But now that I was away from the protective blanket of the hospital, and faced with the cold hard reality that was my life, I was thinking that I may have been ridiculous in my assumption that I could avoid Kyle.
Standing in the doorway of his house, it hit me, that all I had been doing was delaying the inevitable.
I must have stood there for a long time mulling it all over because Mike walked around me and pushed the door open.
“You can change your mind you know,” he said gently. “You don’t have to stay here, Lee. Come home with me. I have a ridiculously comfortable futon in my apartment.”
I mightn’t have known where I stood with Kyle, but I wasn’t stupid enough to take Mike up on his offer.
Accepting Mike’s invitation to stay would be as hazardous as moving home to Montgomery, except in this instance, it would be Mike’s health in danger, not mine.
I inhaled a shaky breath and shook my head. “I’ll be okay.”
I stepped into the hallway. It looked the same as it had the last time I’d been here-if not a little cleaner.
Yes, it was the same small hallway, the same red bricked house, just a different Lee.
The girl I had been the last time I was here, was worlds apart from the woman I was now.
Six weeks mightn’t be a long enough transitioning time frame for an average person, but loss, grief, and impending motherhood had certainly sped up the process for me.
“I’ll just take your stuff up to your room,” Mike said quietly as he headed for the stairs with my bags.
I made my way into the kitchen, amazed at how different everything looked, when it was exactly the same as always.
I filled the kettle with water and turned it on. I supposed the least I could do for Mike was give him a cup of coffee. Leaving the kettle to boil, I wandered back through the hallway to the living room.
“Bruno?”
No barking, weird...
I had expected my old chocolate lab to greet me when I walked in the front door. Usually, he had that sixth doggy sense and knew when I was close by.
Walking back through the kitchen, I slid the patio door open and stepped outside.
The small, snow covered garden was empty. It was just as well, since it was freezing outside. I would have been seriously pissed if my roommates had left Bruno outside in these temperatures.
They might be used to this weather, but Bruno and I were southerners. This amount of snow and ice was alien to us.
I pulled my old green coat around myself tightly.
“You looking for someone?”
My heart stopped, and then kick started in my chest, hammering furiously against my ribs.
I swung around slowly, trying to quell the sudden and extreme burst of emotion charging through me from the sound of his voice.
It did no good though; the moment our eyes locked I was a mess. A vicious tremor rolled through my body.
I thought over a month away would prepare me, make me somewhat immune, but no, I was still every bit affected by him.
Kyle stood at the back door, legs parted, cheeks flushed from the cold.
He looked every inch as handsome as I remembered; more, dressed in gray sweat pants and a blue hoodie. His sharp blue eyes were focused on me, and his dark hair was hidden under a gray beanie hat.
I briefly wondered how he could stand the cold, wearing only a hoodie. It wasn’t exactly warm in Boulder during the month of February, but my thoughts were interrupted by the sight of what Kyle was holding.
In his left hand was a leash, connecting to the collar of my dog.
My eyes darted back to Kyle’s face and I clasped my hands together, in a bid to ease the trembling.
He tilted his head to the side, eyes locked on mine, burning me. “Hey, baby.”
His voice was like melted chocolate to a fat kid. And I was a fat kid, and he was my cake.
Dangerous cake. I needed to remember that, but all the anger I’d been feeling on the drive home had evaporated, and all I was left with was an uncomfortable ball of nerves in my belly. Well, that and some serious appreciation for the sheer beauty of him.
Stop thinking like that, stupid.
“Hi,” I replied meekly.
Bruno whined as he pulled on the collar, trying to drag Kyle towards me, but Kyle held him back, his eyes never leaving mine.
I frowned.
Since when did those two get along? The last time I’d seen those two together, Kyle had been getting the ‘I want to use your ankle as a chew toy’ scowl from my dog. Obviously things had changed around here.
Kyle crouched down beside Bruno, wrapping an arm around his neck affectionately.
“I know you’re excited to see her, boy,” he said to the dog, petting him. “So am I. But we gotta be careful with her, she’s growing my baby in that belly of hers.”
My breath caught and I turned away from him quickly to wipe the tears from my eyes.