Nickels (47 page)

She said as much at last week’s Bible study, which Kyle had
been absent from.  Matt suggested she apply at the company he worked for.  He
said they were always hiring software engineers.  If she still felt the same
way after the holidays, she would look into it.

The past two weeks had also been the loneliest of her life. 
Marcy was gone on her two week honeymoon with her husband.  Kyle hadn’t tried
to call her once.  He also hadn’t shown up to Bible study.  He was probably
enjoying his two weeks in Colorado Springs with Kelly.

When Brenda called earlier in the week to invite Niki to
Christmas at their home, she almost turned her down.  She wasn’t sure she could
stomach seeing Kyle again.  She was still licking her wounds.

But, Marcy and Chad were going to be there.  She missed
Marcy so much.  That alone provided the motivation for her to get in her car
this morning and make the long drive out to the Jacobses home, even if it meant
possibly seeing Kyle again.

When she pulled up to their house, she recognized his
truck.  So he was there.  A few seconds ticked by as she considered turning
around.  The front door opened and Marcy flew out to greet her.  Too late to
back out now.

“Niki!”  Marcy swallowed her in a huge hug.  “I’ve missed
you.”

“I’m surprised you had time to miss me, Mrs. Schaefer.”

Marcy feigned a pout.  “I did.”

“I missed you, too.  How was Hawaii?”

“Amazing!  Come on in and see the pictures.”

Niki didn’t move.  “Marcy…  I don’t think I should be here.”

Marcy turned back and looked at her.  “Why, cause Kelly’s
here?”

She felt all the blood rush from her face.  “What?”

“Kelly and Alana moved here.  They’re living in Kyle’s
townhouse.”

The familiar pain in her chest seized her heart.  She had
been right.  She hadn’t wanted to be right.  She hoped he would have called
her—tried to reconcile things.  She was sorry she had been so hard and
unforgiving.  His secret had been a terrible and flimsy reason for breaking up
with him.

There had been so many times over the last two weeks she
almost called him.  She had more than enough time to realize how wrong she
was.  She even believed what he told her—that he never loved Kelly.

If that was true, then why was she now living with him?

A sob caught in her throat.

Chapter 41

When Niki entered the house behind Marcy, Kyle’s heart
danced.  He missed her so much.  He thought about calling her every day since
Marcy’s wedding—only he had been too busy orchestrating two moves.  One was his
move from the townhouse to Matt’s extra room.  The other was helping Kelly and
Alana move down from Colorado Springs to his townhouse.

When he first arrived in Colorado Springs for his visit with
Alana, Kelly told him that she lost her job.  The resort she had been working
at closed.  She got the notice the day after she got back from the wedding.

He had been praying for months about how to spend more time
with Alana.  As soon as Kelly broke the news, the idea formed in his mind. 
Even in the down economy there were jobs to be had in the Phoenix area.  Winter
was peak tourist season so the resorts had to be hiring event planners.  He
convinced Kelly to move down and look for a job.

He also told her he was looking to move out of his townhouse
to a one-story.  He would let Kelly and Alana live there rent-free until she
found a job.  Then she would start paying rent.  After a few days of tossing
around the idea, she decided it would be better for Alana to be closer to him—a
major victory.

So, he helped them pack and he drove the U-haul down.  He
got some help from Matt and Joe to move his stuff out and her stuff into the
townhouse, even though it was on Christmas Eve.

He smiled as Niki took a seat on the couch.  Could she still
feel how much he loved her?  Hopefully she would once she opened his gift.  It
almost hadn’t been ready in time, but Marcy came through for him.

Why did I ever let her go?

He moved to sit on the couch next to her.  “Niki.”

A sob escaped her lips and she jumped up.  She darted into
the bathroom and closed the door.

His heart sank.  She was still angry with him. 
Please
let my gift soften her heart.

The tears came fast.  Niki couldn’t help it.  She still
loved him.

“Niki?”  Brenda’s voice came from the other side of the
door.  “Are you okay, honey?”

“Yes.  I’ll be fine in just a minute.”  She lied.  She
wouldn’t be fine.  She lost Kyle and it hurt.

“Okay.  Dinner is almost ready.”

“Be right there.”

She splashed some water on her face, refusing to look at her
reflection.  It would only bring another round of tears.

When she entered the dining room, everyone else was already
seated.  Thankfully the remaining open chair was between Marcy and Rick—and
Alana was directly across from it.  She should be able to avoid looking at Kyle
throughout the meal.

After Rick said a blessing, the conversation started.  She
listened quietly as Marcy and Chad talked about the wonderful time they had in
Hawaii.  Though her heart felt numb, she forced herself to ask a question or
two about the trip.

