He nodded and ran a hand through his hair, gazing down at the stream, the edges trimmed with a thin layer of ice. “I’ve noticed that, too.” He swallowed a couple of times. “What else did you find out?”
Glad they were on the same page, Kaylee felt better about spilling the rest. “Once I knew her full name, and that she came from New York City and used to be a teacher, I did an internet search with those three things.” She cleared her throat, trying to rid it of the emotion building up there. Her voice didn’t respond, coming out all wavery, tears forming in the corners of her eyes. “She…there was a fire. She was on her way to work and her apartment caught on fire.” She reached out and gripped Blayne’s hand, needing human contact. “Her husband and only child, a son, were killed in the fire.” Losing all control, she dropped his hand and turned away from him, a sob rocking her chest.
She wiped at her eyes, afraid to turn around. It had been several seconds and Blayne hadn’t uttered a sound. His steel-toed boots clomped as he stepped closer. Kaylee flinched when he laid his hands on her shoulders. Without thinking, she leaned back against him, needing the comfort the closeness would bring. His strong arms enveloped her in a hug from behind, his arms crossing just below her neck. He laid his head on top of hers and they stood that way for several minutes. Kaylee gained control over her emotions but didn’t want to move. Her heart pounded in her chest, but rarely had anything felt so good—or so right—before.
The sun had fallen beyond the horizon and the wind picked up. The sliver of a moon and cloud-covered stars gave off little light. If not for the lights spread around the campus, it would have been pitch black out. She shivered from the chill.
With one last squeeze, he let go of her and stepped back. “We should get going before you freeze.”
She crossed her arms, trying to hold in some warmth, and turned around to face him, nodding. “Let me give you a ride. I’d like to check in on Mama C, anyway.”
“Okay. And we can talk more on the way.”
In the car she turned the heat up full blast and Blayne got right to the talking. “I don’t think we should say anything to Mama about this.”
“I agree. Mostly because I’m afraid she’d throw both of us to the curb if we did.” Kaylee pulled out onto the deserted street.
“And she won’t let us help her for sure if she knows we’ve—you’ve—been snooping around, breaking promises, again. Speaking of snooping”—he narrowed his eyes—“how exactly do you intend to find out if she has any other family or close friends?”
Her stomach flipped at the hidden venom in the word again. She rushed to answer his question, determined not to hide anything from him. Determined to regain his trust. “I already called the school she used to teach at. The secretary said she remembers her and that she still has friends teaching at the school, but she wouldn’t answer any of my other questions. Do you have any suggestions?”
“Yeah. Leave it alone, maybe.” He shook his head. “She doesn’t want any of this.” He stared out the passenger window. “I thought you were past that.”
Kaylee frowned. She’d been starting to think he was on her side here. He was right, though. She had dug where Mama C had forbidden her to dig. And it wasn’t just Mama C’s trust she’d stepped on but Blayne’s too. Heck, would she even be able to keep her promise not to mention any of this to Mama?
But she had to pursue answers, didn’t she? For Mama C? Her brain switched gears, going into overdrive—people were more likely to answer questions in person. She could use her credit card, or maybe her dad would let her use some of his airline points.
“What are you thinking, Kaylee?”
Sometimes he was too perceptive. She swallowed. Best to just spit it out. “Just about ways I might get to New York.”
“Oh, no. Have you ever been to New York? No way you should go there by yourself. That place is waiting for a girl like you to step foot there. Your innocent face practically screams ‘mug me’!” He shuddered and added in a quieter tone, “Or worse.”
She pulled to her usual parking spot a couple dozen yards from the viaduct. “Don’t worry. There’s almost no way I can afford a trip there, anyway.”
“Almost?” The corners of his mouth turned down.
Kaylee shook her head. “I mean, I could use my credit card.”
Blayne whipped his head around, mouth open.
“But, I won’t,” she spoke before he could, “because that’s crazy. Right?”
“Right. Crazy and stupid. And I know you’re neither.”
“Right. I’m not crazy or stupid.” But a smart person would figure out how to get it done.
