Beautiful Dreams (The Beautiful Series) (5 page)

He kissed my cheek just as the doorbell rang. We raised our eyebrows in unison.

“Well, I guess we have company,” he said lightly, taking my hand in his. “Better go see who is knocking on our door this early.”

As he led me to the front door, a loud bark resounded from the other side. Kyle laughed while giving my hand a gentle squeeze. I tilted my head up to look at him, taking in the affection in his eyes.

“Sounds like Harley is home,” he said with fondness.

I smiled, remembering his enormous German shepherd who had been my pal when I last visited. Kyle opened the door, and Harley came barging through with his tail wagging profusely. Kyle dropped on his haunches, opening his arms, as Harley let out a cry.

“Hey, boy,” Kyle said excitedly.

Harley jumped on Kyle’s lap, kissing his cheek and nuzzling him.

“I’m happy to see you, too.”

“I swear that dog has a sixth sense,” Abbey said.

I directed my attention to her.

“He paced the house almost the entire night, and he was practically sobbing all morning. It’s like he knew you were home,” she said to Kyle.

Abbey’s gaze shifted to me as Kyle rose to his feet.

“Hi, Lily!” she said in a friendly manner, her eyes beaming.

In that very instant, I concluded that she must be a morning person like her brother. “Hi, Abbey,” I said, smiling at her.

Abbey stepped forward and embraced me. I reciprocated, delighted to see her again.

As we parted, Kyle said, “Good morning, Abbey.” He pulled her in for a quick hug, too. “Come on in.” He gestured her into the foyer. “Thank you for bringing Harley back.”

“You’re welcome,” she replied to Kyle. “He was great company. Who knows? I might just have to get a dog someday.”

“I would recommend adopting an older dog who is past the chewing stage.” Kyle laughed. “Speaking of chewing, I hope he didn’t destroy any of your shoes.”

Abbey chuckled. “Nope. He’d be dead if he had,” she said jokingly.

We all rolled with laughter.

“Well, that’s a plus.” Kyle looked over at Harley. “There’s hope for you yet, boy.”

As we headed in the direction of the living room, Abbey stopped, noticing all the boxes stacked in Kyle’s office.

“Wow,” she said incredulously. “That’s a lot of boxes.”

“That’s what I said.” I shook my head. “It’s amazing how many it took to move.”

“I’m sure you would have even more with your shopping habit, Abbey,” Kyle teased.

I instantly wondered if I had another Brooke on my hands. Brooke was a dear friend of mine, and she was also my editor. She added a whole new meaning to the phrase,
Shop till you drop
.

“Probably.” Abbey let out a laugh. “Thank goodness I have two big brothers to help me move.”

“Oh no!” Kyle cocked his head in Abbey’s direction. “I’ll definitely be out of town that weekend.”

I smiled at their easy sibling camaraderie. It was cute.

The three of us plus Harley walked into the living room. Kyle sat next to me on the couch while Abbey sat on the love seat. She was wearing a gorgeous charcoal dress jacket with a matching skirt. She was all business today.

Crossing her legs, Abbey said first, “Mom and Dad actually called me on my way over. They were wondering if we could all have dinner tonight. Nothing fancy. Just a quick get-together.” She paused, glancing between Kyle and me. “We’ve all missed you, and we’d love to see Lily again, too.”

Kyle turned to look at me curiously, like he didn’t want to make the decision without my input.

Crap. Is this my choice to make?

I’d loved when my family had Sunday family days. My parents had always been adamant about spending the day together with no TV or electronics. The day had been about embracing each other’s company. We’d cook dinner with one another, and we’d talk about our week and what was going on in our lives. Sunday had been my favorite day of the week.

“Sure,” I said, taking the initiative and shifting my gaze to Abbey. “That sounds wonderful.”

Abbey’s eyes lit up. “Great! I’ll text Mom on my way out, so she can start getting ready for company. They’ll be so pleased you can make it. Mom has been all over me lately about not visiting enough. With you being gone”—she glanced at Kyle—“and Ryan and Kate preparing for the baby, all the pressure has been on me to keep Mom from going stir-crazy.”

