Tough Talk

by Jessie Gussman

  Cassidy stood, straight and regal, beside her fiancé, Torque. She was talking to Harris but threw Kelly a wave. Kelly nodded and smiled, her eyes scanning the rest of the wedding party.

  A man caught her eye for just a second, and she thought he might be Tough, but she dismissed him almost immediately since he was engaged in a very animated conversation with the minister. The man of the cloth was roaring with laughter, doubling over, while the man who looked similar to Tough kept waving his arms and talking. Even the very serious-looking fellow in the glasses beside them smiled.

  Definitely not Tough. She’d never seen him that vibrant. Not that she’d been back to the garage much in the last week. Once to talk to him about the renovations and once to tell him that they could start next week. Just yesterday, she’d ordered the supplies.

  He’d delivered her car and brought the keys into her downtown social services office just three days after the accident. He’d looked out of place and uncomfortable in the fluorescent lights surrounded by sleek, modern designs. He hadn’t stayed long. She didn’t know how he’d gotten back to the garage, because he’d fled before she could offer him a ride.

  Even though Cassidy had come from money, the wedding was not going to be over the top. She’d requested no showers or bachelorette parties since she didn’t need anything.

  Everything was geared to the kids she and Torque were adopting.

  Cassidy looked at Torque again as the little girls dragged her closer. He’d been in prison but didn’t look like an ex-con. She could see the resemblance to Tough—brown eyes, tall with broad shoulders, same cut cheekbones, and jutting jaw—but Torque looked harder somehow. Except when his eyes landed on Cassidy or their children. His hands, brown and dark, were gentle as he wrapped them around one of his twins when she ran ahead and lifted her to his shoulder.

  She reached the group.

  “Hi,” Harris said. She was every librarian stereotype and never said much in public. Tough and Harris were similar in a lot of ways.

  Cassidy bent to pick up a twin, and Kelly saw a smaller, bleached blond, curvy woman. “Dusty, how have you been?” Kelly asked, hurrying over to her and giving her a hug.

  “Dusty just won her last motocross race. She beat the other thirty-three racers.” Cassidy handed the twin her sippy cup. “All men.”

  “Wow.” Kelly kept her arm wrapped around Dusty. “I always knew you could do it.” She’d been racing for years.

  “It’s fun,” Dusty said with a devil-may-care grin. “It’s great when you get paid to do what you love.”

  Kelly nodded. If she married Preston, she’d continue to get paid to do more of what she loved. When did she start thinking “if”? When she married Preston.

  “And I don’t think you’ve met Colton, either. He’s over there beside Turbo, Torque’s brother.” Cassidy waved toward the serious guy in the glasses.

  That was three men and four women. Were they still expecting someone? She wanted to ask but didn’t want to be obvious. Also, Cassidy had enough on her hands as one of the twins demanded a drink and in the next breath said she was hungry and had to pee.

  “I’ll take her to the restroom,” Kelly said.

  Cassidy sighed in relief. “Thank you so much. We’ve kept things as simple as we can, but this is still so much harder than I thought. Torque said we should just say our vows in front of a minister and one witness. I should have listened.”

  “Did I just hear ‘you were right, hon?’” Torque’s teeth flashed white in his dark face, and Kelly wondered if that’s how Tough would look if he ever smiled.

  “You did. A thousand times you did,” Cassidy said.

  “She’s been reading Dr. T.” Dusty winked.

  “I thought that column was just for men?” Torque asked with a lifted brow, which clearly said he’d been handed a column or two in his time.

  “There are gems in there for the ladies, too. Dr. T knows both genders equally well.” Dusty grinned with a sassy shake to her head. She didn’t have the refined carriage of Cassidy or the reserved personality of Harris. A blue-collar girl. Perfect for Tough. Kelly wasn’t usually a matchmaker. Plus, the thought of Tough with someone affected her the same way nails down a chalkboard did.

  “I see.” Torque winked at Cassidy, who smiled, a wide smile that lit up her whole face.

  Kelly lifted the twin from Cassidy’s arm. “This is Nessa, right?”

  Cassidy nodded. “I’m impressed! So many people can’t tell them apart.”

