Nickels (31 page)

“Please don’t apologize for that again,” he said, throwing
her off balance.  “I don’t know that there was any other way you would have
listened to my story and believed it.  Or that you would have made the decision
you did.  There is nothing more precious than that.  I am honored to have been
a part of it.”

“Oh,” she whispered, unsure what to make of him.

She looked at him—really looked at him—not as the teenager
who made her life miserable, but as the man he’d become.  Since stepping into
her life again, if she was honest with herself, she saw Kyle Jacobs as a
compassionate man.  He tried to help her from the beginning.  When she freaked
out when he asked about Jack, he tried to smooth it over and he didn’t hold it
against her.  When she was hurt by Marcy’s comments at dinner, he took her to a
movie, thoroughly distracting her from the mess that was her life.  When she
worked herself to exhaustion, he was there to keep her from losing it
completely.

He was still looking at her with those beautiful eyes.  Her
breath caught in her throat.  Yep, she was definitely about to melt into a
puddle.

“What were you going to say?” she asked when she remembered
he had been about to say something earlier.

Now it was his turn to look uncomfortable.  He shifted in
his chair.  “Thank you for all of this,” he said, waving his hand in the air. 
“You have no idea what an incredible gift you gave me today.”

“I just cooked you a meal and picked up a few things.  No
big deal.”

He took her hand, sending a jolt up her arm.  “It is a big
deal, to me.  I haven’t felt well enough to pick up or make myself a decent
meal.”  He released her hand and looked away.  “I’ve spent the last two nights
sleeping on the couch because climbing the stairs takes too much effort.”

Was he in that much pain?

“I knew it was stupid to buy a multi-level house.  Stairs
have been the most difficult thing to manage in my rehab.  But, I liked the
place and it was close to Marcy.”

“What’s in the room downstairs?” Niki asked pointing toward
the room she thought might be an office.

“Nothing.”

“Why don’t you move your things down here, then?  I mean, if
you don’t need it for something else.  Just think it’d be easier.”

He seemed to consider the idea.  “Guess I could.  The
bathroom down here has a shower, even though it’s not the master suite.  Maybe
I should rent out the second floor to a roommate,” he said jokingly.

“I don’t think they’d want to listen to your snoring.”

“I don’t snore.”

“You sure?”

Kyle smiled.  Standing, he stretched, before carrying his
plate into the kitchen.  He went for a prescription bottle and downed another
pill.

She picked up her plate and set it on the kitchen counter. 
When she went to open the dishwasher, he put his hand over hers.

“I’ll get this later.”

She glanced up at him.  “I’m sure you will.”  Then she tried
to open it anyway.

He kept his hand firmly in place.  “Do you ever listen to
me?”

“No,” she said, batting her eyes.  She smiled sweetly at him
before shooing him away.  There was no way she was going to let him win this
one.  Bending to unload and reaching to put away dishes was probably not what
he needed to be doing right now.

He released her hand and went back to the couch.  “You’ve
got ten minutes.  Then I’m kicking you out.”

“Why, you turn into a pumpkin or something?”

“No, the meds will kick in and you’ll be stuck here.”

She quickly unloaded the dishwasher.  She threw some plastic
wrap on the lasagna pan and set it in the fridge.  Kyle could do what he wanted
with it later.  Then she put the dirty dishes in the dishwasher, all under the
ten minute mark.

“Ready.”

As he showed her to the door, he weaved—the medicine must be
taking affect.  When they got to the door, he nearly tripped and thrust his
hand out to the door frame for balance, trapping Niki between his body and the
door.

“You okay?” she asked, looking up at him.  Even in his
disheveled state he looked incredible.

He leaned forward and brushed a light kiss across her lips. 
The gentle touch brought forward a memory of the heated kisses from the sky
ride—which she now admitted she enjoyed very much.  She resisted the temptation
to put her arms around his neck.

“Thank you for everything, Niki,” he whispered in her ear.

Tingles traveled up and down her spine.  She stood on her
tiptoes and kissed his check, almost veering towards his lips.

Then he suddenly stepped back and opened the door, saving
her from the ideas running through her head.

“Off with ya now,” he said, motioning her through the door.

“Goodnight, Kyle.  Call if you need anything.”

“Um, hmm,” he muttered before closing and locking the door.

She stood on his back patio for a few minutes trying to
recover from his closeness.  Something just changed between them.  For the
first time she lowered her guard around him.  It felt good.

Chapter 28

“He says he hasn’t been able to go up the stairs,” Niki
confided in Marcy when she returned home.  “He’s sleeping on his couch.  That can’t
be good for him.”

“I knew it.” Marcy’s exasperated sigh said it all.  “He
tries to be all tough big brother.  That’s it.”  She dialed a number on her
phone.

“Chad, it’s me.  Listen, can you get Matt and Joe and meet
me at Kyle’s house?” Marcy asked.

After a pause, she said, “No, he’s doing okay—just okay. 
But, we need to move his stuff to the room downstairs.”

Another pause.

“I know.  But, he’s stubborn.  He can’t make it up the
stairs for goodness sake.”

A few more seconds ticked by.

“Of course, I’m his meddling little sister.  It’s what we
do—we step in when our big brother is too stubborn to admit he needs help.”

Marcy nodded at whatever Chad was saying.  “Love you.  See
you in ten.”

“Come on, Niki.”  Grabbing her hand, she led her to the
garage.  “We’re moving his stuff tonight.”