I remembered that Ryan was Kyle’s older brother by a couple of years, and Kate was Ryan’s wife. They were expecting their first child soon.

Kyle laughed affectionately. “That sounds like Mom.” He tilted his head to face me. “My mom gets flustered if she doesn’t see each of us for a while, and then she’ll start to hunt us down.”

“Not to mention, she is really getting on Ryan and me about getting back into our routine of attending Sunday family get-togethers,” Abbey said to Kyle.

“That sounds like a great time, Abbey,” I said in a warm tone. “Would you like me to prepare anything for dinner?”

Abbey shook her head from side to side. “Of course not. Mom said she would do all the baking tonight. We are all supposed to be there by six since it’s a Tuesday. On Sundays though, all the women help cook while the men watch football.”

“Hey! It’s a tradition,” Kyle chortled.

Abbey playfully rolled her eyes in Kyle’s direction. “And a good one—for you!” She rose to her feet. “Well, kids, I’m off to work. I’ll see you later at dinner.”

Kyle quickly stood. “While you are here, do you have a minute to talk, Abbey?”

She eyed him curiously. “Sure.”

Kyle glanced at me over his shoulder. “Excuse us. We’ll be right back.” He gestured Abbey into his office, the room full of my boxes.

I briefly wondered what he wanted to talk to Abbey about. Deciding it was not kind to pry, I headed into the kitchen to start breakfast.

A fresh loaf of bread was sitting on the counter, and it made French toast pop into my mind. I quickly rounded up the rest of the ingredients and then found a flat pan underneath the stove. I blended the milk and eggs into a perfect mixture.

I glanced up, and saw Kyle and Abbey emerging from the office. My chest clenched at seeing Abbey’s red eyes. She looked as if she had been crying. Kyle hugged her affectionately, and then he led her in the direction of the foyer.

I went back to focusing on dipping each piece of bread into the egg and milk mixture before placing it on the pan. I sprinkled cinnamon on the side facing up.

Kyle appeared in the kitchen as I began to set the table. Taking in his facial expression, I could see mixed emotions displayed on his features.

Do I ask him if he’s okay or give him space?
I wanted to chide myself for feeling so conflicted, but I didn’t want to overstep my boundaries. We all deserved our privacy when we needed it.

I flipped the French toast over, so it wouldn’t burn. He quietly opened the fridge and pulled out fresh fruit. Then, he grabbed a cutting board out of a cabinet and began to slice up some cantaloupe and watermelon before placing it on a platter.

I sighed inwardly, feeling frustrated.
How can he be so demanding of my feelings, yet he never expresses his own outside of our relationship?
It felt like a double standard.
Or am I overreacting with my emotions going haywire from moving?

Feeling frustrated, I shut off the burner, removed all the toast from the pan, and placed them on an oval platter.

Kyle came up behind me and wrapped his arms around me before kissing my cheek. “What are you huffing about over here?” he asked, spinning me around to face him. “Talk to me.”

“I feel like I should be saying that to you.” I frowned, realizing I must have sighed out loud when I was having a moment.

Kyle’s expression reflected my own. “Uh, you lost me,” he murmured while assessing me. “Is this about not talking to Abbey in front of you?”

I shook my head, meeting his gaze. “No, I respect that you wanted your privacy.” I attempted to gather my thoughts, so I could voice them correctly. “I just noticed your appearance when you walked into the kitchen, and I didn’t understand what was going on in your head. I wanted to reach out to you…but I was unsure if you’d want me to or if you’d think I was meddling.”

Kyle sighed, his eyes softening. “Lily, you can always ask me anything. Whatever gave you the idea that you can’t?”

I blinked in confusion.
Why did communicating have to be so difficult? If we could just read each other’s minds, it would make relationships so much easier.
I tried to wrap my head around my own disjointed feelings.
Here goes…

“Because sometimes when I ask you questions, you aren’t very forthcoming. It makes me feel like I’m forcing you to tell me a part of yourself you don’t want me to know.”

