The Broken Road (The Broken Series) (24 page)

I
took a deep breath and slowly continued. “He was raging at me when I ran out on
him. The only thing I took then was Cade. I snuck back to the house with Pa while
Tom was at work the next day, so I could pack some clothes and take some furniture
my father had made. I told my parents and a handful of friends about the abuse,
then I filed for a divorce. All of my phone numbers are unlisted, and very few
people know where I live, still to this day. It has been a year since I left
Tom, and I’m still terrified he will try to kill me, just like he promised.”

Kadyn
pulled me into his lap. He tucked me against his chest and wrapped his arms
around me. “You’re safe now, Kri. I won’t let him hurt you ever again.”

Kadyn
held me for so long that I eventually fell asleep. I woke with a start three
hours later and found myself fully clothed in bed with no recollection of how I’d
gotten there. Kadyn was sleeping in the armchair next to my bed, snoring
softly. I didn’t want to wake him so I eased back under the covers and watched
him sleep until I could no longer keep my eyes open. When I woke the next
morning, he was gone.

*
* * * * *

I
received a text message from Kadyn shortly before I left for work.
I know
last night was difficult for you. Thank you for trusting me enough to share
your story. I hope you will give me a chance to help you replace those memories
with much more happy ones.
I read the message twice more, then sighed.
Kadyn knew my darkest secret, and still he wanted a relationship with me.
Why?

By
the time I got to work, I felt lighter, happier, and more at peace than I had
been in a very long time. I was thrumming with energy and ready to tackle
Congress head on. As I sifted through the mountain of paperwork and e-mails
that had accumulated while I was out sick, I discovered that I finally had the
support and the cost analysis I needed to introduce the Medicare Early Buy-in
Bill. I pulled together some talking points and drafted a congressional record
statement so Senator Rockefeller could introduce the bill later in the week.

I
was ecstatic about the accomplishment, so I called Kadyn to share the news as
soon as I got home. We were on the phone for over an hour, which I thought was
hysterical considering he lived within throwing distance of my apartment. I suddenly
couldn’t wait to see him, so I invited him over for dinner on Wednesday just
before we ended the call.

I
scrambled to pull together a menu so I could go grocery shopping on Tuesday. I
raced home from the office on Wednesday, then tore through my house half in and
half out of my work clothes while I tried to pull myself and dinner together
before Kadyn arrived.

Cade
barked seconds before the doorbell rang. I bent down and picked him up on my
way to the door. “Good boy,” I soothed as I burrowed my head in his fur.

I
flung open the door and smiled what I was certain was a winning smile. “Hi!”

“You
didn’t even look through the peephole,” Kadyn grumbled without smiling.

I
glanced at him questioningly. “The peephole? Why? I knew it was you.”

Kadyn
stared at me. That blank, stoic look, which he’d obviously perfected at some
point in his childhood, was locked onto his face. The look screamed
“idiot,”
only not in so many words.

“Okay.
Okay! I’ll use the peephole,” I relented in mock exasperation. I shoved him
back outside and swung the door closed between us. I smiled smugly at Cade. “He
deserved that.”

Cade’s
head cocked to one side as he looked up at me. He didn’t think Kadyn deserved
it.

Kadyn
knocked this time. Three slow raps sounded from the other side of the door.

I
peered through the peephole. I wasn’t sure he appreciated my sense of humor. Kadyn
was leaning against the building across from my door. My eyes widened when I
saw he was holding a box. I swung the door back open. “Is that for me?”

Kadyn
just stood there, holding the box.

“I
used the peephole!” I exclaimed.

A
small smile tugged at the corner of his lips. He was clearly trying not to
smile.

“Is
that for me?” I repeated teasingly while slowly articulating each word.

“Yes,”
he responded. He pushed off the wall and handed me the box.

I
set Cade on the floor so I could examine the address on the box. “Yay! It’s a
care package from Kimme.”