Niki hopped in the passenger side of Marcy’s car.

“Thanks for checking on him and, well, for everything.”

The guys were waiting for them when they arrived.  They
followed Marcy and waited while she retrieved the hidden key.  She unlocked the
door and stepped inside with Niki close on her heels.

“You cleaned.”  Marcy nudged her with her shoulder.

“Maybe.”

Marcy checked on Kyle, who was fast asleep and completely
oblivious to the home invasion taking place.  Good thing they were all his
friends.

Marcy opened the double doors off of the living room.

“This is bigger than I thought,” she said, searching around
for a light.  There was none.

“I’m sure he’ll have some lights upstairs we can bring
down,” Niki said.

“Let’s see what we’re dealing with.”  Marcy led them up the
stairs.  She flipped on the light switch illuminating the hall.

To Niki’s surprise, there was a second bedroom in addition
to the master suite.  How big was this place?  The second bedroom was empty, so
they entered the master suite.  A queen size bed sat in the center of the room
and a small dresser leaned against one wall.  The furniture looked woefully
inadequate for the size of the room.  Clothes lay in a heaping pile on the
floor.

Marcy must have seen the clothes, for she walked over and
kicked it with her foot.  “Looks like he hasn’t done laundry in awhile.”

Marcy stripped the bed then the guys carried it downstairs. 
Niki grabbed the lamp and followed behind.  Using the small amount of light
filtering in from the living room, Chad and Matt were able to figure out where
to put the bed.

Niki found the outlet controlled by the wall switch and
plugged in the lamp.  “Much better.”

Then she went back upstairs and started helping Marcy clean
out his closet.  Joe and Matt managed to get the dresser downstairs while Chad
cleaned out the master bath.  In a half hour, they had everything settled in
the downstairs room.  Marcy thanked the guys and told them it was safe to
leave, even though Kyle hadn’t stirred once.

Niki helped her put fresh sheets on the bed.  Then they went
to see if they could rouse the sleepy owner.

“Kyle,” Niki said while Marcy brought the giant stack of
dirty laundry downstairs.

“Kyle,” she said again, pushing his arm with more force.

“Niki, I love you,” he murmured as he rolled onto his side. 
His eyes fluttered open then shut again.

As her heart stopped beating, she wondered if she heard him
correctly.

“Don’t worry.  He loves everyone when he’s on the meds.” 
Then Marcy tried to rouse him, unsuccessfully.  “Do you think we can carry
him?”

“I don’t know.  Maybe.  If we can get him awake enough to
sit up?”

Marcy went to the kitchen and got some ice.

Niki’s eyes went wide.  “You’re not.”

She did.  Marcy put ice on his neck and Kyle’s eyes opened
wide.

“What the—” Kyle roared.

“Come on.  Let’s get you to your new bedroom,” Marcy said,
looping his one arm over her shoulders.  Niki took her cue and did likewise
with a half-groggy Kyle not really helping.  Getting him to the room only a few
feet away took some doing.  When they finally got him in the room, the three
crashed onto the bed.

Before Niki could get up, Kyle rolled onto his side facing
her.  He dropped his arm across her waist and snuggled close.

“Marcy—” Niki squeaked, hoping for some help.

“You smell like an angel,” Kyle said nuzzling her ear.

Niki swallowed hard.  Marcy laughed. 

“This isn’t funny!”

“I should totally take a picture of this.”

“You wouldn’t!”

“I should—to torture Kyle with later.  But, since you’re my
best friend I’ll let it slide.”

“Just help me roll him over,” Niki pleaded, desperate to put
some space between her and Kyle.  It was messing with her sense of stability.

Marcy pried Kyle’s arm from her which was enough to get him
to roll over, though almost onto the floor.  Niki jumped up, relieved to be
free.

“Come on, big brother.  Move your legs over here,” she said,
shoving his legs towards where Niki had been.  After a few more nudges, he was
finally on the bed at a normal angle.

Marcy set his alarm clock, posting a note on it that he
should call in tomorrow then go back to bed.  Then she turned out the light and
closed the double doors.

“I’m going to call mom and have her come over tomorrow to
sit with him.  Maybe she’ll even do his laundry,” Marcy said as she locked the
back door of the house and stowed the key in its hiding place.

“That’s probably a good idea,” Niki agreed, glad to know
Kyle would be taken care of.

Wednesday, Niki left work at four.  She was nervous. 
Tonight she would attend a Bible study for the first time in her life.  Would
she look like a complete idiot when she didn’t know the first thing about how
to study the Bible?  Would she make a fool out of herself if she spoke?

But, she shouldn’t be nervous.  She had already met most of
the people in the study.  It was at Matt and Joe’s place.  Chad and Marcy would
be there.  Kyle normally came, but given that he wasn’t at work, she doubted
he’d feel up to going tonight.  Then Marcy said there was a gal named Tori that
normally came.  So she knew almost everyone.  Yep.  No reason to be nervous at
all.

Pulling off the exit ramp near her home she looked at the
time.  Five.  She had enough time to swing by Kyle’s place and check on him
before getting some dinner.  Maybe she should just bring him dinner again. 
Deciding on the latter, she moved over to the right lane so she could turn into
the grocery store parking lot.

Once inside, she grabbed a salad kit, one of the precooked
rotisserie chickens, and some biscuits.  Hopefully Kyle wasn’t a picky eater. 
Checking out at the self checkout lane, she was in and out in five minutes. 
She dropped the food in the back seat and pulled out.