“Kaylee…”
She unbuckled her seatbelt and put the keys in her coat pocket. “Let’s go see how Mama C is doing.” She got out of the car before he could say anything else.
He shut his door a little harder than necessary. Kaylee concentrated on walking toward the small fire where she could see the outlines of several people. Blayne caught up to her, but didn’t say anything.
Mama C sat near the fire, wrapped up in her sleeping bag. “Kaylee, come sit by me and get warm.” She spread part of her sleeping bag out for Kaylee to sit on.
“Thank you, Mama C. How are you feeling tonight?”
“Same as the last time you asked.” In straight up contrast to her reply, she broke out into a fit of coughing, holding a hand tight to her chest.
Kaylee raised an eyebrow at her.
“Now, young lady, don’t go looking at me like that.” A couple more coughs. “It’s just a little cough, nothing worse than the common cold.”
Kaylee and Blayne exchanged looks from where he stood on the other side of the faltering flame. “Okay. I won’t argue with you,” Kaylee said. “Have you eaten anything tonight? Are you drinking plenty of water?”
“She hasn’t ate nothing,” Hannah said. “I offered to make her a sandwich, but she said no.”
Kaylee pushed herself up. “How about something warm, Mama? Do you have anything like that over here?” She walked over to where a new pile of grocery bags lay, tucked up against a cement column.
“No sense in looking,” Mama C said. “I bought some chicken noodle soup, but someone stole our only pan.”
“Well,” Kaylee put her hands on her hips, “you need to eat. I’ll be right back.” She hurried to her car before anyone could try to stop her. She drove to the nearest Super-store and bought a cheap pan and some cough drops. Then she went to a drive-thru and ordered a Styrofoam bowl of chicken noodle soup and a bottle of water. As she pulled up to the window, she decided to get the others something too, she knew Blayne hadn’t eaten anything yet. She ordered from the “cheap” menu and set the bulging bag of chicken sandwiches and fries on the passenger seat and balanced the soup on the console next to her.
Blayne paced back and forth near where she usually parked, and he hurried to open her door as soon as the car stopped. “She had another coughing fit, worse this time.”
Kaylee shook her head, worry piercing her heart. “Help me carry this stuff, please.” She handed him the bag of food and she grabbed the bag with the pan and cough drops and the container of soup.
“You need to stop doing this,” Blayne said.
“What?” Kaylee put on an innocent act.
“Spending money on us.”
She stopped and turned to him. “Look, it’s my money and—just like Mama C—I’ll do what I want with it.” She smiled to soften her tone.
Under his breath, Blayne whispered, “Until you run out.”
She rolled her eyes and continued on to where Mama C sat. Gravel dug into her knees as she knelt beside the elderly woman. She sat the bag next to her. “Here’s a new pan and some cough drops.” Kaylee peeled the top off the steaming soup, plopped a plastic spoon in it, and handed it to Mama C. “Please eat the whole thing. It’s the best soup in Denver.” She screwed the top off the water bottle then screwed it back on loosely. “Here’s some water to go with it.”
“You are the sweetest.” Mama C slurped a bite of soup, closed her eyes, and hummed, “Mmm mmm.”
Blayne handed out the warm sandwiches and fries, taking two sandwiches for himself. “You really are the sweetest,” he whispered as he sat down next to her. Some of the tension still present from their earlier discussion eased from Kaylee’s shoulders.
The apartment was a mess. Allie had spent all of her time at Max’s before he had to leave on his next away rotation in Arizona. Kaylee had spent all her time upholding her promise to Mama C to help Blayne. She sighed as she surveyed the dishes piled high in the sink, the takeout packages littering the countertop, and the dust built up on the coffee table. She opened the fridge. A half-gallon of expired milk and some condiments. “Cleaning tonight, shopping tomorrow,” she said to herself.
She changed into her “sloppy clothes,” pajama bottoms and a Captain America t-shirt, and started in on the kitchen. As she cleaned, she let her mind run wild. By the time she’d completed the dusting and ran a vacuum over the small area of carpet, she’d decided she needed to go to New York. It was more important than worry about racking up more debt. As her head hit the pillow well after her usual bedtime, she decided she’d work the “dad” angle first.
