♀
Kylie was furious that she had to drive to Coyote Ridge. When her sister called to tell her she wanted to come home, but she didn’t have a ride, she’d been pissed. After giving Jessie hell about hooking up with guys who weren’t interested in seeing to her well-being, Kylie had caved. She hated how she was purposely trying to hurt Jessie. No matter what happened over the last few days, Jessie didn’t deserve it.
With the long, boring highway now behind her, Kylie was heading down the rural road that would get her to town. Based on the text she’d received a few minutes ago, Jessie would be at the diner waiting for her.
Of course she would. She’d probably just had breakfast with Brendon, and they were sitting around chatting while they waited for Jessie’s chauffer to arrive.
Kylie should’ve been mad at her sister. And somewhere deep down, maybe she still was, but there was an overwhelming ache in her chest that continued to push the anger to the side.
When her father came to visit, Kylie had fallen apart. The conversation hadn’t gone like she expected, but it hadn’t been necessarily positive either. And surprisingly, Joe had been angrier for her not telling him the truth than for her getting married when she was just nineteen years old.
Pressing her foot on the gas, Kylie remembered the conversation from just two days ago:
“You’re still married? After ten years?” her father asked as they sat on the sofa in Kylie’s living room.
“Yes.” She had spent the last twenty minutes explaining to him how she met Travis and the brief details of their marriage. Luckily, there wasn’t much to tell.
“Why?”
Kylie didn’t know what to tell him. She knew she couldn’t say that she’d never gone through with the divorce because she’d loved Travis so much that one day she hoped they’d find their way back to each other. It wasn’t entirely true, but it was how she felt now. There’d been a reason it never happened, and maybe that’s what the universe had planned for her, she didn’t know. As the pain settled in her chest, she really wished the universe would’ve stayed out of her business.
“Ok, answer this if you don’t want to tell me why. Are you in love with him now?”
Kylie stared at her father. She knew this was the easy part. Since Jessie had gone and lost her mind, telling their father that Kylie was in love with two guys, she knew the best was yet to come.
“Yes, I love him.”
“Then why have you been crying?” Joe leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees.
She shrugged.
“Did Jessie ever tell you why she left? Or why she quit her job?”
Kylie was stunned by the change of subject, but if it would give her a reprieve, she decided to go along with it.
“Your sister was dating this guy. He came around every so often. Seemed like a nice one, but Melissa started to get concerned. Said Jessie was acting strange. Of course, I’m not there often, so she saw more than I did. I figured it was just one of those young love things and Jess would get over it and move on with her life. They didn’t seem all that serious, but what did I know.
“A little time went by, and Jess stopped talking about him, so I figured they broke up. It made sense because she seemed a little down. One morning, Melissa left me a message. I’d had an early flight and didn’t get it until I was sitting on the tarmac at O’Hare. Melissa said she’d thought Jess had already gone to work, and she was going into her room to get her sheets so she could wash them, which she does every week. When she walked in the door, Jess was pulling on her shirt.
“Your sister couldn’t pull it down fast enough before Melissa got an eyeful of the bruises running up and down her back, some along her sides.”
Kylie gasped. Her sister had never even alluded to the fact that there had been a boyfriend, much less an abusive relationship.
“Well, by the time I was able to return the call, Melissa had already panicked and confronted Jess about it. She was beside herself, so scared that your sister was going to get hurt worse. When Jess started to defend him, Melissa threatened to call the police on him.”
Kylie would’ve done the same thing Melissa did except she wouldn’t have just threatened. She’d have been on the phone before Jessie could’ve blinked. “That’s why they fought.”
“That and we found out this guy worked at the same place she did. When I got home, I lost it. Told her she wasn’t going to see him again and if she didn’t press charges then she was going to have to quit her job.”
Jess had lied to her. Maybe by omission, but she’d still flat out lied to her.
“The moral of the story, Kylie,” her father said as he looked up at her with sadness in his light blue eyes. “It’s hard for me to be much of a father when my girls don’t trust me enough. I hate that you felt you couldn’t come to me when you decided to get married. I’ve always trusted your decisions. And yes, it hurt when your sister told me, but I knew there was a reason. When Jess was being abused, she didn’t come to me either.”
“It’s not that I don’t trust you,” Kylie said, choking on the lump that had formed in her throat. “I know what Mom put you through, and I didn’t want you telling me I was too young.”
Kylie couldn’t speak for her sister, but Jess’ situation had been entirely different from hers. Thankfully, Kylie had never been in a position like that. One of these days, she was going to have a long heart to heart with Jessie because it was time they opened up a little more to one another.
Much to Kylie’s relief, she and her father had both been too upset after that conversation to get into the whole two guys in her bed thing, so she had yet to talk to him about it. He went back to Dallas the same day and had called her twice since then, but she’d managed to avoid the questions on the phone.
Considering her relationship with both Travis and Gage was now nonexistent, she didn’t feel the need to explain anything. And she’d told him as much. Joe hadn’t been happy with her explanation, but so far he hadn’t asked again. Kylie figured it was because he didn’t want to push her back into the arms of two men.
