They all took their places on the couch and armchairs, while Sophie sat on the floor with Adam and opened the box of a Disney princesses jigsaw puzzle. Kean took the spot next to Charli on the three-seater. It still felt a little funny to not have to hide his feelings in front of everyone, now that they’d come out in the open. He didn’t have to hold back when he wanted to hold her hand or steal a kiss. Still, when he reached for her hand, she stiffened and gave him a funny look. He smiled and squeezed her hand.
“Relax,” he said. She frowned but then, when he smiled again and gave another squeeze, she leaned back against the couch and her shoulders relaxed. She glanced at the other people in the room, as if she wanted to make sure nobody was paying attention to them. When she ascertained that nobody was in fact looking at them, she squeezed his hand. It was stupid and maybe even a bit cheesy, but his heart fluttered at her gesture. Sure, they’d agreed this was temporary, that it was only physical, that they didn’t have a future, but still, with every single day he spent in her company, with her in his arms, or just like today, sitting around his parents’ table like a big, happy family, he couldn’t help wishing she would eventually change her mind, that things would sort themselves out and Spring would be enough—that he would be enough.
Because as much as he liked the physical side of their relationship, he liked their interactions outside the bedroom even more. She was a pain most of the time, but she was funny. She could be cute even when she was infuriating. She made him feel things that he hadn’t felt in a long time, and he wanted to explore these feelings, to see if there could be anything beyond the crazy physical attraction.
Enya walked into the living room just when the game was starting and placed a tray with cookies on the wooden coffee table in front of them. Then she sat next to Charli and patted her leg, smiling at her.
“I might be a little biased here, but my boy is a really good player.”
Kean chuckled. “Yeah, of course he is. He’s your baby boy after all.”
“Will you stop! I love all of my kids.” Enya huffed, and Adam looked up from the jigsaw puzzle with a cheeky grin.
“Yeah, you do. But you love Kyle that little bit more because he’s the baby.”
Everyone laughed and Finn, who had just walked into the room, stood behind his wife and squeezed her shoulders. “Sorry, love, but your sons are right. You always had a soft spot for baby Kyle.”
Enya hung her head, then tilted it to the side and stared at Charli. “Okay then, maybe I’m just a little bit more biased than I thought, but Kyle really is a good player.”
“Okay, guys, game’s on,” Kean said, and everyone’s attention turned to the TV. A lot of cheering, shouting against the other team’s players, and praise for Kyle’s throws or catches filled the room during the first and second inning—and most of the noise came from Enya.
After the second inning, Kean stood up for a toilet break. He leaned down to ask Charli if she wanted something to drink, but before he could even open his mouth, she pulled back abruptly and shot him one of her infamous death glares. He couldn’t help smiling at her reaction.
“Chill, woman. I wasn’t going to kiss you, if that’s what you thought. I only wanted to know if you need something from the kitchen while I’m up.”
He thought he’d said it low enough for only Charli to hear, but his mother’s giggle proved him wrong. Charli’s cheeks turned an adorable shade of pink that he wasn’t used to seeing.
“Don’t worry, love. We’re not that old-fashioned.” Enya patted Charli’s arm and smiled. “We’ve never had a problem with our sons kissing their girls in front of us. As long as they’d turned twenty-one, of course. We aren’t that modern, after all.” She winked, and Charli’s blush intensified.
“Mom, leave her alone or she’ll run back to the city before you’ve even had the time to blink. And, personally, I’d like her to stay a bit longer.”
Charli huffed and proceeded to show him, with a not-so-gentle swat on his leg, what she thought of his smartass comment.
“Kids, stop bickering,” Ellie said with a smile, from her comfortable position in the recliner. Charli shot her friend The Look, and Kean found himself wondering whether he could somehow convince her to follow him outside so he could kiss the living daylights out of her. Because, man, was she hot when she shot those looks.
