23. Oskar
I knewthat was a stupid thing to say as soon as the words flew out of my mouth, but unfortunately, there was no shoving them back in.
Kelsey wasn’t hurt; she was angry. She had to shout to be heard above the roar of the cars passing. “Oh. So I’m supposed to drop my job and my house and my entire life to move back here for my boyfriend’s convenience? Sorry if I’m a little slow to change everything in my life for someone I’ve known for a few months!”
That pissed me off even more. “No, fuck that! Don’t pretend this is some sort of casual thing. It’s not and you know it. Forgive me that I want the woman I love living closer than two hundred miles away.”
Her mouth gaped, and she shouted back at me, “Screw you!”
“Screw me?”
She stomped over to me. “You’re not supposed to tell me you love me in the middle of a fight on the side of the road!”
Fuck.
That really wasn’t what I was planning either. And her shouting “screw you” at me when I told her I loved her wasn’t the response that I’d hoped for.
The weight of her words hit me like a blow to the chest. I stared at her shocked face before turning and walking back.
This was not the plan. I could wait for Talia and Kurt to show up from the car. I wasn’t going to embarrass myself anymore. I’d already made myself a fool for this woman.
Maybe this was just too much. If she didn’t want it as much as I did?—
“Oskar!”
She shouted my name a moment before she tried to tackle me from behind. I turned around and Kelsey was in my arms, clutching my waist with tears running down her cheeks.
“I love you,” she blurted. “I love you too. I love you.”
I stood, frozen for a moment, before I grabbed her face in my hands and looked at her. “You do?”
She sniffed and smiled at me. “Of course I do, Chef. Only someone I love could drive me this crazy.”
I heard the cars continue to drive by on the highway, but I didn’t see anything but the woman in front of me, who had already changed my life so utterly and completely.
My thumbs stroked her cheeks as I stared into her blue eyes. “I love you, Kelsey Rankin. I love you more than I’ve ever loved anyone in my life. And I don’t know how to do this, but I know I love you.”
She looked up at me with tears in her eyes. “I don’t know either.” She laughed. “But I love you so much.”
I kissed her, my arms came around her back, and I held her to me.
She loved me too.
A weight lifted off my chest as I realized the intense feelings that scared me to death weren’t one-sided. A truck honked at us as it drove past.
I pulled back a little and looked into her red-rimmed eyes. “I’m sorry I was being a distracted asshole. And I’m sorry I told you I love you in the middle of a fight on the side of the road. I had a plan. There was a walk on the beach.”
She sniffed again and smiled at me. “I’m sorry I yelled and got out of the car. You’re not an asshole. I mean, probably you are sometimes, but everyone’s an asshole sometimes.”
“To be fair, that wasn’t actually the first time I told you. Just the first time I told you in English.”
“I knew it.” She smacked my arm and squinted at me, but she was smiling. “I kind of want to go to your place, but we’ll never hear the end of it if we stand them up.”
I threw my arm around her shoulders. “We have all weekend, Kelsey. And guess what?”
“What?”
I leaned down and whispered in her ear. “I love you.”
A beautiful flush rose on her cheeks. “I love you too.”
“And I’m not thinking about Victor at all.”
I was thinking about Victor again.
She narrowed her eyes. “Chef, don’t make me kick your ass.”
I opened the car door for her. “When you need to try, I’ll get you a ladder.”
“See, now? Now you’re being an asshole.”
We gotto the market later than we’d planned.
Kelsey and I walked hand in hand toward the stand in front of the steakhouse downtown. We’d agreed to meet Talia and Kurt there so we could grab sandwiches before we started strolling. There was supposed to be a decent country-and-western band tonight.
I wanted to spend some time with our friends like a normal couple.
And I was trying very hard not to think about the restaurant.
I saw Kurt waving at us from one of the bar tables set up around the stand. Josh and Sergio were nearby, laughing and drinking beer. I watched Sergio hand over a couple of bills to Josh.
Kelsey glared at Josh. “Were you guys betting?”
Josh raised his hands in innocence. “Hey, I had you guys at half an hour late. Sergio was betting on you guys standing us up entirely.”
I looked at Kurt. “What was your bet?”
He looked to the side, glancing at Kelsey before answering. “Around an hour.”
Kelsey huffed and made a face at Kurt. I laughed and leaned down to give her a quick kiss.
Kurt shrugged and grinned. “Don’t give me any shit—I was trying to give your man some credit for stamina.”
Sergio busted up laughing, and Josh winced.
“Let’s keep it PG, folks,” Josh shouted over the laughter. “Kelsey, you want a beer?”
She nodded, and I looked at Josh. “What, I’m chopped liver?”
