Love Lost And Found: A Holiday Romance Read online

  “I would love to take you to dinner. Then we could go out on my boat on the lake. It will be like old times.”

  Oh, the lake. Lara’s memories of the lake with Kyle were so vivid that she almost felt like they had happened yesterday. But that was eight years ago.

  “I don’t think it’s a good idea,” she finally said.

  “Why not?” he responded promptly.

  How dense could he be? Lara despaired of understanding men. Really, she despaired of understanding people in general. Like how everyone was trying to get her to be with Kyle again, after over eight years, after she made it so clear that she was totally over him.

  When she didn’t respond for ten minutes, Kyle called. Lara watched the number on the screen of her phone for several seconds before she realized that she had to answer soon or he would be sent to voicemail. “Hi, Kyle,” she said exasperatedly.

  “I think we need to talk about what you just said,” he said.

  “OK. Well there’s really not much to talk about. We dated briefly in high school and I think it’s silly to go out now.”

  “Why? I just got divorced and your aunt Lynn says that you are still single.”

  Lara snorted. “I’m guessing you must be on the rebound or something? I wasn’t good enough for you eight years ago, so why are you interested in me now?” Lara was shocked at the violence of her emotions. Apparently her wounds had never closed the way she had thought they had. It still hurt her, Kyle’s little remarks, his perfect life, the way his mother used to look at Lara with so much disappointment and judgement in her clear gray eyes. The day he broke up with her when he told her she wasn’t good enough for school. But what hurt even worse than all that, were the good times, lying in the emerald grass on his dad’s golf course, riding around in his Charger with the windows all the way down, kissing and feeling the electricity twining between their lips and their bodies.

  “What? What are you talking about, Lara? You were always good enough for me. I have missed you and wanted to talk to you all this, but I had Kayla, and then when we broke up and I saw your aunt, I thought it was a perfect opportunity to get to know you again. Especially since I saw on your LinkedIn that you’re in Seattle.”

  “OK, you looked on my LinkedIn over a year ago. You were still married then, right? Why have you wanted to talk all this time?”

  “I’ve wanted to talk since we stopped talking. Honestly, I missed you, Lara. And I felt horrible about the way things ended. We parted ways so abruptly and then I never heard from you again. I never got over it.”

  “Yeah, well….” Lara’s throat filled up with emotion and she had trouble talking, but she was still so angry that she wasn’t ready to soften yet. “It’s been eight years. I’ve moved on, so should you.”

  “Lara, I think we’re both in a place where we make the past right again. Even if we don’t want to date, we can at least have a friendship. We can know each other again. I sure liked knowing you before and I think now we can really complement each other’s lives. I mean, how coincidental is it that we’re both single and in Seattle?”

  “I can’t believe you’re thinking like this! We broke up eight years ago!”

  “And that’s exactly why I think you need to get over the past and move on.”

  Lara couldn’t suppress her bitter laughter. “Oh my God! That’s the thing! I am over it! I am so over it that I don’t want to see you anymore. And I have moved on more than you know. Now maybe you should do the same!”

  “Lara, I didn’t mean it that way. I meant that you should get over the anger you clearly still have toward me-“

  Lara couldn’t take it anymore and hung up. She flung her phone into her purse in frustration.

  “Lara! People are leaving,” her aunt called up the stairs.

  Lara stood up in front of the mirror and straightened out her hair and put on her brave face, before heading downstairs to say good-bye and help Aunt Lynn clean up the mess.

  Some of the family left for the long drive back to Dallas, but Aunt Mary and Denise and Uncle Ben stayed. They stayed up till midnight playing Scrabble. The Scrabble squares were dingy from so many years of playing. Lara had such fond memories of being the family Scrabble master.

  Chapter 5: Sweetness

  In the morning, Lara slept in on the couch and woke at eight-thirty to say good-bye to Aunt Mary, Uncle Ben, Denise, and little Sylvia. Tears clouded her eyes as she hugged them good-bye. She didn’t get to see them nearly enough.

