Friends & Lovers Trilogy (26 page)

She pulled away slightly when Jake walked
toward them, and Kent felt the separation instantly. He wondered
why he’d ever agreed to come; it was obvious that he didn’t belong
here.

“
Nicole,” the shorter man
said softly as he approached. He pushed his hand nervously through
his light brown hair, and Kent got a whiff of his expensive
cologne. Kent knew the brand, it was one of his favorites, but he
would bet that Jake had never scrimped and saved to buy that
cologne.

He watched as they kissed each other in
greeting. No air kisses this time, he noticed. No, they were actual
kisses.

He walked over to pour himself another drink
and heard Nicole asked Jake how he’d been.

He looked out the window and paused, his
drink frozen inches from his lips.

Their backyard extended further than the eye
could see. The lawn was manicured and perfectly green. The trees
were lush and full, and there was a large sparkling pool with a
large patio surrounding it, and what looked like a pool house.

The pool house was larger than the house he
grew up in, the house his parents still lived in.

Kent shook his head slightly and took a long
drink.

“
Kent,” Nicole put a hand
on his back to get his attention. He turned to see her standing
behind him with Jake. “This is Jake.”

Kent couldn’t stop himself from stretching
to his full height, making him practically tower over Jake.

Jake offered his hand and said, “It’s nice
to meet you.”

Kent looked at him for a moment, before
accepting his hand and shaking it. “You too, man.”

He hated to admit it, but Jake actually
seemed pretty cool. He couldn’t fault the guy for loving Nicole,
she was pretty amazing.

Nicole smiled up at him, her gratefulness
apparent, then she turned slightly at the sound of the
doorbell.

“
I’m going to go help my
mother greet the arriving guests. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
She tiptoed up to kiss him on the cheek, before turning to go to
her mother, who was standing at the threshold, watching them with
evident displeasure.

“
Is she always in such a
party mood?” Kent asked wryly as he accepted another drink from a
waitress who had started circling the room with a tray.

“
Who, Kitty?” Jake asked
with a grin. “You get used to her… eventually.”

Kent just lifted his eyebrow questioningly
and looked around the suddenly full room.

He’d never seen so many fake noses and boob
jobs in one place, he thought with a chuckle.

Jake excused himself to go and talk to
someone he knew, and Kent began to slowly wander around the
room.

“
Did you hear about the
Truman’s?” He heard Nicole’s mom say in a loud whisper to a group
of ladies dripping with jewels.

“
From the Parish?” A tall
bleached blonde asked.

“
Yes.” Kitty said her voice
practically oozing excitement. “He was arrested for a domestic
dispute. I guess he’s an alcoholic and has been beating her for
years. Can you believe it?”

“
Oh my gosh, no.” This came
from a short portly brunette, who put her hand to her mouth in mock
horror.

“
I can’t believe we’ve been
going to the same church with them for all of these years,” Kitty
exclaimed, looking each lady in the eye to drive her point home.
“Breeding always tells.”

Kent felt his gut tighten and his face flush
with a mixture of embarrassment and anger. He put his glass down on
the nearest traveling tray and walked out of the parlor, down the
hallway, and out the front door. Once outside, he breathed in
deeply and tried to calm himself.

He could only imagine what Nicole’s mother
would think of his parents. Of his life. Of him.

He heard the door open behind him, but
didn’t turn. He knew it would be Nicole, coming out to see if he
was okay, but he didn’t want to turn and see her beautiful face. He
didn’t want to see the hurt that would inevitably end up there. But
he knew he had to face her.

“
Hey,” She placed her hand
on his back as she came up next to him. “I saw you rush out, is
everything okay?”

He repressed the need to turn and hug her
tightly against him. Instead, he steeled himself against his
emotions and turned to her.

“
No, Nic, everything’s not
okay.”

Her hand dropped to her side when she saw
the look on his face, and hers became a mask of confusion.

