Twist of Fate (A Holiday Romance Novella) Read Online Free PDF

Christmas” continued to play in the background. She needed distance, and she needed it now.
    “Um, I’ll be right back,” Kenzie said. “I need to find the restroom.”
    “Okay.” He nodded, still searching her eyes.
    Kenzie spun and headed toward the double doors at the side of the room. She didn’t care if a bathroom existed beyond them, she only cared about finding a quiet place to collect her thoughts and catch her breath—a place where she could return to reality and remember that she had a fiancé in Madagascar who’d be flying home in a couple weeks to marry her.

    The engine hummed as Ty maneuvered his Toyota 4-Runner through the slushy streets of downtown Rochester. The windshield wipers created the only sound in the car. Back and forth they went, wiping the snow away the way Ty wished he could wipe the tension in the car away.
    He mentally kicked himself yet again for the not-so-subtle way he’d acted earlier. Yes, they’d had a definite moment—one where he could have sworn that Kenzie looked at him as more than just a friend—but all too soon, it had ended, taking her with it. The rest of the night she’d kept her distance and retreated behind a mask of detached friendliness—a mask she continued to hide behind as she stared out the car window.
    Ty felt like cursing.
    “Can I ask you a question?” Kenzie said, twisting her face toward him. “Why isn’t there a girl in your life? I’ve known you for almost a year now, and in that time, you’ve never really dated anyone seriously. Why not?”
    Kenzie had asked as much before, several times in fact, but she’d never been this straightforward about it. Normally, Ty evaded the questions or cracked a joke, but tonight that probably wouldn’t work. She wanted an answer. And maybe she deserved one. Maybe it would even help ease the tension between them.
    “There was a girl in my life,” Ty finally said. “For a while, actually. We dated nearly a year and a half, but it didn’t work out. It was one of the reasons I moved out here—to get a fresh start.”
    “What happened?” Kenzie asked.
    “My mother.”
    He could feel Kenzie’s eyes on him. Watching. Waiting. A heavy snow had started to fall, coating the world around them. If the situation were different, if Kenzie sat next to him as his date and not a friend wanting answers, he’d pull over, take her by the hand, and make fresh footprints with her. He’d throw a few snowballs at her, make her laugh, and then hold her close to warm her up. And then he’d kiss her.
    But that wasn’t going to happen.
    Ty sighed. “I know you’re all about me reconciling things with my mom, but that’s only because you don’t know what happened. She can be so manipulative and controlling. If there was ever a decision I made that she disagreed with, like dating Nicole, she’d fight it as hard as she could.”
    The wipers whirred against the windshield, filling the silence. Ty didn’t want to finish the story, but there was no turning back now. “From the get-go, my mom never liked her, never even tried to like her. She said Nicole rubbed her the wrong way and that I was making a huge mistake by letting things get serious.
    “So instead of respecting my choice, she did everything she could to break us up. She’d show up uninvited at my apartment and, right in front of Nicole, say how she’d met a girl who would be perfect for me. She grilled Nicole every chance she got. How many kids do you want? Who in their right mind pays that much for a pair of shoes? Why on earth would you vote for so-and-so as senator? And then there was this time that Nicole mentioned she hated cats. Less than a week later, my mom showed up at her apartment with a kitten, saying that she needed to learn to love all animals.
    “Eventually, Nicole got sick of it, and right before Christmas last year she broke up with me.” Ty paused, gripping the wheel tighter as the memories and bitterness came rushing back. “I’d