I cocked an eyebrow. "Sam?"
She nodded. "Yeah, his place is nice. It's warm. He's warm."
"Why Marlo, I do believe you're blushing." I ribbed her. "You love him, don't you?"
She made a sputtering sound. "No, no, it's still just casual. But why stay here," she waved her arm around our small, run-down trailer, "if I can stay there. It's closer to work, too."
I studied her. I didn't buy it. "Well, okay, that's good then." I stood up. "I actually need to get going. I'm meeting Jamie at the site in half an hour."
"How is Jamie?" she asked. I noted hesitancy in her voice.
"He's good. You should get to know him, Mar. He's a really nice guy. I know it seems kinda weird with the history between our parents, but he's never judged me by that, and I don't judge him by it either. Seriously—he's had things rough in his own way."
While I'd been in San Diego, my friendship with Jamie had blossomed. He'd gone to school in California as well, at Harvey Mudd, just a couple hours from me, and when I'd been heavily involved in applying for grants, I'd reached out to him for some information about Tyton Coal that I thought would be applicable to my cause. We'd gotten together several times over lunch that turned into dinner. Over a few too many glasses of wine, I'd told him about Kyland and how he'd broken my heart. Truthfully, it'd been a really healing friendship for me, considering everything. Jamie had also told me he'd come out to his parents right before he left for college and it had not gone well. He wasn't sure he was going to be welcomed back into his parents' lives. He already had a job waiting for him back at the mine, though, so he'd have to have at least some interaction with his father. And at least he hadn't been cut off financially. But he'd stayed away during the summers like me and graduated a little earlier as well. Funny how different our lives were, and yet how similar our hearts felt.
Marlo nodded, but looked skeptical. After a second she smiled brightly. "I'm just so glad to have you back, baby sister. I've missed you so much."
I smiled at her, my heart squeezing. "Me too. You have no idea, Mar." She stood up and I squeezed her tight, sinking in to the comfort of her embrace, so happy to be back with my best friend.
When I pulled away, she said, "So, you up for visiting Mama next week? She's expecting us."
"Of course," I said. "I wish we could go sooner."
Marlo shook her head. "She does really well on a specific schedule. She's so much better, Tenleigh. Wait until you see her." Her eyes lit up in a way I hadn't seen since we were kids. "Wait until you talk to her. It's . . ." She became teary and started laughing, like Marlo usually did when she was teary, which was rarely. "Anyway . . ."
"I can't wait." I smiled, grabbing her hands and squeezing again. "Okay, I'm off. I know you have to work late. I'll see you in the morning?"
She nodded. "Yeah, I'll see you in the morning." I hugged her again tightly and with that, I was back out the door, getting back in my car, and making the trip back down the mountain.
As I drove down Main Street toward the lot the school would be built on, I felt the same happiness from when I'd caught sight of the mountains for the first time earlier today. Yes, I was home. And it was going to be good—it was going to be just fine.
But that feeling was short-lived when I glanced to my left and saw the figure of the person who had haunted me for almost four years: Kyland. My heart stuttered in my chest and I sucked in a breath. He had a little boy on his shoulders and Shelly was behind him, laughing at something the boy was saying. Kyland turned around and said something to her, too, and then laughed. I watched as he swung the boy to the ground, the boy squealing and laughing. He took his hand as they continued on. My heart dropped into my feet and I clutched the steering wheel as my eyes filled with tears. He hadn't seen me. I sucked in air and the air felt sharp, as if it was made of a million tiny razor blades. It hurt to breathe. Oh God, it hurt to breathe. All these years I'd tortured myself with the picture of Kyland as a dad—Kyland as the dad to someone else's kid—but the reality of it pierced me so deeply, it was a physical pain. It was true. Kyland had a child—a son.
Breathe, Ten. Breathe. I gasped in a small, tortured breath. What the hell had I been thinking coming back here?
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Tenleigh
I didn't run into Kyland again that week. Not that I'd run into him exactly—I didn't think he'd seen me, but I made it a point to steer clear of anywhere I thought he might be, and that included Main Street.
I'd pulled off the road that day and spent twenty minutes in my car, just trying to breathe normally again. And then I'd gathered myself together and driven to the lot where the school would be built. Jamie was already there, waiting for me. He had taken one look at my face, asked, "Kyland?" and when I'd nodded, he had wrapped me in his arms. I hadn't truly suffered over Kyland Barrett in years, and suddenly just a brief glimpse of him and I was a mess. So yes, taking the back roads might seem cowardly and slightly pitiful, but at least for the time being, I was just fine with being a pitiful coward. Hiding was less painful.
I pulled up in front of the library next to where the school would be built and looked around. Construction crews would be showing up in a week. I was here today to start clearing out the library. I'd brought boxes in the trunk of my car for the books. I'd already arranged it with the high school in Evansly. They'd donated the books to the new school. Truthfully, it didn't look like anyone had even used this library much since I'd been gone. It wasn't even worth having someone lock and unlock it. The small shed-sized building would be torn down once the construction process began.