We Could Be Amazing Read online

  Ridge’s gray gaze rose to hers in surprise. “Gallery owner? Did you sell?”

  Kiona couldn’t help straightening her back in pride. “I sold two pieces, for a hefty sum. I’m on my way.”

  “I’m proud of you, baby.” He seemed to catch himself on the endearment, and she snatched the phone from him to move away toward the window.

  Behind her, Alex shouted good morning to his daddy and apparently launched himself into the man’s arms from Alex’s declaration of good catch. She shook her head and checked the phone’s display. Four calls from her grandmother. She frowned wondering what was up. She wasn’t due back until late tonight. While she considered it, the phone rang again, and she answered.

  “Nana, what’s up? You know my plane doesn’t get in until seven right?”

  “Hello, my sweet potato. I’m glad to know you had a safe flight over there.”

  Kiona raised an eyebrow. “Really, Nana? Sweet Potato?”

  “Yes.” Her grandmother laughed. At eighty, she had the energy and alertness of mind of a person twenty years younger, but she amused herself with what came out of her mouth more than anyone else. Kiona loved her for it. “I called to tell you, you don’t have to come.”

  “Whoa, what do you mean I don’t have to come?”

  “Well your brother Andre is taking me to Hawaii, if you can believe it.” Her excitement bubbled through the phone.

  Kiona switched the cell from one ear to the other and adjusted her sheet. She took a seat. “I know who my brother is, Nana, but we already said we were having dinner together. Why would he suddenly spring Hawaii on you? And why Christmas of all times. Who spends it in some hot place where you can’t even hope for a bit of snow to make the mood?”

  She knew she sounded grumpy, but Nana and her brother, who she tolerated only around the holidays, were all she had other than her son. With Alex spending Christmas with his dad, where did that leave her? Alone? Kiona didn’t want to be alone. She wanted to laugh and open presents while eating too many cookies and drinking eggnog, even though the stuff was so strong a couple of swallows would do until next year.

  “Oh don’t be so glum, baby,” her nana told her. “Cheer up. You can spend the holiday with Ridge. That would be nice, wouldn’t it?”

  “No, it wouldn’t.” She began to think this was a setup, and she didn’t like it one bit.

  “Oh, honey, they’re calling for our boarding now. I have to go.”

  Kiona sat with her eyes wide. In the background, an official-sounding voice echoed. Her grandmother really was at the airport, and talk about fast. Did they cook the idea up the minute her plane left the ground? She ducked her head and took in a deep breath. “Okay, Nana, have a safe trip. Give me a call when you land. I love you.”

  “I love you too, pumpkin spice. Talk to you soon.” The line went dead on her grandmother’s self-satisfied chuckle, and Kiona gritted her teeth.

  “Everything okay with Nana?” Ridge asked. He had always liked her grandmother, and Nana treated the man like a god among men, which was good when they were together and irritating after they divorced.

  She grumbled. “I’m sure you heard. She’s abandoning me.”

  “Dramatic much?”

  He irritated her too when he stole her lines, especially when no self-respecting white man should talk like that. Of course it did piss of Marian. She almost chuckled. “My brother’s taking her to Hawaii for…wait, I don’t know how long. Probably two weeks since she brushed me off for Christmas day.”

  “You could always stay here.”

  “Here!”

  He frowned. “You don’t have to sound so horrified, Kiona. My family are not ogres.”

  She rolled her eyes. “I’ll get my hotel stay lengthened. No sense rushing home, and I can take just one flight back home.”

  “I’m paying your airfare, and it makes me no difference if it’s one flight or two.” He walked to the closet to search through clothes hanging there. She hadn’t noticed them before. “While we have plenty of room here, I won’t argue with you about the hotel.”

  “You can argue. You’d lose.”

  “However,” he went on as if she didn’t say a word, “I hope you’ll agree to spend some time with me.”

  “What?”

  “For Alex. He’s not used to spending so long away from you, and I think that’s what upset his stomach last night.”

