The Country Gentleman

by Amberlee Day

  Kenzie gave him a sultry look. “You should come try it sometime.” His uncomfortable expression made her laugh harder. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I shouldn’t tease. The only thing free-spirited about forest bathing is that you immerse yourself in nature … fully clothed, nothing weird, so stop looking at me like that.”

  Peter shook his head, his eyes twinkling. “If I’m looking at you like that, it’s because you put that image in my head.”

  Kenzie’s heart flipped, but she managed a laugh. “If I were Paige, I’d punch you.”

  Peter pulled her closer. “I’m glad you’re not.”

  Settling into that comfortable space in his arms where she fit so well, Kenzie whispered near his ear, “How about if we meet at Paige’s house sometime and I’ll introduce you both to forest bathing.”

  “That sounds perfect.”

  When she looked up at him again, Peter’s eyes crinkled at the edges, and this time she didn’t stop herself from reaching up and touching his face. Funny how his eyes could change from warm to sizzling. Her fluttery heart reached a breathtaking crescendo, helped along by the mood-setting music.

  Would their first kiss be right now, on the Chihuly Garden dance floor, in front of Seattle’s richest citizens?

  But it wasn’t to be. Someone tapped her on the shoulder.

  “Kenzie? I’m so very sorry to disturb you,” Marianne said, and from her expression she really was. “Some of the big donors are leaving early. We need you for photo ops.”

  Kenzie sighed. She was grateful to be making a difference in this fundraising sphere, but sometimes it was hard to just melt into the crowd. Or in this case, in Peter’s arms.

  She hoped her reluctance to leave showed in the way she looked at him. “Peter, I’m sorry.”

  His expression was sweet. “It’s okay. This is a work event for you. I’m glad we had this dance. And actually,” he said, one corner of his mouth curving into a mischievous smile, “if I’m very lucky, I may get Mrs. Boucher to dance with me.”

  Kenzie laughed. “The way she was looking at you, I think you have a good chance.”

  Kenzie reached up and brushed Peter’s cheek with her lips. She hoped he’d take it as a promise of kisses to come. That hint of sizzling in his eyes told her that he did.

  Chapter Eleven

  Kenzie and Peter managed to spend more time together at the gala, but not alone. Peter enjoyed watching how valued she was in the fundraising community, though he suspected he still didn’t understand the extent of it. There was a part of him, too, that tingled with frustration. While they danced, he was sure their evening would end with a kiss, and he was just as sure it would be a kiss worth waiting for.

  Unfortunately, they would be waiting a while longer.

  At the end of the function, Kenzie’s responsibilities didn’t end, something she had told him in the beginning. Their goodbye was quick as she rushed off to complete her checklist of tasks, leaving him with a lingering feeling of anticipation for the next time he could be with Kenzie.

  And Peter resigned himself that it wouldn’t be Saturday. Burt had announced at the very first hiking club meeting that he had a schedule conflict. Kenzie had a forest bathing episode to film, some sort of training with her Bosom Buddies group, followed by a planning function for something involving strawberries. She rattled through the list when they said goodbye at the fundraiser, and Peter would have asked more questions, but there wasn’t time before he had to leave to catch the next ferry. He did appreciate that they’d reached a point in their friendship—relationship? He wasn’t sure what to call it at this stage—where they shared plans with each other, even when their schedules kept them apart.

  Peter had promised to help his parents fix an aging fence, so he spent most of Saturday at their home an hour to the south. Later he spent most of an hour texting back and forth with Kenzie while attending an extended family anniversary event. Not wanting to wait long to see her again, Peter took a chance and made a special invitation.

  Peter: Paige and I go to church at nine tomorrow morning. Are you interested in coming with us?

  It was hard pressing send, even harder when Kenzie took a while to answer. He wished he’d asked in person so he could read her face. Church was important to him, but he didn’t get the feeling it was part of Kenzie’s life. She hadn’t mentioned it, anyway.

  When she finally responded, he smiled to think how very Kenzie her answer was.

  Kenzie: I would love to go with you. The forest shouldn’t be my only church, LOL. Thank you for including me.

