by T. L. Haddix
The little restaurant was mostly empty, the breakfast crowd having cleared out and the lunch patrons not yet having started to arrive. One person was seated at the counter, sipping a cup of coffee and perusing the menu.
Charles could hardly believe his eyes as he walked over to take the seat beside her. “What are you doing here?”
Kathy had looked up as he approached, going perfectly still for an instant. When he spoke, she gave a little sputtering laugh and set down her coffee. “Thinking about pie. What about you?”
Charles shook his head slightly as he settled onto the stool. “I came in for some breakfast. My kitchen’s empty. I’ve not made it to the store yet.”
“When did you get back?”
“Last night. Thanks,” he said to the waitress who poured him a cup of coffee. “I’ll take the usual, Dolly.”
“Sausage or bacon?” she asked as she wrote down the order.
Charles grinned. “Yes.”
“Ha! Hungry this morning, are ya? We’ll feed you up. How about you, hon? Have you decided?” she asked Kathy.
Kathy bit her lip. “I think I’ll do the chocolate… no, the coconut cream. Yes, definitely the coconut. Thank you.”
Dolly winked at them. “I’ll get these right out to you.”
“You eat here a lot, I take it?” Kathy asked.
Charles stirred sugar into his coffee. “Often enough. I don’t live far from here. The coconut cream was a good choice, by the way. Not that the chocolate isn’t just as good, but the coconut’s special.” He took a long draw of coffee, humming a little as it hit his stomach. “Oh, I needed that.”
“You look tired,” she said quietly. “How was your trip?”
“Productive but much too long. I’m actually playing hooky today,” he told her in a low voice. “I may not go back in until Monday even.”
“Oh-ho, living dangerously, are we?” She smiled shyly. “Thank you for the books. Did you get my note?”
He frowned and shook his head. “When did you send it? And where?”
“Monday. I sent it to your office since I didn’t know when you’d be back. I figured they’d have the best chance of getting it to you.” She looked at her mug, tracing the handle with one elegantly manicured fingernail. “It was a nice gift. Thank you.”
He tore his eyes away from that finger, shoving aside the thoughts of what her hands might feel like on his body. “You’re very welcome. Have you had a chance to read them?”
She nodded. “You were right about Langston Hughes. I did enjoy his words. That said, as much as I liked them, I think I prefer regular books. Poems are too much like candy—little unfinished stories that whet your appetite. Sometimes that’s just what you need, and sometimes you want more substance. I’m greedy since I feel like I have so much to catch up on.” She wrinkled her nose. “Is that awful of me to say? It is. I’m sorry. I really did enjoy them.”
Charles laughed. “It isn’t awful at all. So what brings you in here today?”
“I’m playing hooky too since it’s my day off. I wanted to come down here and walk the beach for a while before my appointment with Dr. Milton this afternoon. Now that my head’s on a little straighter than it was, I can appreciate the sandy shores, I think.” She let out a breath. “I owe you another apology, I’m afraid.”
“Whatever for?” He sat back as Dolly brought over their food. “I can’t think of a single thing you should be sorry for.”
She waited until the waitress had left. “For New Year’s Eve. For freaking out on you. That doesn’t happen so much these days, but when it does…” She shook her head. “It’s not a pretty thing to witness, especially if you’re practically a stranger.”
Charles touched her hand. “Stop right there. I mean it,” he said when she started to protest. “Don’t make me tell your mother on you.”
He slid his hand around hers and squeezed gently, unable to make himself immediately release her. It wasn’t until Dolly came back to refresh their coffee a moment later that he let go.
Kathy’s cheeks flushed. “Normally, seeing as how I’m an adult, that threat wouldn’t hold water, Mr. Kelly.”
“Why do I feel like there’s a ‘but’ in there somewhere, Ms. Browning?”
“Humph. Eat your breakfast.” She shook her head, but she was smiling as she took a bite of pie.
