Seven

My buzzing phone woke me up from my uneventful sleep, and I groaned in protest before patting underneath my pillow where I last placed it. As I held it in my hand, my sleepy eyes tried to read the caller ID. to check who was responsible for making my morning miserable.

“Kyle, before you judge me on how this situation would sou….” Luke’s frantic voice trailed off on the other end of the phone once I answered the call, perking up my interest.

“Give me the phone, Luke! If you are playing me here, I’m not as forgiving as my aunt!” a familiar, spunky female yelled faintly in the background.

“Just give me a moment to explain to him why I’m allowing you to take this call.” Luke defended. His voice sounded distant.

“Guys, I could hear you,” I mumbled apathetically, knowing no one would hear me.

“Kyle! Kyle! Is that you?” The female screamed, making me flinch away from the ear-splitting sound.

“Cristine. You know we’re on the phone, right?” I grumbled after she calmed down.

“I’m expressing my frustration! You’ve been blocking my calls. Also, I’m pissed that you didn’t tell me about that infamous spouse of yours!” she yelled again, making me pull away from the phone.

“I’m not going to tell you anything if you continue screaming at the damn phone,” I scolded.

“Fine,” she murmured in defeat, and I could hear her heaving in annoyance. “Where are you right now? Why didn’t you call right away? I couldn’t believe that you had to wait until I read the magazines to find out my brother—”

“I have to stop you right there,” I interjected, grunting slightly as I sat up on the uncomfortable comforter. “I’m sorry for not telling you anything but cut me some slack. I went through a lot after that ordeal.”

“I know, Kyle. I’m sorry that I wasn’t there with you when it happened. I should have realized what that witch was doing. As a nosy sister, I should have realized it sooner.” She sounded overwhelmed and feeble.

“Nobody knew it was happening, Crissy. And being the one person she goes home to every day, I should have been the one to recognize it first.” I countered, trying to pull her out of her misery. “We didn’t know. No one knew except her.” My voice trailed off into a whisper.

There was a moment of silence before she probed again. “Kyle, where are you? Luke won’t tell me a thing.”

“I don’t want to tell anyone where I am right now. I hope you understand that decision, Crissy. Don’t bother Luke. I owe that man more than my life right now.” I warned, my voice regaining back its strength.

“You trust your secretary over your sister?” she exclaimed in disbelief, and I heard her suck in a breath to add drama.

“When one’s sister is as nosy as she implies, then yes, I trust Luke over you,” I remarked half-heartedly, trying to lighten the mood.

“Ah!” She exclaimed in irritation from being outwitted.

“Could I get my phone back now? I use that for work, you know.” I heard Luke’s faint pleading voice in the background.

With a sigh of defeat, I rubbed my face with my free hand. “Crissy. Please give Luke back his phone. I promise, no lies here. I would call and tell you everything.”

There was a definite pause on the other end. I had to pull it away from me to check whether I was still connected.

After a few seconds, I heard my little sister’s huff of defeat. “Fine! But if you don’t keep your promise, I’ll continue to pester Luke until he tells me where you are,” she forewarned grimly, accepting her defeat in this round.

I tried to hide my enthusiasm for winning this argument, but the smile plastered on my face was already a given. “Thank you, Crissy.”

“Don’t smile now. We are still going to talk about this soon.”

“Right. Well, take care, little sister. Talk to you soon,” I interjected before she could make another deal with me.

Once I said a brief goodbye, I ended the call and lay back down on the bed. As my eyes were about to close, I felt my phone vibrate again. I groaned in annoyance as I picked it up. I was readying myself for another round of scolding from my sister when I saw a different name on the screen. With a jolt, I sat back up and answered the incoming call.

I cleared my throat before greeting. “Hey, morning.”

“Morning. I’m sorry if I called in early. Is it too early?” There was a weird feeling in my stomach at the sound of her bewildered voice. But I wondered if that was really the reason or because I didn’t have any breakfast yet.

“No. It’s not that early. I just got up myself,” I replied and assured her.

“Good. Have you prepared for the trip later?” she asked, sounding hesitant like it wasn’t the question she was supposed to ask.

“Yes. I got myself a pair of boots and the whole outfit ready to go.”

“Don’t pack any food. It will be my treat today.”

“I will only be bringing water if it’s alright with you.” I teased, trying to lighten the mood.

“Water is fine. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure we have enough food today. With three grown men on this trip, one of you would end up whining about food except for Gavin, of course.”

