Without warning, Kyle picked her up and swung her around. “I’m so glad you came, Chloe!” His eyes smiled along with his kissable mouth.
For a minute, she thought he was going to kiss her again, but he didn’t. “I’m glad I came, too, Kyle,” she stammered, too flustered to say much of anything.
“Sorry. I tend to get carried away from time to time.”
“I know. That’s one of the things I like about you.”
“At least that’s a start.” A good start, in his book. He intended to keep the momentum rolling his way, too.
“But we have to take it slow and easy. I’m not sure I’m ready for more than friendship right now.”
“No problem. But you’ll find out soon enough, I’m a real friendly kind of guy.” He pulled the last two suitcases from the trunk of the Civic, handed her the clothes bag, then followed her into the house. “I’d say you brought enough clothes for a couple of months.”
“I’m not planning on going back.” The admission came out sounding happy, instead of sad.
“I’m tickled to death to hear it, even if it means lugging four suitcases up those stairs.”
In her room, Chloe showed him where she wanted everything.
“I’m glad Byrdie put you in here. I’ve always liked this room.”
As feminine as the furnishings were, that surprised her. “Why? What do you like about it?”
“Blue like the sky, white like puffy clouds, yellow like the sun. Breezy.”
She grinned, studying him for a moment.
“What did I do? Is there dirt on my face or something?” He looked like a kid who’d been caught with his hand in the jelly beans.
“Your face is fine.” Really fine. “I was just thinking how relieved I am to find out you’re a respectable person and not just some guy trying to pick up a girl for the weekend.” Her cheeks warmed when she realized how that sounded.
“Who says I’m not?” he teased, gathering her into his strong arms again.
“Me, that’s who.” She thought about pushing him away, but postponed it for another minute, loving the warmth of him, the strength he kept in check, opting for gentleness. She clasped her hands behind his neck. “I thought we agreed to take it slow and easy.”
“If you insist.”
“That’s how it has to be. You’ve been through a break-up, so I know you understand. I’m betting every woman you saw looked good to you immediately afterward.”
“The truth?”
“Always. Otherwise, we have nothing to talk about.”
He raised three fingers again. “Scout’s honor. After Sherry told me she’d found someone else, I had a hard time looking at any woman without telling myself, ‘Forget it, Stanton. You’ll just break her heart.’ Byrdie will tell you it’s true. I haven’t dated anyone since Sherry married that other guy.”
“How long ago was that?”
“Two years last month.”
Chloe couldn’t believe it. “You must have loved her deeply.”
“I did. But not anymore. She’s happy with her husband and her law practice, and I wish her only the best. It was past time to get on with my life and find someone new, who shares my philosophy of life and living. You’ll be ready someday to do the same someday. I hope it won’t be two years, though.”
She felt his arms tightening around her and dropped her arms to step back.
He released her immediately. “You’re no fun at all, Chloe. I guess I’ll just have to hightail it back to Durango, take my rig on to California and forget about spending the Fourth with my dear old aunt, who sees me so seldom she hardly recognized me today. It’ll break her heart, but if that’s the way you want it—”
“You come once a month, remember.”
“Do you remember everything you hear?”
“Sometimes. I’m expecting a complete tour of Ouray in the morning, just as you promised.”
His smile lit up the room. “I’m at your service, fair lady.”
Byrdie hollered up the stairs. “Kyle! I could use some help please, when you have a few minutes.”
“I’m on my way!” he called back. “You can unpack later. When Byrdie needs help, it either involves food or furniture. This close to supper, it has to mean food!”
Chapter 6
Kyle bounded down the stairs, into the kitchen, with Chloe close behind.
“Whatcha need, sweet Byrdie?”
“Taste this stew. Tell me if it needs more salt.”
He raised his eyebrows in an “I told you so” gesture to Chloe, dipped a spoon into the stew, blew on it carefully, then sipped with eyes closed.
“Mmm. Best I ever flopped a lip over.” He started to dip the spoon in the kettle for a second taste but Byrdie slapped his hand.