They lingered over coffee long after their plates had been cleared away.
When Dolly brought the ticket over, she handed it to Charles. “I’m assuming this is on the same bill?”
“Yes,” he said as Kathy answered, “No.”
Expecting that she wouldn’t want to cause a ruckus, he made it to the register first.
“I’ll remember this,” Kathy told him under her breath as he paid.
He grinned at her. “I hope you will.”
Once they were outside, she lifted her face to the sun. “That feels so good. It’s been dreary for a couple of weeks now, though this weather is nothing compared to how miserable it is in Kentucky this time of year.” She gave an exaggerated shudder. “I do not miss the snow.”
“Tell me about it. New York was almost unbearable. So… I guess this is where we part ways. Unless you want some company on your walk. I could do with some fresh air if you do want company.” He waited with bated breath as she looked across the street at the ocean beyond then back at him.
“I don’t mind.”
His smile came instantly, a visceral reaction that she wasn’t telling him to get lost. He held out his arm. “Excellent. Let me show you my beach.”
“Your beach?” she said on a laugh, slipping her hand around his elbow with only a brief hesitation.
The light weight of her fingers pressing against the cotton of his sleeve felt as electrifying as a bolt of lightning. They rested on his forearm just below his elbow, on the fold of cloth where he’d rolled up his sleeves. He did his best to ignore the sensation.
“Yep. It’s all mine.”
They crossed the street and went through the gap in the dunes that led to the beach. Much like the diner, only a handful of people were scattered up and down the shore, giving them the sense of having the space to themselves.
“How long have you lived down here?” Kathy asked after a couple of minutes. A brisk wind was blowing, and she had to raise her voice and lean toward him a little to be heard.
Charles didn’t mind in the least. “About three years now. I found the house not long after I got home from law school. It needed some work, but I didn’t mind fixing it up. It gave me something to do with my time, and it was fun to learn the skills.”
“You grew up here?”
He nodded. “In town, near Forsyth Park. Mother still lives there and so does my sister. Neither of them were particularly pleased when I decided to move out here.”
She looked at him quizzically. “How come?”
“Well, I’m ashamed to say. It makes my family sound… complicated.”
Kathy laughed, clinging to his arm. “Charles, I think that’s the very definition of family. If they weren’t complicated, something would be wrong.”
He grinned at her. “Never say your family is full of nosy busybodies and matchmakers.”
She had to stop walking she was laughing so hard. She waved a hand in front of her face. “Oh, never. None of them. Not at all.”
“I knew we were kindred spirits the first time I saw you,” he said with a sigh.
She goosed him in the ribs. “So why were they upset with you?” She held on to his arm as she took off her shoes, and she left her hand there once she was barefoot.
Charles shrugged. “Mother wanted me closer, no doubt so she could keep an eye on me and parade a bevy of beauties back and forth in an effort to snag herself a daughter-in-law. Daphne was jealous that I’d escaped Mother’s watchful eye. She’s not a bad
person, my mother,” he hastened to say. “Truly, she isn’t. But she has a very strict model she thinks her children’s lives should adhere to, and she’s quite forceful about getting her way at times. I thought it might be better for all of us if I put some distance between our domiciles.”
“Domiciles. You are such a lawyer,” she teased.
“That’s me—decidedly odd,” he promptly responded. When he caught her shaking her head, he stopped, staring at her, his mouth agape with pretend shock. He lowered his voice to an intimate level. “Don’t tell me you think I’m normal now. Have we made progress? Does this mean you might actually like me?”
“Oh, no. I still think you’re odd.” She shot him a coy look, her lips tipped up at the corners, and ran lightly ahead of him down the beach. “Well, come on. Show me this place.”
He caught up, turning so that he could see her face as he jogged backward. “But do you like me? Or are you still deciding?” He hoped he didn’t trip and kill himself or worse. That, he imagined, wouldn’t make him more likeable or attractive.