I blinked and processed what she said. “Three? Who is going on this trip, if you don’t mind me asking?” My voice sounded a bit alert, and in my head, I was praying she wouldn’t be saying that one name.

“My cousin, Archie, and Gabe, plus you. Why? Did you expect someone else?” she asked in confusion. Then, for a second, there was a brief pause.

“No. I hadn’t expected anyone to be joining this trip, actually. I thought it was your way of asking me out,” I implied playfully.

“Ha! I shouldn’t have nursed back your ego last night. Unfortunately, it seemed it’s on full alert today,” she remarked back, her tone playful as well.

“It was never gone. I just let you double it.”

I heard her muffled chuckle across the phone.

“If you are backing down now, I can tell you that I’m not the one who initiated this call. You did. So, don’t blame me if I sound like I was hitting on you.” I tried to sound hurt by her comment.

“My apologies. I won’t be calling you again,” she replied sourly, though I knew she was just teasing.

“Sorry. I don’t want to sound like a prick, but you made it easy to tease you,” I quickly apologized before she could end the call.

“Apology accepted.” From her light tone, I knew I hadn’t crossed the line.

“So, where exactly is this hiking trail?”

“At the mountain resort. Do you know where it is?”

“I have a vague idea where it is, but I’m not so sure about my gut feeling.”

“Just admit you don’t know where it is, and I might actually offer you a ride,” she said.

“Really? Took you long enough to actually ask me. I appreciate it very much.” The thick sarcasm in my voice made her chuckle again in amusement.

“You’re really not ashamed of being arrogant, are you?”

“No. It’s a sign of confidence rather than arrogance. And I feel insulted by that comment.” I acted offended.

“Right. I apologize,” she said and trailed off with a defeated sigh, but I knew she was smiling. “Shall we meet at the bakeshop?”

“Sure.”

“Good. Then I shall see you there in two hours?” she asked.

“I will be there.”

“Okay. See you later, Kyle.”

“See you, Lenna.” There was a brief pause before the line went dead.

I stared at the phone for a second, trying but failing to suppress the growing grin on my face.

After the call, I called the store to check on Benji and asked to take the day off. He was more than willing to agree after I explained to him why. Also, since it was a Sunday, he would open the store for half a day, which he had forgotten to tell me yesterday.

Once I had that sorted out, I quickly took a shower and changed into some fresh clothes before driving to the bakeshop to meet Lenna.

I arrived at the bakeshop a few minutes early, and as I entered, I noticed I was the only customer.

“Morning,” I greeted as I approached the counter.

“Good morning too. What can I get you this fine morning?” If I remember correctly, she was the head baker, Beth Leighton, by what was written on her name tag. She might also be the shop owner from how Lenna acted around her.

“Can I get some coffee and two bagels, please?” I asked while pulling out my wallet.

There was a definite pause on her end, and I looked up out of curiosity and saw her studying my face.

“Are you Luke’s cousin?” she asked in interest.

“Ah, yes.”

“And your surname would be Bailey as well?”

“Oh, no. I’m Luke’s cousin from his father’s side,” I answered with the usual lie.

“I see. You look really familiar, dear. What did you say your surname was?” She probed with budding interest.

“Ah… It is… Uhm…” I stuttered from her sudden attack. I blinked and tried to keep my composure while coming up with a fake name.

“Beth. Leave the poor boy alone. Can’t you see you’re intimidating him?” A deep voice called out from across the room. It was the man who intimidatingly threw off Stephen on my first visit here, and from what I remembered, that prick called him Ronald.

“I’m not. I was merely asking his name.” Beth defended and turned to me in disbelief. “I wasn’t intimidating you, was I, dear?”

“No. No. You weren’t. Though I hadn’t thought I would be greeted with an interrogation,” I replied while trying to act like a victim.

“Goodness. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to pry. I was just interested in the new guy in town, who Lenna seemed a bit entranced with…” she trailed off in thought but stopped before she gave out any more details.

From the twinkle in Beth’s eyes when I reacted to Lenna’s name, she noticed something I hadn’t entirely realized yet.

There was a brief silence in the shop before Ronald interrupted. “I’m sorry for not introducing ourselves last time. I’m Ronald Leighton, and this is my wife, Beth. The Wildes and Baileys were family friends. So, if you need anything around here, don’t be afraid to come by the bakeshop for help.”

I watched stupefied as the intimidating man turned into mush in front of me. It took me a second to recover and process his offer of assistance.

“Nice to meet you. Thank you for the offer. I appreciate it.”