  Then she sat down to enjoy a slice of cold pumpkin pie with vanilla pudding on top and a cup of coffee with Aunt Lynn. There were still dishes to put away, but they were taking it easy that morning. Their stomachs still slightly ached from overeating. The TV played the Black Friday insanity and Lara and Aunt Lynn expressed their relief to not be out in the droves of shoppers. Aunt Lynn had never been a Black Friday shopper. Usually, she bought all her Christmas presents as early as July and stashed them in the attic, bedded with mothballs to keep the critters away. By Christmas, she already had everyone’s presents, even though the presents all reeked of mothball fumes.

  The doorbell suddenly rang. Lara was puzzled, since it was barely nine.

  “Well, hello, Kyle,” she heard her uncle’s voice booming at the front door.

  “Kyle?” she hissed. “Did you invite him over again?”

  Aunt Lynn looked just as puzzled as Lara.

  “I actually came by to say hi. And I was wondering if you might want me to move that fridge on your porch? I borrowed a friend’s pickup truck.”

  Lara glanced out the window onto the street and sure enough, there was a Ford F150 parked on the curb.

  Aunt Lynn swatted Uncle Joey with a dish rag. “I’ve been on you for months to move that dang thing. Now you got Lara’s friend doing it.”

  “I didn’t have him do it!” Uncle Joey cried.

  Lara walked up to Kyle. “Why are you doing this?” she asked softly.

  “I still care, Lara. Especially about your family. You were all amazingly kind to me in high school and even now. I just wanted to help out.”

  “Well, let’s get this thing loaded,” Uncle Joey said. “I got a furniture lift somewhere around here….”

  Aunt Lynn and Lara watched as the men wrestled the enormous defunct fridge onto a dolly and then heaved into the back of the F150. “Be right back, hun,” Uncle Joey called, blowing a kiss at Aunt Lynn. Aunt Lynn pretended to catch it.

  Kyle waved too. “See you soon,” he said, sounding like he was testing the waters. Lara managed a weak wave.

  As the truck rumbled off, Lara turned to Aunt Lynn. “Well that was odd.”

  “He’s such a sweet boy,” Aunt Lynn sighed.

  “He’s not really a boy anymore, Aunt Lynn,” Lara laughed. “He’s six months older than me.”

  “And you’ll always be a little girl in my eyes, Lara. You are my baby and always will be.”

  Lara hugged her aunt. “I love you.”

  “I love you, too, honey.” Aunt Lynn went inside and picked up a watering can to begin watering the eclectic collection of potted plants throughout the house. Many of the plants had been there since Lara was lived there.

  Lara was nervous for when Kyle came back. Her mind was spinning as she tried to think of what she could possible say to him. Thank you? Was that enough? For some reason, she wanted to say so much more, to actually spend some time with Kyle, but she knew that was a foolish idea. The last thing she needed was to fall for her high school sweetheart and get her heart broken again.

  Why couldn’t her love life be simple like Aunt Lynn’s? She thought of how Uncle Joey had blown Aunt Lynn a kiss, even though he was only leaving for a few minutes. And that was just one of thousands of loving gestures she had witnessed between the two over the years. Growing up in their house, she had almost never seen them fight. When they did fight, it was usually over something small, and they made up quickly with many kisses. She never understood other families, like Cassie’s, where
the parents fought constantly. A simple, pure love like that was all she needed.

  “Aunt Lynn?” Lara asked.

  “Hm?”

  “How come you and Uncle Joey love each other so much? I mean, how did you find each other? How did you know he was The One?”

  Aunt Lynn smiled. “Well you know the story. We worked together at the Corner Deli in Austin. I was just eighteen and he was twenty-four. And we liked each other from the moment we first saw each other. But then as we got to know each other, we just couldn’t wait anymore and one day we just knew it was time.”

  “But how did you know that it was time?”

  “I just felt it in my heart. In my soul. You’ll feel it, too. It’s a call you can’t ignore.”

  “You didn’t ever have fear? Or doubt?”

  “No,” she shook her head.

  “Then it must not be true love, if you have doubt, right?”

  “Honey, I know you’re having your doubts about Kyle. But it’s only normal. You two had a rough patch.”