Using the “I need to do this for my thesis project” angle, Kaylee was able to convince her dad to use some of his credit card points to buy her airline ticket. She only felt slightly guilty about the partial lie—it was because of her thesis that she’d stumbled onto this mystery.
She booked her flight for the middle of the next week and used her credit card to reserve a room at the cheapest hotel she could find. She’d have to use a ride-share company to get around, from what she’d researched about the subway system, it would be much too confusing for her to figure out.
And she needed to break the news to Blayne. He was not going to be happy, but she didn’t want to lie to him.
After she made the arrangements for New York, Kaylee finished cleaning up the apartment. By the time Allie rolled out of bed near noon, Kaylee’s stomach reminded her she hadn’t eaten since sometime the day before. She stepped in front of her sleepy roommate. “Get dressed. Let’s go to lunch and then get a few groceries.”
Allie drew her eyebrows together and pointed to her ear. “I can’t hear you,” she growled.
“Ha ha. Very funny.” Kaylee rolled her eyes. “I know you aren’t a morning person, but it’s no longer morning,” she signed, then pointed to the clock on the microwave.
“Ugh. Fine. As long as lunch includes copious amounts of coffee.” Allie pivoted and stomped back into their shared room.
They went to their favorite diner for breakfast where Kaylee told Allie her plans for New York the next week.
“You can’t be serious.” Allie raised her voice to the point where the neighboring tables turned to look at them.
“Lower your voice,” Kaylee signed.
“Sorry,” she signed back and then spoke in a slightly muted voice, “but, this is crazy. You can’t go to NYC by yourself.”
“I’ll be fine. I’m only going to the school. I promise to be back in my hotel room before dark. I’ll really only be there for one full day, I’m flying in on Tuesday, visiting the school on Wednesday, and flying home on Thursday.”
“Maybe I should go with you. How much are plane tickets?”
“A lot. I was only able to swing it because I’m using my dad’s points.”
Allie took a sip of her coffee. “Well, I’m still going to look at flights.”
Later that evening, at a time she was sure Blayne would be there after work, Kaylee went to check on Mama C.
She didn’t see his tall frame among those gathered around the fire, but before she could be too disappointed, Demarcus hurried over to her. “Mama C has a fever. You don’t happen to have some medicine for that, do you?”
“Actually,” Kaylee raised her left arm that had a bag looped around it, “I do. And some fresh water and more soup.”
Demarcus smiled, but it wasn’t his usual carefree smile, his eyes continued to show worry even as his lips curled up at the ends. “You’re the best.”
Kaylee knelt down next to Mama C and felt her forehead. She was burning up. Kaylee opened the large bottle of water she pulled from the bag and handed it to her. Mama C took a small drink and then suffered a bout of coughing that shook her thin frame.
Popping two cold and flu pills out of a blister pack, Kaylee handed them to the elderly woman. “Here. These will help with your cough and fever. I hope.”
Mama C worked on swallowing the pills while Kaylee removed the top from the steaming soup and plopped a plastic spoon in it. She traded Mama C for the water bottle, put the lid back on, and set it on the ground between them.
Kaylee stood and grabbed a couple of rolled up sleeping bags to prop up Mama C while she ate.
“Here, let me help.” Blayne crouched down on the other side of Mama C and helped secure the sleeping bags. “How are you feeling today, Mama?”
“No worse than yesterday. You all need to quit fussing over me.”
Blayne looked at Kaylee and raised his eyebrows.
“She has a fever today. I just gave her some medicine so it should come down within thirty minutes or so,” Kaylee said in answer to his silent question.
“You all settled for a minute?” he asked Mama C.
“Yes. I’m fine. I’m just going to sit right here and finish eating this delicious soup Miss Kaylee brought me.”
“Okay.” Blayne patted her gently on the shoulder, then looked at Kaylee and jerked his head to the side. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”
Nodding, Kaylee stood and followed him, wondering if now would be a good time to tell him about New York.