  He gave her the address and arrived early so he’d be there when she arrived. She managed to park right next to his pickup, and he helped her from her Jeep. His heart raced just catching sight of her smile, and as soon as she’d exited the car, his desire to be close to Kenzie Vega overruled his natural caution. He wrapped her in his arms and kissed the top of her head. When she hugged him back, her cheek pressing against his chest, it struck him how very much he’d missed her in just two days. And it seemed she’d missed him too.

  When he spied a family of seven trying to casually walk the long way to the church doors to avoid interrupting their embrace, Peter reluctantly put distance between him and Kenzie, but was happy when she took his hand. “I’m so glad you came,” he said.

  “Me too.” She looked around a little self-consciously. “I’m not sure what to expect, though. We only attended church sporadically when I was a kid, and now I only seem to go for weddings and funerals.”

  He squeezed her hand and led the way inside. “Come on. Paige is saving us seats. Hopefully today will be a bit more uplifting than a funeral.”

  During the meeting, Peter glanced at Kenzie several times, watching for signs that she was uncomfortable. But all he saw was her open, listening expression, and the trace of a smile gracing her beautiful, full lips. They held hands, and he slowly caressed her skin with his thumb. In its way, having her close at church was as satisfying as holding Kenzie on the dance floor.

  When the meeting was over, they headed back to their cars.

  “Kenzie,” Paige said, yawning, “you should come over for dinner tonight. Church is great, but there’s not a lot of talking time.”

  Peter frowned. Clearly just attending church had used up all her early-pregnancy energy. Peter loved the idea of having Kenzie over, but wasn’t sure his sister was up to it.

  Kenzie knew just what to say. “How about if you rest, and Peter and I make dinner for you?” she asked. “He keeps bragging that he can cook, but so far I haven’t gotten to witness anything firsthand.”

  She’s amazing. “What do you mean?” he asked, teasing. “You ate my homemade macaroni and cheese.”

  “Yes, but I didn’t get to watch you make it. How do I know you did all the work?”

  He nodded. “Good point. You’ve got me there.”

  “Then it’s a date. Or something,” Paige said. She smiled her thanks at Kenzie and gave her a hug. Over her shoulder, she told Peter, “See? I like this one.”

  “I was hoping to introduce you to my parents,” Peter said as he placed marinated chicken on Paige’s outdoor grill. The pieces sizzled when they made contact with the hot metal, and their tangy aroma already promised to be delicious. Kenzie loved watching his calm confidence, whether he was cooking or dancing or pouring gas into her jeep tank when she ran out of gas that first day. It was one of her favorite things about him.

  “I’d love to meet your parents,” she said.

  “We’ll plan something. They had another commitment today.”

  “Sounds like they’re busy. Are they retired?”

  Peter glanced her way for just a moment before focusing again on his chicken-grilling task. “Mostly. My dad has trouble being retired. I wish they’d just do what they’ve always planned: get a motor home and hit the road for a while.”

  Kenzie’s interest piqued. “Sounds fun. Is that what you want to do when you’re retired?”

  The corner o
f Peter’s mouth twitched with a smile. “Maybe. I guess that depends on who I’m retiring with. Definitely something active, though. No sitting out on a porch swing for me, not until I’m too old to do anything else.”

  “That’s too bad. I have a porch swing big enough for two. I guess I’ll just have to enjoy it by myself.”

  Peter’s free arm went around her waist, and Kenzie almost giggled, it was so nice. “I can’t imagine you holding still long enough to enjoy a porch swing, Mackenzie Vega, but if you did, I would love to be sitting there with you.”

  Kenzie gazed up into Peter’s eyes. She wished he’d just kiss her. They might not be on a special date at The Country Gentleman, or at a dazzling Chihuly museum gala, or even at the top of a mountain after a spectacular hike, but she was tired of waiting. Paige’s tiny backyard with houses and neighbors and dogs and everything so close they were practically in each other’s pockets didn’t lessen Kenzie’s desire for Peter to pull her even closer, as close as he’d held her when he hugged her before church, and just kiss her.

