When We Touch(7)

When they talked on the phone for the last time, Kyle had said the two  years they'd spent together were the best of his life, but Olivia didn't  give him away. His feelings had probably already changed.

"Fine. He hates that we were together. He hates me. I don't care. He's  all yours now. You got exactly what you wanted. So enjoy him and leave  me alone."

"I didn't get pregnant on purpose. I know you think I did."

"At this point, it doesn't matter what I think." She turned to go but Noelle wasn't finished yet.

"Does Brandon know?"

Olivia hesitated with her hand on the doorknob. "Know what?"

"That I'm pregnant?"

Why would he care? "Of course he does. Everyone in town knows."

"Your relationship with Brandon won't last," she said suddenly, changing tactics. "He isn't the marrying kind."

"Fortunately, after what I've been through in the past few months, I'm  only looking for some fun." Unable to resist, she lowered her voice.  "And, God, can he provide it!"

* * *

Kyle had the hardest time keeping his eyes from gravitating to Olivia.  She looked better than ever-tall, tan, hair streaked from the sun. But,  despite her shapely legs-which happened to be his favorite part of the  female anatomy-her appearance had nothing to do with how he felt. She'd  always been beautiful to him, the only woman he'd ever loved. Just  seeing her made his determination falter.                       
       
           



       

How had he gotten into such a terrible mess? These days, he constantly  asked himself that. But he had no answer-except the obvious. He'd been  an idiot, foolish enough to make the kind of mistake that would change  his life forever.

He wished he could stop time, demand everyone back up and let him start  over. But he'd seen the results of the pregnancy test. With a baby  coming, there were no second chances.

"Honey, you have to put three hugs and three kisses in each box," Noelle said.

He blinked at the foil-wrapped chocolate candies. Wasn't that what he'd  been doing? He opened the last wedding favor he'd assembled. She was  right. He'd put in five kisses and only one hug. He'd thought, as long  as they each included six pieces, it wouldn't matter. They had more than  enough of both kinds. But every little detail mattered to Noelle.

"Got it." He smiled as congenially as possible to keep Olivia and her  parents from knowing how badly Noelle's voice grated on him.

Three kisses, he silently mimicked. And three hugs. Along with a scrap  of paper that read, What's the earth with all its art, verse, music  worth-compared with love, found, gained, and kept? -Robert Browning

"Kyle, is something wrong?"

He glanced up to see his future mother-in-law watching him. He hadn't  realized he'd slipped into inactivity. He was sitting there, staring at  that damn line of Robert Browning's.

"No." His cheek muscles ached with the effort of yet another smile. "I  was just wondering if I'd remembered to invite my aunt Georgia."

"You invited her," Noelle said without looking up. "You had so many on your list I had to cut twenty from mine, remember?"

He didn't know if he was supposed to apologize. He'd tried to keep his  list small. His was certainly smaller than hers, by a significant  margin. He hadn't wanted a big wedding. Given the situation, he much  preferred they forgo the embarrassment of being married in Whiskey Creek  and fly to Vegas. It seemed crazy to celebrate the hardest thing he'd  ever done.

But thanks to Noelle's insistence on creating the fanfare she'd always  craved for her wedding, they were looking at a long, painful weekend.  One that included Olivia, making it impossible to avoid the fact that,  if not for one foolish night, this could've been their wedding.

Actually, he'd been with Noelle more than one night. It had been a  whirlwind couple of weeks, during which she'd flirted and teased and  cajoled and pleased. Caught in the aftermath of Olivia's proposing a  break and moving to Sacramento because she didn't want to settle down  without experiencing a little more of life, he'd been feeling rejected,  unsure she'd ever really come back and angry enough to tell himself he  didn't have to suffer while she was gone. Their break hadn't been his  idea. The fact that they weren't together but weren't really apart left  him feeling irritable and foolish.

And this was where it had gotten him....

Suppressing a groan, he started filling boxes again.

"Did you find the right tie and cummerbund for your tux?" Olivia asked.  It was the first time she'd initiated any conversation between them. He  would've been grateful for her attention, would've seen it as a hopeful  sign that she might eventually be able to forgive him, except he knew  she was only asking as the wedding planner.

"I have."

"And your groomsmen have the right ones, as well?"

"Probably. I've told them where to go."

"You need to check."

"I will."

"Do they know the rehearsal dinner tomorrow has been moved to seven instead of six-thirty?"

He kept forming little boxes and filling them with the appropriate  chocolate candy before adding them to the stack in the middle of the  table. The women took over from there, tying on a delicate pink ribbon  imprinted with their names and the date of their wedding.

Two days. The worst will be over in two days.... "I've notified them of that, too."

"Even Brandon?"

He'd invited Brandon to be in the wedding party for the sake of his  parents. He felt it would be too obvious a slight to leave him out. But  other than receiving a brief email confirming his participation, Kyle  hadn't heard from his stepbrother. "Even Brandon."

"I'll double-check with him tonight."

The idea of Olivia spending time with Brandon for any reason made Kyle  flinch. She hadn't meant much to him when the two of them went to a prom  together years ago. But she meant a lot to him now. "I can email him  again."                       
       
           



       

"Why don't you just call him?"

He met her gaze. "Maybe I will."

Ham, as Olivia's father was called, paused in his work to raise his  eyebrows at this exchange. But, as usual, he didn't say anything.  Sometimes Kyle wished he would. He wished someone would admit that this  wedding was a huge mistake. Because he couldn't. If Noelle wanted to  marry him, he had no choice. He had to stand up and do the right thing  or he wouldn't be able to live with himself later.





Chapter 5



Relieved to be away from her parents' house, Olivia dialed Brandon's  number as she sat in her car, letting the engine idle in the empty  parking lot of Just Like Mom's. The diner was closed, along with almost  everything else in town, including the touristy shops dedicated to  Whiskey Creek's gold rush heritage. It was late enough that she was  hesitant to start the long drive home. She was tired. And she wasn't  optimistic that facing her empty apartment would be that much better  than crashing in her old bedroom. She seemed to be miserable no matter  what.

"I'm not sure how to break this to you," she said as soon as Brandon answered.

"Break what to me?" he responded, his voice husky, which made her wonder  if she'd awakened him. "You couldn't have found someone with a bigger  telescope."

She knew he was teasing but, feeling herself flush, decided to ignore the innuendo. "I, uh, told a little white lie about you."

"Did it make me look good or bad?" He didn't sound too excited by the prospect either way.

"Maybe a little opportunistic?"

"Okay. Let me have it."

She drew a deep breath. "Kyle and Noelle think we're seeing each other."

"That's it?"

"Not quite."

"I'm waiting … "

"They also think we're sleeping together."

"Really."

"I don't know what got into me," she said. "Kyle pulled me aside and  said it was killing him to know he was causing me pain, and I … I couldn't  stand being so transparent and vulnerable. So I told him I'm not  hurting at all, that I'm already seeing someone else."

"Me."

"Right. I could've named someone from Sacramento. That's what I  should've done, obviously. He couldn't have proven that one way or the  other. But … "

"It wouldn't have been half as much fun."

"No, it wouldn't have had the same impact." She'd found Noelle's  reaction even more satisfying than Kyle's, but she didn't mention that.  She was fairly sure her sister would be a sore subject with Brandon,  even after the number of years that had passed since she'd invaded his  privacy. "I hope you're not too sorry you stopped to help me."