“So, what can we do for you this morning?” he asked, holding his wife’s shoulder.

“A coffee and two bagels, please,” I repeated my order again.

This snapped Beth from her inquisitive state as she quickly punched in my order. After I paid, she skidded toward the coffee machine to start up my coffee after swatting her husband’s arm and commanding him to get the bagels I ordered.

~

As the meeting time came, I noticed a silver truck parked by the door. I watched as the newcomers got out of the car, and a smile slowly grew on my face.

By the driver’s side, Gabe got out looking fully equipped for the chilly weather. From the front passenger door, Lenna’s cousin, Archie, jumped out as well, but my eyes didn’t linger long on them. So instead, I studied the passenger getting out of the back seat. Lenna was helping Gavin out of the car before closing the door, and she was wearing navy denim from head to toe and hiking boots. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail again.

The group easily spotted me as they entered the shop, but they headed straight to the counter to have a quick exchange of pleasantries with the owners first. While they were talking, Gavin squirmed out of Lenna’s arm and went around the counter, and jumped into Beth’s waiting arms.

Lenna took the chance and turned to me and said, “I see you are early.”

“I see you barely got here on time.” I tapped my watch for emphasis.

“Kyle, glad you made it.”

My attention turned toward Gabe, who was standing behind the group, and from the corner of my eye, I watched Archie headed toward the back of the store.

“Thank you for allowing me to join you on your trip today, Gabe,” I greeted back formally.

“I see you already had breakfast. I hope you don’t mind if we eat before heading out,” he stated as he headed toward my table.

“No. It’s okay.” I gestured at the empty seat at my table, offering it to him.

Gabe pulled one of the chairs across from me, pausing for a split second to glance at Lenna, who had taken Gavin away from Beth while they briefly chatted. When another batch of customers piled up in the store, they excused themselves. With Gavin in her arms, Lenna headed toward our table.

“So, what would be the agenda for today’s trip? I presume you’ve made some sort of itinerary for today.” I teased slyly as Gabe took Gavin from Lenna’s arm and settled him on his lap.

Lenna sat down beside me and smiled. “No. I didn’t make anything, but I know that we will be taking the lift and sliding down the mountain.” Her voice slightly amplified as her attention turned back to Gavin, who was already grinning from ear to ear.

“Yehey! Slide!” The little boy squealed in delight.

“If you’re up for it, Kyle, you can go biking with Archie and me,” Gabe offered as he ruffled the kid’s hair.

“Biking?” I sounded hesitant.

“I think that would be fun,” Lenna commented.

I peered up at her before replying. “Okay. I will consider it.”

“Have you tried mountain biking before?” Lenna asked. Her voice had a hint of mockery to it.

“Sure. What is the difference if you aren’t on plain ground?” I inquired to no one in particular.

“The ground won’t be plain,” Gabe replied out of courtesy.

“Okay? And?” I persisted.

Before anyone could reply, Archie arrived with a full tray in hand. “I got breakfast.”

“Archie, Kyle doesn’t know the difference between regular biking and mountain biking.” Lenna looked up to him with a slight gleam in her eyes, enjoying my oblivious state.

“What?” Archie stared at me in disbelief as he placed the plates on our table.

“I didn’t say I didn’t know the difference. I asked what the difference would be.” I rephrased her question to defend myself.

Archie quickly finished placing all the food and signaled to give him a second as he hurriedly returned the tray and jogged back to our table. He took the last empty seat and faced me. Beside me, Lenna cut her portion into small pieces to feed Gavin while the little boy grabbed a baked potato from Gabe’s plate as the latter took a sip of his coffee.

“Where were we?” Archie asked after taking a bite off his sandwich meal.

Lenna, who was feeding Gavin, replied in my stead. “Mountain biking.”

“Does he already know it won’t be on the plain ground?” Archie inquired.

“I’m not stupid,” I mumbled.

“Says the man who doesn’t know the difference.” Lenna teased before she started eating.

“You’ll like it if you like heart-pounding excitement and many deathly turns. Just don’t hit the brakes while going through the speed bumps. Well, there isn’t much of a speed bump just a small hill jump,” Archie said.

“I only heard deathtrap from that description.”

Lenna covered her mouth as she started to choke in laughter, and she grabbed a glass of water and drank half of its contents. It was animating seeing her do it.

Gavin seemed to like seeing her mother laugh as he started giggling himself while Gabe smiled at her. His expression held a deeper emotion rather than amusement, and even if it was for a second, it caught my eye.