Kiss and Make Up (gxg)

Chapter 23

Kenley's POV

"Come on, one more!" Kate yelled at me while I struggled to lift the heavy bar. "Do this and the beach is waiting!"

That did it! With a heave, I straightened up, and then dropped the bar on the rack behind me. Kate had been amazing for the last few weeks, and really improved my outlook on life. She worked me out for two hours every morning, and I got to learn a lot about her as the time passed. She used to be a stunt woman, and had a string of gyms up and down the California coastline and spent a little bit of time in each one. With winter upon us, she was in San Diego for the weather, so I'd lucked out in my timing. Her wife, a lovely Asian woman named Gloria, ran the gyms with her, and was a constant adorable presence whenever Kate worked me till I wanted to die. I was seeing results though. I wasn't crazy fit after two weeks, that would be much too fast, but I was feeling better about myself, and the beach was really helping me with my tan and my mind.

I never did die, no matter how hard Kate pushed me. Instead, I worked my ass off trying to learn some new habits. Get up, take a nice walk, go to the gym, hit the beach to rinse off, get lunch, go back to the beach for more walking and swimming. It was a nice pattern, and it had worked for me over the tail end of vacation. Even now, on Thanksgiving morning, Kate had opened the gym for me because she knew it would be the last time I'd be here. I had a flight to catch later.

"Kate, this might be a stupid question," I began after I took a drink of water and fought to catch my breath. "When I get my house and gym set up, do you and Gloria want to come out and visit? Maybe you can set me up with a routine once you see my equipment? I'll pay for everything, and a consulting fee, whatever you need."

She looked at me with raised eyebrows. "Seriously?"

"Yeah, seriously. You can even wait till next summer since I know you like the warmer weather, but I want to make sure I maximize everything. I don't know that I can do as much without you yelling at me, but I will do my best." I was serious too. I really wanted to keep this up. The last two weeks had been hard, but also fun, and I needed that. I'd also been in much better shape emotionally ever since I'd started this new routine, and I wanted to keep it up.

"I think we could do that," she replied with a smile. "Gloria likes vacations, and we've never been to Massachusetts, so it could be a good time."

"Well, the house should be done by then, and there will be plenty of room. It will be right on the water, though I know the water will be chillier than here. But we'll get used to it, and I'll get a hot tub too."

"Okay, okay, I'm sold. I'm sure Gloria will say yes, and I already have all your contact info, so I'll reach out to you after the holidays to see what we can plan."

I left shortly after that, with a final hug to Kate as she locked up the gym. A short drive later, and I was parked at the relatively empty beach. I couldn't stay too long today, because I still had to pack up all my clothes for the trip home. But I took my dip in the Pacific, then went and ordered one last plate of fish tacos. I'd have fond memories of this trip, and I was glad I'd taken it. I wasn't fully healed, but I felt a lot better about things. I had a purpose, and I had a direction, and I could leave a lot of the past behind. By the end of the weekend, I'd be up in Massachusetts trying to decorate a new house.

Instead of moping about Shiloh in the evenings, I'd looked over some of my options for relocation instead. Since I'd fallen in love with the sound of the water, I knew that I wanted to be close to the ocean, but I still wanted to be in the northeast. Long Island was out, because I wanted to be nowhere near Blake, and Maine was too cold, so I split the difference and decided on Cape Cod in Massachusetts. I found some extremely nice listings, and then hired a real estate agent to do video walk throughs with me, and I ended up buying a house in a town called West Yarmouth that way.