“There’s a saying that goes ‘make love, not war’. I think you should follow that advice.” Kean’s grandfather spoke the words over his shoulder in a nonchalant tone as he walked out of the room. There was a moment of stunned silence, which Finn was the first to break with a belly laugh. Everyone joined in—everyone but Charli—and Kean couldn’t resist teasing her just once more before leaving the room. He leaned close to her ear and whispered, “We don’t really want to disappoint an old man now, do we?”
Charli gasped and slapped his arm with even more force than before. He laughed as he walked out of the living room, thinking his comment would most likely cause him to have to work hard to change her mind tonight. But he knew trying was going to be the fun part.
* * *
Five minutes later, he came back into the living room carrying a peace offering—one of his mother’s chocolate muffins. When he waved it in front of Charli’s face, she grunted but her lips twitched as she fought to suppress a smile.
“Truce?” he asked.
She rolled her eyes and snatched the muffin out of his hand. “You’re lucky chocolate’s my weakness. But we’ll deal with your smartass behavior later.”
He smirked. “I can’t wait, babe.”
She rolled her eyes again and bit into the muffin, looking away from him, in an attempt to ignore him. The game resumed after the team switch, and everyone went back into cheering mode.
After a long, tough game that tested the players’ resistance, the last inning was close to the end. This last pitch would decide whether Kyle’s team would win or lose. Everyone was on the edge of their seats, staring at the TV with bated breath as the last batter from the opposing team walked up to the plate. The crack of the ball against the wooden bat echoed in the quiet room as everyone held their breaths while the ball sailed across the field toward Kyle. He skipped backward with his gloved hand raised in the air, but the ball flew past him. A chorus of grunts and mumbles filled the room, and Kean smiled when Charli let out a “Shoot” under her breath. He hadn’t pegged her for a baseball fan.
The camera went back to the batter, who’d already reached first base and was running to second. When it moved back to Kyle, he had the ball in his hand and dug his feet on the ground as he prepared for a throw to home.
“A long throw, son! Make a long throw!” Enya shot to her feet, shouting at the TV as the announcer urged Kyle to do the same. He pulled back his left arm and threw the ball. The camera zoomed back to follow the ball’s trajectory as it reached the player standing close to home plate.
A chorus of “Yes!” erupted in the room as the player caught the ball and stopped the opposing team’s players from advancing any further. But the camera moved away from home plate as the announcer’s “Uh, oh. Cavanagh went down in a heap” comment made Kean’s blood freeze.
Enya gasped when the camera zoomed in on Kyle curled up in a ball on the ground. His face was wrinkled in pain as he rolled on the grass, holding his left arm to his chest. Two trainers ran to him and partly obscured him from the camera, but even so, everyone in the room could see that he was still on the ground.
Something was wrong, very wrong. Kyle had never been the whiny, crying type, even when he was a kid. If he fell while riding his bike, he’d get back on it and keep going, even as blood trickled down his leg from a skinned knee. If he was reacting like that, he had to be in real pain. Kean wished he could reach into the TV and help him. He hated feeling so helpless when his brother was hurting.
The room was eerily quiet as everyone stared at the screen, listening to the announcer saying that Kyle had crumpled to the ground as soon as he’d throw
n the ball. The other announcer chimed in, saying that he must’ve had trouble with his footing which caused him to put too much pressure on the arm.
Kyle’s team gathered around him, while the trainers helped him to sit up. He waited a couple of beats then nodded at something one of the trainers had asked him. With one hand on Kyle’s upper right arm, the trainer helped him to his feet, but he immediately bent at the waist, taking a long breath as he squeezed his eyes shut. A round of applause filled the stadium as Kyle walked out of the field with his head down, holding the glove in his right hand, his left arm hanging loose by his side.
One of the announcers started spouting statistics on the number of arm injuries that had happened in the season so far, just as the game resumed and the cameras forgot about Kyle.
