I Hear...Love (A Different Road #2) (5 page)

I change my clothes into something more casual, then head out the back door to Kate’s house. As I walk the sandy beach, I can’t help but smile at the people on the beach having fun on such a beautiful, sunny day.

Before I get to Kate’s house, I spot her and Sadie on the beach. I stop and watch the two of them play. Kate is holding a Frisbee and pretends to throw it while Sadie dances on her front legs with anticipation. Finally, Kate lets go of the Frisbee and it soars toward the water. Sadie takes off running and splashes into the water. It lands a few feet in front of her, so she swims toward it and grabs it in her mouth. She turns around, swims close to the shore, then barrels out of the ocean straight toward Kate. Kate doubles over smacking her hands on her thighs with a huge smile on her face, as Sadie crashes into her getting her all wet. Sadie forces the Frisbee into her hands and dances again in anticipation, waiting for her to throw it.

I put two fingers in my mouth and let out a loud whistle. Sadie’s ears instantly perk up, as she immediately recognizes it’s me, then her face turns to me with a crooked glance. Kate looks to see what she’s looking at and instantly recognizes me. Her face lights up with a huge smile, and she waves her hand over her head at me. I do a slight jog over to them as Sadie barks at Kate to throw the Frisbee again.

“You want this, girl?” she asks.

Kate whips her wrist as she throws it as hard as she can into the ocean.

“Nice throw. How was she? She didn’t run on you, did she?” I ask.

“Not at all, she’s such a well-behaved dog. I haven’t even put her leash on her. It’s up at the house,” she replies.

Sadie comes out of the ocean with the Frisbee, then she positions herself between us and we start to walk back to her house.

“How was work?” she asks.

“Long! A day full of meetings is one that seems to drag on and on,” I tell her. “I was thinking about going to dinner at this new Italian place downtown. We can drop Sadie off at my house, then head straight there,” I finish.

“Sure, let me change into some dry clothes real quick, then I’ll grab my purse and get Sadie’s leash from the table,” she says, as she smiles a nervous smile, then she tucks a stray piece of her long brown hair behind her ear.

When we get to the top of the steps, I see River standing just outside his back door with his arms crossed over his chest and a scowl on his face.

“Kate, dinner will be ready in about an hour,” he says, sternly.

“Actually, I was going to . . .” she starts to say, but River cuts her off.

“Joss made a special dinner tonight, my favorite, Eggplant Parmesan,” he interrupts, then turns around and walks back into the house.

“Maybe we can do dinner some other time?” Kate says, picking up Sadie’s leash off the table.

She places the leash in my hand, but doesn’t let go. I look down at her hand and I see a very small, almost unnoticeable, semicolon tattooed on the inside of her right wrist. I pull the leash closer to me and cup her upturned wrist with my other hand.

“What does this mean?” I ask, running my thumb across the tattoo.

She looks down at her wrist, her eyes go wide, then she smiles. Her face turns back toward me, and she gently pulls her wrist out of my hand.

“It’s a semicolon. It’s to remind me that I am the author of my life and that my story isn’t over yet,” she says.

Sadie whines, then she does that strange thing she seems to be doing to Kate and places her nose in her left hand. Kate runs her hand up her head to her ears, then gives her a good pat on the side.

“Thank you for hanging out with me today, Sadie,” she says, bending down, getting sloppy kisses from Sadie.

I’ve never been jealous of my dog before, but damn. I mean, not that I want to lick Kate’s face like that, but I suddenly find myself wanting to run my hands through her long, brown hair and kiss her pouty lips.

“Thank you for watching Sadie. I don’t know what I would have done today. I know it sounds stupid, but I just can’t stand the thought of her spending the whole day all alone. I’ve never had a dog before, and I hear that they’re perfectly capable of being alone. But, I know I need to do my business during the day, and I like knowing someone comes to let her do her business outside, instead of inside on my hardwood floors,” I tell her. “I’d still like to take you out to dinner, though. Maybe next weekend?” I ask.

“Sure, I’d like that,” she says.

“Come on Sadie, let’s go,” I say.

At the last step, I turn around to look at Kate. She waves goodbye with a smile. On the walk home, all I can think about is what she meant by
it’s to remind me that I am the author of my life and that my story isn’t over yet.

I grab my headphones from the pool house, then head to River’s. The second I step foot inside River’s house, the aroma of Joss’s delicious Eggplant Parmesan hits my nose. She says it has something to do with adding nutmeg, but seriously, I wouldn’t know the first thing about cooking.

Then, River is in my face.

“I thought we could get a little yoga in before dinner,” he says.

“Sure,” I tell him, thread my fingers through his, then we walk hand in hand toward his home gym. On the way there I call a cheery, “Hey, Joss,” with a smile, toward the kitchen.

“Hi, Kate,” she says with a strange look on her face.

I furrow my eyebrows at her in an unasked ‘
What is that look for?
’ She widens her eyes and the right tip of her lower lip tugs downward as she gestures toward River.

