A Forever Kind of Love (Kimani Romance) (17 page)

Chapter 15

M
ya stuffed the two remaining bars of lemon verbena soap into her suitcase and zipped it up. She cast a final, lingering look around the room, making sure she wasn’t forgetting anything.

“Mya, you’re going to miss your flight if you don’t hurry up.”

“I’m coming, Aunt Mo,” she called out. She pulled the carry-on bag’s thick strap over one shoulder and wheeled the small suitcase she’d borrowed from Phylicia to pack the clothes she’d purchased for her extended stay in Gauthier. When she walked into the living room, Mya’s throat seized at the crestfallen look on her grandmother’s face as she sat in Granddad’s old chair.

“Don’t look at me like that,” she pleaded. “I told you I’ll be back in a few months.”

“What happened with you and Corey?” her grandmother asked, getting right to the heart of it. “You two had been getting along so well. I was so sure he could convince you to stay.”

Mya gave her a sad smile. “Corey doesn’t want me in Gauthier,” she said.

Corey probably never wanted to see her again. She tried to stave off the rush of pain that thought produced, but it was pointless. The crushing ache permeated every corner of her heart.

Her grandmother captured her hand and squeezed it. “What happened between you two, Mya? Why wouldn’t Corey want you in Gauthier?”

Sorrow clogged her throat. “There was just too much in our past to overcome.”

“But—”

“It’s better this way, Grandma,” Mya said, cutting off her protest. “Corey and I just were not meant to be.” Mya sucked in a lungful of air as she turned to her aunt. “You ready to hit the road?”

“Just waiting on you,” Aunt Mo replied.

Mya stooped down and enveloped her grandmother in a hug, clinging to her for dear life. “Stay away from the sweets,” she warned. “I expect to see both you and this town thriving when I come back for your birthday in a few months.”

“We will be.” Her grandmother patted her back. “Go on now. If you’re so damned determined to leave, you better get going before you miss your plane.”

“Mama, stop that cursing!” Maureen admonished.

Mya choked out a teary laugh. She gave her grandmother one last kiss on the cheek before retrieving her bags and walking through the door Maureen held open for her. She slipped into the passenger seat and fought like mad to keep her tears at bay. It was a valiant fight, but one Mya doubted she’d win. Her throat tightened with every inch of gravel the tires ate up as Aunt Mo backed out of the yard.

“So,” Maureen said after a few minutes on the road. “What
did
happen between you and Corey?”

Mya pressed her head against the headrest and closed her eyes. “You don’t want to know.”

“I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t want to know,” her aunt returned.

Massaging her brow to ward off the headache that was threatening to attack her, Mya expelled a sigh and said, “He found out about the baby. About the miscarriage. You didn’t tell him, did you?”

“Nope,” was her aunt’s response.

Mya looked over at her. “Is that all you have to say?”

“Am I supposed to say anything else?” Maureen asked. “I wasn’t allowed to say anything fifteen years ago, back when you lost the baby. You begged me to keep quiet.”

She twisted in the passenger seat to stare at her aunt. “Are you saying I should have told him then?”

“Of course you should have,” Maureen said, as if they were talking about telling Corey that Mya had ruined his favorite shirt.

She threw both hands in the air. “You tell me this
now?
Fifteen years later? Why didn’t you say it back then, Mo?”

Without warning, Maureen jerked the wheel to the side, sending the car careening onto the road’s dusty shoulder. She cut the engine, then turned to Mya.

“You may not want to hear this, but you are Elizabeth’s daughter through and through. You are as stubborn and as selfish as your mother. And just like her, you think making it out of Gauthier makes you better than everyone else.”

“That’s not true,” Mya gasped, hurt and shock volleying against the walls of her chest at her aunt’s unexpected attack.

“Oh, yes it is,” Maureen insisted. “All you could ever talk about was getting out of this town. You were going to travel the world, then head to New York and become a big-name fashion designer. That didn’t pan out the way you thought it would, did it? Maybe it wasn’t this town that was holding you back, Mya. Maybe it was your small-mindedness.”

Mya flinched as the words her aunt hurled at her hit like a bullwhip. She covered her face with her hands, the tears cascading down her cheeks like an uncontrollable waterfall.

“I thought you were proud of me,” she choked out.

“I am proud of you,” Maureen said. “But I wasn’t proud of the way you left. Or how you stayed away all these years.”

Her aunt captured her left wrist and tugged until Mya pulled her hand away from her face. She cupped her chin and gently urged Mya to look up.

“You know I have always loved you as if you were my own child. And I swear, Mya, you could get away with just about anything before I get angry with you.” Maureen lifted her chin up a bit more and stared at her, understanding shining in her eyes. “But you owed it to Corey to tell him about the baby after you lost it.”

“I was scared,” Mya whispered.

“I know you were,” Maureen said, finally letting go of Mya’s face. “Maybe I should have pushed you a little harder to tell him. It’s bothered me all these years.”

“I never should have come back here,” Mya said.

“Dammit!” Maureen slammed her hands on the steering wheel. “Mya Eloise Dubois, how hardheaded can you be?”

“What?” Mya yelled.