“
What happened?”

“
Let’s just say I don’t fit
in with your world.” He said tightly.

“
Kent,” Nicole reached
towards him, but stopped before she touched him. The look on his
face must have told her that he didn’t want to be touched. “This
isn’t my world. What happened?”

“
Nicole,” He began, trying
to think of the one thing he could say to make her realize that he
was right, that they would never work. “My father is a drunk who
uses his fists to get his point across. He beat on me from the time
I was two until I was twelve.” He stopped for a moment and breathed
in deeply when he noticed the look of shock on her face.

When he felt composed enough, Kent continued
to explain. “He raised his hand to Roni once and I took a bat to
his knees. He never touched me again, and I made sure he never
touched Roni, but my mother wasn’t so lucky. He’s been using her as
his own personal punching bag since they got married, and she let
him.” He couldn’t help the look of bitter disappointment that
crossed his face. “I’ve tried countless times to get her to leave
him, but she won’t. They live together in misery.”

He looked Nicole in the eye, trying to drive
the point home, “That’s what I come from.”

Nicole’s eyes filled with tears and she
moved towards him, like she wanted to hold him.

Kent took a step back and put up a hand,
causing her to stop.

“
You deserve better than
me.” He stated simply.

“
How can you say that?”
Nicole asked softly, wiping the tears that were running down her
face with the back of her hand. “You are amazing. How and where you
grew up doesn’t matter to me. You made yourself into the successful
and wonderful man that you are today.”

“
Nic,” He said harshly.
“How could you ever believe that your parents would approve of me?
That they would ever accept us as a couple? It won’t happen. We’re
from two different worlds. C’mon, you can admit it… You’re looking
for marriage and children and a perfect home like this one. After
seeing my parents’ marriage, and Roni’s, I just don’t see it
happening for me.”

He watched as his words began to sink in, as
she began to understand what he was saying. Her eyes began to fill
again. He knew he had to finish it now, before he caved, crushed
her to him, and begged her to stay with him forever.

“
We both know that this
will never work. We are too different, and want different things. I
think it’s better if we just walk away now, before it gets more
difficult.”

Nicole looked up at him, her beautiful eyes
shined with tears and her full lips quivered. “You want to walk
away?”

Kent felt the burn begin in the back of his
throat and slowly start a descent down to his stomach.

“
Yes. I think it’s best if
I leave now. You should stay, and be with your family. I can send
Roni back to pick you up.”

Nicole sniffled slightly, then raised her
chin and looked him in the eye. “Don’t do me any favors. I’ll get
my own ride back.”

Kent nodded curtly, then turned to walk down
the steps and towards his car.

When he heard the door open, he turned and
saw Nicole rush into Jake’s arms, her shoulders quivering.

He felt like he’d been punched in the gut
and fought the urge to go back up the steps and rip her out of
Jake’s arms.

Instead he turned, got into his car, and
drove back home.

Chapter Eighteen

A few days later Kent was sitting at his
desk writing a piece on the upcoming local election, and trying
unsuccessfully to not think about Nicole, when Marla’s gravelly
voice shouted to him from the other room.

“
Kent, the boss wants to
see you.”

Kent saved his progress before pushing back
from his desk and walking back to Chuck’s office. The door was
open, so he knocked on the door jam and waited for Chuck’s
invitation before entering.

“
Come on in, Kent. Shut the
door behind you and have a seat.”

Kent did as requested, curious as to what
Chuck would have to say to him behind a closed door.

“
I know we have discussed
this briefly in the past, and I know you have been applying to
other papers in bigger cities than this one, but after a long
discussion with the wife, I have come to a decision.” Chuck paused
for affect before continuing on. “Kent, I’m going to retire and I’d
like you to take over the paper.”

Kent didn’t say anything. He knew Chuck’s
penchant for long pauses, and figured he wasn’t finished saying
everything he wanted to say.

He was right.

