Unexpected Reality (37 page)

It’s Monday and I’m back at work. The long weekend was amazing, and I’m sporting a permanent smile on my face. Dawn has reminded me of the fact every time she comes into my office. The last time she stopped in, she needed a paperclip. I threw it at her and told her to stop making excuses to razz me and get her lazy ass back to work. She laughed all the way down the hall.

Trying to keep focused is proving difficult today, after the weekend. My phone vibrates and I sigh in frustration, knowing it’s probably Dawn. I’m never going to get through this report at the rate I’m going. Pulling my phone from my scrub pocket, the frustration leaves as I see Ridge’s name light up my screen.

Ridge: Mom and Dad are taking Knox to my aunt and uncle’s. They won’t be back until after dinner. You and me, mini date night?

I smile.

Me: Mini date night?

Ridge: Dinner, just the two of us. By then, Little man will be home.

Me: Yes. Where? Should I meet you?

Ridge: Anywhere. I’ll be at your place at six.

Me: See you then.

Ridge: Love you, sweet girl.

My heart melts.

Me: Love you too!

Looking at the clock, I see it’s only one. Four more hours before I can rush home and change to get ready for my mini date with my man.

“Hey, Kendall,” Dawn says from my office doorway.

“Really?” I ask, laughing.

“Hey now, this time, I have a reason. And it’s not just to tell you you’re glowing.” She smiles knowing her description gave her the opportunity to tell me yet again. “Mark just texted and wanted to know if you and Ridge—and Knox, of course—wanted to grab dinner tonight.”

“Ridge just texted me. His parents are going to have Knox until later this evening, and we’re going to dinner,” I tell her.

“Seriously?” She laughs.

“Let me call him.” I grab my phone from my pocket, pull up his name, and hit send.

“Hey, beautiful,” his deep voice answers. I try like hell not to let Dawn see how easily he affects me.

“Hey, Dawn wants to know if we want to do dinner with her and Mark.”

He chuckles. “Mark just asked me the same thing. I was getting ready to text you. I’ll leave it up to you, babe.”

“It’ll be fun,” I tell him.

“Sounds good, sweet girl. We’ll be at your place at six or a little after.”

“Perfect. I’ll let Dawn know.”

“Sounds good, baby. Love you.”

My face floods with heat. “Love you, too,” I say, ending the call.

“What? You’re telling him you love him and didn’t tell me?” she asks.

“It was over the weekend. It just happened, and I haven’t seen you. You were with Mark, remember?” I remind her.

She blushes too. We’re a mess. “So, the guys will be at our place around six,” I tell her.

She holds up her phone, showing a text from Mark probably saying the exact same thing.

“Come on, five o’clock.” She grins as she leaves my office for what feels like the hundredth time today.

At four fifty-nine, Dawn is standing in my doorway, tapping her foot.

“This has been the longest day in history,” I say, shutting down my computer.

“It really has. The patients were even slow. I didn’t think five o’clock would ever get here.”

“I know. The long weekend ruined me.”

We drove separately this morning, since she stayed at Mark’s last night. Ridge begged me to stay, but I had laundry to catch up on. He offered to go pick up every piece of clothing I owned and bring it back to his place. Crazy man. Needless to say, after a very tempting goodnight kiss he relented, and I went home. It was hard to sleep in my own bed after being in his for the past several nights.

“Where are we going?” I ask Dawn once we’re home. We both took up residence on the couch, but we need to be getting ready so the guys aren’t waiting on us.

“I suggested that new steakhouse. Mark said he doesn’t care.”

“Ridge is the same way. Sounds good to me.”

We start to talk, getting caught up with what’s been going on in our separate lives. She and Mark are really hitting it off. She confessed that she’s falling hard, and she thinks he is too.

“I’ll have to grill Ridge later and see if he can give me any insider info.”

She laughs. “You don’t have to do that.”

“Hey, we girls have to stick together,” I say.

My phone vibrates in my pocket.

Ridge: Headed your way.

“Shit! It’s ten till. We need to get ready.” We both scramble off the couch and race to our rooms.

“We need a girls’ night!” Dawn calls out from her room across the hall. “I miss my bestie.”

“Plan it!”

A loud knock sounds at the door. “Shit,” I say, as I hear Dawn yell for them to come in. Ridge must have been closer than I thought. I slide my tank over my head and meet Dawn in the hallway. I’m buttoning my shorts, not paying attention, when she stops in front of me.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Her voice is filled with anger. Hatred.

Looking up, I see Cal. My ex Cal, standing in my living room. My first thought is that it took long enough. But then I remember that Ridge will be here anytime, and he knows about Cal and how he pushed me around. He looks sober now, but you never know with an addict. What I
do
know is that Ridge is not going to be impressed.

“What are you doing here, Cal?” I ask, stepping around Dawn and joining him in the living room. He’s standing just inside the door.

“I miss you, Kendall.”

“Really? It’s been almost a year since I left, and not even a phone call from you.” I cross my arms over my chest, not buying his bullshit.

“I got clean,” he says, his voice low. “When we got home and your apartment was cleaned out, I went on a bender. Ended up thrown in jail, mandatory rehab for three months. I’ve been clean ever since.”

“What the fuck ever,” Dawn mumbles under her breath.

“That’s great. If it’s true, then I’m happy for you. But I’ve told you time and time again that it’s over between us.”

“I can make it up to you, Kendall,” he pleads.

I open my mouth to answer when there’re another quick rap of knuckles before the door opens and in walks Ridge and Mark.

I move toward Ridge, lacing my fingers with his and pulling him to stand with me behind the couch. Mark makes his way toward Dawn.

“What’s up, babe?” Ridge asks.

