Beyond the Waves (Pacific Shores Book 1) (16 page)

Taysia wrinkled her brow at the old silver cone-shaped speaker. “The Maltby Café looks like it needs to enter into the twenty-first century.”

Kylen chuckled. “It doesn’t look like much, but you just wait. See all these people? They are waiting for tables.” He pulled open the door at the corner of the building and stepped aside so she could precede him.

A narrow set of stairs descended down to another door. This place wasn’t just in a bowling alley, it was in the
basement
of the bowling alley.
Great, just my luck! And I’m so hungry! They probably only offer greasy doughnuts and black coffee. Cop fare
.

She pulled open the door at the foot of the stairs and jolted to a stop. The waiting area was jammed with people, wall to wall. A woman smiled at her and pressed herself as close to the wall as she could to let them in.

Kylen and Taysia managed to squeeze inside and find seats on the padded bench against the wall by the cash register. As they waited for their names to be called, Taysia scanned the little basement room. The walls were plastered with grassy-looking stucco in a warm yellow. Dark green beams lined the low ceiling, and several large plants graced the corners of the room. She was pleasantly surprised by the inviting atmosphere.
Okay, maybe they at least have cream with their coffee
.

A man and his wife were called to follow the waitress, and as they moved out of the waiting area, a shelving unit caught Taysia’s eye. In crystal-clear to-go containers, cinnamon rolls the size of dinner plates tempted patrons both coming and going.

Taysia’s mouth watered at the sight. She leaned toward Kylen. “Those look delicious!”

He grinned. “Yep. The food here is great. I’ve never had something here that I didn’t like.”

Taysia ordered Swedish pancakes filled with strawberries and topped with a huge dollop of crème fraîche. She actually rolled her eyes in ecstasy at her first bite. “Mmmm.” The food really did live up to his praise.

Kylen nodded and stuffed a huge bite of biscuit and gravy into his mouth.

“So where are we going today?”

A twinkle leapt into his eyes. “Well, I had plans just to drive around the city, maybe visit Pike Place Market. And I’m thinking a trip to the zoo is in order.”

“Oh! The zoo sounds fun.”

He nodded. “Yeah. I hear the Woodland Park Zoo has a great elephant exhibit.”

With a good-natured growl, Taysia wadded up her napkin and chucked it at him. “What happened to ‘Who am I and why am I here kissing you?’”

He tossed her a wink. “Memory is a funny thing. It comes and goes.”

She laughed. “I’ll have to remember that.” She angled him a warning glance. “Don’t think it won’t come back to haunt you!”

He gave her an unrepentant grin and stuffed another bite in his mouth. For a time they ate in silence, just enjoying the good food and each other’s company.

Finally Kylen finished his last bite and pushed his plate aside. “So”—his face turned serious—”tell me what you’d like to do with your future. What plans do you have for Mom’s Gym?” He leaned on the table and gave her his full attention.

She mulled that over as she finished a bite. “Well, assuming I get past this lawsuit with Sophia, I’ve been wanting to add a class for teens about pregnancy awareness. Maybe cover health issues related to abortion, too. I want girls to abstain from having sex until they are married, but if they do mess up and get pregnant…” Her gaze darted to his, and she felt the heat that filled her face.

“Wait—did you…?” Kylen reached across the table and covered her hand.

“No.” She shook her head. “But it could have happened.”

“I’m so sorry, Layne.”

“I know. Me too. We both…well, anyhow, I want girls to know there are more options out there than abortion. And the risks that go along with abortion later down the road.”

“That’s great, Layne. You could even start a short-term Sunday school class on the subject at church.”

“Oh! That would be good! I’ll have to talk it over with Pastor when we get home and see what he thinks about it. What about you? Where do you see yourself in a few years with the police department?” Taysia pushed the last quarter of her food aside, too full to finish it.

He traced the grain in the tabletop with one finger. “I’m not sure, exactly. I’ve actually toyed with going private. Maybe becoming a PI.”

“Really? What would make you want to do that?”

He shrugged. “More money. But there is more financial risk, too. You have to obtain all your own equipment. Then there’s insurance. And the income isn’t steady, so there would be a lot of adjustment to going that route. I’m still praying about it.”

They talked about their hopes and dreams all the way to the zoo thirty minutes away. And by the time they arrived, Taysia knew she was hopelessly, head over heels in love with Kylen Sumner once more.

Kylen had never felt more miserable than he did as he pulled his car into the parking lot at the zoo’s southern gate.

He loved the woman at his side with all his heart. He loved her wit and charm. Loved that she had overcome the hard things in her life and molded them to help others. Loved her heart that longed to prevent other women from living with some of the hurts she’d experienced. Loved that she loved his God.

And the thought that he might never have a future with her was killing him little by little on the inside. He hadn’t meant to rush her last night. He’d known it was too soon to tell her he loved her the minute the words had slipped past his lips. But there was no taking them back. And it was the truth. There was no other woman for him. He just hoped God wasn’t going to ask him to live single for the rest of his life. Because he was enjoying her company too much to want to give it up. What was he going to do if she never could fall in love with him?

As he slipped the money into the correct slot on the parking payment box, he shook off the melancholy. He would worry about that if the time came to worry about it. For now, he was going to enjoy her company and have a blast of a day.

He paid for their tickets and glanced at her as they entered the zoo. “Where to first?”

She looked around, then took the map from him. “I don’t know. How about there?” She pointed to an African village straight ahead.

“Oooh, Africa.” He smirked and jostled her arm. “There’s a large animal that is very prominent there, you know.”

“I know.” A small smile quirked the corner of her mouth, and her eyes opened wide with feigned innocence. “Rhinos
are
pretty large, and it would be cool to see one, but I don’t see them on the map.”