“You know better than to put that spoon back in my soup! Give me that!” She snatched the spoon from his hand, leaving him with his bottom lip stuck out and a sheepish expression.
Kyle pulled a second spoon from the drawer—much bigger than the first—dipped a second time, blew again, then slurped noisily, rolling his eyes and making appreciative noises.
Chloe tried not to laugh at his clowning, but it was no use. She turned the laughter loose and let it out.
Byrdie smiled. “She sure does laugh pretty, don’t you think, Kyle?”
“I sure do,” he agreed. “She does everything pretty.”
Chloe dried her eyes with one corner of Byrdie’s dishtowel and sighed contentedly. “I haven’t laughed like that in months.”
Byrdie and Kyle looked at each other and smiled.
“Well,” Byrdie said, as seriously as she could manage, “we’ll just have to see that you do more of it. A body gets old in a hurry when it doesn’t get its full share of laughter every day.”
“Thanks,” she said quietly, and gave Byrdie a quick hug.
“Sandwich hug!” Kyle circled both of them with his strong arms and squeezed until they groaned. “It’s sure nice to be home again.”
“If you don’t let me go,” Byrdie said with difficulty, “my cobbler is going to burn and you won’t have any dessert tonight.”
Kyle took the opportunity to kiss both Byrdie and Chloe on the cheek before releasing them. Byrdie went immediately to the oven and pulled out a perfectly browned cobbler.
Chloe tried to catch her breath and composure. “Well,” she said finally, feeling a little embarrassed at Kyle’s unabashed habit of staring at her with that silly grin of his, “I guess I’d better unpack my things. How long until supper?”
“About an hour,” Byrdie said, lifting the lid on a pot of boiling potatoes. She gave the stew another stir. “Kyle, I need some help rearranging the living room furniture. I’ll be just a minute, then I’ll show you where I want everything.”
“Yes ma’am,” Kyle said contritely, grinning at Chloe. “I don’t suppose I can have a good-bye kiss.”
Byrdie started to hum a lively hymn, grinning like the Cheshire cat. Chloe laughed, backing toward the door at the same time.
“No kisses. I need time, remember? You’re such a nice person. I know I can count on you. You promised to treat me like your sister, remember?”
“There’s that memory again! What if I’m not a nice person?”
“Oh, but you are. Isn’t he, Byrdie?”
“When he has to be.”
That wasn’t much help, but Chloe had already noticed Byrdie’s approval of Kyle’s apparent infatuation with the newest “nester.”
“I’ll be down in time for supper.”
Kyle’s expression lost its boyish playfulness and settled into a serene smile. “Take all the time you want. If there’s anything you need—anything at all—let me know and I’ll get it for you.” His smile faded, but he continued to watch when she went to the stairs.
What a family! Chloe had actually forgotten for a few minutes why she was here and who she’d run away from. Greg was part of the past, now. She’d have to concentrate on keeping him there.
&n
bsp; She gladly thought about Kyle again. She knew his clowning was for her benefit. Helping her through it. Taking her mind off Houston, allowing her to think about something happy and carefree. She’d glimpsed a different side of him, quieter, more serious, but only for brief moments. She’d like to explore that new face a bit more. Perhaps she could lure the sensitive Kyle into the open before Monday rolled around.
A deep breath, something she hadn’t been able to manage without shuddering for the past week, felt heavenly. Her vision, clouded by sorrow, was beginning to clear. Now that she’d recognized Kyle’s strategy—healing through laughter—she’d be happy to cooperate.
She hoisted one of the suitcases onto the bed, opened it, and pulled out the contents. The top three drawers in the tall chest were empty, while the bottom two held blue flowered sheets, matching pillow cases, thick, fluffy, cornflower blue towels, and face cloths. She also found personal soaps, small bottles of shampoo, a comb, hand mirror, toothbrush and toothpaste. Staying at The Nest, with such a considerate hostess would be a genuine pleasure.
