Their Sweet Coastal Reunion by Kaylie Newell

Author:Kaylie Newell
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2022-10-05T18:46:18+00:00

Chapter Nine

Kyla wasn’t altogether sure she wasn’t going to pass out. She could almost feel the blood rushing through her veins—it roared in her ears, making her dizzy.

Or maybe that was Ben making her dizzy. At the moment, it was impossible to tell. She’d only kept one true secret her entire life, and that was from the man sitting beside her now. Only, right then, she could only see him as a teenager—in his letterman’s jacket, wearing that dazzling smile. Ben. Her only love. And how could that be after all these years? After leaving Christmas Bay full of brand-new strength and a rock-solid sense of self?

Maybe she wasn’t as strong as she thought she was, if those carefully constructed walls crumbled in one night.

She forced a breath, pulling the air into her lungs and letting it slowly out again. Her Ben. But that was an ironic thought, because he’d never been hers at all.

“What did you say?” he asked.

And now, naturally, she’d be expected to answer. It wasn’t too late to try and gather her wits and lighten the mood—to make some kind of joke out of it. After all, this was ancient history, right?

But the thing was, it wasn’t. It had affected her for too long, and in too many ways. It was still affecting her. He was still affecting her. And for some reason that she couldn’t quite understand, she needed to talk about this. It felt good to finally release it, and release it to him.

She sat up straighter. And this time, spoke with conviction. “I loved you, Ben.”

“You loved me...” he repeated.

“I was only a kid. But it was more than just a crush. I can’t deny that anymore.”

“I had no idea.”

“You wouldn’t have. You were so much older than me. You didn’t even know I was alive.”

“I knew you were alive.”

“Because you always watched out for me. I never had that at home. I thought you were the bravest boy I knew. You were my hero.”

He frowned then. “Until you were taken away.”

When she felt her hands begin to shake, she clasped them together in her lap, squeezing hard to ground herself. “I didn’t know how to reconcile those things. All those wonderful things about you, with feeling like you threw me away.”

“Threw you away? Kyla...”

“That’s how I felt. My home life wasn’t great, but at least I knew what to expect. My mom was an addict and there weren’t very many surprises there, either. But being taken away from her was terrifying. I didn’t know where they were going to put me. I didn’t know if it would be worse. And I missed her...”

Without warning, she felt the sting of tears. Talking about her mom always did this to her. Always.

“And then she died,” she continued. “Before I got to go back. Before she could heal herself enough to get me back. I never knew if she would’ve been able to heal herself for me. And I was so mad at you, it scared me.

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