Kathy stopped and brushed her hair out of her eyes. “I’m definitely still deciding.” Then she winked.
Charles couldn’t prevent himself from reaching for her hand and lacing their fingers together. The movement drew them closer together, and for long, long moments, they stood staring at each other. When the wind blew her hair back in her face, he threaded his fingers into the dark-fire tresses at her temple. Her eyes closed as his hand cupped her cheek, the lashes a dark contrast to the faint freckles on her skin.
The temptation to bend his head down and kiss her was as strong as the pull of a hard ocean current, and he felt himself giving in. Just as his lips reached hers though, a whisper of warning stopped him, and he veered off to brush them against her temple instead.
“Let me know when you make up your mind,” he whispered in her ear. “Because I may be decidedly odd, but I like you, Kathy Browning.”
She stared at him as he pulled back, her eyes full of questions and wariness. “Why?”
“Why do I like you?” When she nodded, he lifted a shoulder. “Because you’re honest. You don’t flatter my ego just to get on my good side. Because I enjoy talking to you and spending time with you.” When she sucked in a sharp breath and looked away, he frowned. “What’s wrong? What did I say?”
“Nothing.” She shook her head and gave a rueful laugh. “I promise, it was nothing. I just wasn’t expecting that response.” She squeezed his hand. “We’d best start back. Time’s slipping away, and I still have to catch the bus back to town.”
“I can give you a lift. I’m going that way anyhow,” he hurried to say. “I have to get groceries so I don’t starve to death in my own home.”
After a moment, she nodded. “Okay. If you’re sure.”
“I am.” He eyed her briefly then decided to speak his mind. “That’s another reason I like you, you know.”
“Why’s that? Because you have to keep giving me rides?”
He winked. “Well, that too.” When she narrowed her eyes at him, he chuckled. “No, it’s because you don’t like being beholden to me. You don’t expect me to be at your beck and call, though if I’m honest, I’ll admit that I’d be there if you did.”
Kathy frowned. “Why in the world would I expect… oh. Oh, I see. Because that’s how most women are.” She shook her head, her lips pursed with what looked a whole lot like sadness. “Once upon a time, I would have been the kind of woman who expected that level of adoration.”
“But not now?” They’d almost made it back to the break in the dunes across from the diner, and he stopped her with a gentle hand on her arm.
She sighed. “No, not now. I… when I was younger, I had a chip on my shoulder. A very big chip named Randall who brought out the worst in me. You see, he… he did his best to break me, but he also liked to taunt other people. And he used me to do that. I let him, allowed him to make me into a spiteful person because if I didn’t go along with him, it was bad for me. And well, maybe I resented people who didn’t have the same kind of situation I did.” She glanced at him briefly then away.
“Toward the end, I saw what he’d made me do, what I’d let myself become. And I swore even before the accident that I was finished with that sort of behavior. I didn’t like myself anymore. There wasn’t anything to like really, and I couldn’t be that person he’d molded me into for even one more day. That woman, she would have taken one look at you and picked you apart because that was the only way she could make herself feel better.”
He could tell the admission was difficult for her and that she expected him to be disgusted. Instead, he folded her into his arms and hugged her close. “Then I’m very glad that other woman isn’t here now because lady, I’m determined I’m going to make you like me one of these days as much as I like you.”
She sighed against his chest. “I make no promises, my decidedly odd friend.”
Charles’s heart melted when she returned the hug. With one last squeeze, he stepped back. “That’s okay. I’m persistent. I’ll wear you down. Come on. Let’s get you to your appointment.”
He kept her hand in his though as they crossed the street. He didn’t think he imagined that she was clinging just as tightly to him as he was to her.
Chapter Eighteen
Since it was lunchtime when Charles dropped Kathy off at Dr. Milton’s, he decided to head over to the office and check on a few things. Namely, he wanted to find the thank-you note Kathy had sent. When he pulled into the parking lot and saw that Herman’s car was still there, he cursed under his breath.
