Chapter 21 #2
Pepper, who Kelsey had brought along with Kurt’s okay, lifted her head from a doze to eye the cat before collapsing back onto the cool, brick porch floor. The Rottweiler’s belly was getting so round and full that Kelsey was counting the days until the house would be full of portly little puppies.
“Hey, isn’t that Rob’s van?” Megan asked, drawing Kelsey’s attention to the white commercial van heading past Ida’s house and pulling into the driveway next door. “You aren’t getting any more dogs, are you?”
“No. Maybe he’s stopping by for a visit.”
Kelsey wiped the back of her hand on a rag and watched from across the wide lawns as two people stepped from the van.
Rob was indeed the driver. A woman about Kelsey’s age stepped down from the passenger side.
Kelsey felt a rush of appreciation at how pretty she was.
A brunette with long, wavy locks, dressed in a sweater, leggings, and tall boots, she was eye-catching without a doubt.
Rob didn’t have kids, but from here, the woman looked young enough to be his daughter.
Kelsey was mulling over their connection to each other when she heard the front door of Sabrina’s house pull open, catching on the frame as always.
Kurt stepped onto the porch, brushing dust off his jeans and grinning.
It was a deep grin, one she’d only seen half a dozen times.
He’d made it to the top step when the girl broke into a jog.
From this distance, it felt like a movie, watching the girl run across the lawn, up the steps, and into Kurt’s arms. Kelsey’s ribs locked in tight around her heart.
She told herself it was the girl doing the running and the deeper part of the hugging.
And besides, it was just a hug. Family hugged.
Friends hugged. Everyone hugged. That’s not just a hug, Kels. She’s burying her face in his chest.
They’d stepped apart, and the girl was clearly brushing tears off her cheeks when Kelsey forced herself to look away.
She locked her attention on the pot in front of her and grabbed the funnel.
“Do you know who she is?” Megan asked quietly, carefully. Kelsey shook her head. She’d lifted one of the big jars and was about to start pouring when Megan added, “Looks like we’re about to.”
In her peripheral vision, Kelsey could see the trio headed their way.
She was debating whether to act like she’d not seen what she’d seen when Pepper rolled up onto all fours.
She let out a single but authoritative bark.
Although Kelsey wasn’t worried too much about Pepper being territorial, she’d tied her long leash onto one of the table legs for such an occasion.
Gathering courage she wasn’t entirely sure she felt, Kelsey stood up and Megan followed. The girl, who was prettier and prettier the closer she got, walked in the middle of the group as they crossed the yards.
Whatever it is, it is, Kelsey determined, locking her shoulders and standing straight. Together, she and Megan headed down the brick steps to the stone path in front of them. Pepper let out a second ruff and wagged her tail, though she didn’t try to leave her spot by the table.
“Kurt tells us there are wedding bells in the air,” Rob called out by way of a greeting as they walked up.
Because it was the easiest thing to do, Kelsey kept her gaze locked on Rob.
“Kelsey, Megan, I’d like you to meet someone who gives Kurt a run for his money when it comes to her training ability,” Rob continued.
“Ladies, this is Tess. She’s been living in Europe the last year or so and came home this week.
These two kids traveled all over the Midwest with me when they were an awkward, gangly pair of adolescents, and while I’d like to think the credit for their talent is due to my tutorage, I know it’s not.
Tess, this is Kelsey—she’s running the rehab with Kurt—and Megan, the shelter director I told you about. ”
Megan smiled warmly and glanced Kelsey’s way in confirmation. “Nice to meet you, Tess. We’d shake your hand, but we’re both a mess of honey.”
Up close, it was clear Tess had in fact been crying.
Her eyes were dry, but wetness still clung to her thick, long eyelashes, and the whites of her eyes were brushed with red blood vessels.
As nicely dressed as Tess was, Kelsey would’ve expected her to be wearing makeup, but she didn’t seem to be.
With lashes that thick, she didn’t need it.
Tess tucked a strand of dark-brown hair behind one ear.
“That’s okay. It’s nice to meet you both.
It’s wonderful what the shelter’s doing to help out so many dogs.
I can’t wait to meet them.” She sounded sweet and a bit nasal from crying.
Kelsey wondered what had happened to upset her.
Hopefully, it wasn’t anything too serious.
And, a bit selfishly, she hoped it wasn’t just a rush of heavy emotion at reconnecting with Kurt.
“Want to walk around with us while I show her the dogs, Kels?” Kurt asked.
Kelsey’s ribs unlocked a bit at Kurt’s words and the sound of her name on his tongue. She met his gaze, and relief flooded her. It was soft and pleading.
Whatever this girl meant to him, Kurt was clearly not putting Kelsey on the back burner. Maybe Tess’s arrival added to the already complex muddle of their relationship, and maybe it didn’t. The only way to find out was to keep in the running.
“Sure.” She looked Megan’s way. “Megan, want to come with us? I know we’ve got a lot to do, so I won’t be long.”
“Go for it. I’ll hang here with Pepper since I’m already knee-deep in this mess.”
“Sure. If lunch is ready, tell Ida I won’t be long.”
As they headed back toward Sabrina’s house, Kurt’s hand closed reassuringly over the small of Kelsey’s back, making the whole experience a little bit easier.
* * *
Kurt wished that at least once over the last month he’d brought Tess up to Kelsey.
But Tess had been in Europe and there’d never been a strong reason.
