myself to read the file though. I didn’t want to be tortured with the knowledge that she was happily with another man.
Kendra Kendrick was on my mind more than my dead mother. That said something. She had been my first love. My first damn everything. Then I took off for Los Angeles to score my big record deal, and when I returned, she had already moved on. My heart though--, it never had moved past that first love or the betrayal that stung so hard.
With all that turmoil still rolling around in my head nineteen goddamn years later, you could probably imagine my surprise when none other than Kendra Kendrick was standing there in front of my mother’s grave when I showed up to pay my last respects. Her blond hair lifted at the tips as the wind kissed it ever so gently. She was still a tiny thing, only a couple inches above five feet, and while she had been graced with more womanly curves, she was still slender and fit too. It was like God had decided to further perfect the epitome of perfection. When she turned away after placing flowers on my mother’s grave, her eyes widened immediately in surprise.
“Gabe?”
“None other.” My voice sounded a whole lot surer of myself than I felt.
Her hand rose to her lips, as if feeling the ghost of my kiss there from so long ago. Then her breath caught in a little hiccup before she dropped her eyes, bowed her head, and sighed deeply. The weight of the world was in that sigh.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, effectively bringing her attention back up to me.
“I could ask you the same. Thought you were never coming back after you ran off to LA without a word,” she said quietly, though each word was laced with a touch of venom.
“Without a word?” I laughed, but there was no humor to be found in the stilted noise. “Sweetheart, I left word that I’d be back in a couple of weeks. Hell, I was back – for you – and guess what I found?” Kendra didn’t bother answering, she just slid a puzzled expression my way. “Found out you were on a date. Moved on already. Came back a few months later and saw you with the same man rubbing your full belly.”
She made a tisking sound and that didn’t quite match the horrified look on her face. “You expect me to believe that you never got my messages? That you were here, and you never spoke to me? You just saw me with some guy and assumed things?”
“I didn’t assume, sweetheart. Your father told me. She told me,” I shoved an accusatory finger toward my mother’s grave as I spoke.
“They lied to you then, just like your piece of shit manager must have.” She shook her head. “I thought you just didn’t care. All this time,” her head bowed again, only this time her shoulders began to shake. “They really must have hated the thought of us together, huh?”
“What are you talking about?”
“That boy you said that you saw me with? Yes, my parents tried to set me up with him. I explained to him that I was waiting on you and he was okay with playing pretend so that my parents wouldn’t suspect anything. My father told me that he hooked you up with a record deal to get you out of town, and that you took it and ran. I never believed you would take it without coming back for me though.”
“I told you, I did come back. Twice.”
“Yeah, but you didn’t talk to me. I really needed you to talk to me. That swollen belly you saw me with?” Tears ran unchecked down her face. I didn’t say anything. “Guess you didn’t bother to think about the math on how far along I might be, and when you left, huh?”
I stepped back, completely flabbergasted. “Are you trying to tell me you were carrying my kid?”
She nodded her head. “That’s exactly what I’m saying.” She glanced back at my mother’s grave. “Makes me want to rip those flowers right back out of the ground. I told her. She even met him when he was a baby, but she told me it was too hard to be involved when it’s not what you wanted.”
“Are you serious?”
“She knew. I have a picture of her holding him.” She reached into her pocket and pulled the picture out. I guess she had brought it