“Oh my God. I have to talk to him. Finn, where’s my phone?” Enya was the first to break the trance everyone had fallen into.
Kean stood up and reached for her. “Mom, calm down. You won’t be able to talk to him now. I’m sure he’ll call you as soon as he can.”
She shook her head and pushed him away when he tried to hug her.
“How can I keep calm when my son is hurt and I don’t know how he’s feeling? Do you think I remained calm when they told me Adam got shot last year? Or when you told me you could end up in jail?”
Kean winced. Damn. He hadn’t had the chance to tell Charli about that yet. He definitely hadn’t planned for her to find out about it this way. He threw a glance at her and her frown told him her mind was conjuring all kinds of scenarios.
“Enya, love, Kean’s right.” His dad came to her side and put an arm around her shoulder. She leaned into him. “He won’t have his phone with him now, and they wouldn’t let you speak to him anyway. He’ll call us from the hospital. Or maybe the coach will.”
Enya let out a sob and hugged her husband, crying into his chest. Sophie stood up and stared at her grandmother.
“Why is Gwammy cwying?” Her trembling voice meant she was just about to burst into tears herself.
“Uncle Kyle got hurt and Grammy is worried about him,” Adam said. Sophie’s cherubic face scrunched up a second before she lunged for her father and started wailing.
Adam reassured his daughter that everyone would be okay, as he rubbed her back. Ellie got up from the recliner and went to offer support to her husband, but Sophie just kept sobbing and screaming as if she was the one who’d gotten hurt.
Kean was just about to tell Charli that she was free to leave if she wanted, as he guessed being part of this family drama wasn’t exactly thrilling her, when she moved from the couch to the floor and reached for Sophie.
“Your daddy’s right. Uncle Kyle’s going to be okay,” she said in a soft tone, patting Sophie’s back. “Why don’t you and I go into the kitchen and make a nice drawing, so you can give it to him when he comes home?”
Sophie looked up from her father’s chest to Charli. Her bottom lip was still trembling but at least the wails had stopped.
“Can I…”
Sniff.
“Bwaid…”
Sniff.
“Your hair, too?”
Charli smiled. “Of course you can, sweetie.”
She rocked back on her heels and pushed herself to a standing position. Then she reached out her hand, palm up. Sophie wiped her cheeks with her tiny hands, then sniffled once more before she took Charli’s hand. Adam mouthed his thanks and Charli smiled, before she left the room hand in hand with Sophie. Kean’s heart swelled so much it nearly took up all of the space in his chest. Only two months before she’d dreaded being left alone with Sophie, and now she was the one suggesting spending time with her. Could this small improvement mean she was changing her mind about small-town life too?
Chapter 18
Three hours later, after they’d finally heard from Kyle and received updates on his situation that, from what she’d understood, wasn’t looking good, Charli followed Kean to his cabin. He took her hand the moment the door of his parents’ house closed behind them, and she linked her fingers through his and squeezed. Being part of their family emergency should’ve made her feel awkward, like an intruder in a private moment. Instead, she’d been glad to help when Sophie didn’t want to stop crying, or to make Enya a cup of herbal tea to help her relax after Kyle’s coach called to inform them her son was in the ER and they’d get in touch as soon as the doctors told them something.
She was happy she was there when Kyle called to share the news about his ulnar collateral ligament injury that would require surgery and eight to twelve months of rehab. Kean had looked devastated slumped on the armchair with his head in his hands.
Her heart had broken for him and she’d wanted to hug him, squeeze him tight, and promise him everything would be okay. But doing it in front of his family hadn’t seemed like a good idea, so she’d just sat there and waited for the phone call along with every member of the Cavanagh family.
“Are you okay?” Charli asked, as soon as they stepped into Kean’s cottage. It was a stupid question, really. He looked anything but okay right now, with that permanent frown that had been wrinkling his face ever since the moment Kyle fell to the ground. She followed him into the kitchen, where he pulled out a bottle of beer from the fridge.