As Marcy shared a story about a funny incident, Niki let her
gaze move to Kyle.  He glanced up from a side conversation with Alana at the
same time.  When he saw her, he smiled.

Heat rushed to her cheeks and she looked away.  How could he
look at her like that—like he still loved her—yet be living with Kelly?

Following the meal, everyone moved into the living room for
the gift exchange.  She found a chair to sit on, making sure there was no
opportunity for Kyle to sit next to her.  She couldn’t take it.

When Alana’s face lit up with her first present, Niki
smiled.  She was such a sweet little girl.  The way her face scrunched up and
her eyes sparkled reminded her of Kyle.

Marcy and Niki exchanged gifts, each exclaiming over how
perfect the gift was.  Then a small box was handed to Kyle.

“From Niki,” he read the tag.

She forgot she left that in there.  She meant to take it
out.  How angry was Kelly going to be when she saw that gift?

He smiled at her and slowly unwrapped the present,
prolonging her agony.  “Wow, this is great,” he said at last, as he held up the
expensive watch.  Hopefully he wouldn’t notice the engraving on the inside.

As he unfastened the latch, he paused.  So much for hoping. 
He found the message.  She was relieved when he didn’t read it out loud.  She
didn’t need him to.  She wrote out half a dozen messages before she settled
on:  Some dreams are meant to be realized.

His expression softened when he looked up at her.  If she
didn’t know better, she would have sworn he still loved her.

“There’s one left,” Marcy said, reaching for a small box
under the tree.  “To Nickels.”

Her heart jolted.

“Is that you, Niki?”

She nodded and accepted the gift from Marcy’s hand.

“It doesn’t say who it’s from,” Marcy added.

It didn’t need to.  There was no doubt in her mind that it
was from Kyle.

She tore off the paper which revealed a small navy blue
velvet box.  The hinge creaked when she opened it to reveal a heart shaped
locket.  Somewhere in the next few seconds she reminded herself to breath.

Then she opened the locket.  On one side was a picture of
Jack—the one she had on her wall in her living room.  On the other side,
scripted letters spelled out “Nickels.”  She closed the locket to look at the
design on the front, but it blurred from her tears.

“Put it on,” Marcy said.  When Niki made no move to do so,
Marcy came to her side and took it from her hands.  Then she helped her put it
on.

As her fingers rose to touch it, she whispered, “Thank you.”

Monday, after the end of her Christmas holiday, Niki made
her decision about her career.  She was leaving Elite.

When she called Brian to tell him, he tried to talk her out
of it.  But eventually he admitted that he wasn’t surprised.  Too much happened
this year and he even expected it.  He told her she could send her laptop back
with Joe, if she didn’t want to make the long drive up.  He also told her he
would put in a glowing recommendation for her.

That evening, she hopped in her car and headed to Matt and
Joe’s place.  While she probably could have waited until their Bible study in a
few days, she decided she didn’t want to answer the questions that the group
would ask.  She preferred to tell them after she had a new job.

She rang the doorbell and waited.  A dog barked down the
street and she looked towards the sound.

“Niki?”

“Kyle?”  The name slipped from her lips before she fully
realized he answered the door.  “What are you doing here?”

“I live here.  What are you doing here?”

“You live here?”  Her heart skipped a beat with renewed hope
as she waited for the answer.

“Yes.  I’m renting out my place to Kelly, so I moved into
Matt’s spare room.”

Slowly a smile stretched across her lips.  “You live
here
.”

He nodded his head and looked at her like she was daft. 
“Want to come in?”

“Oh, yeah.”

He held the door wide as she stepped through.  When he
closed the door and faced her, his gaze dropped to her neckline.

“You’re wearing the necklace.  I…  I wasn’t sure you would.”

“Um…  Yeah.  Thanks.  It’s really beautiful.”

The weight of her laptop tucked under her arm reminded her
of why she was here.  She thrust it towards Kyle.

“I was just stopping by to give Joe this.  I quit my job at
Elite.”

“Why?”

“Guess I just needed a change of scenery.  It’ll be good to
get out of the consulting gig.”

“I see.”

As the silence stretched, Niki grew more uncomfortable.  She
could feel the electricity in the air as it sparked from her to him.  She
wanted nothing more than to spill out a thousand apologies and ask his
forgiveness.

Instead, she headed to the door.

“Anyway, can you see that he takes that back to Brian?”

“Sure.”

She opened the door and started to leave.

“Niki?”

“Yeah?”

“It’s good to see you.”

She smiled.  “See you Wednesday.”