  Although she felt like Ridge manipulated her, easily done with everyone else playing into his hands, he had a point. Ridge had always flown down to Baltimore for extended periods to spend with their son, and knowing Kiona wasn’t far gave her baby comfort. Because she had explained it to him and showed him on the map, she knew Alex understood that they were now on the opposite side of the country.

  Still, spending time with Ridge was a bad idea. She didn’t want him to catch onto how she felt about him, even if it made no difference whatsoever.

  “Okay, that’s fine.” She drained the rest of her coffee and stood up.

  Ridge nodded, all business. “Good. We can start with today, if you don’t mind. I planned to take Alex to Poulsbo and explore the shops. He can see the stone statues and watch the boats. Then we can have lunch and think of something else or come back here afterward.”

  Kiona saw no problem with the plan, except that she looked forward to it. As she showered after Ridge vacated the room, she told herself the excitement lay in exploring the island once again and not in the pig-headed man who thought the sun rose and set on him.

  When she stepped back into the room, she noticed a child’s outfit on the bed. Alex sat at the top, legs draw up to his chest and mesmerized by some show she had turned on for him before going into the bathroom. She inspected the top and pants with a raised brow and then recalled Ridge going through others in the closet. She strolled over to it and sorted through the seemingly endless supply. No his mother did not go out and buy Alex clothes like she didn’t think Kiona had sense enough to dress him decently. Then Ridge went and chose one to lie across the bed as a hint. Hell no. She knew what it was about to. He didn’t want to upset his mother. Well she was going to be a lot more than upset if she thought she could dictate to Kiona how to dress her son. Ridge could pacify the woman on his own time and with his own clothes. Let him wear bowties, shorts, and suspenders for all she cared.

  Kiona chose an outfit from the dresser among the things she’d packed for Alex. She got him cleaned up and into his clothes, and then they headed downstairs. Only now that she wasn’t tired did she notice the living room, professionally decorated with an all white tree, red bows, and assorted old-fashioned looking ornaments. A giant wreath hung above the fireplace, garland had been strung along the mantle, and lights and candles graced the windows. Someone had laid a white bear skin carpet in front of the fire and placed bowls of walnuts on the coffee and side tables, complete with nutcracker tools. The entire scene would have been heartwarming and put her in the mood if she didn’t know for a fact that Marian paid a service to come in and do everything.

  When she and Alex entered the dining room, Kiona responded to greetings but watched as Marian appraised her baby from head to foot. She dared the woman to say a word, but her lips thinned into a straight line, and the heightening of her color told Kiona she wasn’t pleased. Sam nabbed Alex to place him in a chair with a booster seat, and Kiona took another on the opposite side of the table. She’d forgotten they enjoyed having meals together. That was a good thing, she guessed, but she intended to finish fast and excuse herself.

  Conversation flowed around her, but Kiona remained quiet. She selected scrambled eggs, toast, and a single slice of bacon. Ridge frowned at her plate. “That’s all you’re having?”

  “I’m trying to get a few more pounds off.”

  Marian waved her hand. “Oh, forget that, dear. A woman is supposed to have a little meat on her body.” She eyed Kiona critically. “And let’s face it, after three years, all the extra isn’t coming off.”

  Sh
e did not just call me fat.

  Ridge opened his mouth to speak, but his brother beat him to it. “I think you’re sexy as hell, Kiona. Curves in all the right places and full…” His gaze dropped to her breasts. She’d been an idiot to wear a low cut blouse, another unnecessary weakness to make Ridge gnash his teeth.

  “Shut up, Raymond,” Ridge growled.

  “Thank you, Ray,” Kiona simpered, flattening a hand across her chest, “though I’m hardly a pig at a size twelve.”

  Ray agreed.

  Not soon enough, Kiona finished her meal, and after she made sure Alex’s hands were clean and he hadn’t stained his shirt, they piled into Ridge’s car to start their day together.

  “I had a TV put in,” Ridge announced as he fumbled with some buttons. Kiona glanced over her shoulder in time to see the gadget lower. Another button powered it on, and Ridge handed headphones to Alex. “Hey, buddy, try these.”

