Read Online Beyond Repair by Kelly Lincoln - Free Book Online

lot?”
    I looked out the window. The rain had started again. Fat drops hit the windshield as I considered his question. “Sometimes,” I answered truthfully.
    “Okay.” His gaze went back to the road. The wind was picking up, and it was starting to rain harder.
    I stared at him in disbelief. He was just going to let it go? I was so shocked that the words flew out of my mouth before I could process what I was saying. “That’s it?”
    “Yeah, that’s it. I can tell you don’t want to talk about it.” His head turned, and his eyes seared mine. “And I’m not going to push you. That’s not me.” His voice was comforting, but he looked back toward the road before I could reply. Stupid driving safety.
    “Thanks,” I whispered.
    Chris pulled into my driveway and leaned back into his seat, put the truck in park, and stared out the windshield. “I probably shouldn’t install your door in this weather.”
    “No problem, we can figure it out another day.”
    He nodded and turned to me. Taking a deep breath, he rubbed the top of his head before he said, “There was something that I wanted to tell you before your … breathing thing … happened. I’m sorry if the way I reacted to what Jeremy said made you uncomfortable.”
    “Oh, don’t worry about it. People assume things—”
    At the same time he said, “I wasn’t sure if you were seeing anyone.”
    We both stopped talking and looked at each other. “I’m not,” I said.
    “I’m not, either.”
    I nodded, and we kept staring at each other. Those eyes were going to be the end of me. I could look into them for hours. They were so clear and light, but now they were getting darker …
    This was awkward, but in kind of a good way. I wanted to say something, but my mind could only focus on the sound of the rain, the intensity in his eyes, and the scent of the cinnamon Altoid in his mouth. Chris finally broke the silence. “Good to know.”
    “Yeah …” I was all kinds of confused. Was I reading into this too much? Kyle had made it very clear that Chris wasn’t interested in dating. “I should really get back to work. Thanks for lunch and for … helping me.”
    I pulled the hood of my sweatshirt over my head as I ducked out of the truck and sprinted through the rain to my condo.

Chapter Six
    W HEN I PICKED UP MIA from school that evening, her lunchbox was heavy. After opening it, I realized that she’d hardly eaten anything. “You weren’t hungry today?”
    “No. My throat had a bump in it. It’s gone now, so I ate pudding at snack time.” She smiled at me and I laughed, knowing that pudding was her favorite.
    “It magically disappeared when you saw the pudding? What a surprise. Okay, let’s go home.” I waved at the teacher as Mia hugged the remaining three children waiting to be picked up. She took my hand and skipped alongside me.
    “When can I play with Ryder again?”
    “Oh, I’m not sure. We’ll have to ask Chris about that.” We reached the car and I started buckling her into the car seat.
    “Chris is fun. I like him.”
    I pulled on one of her pigtails. “I like him, too.” I said,asmy phone buzzed with a text. After I read the text, I said,“Aunt Zoey wants us to go to her house for dinner. What do you say?”
    Her face lit up. “Yeah!”
    I was just going to throw a frozen casserole in the oven, so I had no problem with changing our plans. I let Zoey know we were on our way, and that we’d arrive at her house shortly.
    My nephews ran out and hugged Mia and me. It was so good to see them. We’d gone from seeing each other almost every day to not visiting them for over a week. Mia jumped up and down and started chatting with her cousins.
    The boys led us in, and Zoey picked up Mia as soon as she saw her. “You’re excited to see everyone, aren’t you? You’re breathing so fast.” She put her down with her cousins. “Take it easy until Mia calms down, guys.”
    Mike dumped out a box of Legos, and the three of them