As it turned out though, he didn't get out to the beach that night. After he and Holly had talked, again for more than two hours, it was getting dark. Kelly didn't mind. The time had flown by and besides his arms were fried from the workout earlier. The only thing about the conversation that bothered him was that Holly was still insistent that the idea of Kelly flying back east to take her to dinner was ridiculous and she didn't want him to do it. He had chosen not to argue with her and dropped it. But with each passing day he wanted to see her again even more and he resolved to keep trying to make it happen.
Chapter 10
Holly parked the car and turned it off. It was five thirty and there were plenty of spots. But the restaurant was only a block away and Kelly wasn't going to be there until six. She had been nervous about being late, now she was too early. She listened to the song play out on the radio, then she turned the car off. When she got out of the vehicle she regretted it instantly, the heat coming off the pavement was scorching.
She walked quickly to the sidewalk and the tree lined street was only a little bit cooler. She checked the time again, but only a couple of minutes had past. The first shop she came to was an art gallery and she walked in, hoping to kill some time in the air conditioning before Kelly got there.
When she opened the door, and saw the oil paintings hanging on the wall, she got a little excited. She always enjoyed looking at other artists' work. She turned left and headed over to the first painting.
It was a fall scene, multicolored trees surrounding a lake. Holly had painted a similar scene, several times in fact, and she studied the painting, analyzing the colors used and the brush strokes. She glanced back behind and around her, and it looked like more of the same artist, but she couldn't be sure. She turned back to the wall.
"Excuse me?" a voice said behind her.
"Hi," Holly said, turning and smiling.
"We're not open, actually, we're getting ready for an opening tomorrow night."
"Oh," Holly said, startled, "I'm so sorry, I'm meeting someone for dinner down the block and I was early and I just thought, I'll go, sorry."
"No, don't be silly," the man said, "My partner just went to pick up dinner, that's why I left the door unlocked, stay and look around."
"Are you sure?" Holly asked.
She felt completely stupid and part of her just wanted to leave. But she did like looking at art and it was so hot outside.
"Sure," he said, "What do you think of it?"
"Ummm," Holly said.
"Go ahead, tell me, I don't know anything about art, that's Joanna, my partner's, thing, I just handle the business end and the brute force stuff."
"What?" Holly said, confused.
"You know, hanging up the paintings. I'm joking," he said, "I got to get back to work, don't steal anything, okay?"
"Ummm."
"I'm joking, again, look around, take your time. Buy something."
"That's a joke, right?" Holly said, feeling a little braver.
"Yes, but not if you really want to buy something. Love to have a sold sticker, before opening night even."
"I don't think I'm going to buy anything," Holly said, "But I'd love to look around."
The guy went back to the far end of the gallery. Holly couldn't really see what he was doing so she turned back to the paintings. She was expecting to see more nature scenes so she was surprised to see some city scapes mixed in. She looked at paintings that depicted Paris, London and Lucerne. She wondered if the artist had actually been to those places.
Most artists probably dreamed of going to Europe and painting but Holly had never even allowed herself to think about it. She rushed through that part of the collection and let out the breath she hadn't known she was holding, when she got back to some predictable New England scenes. Winter this time.
She avoided the back, where the man was working, and was to the right of the gallery door when it opened and the bell jingled.
"Oh, we're closed," said the woman as she walked in.
"I told her she could stay Jo," the man said as he came up to the front, "She's meeting someone for dinner down the block, besides, she's a cat person, I thought you wouldn't mind."
"I'm a cat person?" Holly asked.
"Yeah," he said as he took the bag from the woman's hand.
"I'm not a...cat person, sorry," Holly said. She instantly wished she hadn't said anything. He had been nice enough to let her walk around the gallery. She didn't want to offend him.
"But you're covered in cat hair?" he said, pointing to her dress.
"I am?" she said, looking down.
She was covered alright, but not in cat hair, in rabbit fur. Lia had been lying on the rug in the back room reading when Holly had left. Mercedes had been flopped in front of one of the air registers and Holly didn't blame him. The small, single AC compressor they had to cool the whole house really didn't cut it when the days got this hot. Luckily that was pretty rare.
Holly hadn't noticed Timber, but then he had run over to her and started licking her bare toes. She had laughed and picked him up. When Lia put down her book and started talking to her, Holly had sat down in the love seat with Timber and talked to Lia, snuggling the rabbit until it was time for her to go. Now she looked down at her dress, totally dismayed.
"It's rabbit fur, actually, we have two rabbits," she said helplessly.
"Oh," the man said, and the woman nodded in understanding.
Holly was trying to muscle up the courage to ask if they had a piece of tape lying around but she didn't want to impose anymore. Plus they had their dinner to eat.
"I'll just go then, thank you for letting me look at the paintings," she said and headed towards the door.
"Wait," said the woman, and she charged towards the back of the store.
Holly prayed Joanna was getting a lint brush, but she kept the disappointment out of her voice when she was handed a small stack of flyers, postcards really, for the gallery opening.