“
Now, before you say
anything, I want to make myself clear. I want to fully retire and
enjoy the rest of my days, never having to think about this paper
again. What I’m offering here is not just a chance for you to run
the paper, but to buy it from me outright. I know you’re a smart
business man, and we could come up with a good payment plan with
the bank, so I feel totally confident that you could own this paper
and run it well.”

Kent was silent as everything the other man
said really sank in.

He’d own his own business.

He already owned a home in this town, and
his sister was here. He could put down roots and settle here
forever.

He thought briefly of his dreams of living
in a big city and realized that it didn’t have the pull for him
that it once had.

He wasn’t a spontaneous person by nature,
but he knew a tremendous opportunity when he heard one, and when he
thought of all of the possibilities that owning his own newspaper
held, he knew what his decision had to be.

“
Yes, Chuck, I’ll take you
up on your offer.” Kent stood and held out his hand to Chuck, who
took it and shook it enthusiastically.

“
Outstanding son,” Chuck
said with a wide grin. Then he reached under his desk and pulled
out a bottle of whiskey. “Let’s have a drink to
celebrate.”

Kent couldn’t help but chuckle to himself as
he pulled into his driveway later that evening. He and Chuck would
be going to the bank the next morning to start getting all of the
necessary documents in order.

Kent parked and was about to head inside to
get ready for Rich’s visit. He’d texted him earlier to say that
he’d arrived in town and asked about getting together that evening.
Kent had told him to stop by, and he had a few minutes to get
settled before Rich showed up.

He was surprised, but pleased, to see Roni
waiting on his couch when he opened the door.

“
Hey, Roni,” He said with a
grin when he saw her. “I tried calling you earlier; you aren’t
going to believe what happened to me today.”

Roni put her hand out, indicating he should
stop talking, then she stood up, put both of her hands on her hips,
and shot him a dirty look.

“
You’re news can wait,”
Roni said harshly, her grey eyes flashing dangerously. “I have
tried giving you some space, but I couldn’t take it any longer.
What did you do to Nicole?”
Kent looked down at the ground before glancing back up at her with
a shrug. “What did she say? How’s she doing?”

Roni threw her hands up, exasperated. “She
hasn’t said anything… At least not to me. Jake brought her home
from her parents’ house, and I could tell she was upset, but she
said she couldn’t talk to me about it. All she would say is that
you ended things.”

“
She shouldn’t be taking it
out on you,” Kent began.

“
She’s not taking it out on
me, you bonehead. She’s friendly and we talk about other stuff, but
she won’t tell me what happened. She won’t confide in me and let me
help her through this, because I happen to be related to you and
she doesn’t want to put me in the middle. I gave you a few days to
realize that you’d made a mistake, but here you are, so I’m here to
hear it from you. What happened?”

Kent walked over to her and motioned for her
to sit back down on the couch, then sat next to her.

“
I told her it wouldn’t
work. In the long run. Look, Roni, you didn’t meet her parents or
see the place she grew up in. It’s the polar opposite of what we
had as kids.”

“
So?”

“
So… I just didn’t fit in
there. Nicole deserves a man that can give her everything she’s
ever dreamed of. She’s good, sweet, and pure. She deserves someone
that’ll make her proud and be proud of everything that
she’s.”

Roni looked at him like he had a screw
loose.

“
And why aren’t you that
man?”

“
C’mon Roni,” Kent stood
up, frustrated, then started to pace around his living room. “You
know the things I dealt with growing up, and the things that I’ve
done. I’m not that man.”

“
Now you’re pissing me
off,” Roni began, standing herself and walking over to him. “Nicole
would be lucky to have you. You’re the most loving, generous, and
protective man that I’ve ever met. You would be there for her and
give her everything you are capable of giving. Don’t talk about
yourself as if you’re not good enough. Do you think that I wouldn’t
be good enough for a nice man or a man who was raised with
money?”