Like that was ever going to happen again.
Kylie pulled into the parking lot of Ma’s Diner and considered honking the horn to let Jessie know she was there. Figuring that would make her look stupid, she settled for sending a text. When Jessie didn’t answer, she knew she was going to have to go inside.
Chapter Forty Nine
♀♀
Kylie walked into the small diner where she had lunch with Zoey just a few days ago and glanced around looking for her sister. When she didn’t see her right away, she started around the corner, but a tiny, black haired woman with ice blue eyes stopped her.
“Hi,” she greeted.
“Oh, hi. Sorry, I’m not staying. Just looking for someone.”
“Your sister?”
“Yes, actually,” Kylie said as she continued to peer around the corner. “If you’ll just tell me where she’s at, I can find her.”
“Kylie, my name’s Sierra. Mind if I talk to you for a minute?”
Kylie glanced down, noticed the woman was not wearing a nametag, so she wasn’t even sure she worked there. Considering her outfit, which she wasn’t sure how she hadn’t noticed before, Kylie doubted the woman was a waitress at the diner. “Where’s my sister?”
“She’s not here right now,” Sierra explained.
“Is Jess all right?” It was the only logical explanation as to why this woman knew who she was and she was suddenly scared that something had happened to Jessie.
“She’s perfectly fine. Come on, sit down. You look like you’re about to pass out.”
Yeah, well, she just might. Kylie lowered herself to the chair that was directly behind her, and Sierra took the seat beside her at the table.
“Do I know you?”
“No.” Her answer was simple, but the look in her eyes certainly wasn’t.
“Then how do you know who I am?”
“A friend of yours aske
d me to talk to you.”
Kylie didn’t have any friends, especially not in Coyote Ridge, so she had no idea who this woman was referring to. “If Travis or Gage –” Before she could finish the sentence, Sierra stopped her, a gentle hand touching the top of hers.
“Just give me a few minutes, ok? That’s all I’m asking for.”
Kylie turned in her chair and faced the woman as a waitress brought two coffee mugs and a coffee carafe, leaving them all on the table and disappearing. Good thing Kylie wasn’t hungry.
“I’m not sure if you know this, but there are a lot of people in this town who care about you,” Sierra began. “And before you tell me that couldn’t possibly be true, just trust me.”
“Are you friends with Travis?” Kylie wanted to get to the bottom of this, and she was sure she could let this Sierra woman talk, but she didn’t particularly care what she had to say. She was more interested in finding her sister and once she confirmed Jessie was all right, she was going to wring her neck for setting her up like this.
“I know Travis, yes. But I guess you could say I’m better friends with his brother’s wife than with him.”
“Zoey?”
“Yes.”
“She didn’t mention you,” Kylie said snidely, unsure why she was feeling so defensive.
“No? Did she happen to mention my husbands?”
“Your –” Wait, what? “Husbands? As in plural?”
“Yes. My husbands. Cole Ackerley and Luke McCoy.”
Kylie had heard Travis and Gage mention the name Luke, but she wasn’t sure if it was the same guy. Common name, could be a coincidence.
“You have two husbands?”
“I do. And we have a daughter, her name is Hannah.”
“Pretty name,” Kylie said, feeling her defenses go down as she stared at Sierra. Truthfully, she was too tired to fight this woman she didn’t know.
“Thanks.”
They sat in silence for a second and Kylie watched Sierra, a million questions suddenly running through her head, but she wasn’t about to ask them. She bit her tongue and kept her mouth shut, scared of what might come out if she opened it.
Sierra poured them both a cup of coffee, pushed one of them toward Kylie and then sat with her hands wrapped around her mug, her forearms resting on the table as she leaned in. Kylie felt as though the woman was giving her full attention, but she had no idea why.
“See, when I met Luke and Cole, I’d never been in a relationship that involved three people,” Sierra began, seemingly oblivious to the fact that Kylie was ready to bolt.
That, or Kylie was going to pelt Sierra with questions that she knew were better left unanswered. She’d learned her lesson already.
Sierra continued, “They had quite a bit more experience than I did though. In fact, they’d even been together before I came along.
“I have to say, it wasn’t much fun meeting a few women who’d been with them in the same capacity that I had. The threesome thing seemed a little out of the realm of normal for me, so I didn’t think that it was quite so… popular. One day you’ll have to come to our club and meet some of the other people who share the same lifestyle that you and I do.”
“I don’t share that lifestyle,” Kylie said defensively. She clamped her jaw shut as soon as the words escaped.
“I beg to differ, but go ahead, ask me any questions you might have.”
Kylie was hanging on every single word, but she didn’t want to be. “When you say you met the women, how exactly did you meet them?”
“One of the women that they were both with happens to be my sister-in-law. She’s also one of my best friends. And no, I didn’t like the idea at first, but Sam is an incredible woman and never once did she share any details with me that she felt would intentionally hurt me. Nor did I ask.”
“And it’s not weird? Knowing that they’ve been in these same situations before, but you haven’t?”
“When you lost your virginity, was the guy you were with also a virgin?”