  Her son popped them onto his head, and before she knew it he watched his favorite shows on recording. She grinned seeing his excitement as Ridge pulled out of the drive. She slipped her shoes off her feet and drew them to the seat.

  Ridge glanced at her. “You always did that as soon as you got into the car.”

  She shrugged. “My way of dealing with the fact that I don’t like being cooped up. Although, the Benz is nice enough.”

  He smirked. “Thanks.”

  She sighed and turned to look out the window. They were good when they didn’t argue.

  “Alex would enjoy the ferry over to Seattle later,” he suggested. “And you would like Pike Place Market. They actually have a glass blowing demonstration not far from there.”

  Kiona sat up straight. “Are you serious?”

  “I am.”

  She regarded his profile, her heart responding with one glance. His handsome face drew her hands, but she resisted. Ridge appeared staid now, but she’d seen him let go and have fun plenty of times when they were dating. He took his role in his family’s software business very seriously and forgot that life wasn’t all business. She had thought she’d like reminding him for the rest of their lives, but things hadn’t turned out that way.

  When they arrived in Poulsbo, Kiona took in the Christmas décor. Even without the sun shining and no snow on the ground, there was something magical about Washington State at Christmas time. “I just realized I missed Christmas in the Country.” She’d read up on the event, which happened at the end of November and into the first couple of days of December. Visitors to the island were given a map that detailed all the participating vendors—from people with home-based businesses and entrepreneurs, to artists, authors, and musicians. One could travel from place to place to see historic cottages and farms. Bainbridge Island might not house as many people as the big cities, but there were some charming homes not found in other places, or so she’d read. That wasn’t even mentioning the shopping for unique handmade items.

  “I think you’re better off missing it, at least when it comes to my family home,” Ridge informed her.

  She wrinkled her nose. “What do you mean? I’ve seen your parents’ house. It’s beautiful.

  Ridge chuckled. “Not that. It’s Mom. She gets into it a little too much, proudly giving a speech to every unsuspecting visitor who stumbles onto our property about how far back the Fosters go and how we were one of the founding families.”

  “Yeah, don’t put me down for that,” she snarked. “Were you?”

  He frowned as if not understanding, and then his brow cleared. “I don’t know, but does it matter when it comes to her?”

  “I guess not.” Rarely did she hear him criticize his mother. Ridge often defended her, telling Kiona the woman meant no harm, when anyone with common sense knew she did. The subject remained one of her bones of contention with him even after they split.

  After Ridge parked, Kiona hopped from the car and pulled her coat tighter around her. She turned to get Alex, but Ridge had already begun unbuckling him. Alex jumped to the ground and shouted “Birds,” about to run toward the wharf. Ridge caught him. “Let’s walk up this street first, little buddy.”

  Kiona watched her son to see if he would complain, but he fell into step with Ridge, taking huge steps to match his dad while holding Ridge’s hand. Her heart constricted. Alex had missed his daddy. Guilt about insisting on staying closer to her hometown and her family rocked her not for the first time. She needed to think more about Alex and what he needed.

  Shop windows were trimmed with spray on snow, wreaths or candles, and blinking lights. Beyond were some nativity scenes and Mrs. Claus knitting, waiting for Santa’s return. When Kiona heard music, she searched for the source and found a group of men with assorted instruments playing on the sidewalk. She marveled at one belting out tunes on a real upright piano. The area was known for the artistic type, and this proved it.

  “KeyKey, come here and look at this.”

  Kiona turned at Ridge’s deep voice, and without thinking she took the outstretched hand. She walked with him a few steps to where an artist painted a North Pole scene, complete with Santa in the sky and elves waving him off. With the piles of snow in the foreground, she shivered, but the scene brought warmth as well and a peek at the elven town in the back. Magic seemed infused in every brushstroke, and she sighed.

  “How much?” Ridge asked.

  The artist, a man in worn clothing, an ugly wool hat with earflaps, and gloves that allowed his fingers to be uncovered, looked up startled. “Oh, I wasn’t going to…”

  “Name your price,” Ridge insisted, already fishing for his wallet.