He laughed and took her hand. “Africa it is. And we might even see some—”

“Don’t say it!” She gave him a friendly punch.

“What’s wrong with giraffes? I was going to say giraffes.”

She angled him a look. “Uh-huh.”

He grinned shamelessly and pulled her into the viewing area made to look like a village schoolhouse.

Zebras grazed placidly in a meadow, with giraffes munching on food from high feeding troughs just behind them.

Taysia stepped close to his side and leaned her head against his shoulder. “They’re beautiful. It would be so neat to see them in the wild one day.”

He glanced down at her. “An African safari? You’d like to go on one, huh?”

“Yes, I would love to. Our church is going out to help build an orphanage next summer. I’ve been toying with whether or not to go. I just don’t know how I would handle Mom’s Gym.”

They ambled farther along the path and stepped into an aviary. Kylen draped his arm around her shoulders as they studied the colorful African birds.

“The mission trip is two weeks long, and then I figured while I was over there I might as well take some time and have a little vacation. So I’d be gone for at least three weeks; I just don’t know if I can leave the gym on its own for that long.”

Weaverbirds built nests that hung down from tree branches like large brown Christmas balls. He admired one little yellow bird hanging upside down and busily working a stem of grass like a tiny seamstress. “What about leaving Marie in charge?”

Taysia cringed. “That would never work.”

“Why not? She did great with that crying pregnant lady the other day. You said so yourself.”

“Yeah. She did do fine with her. I was kinda surprised.” She dropped her head guiltily and pretended to be studying a small bird under a bush.

Kylen bit back a smile. She loved that girl like a little sister, he could tell. Squeezing her shoulders, he said, “She’s had a great teacher and example to learn from.”

She glanced up at him. “Thanks, Ky. That was a nice thing to say.”

He tapped her nose. “It was a true thing to say.”

“Well”—she spread her hands—”it is a moot point because she would never be able to teach the classes. She doesn’t have the training.”

“You have a whole year,” he reminded. “And the classes she’s not qualified to teach, when the time comes, you could hire a temporary instructor to fill.” He hoped she would do this. It would be good for her to get away for a few weeks.

Taysia cocked her head. “That might work.”

“See?” He grinned as he opened the exit door of the aviary and held it for her. “You’re in the company of a genius!”

She smiled and gave him a peck on the cheek as she went by. “I just might be.”

The rest of the day passed by too quickly for Kylen’s liking. At noon they watched a birds of prey show with gorgeous falcons, eagles, and ospreys swooping and diving to signals from their trainers. Of course he had to give Taysia a little ribbing when they stopped at the elephant viewing area, about how placid and unscary the lumbering beasts looked. And now the day was winding down, and they were almost back to the gate they’d started out at that morning. Taysia folded her arms along the top rail of the fence of the flamingo exhibit and rested her chin on her wrist as she studied the birds.

Kylen stuffed his hands into his pockets and admitted to himself that he was doing more studying of the beautiful woman beside him than he was of the zoo animals.

She sighed. “They aren’t as pink as I imagined they would be.”

He tore his focus from her and looked at one of the gangly, backward-legged birds. “Looks more…orange than pink.”

“Coral.”

“Right. Coral.”

“Still, they’re beautiful.”

He brushed a strand of hair back from her face. “Lots of beauty around here.”

Her face flushed to rival the insides of a watermelon, and Kylen felt his chest tighten. He let his fingers linger and toyed with the golden strand of her hair. She looked at him then, and there was such a look of longing in her eyes, he felt it like a bullet to a flak jacket. All the air left his lungs.

“I can do this, Kylen. With God’s help, I’m going to get past all our crashing waves and move on. I realized last night that it was my pride keeping me from letting go of the past. Love is somewhat about making yourself vulnerable to the other person. And I’ve been keeping you at arm’s length”—she cringed—”well,
trying
to keep you at arm’s length, as sort of a self-preservation—to protect myself from getting hurt again. I don’t want to do that anymore.” She stood to her full height and stepped closer to him.

Kylen could hardly breathe for the rapid beating of his heart in his throat. He swallowed.

“Ky, I love you, too. I’m sorry I couldn’t—”

He laid his thumb across her lips to stop her apology. “It’s okay, Layne. We’re here now. That’s all that matters.” He kissed her then, not caring that they were standing in the middle of the observation area in full view of everyone around them. And from her response, he was glad they were in a very public area, because she hadn’t kissed him like she was kissing him now in a very long time.

“EWWW! That’s GROSS!” A little boy stopped beside them.

Taysia smiled against his lips, and they turned their heads as one to look down at the little guy.

A mop of dark, curly hair spilled in unruly abandon over the top of his head, and glittering brown eyes studied them with undisguised curiosity.

“Sammy! Leave them alone!” The tyke’s mortified mother snatched his arm and dragged him farther down the path, leaving them relatively alone once again.

Kylen leaned his forehead against hers. “I love you.”

She pressed a quick kiss to his lips. “I love you, too.”

Contentment bubbled over on a sigh, and he stepped back, snagging her hand as he did so. “Come on, we still have the spider-slash-creepy-crawly exhibit to go see.” He pumped his eyebrows and tossed her a wink.

She rolled her eyes. “Oh, yeah,
that
ought to be fun.”

Her phone rang as they started down the path.

Taysia fumbled in her purse for her phone. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt this content. She was so glad she’d finally gotten up the courage to admit her feelings to Kylen. God was good, and they were going to make it past this.

The number wasn’t one she recognized. She debated over whether to answer it as it rang for the third time, then decided just to take it. Pressing the answer button, she lifted the phone to her ear. “Hello?”