  Kelly turned and started toward the back of the church, where the steps led down to the basement and, she assumed, the bathrooms. They descended down into the cool, dark interior, Nessa clinging to her neck.

  “I’ll try to find a light switch,” she promised as they reached the bottom. She fumbled for the doorknob, finally finding it and twisting. The switches were right beside the doorway, brightening up a large fellowship hall, and the bathrooms were clearly marked down the hall to the left. She breathed deeply of the slightly musty scent tinged with stale coffee—the smell of generations of churchgoers having potlucks and spaghetti dinners, feeding the homeless and raising money for missionaries. Kelly could relate and enjoyed thinking of those earlier, unsung philanthropists.

  Nessa was soon done, and after helping her wash and dry her hands, Kelly led her out of the restroom. Across the hall, beside the basement door, an old, feeble lady bent over, one hand on a cane, the other on Tough’s arm.

  Kelly stopped so fast, Nessa lifted her head from her shoulder to see what the problem was. Her heart stuck in her throat. She wasn’t usually lacking words, but none came mind.

  He leaned over, his biceps flexing as he helped the lady move her cane around a chair. His large, rough hand seemed huge compared to the frail hands of the old lady. Still in t-shirt and jeans. Clean. And boots. Cowboy boots. Her heart somersaulted backward and floated down in a cloud of stunned admiration. Tough rocked the boots. Nessa shifted in her arms, breaking her stare. “Who that?”

  Tough’s head jerked up. Their eyes met. Sparks seemed to fly in the hallowed basement. Unprepared for the intensity of her feelings or his gaze, Kelly gasped. Tough’s brows rose, and he jerked his eyes around, as though looking for the source of her distress. It’s you.

  TOUGH’S WHOLE BODY buzzed, like he’d barely avoided a lightning strike. Kelly did that to him, every time. But she sounded distressed, so he looked around. Was there a snake? That’s what her expression said. But she wasn’t looking at the ground, she was staring straight...at him. Had he done anything to cause her to look at him like that? He didn’t think so.

  “I need to go to the little girls’ room,” Gram said.

  Uh. Maybe his face registered his horror, because Kelly spoke up. “It’s over here. I can...help. If you need it.”

  Gram lifted her head and seemed to see Kelly for the first time. She wore a tight blue skirt today—no gobs of material to hide fish fins—and a yellow and blue top with lots of ruffle things on it. A gold chain hung around her neck, a pretty contrast against her pale skin. He’d bet the metal was warm from her heat, and he’d love to kiss her, right there at the base of her neck, where it curved into her shoulder. Where the yellow gold lay. Metal on satin. He would move his lips along that contrast...

  “Tough? What’s wrong with you?” Gram tapped him lightly on the arm. He swallowed and pulled his eyes away from the graceful curve of Kelly’s neck. She was spoken for. By someone else. Why couldn’t he remember that?

  “Sorry,” he mumbled.

  “Help me over.” She tugged on his arm before she pointed her cane at Kelly. “Since I twisted this darn hip, I’ll need help getting down and back up. My grandson can watch the little girl...is that Nessa?”

  “Grammy.” Nessa struggled to get down then toddled over to Tough and his gram.

  Tough scooped her up, and she laughed. He ducked her upside down, carefully cradling her neck and back to keep his grip secure. She screamed with laughter. He’d always had t
rouble talking to women, but children had always been easy, and they seemed to love him.

  “Uncle Tough, more!” Her warm arms circled his neck. A sharp longing clinched in his chest, which was strange. He loved children but had never had the desire for his own before. He couldn’t look at Kelly, who was surely responsible for his sudden interest in procreating. He needed to get over it, get over her.

  He tickled Nessa’s stomach and tried to ignore the ache spiraling through his chest.

  Chapter 8

  Kelly looked away. She had to. Because she had no business admiring another man quite the way she admired Tough. Everything he did. Heck, all he had to do was stand there in his cowboy boots and she admired him. She and Preston might not be the most lovey-dovey couple ever, but she owed him fidelity.

