Watching him, studying him, she started noticing his patterns of movement. Using what she learned against him, she waited for her opportunity and then took it. She tapped his chest with her own wooden blade. Breathing heavy, she felt the sweat rolling down between her breasts. "Two points for the student,"
she said, reveling in the moment of success. As crazy as it was, she enjoyed this.
He stopped and lowered his sword. His blue gaze froze on her. He drew in a deep breath. "You have no idea how much I've missed seeing that smile."
Sobering, realizing what she'd offered him, she tapped her wooden blade to his. "We came here to fight."
He held up his sword and then went back to sparring.
"I miss you," he said, right after he stopped her blade.
She pulled back and swung her sword extra hard to the left. His wooden blade blocked it. She pulled back and then went back for more.
"You are my soul mate," he said, blocking her at every turn.
Emotion filled her chest. Some from the memory of hearing him say those words to Monique, but mostly from knowing all he had to lose. She swung harder, and her sword hit his with a cracking thud. The impact sent his sword flying out of his hand, and hers broke in half.
"You should do what your father wants. Go to Monique, agree to marry her. Get on the Council like you planned."
"I'm not agreeing to marry Monique!" he said in a stern voice. "I should have never agreed to it!"
"I think we're done," she said, her heart racing and a world of hurt sitting on her chest.
A soulful expression filled his gaze. "With sparring today, we're done. But not with each other." He went and picked up his sword and then moved back to pack their things, while she stood there, trying to get her breathing under control. He found the other half of her sword and picked it up.
She couldn't help but wonder if these weren't the same swords he and his grandfather used. And if so they probably meant something to him. Guilt filled her chest. "I didn't mean to break it."
"I know. It's okay. It happens a lot." He paused and from the look he sent her he was about to say something she didn't want to hear.
Kylie's phone rang. She pulled it out of her pocket.
Lucas frowned. "If it's Della tell her I said I'd walk you to your cabin."
"It's my mom," Kylie said as she stepped a few feet away. She pulled the phone to her ear, a bit concerned that her mom was calling during work hours.
"Hey, Mom?" Kylie said, and she could still hear her heart thumping in her ears from the exertion of the sparring match. Or because of what Lucas had said.
"Hey? That's what you're going to say to me!" her mom bit out.
"What should I say to you?" Kylie asked.
"How dare you do this to me, Kylie Galen." Her mom's tone sent her back to the time that she and her mom couldn't see eye to eye on anything-back to the days when Kylie called her the Ice Princess. She took a deep breath and told herself not to panic, but wasn't this just what she worried about? That with John in the picture the fragile relationship they had would be put in jeopardy?
"Mom, what did I do?" Kylie moved a couple more feet away, not wanting Lucas to hear her fight with her mom."You know what you did; don't play innocent with me."
"I'm not playing," Kylie said, growing a little more concerned, and when she looked up she saw Lucas studying her with empathy.
"You met with Mr. and Mrs. Brighten, didn't you?" Her mom spoke so loud, it hurt her ears and she was certain Lucas could hear.
Kylie moved a few more feet away. She'd planned to tell her mom as soon she got back to the States, but after the pregnancy fiasco it just hadn't seemed like a good time. And yesterday morning with all the apologies and John praise, it didn't feel right. Besides, it might just be something they needed to talk about in person.
"Yes, and I was going to tell you."
"Was? Was going to tell me? Don't you think this is something you should have told me before you did it!"
"I did tell you. I mean, I told you I wanted to do it. We talked about it months ago, remember?"
"You should have discussed this with me first."
And you should have discussed it with me years ago. Kylie found some emotional reprieve in her own anger, but she knew better than to let it out right now. Her mom was never reasonable when this upset and adding fuel to her mom's emotional fire wasn't smart.
"Did they call you? Were they upset?" Kylie had thought the Brightens had agreed to wait and meet with her mom later. Why had they gone ahead and called? But even annoyed that they had called, she couldn't imagine the Brightens being rude with her mom.
"Yes, they called me! And do you have any idea how awkward that conversation was?"
"I'm sorry. But you were in England," Kylie added.
"How long has this been scheduled, young lady?"
"They've been out of the country and I don't even think they got my message until they got back. They called and wanted to come by immediately."
"You should have run this by me first, Miss Galen."
Oh, hell, whenever her mom referred to her as Miss Galen, Kylie knew her goose was cooked. And like so many times in the past, she didn't think her goose deserved to be cooked.
"I should have been prepared to speak to them. Instead, I get this phone call out of the blue."
"I'm sorry," Kylie said.
"John was with me when the call came in. Do you have any idea how awkward that was."
Tears filled Kylie's eyes and she couldn't hold back her anger anymore. "That's why you're upset, because of John?"
"I haven't told him that Tom wasn't your father. It was completely embarrassing."
"You're embarrassed about me?" Kylie asked, and shook her head.
"Don't turn this around," her mom said.
"Turn it around?" She shook her head. "I'm sorry, Mom, but you are so wrong here."
"I was not embarrassed about you. I'm ... I'm embarrassed that I got pregnant by someone I barely knew."
Kylie swiped at her tears. "You said you loved him."
Her mom gasped. "Of course I did, but...""But what?" Kylie asked. "But you were afraid that your precious John would see your omission of the truth as a lie?"
"Kylie, don't be-"
"And that wouldn't be good, would it?" she continued. "Wait, you don't have to answer that, because I can tell you how it feels. How it feels when someone you thought you knew keeps something from you, something that might have mattered! I can't believe you're mad at me for not telling you I contacted the Brightens when you friggin' didn't tell me about my own father, or about my grandparents, all these years!"