Twist of Fate (A Holiday Romance Novella) (6 page)

“I did save you!”

“And that’s what you call an apology? Reminding me that you’re incapable of letting your adult son make his own choices?” Ty’s head shook in disbelief. He shouldn’t have come tonight. He should have stayed put in his apartment and turned up the volume on his TV to drown out the sound of his mother’s footsteps and the reminder that she liked to walk all over people.

“But you were making the biggest mistake of your life!” his mom said. “I couldn’t stand by and do nothing.”

“Unbelievable.” Ty shoved his chair back. It screeched across the title floor, sounding like fingernails on the chalkboard—which Ty would happily listen to over his mother right now. “You told Kenzie you wanted to come here to make amends, but you don’t. All you want to do is reinforce your delusion that you know what’s best for everyone. Well, newsflash, mother: you don’t. And I’m through listening to you.”

With that, Ty strode out of Kenzie’s apartment, yanking the door shut hard behind him. Down the hall and down the stairs he went, pausing at the bottom when Kenzie’s voice called out above him.

“Ty, wait.”

Light, quick footsteps sounded behind him, and a hand on his shoulder had him turning around.

“I’m sorry you had to see that,” said Ty, hating that he’d lost his temper in front of her.

“See what?” Kenzie surprised him by wrapping her arms around his waist and hugging him tight.

Ty rested his forehead against the top of her head and breathed in the citrusy smell of her shampoo. If this was what happened when he lost control, maybe he should do it more often. “She makes me so crazy.”

“She hurt you,” Kenzie said. “You can’t expect to just sweep those feelings under a rug and forget about them. I actually thought it went pretty well for a first meeting. I mean, you didn’t throw any punches or swear or threaten to disown her or anything. That’s good.”

Ty chuckled, feeling the tension ease from his body as he held her close. “I can’t guarantee I won’t do that if I have to see her again.”

Kenzie pulled back and looked up at him. “We spent all afternoon chatting, and believe it or not, she really is sorry for what she did to you and Nicole. She misses you, Ty, and who can blame her? I know I’d be devastated if you stopped talking to me.”

A few sentences, a look, a hug, and Ty’s frustration practically melted away. Kenzie was like a large dose of Prozac. How did she do it? “I’m not sure I can face her again.”

Kenzie’s hands moved up and down his arms. “What about giving it one more day? She told me earlier that she loves ice skating and hasn’t been in years. Why don’t we do that tomorrow night? I mean, if we’re all skating, you won’t have to talk to her very much, right?”

“You hate ice skating.”

“I know.” Kenzie nodded. “But you don’t like being around your mom, so we’ll be even.”

Ty almost laughed. Did she really think that a trip to the ice skating rink would somehow fix his relationship with his mother? That a few hours together would somehow erase past wrongs—especially after what had just happened?

He studied her face, her expression, her wide blue eyes. “Why is this so important to you?”

“Because you’re important to me.”

Ty’s heart seemed to beat double-time. If she had any idea how badly he wanted to kiss her right now, would she let him? Or would she retract her offer to go ice skating and run back up those stairs? He didn’t dare find out.

Yet she’d admitted to caring about him in
some
way. She’d even opened her home to a relative stranger because she thought it would somehow help. It wasn’t a confession of love or anything, but standing in the foyer with her in his arms, it felt like a baby step in the right direction.

He’d take it.

“I’ll think about it,” Ty finally said.

A huge smile spread across her face, and she gave him another hug. “Thanks, Ty. You’re the best.”

Yeah, he’d take that too.

KENZIE LACED UP her rented ice skates on the outskirts of the outdoor rink. Surrounded by brightly lit trees and high-rises, they couldn’t have picked a more beautiful place to skate.

If only Kenzie knew how.

“Just so you know, LouAnn,” Kenzie said as she pulled her laces tight, “I’ve never been ice skating before.”

“Ever?” Ty’s mother shot her a look of surprise. “How can you grow up in New York and not know how to ice skate? That’s like growing up near the beach and not knowing how to surf.”

“Well,” Kenzie said. “I shouldn’t say never. I did try it once. When I was six. My mom signed me up for skating lessons, and halfway through the first lesson, I attempted to show off by doing an axel jump and ended up with a broken arm. After that, I never tried again.”

LouAnn blinked at Kenzie with wide green eyes—Ty’s eyes. The resemblance made it easy to like LouAnn despite her strong opinions and Ty’s hang-ups.

“You know that the best way to conquer a fear is to get right back up and try it again, don’t you?”

Ty looked ready to say something so Kenzie placed her hand on his knee. She wasn’t about to give them another opportunity to argue. Tonight was all about keeping the peace.

“If only you’d been there twenty years ago when I needed that advice,” Kenzie said. “My mom hauled me to the ER and wouldn’t let me go near the ice the rest of the season. The next year, she let me decide if I wanted to try it again or not. I said no and that was that. Looking back, though, maybe it would have been better if she’d pushed me a little.”

LouAnn patted her knee. “Don’t worry, dear. I’m here now, and I promise that we won’t let you leave tonight until you can skate around the entire rink on your own.”

“Uh, Mom,” interjected Ty, “why don’t you let me help Kenzie? That way you can enjoy yourself, since I know it’s been awhile. I’ll even give her all the tips you taught me during our winter trips to Utah.”

A faraway look appeared in LouAnn’s eyes. “Those were the days, weren’t they? Skiing, ice skating, snowshoeing—winter doesn’t get any better than that.”

Kenzie looked at Ty. “Wait, you ski, too?”

He nodded.

