Chapter 8
Kayla
“Kayla.” I look up to see Cole walking towards me. He throws something, I put my hand out by reflex.
“Oh, my keys. Is it done?” I look up at him.
“It’s done and here.”
“Oh wow. Thank you so much; I really appreciate it. What’s the damage?” I ask, trying to keep my voice level. I’m really hoping it’s not going to be terrible.
“Two fifty.”
My eyebrows rise. “I’m sure it was more than that.”
He shrugs. “I did the work for free, so it was just the cost of parts.”
“Cole, you didn’t need to do that. How can I repay you?”
“Go to dinner with me.”
His words surprise me, and I wait for him to say he’s just teasing. “For real?” I ask.
He smirks. “For real. Go out with me. Tonight.”
I swallow and then smile. “Okay. What time?”
“Seven. I’ll pick you up. Do you like Italian?” I nod as my mind tries to wrap around what’s going on right now. “I’ve got a place I think you’ll like.”
“I just have to make sure I can get someone to watch my little brother.”
He nods. “Can you text me your address?” I panic for a moment, debating what to do; and then, I text him the address I gave Jessie the first time.
I just have to make sure I get to the spot before he pulls into the driveway or worse, knocks on the door of a total stranger.
“Got it. I’ll see you at seven. I’m looking forward to it. ”
I nod. “Yeah. Me too.” I force myself to smile at him and then turn around and head back inside. I take a calming breath and remind myself I’ll be fine.
“Hey, you ready to go?” Jessie asks as soon as she sees me.
I hold up my keys. “I got my car back.”
“Oh great.” Understanding dawns. “Was Cole out there?”
I nod. “Yeah. He dropped it off.”
She grins. “Of course he did.”
An urge to tell her suddenly fills me. “He only charged me for parts. When I asked how I could repay him, he asked me out for dinner.”
Her grin widens. “I knew he was into you.” Her face falls a moment later. Before I realize what she’s doing, she puts her arm through my elbow and pulls me towards the kitchen and to one of the back rooms. “Do you not want to go?”
I shrug. “I don’t know.”
She frowns. “You don’t have to if you don’t want to.” Her brows furrow. “Has he done anything that makes you uncomfortable?”
“What? Cole? No, not at all. No, he’s fine; it’s just.” I wave a hand. “It’s totally me; it will be fine.” She eyes me with concern, and I regret saying anything to her. “What are your big plans for tonight?”
Thankfully, she lets me change the subject. “Oh, hmm. Monday night. Let’s see. Probably laundry, dinner, and oh,” her eyes brighten. “Cleaning my bathroom.”
I laugh. “Got it. Big plans.”
“We can’t all have a date like you do,” she says in return, but there’s no heat to her words.
“What happened to that guy you were dating? Sam or Seth or somebody.”
“Steven, and it didn’t work out. We went on a second date over the weekend, and it was a disaster.”
“I’m sorry,” I offer.
“Eh, don’t be. He was pretty in love with somebody else; it took me until the second date to see it.”
I frown. “Really? That’s terrible. Another woman?”
“Nope. Himself.”
I laugh. “I love you, Jessie.”
“Aw, I love you too. Seriously, though, don’t feel any pressure for tonight. If you want to go out with him, do it; if not, don’t. Just because he fixed your car doesn’t mean you owe him a date.”
“Yeah, you’re right. Thanks, Jess.” She leans forward and gives me a quick hug. “Text me tonight if you decide to go and let me know how it goes.”
“I will. I’m going to grab Noah and get going.”
“Me too. See you tomorrow.” I start to walk away, but she calls me back. “Kayla, wait.”
I turn back. “What about Noah?”
“I’m going to ask Renee.”
“Okay. Let me know if she can’t.”
I smile. “Thanks, Jessie.”
I head back out to the main area, sending Renee a quick text as I go. “You ready?” I ask, stopping next to Noah.
He stuffs his book into his bag and slides out of the booth. I make a mental note to try to get to the library soon and get him some more books to read. We head towards the front door. “Have a good night, Kayla,” Mama May says as she bustles past.
“You too.”
We step outside a minute later, and I close my eyes a moment, letting the sun warm me. “Where’s Jessie?” Noah asks.
“We got the car back,” I tell him, wiggling the keys in front of his face.
We throw our bags in the backseat. “It’s good to have wheels again.” I glance over at Noah once we’re both in the car. “Let’s go to the library.”
He turns to me. “Really?”
I grin. “Yes, and then maybe we should get ice cream.”
His eyes widen. “Why?”
I shrug. “Because we can.”
“It’s Monday,” he points out.
“It is.” I pull out and start towards the library. “Let’s go get you some new adventure books. Did you like that mystery series we got last time?”
“Yeah, I read all the ones we got.”
“Are there more in the series?”
“There’s a new one coming out next month.”
“What else are you reading?” I ask.
He talks through what he’s currently reading until we get to the library and park. “Let’s go get some new books to read.”
Inside, I follow Noah over to the kids’ section. He stops suddenly and turns to me. “I left my books in the car.”
“I’ll get them; you start looking for books.
