Nickels (38 page)

He started to grab the blankets but Niki clamped down,
twisting them about her body like a cocoon as she rolled away from him.

“None of that.”

“It’s early.  Go away.”

“It’s one o’clock.  You’ve slept half of your Saturday
away.”

Niki groaned and burrowed deeper into the covers, her fuzzy
brain trying to figure out what he was doing there.

“Come on.  At least put on a bathing suit and come out to
the pool.”

She grunted.

“You know you want to.”

She moaned, still not moving.

“Okay.  You leave me with no choice.”

He pried the covers from her body despite her rigid grip. 
Then, he clasped his hands over hers and pulled until she sat upright.

“Stop,” she whined weakly.

He pulled her from sitting to standing in his arms.  Then he
kissed her forehead.  She leaned forward into his chest, letting her arms hang
limply.  Then she closed her eyes.  She could sleep standing up, right?

She felt him tilt her chin upwards.  Then his lips tasted
hers.  The fog lifted as he ignited a fire within her.  When she started
kissing him back, he pulled away.

“I knew that would wake you.”

“Is that your answer for everything that ails me?”

Kyle grinned.  “It works, doesn’t it?”

She grunted.

He walked towards the door.  “You have ten minutes to appear
by the pool or I’m coming back in to get you.  So feel free to take your time,”
he added with a devilish grin before pulling the door shut behind him.

One thing Niki learned in the last month, maybe more, is
that Kyle would do just what he said.  She dug through her clothes until she
found her blue one piece suit.  She hurriedly brushed and braided her hair. 
Ten minutes later, she stepped onto the hot concrete curbing next to the pool,
searching for Kyle.

Arms came up around her, followed by a kiss on her neck.

“You’re way too happy,” she said.

“You’re way too grumpy.  I keep forgetting you’re grumpy
when you wake up.”

“I’ve lost my job.  I’ve lost my dream client.  I caused a
major accident.  Probably caused all kinds of grief for my boss.  I think I’m
entitled to sleep all day and be grumpy when I’m awake,” she said, disengaging
from him.

“I was kinda hoping you’d forget about all that.”

She dropped her towel onto a chair and kicked off her
flip-flops, trying to ignore him.  Seeing her raft in the pool, she climbed in
slowly to adjust to the cool water.  She lifted her body onto the raft, face
up—glad she remembered her sunglasses.

A half hour later, a soft splash sounded by the edge of the
pool.  Probably Kyle.  She wished he would leave her alone.  She didn’t feel up
to being around anyone.  She just wanted to sleep until she forgot yesterday.

Cool water droplets fell onto her stomach, soaking through
the bathing suit.  She played this game with him before, but not today.

“I’m not in the mood.”

More water.

“What, you have a death wish or something?” she snapped,
opening her eyes this time.

He shrugged and tossed more water on her.

“Stop.”

Kyle scooped up more water with his hands and dropped it on
her.

“You don’t listen, do you?”

“Nope,” he said shaking his head as he splashed her again.

“I think I need to call my pest control people and have them
come out again.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because I have a very large pest in my pool.”

He grinned.

Niki tried to remain serious, but she couldn’t.  She felt a
smile crack the corners of her mouth.

“Ah, there’s my beautiful Nickels.”

Warmth rushed to her cheeks.  It felt good to hear him call
her that.

He was still looking at her intently, sending shivers down
her spine despite the midday sun beating down on her.

“What?”

Kyle traced his fingers along the line of her neck.  “I love
you, Nicole Turner.  I can’t tell you how much.  It broke my heart to watch you
in so much pain yesterday, knowing I really couldn’t do anything to help you.”

Each word penetrated her wall and landed softly on her
heart.  She looked at him through her sunglasses.  He loved her?  Could he
really know that already?

Soon enough the sweet, peaceful effect of his words faded as
she panicked.  Love was a pretty serious thing.  Everything within her pushed
her towards declaring similar sentiments, only to be batted back down her
throat.  She cared for him, but love?  She still wasn’t sure she even knew what
that was.

The seconds ticked by and the air grew expectant.

“Kyle—”

“It’s okay.  I shouldn’t have sprung that on you, not yet,
and not today.  But, it’s out there and it’s true.”

He pulled his hand back to his side.  Bending his knees, he
dropped lower in the water next to her raft until only his head and part of his
neck were above water.

“Hungry?  I figure you are two or three meals behind.  We
could run out and get some lunch or dinner.”

“Yeah,” Niki said scooting off the raft.  “Where’s Marcy?”

“She said something about dragging Chad to a whole bunch of
cake tastings.”

 “I completely forgot!  I was supposed to go with her.  Some
maid of honor I’m turning out to be.”  She got out of the pool with him
following close behind.

“She said you’d freak out about it.  She didn’t want you to
worry.  This was one of those decisions that she wanted to make with Chad
anyway.”

She toweled off, still feeling bad for missing the
appointment with Marcy.  She opened the sliding glass door and walked inside. 
She grabbed a glass of water and downed it before heading back to her room. 
Kyle followed, stopping at the hall bathroom.

“Mind if I borrow your shower?”

She nodded before disappearing into her room.  Twenty
minutes later she joined a well-put-together Kyle in the great room.

As they rode to the restaurant, she checked the messages on
her phone which she had been ignoring since yesterday afternoon.  Six were from
Kyle—two from yesterday and four from this morning.  She smiled as she listened
to each one, hearing the concern in his voice.  How had she ever thought
anything bad about him?

Once they arrived at PF Chang’s, they were seated immediately. 
Guess it helps to get there right after they open.  Who eats dinner at four
anyway?  Niki ordered two entrées and an appetizer with a promise from Kyle
that he would share some of his entrée.  When the appetizer arrived, she dug
in.  She was much hungrier than she thought.