"I'll pass these around my town," she promised as she left.
The bistro was at the other end of the block. Holly stashed the ten or so cards for the gallery in the outside pocket of her purse and walked down the street. She was halfway down the block when she spotted Kelly exiting the restaurant. Then her phone rang in her purse. She was even more nervous now and a minute ago she wouldn't have said that was possible. Of course a minute ago she didn't realize she was covered in rabbit fur.
She pulled her phone out and it was Kelly. Fake it, fake it, fake it, she told herself and she answered.
"Hi," she said.
"Hey, I'm here,"
"So am I, right behind you."
She watched him turn around and he smiled and pocketed his phone. This is crazy, she told herself. He started towards her and they met in the middle. He reached out and grabbed her hand and it thrilled her. Maybe, she thought, maybe crazy is just what I need, for a change.
Chapter 11
"Hi," Kelly said, holding her hand.
"Hi," she replied back, somewhat shyly.
It was a strange situation, Kelly realized. They had been talking on the phone practically every day, sometimes for hours at a time. But they didn't really know each other. Kelly looked her over, discreetly.
"I know, sorry, I didn't realize," she said, looking down at her dress.
So much for discreet, Kelly thought. But he didn't regret checking her out, she was just as pretty as he remembered.
"Realize what?" he asked her.
"The rabbits, I got fur all over me," she said and picked a piece of fur off her dress.
Kelly hadn't noticed the fur but she obviously felt bad about it.
"I didn't notice," he said, "I just, I'm happy to see you."
She smiled but it was easy to see how nervous she was.
"Why don't we go inside? It's hot out here," he told her and opened the door.
He followed her in and the air conditioning was a welcome relief. He hadn't anticipated it being hotter
in New England than it was in LA. They got seated right away and after the server got through the list of local beers, for Kelly, and the house whites, for Holly, there was silence.
"So," Kelly said, but stopped when the drinks were delivered.
They clinked glasses in a wordless toast but after they had each sipped their drink and set their glasses back down there was silence again.
"Do you," Holly said, at the same time Kelly started to say, "What"
They both stopped and waited for the other to speak and when they didn't they both spoke again at the same time. They both laughed but it still didn't break the tension. Kelly wondered if this had been a really, really bad idea. He had basically tricked her into agreeing to the date. When they had been on the phone last week, he had asked her what she was doing on Wednesday and when she had said nothing, he had said then that was the night he was going to take her out to dinner. He was kind of surprised she had agreed, but they had gotten very comfortable talking with each other. On the phone that is.
"Maybe we should just order?" Holly said.
"It's a little weird," he said.
"Yeah."
Kelly looked around. He knew he really liked her, but if they couldn't get over this awkwardness, well he couldn't see what would happen when he went back to LA. He remembered an exercise from an acting class he had been in ages ago.
"Okay," he said, almost business like, "Where's your phone?"
"Umm, here," she said, pointing to her purse.
"Okay, get it out."
She gave him a strange look but did as he said. He pulled out his phone and called her. Across the table the phone vibrated in her hand.
"Answer it," he said.
"Hello?" she said into her phone. She was looking at him like he was crazy, but in a fond way. At least that's what he was hoping.
"Okay," he said, ending the call. "Now close your eyes."
"Kelly,"
"Just close them, trust me."
She bit her bottom lip, just a little, then closed her eyes.
"Hey it's me," he said.
"Hi," she said.
"What are you wearing?" her shoulders tightened up and he hastened to add, "Don't open your eyes."
"Kelly,"
"I'm kidding, did you go to the hospital today?"
"Yes we did, and oh, I wanted to tell you, the volunteer coordinator she said maybe we could start bringing the rabbits into the group therapy sessions."
"That's great."
"Yes, Marie said she'd do it too, it's going to take some time, they have a counselor who's interested, but there's some details they have to work out on their end."
The server approached, presumably to take their order, but stopped, obviously confused by the sight of Holly talking on her cell with her eyes closed. Kelly raised his index finger to his lips and waved the guy away.
"Did Lia go with you?" he asked her.
"Oh yes, and she spent the whole ride lobbying for more stuff for her dorm room. I swear, we saw the rooms, for the freshman, they are literally smaller than the room she has now, and she has to share it with someone, I don't know where she thinks she is going to put all this stuff, really."
Kelly reached out and ran his hand up Holly's arm to her hand. He gently pulled the phone out of her grasp.
"Keep your eyes closed," he said as he put the phone down on the table. "What kind of stuff does she want?"
"Well the other day she showed me a comforter and curtains on line, curtains, they have blinds in the dorms, the walls are made of cinder block and she thinks we're going to be hanging curtain rods."
"What did you tell her?" Kelly asked. He slid his hand up her arm again. This time he took her by the hand and lowered it to the table.
"I said I'd think about it, but she's being ridiculous, but then I think she's my only kid, I would kind of like to do something for her, but what if her roommate's a total jock or something, what she picked, they couldn't pack more flowers and lace onto the thing, and the curtains are out of the question, I'm pretty sure they're not going to be happy about us drilling into the cinder block."