She’d left her big Italian-American family behind in a huff and was working on a farm was all that Rob had shared with him.
That and it was difficult to get in touch with her.
Kurt had been knocking out rotted plaster by a leaky window and trying not to think about the envelope he’d left at his mom’s or the chaotic mess of nightmares he’d had last night, when out of nowhere Rob was texting him to come outside and check out the stray he’d picked up.
He had no delusions that Kelsey might’ve missed their greeting, and he hated to guess what she’d thought. What she hadn’t heard was Tess’s muffled sob of “My grandpa died, and I wasn’t here to say goodbye.”
Even knowing Tess so well, Kurt only had an inkling of the pain that must have caused her.
Her family was tight knit, smothering as she’d often referred to them.
He had no clue what had happened to make her run off.
But he knew how it felt to be overseas and to lose one of the most important people in your world.
Hell, that was probably why Rob had brought her over like this without any notice.
But Rob hadn’t been thinking how pathetic Kurt’s conversation skills were, especially when it came to something so personal.
However much he might like to, Kurt had no idea how to console her.
The one thing he could do was talk dogs.
He was glad when Kelsey joined them and even gladder when the conversation settled into one that was easy and comfortable.
Kurt hadn’t seen Tess in forever. She’d gone from a gangly teen to a woman in her midtwenties who most guys would find it hard not to look twice at.
But Tess was Tess, and no matter how life or years had separated them, he cared about her as much as he had the last time he’d seen her eight or nine years ago.
He’d traveled to St. Louis from the post with William.
While his grandfather went about whatever business had brought him to the city, Kurt had met Tess for lunch at her aunt’s sandwich shop on the Hill, a cozy Italian neighborhood he’d been meaning to take Kelsey to whenever there was a quiet hour.
He’d been in his late teens and giving serious thought to enlisting.
Tess was two years younger, still in high school and not at all interested in military life.
And back then, before they’d reconnected over lunch, he’d been wondering if, since they had so much in common, he’d ever think of her as more than the sister he’d never had. When he’d seen her and they started talking, the answer back then was just as obvious as it was now.
He’d walk through hell and back for her, but he’d never think of her as more than a would-be sister.
And out of all of this, what moved him the most was that somehow, without ever being told any of it, Kelsey had picked up on the important stuff.
Her at-first-tense shoulders relaxed, and she fell back into her warm and inviting ways.
With every dog they introduced Tess to, Kelsey told simple stories that made Tess laugh and brought the color back to her tearstained cheeks.
It was one of the things that moved Kurt most about Kelsey, the way words always came so easily to her. By the time Tess had been introduced to all the dogs and fallen desperately in love with Frankie, Kelsey was inviting her over to Ida’s for lunch and to help finish assembling the wedding favors.
Tess looked to Rob before answering, probably remembering that even when it wasn’t warranted, Rob was always in a hurry.
“I wish I could, but I promised to help at the warehouse this afternoon. I’d love a tour of that shelter of yours soon though. When you have the time.”
“Are you staying in town for a while?” Kurt asked.
Tess gave a slight shrug of one shoulder. “I don’t know. Maybe. I left my friends in a hurry, but right now I think my grandma needs me.”
“If you stick around, you know Rob’ll put you to work.”
“If I stay, I’m going to want to be busy. I’ll keep you posted. Rob gave me your number.”
They headed down the stairs and out to the circular drive.
Tess hugged Kurt hard, her thin body and wool sweater pressing into him, then hugged Kelsey without losing a beat.
“It was nice to meet you, Kelsey. I knew from all that Rob said on the way over about you and your shelter that Kurt and these dogs were in good hands, and now I’m sure of it. ”
Kelsey’s cheeks lit with a pretty blush.
Like him, she was probably wondering what assumptions, if any, Rob had made about their relationship.
Tess’s words had an air of innocence about them.
However, since Kurt had already asked Rob for overnight dogsitting during the reception next weekend, she likely knew he and Kelsey were doing more than just leading a rehab together.
Rob and Tess loaded into the van, and Rob gave Kurt a single knowing wink before flipping the ignition and heading out.
Kurt stood beside Kelsey as the van headed down the road. A mess of words rolled over his tongue, but none came out. He wanted to thank her for letting her guard down so easily when, aside from the few snippets that had come out during the tour, she knew so little of his and Tess’s history.
But the words were stuck alongside all the words about the unexpected money and the forgiveness his grandmother must have felt toward her family, and the most befuddling words of all about a father and a connection that Kurt had given up all hope of.
He dragged a hand through his hair, and the words slipped further and further away.
A few hundred feet from them, Ida and Megan were on Ida’s porch pouring honey that Kurt could smell even from here. Inside Sabrina’s house, his grandfather was waiting for him to finish with a mess of plaster.
“Thanks.” It was a small word and hardly worth saying without being attached to a string of others.
Kelsey tugged at the zipper of her hoodie while a bee circled around her hand. “Sure. She’s nice.”
“Yeah.”
“I’d, um, better get back. We weren’t even a quarter of the way through when I left.” She turned away without waiting for a reply.
He was about to let her go when he caught her hand and pulled her into a kiss that was both deep and heavily curtailed at the same time. When he let her go, she brushed a wisp of hair back from his forehead.
“Kurt, whenever you’re ready to talk about it, whatever it is, I’m here.”
He nodded and felt his throat constrict. “I know. And right now, this is all I can do.”
“That’s okay. You’re worth waiting for.”