Kadyn
folded himself into one of the high back stools at my breakfast bar. He looked
thoroughly amused.

I
grabbed my scissors and stabbed through the tape excitedly. “I love care
packages.” I eased the box open, then gaped at the contents inside. The box was
completely full of chocolate. Not just any chocolate, Ghirardelli’s dark with
sea salt and caramel. “Oh! She remembered.”

Kadyn
raised one eyebrow quizzically.

“It’s
my favorite,” I explained as I handed him a piece. I ripped the foil from one
of the chocolate squares and popped it into my mouth. I sifted through the
chocolate and discovered two “Made in Montana” coffee mugs. I also found a
little black book, simply entitled “If.” I read the subtitle aloud for Kadyn,
“Questions for the game of life.” I handed Kadyn the book and dove back into
the box. I pulled out a small plastic dog. “Scooby Doo!” A huge grin spread
across my face. Scooby looked like he might have come from a McDonald’s Happy Meal.

Kadyn
looked thoroughly confused by the gift. “That’s random.”

“This
from the man who bought me Eeyore pajamas?” I laughed teasingly. “You would
have to know Kimme.” I smiled as I placed Scooby on the counter next to my
French Press. Then I turned my attention to dinner. “I hope you like clam
linguine. Interestingly enough, Kimme is the one who taught me how to make it.”

“I’ve
never tried it before, but it smells great.” Kadyn cracked open the “If” book
and read the first question. “If you could have dinner with anyone from
history, who would it be?”

I
handed Kadyn a Sprite. “That’s easy. Jesus.”

Kadyn
looked thoughtful as he considered my response. “Yeah. I’d pick him too.”

I
lifted the lid from the clam sauce. The rich aroma of clams, garlic, and white
wine filled the kitchen. I tossed the linguine noodles into the clams, then
snipped parsley over the top. I piled the clam linguine and some French bread
on two plates, set them on the breakfast bar, and slid into the chair next to
Kadyn.

Kadyn
read the next question. “If you could cure only one disease, which one would it
be?”

I
buttered my bread. “Cancer,” I responded, “without a doubt.”

Kadyn
nodded. “I agree.” He read the next question as we dug into the linguine. “If
you could travel anywhere, where would you go?”

I
had to think about that one. “Paris, France,” I finally replied.

Kadyn
looked surprised. “Why?”

I
set my fork down. “I don’t know if it’s the architecture, the food, or the
emphasis they place on the arts, but I’ve heard so many wonderful things about
that place. I would love to experience it firsthand. What about you?”

“Australia,”
he responded between bites. “Kri, this linguine is really good.”

I
nodded. “Australia would be my second choice. Seriously, who doesn’t want to
see koala bears and kangaroos?”

Kadyn
shoved a few more forkfuls of linguine into his mouth before asking the next
question. “If you were forced to live without a limb, which limb would you
choose?”

The
question was so disturbing I had to stop eating. “Do fingers count?”

Kadyn
shook his head. “I’m thinking arms and legs.”

I
winced. “A leg then.”

Kadyn
reached for his Sprite. “That’s what I’d choose too. I wouldn’t want to give up
either of my hands.” He flipped to the next page in the book. “Here’s a good
one. If you had to choose between saving the person you loved most in the
world, saving two hundred people from your hometown, or forty-thousand people
on the other side of the planet, which would you choose?”

I
shook my head. “That’s an impossible choice.”

Kadyn
raised an eyebrow. He was clearly insisting I choose.

I
thought about how I felt when my cousin, Lexie, was dying and my efforts to
give her my kidney. “I know it’s selfish, but I would choose the person I loved
most in this world. What about you?”

Kadyn
reached for another piece of bread. “The forty-thousand people I didn’t know.”

I
rested my elbow on the counter as I turned to face him. “But, Kadyn, what if it
was your mom? What if you had a child and you had to choose between saving that
child and people you didn’t know?”

Kadyn
shook his head. “I would still choose those forty-thousand people. I could not
save one life at the cost of forty-thousand others.”