  Lara sighed. “It’s not about Kyle, Aunt Lynn. I keep telling you, I’m over him. It’s about my entire love life. I’m twenty-six and so far from finding someone, it isn’t even funny. I wonder if I’ll ever find someone. What if – what if I’m like Mom? And I pick somebody really horrible?”

  Aunt Lynn’s face crinkled with pain. Lara’s father was always a painful subject for her. When Lara’s dad had contacted her when she was sixteen, Aunt Lynn had shut herself up in her room for a day, before informing Lara that she shouldn’t even give that man the time of day. “He’ll just break your heart again, child. He’s a good-for-nothing. He abandoned you and your mother when you two needed him the most. Your mom was six months pregnant when she got cancer, and he just took off! What kind of man is that?”

  Lara had given him the time of day, though, against her aunt’s advice. They had exchanged letters and emails for months in secret. He was supposed to come to her graduation. Her gut twisted in knots and she spent many sleepless nights, trying to figure out how to break it to her aunt and uncle that her dad would be at her ceremony.

  Then one day the emails and letters stopped. And he never appeared at her graduation. She had scanned the crowd, praying to sight him, but he simply was not there. And she had not heard from him since. Every once in a while she looked for him on social media. She found him every time, and before she could message him, she always became overwhelmed with fury and hurt. “Why didn’t you love me? Why didn’t you want me?” The most hurtful part was that his Facebook was plastered with pictures of his new family and his two little kids. He had never walked out on them. And his wife was still living, perfectly healthy. He seemed to love her and certainly didn’t seem like he would abandon her while she lay dying from cancer.

  The worst part was that Aunt Lynn had been right. She had predicted how he would let Lara down.

  “Your mother was very, very young. She made a foolish mistake. But you are older and wiser. You know good-for-nothings when you see them,” Aunt Lynn finally said. She was clutching her stomach, as if the conversation was physically painful for her.

  “OK.” Lara turned to go to her room again. Then guilt stopped her. “I didn’t, though,” Lara added.

  “What?”

  “I didn’t see my father for the good-for-nothing he was. Is. I kept talking to him, Aunt Lynn. My whole junior year. And then he just quit talking to me my senior year. I prayed to hear from him again and I sent him so many messages. I even looked for him at my graduation. Even though in my heart I knew he wouldn’t be there, I still had hope.” Lara suddenly burst into tears.

  Aunt Lynn stared at her for a few moments. Then her face softened. “I suppose – I suppose what you did was only natural. I’m not surprised.”

  “Are you mad at me?” Lara whispered through her tears.

  “Not at all. Of course you wanted to know your father. I – I just didn’t want you to get hurt, that’s all. I knew he would let you down.”

  “I know. I should’ve listened.” Lara began crying even harder. This Thanksgiving was unbearably nostalgic and emotional for her. She knew she needed to pull it together before Kyle and Uncle Joey came back, but she couldn’t help it.

  At that moment, the front door swung open. “Hey – what’s going on?” Kyle asked.

  Uncle Joey looked puzzled as he came up and hugged Lara. “What’s going on, sweetums?”

  “Joe, can we talk for a moment?” Aunt Lynn was crying now, too.

  The two stepped into the living room. Kyle came up to Lara and stood there awkwardly, unsure if he should hug her. “Um, are you OK?’

  “I’m fine.” She hastily wiped the tears from her cheeks, but more kept coming. Then she remembered how Kyle had been there for her throughout the drama with her dad. She had confided in him about everything before graduation, when she was so heartbroken. He had held her hand throughout her family’s party for her, when she had had to sit and hold it together, pretending that everything was fine. Then he had held her and stroked her hair for hours after the party, as she finally let her tears loose.

  “It’s about my dad. I started thinking about how he never came to my graduation.”

  “Oh.” Kyle sighed. “I’m so sorry about that. That was truly awful of him. I don’t know why he didn’t show up. He really should’ve been there for you. He just doesn’t appreciate what a special daughter he has.”

  Lara smiled against her will and brushed more tears from her face. “Sorry I’m being such a drama queen. I have just been having a lot of flashbacks this Thanksgiving.”

