A Winter Wedding(26)

So here he was...

“Is it true?” Brandon demanded.

Kyle rubbed his neck. “I’m trying to figure out where I want my life to go from here, that’s all.”

“That’s what I was afraid of.”

“Look, it’s not your problem. I don’t want it to affect you. Or Olivia.”

“It can’t help but affect us! Especially because what I have to tell you won’t make your situation any easier.”

“And that is...”

He leaned forward, resting his knuckles on the other side of the desk. “Kyle, you remember how hard it was on Olivia when she miscarried last February.”

“Of course.”

“She was afraid to get pregnant again for fear the same thing would happen. But I wanted you to be the first to know that...we’re expecting.”

Kyle forced what he hoped was a believable smile, just as he’d been doing since Brandon and Olivia’s wedding. “That’s wonderful. I’m thrilled for both of you.”

“Really?”

Resisting the jealousy he’d been battling for so long, Kyle came around to slap his stepbrother on the back. “Yes, really. And I hope the pregnancy goes well this time.”

“I’m sorry I was such a competitive * when we were younger, Kyle. I don’t think I’ve ever told you that.”

“I wasn’t any nicer to you.”

“True,” Brandon teased, and Kyle chuckled.

“Thanks for dropping by,” Kyle said. “I appreciate it.”

“I’m glad we had this talk.”

“So am I.”

Brandon pulled his keys from his pocket. “So are you coming this Sunday?”

“Where?”

“To Mom and Dad’s. Don’t play dumb. Mom invited you, too.”

“Oh, right,” he said. “I remember now.” He was about to offer his regrets. He hadn’t planned on going, not in his current frame of mind. But that would only add fuel to what Brandon was already feeling, and Kyle didn’t want to drift apart now that they’d finally found each other as brothers. “That’s this Sunday?”

“Day after tomorrow,” Brandon replied. “We’re family, Olivia and I. Don’t try to avoid us.”

Kyle swallowed a sigh. “I’m not trying to avoid you,” he said. “I’ll be there.”





7

When Kyle first saw that dinner was on the table, he thought Lourdes must’ve picked up groceries in her rental car and cooked. That was a pleasant surprise, far more than he’d expected. But when she came out of her bedroom, he could tell she hadn’t even combed her hair today, so he doubted she was responsible for the meal.

Then he saw the note on the table. He’d just set down the wine he’d brought home and was reaching for it when she said, “Your ex stopped by.”

“My ex?” he said. “Why?”

Lourdes shrugged. “According to what she wrote on that note, she feels she owes you something.”

He turned to face her. “You read what she wrote?”

She looked at him with a sheepish expression. “She’s an interesting person. Definitely aroused my curiosity.”

“She’s obsessive. I can’t escape her.”

“You’re saying you have a small-town stalker?”

“It’s beginning to feel that way.”

“Then you might want to get your house key from her.”

Kyle frowned. “What are you talking about? She doesn’t have a key to my house.”

“She let herself in somehow?” Lourdes said. “I was in my bedroom when I heard her out here, arranging all this stuff.”

Anger shot through him like a bullet. “Are you kidding me?”

“No. She asked me to say that I let her in, but I owe you more loyalty than I do her.”

“Where could she have gotten a key?” He said this more to himself than he did her. He was searching his memory for any time he might’ve given Noelle one, but he couldn’t recall even speaking with her about it.

“She lived here when you were married, didn’t she?” Lourdes said. “You gave me that impression when we were talking the other night.”

“It was a different house, but...I kept all the spare keys in a drawer.”

“She must’ve helped herself.”

“I should’ve had the locks changed on everything. But her uncle’s the locksmith in town. I didn’t want her family to think I was suggesting she was dangerous. She was already upset that I’d made her sign a prenup before we got married, and she didn’t get half my assets. I was trying to keep the breakup as amicable as I could. So I just insisted she return the key for the house we lived in together.”

“She probably had a copy made of that one, too.”

He wouldn’t put it past her. And yet he’d thought she was as eager to get rid of him as he was her. They’d fought so much during their short marriage; she’d called him names he wouldn’t have called his worst enemy. But considering how she’d behaved since, as if she was hoping to reconcile, maybe she had hung on to various keys.

How many times had she let herself into his house and gone through his things?