“You never should have left,” her aunt stated. “Not the way you did. And you shouldn’t have stayed away this long. That’s the point I’m trying to make. This is your home. The people here...
we
are your home. Stop running, Mya. You’re better than that.”

Mya swiped at the tears still flowing down her cheeks.

Her aunt was right. This town, these people, they embodied every notion of home she’d ever had. Despite how much she had grown to love New York, if she was being honest with herself, Mya could admit that something had always been missing. She had found that missing piece the minute she’d set foot in Gauthier again. She’d found it when Corey Anderson had approached her at her grandfather’s funeral and reminded her of everything she’d given up when she’d run from Gauthier all those years ago.

She didn’t want to run anymore. She wanted that sense of home forever. And she wanted it with Corey.

“Aunt Mo.” Mya sniffed. “Can you turn around? I need you to bring me somewhere.”

“Depends on where I’m bringing you,” Maureen said, turning over the ignition.

Mya looked over at her. “I think you know.”

* * *

Corey pushed the lawn mower across grass he’d already cut. Not that it mattered. He was trimming a lawn he hadn’t been asked to trim. He’d hoped focusing on his neighbor’s lawn would prevent him from gazing up at the sky and wondering if every airplane that flew overhead was the one bringing Mya back to New York. So far it wasn’t working.

He’d had to stop himself from driving over to the Dubois house twice last night, then again this morning.

What in the hell was wrong with him? How could he even think about running to her after the lies she’d told, the secrets she’d held?

The woman had kept knowledge of their baby from him. They’d created a life together. The fact that the baby had not made it shouldn’t have any bearing on the situation. He’d had a right to know.

Had it been a boy or a girl? He wondered if Mya even knew. Corey doubted he’d ever find out.

His palms clenched tightly around the lawn mower handle as an overwhelming fury tore through him. As quickly as it came, his anger started to abate. His rage was warranted, but what good would it do if he allowed it to consume him?

He’d expected Mya to forgive him for the mistakes he’d made back when they were teenagers. How much of a hypocrite would it make him if he could not forgive her? She had been a frightened seventeen-year-old girl who had just caught the father of the unborn child she lost having sex with another girl. How could he blame her for running and never looking back?

The last time she had left Gauthier she had stayed away for fifteen years. Who knew how long she would stay away this time? Just a few days ago, he had been preparing to take his and Mya’s renewed courtship to the next level by asking her to move into his home. Now he was preparing for a life without her.

With an ache that settled like an anvil in his gut, Corey accepted the very real possibility that he would never see her again. It carried with it a mind-numbing pain, one that would take everything he had within him to recover from.

Corey felt a tap on his shoulder. He let go of the lawn mower handle, turned and for a moment wondered if his pining for Mya was making him delusional. He looked past her and spotted Maureen’s car idling in his driveway next door.

“Aunt Mo drove me here,” she said unnecessarily. “We were on our way to the airport, but I couldn’t do it, Corey.” She shook her head, looking at the ground. When she looked up again, her eyes were soaked with unshed tears. “I couldn’t leave here without apologizing.”

Her voice cracked on the last word, and Corey had to force himself not to grab her and pull her into his arms.

“I was afraid. That’s the only excuse I have. I was so, so afraid back then.” She sniffed and wiped at her eyes. “I know it was wrong not to tell you about the baby, but after I left, I just didn’t see the point. There was nothing anyone could have done about it.”

“I could have been there for you, Mya.”

She gave him a sad smile. “No, you couldn’t have. You were going off to college, and everyone knew you would make it to the major leagues. I didn’t want the baby to keep you in Gauthier any more than I wanted it to keep me here.” She shook her head. “None of that really matters anymore. I just... It was a mistake keeping it from you. You deserved to know. And I’m sorry, Corey. I am so sorry.”

Despite the hurt she’d caused him, he loved her too much to hold it against her a second longer. He needed this woman in his life. Forever.

“Don’t make another mistake, Mya.” He reached for her, capturing her hand. “Don’t leave.”

“I have to,” she said, and his heart sank. “My work is in New York. I love what I do, and I’m not giving it up.” She paused. “But I don’t want to give you up either.”

Corey’s chest tightened with cautious hope.

“I wondered if I could propose a compromise,” she continued.

“I’m listening,” Corey answered.

“I can divide my time between New York and Louisiana during the school year. In the summer, when school lets out, you come to New York. Is that something you would be willing to do?”

Corey pulled her to him, wrapping his arms around her and squeezing so tight he was afraid he’d break her. But he couldn’t let go. He never wanted to let her go.

He pulled back slightly and looked into the face of the girl who’d stolen his heart all those years ago.

“There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you, Peaches. I’d do anything. Everything. All you have to do is ask.”

“I love you, Corey. I always have.”

“I’ve never stopped loving you, Mya. You own my heart.” He kissed her lips. “Can I do one thing?”

“What?” she said.

He gestured to his house next door. “Can I please take you home?”

She rested her head against his chest and tightened her arms around his waist.

“I’m already there.”

* * * * *

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ISBN: 9781459238343

Copyright © 2012 by Farrah Roybiskie

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