Chapter Eight
AMBER
I stood in front of the mirror and wondered what the hell I was doing. I moved out of Dylan’s house less than a week ago. Kyle is a patient and no matter what we called this, it was a date. I fidgeted with the bracelets on my wrists. I’d put foundation over the yellowing bruises there and the bracelets were thick enough that I was hoping they’ll keep them covered. It’s eighty degrees out, so I thought I might look a little stupid sweating at Abacus in long sleeves.
“Amber?” Marlene was tapping on my door. She’d sat up with me late last night as I agonized over whether or not I should do this.
“Yeah, come in.”
She stepped in and sucked in a sharp breath. “Oh, honey, you look gorgeous.”
“Thank you. I’m a nervous wreck.”
“Why? You said he’s a really nice guy, right?”
“Yeah, but it’s so soon…”
“Are you kidding? That so-called ‘relationship’ you were in with the cowboy was over a long time ago. He fell in love with a whiskey bottle and nobody will ever come before that. You deserve so much more.”
I smiled. I wasn’t sure why I should deserve more, but it was a nice thought. “Well, here goes then. This is the first date I’ve been on without Dylan since I was fifteen years old.”
“Good. Go and see what it’s supposed to be like.” She kissed my cheek, and I grabbed my bag and headed out. I told Kyle I’d pick him up at seven. He offered to drive and I laughed. I did hope he was kidding. I put his address in my GPS. He lived on a quiet little residential street at the end of a cul de sac. It looked homey and inviting, with a neat and tidy front lawn. With butterflies taking flight in my stomach, I knocked on the door. It was pulled inward by the big man I’d seen at the hospital. His dad, I presumed.
“Hi, is Kyle here?” I felt like a teenager. He smiled…I think.
“Yes, come in.” He closed the door behind me and said, “Have a seat, he’ll be right out.” I thanked him as he disappeared down the hallway.
I sat down in the comfortable little living room and thought about running away – right up until I saw the most beautiful sight I may have ever seen. Kyle came out of the bedroom in his chair. He had on a brown silk shirt and a nice pair of tan slacks. He was wearing brown cowboy boots and for the first time since the hospital, he wasn’t wearing a ball cap.
“Hi,” he said with that smile that sets my insides on fire.
“Hi. Wow…you look…”
“I’m the one with the speech problems.”
I laughed. “Not tonight, apparently. You look amazing.”
He looked down at himself and said, “I kind of thought I did – until you got here. You’re beautiful, Amber.” I felt my face go hot. I couldn’t remember the last time a man told me I was beautiful – except for my father, but that doesn’t count. Marlene talked me into buying this little black dress and she loaned me a pair of heels that I wasn’t sure I’d be able to walk in. I’m glad now that she did.
“Thank you. Are you ready?”
“Yep.” He easily maneuvered himself out the front door and down the sidewalk to the car. “If you open the trunk, I’ll put the chair in-”
“Get in the car.”
“I don’t want you lifting the chair.” His speech was still slow, but it was getting a lot clearer. I was really proud of the progress he’s making, but I was sorry he wasted all of those words.
I laughed. “I’m a therapist. I do it all day. Get in the car.”
“You’re kind of bossy,” he said with a grin.
“Yep,” I said, borrowing his favorite word.
On the way to the restaurant, he asked me questions about my family and growing up on the ranch. Even with his speech impediment, he was a much better conversationalist than Dylan. When we drove up in front of the restaurant I asked,
“Have you eaten here before?”
“Only once,” he said. “For Sarah’s birthday a few years back. My dad hated it.” He laughed.
“I’ve never been inside. I almost feel like I should have rented a nicer car.”
“Stop,” he said, laughing. “The night we came, I was out on a job. I drove the contractor’s pick-up and had the valet park it.”
“You did not!”
He laughed again. “I did. It was the best part of the night.”
I got out and started to get his chair out of the trunk. The valet was suddenly at my elbow to get it for me. He took it around and Kyle transferred himself into it smoothly. Once we were inside, we were shown to our table, which was in a nice roomy spot. He transferred out of his chair and into the seat and the hostess took the chair away. He seemed a lot more comfortable without it. The waiter brought out the wine menu, and Kyle asked me what I wanted.
“I don’t really drink,” I told him.
“Okay, how about sweet tea?”
It was refreshing to be able to say that out loud and not be ridiculed. Dylan always gave me a hard time about it. “I’d love sweet tea, thank you.” We ordered a six course tasting menu and as we plowed our way through the delicious food, we got to know each other a little better. “Have you always wanted to be an architect?”
“Not really. I like to draw…I have…sorry, I always have.”
“So, when did you decide on architecture?”
“Michael and my sister have been together since she was sixteen. He was already in college…he got me interested.”
“And now, you work for him.”
“Right. What about you?”
“No, I never wanted to be an architect.”
He grinned. “When did you want to be a therapist?”
“When I was in high school, my best friend and I were supposed to go out one Saturday night. It just happened that I got the flu and I couldn’t go. She was driving home from a party and she had another one of our friends with her. She was drunk and ran a stoplight. They were t-boned and the girl in the passenger seat died. My friend was thrown from the car and had a head injury. When she woke up from her three week long coma, she had to have therapy every day. I used to go visit her all the time and it fascinated me to watch what they did for her.”
“Wow…you dodged a bullet.”
“Yeah. It’s weird because I always felt guilty about that. I went to Bobbie’s funeral, and I kept thinking it should have been me. I would have been in that seat, and I would have been just as drunk as both of them.”
“Is that why you don’t drink?”
“Mostly, yes. So, can I ask you a personal question?”
“Of course.”
“Greg…what’s the deal there? He says he’s your best friend, but it doesn’t seem that way sometimes…”
“Hard one,” he said.
“Oh, it’s okay.”
“No, it’s just a long story. Hard for you to understand me.”
“Well, you don’t have to talk about it-”
“It’s fine…bear with me though.” I liked listening to him talk, even though he was self-conscious about it. He took a deep breath and said, “I met Greg in the second grade. We became buddies right away. From that point on, we did everything together. He stayed at my house, and I stayed at his. In college, I met this girl and fell in love with her. I’d always been kind of a serial dater, so the love thing kind of took me by surprise. We dated for a couple years and I proposed. She accepted, and I asked Greg to be my best man.
“One night, we were all at this party and I was the only sober one because I was driving. I looked everywhere and I couldn’t find them. There was this girl there that for whatever reason, she hated my girl. She told me to check the shed in the backyard. I doubted they would be in there, but I’d checked everywhere else. They were in there and they were…pardon my French, screwing their drunken brains out.”
“Oh no!”
“Yep.”
“I’m sorry.”
He shrugged. “It was bad. For the first time in my life, I beat the snot out of someone and it was my best friend. I told both of them I never wanted to see them again. I would run into Greg sometimes, but avoided him for the most part. He weaseled his way back in through Sarah when he found out I was sick.”
“Sarah…hmm…”
He laughed. “Hard to believe my sister could be the forgiving one, right?”
“Well, not that I wouldn’t think she could forgive anyone, it’s hard to believe she would forgive anyone that hurt you. She’s really protective of you.”
“Yeah, she forgets she’s not my mother.”
By the time we finished our meal, had dessert, and walked out of the restaurant, it was after ten o’clock. I didn’t want the night to end and Kyle acted like he didn’t, either. When the valet brought the car around he said, “Do you want to see my place?”
“I didn’t see it earlier?”
He smiled. “That’s Dad’s place. I have a loft not very far from here. I’ve just been staying with Dad since I got sick.”
Alone in a loft with Kyle. It was a terrible idea. “Sure, okay.” I’m ridiculous.