Page 46 of Keeping Kyle

“The unhelpful answer is that I just knew.” Mom smiled, that one she saved for thinking about Dad. It used to have a sadness to it, but for the last five years or so, it was the smile of happy memories. “Have I ever told you how your dad and I met?”

I shook my head. I’d heard a lot of stories about the two of them as a couple but never how they met. How had I gone so long without that story?

“There was a band. Pretty popular one that played different places on campus. I’d gone out on a Thursday night. It was late because they had the closing slot. No one wanted to go with me, but I didn’t let that deter me. Admittedly not the best idea to go out to a bar, even on a safe campus, by myself super late. But I was young and stupid.”

She paused, drank some more coffee, and shifted her gaze out the glass doors that led to the patio, as if the memory was out there.

“The concert was great. I had fun. I danced. I sang along way too loudly. I didn’t drink because I had the good sense not to drink by myself and then have to drive back to the dorm. After the last song, I headed out. Somebody followed me. Something was creepy about the guy from the start. He wanted to treat me to a nightcap or something. I kept saying no and regretting some of my choices for the night.”

Tendrils of anger tickled the back of my brain. It didn’t matter that this had happened decades ago. Someone had messed with Mom, and I didn’t like that.

“The guy kept pushing and getting more frustrated. All of a sudden, your father showed up. He’d just gotten off work from the diner down the street. He got between me and the guy and told him that he needed to back off.” Laughter crept into her voice. “Your father in college was not the strong guy you boys knew. He was scrawny, a beanpole, and totally adorable.”

She put her hand over her mouth like she shouldn’t say that. I put my hand on her other one as she relived the moment. I knew she loved Dad; it radiated from her as she told the story.

“This guy was probably half a foot taller than Marcus and clearly worked out. But your dad had no hesitation. He stood his ground until the guy’s bluster wore out and he stalked off. He then introduced himself and asked if he could follow me home to make sure that guy didn’t. He didn’t leave until I was safely in the building.”

The tremor in her hand spoke to the emotion she felt.

“That’s amazing. I always knew he was good with people. He seemed to be able to handle any situation. I was aware of that even as a kid.”

She nodded. “That was your father. I didn’t even see him again for, like, three weeks. We ended up at the library at the same time. He was studying at one of the tables, and I went over with the intention of just thanking him again for his help and to see if I could buy him a coffee or something. As soon as he looked at me with those sky blue eyes… I felt it right here.” She put her free hand over her heart and patted her chest. “On our six-month anniversary, he said my smile at the library had undone him. It was love on second sight for us.”

God, I wished they were still together. Her wistful look made goose bumps form over my arms and threatened to push too many emotional buttons.

“How come you never told that before?”

She gave a slight shrug “Some memories seem more personal. But it answered your question, so it was time.” She shifted her hand from under mine to on top. “You’ll know when it happens. Trust me and trust yourself. You’ll know it at the very deepest fiber of your being. I know that’s cheesy, but it’s true.”

Damn. Austin had rooted himself pretty firmly in my heart. My practical side protested. It didn’t fit with me leaving or with the way he ran his life.

“If you have strong feelings for him, you need to let him know.” Like a mom, she knew exactly where my thoughts were. “You can both decide to break it off, but you can’t leave it hanging. You’ll both be miserable.”

I couldn’t argue with her logic or the battle going on in my head over what I wanted versus what I thought the right answer was.

“Remember, people spend time apart. Your father traveled a lot for work. Phoenix doesn’t have to be the end for you two. Let’s not forget, neither of you are exactly strapped for cash.” The amused, knowing look made me chuckle and shake my head. Mom was not subtle. “You could easily have a home here and there. There are a million ways it can work.”

“This is why I like coffee time—getting a ton of wisdom from Mom.”

“Anytime.” She put another cinnamon roll on each plate. I hadn’t even realized I’d managed to devour the one I’d had while she talked.

Mom talks solved so much. I needed to figure out what Austin and I meant to each other and how his silence factored into it.

TWENTY-FOUR

AUSTIN

FOUR DAYS in New York and nothing to show for it. It didn’t matter how many meetings I had or how many documents I produced on our security and some of the initial findings from MC3, which agreed with our assessment of an attack from IPs in China that are often linked to industrial espionage. We learned a lot about upgrades to our systems to prevent and alert to such attacks, but it was too late.

Atlas refused to consider us further as a partner and continued to threaten legal action against AMDD since their proprietary information had been compromised.

I couldn’t blame them.

Infuriated didn’t begin to cover how our board of directors reacted. Tamara and I were under fire for not having better IT protocols and not doing a lot more to shore up our customer’s concerns.

The board was justified in their feelings. This could really sink the ship. Atlas wasn’t the only deal we’d hoped to close soon, but now we were distracted, cleaning up this mess instead of pushing forward. All of our prospects and clients now had reason to be suspect of how we protected relationships.

A message came up on my computer.