Blinded by Beauty (Doms of Destiny, Colorado 8)

Kaylyn walked into the kitchen, glad to be on her feet again. But it was the only thing good about this morning. Last night, Chance’s response to her confession about her feelings for Jaris devastated her. Why had she expected Chance to act differently? He wasn’t from Destiny. He didn’t understand. Jaris wasn’t from Destiny either. Would he understand? Probably not. Hell, I don’t even know how he feels about me.

Kaylyn closed her eyes, wondering if she should’ve kept quiet about her true feelings. Had she made a terrible mistake? She started trembling from head to toe.

Chance was in the shower.

I feel like a little girl who needs her mommy.

She knew her mom would be asleep given the time difference between Hawaii and Colorado. But her emotional need was taking over her common sense.

I really want to talk to her.

She got her cell and called her mom.

“Kaylyn, are you okay?” The panic in her mom’s voice came through loud and clear.

“Physically, Mom, I couldn’t be better.” She choked back her tears. “But I’m in love and I’m falling apart.”

“Kaylyn, I know Chance loves you.”

“I know he does, too, but I’m not sure that’s enough. Mom, I also love Jaris.” She told her mother about what she’d said to Chance and how he’d reacted. “So you see, I may lose them both and I haven’t even told Jaris how I feel about him.”

“Sweetheart, love is a strong emotion, and you’re a very smart girl. I know you will handle this just fine. You’re not going to lose Chance. I promise you. He’s loved you for a long time. After you talk to Jaris, the three of you need to sit down together and go through everything. That’s what I had to do with your dads. You know they

were only casual friends when we started dating. Talk about being scared I would lose them both…I know exactly how you feel. But you know what I told them? Get used to it. This is the way it’s going to be. And you know, Kaylyn, we’ve been happy ever after.”

“Oh, Mom, you make me feel so much better.” She thought about her two dads, who worked hard in the oil fields of Alaska and were gone for months at a time. But when they came home, they always swept her mother up in their arms and disappeared for a couple days. When they emerged into the light of day, all three of them always had broad smiles. “I am going to tell them what you told my dads.”

* * * *

Chance let the shower continue to run though he already cleaned and rinsed off. He was still wrestling with what Kaylyn had told him last night.

Even with the water running, he was able to hear a knock on the door, which brought him back to the present. That’s not Jaris’s knock.

* * * *

“Mom, Jaris is here. Wish me luck.”

Another knock.

“Luck, baby. I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

* * * *

Chance threw on his robe, grabbed Annie’s lead, and shot out the bathroom. He could hear Kaylyn walking to the front door. “Stop.”

“What’s the matter?” she asked him.

“That’s not Jaris.” He stepped right next to her. “Look out the peephole. Tell me who you see.”

“I have no idea who that man is.”

He pulled her behind him and reached for the sheriff’s department handheld radio, which was on the table by the front door. Kaylyn’s family home was a few miles out of town and at the end of a dirt road. There were only four houses on the street, each having several acres.

Kaylyn leaned in close to him. He could feel her trembling.

“Chance, I’ve seen a picture of Lunceford. That’s not him outside.”