t a big deal. However, it hadn’t occurred to him that it would be their first time out together. They’d never been in public as a couple and here she was coloring with his daughter. Oh, people were going to talk. That shouldn’t bother him. He’d been gossiped about before. But it bothered him because this wasn’t fodder for gossip. This was Kym’s life—his life.

It wasn’t long before Maggie served them and his kids began to move plates back and forth so that their food could be cut. Kym dove right in and began to help, but it must have been overwhelming to not have had a moment to herself to even sip her coffee.

What had he been thinking? This was such a mistake. This was only their second meal together with the kids and it was always such chaos.

Once the kids were settled and Kym was able to begin eating, he watched her. This was something he could get used to.

“What do you have planned today?” he asked as she took a bite of her pancakes.

“I’ll need to spend some time working on lessons.”

“Isn’t it always the same?”

Kym looked up from her plate and chewed her bite slowly. “Is every furnace filter the same?”

“You have to adjust.”

“Same with lesson plans in martial arts.”

Jacob wiped his mouth and set his napkin back in his lap. “Will you train today too?”

“Privately. I always train a minimum of an hour a day.”

He pursed his lips and his forehead crinkled as he thought. “Could I train with you? I could do extra jobs at the school,” he added quickly. “I know I’m not just getting lessons since you and Dad are dating.”

John clamped his teeth around his fork and shot Jacob a look.

Kym turned her attention to him fully. “You’d like to train on Saturday when the school is closed? I won’t have a class of students.”

“I’d like to, but only if you said it was okay.”

Her eyes were soft and the corner of her mouth lifted. “Jacob, I would enjoy some company.”

The smile on his face brightened into his eyes. “Thank you, ma’am.”

“You graduate next week. Perhaps you’d like to learn your next form.”

His eyes grew wide. “Yes. I would.”

“After breakfast, and only if your father doesn’t have anything for you to do at home.”

Jacob looked at his father now with pleading eyes.

John sipped his coffee before looking at Kym. “This is a day off for you.”

“And I will be training. He’s asked to train more and with me.”

“Are you saying this is fine?”

“I think that was what I said.”

“He can pay you off with more chores?”

Kym set her fork down and placed her hands in her lap. Her eyes were focused on him directly. “Do you have a problem with me working with him?”

“I just don’t want you to feel obligated.”

“I’m capable of telling him no if it wasn’t going to work for me.”

“Fine. I’ll bring him by. But you have to bring him home.”

“Fine, but I don’t have my car.”

He nodded. “You will. Chris and I will head up and bring it down in a few hours.”

“Thank you,” she said softly and smiled.

“We’re having lasagna for dinner.”

“Sounds nice.”

“You’ll be staying.” He narrowed his eyes to her.

“You should come to class,” she said picking up her fork. “You could learn some discipline and manners—such as how to ask a lady to dinner.”

He smiled. “You’ll be there?”

“Of course I will.”

~*~

Kym hadn’t planned to have anyone in the school with her today, but Jacob had a buzzing energy that was affecting her too.

“I’m glad you came to train with me, but I also have to work on my form. I have a competition next week and…”

“Competition?” His eyes grew wide. “You’re going to compete like in a tournament?”

She smiled. “Yes. I’m going to judge too.”

“That is so cool.”

“I’ll be judging the sparring. That takes focus.”

His mouth had dropped open and his eyes grew even wider. “Can I compete?”

Kym felt her own smile shift. “Well…um…do you think you’re ready? You’d only be able to compete among your belt ranking and age, but…I don’t know if…”

“Oh, please. I’m ready. I know my form very well. I’ll show you.” And that was what he did. He started in a ready stance and began his form with the precision she’d seen her brothers have when they did the form.

Had she been judging him, he’d have a near perfect score and she had to assume she was watching with a very critical eye.

When he was done, he came back to ready and then bowed to her.

“I’m ready,” he beamed and she couldn’t disagree.