  Kenzie’s mother always told her that she shouldn’t play poker, because her every thought found expression on her face. That must have been what happened there on the patio with Peter, because after a breathtaking moment of Peter looking into her eyes, he suddenly did just what she’d hoped: he put both arms around her and kissed her.

  Peter’s lips felt like heaven on hers, as perfect and tender as a promise, and Kenzie knew in a moment that she was already falling in love with Peter Olson. Desire stirred in her, swirling new and dizzying in the confines of Peter’s safe, loving arms. Kenzie’s own hands looped up around his neck, and her fingers found his hair. It was thicker than she’d expected, and she ran her fingers through it while pulling him even closer. She could feel his heartbeat, and her own raced alongside.

  A voice interrupted them, deep but amused. “Hey there, lovebirds. I think you’ve got a fire to put out.”

  Peter turned toward the neighbor’s house on one side, and Kenzie, both disappointed at the interruption and a little embarrassed, looked, too.

  The fence was short enough to see the top half of a man in a T-shirt and cap watching them. Children played in the background. He pointed at Kenzie and Peter. “Your grill,” he laughed, before turning away.

  Peter and Kenzie swiveled to look behind them, where Peter had apparently dropped a wooden utensil among the chicken pieces. Flames shot up into the air in a narrow point above the spoon. Kenzie gasped, but Peter snatched it up by the end that wasn’t on fire and dropped it in a nearby bucket of water. Smoke billowed upward, and when he pulled it back out, all that remained was a charred pillar and the one untouched wooden end.

  They stared at it until Paige’s sleepy voice sounded from the doorway. “What did you do to my spoon?”

  Peter and Kenzie laughed, sending a shower of happy bubbles through Kenzie. There couldn’t possibly be anything better than someone who could both make her laugh and feel the way she did in Peter’s arms.

  Dinner was superb, even if some of the chicken got a little burnt from the extra flames. When they finished eating, as promised, Kenzie attached her laptop to Paige’s big screen television.

  While she worked out the connections, Kenzie asked, “Do either of you subscribe to shows on MyHeartChannel?”

  “I do,” Paige said. “There’s a relationship guru channel I love. Josh sometimes watches it with me. And there’s one with beauty tips, that’s a fun one.”

  “Sweet.” Kenzie finally had everything ready to work. She rubbed her hands on the sides of her shorts and checked to see if Peter and Paige looked bored yet. They didn’t, but she was nervous for their reaction. “So, forest bathing.”

  She looked at Peter before continuing, and sure enough, he had a devilish twinkle in his eye. She pointed at him. “Now, stop that!” Kenzie gave him a scolding look. “It’s not actual bathing, remember? Forest bathing’s done fully clothed, G-rated.”

  His hands went up in the air in protest. “Hey, I can’t help it if it sounds risqué.”

  “Uh-huh.” She made an I’m-watching-you sign, and his laughter made her smile back. “Now, I know it’s best when you can get out and go for walks and hikes in the woods and the mountains, but sometimes you can’t.”

  Paige gave her a weary smile.

  “Several of the episodes on my channel talk about the benefits of forest bathing, but I’ll just give you an overview. The idea is that when you’re in the woods, you feel better. It’s scientifically proven. You release stress, lower blood pressure, improve focus, increase white blood cell activity … it’s crazy how many things it will do for you.”

  “That sounds wonderful,” Paige said. “So it’s about getting out and connecting with nature, and letting it do its work to make you healthier.”

  “Pretty much. The idea of the channel is to get people excited to go themselves but gain what they can from a little vicarious forest bathing. Let me show you.”

  She’d already thought about what episode she wanted to share, one that she’d taken last summer, just a few months after she started the channel. In this one she didn’t cover much ground, but walked barefoot over tree roots and in a stream that runs southward from her favorite pond, nibbling huckleberries along the way. It was one of her favorite episodes.

