Nickels (13 page)

Only they weren’t.  When she went to bed in the evening or
found herself alone on the weekend, she couldn’t help wanting something more.

Face it.  Your life sucks.

The sound of the sliding glass door opening echoed across
the pool area.  She assumed it was Marcy, so she stayed stationary on her
floating raft.

Whispered voices followed the scraping of chairs being
rearranged on the concrete patio.  One of those voices sounded like Kyle’s. 
She maintained her position, but strained her ears to hear.

“I’m worried about her,” Marcy said.  Were they talking
about her?  “If things go like I hope with Chad, I won’t be here much longer.”

Niki’s heart raced.  Where was Marcy going?  Would she lose
her too?

“I’ve been trying to get her out there dating all year.  I’m
ready to move on to the next stage of my life, but I’m worried about her.  She
doesn’t do alone.”

“She’s not your responsibility.”

“But she is my friend—more like a sister.  I want to see her
with someone so she’s not alone when I finally get married.”

“Getting her a man is not the solution, and you know it.  She
needs to let God in.  That’s the only thing she’s missing.”

What was he talking about?  God was the one who took her
family away.  Why would she let him in—whatever that meant?

Marcy snorted.  “You and I may know that’s what she needs. 
But, she’s angry with God, still.  She blames him for taking her parents and
for taking Jack.  She’s going to resist, dig in her heels, put up a big fight. 
I’ve tried to get her to come to church for years.  I don’t know what else to
do.”

“You know how hardheaded I was and she’s not anywhere near
as bad as me.  Keep praying.  It worked on me, didn’t it?”

“It did.  It’s just not happening fast enough.  I can’t
stand to watch her suffer year after year like this.  I want to see her happy.”

“At work she seems pretty happy.”

“She’s not happy, just content.  Geez, Kyle, she pulled out
the box again this morning.  I thought last year would be the last.  But no. 
She had it out first thing.  And it seems to be doing more harm than good. 
It’s one thing to grieve for a long time—it’s another to refuse to let go.”

Kyle grunted.  “Go easy on her Marcy.  You’ve never lost
anyone—you wouldn’t know.”  The tone of his voice suggested that he had lost
someone and was maybe still grieving himself.

As their voices got softer, Niki tried to quietly maneuver
the raft closer and unnoticed.

“You’re right, I haven’t lost someone.  But I almost lost
you.  So don’t think I didn’t imagine the worst when we had no word.  I
grieved.  Then I rejoiced when we learned you were still with us.”

“I get it.  I’m just saying—don’t push her too hard.”

Niki heard the sound of the metal scraping again, then a
soft
swoosh
of water as someone entered the pool.  She ran her hands
through the water, urging the raft towards the other end.

So, Marcy was worried.  Truthfully, so was Niki.  Especially
if Marcy was going to up and marry Chad and move out.  She knew she shouldn’t
be upset or surprised.  It was a natural change of life.  She should be happy
that her friend thought she found the love of her life.  It was a wonderful
thing.

Yet, she didn’t want to face what that meant about her.  She
was going nowhere.

Kyle paused as he entered the pool.  Niki lay on a raft
floating in the water not ten paces away from him.  He took in a sharp breath
of air.  The sight of her in a bikini wasn’t helping him get over his
attraction to her.  On the contrary, it sent his mind reeling and his pulse
racing.

He forced himself to tear his eyes away.  He resumed
entering the pool.  Crouching down, he extended his body outward to lay on his
back.

The water felt cool against his skin.  The semi-weightless
feeling eased some of the constant tension in his back.  For several minutes he
floated in the water, looking up at the sky.

He closed his eyes.

For the past six weeks, he had only seen Niki at work.  But,
that was enough for him to really start getting to know her.  She had a funny
sense of humor—usually reserved for times where she thought it was just her and
the other programmers.  He loved the way her eyes sparkled when she laughed.

In meetings, she was pure business.  She knew her stuff and
she ran a tight group.  She knew exactly what each programmer was working on
and how far along they were.  She came up with great ideas to solve any
challenges they faced.  She even asked his opinion a few times.

Somehow he managed to gain a little of her respect—at least
when it came to piloting helicopters.  Ironically, it was the one area he felt
he deserved the least respect.  After all, it was his fault that Brad died—that
his whole team died.  It was because of his piloting.

He wondered if the people at Helitronics knew the whole
story.  All he told them was that he’d been badly injured when his helicopter
went down.  Of course, the official investigation absolved him of any
responsibility.  They said it was a mechanical defect, not pilot error.  Still,
he couldn’t help but wonder if that was really true.  He didn’t believe it.

Either way, he was never going to fly a real helicopter
again.  The least he could do was make sure that the code Niki and her team
wrote didn’t put anyone in danger.  He was pushing them hard for perfection—not
that he needed to.  It seemed she was reaching for the same goal.