  Gram thumped her cane on the ground as she closed the distance between them, her bright orange dress contrasted with her snow-white hair, which had been curled and stuck out in a happy cloud around her head. Still, her hazel eyes brooked no nonsense. Kelly plastered her biggest, brightest smile on her face. If anyone could see through her skull into her brain and guess at her thoughts about Tough, this woman would be the one.

  She offered her arm, and the old lady took it without saying anything. Good. Fooled her. For now.

  They navigated the narrow hall, the coffee smell fading and the mildew scent growing stronger. One bare lightbulb lit the short passageway, and Kelly studied the gray carpet to make sure Gram didn’t encounter any unexpected rolls or humps. They entered the small bathroom, and the door shut behind them before Gram spoke. “Nice ring.” She indicated the large diamond engagement ring on Kelly’s left hand. “Where’s he at?”

  “Uh.” Oh, goodness. Sometimes the elderly were way too blunt. “My fiancé is heading to Southeast Asia right now.”

  “He’s leaving you to do the wedding alone?” The woman turned and set her cane to one side, next to the pedestal sink.

  “He didn’t want to...I mean, I don’t think he really wanted to...” Kelly maneuvered around to keep from knocking the small pot of flowers off a little table. She couldn’t quite bring herself to say that she loved Preston. She didn’t want to examine why that was so hard.

  “Your man has money?”

  “Well, yes...”

  The old lady shook her head. “Can’t buy something as valuable as a strong man with character.”

  Kelly focused on the pink floral wall border next to the ceiling. “It’s not that. It’s just that I have a lot of people who are depending on me to help them.” She thought of Jasmine, who had spent the last two weeks shadowing Kelly after school. Clinging to the only thing in her world that wasn’t shifting as her mother had announced they were moving out of their duplex and into a smaller, cheaper apartment.

  Kelly helped Gram to stand. Gram shook her head. “That might be good. I understand. We all wish we had more so we could help more. Who doesn’t? Maybe if you didn’t have the opportunity for a better man, that Preston fellow would be enough.”

  Kelly shook her head. What was Gram talking about? She stiffened her spine. “He’s going to be enough. Lust, or what passes for love, doesn’t last anyway.” There, she said it out loud. She’d never seen it last. It felt like a fairy tale. There were so many children like Jasmine. So much pain. So many eyes that cried.

  “It grows deeper and gets better. But you’ll never find out.” Gram hobbled to the door, and they walked out.

  They moved slowly down the hall. Nessa had her arms wrapped tightly around Tough’s neck, and her dark head lay on Tough’s shoulder, so Kelly kept a hold of Gram, while Tough held the door to the stairs and the sanctuary for them. When they reached the top, several others had been added to the group, and a lady in a pink blouse sat on the organ bench. Kelly looked at the huge pipes that lined the back wall, and a thrill went straight to her soul. No sound was closer to heaven in this world than live organ music.

  “You okay?” Gram asked from beside her.

  Kelly tilted her head and soaked in the sound. “I just love the organ.”

  “You play?”

  “Oh, no. I just listen.” With rapture.

  “Humph.” Gram’s cane thumped on the step, and she slowly pulled herself up. Kelly leveraged her arm with both hands. “That’s the only thing that would put Tough to sleep when he was a baby. I had a tape of Bach’s organ music. He went to sleep to it for the first three years of his life.”

  Kelly blinked. Tough just didn’t seem like a classical music kind of guy. She peeked at him from under her lashes. Cassidy had taken Nessa from him and was pointing and talking in his ear. He moved to where Cassidy directed him beside Dusty. Harris looked as uncomfortable as Colton as they stood side by side. That left the other brother, Turbo, for her. She tried to tell herself she was not disappointed.

  She stepped up and introduced herself.

  Turbo was shorter than his two brothers but wider, with a deeper chest. And a devilish glint in his eyes. He pumped her hand up and down. “So glad to meet you. I’ll need your help later.”

  “Really?” She wondered what in the world for, but the pastor cleared his throat and called everyone to attention.

  After they had practiced walking up the aisle and been instructed on the order of service, the pastor’s attention turned to the children and their roles in the procession. Turbo tugged on her arm. “Come on.”

  She debated about two seconds before she followed him. He was a softer, happier version of Tough, and she was curious. What was he doing?