Taking a deep breath, I introduce them. “Ridge, this is Cal. Cal, this is my boyfriend, Ridge.” He stiffens beside me, drops my hand and places his arm around my waist, pulling me into his side.

“Boyfriend?” Cal seems more defeated than angry.

“Boyfriend,” Ridge repeats.

“Kendall, can we just . . . go somewhere and talk?” Cal asks.

“Not happening, my man. You have something to say to her, you say it from where you are,” Ridge tells him.

“I didn’t ask you,” Cal says through gritted teeth.

Ridge throws his head back and laughs. “I don’t give a flying fuck who you ask. I’m the one who’s telling you it’s not going to happen.”

Cal turns to me. “You let this guy boss you around?”

“What? Like you pushed her around and cheated on her?” Ridge asks. His anger is growing, if the sound of his voice and the grip he has on my hip in any indication.

I wrap my arms around his waist and rest my head on his chest, trying to help diffuse his anger. “Cal, I’ve told you it’s over. If you really are clean, then I’m proud of you. I wish you the best of luck, but it’s over.”

“It’s
been
over,” Dawn adds from behind us.

Cal hangs his head in defeat. “I miss you,” he whispers.

Ridge growls.

“Cal, you
think
you miss me. I was in your life before the drugs. You need to find something positive to focus on. Even if Ridge weren’t in the picture, I wouldn’t be coming back to you,” I say gently.

Ridge kisses my temple.

“We can work through this,” Cal pleads.

“Enough!” Ridge says, his voice raised. “She’s told you that she’s not interested. There is nothing here for you.”

“I love you, Kendall,” Cal says, sadness in his eyes.

“Out!” Ridge roars.

“Ridge.” I grip his shirt, and he looks down at me. “I love you,” I tell him.

He squeezes my hip.

“Cal, please go. I’m proud of you for getting clean, but it’s time for you to move on.”

He looks up at me, and I can see in his eyes he truly thought I would come back to him. My heart hurts for him, but it’s too late for us.

“Are you happy?”

“Yes,” I say without hesitation. The man holding me tight against his side will guarantee that I am.

“Okay.” He reaches into his pocket and Ridge steps forward, as if he needs to protect me. Cal pulls out a white envelope. “This came to your old address, but they delivered it to mine. I’ve had it for a while now. I wanted to find a job before I came back for you. Wanted you to see I’ve changed.” He sets the envelope on the coffee table. “You’re going to want to read it,” he says, his sad eyes finding mine.

“Good-bye, Cal.”

He stares at me for what seems like eternity, and it’s uncomfortable for everyone. Finally, he says, “Good-bye, Kendall. For what it’s worth, I’m sorry for everything that happened between us.” Then he looks at Ridge. “Take care of her.”

Ridge doesn’t acknowledge him. Cal gets the hint, offering a sad wave before he leaves, the door clicking softly behind him.

“You okay?” Dawn asks.

I nod against Ridge’s chest; he has me crushed to him. He lowers his head to whisper in my ear. “I love you, Kendall.” Those four words pull me out of the sadness Cal brought with him. I meant what I said, that I’m proud of him, but Ridge is my heart.

“How about we order in?” Dawn asks.

“Yeah, that’s a good idea,” Ridge agrees.

“Pizza?” Mark suggests. “You girls like the place just down the street, right?”

“Perfect.” Dawn grins at him. “We’ll go pick it up, give these two some time.”

“Thanks,” Ridge says to them.

When they’re gone, he leads me to the couch and pulls me onto his lap. “You good, sweet girl?”

“Yeah. I mean, I’m surprised he showed up after all this time, but I don’t want him. You’re where I want to be.”

“I know that.” He kisses my bare shoulder. “I also know that seeing him again probably brought up a lot of those old memories.”

“Yeah, but I’m good, really. I feel bad for him, I do, but there was never a choice to make, Ridge. I’m in love with you.”

“I know that, but I still love to hear those words fall from your lips.” He kisses my shoulder again. “So, what do you think’s in the envelope?”

“Honestly, I have no idea. I guess I should look.” I stand and walk to the table by the door, grabbing the envelope. It’s addressed to me at my old apartment, but there’s no return contact information. Not sure what I’m going to find, I sit on the opposite end of the couch as Ridge. I see his face fall, but he doesn’t push me. Mr. ‘I need to touch you at all times’ knows I need a minute to see what’s inside.

“It doesn’t have a return address,” I tell him.

“You want me to open it?” he offers.

“No, it’s probably a letter from him, trying to convince me. Honestly, I have no idea what else it could be.”

“Pizza’s here,” Dawn announces, setting the boxes down on the coffee table. “I’ll grab plates and napkins. What do you guys want to drink?” she yells from the kitchen.

I laugh at her, place the letter aside, and help her gather everything we’ll need.

Two large pizzas later, we’re all groaning that we ate too much. It was so good, though.

“So, what was in the envelope?” Dawn asks.

I shrug. “Don’t know, haven’t opened it yet.”

“What are you waiting for?” she asks.

I laugh at her, reach for the envelope, and tear it open.

Kendall,

It’s taken me a while to find you, as adoption papers are sealed pretty tight. I’m your sister, Melissa. We’re twins, not sure if you knew that or not. I was told by the private investigator that I hired that you know you were adopted. I wanted to make sure my contacting you didn’t shatter your world.

Anyway, not sure how much you know about our mother. She was sixteen and gave us up with the hopes of a better life. We were both adopted, but my first adoptive parents didn’t turn out so great. They got messed up with drugs and God only knows what else, and I was placed in foster care. Don’t be sad though. A few years later, I was adopted by an amazing family. I will forever be grateful for everything they did for me. About four months ago, I lost them. It was tragic and unexpected, and left me once again all alone in the world.