Her heart began to pound in her chest. This wasn’t her decision and she knew that.

“Tonight over dinner we’ll talk to your father about it.”

“Thank you.”

“By the way, Jacob. I owe you an apology.”

His eyebrows came together in a look of confusion.

She reached her hand out and touched his shoulder. “I didn’t tell you how proud I was of your break the other day.” She felt his shoulders stiffen under her hand. “I got very emotional and my grandfather dismissed me from the floor.”

That had his eyes opening wide. “He did?”

“It might have shown weakness to the other students. But I’m afraid it was misread by your father and I’m afraid perhaps you thought I wasn’t happy for you.”

He shrugged and she knew that was her answer.

“You’ve learned so much and you’ve become very strong. I’m very proud of the student you are as well as the young man.’

Jacob smiled, she thought perhaps unwillingly, but it was genuine and he couldn’t have hidden it if he tried.

“Are you ready to train more today?”

He gave her an enthusiastic nod. “I’ll work over here so I’m not in your way.”

He moved over to the side of the floor and turned away from her. Again, with the same discipline and precision he began to work on his form.

Kym took a deep breath. She wanted him to compete. Knowing how to win—or lose—was an important skill. Getting up in front of strangers and overtaking your fear with confidence was something every third grader should master.

She wondered if John would let her take him. With all the things that had happened in his life it could be a very fragile thing to push him into the competitive world—or it could be the one thing to push him onward to be great.

Either way she was sure she’d need to be prepared when they brought it up to him.

Chapter Twenty-Three

From the moment Kym and Jacob had discussed the competition; she’d practiced in her head what she’d say to John.

She’d never anticipated that the moment they sat down for dinner Jacob would lead with, “Miss O’Bryne is doing a competition and I want to go too. She said I could and I want to go. Okay, Dad?”

The air whooshed out of her lungs and she saw John’s eyes widen and a cloud of what she’d only be able to explain as fury hazed them.

“She did, did she?” He was glaring at her. This wasn’t how it was supposed to work.

“I said we’d discuss it with you.” She shifted her eyes to give Jacob a firm look which had him lowering his head and focusing on his dinner. “But perhaps we’ll discuss it when the meal is over and it is only the three of us.”

There was no need to talk about it while the others were at the table and she could already see that John wasn’t happy. Perhaps it was how it was brought to light and she wouldn’t blame him for being upset. She couldn’t blame Jacob for being so excited either.

When the meal, which had been too quiet and too tense, was over the three younger children went about doing their chores and then they were off to watch TV before their baths.

Kym moved toward John at the sink where he was washing dishes. “Let me do this and you go sit with Jacob.”

“Doesn’t seem like there is anything to discuss. From the sounds of it you’ve done all the parenting on this.”

Kym grit her teeth. “He’s very excited and what he said wasn’t necessarily the way he and I had discussed it. I’d never take over the parenting of your kids.”

The vein at John’s temple pulsed and the grip he had on the glass in his hand could only spell disaster if he squeezed it any harder.

She reached out and touched his arm. “Give him just a moment of your time. I can leave if it’s necessary.”

He turned and gave her a glare. “I’m not asking you to leave.”

“And I’m asking you to take a moment and let your son speak to you. I don’t care if you tell him yes or no, just listen to him.”

The anger in his eyes seemed to soften and he handed her the glass and the rag.

John turned and walked back to the table. He took the chair, spun it around, and sat facing his son with his arms over the back of the chair he now straddled.

“Tell me about the competition.”

Jacob began telling him in great detail what Kym had told him about the competition. He explained how he’d only get to do one form, but there would be lots of people there doing other forms, breaking, and sparring.

“Miss O’Bryne is competing in forms and she’s judging sparring which I can do when I’m older. I can’t spar yet, though she said someday she’d let me put on her gear so I know what it’s like.”

Kym kept her back turned from them and finished the dishes. A smile permeated her lips listening to Jacob talk so quickly.