Cathryn Parry - The Secret Between Them

“No, she did not.”

He shook his head. Maybe things with her weren’t as bad as he thought. Maybe she’d forgiven him for their history. Maybe she hadn’t noticed that he’d assumed she was pregnant when he’d seen her on Valentine’s Day.

“So...what do you suggest I do now?” he asked the lawyer.

Natalie was silent for a moment. “As the will document notes, you received a substantial cash inheritance from Joe, as part of the estate. Jessica didn’t receive any such thing. I’m guessing you’d intended that money for living expenses while you get the rink online, but if we can’t get Jessica to work with you to begin with, then it won’t do much good there.”

Kyle slowly nodded. “Right. I could give her part of that.”

Natalie looked relieved that he’d suggested it. “I believe an offer to her is the best course. On the other hand, you could offer nothing and take your chances. But honestly, Kyle, she might walk.”

He didn’t want that. “Make her an offer on my behalf. Go in strong.” A Marine on a mission, he was prepared to do whatever it took to make the rink his place.

Natalie nodded and stood. She left the room, leaving the door ajar this time.

While he waited, pacing again, he faintly heard Natalie’s soft voice speaking from a room down the hall. She must have forgotten to shut the door. The words were a low murmur rather than anything clear.

This was torture. He stuck his head into the hallway, and noticing no one, he headed toward Natalie’s voice. His leg wasn’t cooperating that well—phantom pains, maybe because he’d been sitting for so long. But he was in his old, familiar “walking leg” prosthetic. He didn’t make a sound with it as he passed two offices, a small kitchen and a watercooler.

He stopped outside the open door of a smaller conference room. Natalie was making his offer, just as they’d discussed.

Please, Jessica, Kyle thought. Take it.

“That’s not enough,” a male voice—Sebastien—answered. “She’ll need more money than that.”

What the hell? Was the boyfriend negotiating for her?

“How much more?” Natalie asked. “Because Kyle has offered you half of the cash he inherited from Joe. That’s an extremely generous offer on his part, and not what he was required to do.”

Damn straight. Kyle was debating walking in there and telling them so himself, when suddenly Natalie exited the door, nearly bumping into him.

“Oh!” Natalie said. “Were you listening?”

“Yeah,” he murmured. And then he didn’t think, he just marched into the open conference room, intending to face Jessica.

But Jessica and her boyfriend had their heads together, sharing what looked like a romantic moment. She was leaned in close to him, and he was murmuring something into her ear.

For a moment, Kyle lost his breath. Stupid of him. It shouldn’t hurt to see her like that. Kyle wasn’t meant to be with anyone romantically. He was fine with that state of affairs.

Jessica glanced up. She sucked in her breath when she saw Kyle. Her eyes widened.

Kyle focused only on her. The rest of the room seemed to melt away.

“I won’t take your career away from you, Jessica. Whenever you have time, all I ask is that you squeeze in your hours at the rink. You won’t have to do anything you don’t want to do there. I’ll take care of everything that needs doing. You can sit in Joe’s old office, away from everybody, doing whatever pleases you. I just want you in this partnership with me, however you need to do it to make it work for both of us—so that we both get what we want.”

Her mouth dropped open. For a moment, no one made a sound.

Kyle figured he’d screwed up. He probably should have gotten on his knees and begged her forgiveness.

Well, dammit, his knees were tired. It was best she made her decision soon, because his leg wasn’t going to allow him to stand here all day.

* * *

A PARTNERSHIP. THAT would make both of them happy.

Kyle understood her better than her own boyfriend did. Then again, Kyle had lived her history with her. He’d been in that rink with her for most of her time training. He’d seen what she’d gone through. And vice versa.

Maybe she was crazy, but something about Kyle drew her...enough to overlook her guilt. Enough to be curious about him.

He seemed fine. He’d come back from his tours of duty unscathed. He didn’t seem to blame her for the fact that his relationship with Joe had suffered.

“All right,” she said, her eyes lowered. Because Sebastien was present, she forced herself to stand and cross her arms, acting more businesslike than she felt. “You have a deal, Kyle. I’ll do this under the terms that you and Natalie specified.”

Kyle stared at her, directly into her eyes. Again, that silliness—her knees felt weak. He’d bulked up so much—it was apparent now with him standing there in a wool sweater. And his beard was so bushy and full. He looked nothing like the wiry, defiant teenager he’d once been. But he still seemed capable and honest.

He tilted his head and looked at her, almost as if he was reading her mind. As if he saw something in her that nobody else did. Maybe she should have been worried, but she wasn’t.

In a flash, the moment was over.

“Kyle, may I see you a moment, in private?” Natalie murmured to him.

He nodded, and with deliberate steps he left the room.

Jessica gazed back at Sebastien. He was fiddling with his phone, scrolling through his messages.

I’m alone in this, she thought. Six months. I have to do six months in that rink without him, on my own.

She tucked the half-opened envelope with Joe’s letter back into her purse, too dispirited to read it just now.

* * *

“KYLE, I HOPE you understand there’s more to making your business successful than just paying Jessica to show up and doing everything else yourself,” Natalie said, her soft voice filled with concern.

“Yes, ma’am,” he answered, and without breaking stride he swiped Joe’s envelope off the table and stuck it in his back pocket. He also pocketed the key to Joe’s house.

He wasn’t concerned about doing all the work, whatever needed to be done. Based on their past history, he fully assumed Jessica would be avoiding him most of the time. He was prepared for that.

“Where’s the key to the rink?” he asked Natalie.

She exhaled. “I can’t give it to you just yet. I’ll need to walk both you and Jessica through the facility on the first Monday in March. That will give you two weeks to give your notice on your job and to settle your affairs in Maryland. Is that acceptable to you?”

It made sense, actually. But his mind couldn’t help racing ahead, to the important stuff. “What’s going on with the rink? I drove over yesterday, but it was closed. It looked deserted.”

“It’s been closed for most of the winter, except for weekday afternoons when the high school hockey team holds their practices.”

“What about the kids’ leagues at night?” Kyle asked. “And the high school games on Saturday? And...public skating in the morning?”

Natalie shook her head. “Joe had to cut back. His poor health necessitated it.”

Wow. Kyle swiped a hand over his face. “Do I have any employees to work with?”

“I spoke with several of them, and there are three who want to come back.”

A skeleton crew. Shit. “Do I know any of them?” Kyle asked.

“Carol from the office, plus Patrick and Mike who do maintenance work and operate the Zambonis.”

Kyle had no idea who any of them were. His heart was sinking fast. What did he expect? That this would be a walk in the park with two good legs? Right.

“Let’s not worry about that for now,” Natalie said. “You and Jessica will figure it out together.”