His eyebrows lifted, and he was silent for a split second. I could see his mind turning a mile a minute.

“Does this have to do with when you asked me about the Army yesterday?”

I nodded, not ready to speak.

“Lily,” he said, lifting his hand to caress the side of my neck, “that is different, and I
will
tell you when I’m ready. As far as anything else goes, you can always come to me.”

Can I? If he couldn’t trust me with his past when I trusted him with mine, how could this work?
I slapped the dark thoughts back inside a box deep within my mind. Compassion quickly replaced my former judgments. He had been there for me when I needed him the most, so I would give him the same respect.

“Okay,” I whispered, offering him an apologetic smile. “And I’m sorry to be so irrational.” I exhaled rather loudly, feeling overwhelmed. “I think my brain is just on overload lately.”

He bent forward and kissed me gently. “That’s understandable. You’ve had a lot going on in such a short amount of time. How about we sit down and eat? Then, I can tell you about Abbey.”

“Only if you want to,” I said, not wanting him to feel like he had to tell me.

“Of course I want to, Lily. I just needed a few minutes to collect myself. All you had to do was ask, and I would have shared my feelings with you,” he said while leading me to the table.

He pulled out a chair for me, and I sat down while he went to grab the platters of French toast and fruit he had sliced.

After we each filled our plates and took a few bites, he broke the quietness. “I gifted Abbey the contract that I told you about yesterday,” he said in a soft tone.

I swallowed my food and looked up at him in surprise. “Oh, that’s wonderful.” I smiled. “I bet she is over the moon.”

The corner of his mouth lifted, curving into a genuine smile. “She is. It felt so good to finally be able to do something for her to thank her for all her hard work and to show my appreciation. Without her, my company would have never grown so fast,” he said, his voice full of admiration.

“I bet it’s really great that you get to work side by side with her.”

“It is. It keeps us in close contact. I feel like it’s my responsibility to keep an eye on her—especially since Ryan is so busy with having a baby on the way, and I have you now.” He was silent for a heartbeat. “She doesn’t have anyone yet. She’s all alone.”

I could see this part seemed to bother him, but it felt like one of those touchy brotherly subjects. It made me recall how overly protective my three male cousins were.

“Abbey is a beautiful young woman with a strong head on her shoulders,” I said, admiring her myself. “I’m sure she’ll find the perfect man soon enough.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of, too,” he grumbled. “What if I hate the dude and want to kick his ass?”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “Uh, well, that would make it interesting,” I teased. “But I’m sure she’d want you to accept him and play nice.”

Kyle grinned wickedly. “I can try.”

My eyes lightened with love for this man before me. I could see now why it had been so hard for my cousins to let me date. They had chased all the boys away from me out of pure love and natural protective instincts.

Men…

After we finished breakfast and cleaned up the kitchen, I headed into the office to unload more boxes while Kyle made some phone calls. Today, I felt more comfortable with blending my belongings in with Kyle’s. Most of the items went into the bedroom. With years of shopping with Brooke under my belt, I sure had a boatload of clothes, shoes, and purses.

Thinking of her with a huge smile on my face, I grabbed my phone off the dresser and texted her.

After nearly three years of shopping with a professional, I surely accumulated a lot of stuff! You should see all the boxes surrounding me! Love you & miss you already!

Almost immediately, my phone buzzed with a text from Brooke.

LOL! I already miss my favorite shopping partner! I guess I’ll have to plan a trip to Tahoe and check out some new stores. ;)

That would be awesome if Brooke came to visit.
I didn’t know how I would survive without her and Luke, my two closest friends that I had made in Sanibel Island. Well, they were pretty much my only friends.

I quickly replied to her.

You are welcome here anytime! XO!

My heart constricted with longing to see Brooke. It would take some readjustment on my part to get used to the thousands of miles between us. I could no longer jump in my car to visit her when I needed a friend.