Chapter 12
CHAPTER 12
A s she often did, Scarlett was walking around the neighborhoods in Silver City north of Main Street. Although there were businesses on a couple of streets in that direction, the residential area began there and spread out as she continued walking. While most of the homes closer to the west end of town where she lived and worked seemed small and some of them rundown, the more she walked east, the nicer the homes became—old Victorian houses over a century old, well maintained by owners who could afford the costs.
A few of them had probably been at that art exhibit the night before.
As usual, she was taking her walk mid-afternoon, but because she didn’t have to work that night, she was spending more time outdoors than she usually had time for. She’d discovered years ago that getting outside helped her feel more grounded, allowed her to release pent-up emotions. She could think without interruption or even just let her mind wander, and she often felt better after a good, long walk.
It was cheaper than therapy.
Thinking that brought her mind back to Kyle again—although his memory really hadn’t left it since he’d walked down the stairs in her apartment building last night. He’d surprised her over and over again in the best of ways…and she couldn’t believe she was actually thinking about taking another step.
That kiss…
When she felt her phone vibrate against her hand in her coat pocket, she wondered if Al might be calling her in to work tonight. He’d only done it once before when one of the servers had been sick, and Scarlett had made even more tips than usual taking drinks to tables. Granted, she had to share a little bit of it with the bartenders that evening, but she’d still walked out with more.
If he asked, she wouldn’t hesitate.
But when she looked at the screen, it said Kyle , not Al.
When she answered, she simply said, “Hey! I didn’t expect you to call.”
“I told you I would.”
“Yeah, but…”
“No buts . I had a good time and you said you did too, so there’s no reason to put off talking.”
“That’s fair.” When she and Tommy had first gotten together, she hadn’t heard shit from him for days— literal days. No calls or texts, no communication at all, so she’d figured he hadn’t been as into her as she’d been into him. It wasn’t until they were living together and she’d asked him about it that he told her something stupid about a “three-day rule”: “You’re not supposed to call a girl you’re into for three days, so’s she doesn’t think you’re desperate.”
She should’ve known it was just another Tommy thing. The guy was—
“But maybe we were just basking in the glow. You can be honest with me, okay? Did you have a good enough time that you’d want to do it again?” There was no mistaking the eager tone of his voice—and that made her feel all the better because she, too, loved the prospect of a second date, regardless of how it might not be the best idea for her.
“I did. I’ve never been on a date like that, except for maybe the dinner, but that’s not—” She stopped herself. It was way too early to tell him that she knew he was different…that he seemed like the kind of guy who would make a good partner for the right girl someday.
Because that girl would not be her. Whether her judgment was skewed because she was falling for him, despite her best efforts, or he turned out to be someone else entirely, she was not going to be here long enough to find out anyway.
There was no sense getting his hopes up.
And yet she had a hard time keeping her heart closed or her mouth shut.
“Not what ?” Kyle asked, breaking through her torrential thoughts once more.
Struggling to remember exactly what she’d said, she improvised. “That’s not important. I had a good time and, yes, if you’re asking, I would go on a second date.”
“ Yes! I was hoping you’d say that. I’m working all this week, plus I have rehearsal and two shows—”
“Tequilaville Friday, right?”
“Yeah. When are your nights off?” he asked.
“Usually Monday through Wednesday.”
He couldn’t completely mask his disappointment when he spoke again. “Then why don’t we talk on Friday and figure out our next date. Does that sound okay?”
“Yeah, that sounds good.” She was a little bummed out that she wouldn’t get to see him until then, but it was only a few nights away. And she knew that time would help her regain her perspective. Right now, she was like a love-sick puppy, far too eager and emotional. “So what are you doing right now anyway?”
“Getting ready for work. I gotta work a double tonight.”
“ That sucks.”
“Except for the money.”
Scarlett nodded her head, a gesture Kyle couldn’t appreciate over the phone. “I get that.”
“What are you doing?”