"So what are you going to do?"
"I don't know. Delay making a decision I guess. Get her a comforter but say no to the curtains? She wants like two hundred dollars’ worth of pillows," she paused, "Kelly?"
"What?"
"Can I open my eyes now?"
"No."
"I can't?"
“No."
"Why not?"
"I like looking at you."
She smiled at that and he could tell she was flattered.
"Now I'm starting to feel weird with my eyes closed."
"Okay, one more minute."
"Seriously?"
"Yup."
He looked her over carefully and took her all in again. He was lingering his gaze on the area where her neck curved up from her shoulder when he realized she had opened her eyes.
"Hey," he said.
"Hey what? I can't eat dinner with my eyes closed."
"I guess," he said.
"Kelly?"
"What?"
"That was a good idea, thanks."
He brought her hand up to his lips and kissed it.
"No problem."
Then they both looked up as the waiter approached.
"Do you want to order?" the waiter asked hesitantly.
"Ummm, we haven't looked at the menus," Holly said.
"I can tell you the specials, if you want."
"I would love to hear the specials," Kelly said and looked to Holly for confirmation. On more than just the request from the waiter. She looked happy, and relaxed and Kelly was glad, silly as it was, that he had come up with the idea, "Do you want to hear the specials Holly?"
"Yes," she said, squeezing his hand, just a little. He squeezed hers back, “I do. Please."
Chapter 12
"So when can I see some of your work?" Kelly asked Holly.
"What?"
"I want to see it, the paintings, and pottery," he said.
"Really?"
"Yes, really."
Holly didn't know what to say to that. Nobody was ever interested in that stuff. And she was fine with that. If she focused, concentrated really hard, when she was painting or throwing pots, then all she was thinking about was what she was working on. The final product was irrelevant. She did it for the process. Holly looked across the table at Kelly and he smiled at her.
"Why?" she asked him finally and he laughed and shook his head.
"Why, really?" he said.
"What's so funny?"
"You are."
"How?"
"Okay, how's this, you've gotten to see my work, and now I want to see yours."
They had spent a portion of the dinner conversation talking about Kelly's movie career, and which movies Holly had seen. He had wanted to know what she thought about the different roles, and she had answered, truthfully. She hadn't told him that since they had met she had taken to searching for his name through the movies available on demand.
Lia was out just about every night with her friends but Holly had barely noticed, she was too busy watching a different one of Kelly's movies every night, when she wasn't on the phone with him, that is. She realized Kelly was waiting for a response from her and she shrugged.
"Your work is meant to be seen, by everyone, mine is different."
"You, you are impossible," he said shaking his finger at her but she knew he wasn't mad at her, not in the least. "Okay," he said and after another pause, he reached across the table and grabbed both her hands, exactly how he had at the diner, "I have at least two hours before I have to be back at the airport for my flight and I want to spend it with you."
"So you don't care about my work."
"No, I do, but," he brought her hands very slowly up to his mouth and kissed one of them, "dinner is over, but I wish it wasn't."
Holly was tempted to pull her hands back away from him but she didn't. She wanted this. Sh
e liked him. They had talked on the phone almost every day for the past two weeks. She hadn't gotten one hint of anything to worry about. And didn't she deserve this? A guy who actually was nice to her.
She put the brakes on anyway. It was too much, too soon, too fast. She still had to be careful. Very careful. Be sure.
"My work is at my house," she told him, then regretted it.
Kelly took his time thinking about that.
"You're not sure you want me at your house are you?"
Holly pressed her lips together and shook her head no.
Kelly started to say something but she interrupted him.
"I still barely know you," she said, shaking her head again and pulling her hands away from him, "I'm sorry, I like you, but I really don't know you."
"It's okay," he said and reached back across the table to grab one of her hands, "Listen, I want to see your work, so promise me tomorrow you'll e-mail me some pictures of it."
"Really?"
"Yes, promise."
"I promise," she said, but she really wasn't a hundred percent committed to keeping that promise.
"Okay," Kelly said, and he grabbed her hand again and squeezed it gently. Holly felt a shock shoot through her, "Now, we have two hours, this is your town, so you tell me, where should we go?"
"Okay," Holly said, smiling, "I know where we should go."
She took him to another restaurant, several blocks away, where she knew the bar and the back patio stayed open long after the kitchen was closed. Being that it was the middle of the week, it was almost empty, and they chose one of the small wrought iron cafe tables off to the side. On the other side of the patio a guitar player strummed softly.
They had a minor argument when Kelly refused to let Holly drive him back to the airport, but she finally relented when he told her he would have to pay for the car service he had scheduled anyway. They got into the car that showed up for him together so Holly could be dropped off at the municipal lot where she had parked for the evening. Kelly put his arm around her and she settled into him.
She ran her hand up her forearm and was stunned by the bulk of it. It didn't frighten her though. It didn't matter, how strong a man was. In general the average man was so much stronger than the average woman it-
Role of a Lifetime Page 4