Chapter Six #2
She snuggled in close and kissed him, a kiss that started out short and sweet but quickly turned torrid. “One more time,” she whispered. He pulled her closer still.
If the phone buzzed or chirped again in the next fifteen minutes, he didn’t hear it.
A little while later, she kissed his square jaw and asked, “Coffee to go?”
He buried his lips in her tangled hair. “You really are trying to get rid of me, aren’t you?”
“Well, I do have a bunch of random stuff to get done, but if you’re really going to blow off your clients, I’ve got no problem putting off cleaning the bathrooms until some other day—especially not if you do that thing with your tongue again.”
He nuzzled her hair some more and stroked his fingers up and down the satiny skin of her forearm. “Which one?”
They laughed together.
And then, he admitted glumly, “I do have to go.”
* * *
Ten minutes later, Kenzie stood on her porch waving as he drove away.
Back inside, her house was too quiet. She wished that Finn could have stayed. She had such a good time with him. They had fun and there was honesty. They understood each other. Sometimes, when she looked at him, she wished—
Never mind what she wished. This lovely magic between them wasn’t going to last and they both knew it. For now, they could be together, enjoy each other, make the most of each day. She just needed to keep herself in check, not let herself get too attached.
She had her home, her community, work she loved and a baby on the way.
Her life was already complete. She didn’t need a man to make it so.
* * *
Monday was the first day of school.
Kenzie spent that morning dispensing medications, patching up minor injuries and deciding when a student was in bad enough shape to be sent home.
By noon, she’d been vomited on by a freshman.
And then, Jimmy Trout, a sophomore, came in with a bad nosebleed that he insisted, “Just started out of dowhere, Durse Osborde.”
Once she’d stopped the bleeding, she pointed out that he had a cut on his cheekbone and bruises on his knuckles consistent with a fistfight.
Jimmy slumped in his chair and muttered that he didn’t want to talk about it.
She let him sulk right there in her office until the assistant principal could take over.
Kenzie had lunch in the teacher’s lounge with Lauren Dalton and Sandy Rice.
Sandy taught English and critical thinking.
Lauren joked that the students in her earth science class were more interested in throwing spitballs and making googly eyes at each other than in exploring the major cycles that affect every aspect of life.
“Hey, it’s high school,” said Kenzie. “You know what that means.”
Sandy nodded. “Learning, sadly, takes a back seat to picking fights and first love.”
“So true,” said Lauren.
Now, both Sandy and Lauren were watching Kenzie. Like just about everyone who had grown up there in town, her friends knew that she and Finn had been inseparable all through high school.
Kenzie glanced from Lauren to Sandy and back to Lauren again. She liked and trusted both women. And there was nobody else sitting nearby at the moment. Whatever she said could be kept between the three of them.
However, maybe she was misreading them, thinking they were wondering about her and Finn because the man was constantly on her mind. Maybe neither of her friends had a clue of what was going on between her and Coach Monahan…and she ought to just leave it at that.
The silence at the table stretched out. Sandy and Lauren seemed to be waiting for her to speak. “What?” she demanded.
“Well…” Sandy took a slow sip of her iced tea.
Lauren broke first. She nudged her lunch tray to the side and leaned in. “It was so great seeing you with Finn Monahan at his speech at the Dinosaur Center. You two look good together.”
“We’re just friends,” she said, outright lying. Then again, it wasn’t really a lie. They were friends—but not just friends.
Lauren’s eyes were full of understanding. “Hey. It’s okay if you don’t want to talk about it.”
On Kenzie’s other side, Sandy lightly squeezed her shoulder. “We care about you, that’s all. And we’re here. If you need us.”
Kenzie blinked away the sudden moisture in her eyes.
“Thanks. I mean that. And well, it’s just…
really hard to trust a guy after a rough divorce.
” She should stop there. But she didn’t.
“Plus, Finn and I have some rocky history together, too. Our breakup was a long time ago—but let me tell you, it was brutal.”
Her friends were nodding. They were both a little younger than Kenzie and Finn. But it was Tenacity. They must have heard the stories.
Lauren said, “Yeah. You two were legendary. And then he went off to the University of Michigan and you went to Montana State. You came back, but his family moved away and that was that. Eventually, we all knew that it must be over between you two.”
“It ended that summer right after graduation,” she said. “We only just reconnected recently. We’re friends, Finn and me. I think he’s great. And, yes, we are spending some time together. But that’s all it is, a temporary thing.”