  Kiona frowned. “Ridge, everybody’s not about the money, you know. Let him be. He’s creating something amazing.”

  When Ridge pressed several large bills into the man’s hand, all of a sudden the painting was completed. The artist retrieved a protective sheet from a spot Kiona hadn’t noticed before, wrapped the painting when it was dry, and handed it to Ridge. Kiona shook her head laughing.

  “Satisfied?” she demanded.

  “Yes.” He handed the painting to her, and she gasped.

  “Really?”

  “Yes.”

  She hesitated then took it. She knew just where she could hang it around the holidays, and when the winter season was chinchy with the snow, she’d enjoy studying her painting. Hopefully, it wouldn’t also bring up memories of today with Ridge.

  They stopped by the car to put the gift in the trunk and headed for the wharf. As they approached the little rock statues that couldn’t be any bigger than two feet, Kiona watched her son’s eyes grow rounder.

  “Mommie, it’s a dinosaur,” Alex exclaimed.

  Feeling nervous that her son drew too close to the walkway’s edge, Kiona followed. The two of them marveled over the way the creator had strategically piled rocks until they formed the dinosaur, and ahead of him another figure had been done to look like a man running away.

  “More,” Alex whooped and dashed along the walkway to see the other statues. A man stood in a yoga pose, and another performed a hand stand. When Alex had his optical fill of the statues, he glanced up and seemed to newly discover the many boats moored along the pier. Her baby went still taking them all in, until Kiona rubbed his red cheeks.

  She turned to Ridge. “I think we should go inside somewhere for a while.”

  “Of course.”

  Over the next couple of hours, they explored the small shops, some with cool knickknacks, others with clothing, and more with antique furniture. At one point as they passed a narrow passageway, Kiona was taken by surprise to find a shop lay at the end of it. A clothesline, fashioned toward the top of the walls, displayed Christmas decorations, and lights hung amid the clothes.

  “Interesting,” she murmured.

  “I’m hungry,” Alex sang.

  “Lunch?” Ridge suggested, and she agreed.

  Kiona soon found herself in a cozy little restaurant with her son and her ex-husband. Just sitting across from Ridge brough
t to mind the time they dated and how he’d spend so much energy trying to woo her.

  “This reminds me of the occasion I tried to impress you by having flowers delivered to our table while we were out eating,” he said.

  She laughed. “Get out of my head. To give you credit, it was a great idea, but you couldn’t know how allergic I am to wildflowers.”

  “I felt like an idiot when your throat closed, and you had to get an epi shot.”

  Kiona pursed her lips nodding. “Uh-huh, you should feel guilty. You almost killed me.”

  Ridge groaned. “No compassion at all?”

  “None.” She grinned at him, and he met her gaze. For a moment, she was lost staring into his warm gray eyes, but then she forced herself to look away. Ridge might have loved her back then, but it wasn’t enough. He betrayed their vows, and she couldn’t forgive that no matter how much she ached for him.

  She bent to check out the children’s menu for Alex, and Ridge studied his own. She chanced a peek at him through her eyelashes and thought she caught a flash of sadness. Kiona steeled her heart. This man made his bed, and they both had to lie in it. There was no going back because she couldn’t trust him.

  “Hotdog,” Alex announced, pointing to the picture on the menu.

  “How about chicken nuggets and fries?” she suggested.

  “Hotdog and fries,” Alex compromised. Kiona shook her head in surrender. Along with the meal, she ordered hot tea for herself, and Ridge and Alex both chose hot cocoa with whipped cream and a candy cane.

  Kiona glanced across to Ridge and laughed. “I can’t believe you got something other than coffee, and you’ve got whipped cream on your cheek.” He gave it a swipe with his napkin, and on impulse Kiona leaned across and cleaned the cream off with her thumb. She’d stuck it into her mouth before she realized what she’d done. Ridge’s arrested stare sent shivers down her back. “I…sorry,” she whispered.

  “Are you seeing anyone?”

  She gasped. Hands fluttering so much, she needed somewhere to hide them. She stuffed them into her lap and ducked her head. A need for self-preservation made her lie. “Yes, I am, actually.”