“No way I’m getting in and out without facing an inquisition.” Regardless, he wanted that note, so he headed inside.
“Hey, Mr. Kelly,” the receptionist greeted him with a puzzled smile. “We didn’t think we’d see you today.”
“Hey, Stevie. I just came in to pick something up. Has Sally gone to lunch yet?” Sally was Charles’s secretary. She was also Herman’s wife.
“She has. Do you need to leave her a message or something?” She picked up a pen and the message pad.
“No, I think I can find what I’m looking for. Thanks though.” He tipped his fingers to her and set out for his office.
Once there, he found the stack of mail easily enough. Sally’d held on to it for him instead of forwarding it as they’d known he’d be back in town before it could catch up to him in New York. He’d just retrieved Kathy’s note when a tap sounded on the open door behind him. Charles turned to face the door.
“Aren’t you supposed to be at the beach?” Herman asked, stepping inside.
“I am at the beach,” Charles responded, slipping the note into his shirt pocket. “You’re having a hallucination.”
“Uh-huh. Sure, I am. What brought you in?”
Charles shrugged. “Nothing. I just wanted to pick something up.”
Herman’s eyes narrowed. “Okay. Should I be worried?”
Grinning, Charles patted Herman’s shoulder as he passed him on the way out the door. “Nah. I’m fine.”
Herman followed. “You’re not acting fine. You’re acting secretive.”
They stepped aside as Stevie went down the hall toward the restroom.
“I’m fine! You know, since Dora got here, you’ve become an overprotective mother hen.” Dora was Herman’s two-year-old daughter and truly had her father wrapped around her little finger. Her honorary uncle Charles too if the truth was told.
“Yeah, well. What’s her name?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Charles said, stopping in the empty reception area.
“Sure you don’t. Is it serious? Never mind,” Herman said, waving the question aside. “Of course it’s serious. You never get this worked up over a fling.”
Charles scoffed. “Herm, you make me sound like a playboy.”
; “Pfft. We both know better. That’s why this girl stands out.” He eyed Charles with concern. “Good luck. I’ll be around if you want to talk.”
With a sigh, Charles took off his glasses and cleaned them with his handkerchief. He stepped closer to Herman, keeping his voice low even though the reception area was deserted. “There’s nothing to talk about. She’s someone I’ve known casually for a while, and it might not lead to anything.”
“Is she the girl you disappeared with at the New Year’s party?”
“I didn’t disappear,” Charles said, exasperated. “I put my time in, then I had a nice visit with a friend.”
Herman smiled. “So it was her. Hmmm. I’ll have to make some inquiries.”
Charles edged forward, pointing at his partner. “Don’t you dare. You leave it alone, hear me? She’s not… she’s different. I don’t want to do anything or say anything that might jinx my chances. She’s not ready for a relationship yet. She’s been through some things. She’s been hurt in the past. I don’t want to add to that.”
“Divorced?” Herman grimaced. “Your mother won’t like that.”
“Widowed, and my mother doesn’t plan my social calendar anymore.” He thought about her attempts to throw him and Evelyn together and grimaced. “Well, she tries, but I won’t play ball.” The sound of Stevie’s heels coming back down the hall echoed into the room. “Keep this quiet, will you, Herm?”
The other man nodded. “You know I will. The offer still stands. If you want to grab a drink and talk, I’ll be here.”
Charles smiled. “I know. And I appreciate that. See you Monday.”
He didn’t waste any time opening the note once he was in his car. As he read, he chuckled. “Yeah, she likes me.”
Charles,
I have to say I wasn’t expecting a package of books from you. A straitjacket, maybe. In any event, the books were a pleasant surprise. Thank you.
Mama says “hi” back to you. She’s getting quite a kick out of my newfound fascination with books. In a good way, I promise, though she is teasing me quite mercilessly over this package. I’m sure you can’t imagine such a thing.