  They slipped through the vestibule where Turbo bent and picked up a big box Kelly hadn’t noticed when she walked in. He walked out and stopped on the sidewalk.

  “What?” Kelly asked.

  “Just wait.” He put a finger up and cocked his head to the side, as though listening.

  “Dude, over here. Ya think I parked it in front?” Tough’s voice came up from the side of the church.

  “I was waiting for you, you idiot.”

  “Like I would go out the same door as you. Everyone already thinks...” His voice trailed off.

  Turbo smirked. “That you’re chasing Kelly. Yep.” His smirk got bigger. “Let ’em talk. We all know Kelly’s after me.” Kelly rolled her eyes as Turbo started around the side of the church. “Come on. We need to hurry.”

  Tough waited behind the church, standing beside an antique-looking car that was polished and shining.

  “Wow. Nice car.” Kelly whistled.

  “Torque fixed it up for Cassidy. It was her grandfather’s.”

  “That’s sweet.”

  Tough had a long metal thing, and he was...

  “You’re going to ruin the paint? No!” Kelly shouted in a whisper.

  “Relax,” Turbo said. “That’s a Slim Jim. Tough’s unlocking the car.”

  “Go get the cereal,” Tough said.

  “I’ll be right back.” Turbo jogged away.

  “Where’s Dusty?” Kelly asked. How did Tough get away from her? They’d been sitting on the front pew together when she left.

  “She’s the lookout.” The door clicked, and he opened it with the handle.

  “Oh.”

  “Figure we have about ten minutes, tops.” He knelt and put his upper body where the driver’s legs go. “Shoot. Hand me my tools, please.”

  Kelly grabbed the small bag on the ground and set it on the driver’s seat. “So this is why you came in the basement door. And you drove Torque’s car?”

  “Yeah. Can’t fit all the kids in here.” He pulled a metal tool with a plastic handle out of the bag then twisted his shoulders to get more deeply under the dash. “It’s why we were late, too.”

  “The car is slow?”

  He laughed. “No, ma’am. I’ve buried the speedometer, which maxes out at 130. Don’t tell Torque.”

  Kelly was aghast. Not just that he was actually talking to her, but that he’d drive that fast. “With your gram in the car?”

  “No.” He snorted. “
I had to take it back to the shop and put a clamp on the underside of the frame rail. I think there’s enough room to attach that train horn.”

  That’s when Kelly finally realized what they were doing. “You’re pranking his car.”

  “Yep.”

  She looked up. “Here comes Turbo.” He was using some kind of little thing with wheels to pull a big skid from the church shed. This wasn’t a prank they thought of ten minutes ago.

  “That’s great,” Tough said. “I’m almost done in here.”

  Turbo pulled a skid of cereal to a stop beside the car.

  “I left the sunroof open,” Tough said as he slid out of the front seat. He placed his tools back in the bag and shut the door before he dug a length of wire out.

  “Great.” Turbo grinned at Kelly. “Tough stuck this skid of cereal and the pallet dolly in the church’s shed the day before yesterday.”

  Kelly laughed. “And you’re going to pour the cereal down the sunroof?”

  “No, you are. I’m headed back inside. Hey,” he said to Tough who had lain down on the ground and was reaching under the car. “Gram’s going to kill you if you get yourself all dirty.”

  “I brought a change of clothes. Depends on how much time we have.”

  Turbo shoved some open boxes of cereal toward her. He picked a cement block that lay in the grass and tossed it to the side, out of their way.

  “Hey, watch it. You almost hit me with that.”

  “Relax, bro. The pain goes away eventually.” Turbo turned to Kelly. “You need to get that cereal in there fast.” He stopped for a minute, and his fingers touched her arm. The smile fell from his face. “I never got to ask you if this was okay?”

  “It’s a fun prank. I’m fine with it.”

  “Well, I really meant, you and Tough out here together. Tomorrow, everyone will know what you were really doing, but today...” He paused. “Today, I kinda figured that everyone will think you two were sneaking around together.” Turbo grinned and nodded at Tough. “I tried to get him to do this with Dusty, but I think he’s scared of her.”