She went into the small closet and searched for something that would work for her and quickly found a nice, navy shirt. She pulled off the shirt she’d just put on, slid Reese’s shirt over her shoulders and buttoned it. When she looked down, she noticed a box that was just open enough for her to see some strange objects inside. She didn’t want to be nosy, but it had caught her attention. She bent down to see small, white-looking objects that appeared to be either plastic or rubber. Some of them looked like corner protectors she’d normally seen made out of cardboard to protect paintings; others were of different shapes and sizes. It was odd, she thought, but Reese was a preschool teacher. These were likely for the students’ protection. She picked up her bag from the bedroom and sipped at her coffee before knocking on the bathroom door and opening it just slightly.
“Reese?”
“Yeah?” she said through the shower.
“I’ve got to go. I told the doctor I’d be in by the time they opened.”
“Oh, okay. I’ll see you tonight.”
“I’ll call you,” Kellan replied.
“Okay. Bye?” Reese asked that more than stated it.
Kellan thought this was one of the strangest moments in any relationship she’d had. She’d never gone this long without sleeping with a woman, which meant she’d seen them naked by now and didn’t need to hide behind a door when her date was in the shower. It was strange now to not be in there with Reese. She wanted to watch the water run down her skin. She wanted to lick it off Reese’s neck and then kiss her after, until she had her against the back wall of the shower and her thigh was between Reese’s legs.
“Bye,” she said quickly.
She closed the door and shook her head back and forth to try to wipe the images out of her mind. They’d agreed to wait. She would need to muster some self-control to make it through. Just falling asleep next to Reese was hard. She’d wanted to reach under Reese’s shirt and touch her breasts or slide her hand down between Reese’s legs to see if she was wet. Last night, Reese was on top of her. As they kissed, Reese’s hips moved at the same pace as her lips. Kellan had asked for a water break because she was about to come. That was not how she wanted to come the first time with Reese.
“Damn it,” she muttered to herself. “Knock it off, Cobb.” She walked out toward the living room.
“Hey, you heading out?” Remy asked just as she got to the front door.
“Yeah. Reese is still in the shower.”
“You didn’t join her?” She lifted an eyebrow and opened the door for Kellan to walk out.
“No, I didn’t join her.” Kellan chuckled as she walked outside.
“Hey, can I ask you something since I’ve got you alone?”
“That sounds ominous.” Kellan tossed her bag into the car.
“Are you in love with my sister?” Remy asked while standing in front of Kellan.
“What?”
“Are you in love with my sister? It’s a simple question,” she repeated and emphasized.
“I think whether or not I feel a certain way about Reese should be shared with Reese first.”
Remy squinted at her as she considered Kellan’s answer. Kellan worried that if she didn’t pass the twin test, she might not have any chance with Reese after all.
“Fair enough.” Remy glared. “My sister is the most important thing in the world to me.”
“I know.”
“It’s different for twins, though. It’s not just a sibling thing.”
“I understand. I mean, I don’t, actually, because I’m not a twin myself, but I get what you’re saying.” Kellan leaned against the side of the jeep.
“She’s not perfect. She’s got stuff she’s still working through, but she’s my most favorite person in the world, and she deserves the best.”
“No one will ever be good enough,” Kellan said.
“No, they won’t,” Remy agreed.
“I’ll never meet your standard for your sister because that’s impossible, just like I’m sure it’s impossible for anyone to deserve you from her perspective. No offense to Ryan.” Kellan shrugged.
“None taken on his behalf.” Remy smiled at her. “And you’re right. She needs someone who understands how special she is and makes her their number one priority. She’s never had that before.”
“What about Morgan?” Kellan stood up straight.
“Morgan and Reese were good together; don’t get me wrong. They did love each other. I have nothing against Morgan. She’s not the one for Reese though. When they were together, Morgan was in the process of taking over the family business. It was a lot of work. Reese can tell you about it if she wants. But from my side, Morgan seemed distracted a lot of the time. Reese was very understanding even when she’d forget dates or anniversaries. Like I said, she can tell you more if she thinks it’s important. She’s never had a girlfriend that was as dedicated to all the relationship things like she is. I think everyone deserves to have someone make them their number one priority at least once in their life.”
“Me too,” Kellan said softly.
“You okay there?” Remy asked.
“I think I just realized that I’ve never had that either.”
“Yeah?” she double-checked, and Kellan only shook her head. “Maybe you can be that for one another.”
CHAPTER 20
“Dr. Cobb was a great help today,” Edward Sanders stated as they all sat down to dinner at a local pizza parlor. “I’m afraid I can’t keep up these days.”
“I didn’t do much,” Kellan replied as she placed an arm over Reese’s chair.
“You took care of three patients on your own and assisted with several others.”
“You did?” Reese asked her as she smiled at Kellan.
“Someone hit a deer this morning and brought it in,” Kellan began. “It was my first deer patient.”
“Broken legs, but she’ll be fine,” Edward told Reese. “Dr. Cobb handled it perfectly.”
