Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 88064 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88064 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
She slides down off the barstool, flashing most of her toned thighs in the process and god, I just want to toss her over my shoulder and carry her to the nearest bed. She wouldn't know what hit her. I'd be inside her before she could utter my name.
"Kyla, can I get you a drink?"
"Sure," she says. "Dawn told me I have to try a Seventh Heaven."
"You do. Lachlan makes those the best. Lachlan?"
He nods and I rest against the bar next to Kyla. I should make some small talk before I cut to the chase, but I don't have a lot of time before Dawn returns. "She's leaving, isn't she?"
Kyla folds in her lips and shifts her balance. She doesn't need to say a word. I can see the truth of my statement in her discomfort.
"She doesn't stay still for long," she says. "If it's not traveling, it's a new job, a new man, a new hobby, a new favorite restaurant. I'm just grateful it's not a new best friend." She grimaces in the way people do when they're apologizing on someone else’s behalf.
"She doesn't stay still because she's running from something."
Kyla bites on her bottom lip. "She's my best friend, and I won't betray her confidence."
"Even if it would help her?" I run my fingers through my hair, and tip my face to the ceiling, inhaling deeply before pushing out the breath and some of my frustration. "We want her to stay."
"You're trying to pin down a hummingbird." She touches my arm with a tenderness that makes me like her even more. I can see how much she cares for Dawn in the way she accepts her for all her idiosyncrasies.
"Even hummingbirds need to rest sometimes," I say. "I just want her to fly because she wants to, not because she has something pushing her. I know there's something going on. I can feel it."
Kyla shrugs. "If she wanted to bare her soul to you, she would have. I know it sounds harsh, and I don't mean it to. I really like you guys and the way you treat Dawn. She's not an easy person to treasure. She pushes and prods at every boundary. She wants to break through every chain."
"That's what we love about her." The words are out of my mouth before I can think them through, and Kyla's head jerks back, registering the important four-letter word in the middle of my sentence.
"Love?"
It's my turn to shrug. "Of course, love. You, of all people, shouldn't be surprised with what's happening here."
"Love works in mysterious ways."
"I see myself in Dawn," I admit. "Maybe that's why I'm so sure there's something bad going on. I was diagnosed with cancer four years ago. As soon as I heard that word leave the doctor's mouth, I wanted to run. I've never been a runner. Swimming's more my sport, but suddenly, I wanted to feel my legs pumping and my muscles screaming. I wanted to feel pain in my body, so I'd know I was alive. And I couldn't sit still. I was out all the time, even though I should have been resting. With a potential end date to my life in sight, I just wanted to make the most of every day."
Kyla's mouth drops open and I focus on every little expression change because I'm hoping my confession will lead her to give away something...anything.
"The thing is, Kyla. None of that made me happy. None of that made me feel peaceful or anchored me to the people who love me. Feeling like you have ants under your skin is uncomfortable, and I see it in Dawn. I want to help her, but to do that, you have to help me, before it's too late."
"If I tell you, you have to promise me you won't tell Dawn what you know. You have to promise not to tell her I told you. I don't want her to feel betrayed. Not when she needs all the friends and support that she can get."
"I promise," I say.
"I know she'll understand one day," Kyla says, almost as though she's trying to convince herself. "Not that long ago, she pushed me out of my comfort zone because she knew what was good for me better than I knew myself. Now it's my turn to do the same."
"Exactly." I sit on the bar stool that Dawn vacated so that our eyelines are matched, hoping that it will make it easier for Kyla to share Dawn's secret.
"Her mom died of cancer when she was young. Her dad is worried that Dawn potentially carries a gene mutation that could put her at high risk of the same kind of cancer. She went for genetic tests but hasn't found out the results. Her dad made her promise that by a certain date, she'd find out the truth, one way or another, but she can't face it. She's avoiding knowing and running from her potential future by living in the present, doing anything and everything like a crazy person."