  “It’s understandable. I have been, too. I’ve been wishing that things were the way they used to be. When things were so much simpler and better.”

  Lara nodded. “I guess me too. But I don’t have as much of a reason to be upset as you. With your divorce. This holiday must be really tough for you.”

  “It is. But that doesn’t discount how hard times are for you.”

  Lara nodded. Then, she got the overwhelming urge to hug Kyle. His arms felt so good around her. She had missed the comfort of a man’s loving touch. The last time she had truly felt safe in a man’s arms was with Kyle, eight years ago. “Well if you want to talk, I’m here.”

  “I’d love that. Will you accept my invitation to dinner now?”

  Lara pulled away. Her throat constricted in fear. “I…”

  “I know that what we had eight years ago doesn’t matter anymore. But I think we still have a bond. And it would be a shame to not be friends.”

  “OK. As friends.”

  “OK.” Kyle’s grin was huge. “I’ll come pick you up at six.”

  “In that?” she indicated the F150 on the curb.

  He laughed. “Yes, probably. It’s one of my dad’s work trucks at the golf course. I don’t have my car; I flew in.”

  “That’s fine. It’s just surprising, to see you act like a regular country boy,” Lara teased.

  “Oh, that’s right. You only dated me because I wasn’t a redneck like everyone else,” Kyle laughed.

  “That’s partly true.” Lara had to smile. Kyle’s personality had been a refreshing break from the country boys in high school. But it was cute, seeing a big-time Seattle lawyer in a T-shirt and driving a truck.

  “Well, I better go. See you at six.” Kyle headed into the living room, where Aunt Lynn was also recovering from crying. “Good-bye.”

  “Oh, Kyle! Thank you for helping with the fridge,” Aunt Lynn said. She walked up and hugged him. “You’re such a good boy- man.”

  “Thanks,” he laughed awkwardly. “See you later.”

  “Why don’t you stay for a beer?” Uncle Joey said.

  “I can’t. I have to go shopping with my mom. She always has to hit Black Friday in Austin. And then I have to get ready for a date with your niece.”

  Uncle Joey and Aunt Lynn exchanged shocked looks.

  “As friends!” Lara called.

  Chapter 6:

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nbsp; Lara stood in front of her mirror, doing her makeup. Kyle was going to pick her up in about an hour. She couldn’t understand why she was so nervous, but her stomach fluttered with adrenalin. Maybe it was because of their past together, but Kyle had always had a strong effect on Lara’s emotions. Lara began to remember their high school relationship and how seriously she had taken it. If only she had known how they would fall apart from the start.

  When Kyle and Lara had first started talking, Lara had just turned seventeen. It was senior year. Lara was not the most popular girl in school. Meanwhile, Kyle shone as the Junior Prom King and a varsity basketball player. He had dated all the prettiest girls in school and was friends with everyone. He had always been nice to Lara, but he had never seemed to really notice her.

  So she was floored the day he did.

  She really was a babe at seventeen. She had long, luscious hair and a great figure, and she was pretty, even with the worry lines that creased her forehead and the serious countenance that shrouded her personality in severity. It made her giggle when older men hit on her, thinking she was at least twenty. But she was a good girl and never dated anyone without her aunt and uncle’s permission. Her previous boyfriend, Allen Grear, had been her junior prom date. They had dated since freshman year, but the spark wasn’t there, and she was not too sad when he dumped her for another girl the summer between junior and senior year. She knew she could do better.

  But the last thing she expected was for Kyle Brennan the III to like her. All the girls liked Kyle. He was just that guy, that guy who turned heads in the halls, that guy that was consistently nominated for every award and every honor. Lara had always thought he was hot and nice, but she had never bothered crushing on him because she had always assumed it would absolutely never happen with him.

  She was hanging out with Cassie and another girl named Molly in the hall after fifth period. They were supposed to be at lunch, but instead they were putting on lip gloss in Molly’s locker door mirror and chatting. Probably about boys.

  Kyle walked by with some of his friends from the basketball team. When he saw Lara, radiating beauty in the early April heat, he paused. “Hey,” he said softly.