“I’ve told you to call me Kellan.”
“Fine. I’ll call you Kellan out of the office,” Edward agreed.
“Thank you.” Kellan laughed and turned back to Reese. “I’m going to work at the office the rest of the week.”
“You’re on vacation,” she reminded her.
“I know. I had a good time today, and it’s nice getting back into things. Plus, Edward knows much more than I do. His experience alone…” She paused. “Plus, he has more experience with wildlife than I do.”
Reese sat and listened to Edward and Kellan talk about their day and the patients they saw along with the interesting ones that would be coming in the next day. She looked at Kellan, who was exchanging advice with Edward on how to handle something Reese didn’t even pretend to understand. She marveled at how well Kellan fit into her life here.
Kellan had made friends with many of Reese’s friends during football. Remy liked her and had given her the sibling pass. Kellan loved Tahoe. She seemed to thrive in the environment. Now, she was talking to the town veterinarian, who happened to be a family friend. She was smiling and laughing. Her hand had moved to Reese’s thigh after they’d finished their pizza. She always leaned into Reese to welcome her into the conversation. With Kellan by her side, she’d already done so much. She’d done many things she’d worried she’d never be able to do again either for lack of courage or for physical limitations. She listened to Kellan laugh at something Dr. Sanders said, and she knew then that she was absolutely in love with Kellan Cobb.
◆◆◆
“Hey.” Reese ran a nervous hand through her hair as she approached Morgan. “Do you have a few minutes? Lunch maybe?” she asked.
“Did I know you were coming?” Morgan asked as she stocked ski poles.
“I just showed up. I have an hour. I was hoping you could take a break and we could talk.” She stood with her hands in her pockets.
“I can take a break, but I can’t do lunch. It’s just dad and I here today.” Morgan turned to her.
“Let me grab my jacket.”
She hadn’t spoken to Morgan since Sunday before football. Even then, it had been in passing and with everyone around. Reese wanted to fix that and had been trying to find the right time and place to ask her to talk. She’d spent nearly every night with Kellan at either the cabin or her house. They’d had an amazing week together. Kellan had spent every day at Dr. Sanders’ office and had enjoyed working alongside him. They’d spent time with Remy and Ryan. They’d even gone out for drinks with Stacy on Tuesday night. While the nights together had been wonderful, each one that passed with the sunrise meant they had one fewer together.
Now, she watched Morgan exit the office, zipping up her windbreaker and sliding her hands into her pockets. She was obviously guarded and seemed to be aware that this conversation she was about to have would be an important one. Reese stood in place until Morgan approached. Morgan nodded to the door without words. Reese held open the door, and they moved to the sidewalk.
“So, am I invited to the wedding?” Morgan asked once they’d walked a few steps in no particular direction.
“What?”
“You and Kellan?”
“Morgan, no,” she replied.
“Then, what’s this little conversation about?” She crossed her arms over her chest.
“We haven’t talked in a while.”
“You’ve been busy. I get it. I’m not mad or anything. If you think I’m upset, I’m not.”
“What are you then?” Reese asked and crossed her own arms.
“Are you asking how I feel about you dating Kellan? You told me to back off. I backed off. I thought she was nice. And she’s obviously gorgeous. I asked her out. She said no.”
“And then you asked her again.”
“That was me being petty. I am sorry about that.”
“How are you other than the Kellan thing?”
“What’s that mean?”
“Come on, Morgan. Don’t be like this. Don’t make me pull it out of you.”
“What’s wrong, Reese? You seem to think something’s up. I don’t know that there is. You’re dating Kellan. We’re just friends. It’s fine.”
“I don’t want fine with you, Mo. I want my best friend back.”
“Your best friend is also your ex-girlfriend.”
“I know. But we seemed okay until I started dating Kellan. I thought okay was enough; but I don’t think it is.”
“What if it’s the best I can do?” Morgan asked. “We broke up, Reese. It was so unexpected and so out of nowhere to me that I sometimes still can’t believe it happened. Sometimes, I look over at you and think I should be holding your hand or have my arm around you. I should be heading to your place for dinner or asking you if we have plans. We were together for three years. That stuff doesn’t just disappear overnight.”
“I know. It’s one of the things I wanted to talk to you about.”
“The end of our relationship?”
“I need to apologize to you. You were there for me during the whole thing. You were at the hospital. You held my hand. You were there for me when we spread the ashes. You’ve always been there for me.”
“And that won’t change no matter who you date, Reese. You know that, right?” She placed her hand on Reese’s forearm stopping their progress.
“I know. I want to say some things to you that might explain what happened then, but they also might hurt you, which is why I haven’t said them before. I wasn’t going to, but I realized that being on the other side and not knowing might be worse than knowing and being hurt.”
“Because Kellan had that thing with Keira?”
“Yes,” she shared.
“So, are you giving me the choice? To know or not to know?”
They stepped aside to allow people to pass them on the sidewalk.
“I guess.”
