Chapter Thirty-Two
Kylie
It had been two days since I stood at the hospital with Hunter screaming in my face, but I was still paralyzed with agony over it. The moment replayed in my head over and over as I lay in bed, crying like a child would at the death of someone important.
I woke from the worst dream I’d ever had the next morning. Vince had been crying as he held my hand tight, but a force was taking me away from him. A dark shadow, and I couldn’t figure out what it was or what to do about it. It was strong and so powerful. Although I held Vince’s hand, the force was too domineering and dragged me away from him.
After the dark shadow had dragged me away from Vince, it faced me with his piercing eyes. It was the man who broke into my house. I spotted a table with my gun on it. I ran to the table, taking the gun to shoot the man. I was certain that I could pull the trigger now and kill that beast. I would do anything to protect Vince, and that included putting the pale-faced man down.
When I was clearing the gun’s chamber, the dark shadow began to uncover his face. He took off the dark cloth that covered his identity. I dropped my gun to see who it was. The man behind the mask was the man I loved the most. The man who crushed my heart into pieces.
Hunter.
Right after seeing his face, I woke up, the nightmare still clinging to me like a heavy cloak. My heart was still racing from my chest, my breathing heavy and fast. It felt like I had run a marathon with all my sweat, trickling down my forehead. My clothes were soaked in sweat, the madness of my bad dream having completely taken over me.
I sat up and ran my fingers through my damp hair as reality came crashing in. I was back at my house, the place where a burglar came and broke in weeks ago. Things were now fixed and looking normal, but it didn’t feel like a home anymore. It felt like a dangerous dark hole where I rested, unsafe.
I still couldn’t believe how things had turned upside down two nights before. Hunter and Vince used to be the two people I lived for, but now they were supposed to be like strangers to me?
“Impossible,” I whispered to the empty room around me. I felt hollow. My head still hurting from crying for two days. I stood up and walked to the bathroom to wash my face.
My eyes were swollen, dark shadows circling them. I looked horrible and disgusting. “At least my insides match my outsides. No living a lie today.”
I returned to my bed after washing my face. I took my phone and hoped for a message from Hunter, but there was nothing. Instead, I dialed my mother’s number to call in sick.
After several rings, she picked up the phone. “Hello, Kylie? What’s the matter?” She knew me too well. It was way too early, and I didn’t get up until I had to most days. And it was never this early
“Mom, can I take the day off? I’m feeling a bit sick.” I laid in my bed, resting my head on the soft pillow I drenched with my tears last night.
“Of course, but are you okay? Do you want me to come over and bring something for you?” Her motherly instinct was too powerful to sense my pain.
“No, Mom. I’m okay; I can handle things. Don’t worry about me. I just need time to rest and sleep.” I did not want her to know what I was going through. She would get disappointed in me and Hunter, and hearing ‘I told you so’ wasn’t something I could stomach just yet, though, she was right. “I’ll call you later, Mom. Have a great day at the store.”
“Are you sure, Kylie? I can feel something’s wrong,” she asked again, pushing a little.
“Yeah, Mom. If I get better during the day, I’ll come by and help.” I closed my eyes, stopping my tears from falling. Pain ran through my chest, stinging me and making it so damn hard to breathe.
“No, don’t worry about it. Just rest and relax. I’ll come by after I close the shop to bring you something. Is that okay?”
“Sure, Mom. I’ll see you then.” I dropped the call before she could tell that I was crying. I sunk my face into the pillow, hiding. I hoped I could sleep again, but I feared that nightmares might come back and fuck me up good. I had nothing left to do. Either way, the pain would come and remind me of how shitty my life was before Hunter and Vince and that I hadn’t been good enough to hold onto it. It was all gone, and I was alone – again.
I laid there a few minutes longer before realizing that I had to do something, talk to someone. Bailey. She would be there for me. She always had been before.
*
I drove to Bailey’s with my head in the clouds, my thoughts consuming me the entire way. I got out and walked to the door, knocking twice and moving back. After a quick inhale and a short coaching session in my head, Bailey opened the door, and Cat pounced on my legs.
“Ki-we!” The cute little thing tried to pronounce my name.
I smiled and patted her hair, showing my appreciation for her sweet welcome.
She moved around me and huffed. “Where’s Vince?” Her tiny voice was oozing with cuteness.
“Come on in, my friend.” Bailey reached for me, pulling me into a hug. I kept her a little ways away during the embrace thanks to the messed up apron she wore. It was stained with splatters of food coloring and icing as if she battled it out with baking items as weapons. I wrinkled my eyes, baffled by why she looked awfully messy.
“What the hell happened here?” I asked her, surprised by the bizarre, speckled form she presented before us. Cat looked at her mother then laughed at her, finding it funny to see a living rainbow in front of her.
“I was baking for you, you idiot! Where’s Vince? I thought you might bring him with you. I made some sugar-free pancakes in rainbow colors today.”
That explained her untidy look. Emotion choked me up, and I wasn’t able to get an answer out to her just yet.
Bailey and Cat trailed behind me as I walked to the kitchen, wiping at my eyes the whole way.
“Kylie, are you deaf today, silly?” Bailey pulled me to a stop from behind.
I turned and pressed my hands to my face as a soft sob left me. “I’m sorry.”
“Hey. Come here.” She pulled me close and held me. “What’s going on? Did something happen with your momma?”
“No.” I pressed into the hold, warmed by Cat’s response to my pain. The little girl was wrapped around my leg, holding me as well.
“Hunter told me to leave them alone.” I was speaking as clearly as I could, but my voice was thick through my tears. “He even told me that I would never be Vince’s mother. I’m just a nobody.”
“What?” She moved back and smoothed my hair. “Most men are douchebags, but I thought maybe Hunter was different. Obviously not.” She shook her head as another wave of tears tore me up.
“I don’t know anything right now.” I wiped at my face, feeling stupid for falling apart again.
Her tone was soft. “You know, when I saw you and Hunter together during Cat’s birthday party, I felt like he was different. The two of you had a spark, an undeniable chemistry. It was beautiful. But I guess I was right. It’s difficult to get attached to someone with an additional baggage behind him. Being a single parent is hard, and you mess up a lot.”
I looked down, realizing the reminders Bailey and my mother had always told me. They were single parents who supported their kids on their own. They completed the rare list of the most valiant and persevered persons I had ever met in my life.
I should have listened and not got involved, or at the least, taken better care of little Vince.
“I know it is.” I nodded and found somewhere to sit down.
“You know what I think, Kylie?”
I raised my head to stare at her eyes. She was smiling at me like she was about to say something that had the power to sooth, my soul. Cat was listening too; her eyes darted to her mother as if she understood the things we talked about.
“What?” I asked my best friend with a shaky voice. I wiped the remaining tears from my cheek as my crying had finally stopped.
“I know everything he did for you was sincere. He must have felt the same love, but his fear consumed him. The fear of losing someone so important to him and Vince. He was holding back because he was frightened to experience the same thing that happened in his previous relationship.” She looked at me, her smile still consistently drawn on her face.
I studied her, waiting for the man-bashing part. I found nothing sarcastic about her words. She was telling the truth. She believed Hunter was a good guy and just fell apart in the face of fear. It was understandable, but it didn’t change anything.
He didn’t want me in his life, and I was too tired and hurt to fight for a different outcome.