Kylie didn’t even have to think about that one. “No, he wasn’t.”
“Did it bother you that you were giving up your virginity to a man who’d been with other people?”
“No, but it’s not the same thing.”
“No? Sure sounds like the same thing,” Sierra said, the inflection of her tone never wavering. She was calm and incredibly sweet, and it was obvious she was trying to give Kylie some sort of message here.
“The men you’re with have pasts, just like you do. Gage happens to be friends with a woman he’s been intimate with. But Zoey happens to be married to a guy she loves who happens to be Travis’ brother. There’s nothing you can do to change who they were before.”
Hearing Sierra use Gage’s and Travis’ names made her heart hurt. The few days she’d been separated from them hadn’t helped to ease any of the pain either. In fact, the longer she was away from them, the worse it seemed to get.
“I don’t want to change them,” Kylie retorted.
“But you’d like to erase their pasts, right? At least, the part where they experienced something that you had no clue about?”
‘No, that’s…” God that was exactly what she’d been doing. Kylie had been so selfish that she walked away from Travis and Gage because of what they’d done before her. And the worst part of it, she walked away without giving them any explanations.
“Now, I’m not here to tell you how to live your life, but I want you to know that you aren’t the only woman who has been in your situation. I’ve lived it and like I said, I love Luke and Cole very much, and we have a daughter together. We’ve had some bumps along the way, but we’re solid. It has never been easy, nor do I expect it to always be.
“And just like you said, although it is relatively the same thing as when you lost your virginity to a man who wasn’t a virgin, you still can’t compare your unique relationship to a traditional one. Things will be different. It’s expected,” Sierra reached over and put her hand on Kylie’s. “But when you love them as much as you do, it’s totally worth it.”
Kylie stared down at the small, soft hand resting on top of hers. The tears came, and no matter how hard she tried to stop them, they wouldn’t listen. She tried to keep her sobs to herself, but the pain overwhelmed her and she couldn’t hold it in any longer.
She was the one who brought this on herself. She’d not only hurt herself, but she hurt the two men she loved more than anything in the world.
♂♀♂
“Where’s Sierra?” Travis asked Luke when he dropped into the seat across from him at a huge table at the back of the diner. He ordered a coffee when the waitress passed by, then looked at Luke as he waited for an answer.
“She’ll be here in a few minutes.”
“How’s the baby?”
“Perfect as ever,” Luke said and his whole face lit up as he answered.
When it appeared Luke wasn’t going to initiate further conversation, Travis figured he’d fill the silence. “What business did you have down here?”
“Needed to talk to a friend,” Luke said. “His family’s worried about him, and they thought it might help if I talked to him.”
The hair on the back of Travis’ neck stood on end. It was a warning because as soon as the feeling came on, he looked up to see Gage and Cole heading their way.
“Sierra’s not coming, is she?” Travis asked Luke, feeling blindsided.
“She’s here. She’s talking to someone at the moment,” Luke explained as Cole sat down beside him. Gage took the seat beside Travis, and it felt as though the four of them were facing off.
No one could ever accuse Travis of being stupid and he was getting pissed that Luke would think he could pull one over on him. “What the hell is going on?” Travis barked, trying to keep his voice low so as not to alert the entire restaurant. Leaning forward, he pinned Luke with a glare as it dawned on him what Luke said. “Fuck, I’m the friend you needed to talk to, that it? Since when did we
become friends, McCoy?”
Luke leaned forward, his eyes glowing with the same frustration currently lighting Travis up from the inside. “Since we went into business together,” Luke stated matter-of-factly. “And for the next few minutes, you’re going to sit here and act civil. You can thank me later.”
“Thank you? For what? Interfering when your advice isn’t needed?”
“That’s what you think,” Cole interjected.
The four men sat back as the waitress set four coffee mugs and a carafe on the table before shuffling off. Travis didn’t blame her, the tension at the table could be cut with a knife.
“Enlighten me then,” Travis told the two men when they were alone once again. “You here to save the world?”
It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out why Cole and Luke were there. They were the only people Travis knew personally who were in the same sort of relationship that he had been. Then again, that was where they differed. Travis was no longer in that sort of relationship, so their advice wasn’t going to help them much.
“Dear Abbey I’m not,” Luke said as he poured coffee for himself and then Cole before passing the carafe to the other side of the table. Gage didn’t say a word, but his body language said he didn’t appreciate the way these two men were inserting themselves in their lives when they knew nothing about what was going on.
“That’s for damn sure,” Cole joked, resting his forearms on the table and looking far more laid back than Travis had ever seen him.
“Shut it,” Luke told Cole, but the smile on his face belied his caustic remark.
“I think it all comes down to one thing,” Luke said as he leaned back in his chair, his hands wrapped around the coffee cup steaming on the table in front of him.
“What’s that?” Travis asked.
“You two love her?”
You could’ve heard a pin drop as the table fell silent. Travis didn’t say a word and neither did Gage. Luke didn’t look at all intimidated by their nonresponses either.
Travis - An Alluring Indulgence Novel Page 42