River pulls me in the gym, then closes the door. The smell of plastic mats and polished leather fills my nose, and I smile. There truly is nothing better than doing yoga. Well, I hear sex is better than yoga, but it’s been so long for me in that department that I honestly don’t remember anymore.

I position myself in a seated position a few feet behind River, then place my headphones over my ears. It’s not rock or hip-hop that I crank in my ears while I do yoga, but instrumental, mostly piano concerto music. I close my eyes and center myself in a seated sukhasana pose. It’s important to warm-up your muscles before delving into the more difficult poses. There’s no other feeling than when I move my body into a contorted pose and hold it while my mind, body, and soul soar with complete freedom. Before I can move another muscle, a headphone is removed from my left ear.

“Who was that?” River questions.

I open my eyes to see River seated in the exact same position as me, except he’s now facing me. I remove my headphones completely from my ears and rest them around my neck.

“Who was who?” I ask, full well knowing what he’s asking.

“Don’t play coy with me young lady. Who was that down at the beach?” he asks more sternly.

Hmm, his dad complex is coming out instead of dear old brother.

“That was Cooper and Sadie. I met them at the beach last night. They’re our neighbors. They live just two doors down. You actually met them not that long ago,” I tell him.

“Yes, I remember. But what were you doing with him?” he asks.

“What was I doing with him?” I repeat, irritated. “Sadie was pawing at my door this morning. She got out somehow and came over to say good morning to me by herself. Cooper was looking for her. When he found her he was in a hurry to get to work, but upset because he didn’t have anyone to watch her. So, I volunteered. Sadie kept me company all day. It was fun. We went for a walk and we played down at the beach,” I tell him the play-by-play of my entire day.

I left out the part about going to Cooper’s house so Sadie could eat her breakfast. By River’s tone, it doesn’t seem like this line of questioning needs every little detail. I also left out the part that Sadie and I curled up on my bed for a nap or, the fact that I actually slept while taking said nap. It was incredible.

“I don’t like it,” he quickly says.

“You don’t like what? Me playing with a dog?” I ask to clarify.

I know exactly what he’s getting at, and I seriously take issue with it. He can’t keep me locked up in the pool house forever. I can’t be a hermit. Over the years, I’ve done things that I’m not proud of, and I’ve lost or scared away the little amount of friends I did have. Even my therapist says it’s time to start adding people to my life, and build an inner circle and support system of friends.

“You know exactly what I’m talking about,” he says.

“Yes, I think I do, and I think it’s none of your business,” I fire back.

“None of my business? Are you kidding me right now? Everything about you became my business a year and a half ago,” he says, raising his voice.

It takes a lot to get River to lose his cool. I’m surprised by his reaction to me playing with Sadie. All my life, River’s mostly been a father figure to me, but sometimes, I’d rather just have my brother and not feel like I’m talking to my dad, or asking for permission to do something. I know I’ve put him through a lot over the past few years, but I’ve been doing everything I can think of to prove to him that I’ve changed. I’m not the same old Kate anymore. I’m committed to doing everything I can to live my life and to be happy.

“Can we not talk about this right now and just get back to yoga?” I ask, not wanting to go down this road with him right now.

“Fine, but I need to say one more thing about it. This isn’t the right time in your life for this,” he says, then turns around and gets back into position to start his warm-up.

All I can do is sit here irritated, staring daggers at the back of River’s head. It takes every ounce of control I have not to slap him upside the back of his head. It isn’t the right time for what? To make a new friend? To play with a dog? To do a favor for someone? To be neighborly? For crying out loud, I’m not looking to jump into bed with a man at the drop of a hat. And, if any man ever thinks that I’m
that
kind of gal, they have another thing coming.

“He’s a man,” River says, turning back around again, reading my thoughts.

“Yes, I know he’s a man,” I reply.

“I’m a man,” he continues.

“Uh, yeah, I know,” I say, like a teenage valley girl.

“He only wants one thing,” he adds, turning back toward the door.

“What!? You’ve lost your mind,” I say, raising my voice. “Did you only want one thing when you met Joss?” I fire.

“No, but I’m not like most men,” he fires back, turning around to face me again.

I stick out my tongue, cross my eyeballs, and scrunch up my nose at him. Then, I mock his words back at him without using my voice.
‘No, but I’m not like most men.’

“Real mature, Kate,” he says and turns back around.

Damn it! I hate his impeccable hearing. Joss says he’s a ninja bloodhound, and I tend to agree with her. Or, was it a bloodhound ninja? Either way, it’s very irritating! He starts to warm-up, so I put my headphones back on my ears, close my eyes, and start my own warm-up. As my body gracefully moves from pose to pose, I get lost in the calming music and let everything go. Before I know it, River again pulls a headphone off of one of my ears.

“Dinner is ready,” he says in a more pleasant tone.

I open my eyes and see Joss standing in the doorway with a dishtowel hanging over her shoulder. It’s amazing how I can get lost in the movements of yoga and tune out the world. But that’s also the same place I go when I hit rock bottom. Tuning out the world can be a safe haven, but it can also be a dangerous place when not in the right frame of mind.