He opened his eyes then he moved until his feet touched the
bottom of the pool.  He glanced around and found Niki.

Yeah, he’d learned a lot about professional Niki in the past
few weeks.  Now it was time to learn about the woman she kept hidden behind
that professionalism.

Slowly he waded towards her floating raft, staying as quiet
as possible.  Then he stood carefully and held the raft with one hand.  With
the other, he scooped up water and held it over her stomach.

Cold drops of water dripped on her stomach.  She shot
upright with a howl.  Her eyes flew open, looking for her attacker.  Not seeing
anyone, Niki laid back down on the raft, amazed she hadn’t tipped it over.

“Hello, beautiful.”  Kyle’s teasing smile appeared leaning
over her head.  He stood holding the raft steady above her head.

“Kyle.  I should have known it was you.”

“Ready for lesson number two?”

She sighed.  She was ready to hide in a corner all day
wallowing in her self-pity.  That’s what she was ready for.

A splash of water shot into her face.  What was it with him
and trouble and pools?

She leaned forward on the raft again, straddling it.  She
paddled it in a circle until she was face to face with him.  Angling her hand,
she sent large splash his way.  He ducked, missing the fullest part of the
splash.  As he moved towards the deep end and she paddled behind him.  He was
not going to get away with this.

When she got close to where he stood, only his head above
water this time, she shot another spray in his direction.  He went under,
headed her way.  Then she felt the raft lift and flip just before her body made
full contact with the water.  Her last thought before sucking in enough air to
go under was that she was going to kill him.

As Niki stood to her feet, she felt the weight of her water
logged ponytail pulling.  She removed the ponytail holder, twisting it around
her finger.  She dunked her head under water, trying to free up the tangled
mess of hair.  When she popped up again, Kyle was standing in front of her.

“I don’t think you’re getting the point of the lesson.  Fun
is supposed to make you smile, not frown,” he said with a roguish grin.

She
harrumphed
.  This was not fun.

She charged him, hoping to knock him off balance.  He stood
firm, placing his hands on her waist to stop the forward momentum.  Her mouth
went dry and her breath grew shallow.  A tingling sensation shot from where his
hands rested.

“Really, Niki? What will our children think when I tell them
stories of how their mother was always throwing herself at me?”

She put her hand on his chest, still confused by her strange
reaction.  As she started to push him away, her eyes went to where her hand
touched him.  The right side of his chest was covered with numerous little
scars she hadn’t noticed until being this close.  She studied him more
closely.  He had tattoos on both arms, from the top of his shoulder down his
biceps—no more than what would be covered by a t-shirt.  The tattoos on his
right shoulder looked malformed, like he had been badly burned.

Some of the mystery surrounding his departure from the Air
Force had to do with his marred flesh.  She was sure of it.

He dropped his hold on her waist as he traced her gaze.  A
frown crossed his face.  He turned and walked to the edge of the pool
wordlessly.

“I take it our lesson is done, Professor Kyle?” she shouted
to his retreating back.

He grunted, the only indication that he heard her.  As he
stepped from the pool, she failed to hide her shock at the long jagged scars
running down his back.

Chapter 13

Kyle glanced over his shoulder at the sharp intake of her
breath.  She had seen the scars.  All of them.  The ones on his chest and
arms.  The surgical scars running up his back.  Even he hadn’t been able to see
the full extent of those.  Judging from her reaction, they were as bad as he
thought.

“Stop staring,” he growled as he opened the sliding glass
door and stalked through.

“What’s got you in a bad mood?” Marcy asked, looking up from
salad fixings she chopped.

He whirled around to face her.  Raising his hands, he
motioned across his chest.  “These.  And those.”  He hooked a thumb over his
shoulder as he turned his back to face her.

Her mouth slacked open.

This is why he was careful to hide his torso at all times. 
He didn’t know what he had been thinking, trying to play in the pool without a
shirt on.  He hated his disfigured body.  How could he expect any woman not to
be repulsed by it.  His perfect physique died in that helicopter crash.  And it
made him feel like less of a man.

“I think you’re overreacting.”

“Am I?  Have you taken a good look?”

“Yes.  That’s why I think you’re crazy.  The scars aren’t
that bad.  You’re still an attractive man—with a few imperfections.”

“A few?  Look at this!”  Again he motioned his hand over his
chest.  Was his sister completely blind?

“Yes, a few.  You’re obsessing.”

“Am I?  How well do you think Niki reacted to them?”

“I don’t know.”  Marcy stood on her tip toes to peer around
him through the sliding glass door.  “She doesn’t look horrified or anything.”

He watched as Niki waded to the edge of the pool dragging
the raft behind her.  She didn’t look the least bit bothered by anything.  In
fact, she looked perfect.  Perfectly gorgeous.

He doubted she would want anything to do with a disfigured
man.