  Strange that when Kenzie started her forest bathing channel, she didn’t worry a bit about what people thought of it. She wasn’t planning on making a profit or promoting a business, so she really didn’t even check views for a while. It was Tammy, her Bosom Buddies teammate and volunteer coordinator, who first pointed out that not only did she have some views, but she had quite a lot of them, with a long column of positive comments to boot.

  Contrasting that with how she felt waiting to see what Peter thought of her MyHeartChannel show, she was so worried about his opinion that she nibbled her nails and watched him more than she did the television.

  When it ended, she tapped her laptop screen to keep another video from starting automatically. “So, what do you think? A little strange, I know.”

  Peter sat next to her, and since they both wore shorts, he had one bare calf touching hers—a point of contact she’d been intensely aware of during the episode. Now he stretched his arm around her shoulders, his fingertips caressing below her shoulder. “Totally strange,” he said.

  Her heart sank a notch. “Do you think so? I mean, I just do it for fun.” She shrugged. “It’s nothing really serious.”

  Peter grinned. “That’s too bad, because I think it’s the most amazing kind of strange I’ve seen in a long time.”

  She could feel her smile reach her eyes. “You do?”

  “I do.”

  “You’re not just saying that?”

  Peter shook his head. “It’s a unique idea, at least to me. It really is like you’re right there experiencing the woods. And it’s great how you made us see textures, and really look at the huckleberries before you taste them. If I didn’t already know how tart they were, I would after watching your face.”

  “That’s exactly what I was trying for, to give viewers a real forest experience using as many senses as I could.”

  Peter asked who did the camera work.

  “Someone different every week, actually. My volunteer coordinator arranges it.”

  “You have a volunteer coordinator?” Peter asked, a disbelieving tilt to his eyebrow. “All of your own?”

  “Oh, well, Tammy’s a volunteer herself.” Kenzie busied herself with her laptop keys. This was one of those areas she worried sounded too much like she ruled her own kingdom. She changed the subject. “This episode was all filmed in one morning, but sometimes I do just a short walk, then talk about the benefits.”

  Peter nodded. If Kenzie had to guess, she’d say he wasn’t intimidated. That was good. She didn’t want to come across like that, and she might if she told him about her legion of supporters. What would he think if she told him how many annual fundraising runs and walks
she organized on her own, outside of her work at the foundation, depending on volunteers and donations to keep them going? And the fact that she had so many volunteers for her different projects, she couldn’t begin to guess how many there were?

  “Where is this filmed?” Peter asked. “Do you use trails in the Olympics?”

  “No, they’re all at my house.”

  Peter’s brow creased. “I thought you lived in Settler’s Point. How much property do you own, Kenzie?”

  “Five acres, and it’s not actually in the Settler’s Point subdivision, just in that area. It was our family cabin growing up. We spent most weekends there, so we’d be surrounded by trees and closer to the mountains. My dad gave it to me when my mom passed.” She fingered her necklace again and saw Peter’s eyes follow. Not wanting to start a conversation about her loss, Kenzie quickly added, “But my neighbors have forestland, and the old gentleman who owns it lets me walk the trails as often as I like. And beyond that is native reservation land, all wooded.”

  She suddenly remembered Paige, sitting in the armchair. Kenzie couldn’t see Paige’s face. Had she fallen asleep? No, her arm moved to straighten the blanket she had over her that cool summery day.

  “What do you think, Paige? Honestly, will this help when you can’t go hiking?”

  Paige, whose energy had waned during the afternoon, put out a thumbs-up. “I love it. I’m definitely subscribing. Just watching it made me feel better. Still tired, though.”

  “Well, that’s something,” Kenzie said, nodding and checking with Peter.

  “Sure,” he said. “When everything makes you tired, that can’t count as a negative.”

  Paige nodded, and Kenzie said, “True.”

  Peter and Paige insisted they watch two more episodes, and Kenzie hoped that they weren’t just being nice.

  When it was time to leave, Kenzie told Paige goodbye and Peter walked Kenzie to her car. As soon as she’d deposited her laptop and things to the back seat, Peter reached for her hand. “As much as I loved going to your fancy gala,” he said, a twinkle in his eyes, “I have to say today was even better.”