He looked at me and smirked. “No, you’re buying the next round, asshole. That’s what you get for kissing my sister.”
Sergio and Kurt cheered while Kelsey only shrugged. “Sorry, Chef.”
Josh slapped my shoulder. “Come on, Olson. A round for everyone. Get to it.”
Kurt jumped up to help me out carrying the beer as I left Kelsey with her brother and Sergio to hold the table.
“Where’s Talia tonight? It sounded like she and Kelsey had a great time in Sonoma.”
“She’s on her way. Ran into a friend of hers down the street. And yeah, it was nice for her to get away, you know.”
I frowned. “She doing all right now? Is she sick?”
Kurt just smiled and clapped a hand on my back as we got into line at the bar. “She’s fine. Probably just sick of me.” He winked and waved over my shoulder.
I turned to see Talia and another woman joining the rest of the group at the table. Kelsey looked at me, smiling, and mouthed one more, and I nodded.
Kurt continued, “Yeah, you spend too much time together and you just need a break sometimes, you know?”
I looked at him with a neutral expression on my face. “Screw you, Kurt.”
He guffawed. “Sorry, Oskar. That was sort of an asshole thing to say, wasn’t it?”
I shook my head ruefully. “No, don’t worry about it. I’m sure you’re right. Hopefully I’ll find out someday.” I looked at Kelsey as she laughed and smiled, a playful grin lighting up her face.
Kurt glanced at me, a serious expression settling on his face for a moment. “Is that right?” The question hung there, as loaded as his expression at the moment.
I looked at the man who was basically Kelsey’s second brother and nodded slightly. “Yeah. Hopefully.”
He grinned. “All right then.”
We had reached the front of the line and ordered six pints of Firestone Pale Ale. Miraculously, we managed to carry the beer back to the table without spilling too much. Kelsey and Talia had gone off to grab sandwiches for everyone, and once they got back, we talked and laughed as we ate our sandwiches and drank the cold beer.
The nights were getting colder and the fog had come in, so I took the opportunity to wrap my arm around Kelsey’s waist and she snuggled into me with her hand sneaking into the back pocket of my jeans. Every now and then, I would lean down and kiss the top of her head.
Conversation and laughter swirled around us; we filled our stomachs and drank a couple of more rounds. I had a hard time remembering when I’d had so much fun in a group of people, and I knew a lot of it had to do with the woman at my side. I didn’t feel awkward or uncomfortable when Kelsey was with me. I felt like I belonged.
After our beer and food, we wandered away from the tables and started going through the market. Every so often, people would recognize Kelsey and stop to talk to her. Like Josh, it seemed as if all the farmers, winemakers, and restaurant owners knew her. We walked through the market at a meandering pace, enjoying the hum of the vendors and flow of customers.
We stopped at the Kobayashis’ vegetable stand briefly as I talked to Rick, the son, who was around our age, and Kelsey caught up with old Mrs. Kobayashi, who was whispering and glancing in my direction. Rick went to help a customer as I remembered back to our “phone date,” hiding here from Josh and Kurt as I talked to Kelsey on the phone, trying to imagine being here with her, and then Mrs. Kobayashi took my picture right by that corner.
Did I have a picture of the two of us? I didn’t think so. I walked over and got out my phone. I walked up to Kelsey and put my arm around her.
I smiled at Mrs. K. “Do you remember which corner it was?”
Mrs. Kobayashi must have been about ninety-five, and her face was wrinkled from years in the sun. She smiled at me. “I’m not that old, young man. I know just where that picture was taken. I didn’t know you were sending it to this young lady though. You know, Adele Rankin was a dear friend to me.”
Kelsey piped up. “Yep. Mrs. K always came over for my grandma’s tamale parties at Christmas.”
I nodded. “I’ve been wanting to learn how to make those.”
Mrs. K pointed toward Kelsey. “Well, this young lady should have no problem teaching you. Just ask her.”
I smiled and hugged Kelsey closer. “I’ve been asking her, Mrs. K. You’ll have to help me convince her, all right?”
She just winked at me and motioned for us to lean together. I handed her my phone, and she must have taken about twenty pictures of us.
After a few surprisingly strong hugs from Mrs. K, Kelsey and I wandered down to the stage where the band was playing. I could see Josh and a cute brunette who looked vaguely familiar dancing in the corner. Kurt was sitting on a bench with Talia on his lap, and Sergio led an unfamiliar woman around in a slow dance.
I turned to Kelsey and pulled her into my chest. “Dance with me?”
“Love to.” She held out her arms, and I led her into the crowd.
I stared into Kelsey’s eyes as we danced, the lights, music, and people turning around us.
She was everything I wanted.