“Want one?” he asked without turning around.
“No, thanks. You probably shouldn’t be drinking either.”
He hung his head. “Yeah, I think you’re right. Getting drunk won’t help Kyle to feel better.”
He put the bottle back into the fridge, closed it, and leaned with his forehead against the door. Charli walked up to him and put a hand on his back.
“Maybe I should go. You probably want to be alone now.”
Kean looked at her for the first time since they’d walked into the house. “Please, stay.”
His dark eyes were nearly black, and the haunted look and raw pain in them, coupled with his pleading tone, all but crushed her heart. She didn’t want to care this much for him. She wasn’t supposed to get attached or emotionally involved. She’d been the one to make the rule in the first place—it would be hypocritical if she were the one to break it. But she couldn’t help herself when those brown eyes that usually stared at her with humor and mischief now looked dull and… void.
She took a step closer and wrapped her arms around him. The warmth of his body enveloped her cold heart, and when his strong arms encircled her, the whole world seemed like a better place. She’d never felt this safe and warm in any other man’s arms—except her father’s, but he didn’t count. His hand rubbed circles on her back, the smell of his cologne filled her senses, and his steady breathing calmed her to the point she nearly fell asleep against his chest.
This felt too good, too familiar, too cozy—but she couldn’t bring herself to pull back. For the first time since they’d started sleeping together, she didn’t care about getting him naked as fast as possible. She just wanted to be there for him and do whatever she could to bring the twinkle back in his eyes. And the thought scared her.
“Do you want to talk about it? I promise I won’t tell anyone whatever you say now. I won’t tell your family that you broke down in tears, or that you punched the wall, or whatever else you want to do to let it all out. It will be just between you and me. And I won’t think any less of you for breaking down now.”
“Why, thank you for being so tactful.” He chuckled. “I’m not sure what I want to do, though. Yes, I want to punch the wall, but I’d break my hand and I wouldn’t be able to work, so no can do. And yes, I want to scream but then my family would hear me and think you’re killing me.”
Charli laughed at that. His funny side was coming back. Good. She rubbed her hand up and down his back, feeling the muscles relax under her touch.
“You won’t see me cry, though. I have my dignity after all.”
“Okay, no bawling, gotcha. But just so you know, I’m a good listener.”
He heaved a sigh and rested his chin on the top
of her head. She breathed him in, felt his heartbeat against her cheek, and just wished they could stay like that forever.
“I hated watching my brother hurting and not being able to help him. He’s my baby brother. I’ve never liked seeing him in pain, and even though he’s all grown up now, I just can’t help wanting to protect him.”
“I’m the baby of the family and the little princess, so it was my brothers’ job to be über-protective, but still, I’ve never wanted to see one of them in pain, either. So I sort of understand how you feel.”
“Kyle’s a tough one, though. I’m sure he’ll be all right.”
His tone sounded more like he was trying to convince her but didn’t believe the words himself. She let him be, though, thinking he just needed time to process everything and get over the upheaval that was no doubt inside him right now.
“How about we order Mexican? You’re not in a hurry to go home, are you?”
The sudden change in topic, coupled with the weird feeling she got at hearing him referring to Ellie’s cottage as Charli’s home, threw her slightly off-balance. Wrapped up against his warm body, she wasn’t particularly looking forward to leaving; the fact he wanted her to stay, although he was feeling miserable and could have asked her to leave, made her feel all warm inside.
“Are you asking me to dinner, Bob?”
He chuckled. “I’m asking you to stay and eat dinner with me, and maybe, if you behave, I might throw in dessert.” He pulled back and smiled mischievously. “And I’m not talking about cake, just so you know.”
“Well, in that case…” She fisted the fabric of his sweatshirt and pulled him to her, brushing her lips against his. “I’m in.”
Unplanned Love: A Love In Spring novel Page 20
