Chapter 25
25
Michelle barely kept it together until she knew she was out of sight. She squealed and danced in her seat as she drove home. If her children saw her, they wouldn’t recognize their mother. She barely contained herself. She kissed Keith Mason.
It wasn’t that she was kissing a movie star. It was that she was kissing a man other than Bill... and she enjoyed it. When she informed her children she was ready to date, kissing a man hadn’t even entered her mind. She thought about holding hands, hugging, having someone to talk to, but kissing was never in those thoughts. Now, she had kissed the sexiest man she’d ever seen. Even People Magazine thought so as they’d voted him Sexiest Man Alive a few years back. What was Jackie going to think? There were several things she wasn’t about to share with Jackie that happened over the last twelve hours, but that kiss wasn’t on the list.
As Michelle drove, her excitement calmed, and she let herself relive the moment. The feeling of his lips touching hers. Lips that were warm and soft, but the pressure of the kiss was firm. He knew how to kiss. She laughed out loud. Of course he did. He was paid to kiss women on screen. Was that what it was?Was it just another on-screen kiss? She wanted to believe that it was more. He said that they were starting with a clean slate. The way he held her hands felt as though he wanted to hold her, squeeze her, but he didn’t want to embarrass her. Wasn’t that what he said? She was in her town, and he was being respectful. She took a deep breath. That was all it was. It wasn’t fake. She had to believe that since she wasn’t about to be one of those sniffling, clingy women like Gladys. As she pulled into her driveway, she reminded herself that they were friends. But for the first time since she’d lost Bill, she wanted more.
She had the day to digest what had transpired between her and Keith. She’d wait until tomorrow to tell Jackie. Mindlessly, she cleaned her house with her thoughts on a man driving to another town. As she folded a load of laundry, her mind slipped back to last night, dancing with Keith. He was smooth on his feet and held her with strong arms. They swayed and turned, but he never spun her away from his body. He shielded her. Was that because he saw the phone cameras? He made sure people saw him and let her exist in a blissful bubble. She smiled as she thought about their conversation. “What are my odds, Michelle?” Laughter erupted from within her. “Better than most, Keith,” she said into the empty room. “Better than most.”
Her phone rang as she put away the last set of towels. “Hi, Jackie.”
“Girl, I’m tired of sitting on my ass. Let’s go walk the lake and burn off breakfast. You did have breakfast, right?”
“Oh, yeah. I had breakfast.”
“Hmm, sounds like a story behind that.”
Michelle chewed the end of her thumbnail. “I ate breakfast with Keith.”
“What!”
“Yeah, he called last night. We ate at the Morning Diner.”
“What? You took him there ? What were you thinking?”
“He didn’t want to go to the Coffee Café. He wanted something off the beaten path and local.”
“Then he got exactly what he asked for.”
“He did, and it was nice. We practically had the whole place to ourselves. We went between the breakfast and lunch crowds.”
“Nice? Breakfast with your mother is nice. Breakfast with Keith Mason is sexy, hot, romantic, any of those, but never nice.”
Michelle laughed. “Fair. It was a little sexy, especially when . . . he . . . kissed . . . me.”
“What the hell? And you didn’t call me immediately? Michelle, that’s big... huge!”
“You know me. I had to digest what it meant.”
“What it meant? Are you kidding me?”
“For me, Jackie. Having another man kiss me.”
“Oh.” A pregnant pause drifted through the phone. “And?”
“And I liked it. I hadn’t envisioned myself kissing anyone other than Bill. I thought about the other dates and knew it was never a possibility with them, but Keith made it different.”
“Have you come down from cloud nine enough to meet me at the lake?”
“Of course. You’ll tell me about you and Oscar when I get there, right?”
“Yep.” She popped her ‘P’ as if she were in junior high. Michelle chuckled, knowing that was a good sign.
“I’ll see you in a few,” Michelle disconnected the call to find a text message: We stopped at an overlook. The leaves are turning beautiful colors here. I wish you could see this with me. ~K
She quickly typed back: You’re at a higher elevation. I’ve got a few more weeks to wait to see the colors here. I wish I could too. ~M
She walked out the door with her heart aflutter.
The drive to the lake seemed to take forever, or maybe that was because she didn’t seem to be in a hurry today. She seemed to be drifting on the breeze like a butterfly. Jackie was waiting beside her car with her hand on her hip. Michelle laughed. Even Jackie’s impatience wasn’t going to get to her today.
“What took you so long?”
“I drove straight here.”
“Did you even drive the speed limit?”
“Yes . . . well, I think so.”
“You’ve got it bad, girl. Come on.”
Michelle shrugged. “Tell me what happened with Oscar.”
“I know I sound like a schoolgirl and not a fifty-year-old woman, but we changed our status on the dating app... together. In fact, we swapped phones and changed each other’s.”
Michelle’s brows rose. “That’s a big deal for you.”
“I know, and you know what? I’m not scared. I’m not running. I’m happy. He makes me happy.”
Michelle hugged her. “I’m so delighted for you.” They crossed the street to get on the walking path. “Do I need to have the best friend talk? He better not hurt you,” she said as they quickened their pace.
“Want to do something tonight?” Jackie asked.
“Let’s go to the Level Brewery.”
“Sounds good. Oscar has a planned video chat with his kids, then he can meet us afterward.”
“That sounds great, but I’ll be leaving?—”
Jackie laughed. “If Mr. Wonderful calls? I know, I know.”