But visiting his mother didn't require him to interact with the residents since Patricia Coleman lived on the outskirts, which enabled him to avoid the main part of town and the possibility of running into Ella Fisher. Thanks to his mother's tendency to keep him abreast of everyone's business in town, the last Kyle heard, Ella had been engaged to a guy they'd gone to high school with after dating him for three years-the news of which had induced a gut-punch sensation in the pit of his belly.
Except Ella had never made it to the altar-the wedding had been called off a few months before the big day nearly a year ago. They were no longer a couple, and Kyle hated that a part of him was relieved, even though he knew there was no chance in hell that he and Ella could ever be what they once were. Unfortunately, no other woman had come close to replacing what he'd once felt for the girl he'd left behind.
Despite his mother's updates, it had been a few years since he'd seen Ella in person, but as he drove past the five-and-dime, then the Family Diner, where his mother had worked all his life-and still did, despite him providing her with enough money to retire on-Kyle realized that was all about to change.
"I have to admit I'm a little curious to see how everything plays out today," Nolan said, once again breaking into his thoughts. "Something like this is as exciting as it gets around here, and I'd rather see it happen live and in person than read it on the front page of the weekly gazette tomorrow or hear about it through gossip from one of my clients at the office," he said of the accounting business Nolan had taken over when his father had retired.
Kyle huffed out a laugh and shook his head. "Do you realize how pathetic you sound right now? That something like this is a major enough source of entertainment for you that you actually took the afternoon off from work to watch it all go down?"
"Yeah, I do," Nolan openly admitted, his grin never wavering. "Welcome back to small-town life, my friend. Trust me, this is going to be big news after today."
The last thing Kyle wanted was to be the center of attention. But his reasons for winning the building outweighed the speculation that was bound to circulate once he purchased the property, and gossip was a small price to pay for his mother's happiness. "Yeah, well, maybe you ought to find yourself a girlfriend and settle down so you have something more pleasurable to occupy your free time."
"I'm working on it." Nolan shrugged.
"Yeah?" Kyle raised a brow as he slowed for a stop sign, genuinely surprised that his friend had his eye on someone specific. "You mean you haven't already gone through all the single ladies in town? I didn't think there were that many left to choose from that you haven't already dated."
"Like Ella, who's been single and available the past year since breaking off her engagement to Tucker Barnes?" his friend quipped, his tone sly.
Kyle jerked his gaze to Nolan, hating the way his entire body tensed at the thought of his best friend dating someone who'd been so completely and utterly his, which was ridiculous, since it had been nearly ten years since their bitter breakup. It's not as though he had any claim to her now.
"Is that who you're interested in?" he asked, his voice gruffer than he'd intended. "Ella?"
"Jesus. No." Nolan shook his head. "I wouldn't do that to you, though I do find it fascinating that you nearly bit my head off right now just because you thought I might be interested in her." He smirked. "Still carrying a torch for your high school sweetheart?"
Nolan was clearly ribbing him, and Kyle refused to react in a way that would give his friend any more reason to provoke him. "Not even close. Trust me, that flame was snuffed out a long time ago and we've both moved on."
Kyle had no illusions that, a decade later, they were different people who led completely opposite lives, and he was certain they had nothing left in common with the starry-eyed teenagers they'd once been. Kyle had royally fucked up whatever they'd once shared, and there was no erasing the pain and anger that had driven them apart.
But he'd be lying if he said he didn't regret the abrupt way things had ended between them. Even now, he wished he hadn't left Woodmont, and Ella, without at least apologizing for the hurtful things he'd said. But as the years rolled by, and more time lapsed without seeing her, it had become harder to make that first move and easier to just avoid her when he was visiting his mother.
"So, who's the lucky girl you've set your sights on?" Kyle asked, shifting the conversation back to Nolan.