“You’re saying you can’t trust him because he broke your heart all those years ago?” asked Sandy.
“I just don’t want to go there. But I don’t blame Finn for what went wrong all those years ago.
However, between that old heartbreak and the disaster that was my marriage to Tate…
I’m kind of done with falling in love. So if you’re thinking that Finn and I are getting serious, don’t.
We’re just having fun together, that’s all. ”
“Hey, now…” Sandy looked crestfallen. “Never say never.”
Kenzie didn’t argue with her. Sandy was still in her twenties, still looking forward to falling madly in love with the perfect man and making a good life with him. Lauren, on the other hand, had been burned by love, too. Like Kenzie, she had the divorce papers to prove it.
“I have to tell you,” Lauren said, “I watched you and Finn when we were all hanging out at the Dinosaur Center. You two really do seem to have a connection, like you know each other so well. It’s hard to explain.
He reached for your hand once when we were all sitting together at the picnic table.
You took it and you glanced at him. You smiled at each other, one of those secret smiles, just between the two of you, like you were having a whole conversation that no one else could hear. ”
Kenzie scoffed. “That never happened.”
Lauren threw up both hands. “Fine. Don’t believe me. But I know what I saw. It’s like the two of you understand each other on a cellular level.”
“Science?” Kenzie rolled her eyes. “You’re bringing science into this discussion? Lauren, we’re talking about men and how some of us aren’t sure what they’re good for—at least, not anymore.”
“Ahem…” Sandy snickered and raised her hand. “I know exactly what they’re good for.”
“Well, then, share,” demanded Kenzie, feeling grateful to be let off the hot seat at least for the moment.
“Love and romance!” declared Sandy triumphantly. “And that upper-body strength does come in handy now and then.”
Lauren eyed their colleague with skepticism. “Okay, yes, I did pick up on the vibe between Kenzie and Finn. But Sandy, when it comes to men in general, not all of them are there for the long haul.”
“Maybe not.” Sandy seemed thoughtful. “But the right man can also be a girl’s best friend.”
“So can another woman,” Kenzie reminded her. “And dogs. Dogs make really great best friends. Personally, I’m thinking of getting a cat. They’re soft and cuddly, and they never cheat on you.”
“You are so cynical.” Sandy sipped her iced coffee.
“And nothing against dogs and cats—I have one of each, as you know—but they do have fleas. And sharp teeth. And claws. And what about the barking and the meowing in the middle of the night? Every creature on Earth has flaws. We women have them, too.”
Lauren faked a look of total shock. “Women have flaws? How dare you even suggest such a thing?”
Sandy played along. “I know, I know. I’ve gone too far. Down with the patriarchy! Women rule!”
They all three laughed at that. Across the room, two of their male colleagues eyed them warily.
With a sheepish grin, Lauren whispered out of the side of her mouth, “I guess we’d better keep it down.”
“You think?” Kenzie chuckled. And then, she asked, “Lauren, be straight with me now. Do you honestly believe you’ll ever get married again?”
Her friend didn’t answer for several seconds. Finally, Lauren sighed. “It’s doubtful. But if I ever do say yes again, the fella will have to be something really special.”
“‘Really special.’” Kenzie groaned. “What does that even mean?”
Sandy raised her hand again. “You need a definition? Leave it to the English teacher. Ahem. Special. It means better, greater, or otherwise different from what is usual. As for really, think of it as meaning ‘in actual fact,’ as opposed to what is said or imagined to be true or possible. Therefore ‘really special’ means the guy would have to, in actual fact, be better, greater or—”
“Thank you, Ms. Rice,” said Lauren with a saccharine smile.
“You’re welcome.” Sandy gave Lauren gracious little nod.
Kenzie said nothing. She was thinking about Finn.
* * *
And Finn was thinking of Kenzie—constantly, as a matter of fact.
That afternoon when he spotted her by the bleachers at practice, he turned the practice over to Barrett and jogged to her side.
“Nurse Osborne,” he said. “How’re you doing?”
“Real good, Coach,” she replied. The wind caught a lock of her shining hair and pulled it free of her topknot. He had to fist his hand at his side to keep from reaching out to smooth it back behind the shell of her ear.
He just wanted to touch her, to pull her against him, cradle her close and kiss the top of her golden head.