Page 35 of Falling for the Unexpected

It was a gut-punch, to see how great Kyle was with her—a complete contrast to how disinterested Brad continued to be. He’d hardly seen her since he moved out and only came around when his parents nagged him about it. When he did show up, he never played with her or paid any attention to her. However, Stella was learning quickly that there were others who would always be there for her to turn to. Like Kyle. He picked her up and gave Stella a kiss on the top of her head, making her giggle. I felt a pang deep inside at this vision before me. Handsome, successful Kyle holding my precious daughter, both of them happy and smiling, while she played with the sunglasses he’d hooked in the collar of his shirt.

My daughter had, in the past, spent more time with Kyle than I had. Her outings with her Uncle Trent occasionally included his best friend. I knew Stella liked Kyle a lot, and the way he was looking at my daughter showed that the feeling was mutual. He was so natural with her and I knew he’d make a great father one day.

I shook my head, and knew I needed to come back to reality. “Hi there…” I stood up from the bench and moved next to him. He looked over at me, studying my face, then looked away when I met his gaze. “I’m sorry you had to come all the way out here to help us. I told Trent I would call a tow truck,” I explained, feeling nervous.

“It’s not a problem at all,” he said, moving closer and putting an arm around me. I immediately relaxed at his touch, his hand at my lower back and pressing me into his body. God, I loved the feeling of his arm around me. “No sense in calling for a tow unless you need it. Trent said you might just need a jump.”

Why did that comment sound so dirty? I needed to get my mind out of the gutter. “Yeah,” I started, not moving back. Instead, I slipped my left arm around his waist while I plucked his expensive sunglasses from my daughter’s crafty fingers. “I tried to start it, but it’s making a clicking sound.”

“Okay, can I have your key?” he asked, handing Stella to me as I gave him my keys. “Go ahead and sit back down over there, and I’ll see if I can get this started for you.” He turned from me and started walking to the trunk of his car.

“Kyle, I can help,” I huffed. I was a little annoyed that he was acting like I was helpless.

He stopped and turned to look at me, gently placing his hand on my shoulder. “I know you can, but you don’t need to. Letting me do this for you doesn’t make you less capable. It just means you are accepting help. That isn’t a bad thing.” Then he turned and opened his trunk.

Wow,I thought, humbled. I often felt inadequate because it seemed like I was always turning to others for help. Kyle’s words made me feel a little less guilty for accepting what others offered.

I sat back down with Stella and we watched Kyle work. He took a moment to roll his sleeves up, revealing his muscular forearms, before pulling the jumper cables out. What was it about a man’s forearms that could drive a girl crazy? He opened his driver’s side door and pulled the latch to pop open his hood, and then did the same on my car. My eyes followed every movement as he attached the cables to both batteries and then started his car. He waited a few minutes and then attempted to start my car. It sounded like it wanted to turn over but still wouldn’t start. He waited a couple more minutes, tried again, and this time it started without a problem. He got out of my car and removed the cables. Once they were put back in his trunk and both hoods were closed, he walked over to us.

“Any idea when the battery was last replaced?”

I shook my head. “I sorta left the car stuff to Brad since he was a mechanic. I don’t know if he ever did anything to my car,” I replied.

I saw him roll his eyes and it made me chuckle. His dislike for my ex was not something he was able to conceal. “Well, I think you need to get a new one. I’d be happy to switch it out for you.” His offer was very sweet, but I couldn’t accept, despite his little lecture earlier. He was already handling my divorce pro bono.

“I’ll take care of it. Thanks though for helping me today,” I said, standing up with Stella in my arms. “Can you tell Kyle thank you for helping us?” I gently encouraged my daughter.

“Thanks, Ky,” she said with her head lying on my shoulder. It was past her naptime and I knew I needed to get her home before we had to deal with a toddler tantrum.

“No problem, sweetie,” he answered her. He touched her face then squeezed her shoulder softly.

I walked to my car and placed Stella in her car seat and buckled her up again. As soon as the car had started the AC came on so it was already cooling off inside. I closed her door and faced Kyle, who was standing right behind me. “So what have the two of you been up to today?” he asked. “Stella mentioned being a good girl.”

“I registered for two college courses today,” I answered, grinning up at him. “One’s online so I can do that when I’m home with Stella. The other is two days a week. I’m hoping to arrange my schedule so I can go to school then directly to work. That should help with Marla watching Stella.” I was rambling, but I was anxious to share the news with someone.

“Wow, that’s fantastic, Simone,” he said with a smile. He held my car door open for me. “I think it’s great you were able to make that work.”

“I’m really excited. It’s going to take me a long time to finish, but I need to start somewhere,” I said. “When we talked about my future I realized just how much I wanted to go back to school. I guess I have you to thank for reminding me that I can do what I want now,” I said sincerely.

“You are going to do great, Simone. If I can help in any way, let me know. I mean it,” he said firmly. He reached out, tucking a flyaway strand of hair behind my left ear. His fingertips grazed along my jaw, making me shiver. It was something he did often, although I didn’t think he was aware of it.

I was holding my breath and couldn’t exhale until he wasn’t touching me anymore. “Um, thanks again, Kyle,” I said, my voice a little husky. “Once again, saving the day for me and Stella.”

He nodded, his expression soft, quiet. “Text me when you get home so I know you didn’t have any more car troubles,” he ordered gently, pulling me in for another hug. It was almost torturous, this constant contact. I tried not to read into any of it because Kyle was a friendly guy. It was just his way of showing kindness, and I loved that about him. He wasn’t afraid to show his emotions or affections.

“I will, I promise,” I said, reluctantly pulling myself out of his arms. He really did give amazing hugs.

He continued to hold my door open and waited ‘til I was settled into the front seat before he closed it. I rolled down my window and said, “Bye.”

“Bye, Simone,” he said, and walked over to get into his car.

I pulled out of my space and he pulled out right behind me. I drove out of the parking lot with a huge smile on my face. What was this man doing to me?

*****

It was Stella’s second birthday and we were at Jim and Marla’s house getting ready to drive up to Anaheim so we could take Stella to Disneyland for the first time. I was just as excited for the trip as my daughter was. It was about a two-hour drive, so I had spent the night at their house so we could get up early and get on the road. Since we were going to be out late tonight we had done the whole cake and gift thing last night. That’s when we surprised Stella with the trip.

Everyone had such a nice time celebrating that I was almost able to ignore the fact that her father had decided not to show up. I hadn’t seen or heard from Brad since our meeting two months ago. I had come to accept the fact that he wasn’t going to have a relationship with his daughter. While it infuriated me that he would toss her aside so easily, I made sure she spent plenty of time with Jim and Trent, the two men in her life who loved her unconditionally. I wasn’t sure if his parents were in contact with him, but from the sound of it, Brad had cut off all ties with his entire family. I felt especially bad for Marla and Jim. Trent, I knew, was fine with it, since he didn’t get along with his younger brother.