I
shook my head, although I was mildly amused that we had found something we
disagreed on. “I think that may be easier said than done.”

Kadyn
shrugged. “People in the military do it all the time. They sacrifice their
lives for people they don’t even know.”

My
eyebrows furrowed. “But that’s a different question entirely… whether you’d be
willing to sacrifice your own life.”

“True,”
Kadyn admitted. “I still think people in the military are hard wired
differently when it comes to saving lives.”

I
smiled. “On that point, we agree.”

Kadyn
picked the book back up and looked at the next question. “If you could change
one thing about your past, what would it be?”

Blue
eyes met brown. “Marrying Tom,” I replied softly. “What about you?”

Kadyn
looked away. “My father’s drinking problem.”

I
glanced at the Sprite sitting next to Kadyn’s plate and suddenly realized I had
never seen him drink. “Is that why you don’t drink alcohol?”

Kadyn
nodded. “My dad is an alcoholic. Twelve of his thirteen siblings have struggled
with drug and alcohol addiction, so I’ve never touched the stuff.”

My
eyes widened. “Not even once?”

Kadyn
shook his head. “Not even once.”

I
stared at him completely mortified. “I put white wine in the clam linguine.”

Kadyn
laughed. “I’m quite sure the alcohol was cooked out.”

I
breathed a small sigh of relief. “The sauce simmers for quite some time.” I slid
out of my chair to clear our plates. “Wow, Kadyn. I really admire you for
making that choice.” I thought about the margarita I had with Mickey and the
wine at Cenia’s house. “Would you prefer I didn’t drink around you?”

Kadyn
shrugged. “You don’t appear to have a drinking problem.” He joined me at the
sink.

I
laughed. “No. I have no interest in being drunk. I like being in control too
much. You really have thirteen aunts and uncles?”

Kadyn
started loading dishes into the dishwasher. “Yeah. More than two hundred people
attend our family reunions.”

My
jaw fell into the sink. “You can’t be serious.”

Kadyn
laughed. “It’s true. We have an organizing committee and everything.”

I
squeezed dish soap into the sauté pan and reached for the scrub brush. “My
family doesn’t have family reunions unless someone gets married or dies. How
many siblings do you have?”

Kadyn
grabbed the dishtowel. “Just one. An older sister. Her name’s Krissa.”

I
rinsed out the sink before turning the faucet off. “Are your parents still
together?”

Kadyn
nodded as he handed me the towel. “Yours?”

“Yes.”
I dried my hands and tossed the towel on the counter.

Kadyn
reached for my hands. He walked backwards as he pulled me toward the living room.
“And you have two brothers…”

I
giggled softly. “Yes. I tried to trade the youngest in for a sister, but my mom
wouldn’t let me.”

Kadyn
nabbed the “If” book from the counter. We curled up on the couch and spent the
next four hours mulling over questions from the book. When it became apparent
that I could no longer keep my eyes open, Kadyn stood and pulled me to my feet.
He posed one last question. “If you could kiss anyone in the world, who would
it be?”

My
eyes sought his, even as my heart stumbled against my ribs. “You,” I whispered.

Kadyn
tossed the book on the coffee table. He gently tugged me toward him. He cupped
my face in both of his hands, closed his eyes, and rested his forehead against
mine. “Good answer,” he breathed. He brushed his lips lightly across mine
before softly kissing first one, then the other corner of my mouth.

Kadyn
brushed his lips against mine once more, then paused. His lips hovered over
mine while his left hand burned a trail from my neck to my waist. My eyes slid
closed as he pulled me closer. Kadyn wound my hair around his hand, locking me
gently into place as his lips met mine.

My
fists clenched in his shirt, then relaxed. I wrapped my arms around his neck.
Kadyn groaned as I melted into his chest. His tongue swept through my mouth as
he deepened the kiss. My entire body lit with need. I grasped the back of his
head and pulled him closer as I sought…
more
.