When they stopped and faced each other, Kaylee looked up at him, waiting for him to speak. After a few awkward moments in which he looked from her to the ground several times, he said, “I get paid tomorrow.”
“That’s great!”
“It won’t be a full check, because I only worked part of last week.”
Kaylee nodded, not knowing what to say.
Blayne cleared his throat and looked her straight in the eyes. “I’d like to take you to dinner tomorrow. My treat, but you’ll have to do the ‘taking’ part, since you’re the one with the car.”
She didn’t want him to use his hard-earned money to take her to dinner, but she knew she needed to give him this one. And, she’d promised to let him buy the next meal they shared. The next two meals if she recalled correctly. “I’d love to. Do you want me to meet you here or at the job site?”
He smiled and answered quickly, “Meet me here around six. That way we can check on Mama before we go.”
“It’s a date,” she said, her face instantly flushing with warmth. “Um, I mean…”
“Yes,” he interrupted. “It is.”
Now that their apartment was clean and somewhat stocked with groceries, Allie decided to invite Max over for dinner and a movie. Kaylee had nothing else to do, so she joined them at Allie’s insistence, feeling like a third-wheel.
“So,” Allie said as soon as they all sat at the table to eat the “gourmet” spaghetti and garlic bread she’d cooked, “guess who has a date tomorrow?”
Max plastered a fake look of shock on his face, eyes and mouth open wide, and looked at Kaylee. “You? Like, a real date?”
Kaylee rolled her eyes at him and glared at her friend.
“Who’s the lucky guy?” Max asked.
“Who do you think?” Allie said. “The only guy she’s spent any time with for the last month.”
Max tilted his head to the side. “The homele…I mean, Blayne? Really?”
Now was a good time for Kaylee to put a stop to this. “Yes. Blayne. He gets his first paycheck tomorrow, and he wants to take me to dinner. I agreed. End of discussion.”
Ignoring her last statement, Max asked, “Are you sure this is a good idea? I mean, he has quite a history, yo
u know.”
“I know his history much better than you do,” Kaylee snapped. “And it’s just dinner. We’ve eaten together multiple times, and he’s yet to murder me with a spork.”
“I think it’s uber-romantic,” Allie said, stopping her boyfriend from saying whatever he’d been planning on saying next. “And you’ve met Blayne. He’s a teddy bear.”
“Some teddy bears have hidden teeth and claws,” he mumbled.
“Oh my gosh! I’ll be fine. I trust him.” Kaylee stabbed a meatball with more gusto than necessary. “Now, change the subject.”
And she did trust him. But did she deserve his trust? She would tell him about New York tonight. No more keeping things from him.
Casual. That was the look Kaylee was going for. She wanted the “this is no big deal, just two friends having dinner” look with a splash of sexy…maybe a drop…a small drop. She settled for her favorite jeans, a tight sweater, and lip gloss.
Kaylee pulled up to the viaduct a little before six, checked her face in the sun-visor mirror, and stepped out into the cold, chastising herself for being so nervous. It was ridiculous, really. She’d eaten with Blayne on multiple occasions. She took a deep breath and focused in on Mama C as she stepped toward the camp.
“Mama C, how are you feeling tonight?” Kaylee knelt next to her and felt her forehead. Still a little warm, but not as fiery hot as the night before.
“Much better. Thank you, dear. Blayne had me take some more of that cold medicine and it’s been keeping my fever down.”
“How about the cough? Is it getting any better?”
“No,” Blayne answered for her, stepping into the ring of firelight. “She nearly coughed herself into throwing up while she was eating a while ago.”
“I’ll see if Max can suggest anything else for her.”
“Stop talking like I’m not here,” Mama C said. “It’s just a little cold. I’ll be fine. Now, don’t you two have plans? Get going. Hannah and Clint can babysit me tonight.”
“Yep,” Clint said. “We’ve got this.” He sat next to Mama and handed her a water bottle.
Under the Viaduct Page 9