After putting everything away, she decided to call Fran. Only one message from Greg this time. Deleting it felt empowering. The phone rang only twice.
“Chloe!”
“Greetings, Texan, from Ouray, the Switzerland of America!”
“Thank goodness! I was getting worried.”
“Everything is perfect—the weather, the boarding house, my new friends, and the town.”
“I’d love to see it. What about Kyle? Is he perfect, too?”
Leave it to Fran to cut to the heart of things, right off the bat. “Pretty much. Is it hot in Houston?”
“Steaming.”
“It might reach eighty here tomorrow.”
“Trap some of that coolness in a jar and send it to me, please.” She hesitated. “Greg calls every day, asking if I know where you are and how to contact you. He’s getting more insistent with every call.”
“He’s leaving fewer messages now. I’m not reading them. I don’t want to talk to him. I’m going to keep my phone off. If you need me, call the Byrd’s nest—that’s with a Y in Byrd—and leave a message with Byrdie, the owner.” She gave her the phone number.
“I guess you know, Greg will get even angrier—with you and me both—when I keep telling him I don’t know where you are. I’m a terrible liar. He can see right through me. He
knows I’ve talked to you.”
Chloe felt a prickle of irritation. “I don’t care. He’ll eventually get tired of calling and get on with his life. He doesn’t need me anymore. He hasn’t needed me in longer than I can remember. And now that he has Ellen, I can’t imagine why he even cares that I’m gone. Be tough! Tell him straight out that you’ve heard from me, I’m fine, but I don’t want to hear from him. And tell him to stop leaving messages because I’m deleting without reading.”
“He told me he’s broken off with her.”
Chloe thought a moment, testing her feelings. “It doesn’t matter.” Too little, too late. “He made his choice. Let him live with it.”
“Good for you! I really miss you.”
“I miss you, too. Time for supper. Gotta go. Hugs.” After turning her phone off, she felt strangely unsettled and still angry. Had Greg really ended his relationship with Ellen? It shouldn’t make any difference, yet it did for some reason. She’d have to let the information sit for a while, then see how she felt about it. Anger was easier to deal with than hurt.
<><><>
Downstairs, Byrdie pointed while Kyle pushed, pulled, grunted, and groaned the heavy oak furniture into new places in the living room.
“That table needs to go at the end of the couch, please.” She gathered two porcelain doves from the table and perched them on the mantle for safety.
“Why do you have me move furniture practically every time I’m here?” Kyle wheezed between shoves on the heavy couch. “I never have a chance to get used to one arrangement before you’re having me push it all around again.”
“I get tired of it being in the same place all the time. And I have a lot of repeat customers who would get tired of the same old thing. Now hush and grab that table. I have to get back to my pies.”
“Blueberry, I hope?”
“Peach.”
“That’s just as good. Speaking of peaches, what do you think of Chloe?”
“I think she’s just about the prettiest thing ever to wander through Ouray. The question is, though, what do you think of her?”
Kyle stood up and mopped his brow with his handkerchief. “I can’t remember ever liking anyone as fast as I liked Chloe. In fact, I knew I was going to like her before I ever sat down at that table in Albuquerque and introduced myself. When she didn’t know I was looking, I saw a strange look on her face, but it disappeared the minute she laid eyes on me. I keep wondering …”
“I think she’s a lot prettier than that little trollop you were mooneyed over in Fort Worth, and that’s a fact.”
Kyle’s expression hardened. “Sherry was a fine lady, and I was crazy about her. But you’re right. Chloe has her beat a mile and a half.”
“Of course I’m right. She has her beat on looks and personality, too. Imagine that little snip saying my Italian Cream Cake was dry!”
“Now, Byrdie, let’s let bygones be bygones. Sherry’s happy with her life and I’m happy for her.”
“What about being happy for yourself?” She patted her nephew’s cheek affectionately. “I worry about you.”
“Don’t get all mushy on me, Aunt Ophelia.”
“You haven’t called me Ophelia since … well, since never. Are you mad at me?”
“Are you kidding? I couldn’t be mad at my best girl.”
