Free Ties That Bind by Heather Huffman Page B

wasn’t
sure how she felt about that. She was dangerously close to being a
blubbering idiot and she didn’t want him to witness that. On the
other hand, would it be all bad to have a shoulder to cry on?
    Without much fanfare, he busied himself
making them some tea while Kate went to change into some pajamas.
She was beyond the point of pride. She needed to submerse herself
in comfortable at the moment. Besides, they both knew why he was
here tonight and she didn’t need a pretty blue dress for that.
    When she was seated cross-legged on the couch
facing Gavin she began her story.
    “I met Peter in college. He was there on a
basketball scholarship. I thought I was hopelessly in love with him
for years. Some days he would notice me, some days he wouldn’t. But
then we ran into each other just after graduation. It was summer.
We were both feeling very adult. I’d taken the job at the San
Francisco symphony. He’d taken a job with a tech company in Silicon
Valley.
    “That had to be a sign, right? It was amazing
– like something right out of a storybook. He always told me I had
a very pretty smile,” she paused, a smile playing upon her lips as
she was lost in a memory. Gavin was hardly breathing, his fingers
wound through hers and a stony expression covered his face.
    “But then I realized I was pregnant. At
first, he wanted to get married. He was really mad when I didn’t
say yes right away. And my mom,” Kate closed her eyes to the pain.
“It was like I’d ripped her heart right out. The next couple of
months were a blur. I called San Francisco and told them I couldn’t
take the job. Then…I lost the baby. She was gone. ”
    Kate stopped for a moment, her arms
instinctively pulling free to wrap around her stomach. It had hurt
so badly. The memory of the physical and emotional trauma seared
her like a branding iron and it took her a minute to regain her
composure.
    “Peter left me after that. Maybe he’d been
hurt because I wouldn’t marry him in a shotgun wedding. Maybe I’d
changed too much. Either way, he was gone. My mother couldn’t
believe I’d lost the baby. She was convinced I’d had an abortion
and she was so… livid. Absolutely furious. It nearly tore us apart.
In fact, I don’t know if things were really right again between us
until the day she got the diagnosis. Everything else seemed to melt
away then.” Kate finished her story with a faraway look of sadness.
It had been a long time since she’d really thought about all of
that pain.
    “That’s when you stopped playing.”
    “The music was just… gone after that. I can’t
explain it.”
    “I understand,” he reached for her.
    “Don’t,” she shook her head. “I don’t think I
can keep it together if you do that.”
    “Then let it go,” he urged, pulling her to
him successfully that time. And so, after all of those years, she
did let it go. Ever-so-gently he lay back, bringing her with him as
he went. Curled in his arms on her couch, she buried her face in
his chest and cried herself to sleep. His protective embrace
shielded her from the cold of the world and that night she dreamt
of warmth and sunshine.
    Kate peeked up at Gavin from her cozy spot.
She was careful not to move much so she wouldn’t wake him. She
liked watching him sleep. She liked doing so from his arms. Part of
her wanted very badly to wake him with a kiss. Part of her was even
more resolved to repair the barrier between them.
    If last night taught her anything, it was
that she was still very broken and in no place for a relationship.
As she lay there listening to the even cadence of his heart, she
realized he had already worked his way into hers. It was too late
to keep that from happening. But she could perform damage
control.
    She could tell when he woke up by the subtle
change in the rise and fall of his chest. She peered up at him,
suddenly nervous and very aware of everything she had shared the
night before.
    “Hi,” she was afraid to