Who knew a California boy could do all of that? To Kenzie, Ty had always been the know-it-all who made her laugh, hated driving in the snow, fixed her laptop when it crashed, and ordered take-out because he couldn’t cook. But ever since LouAnn had arrived, she hadn’t stopped talking about her son and now Kenzie knew so much more. Not only could Ty ski and ice skate, but he’d played basketball in high school, didn’t like green beans, had gotten his fair share of speeding tickets, and had once organized a 5K race to help raise funds so a friend could afford college.

“What else don’t I know about you?” Kenzie asked, suddenly wanting to know everything.

“Give my mom another day or two and you’ll regret ever asking that,” said Ty. “Nothing’s sacred with her.”

“I’m just proud of you, that’s all. You can’t blame me for that.” LouAnn stood and clapped her hands together. “Well, Ty, if you’re sure you’ve got Kenzie, I’m going skating.”

“Skate away.” Ty waved her off.

LouAnn plodded toward the rink, stepped on the ice, and skated away with surprising grace. Kenzie stood to get a better look and was amazed by what she saw. Ty’s mom weaved around people, and then spun and skated backwards, one skate tucking behind the other, the way Kenzie used to dream of being able to do. She felt a pang of disappointment, both in herself and in her own mother. Would she be able to skate like that if she hadn’t given up so easily? If her mom hadn’t let her? Was that why Ty was so good at so many things, because his mother never let him quit?

“Wow,” said Kenzie. “The fact that she can still skate like that at her age is amazing.”

“Yeah, it’s something all right.” The way Ty said it didn’t sound like much of a compliment. Still, he looked impressed. “I bet it’s her vibration plate workouts.”

Kenzie blinked. “I’m sorry, her what?”

“Oh, hasn’t she told you about that yet? According to her, it’s the latest in fitness technology—the best full-body workout there is. Basically, you stand on a vibrating plate and let it shake your body into shape.”

“You’re joking, right?” Kenzie tried not to laugh. “Because I’ve never heard of that.”

Ty picked up their shoes and shoved them in a cubby. “Neither had I until I dropped by the house one day and found her standing on some machine, vibrating all those extra pounds away. At the time I thought it just shook a few more screws loose, but”—he gestured toward his mother—“maybe not. Maybe I should buy one.”

“Maybe you should,” Kenzie said, unable to contain her laughter any longer.

Ty cracked a smile and held out his arm for her to take. “So… are you ready to face your biggest fear?”

“It’s not my
biggest
fear, just a little one.” But Kenzie hesitated for a second before placing her gloved fingers in the nook of his arm. She drew in a breath of the chilly night air. “Okay, let’s do it.”

As they stepped onto the ice, Kenzie was reminded of the first time she’d tried on stilettos. Minus the awkward angle of her foot, ice skates weren’t much different. They still felt wrong and wobbly and awkward. Her feet didn’t belong in them—or stilettos for that matter. But Ty’s arm kept her upright, so Kenzie moved forward, trying to mimic the movements of the other skaters.

When LouAnn glided past and waved, Kenzie became impatient with her slow progress and pushed hard off her right foot. Unfortunately, Ty didn’t do the same, which threw her off balance and made her pitch backwards. His arm tightened beneath hers, softening her fall, but the ice still felt hard and cold when she landed—not to mention humiliating.

She frowned.

Ty chuckled as reached for her hand and pulled her back up. “Next time you decide to try speed skating, let me know, and I’ll attempt to keep up.”

More skaters flew past, and Kenzie watched them with envy. If she could only skate like them so she wouldn’t need to hold on to Ty or touch him or be near him. The attraction she’d felt for him at the Christmas party hadn’t let up. If anything it had gotten worse—to the point where she really needed to learn to skate on her own.

As in, right now.

“Why is this so hard for me?” she muttered.

“It wouldn’t be if you’d accept the fact that you’re an amateur and take it slow.”

“I—“ Kenzie started to argue and then stopped, knowing he was right. “Fine,” she said. “I’ll take it slow. Maybe I should try it by myself for awhile.”

“You sure?”

No, but she was sure she needed to put some distance between them. “I think so.”

“All right then.” He let go of her hand and gestured forward. “Off you go.”

She didn’t like how empty her hand suddenly felt, but she pushed forward anyway, staying close to the edge of the rink and out of the path of the more experienced skaters. Ty trailed behind, making her even more uncomfortable.

“Feel free to go skate,” Kenzie called out. “I’ll figure it out eventually.”

“I don’t mind,” he teased. “I kind of like the view from back here anyway.”

A blush heated her face, even with the cold night air. Friday’s date with him had somehow opened a Pandora’s box of temptation and confusion, and she didn’t like it. She wanted things to go back to the way they were before, when he teased instead of flirted, when her awareness of him didn’t cross the line of friendship into something more.

Her skates wobbled. She waved her arms to keep from falling, hating how self-conscious she felt around Ty all of a sudden. This wasn’t normal. It was wrong. Another wobble, more frantic waves, and Kenzie landed on the ice once again.

Argh.

“All right, enough’s enough.” Ty grabbed her hand and gently pulled her up once more. “You’ll learn a lot faster if you’d stop being so stubborn and just hold my hand.”

Kenzie bit back an argument, mostly because holding his hand did make it easier and partly because she really wanted to—which made her a weakling. And a horrible person for feeling this way when she was engaged to someone else.

What she needed was for Brad to get on a plane immediately and remind her why she fell for him in the first place. Then she’d have her fiancé’s hand to hold instead of Ty’s. She’d have him to look at and snuggle with and kiss—not that she’d ever thought about kissing Ty.

Drat.

Stop it, stop it, stop it! They were just friends. That was it. Only friends.

The kind of friends who held hands while ice skating.

Kenzie gulped. What was she doing?