“That’s the problem,” Byrdie mumbled, turning away to replace the doves on the table.
“What was that?”
“I shouldn’t be your best girl. Someone like Chloe should be your best girl.”
Kyle’s smile widened and he nodded his head. “Playing matchmaker again. What have I told you—?”
“Someone has to do it!”
“Well, someone beat you to it this time.”
“Who?” Her eyes narrowed.
“Some guy in Houston who fooled around and let Chloe get away from him, that’s who. I’m going to help her forget him in record time. No matchmaking necessary. It’s already in the works.”
Byrdie’s smile reached almost to the wispy gray curls flying around her ears. “That’s my boy.”
<><><>
Chloe paused at the bottom of the stairs when she saw Byrdie hugging Kyle, and stopped to appreciate the tender moment. Byrdie spied her over Kyle’s shoulder. “Chloe! We were just talking about you!”
“Really? What a surprise.” She came into the living room, stopping at the end of the couch to put a little distance between herself and Kyle. Her heart accelerated when his green eyes focused on her.
Byrdie grinned like a possum. “Supper’s ready to go on the table. I’m expecting the whole passel to arrive any time now.”
As if on cue, six people came up the front walk and into the living room, laughing, chattering, carrying packages from local merchants.
“Supper in five minutes, everyone!” Byrdie announced, and hurried off toward the kitchen.
Kyle stuck out his elbow. “May I escort you to dinner, ma’am?”
“I’d be delighted.” She took his arm and they went to the big dining room to find places at one of the huge, round, family-style dining tables. Each table had a huge lazy Susan in the center. Diners helped themselves to each dish, pivoting the Susan instead of passing dishes around the table.
“The Nest is the only boarding house in Ouray. The rest are Bed and Breakfasts. I’ve tried to convince Byrdie to go to B & B, but she loves to cook and insists there will always be nesters who appreciate a home-cooked meal at lunch and supper.” Kyle saw Byrdie coming with a huge platter of fried chicken and went to help carry bowls of creamed potatoes, speckled g
ravy, black-eyed peas, two gelatin salads, a green salad, hot rolls and cornbread, with peach cobbler cooling on the sideboard for dessert. A feast!
Watching Kyle bussing food from the kitchen, Chloe felt a surge of affection for him. Trying to picture Greg in the kitchen was like picturing the King of England shining his own shoes.
“A nickel for your thoughts.” Kyle nudged her gently when he sat down, reaching for the platter of fried chicken. He forked two pieces onto his plate before setting it back on the Susan.
“What happened to a penny?”
“Inflation. You have a strange smile on your face. I’ve seen it before, so I can’t help wondering—“ He cleared his throat noisily. “Sorry. None of my business. I’ve been nosy since I was born. I never know when to stay out of other people’s daydreams.”
Chloe appreciated his confession. She knew he was wondering if he might be responsible for her smile. No harm in satisfying his curiosity.
“Yes, Kyle, you were part of my thoughts and definitely the reason for my smile.”
He grinned. “I’m glad.”
“I admire your willingness to help Byrdie in the kitchen.”
“She’s getting older. Not as spry as she once was. What kind of a man would I be to sit at this table while she carries those heavy dishes, without offering to help?”
Chloe was getting to know more and more about the kind of man he was, and so far, she liked everything she’d seen.
His voice dropped to almost a whisper. “I’m sorry if I’ve been pushy. No, scratch that. I’ve been pushy for sure, and I’m real sorry. It’s just that … well, it burns me up to see a woman neglected, and I think you’ve been neglected far too long.”
She tried to swallow the lump in her throat. “Neglect is the last thing I’ve felt since meeting you. I can’t tell you how much it means to me—“ The lump grew to the size of an egg.
He grinned and released a long breath. “You aren’t the only one in need of a little love and affection. I think maybe I needed to meet you as much as you needed to meet me.”
Chloe’s throat tightened. She gripped his arm and nodded. “Maybe so.”
Kiss Me, Chloe Page 5