“How early on did you know?” Morgan asked. “That it wasn’t going to work; that you wanted to end things.”
“Morgan, I–”
“I want to know, Reese. I’m asking.”
“I don’t know when I knew it,” Reese started. “I just remember feeling like it would end.”
“We would end?” Morgan clarified.
“Yes.” Reese leaned against the brick wall of a closed ice cream parlor behind her. “I always loved you. It wasn’t that. I just started to see our relationship changing. I realized it wasn’t what I wanted or needed. When I started picturing the future, you and I weren’t lying in bed together or walking down the street hand in hand. It was different.”
“We were friends.”
“We’ll always be friends, Mo. When we first started dating, things were hot and heavy. I was already in love with you. I was in love with you before we started dating. It was great for a while.”
“And then it was just good.” Morgan’s lips went into a straight line. “I know I caused a lot of the problems.”
“I wasn’t exactly helpful. I kind of let you cause the problems and then kept how I felt about that inside.”
“The store needed so much work to bring it to the modern era. My parents still used paper to keep the books.”
“I remember. I don’t blame you for needing to focus on them and the store.”
“But you did for the dinners I missed and the things I forgot about because of it.”
“It wasn’t fun,” Reese admitted. “Sitting at a restaurant, waiting for you for over an hour; and you didn’t even text me.”
“I got lost there for a while. I wanted to be with you. But there’s this family obligation thing that comes with taking over the business; and it was happening at the same time.”
“Morgan, you already apologized for this stuff. I’m not still upset about it. And it wasn’t the sole reason things ended.”
“You got sick.” Morgan’s lips formed a frown now. “It was horrible.”
“And you never left my side. You were there when it counted, Mo.” Reese slid her hand into Morgan’s. “I will always be grateful to you for that. Remy had to handle so much, with me in the hospital and losing our parents at the same time. I know how much you did for her and for me. I will never forget it.”
“But that doesn’t make a relationship, does it? Just being grateful to someone for being there for you?”
“No, it doesn’t. The timing was wrong. And for that I am sorry.” She squeezed Morgan’s hand. “But when I got out of the hospital, and we said goodbye to my parents, I guess I was a cliché. I saw how fast it all goes by.”
“And you didn’t see me at your side anymore?”
“I did, but not in that way. I saw us as friends. I could see these figures with us; they weren’t fully formed people… I mean, I didn’t know Kellan yet. I couldn’t see her or anything, but I saw…” She faded when Morgan smirked at her. “What?”
“You hadn’t met Kellan yet?”
“Yeah, so?”
“Reese, you basically just said you hadn’t met the woman, but that you now see her as the woman that will stand beside you.”
“That’s not what I said,” she countered and then thought about it. “Oh, I guess I did.” She looked down at the ground. “Things are still new between us. I don’t know what’s going to happen.”
“But you know what you want to happen.”
“I just met her.”
“Reese, are you in love with her?” Morgan asked. “Be honest.”
“She makes me feel different, I think.”
“She makes you happy, I think.” Morgan paused. “That’s a good thing.”
“I know.” Reese smiled. “Are we okay?” She pointed between them.
“We’re good.” The woman nodded. “We’ll probably need to talk more. I think there’s still stuff to be said, but I miss having you as my best friend in the way that it used to be between us two.”
“We can work on it.” Reese nodded, too.
“Let’s hang out after Kellan leaves. I know she’s only here for another week. I don’t want to
interfere with your time.”
“I appreciate it. We’ll be at football again on Sunday.”
“Last one of the year. It’s getting too cold.” Morgan crossed her arms over her chest again. “Can we head back now? I’ve got to do payroll.”
Reese slid her arm through Morgan’s, and they walked back to the store, with Reese feeling much better about their chances of getting their friendship back.
CHAPTER 21
Kellan wrapped up her Friday shift at the office and couldn’t stop smiling. She had worked a full week while she was on vacation, but she had no regrets and had even offered to work the following week as well. Reese had to work, so they wouldn’t be able to spend that time together anyway. They had a full day on Saturday where they’d hike some trails neither of them had tackled, and they’d play football on Sunday again. Tonight though, they’d have a relaxing night together. Reese had planned a fun Friday night for them. Kellan climbed into her car and drove straight to the market where she picked up several bottles of wine and snacks. After, she drove the short distance to Reese’s house and unloaded. The front door was unlocked. She went right in to see Remy and Ryan in the kitchen, working on something on the stove.
“Hey, I got all the stuff,” she told them and sat two paper bags on the counter. “Where’s Reese?”
“In her room,” Remy replied.
“Rem, that’s too much cheese.” Ryan pointed at whatever dip Remy was creating.
“There’s no such thing.” Remy kissed his cheek.
Kellan found herself quite at home in Remy and Reese’s place. They’d developed this routine in the past week or so. Neither Remy nor Ryan seemed to have any issues with her spending more and more time there. She removed something from the bag and moved into the kitchen where she opened up a drawer and pulled out a spoon before she headed into Reese’s room.
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