“Well, I don’t have to work tonight, so I’m taking a long walk around the neighborhood. There’s still a little snow on people’s lawns and all the Christmas decorations make everything seem so festive and bright.”
“You must not be looking at deflated Santas then.”
She started laughing. “What?”
“You know, those inflatable things people put in front of their houses—snowmen, Santa, reindeer, shit like that. They’re all lit up and puffy at night but, when they turn them off, they’re deflated and sad-looking, just laying on the ground, a mass of color, and you can’t even tell what they were.”
A smile still on her face, she said, “You’re right. I haven’t seen one of those yet.”
“Oh, you will.”
Before she could stop the words from coming out of her mouth, she asked, “Did you ever think you might want that?”
Still joking, Kyle said, “A sad Santa in my front yard?”
But she managed to catch herself. “No. Never mind.”
Even through the phone, he was perceptive. “You mean a house I can decorate at Christmas? One with a white picket fence, two-point-five children, and a dog?”
It was so stupid—but he’d read her like a book and she couldn’t deny it. “Yeah.”
“Let me put it this way: I don’t ever want to become like those rich assholes last night, only seeing someone’s worth if they make a certain amount of money or come from the right family. If I ever become that person, shoot me right between the eyes. But if you’re asking if I want a good life…a nice home, kids, and a reason to celebrate the holidays, then yeah. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t.”
She let out a long breath. Were they more alike than she’d ever realized?
He continued. “My therapist is helping me see that I do that—I lie to myself. A lot. And it’s one of those things I’m trying to change.”
“Is it hard?”
“It was at first. Because if you get really good at it, you don’t even know you’re doing it.”
Did she lie to herself about things? It was something she’d have to ponder later. “That makes sense.”
“I’m getting ready to head out the door, Tink. You okay if we keep talking while I drive or do you need to go?”
She wasn’t willing to dig too deeply inside her own psyche at the moment, so the answer was easy. “As long as it won’t distract you, I’m game for talking.”
And they continued their conversation until he had to sign off, heading into work to clock in. But his voice remained in her head the entire evening and, for the first time in a long time, she dug out her journal, ready to record all her swirling thoughts and emotions on paper so she could get them out of her head.
Although they’d been texting and talking every day since their date last Monday night, Kyle was dying to see Scarlett in the flesh again. Finally, their show on Friday night had arrived and, even if it was only for a while, he’d be able to talk with her in the early hours of the morning as the customers trickled out the doors into the cold night.
He’d never said a word to Adrian or Pedro about it, but he’d spent more time than usual getting ready for the show. He’d showered in the late afternoon and splashed on some cologne. Then he used a little product in his hair like Hayley had taught him years ago and picked out his favorite pair of jeans for the show, along with an old red t-shirt and black vest. Unlike in the summer, he didn’t get quite as hot and sweaty on stage.
Before they left, Kyle said to his roommates, “I’m gonna take my car tonight.”
Pedro arched his eyebrows. “Is my bro lookin’ to score tonight?”
Hoping to keep his friends’ noses off the scent, he said, “Always.”
“We’ll live vicariously through you, dude. Since we both got a ball and chain, you know.”
Adrian simply shook his head, ignoring his best friend. “You think they’ll really have a lot of people tonight?”
“It’s not like here in Charlotte,” Pedro said. “Al was saying they’re sometimes even busier now, ‘cause everybody’s stressed about the holidays.”
“Hey. Since Kyle’s taking his own car, maybe we could take Maria and Claire in the backseat.”
“I like the way you think, bro. But Maria’s got the merch stuff in her car. It won’t fit in my trunk with my bass.”
“I could take your bass in my car,” Kyle offered.
“I still don’t know if that shit’ll fit.”
Adrian grinned. “There’s one way to find out.”
While Adrian and Pedro texted their girlfriends to make new arrangements, Kyle checked himself in the bathroom mirror one last time. Satisfied, he grabbed his guitar case and said goodbye to his friends, eager to see the woman who just might become his girlfriend. Although time would tell, all signs pointed to that possibility.