“How you doin’?” Kyle asked biting into a lettuce wrap.

“Okay, I guess.  Which makes no sense at all.  I mean, my
career took a nose dive with that helicopter yesterday.  I’m kinda surprised
I’m not hiding out in my room with a tub of Ben & Jerry’s.”

“Good.”  He paused.  “I have to confess something.”

Her stomach tightened into a knot.  Even though she felt
like she was bouncing back some, she didn’t think she could handle any more bad
news.  “What?”

“I called our study group and asked them to pray for you.  I
just told them something really bad happened at work and that you needed their
support.”

Prayer.

“I never even thought to do that,” she whispered.

“That’s just human nature.  I think of it for others, long
before I think of it for myself.”

“Thanks,” she said, taking a final bite of her lettuce wrap.

“I also talked to Brian.  Twice.”

She lifted one brow in question.

“I told him everything that we knew and that I didn’t think
it was your fault.  He said if you wanted to take a few days you could.  He’ll
be in the office most of the week.  Said you should stop by when you’re ready.”

 “I’ll go in Monday.  Can’t stand to sit around you know,”
she laughed nervously.

“Everything is going to work out.  You’ll see,” he said,
giving her hand a squeeze.

Kyle’s phone rang.  He glanced at the caller ID.  “I’m
sorry.  I have to take this.”  Punching the button, he said, “What’s up?”

Niki watched him intently as the color drained from his face
and his smile fled.

“Why is Alana in the hospital?  Slow down. What happened?” 
His hand tightened on the phone and he leaned forward, thumping his leg up and
down rapidly.  He must be really close to this cousin, Alana.

“No, of course I’ll come.  I just have to take Niki home. 
Then I’ll get the first flight out.”

The server came by and Niki asked him to box up the rest of
their meal.  Judging by Kyle’s half of the conversation, they would be leaving
shortly.

“I’ll have to be back here for work on Monday, unless you
think I need to take more time?”

The server delivered the boxed up food and left the check. 
Kyle motioned for him to wait as he pulled a credit card from his pocket.  He
handed it over and waved the server on.

“Is she okay?  Really?”

As soon as the server came back with his card, Kyle scribbled
his name and some amount on the slip.  Then he motioned for Niki to grab the
food.  He stood, still on the phone, leading her from the restaurant.

“I’ll call you back when I know my flights.”  He clicked the
phone off.

As he climbed into the driver’s seat, Niki couldn’t wait any
longer.  “What’s wrong?”

He pulled out of the parking lot and pointed his vehicle
north on a side street towards Niki’s house before answering.  “We need to
talk.  But, not right now.  Look, I’ve got to go to Colorado Springs.  We’ll
talk when I get back.  I promise.”

He let out a frustrated sigh.

“I’m sorry to cut our time short.  And I hate leaving
you—especially right now,” he said pulling the truck to a stop in front of her
house.  “You’ll be okay?”

She nodded.

“I’ll try to call you once I get there.  Please tell Marcy
to call me as soon as she can.”

“Be safe,” she said sliding down from the passenger’s seat.

As he turned the truck around and drove off, she got that
sinking feeling in her stomach again.  Why did they need to talk?

And about what?

Kyle frowned as he opened the door to his townhome. 
Sometimes he wished he wasn’t so incredibly gifted with bad timing.  He felt
awful for leaving Niki right now.  But his daughter was hurt and in the
hospital.  If he really wanted to be a good father, there was no choice.  He
had to put his daughter first.

He booted up his computer and drummed his fingers on the
desktop while he waited impatiently for everything to load.  He search for
flights and found one leaving in an hour.  It would be tight, but if he took a
small carryon bag and left immediately, he might be able to make it.  He
clicked purchase and print before shutting down his computer.

Digging through his closet, he found a small bag that would
hold a change of clothes.  He grabbed something that he hoped went together and
stuffed it in the bag.  Then he did a mental check to make sure he had
everything he need.

He rushed out the door and back to his truck.

Kelly hadn’t given him much information when she called. 
Only that Alana was in the ER and that she might have a broken bone.  She
sounded too hysterical for him to pry any more details out of her.

Lord, please watch over my girl.

Within twenty minutes he arrived at the airport.  He parked
in short-term parking, grabbed his bag, and headed straight for security.

The hour flight to Colorado Springs seemed to take forever. 
He hadn’t thought to bring a book or music or anything.  All he had time to do
was worry and think.

He hoped Niki would be okay—not just about the accident, but
also when he told her about Alana.  He should have told her already.

Mentally, he slapped himself for his words. 
We need to
talk.
  That was a horrible phrase.  She must be going crazy wondering why
he needed to talk to her.  Unless…

Maybe Marcy already told her.

Naw.  If she had, Niki probably would have said something. 
She couldn’t know.

When the plane touched down, he waited impatiently for his
turn to exit.  Once outside, he dialed Kelly’s number.

“I’m here—at the airport.”

“Good,” she said.  “Can you take a cab?  I don’t want to
leave her.”

“Fine.”  He hadn’t expected her to come pick him up.

The cab ride to the hospital wasn’t too bad.

When he entered the hospital, he asked where his daughter
was.

“Third room on the left,” the nurse said, pointing down the
hall.

He hovered in the doorway of his daughter’s room.  Kelly’s
back blocked his view of Alana.  He cleared his throat.  Kelly turned around at
the sound.  Her face was pale and she looked beyond tense.

“You made it.  Alana, honey, your daddy is here.”

“Daddy!”  She tried to wiggle down off the table, but the
doctor caught her.

“Whoa there, princess,” the doctor said, “You stay put right
here.  I’m almost done.”