I’ll be right back.” I turn around and start towards the door.
I’m on my way to the front door when the two guys from the café step inside.
The redhead immediately looks at me. When those electric blue eyes meet mine, I feel frozen in place for a moment.
I fight through it and walk right up to him.
He doesn’t look away as I approach him. “Are you following us?” I ask, my voice hushed.
“We just came to get books,” he says in a low, gritty voice.
I cross my arms over my chest. “You came to get books?” I repeat skeptically.
“Yes.”
“Name one.”
He frowns. “What?”
“Give me the name of what book you came to get.”
His frown increases, and his friend makes a sound that sounds suspiciously like a laugh. But when I look at him, his face is serious. “The Ten Lies We Tell Ourselves About Success.”
“Really?” I ask, and he nods. I realize that his friend is no longer with him, and I immediately think of Noah.
Without another word, I turn around and walk as quickly as I can over to the kids’ area.
I scan the area and don’t see him anywhere.
Panic builds, and I walk past all the shelves near the kids’ area.
When I still don’t see him, my heart squeezes tight; and I feel like I can’t breathe.
I force myself to search each section of the library.
I blow out the breathe I’ve been holding when I find him in the YA section.
“Noah!” He turns to me in alarm, and I quickly force myself to lose the panic.
I force a smile. “You scared me; I couldn't find you in the kids’ section.”
“Oh, sorry. I wanted to check out the YA section.”
“No worries.” I take a calming breath, forcing my heart to slow its frantic beat.
I turn towards the shelf he’s looking at and take in the tall body sitting in a chair just a few feet away.
I look at the book in his hands. Sure enough, the cover reads, The Ten Lies We Tell Ourselves About Success.
He looks chill, sitting there; and yet, I get the feeling he’s anything but chill.
“Keep looking; I’ll be right back,” I run a hand over his head, and he ducks away from me.
I stride over to where the redhead sits reading.
“Were you watching my brother?” I ask in a hushed voice.
He looks up at me. “I’m just sitting here reading.”
“Near the kids’ section?” I whisper hiss at him. “Yeah, that’s not creepy at all.” He points to the title hanging almost right above his head. Non-Fiction. “Well, that’s just convenient, isn’t it?”
I try to take a breath and relax. I’m just trying to recover from the panic I felt when I thought Noah was gone.
For a few moments, I thought maybe they really did work for my uncle and while I had been talking to the redhead, the other guy had taken my brother.
“Kayla?” I turn at the sound of Noah’s voice.
“You ready to check out?” I ask. He looks past me and sees the guy in the chair.
I move so that I’m blocking his view. “Ready?” Noah looks up at me and nods.
I ignore the questions in his eyes. After we check out, we walk towards the front door.
I don’t look back, but I swear I can feel eyes on me.
I keep Noah moving towards the car. As soon as we’re in the car, I start it and begin pulling out.
“Did you find what you were looking for?” I ask.
“Why were those guys there?”
I sigh as I glance in the rearview mirror, knowing we’re going to have to talk about this sooner or later. “I don’t know.”
“Are you just saying that?” he asks, making me smile.
“No. I actually don’t know.” I glance over at him. “But I won’t let anything happen to you. Did either of them say anything to you?”
“No.”
We make the drive home in silence. We’re almost all the way to our apartment when I remember I promised him ice cream.
I keep driving and drive into the parking lot of a McDonalds.
“Ice cream cone?” I ask and climb out of the car, not waiting for his response.
I eye the parking lot carefully, taking note of each car.
I don’t see the men and breathe a sigh of relief as I lead Noah inside.
We wait our turn to use one of the kiosks to order.
While I do, I watch the parking lot. I note the moment they pull in.
I can’t even see the through the tinted windows, but I know it’s them.
When it’s our turn to step up and order, I pull up the ice cream cones and put in for four vanilla cones.
“Why four?” Noah asks.
“You’ll see.” I use my card and then wait. A few minutes later, two employees, each carrying two vanilla cones, walk over to us. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome; have a good day.”
I look down at Noah. “Follow me.” He nods, and I open the door and head out into the parking lot, straight for the black SUV with tinted windows. Sure enough, as soon as we get close, I recognize both of them.
The redhead’s in the driver’s seat. He turns to watch me approach. I stop right at the window. When he does nothing, I roll my eyes. “Can you roll down the window?” The window’s down a second later, and I hold out the two cones.
“What is that?”
“Seriously? It’s an ice cream cone. If you’re going to follow us everywhere, you might as well enjoy when we do.” He makes no move to take them.
“I’ll take them,” his friend says, leaning forward, trying to take both of them. The redhead takes them both from me and gives him one but holds on to the other.
The redhead puts his sunglass on top of his head and meets my gaze. “You bought us ice cream cones? Why?”
“Well, since I can’t shake you; I figured I might as well.” I take a step back. “All right then. Have a good one.”
Noah and I walk back to our car, and I take the cone Noah offers me.
It’s already a drippy mess, so I lick all the way around it, trying to catch all the drips.
“Mmmm. I forgot how good these are.” I glance over at Noah and watch him do the same as me, and I can’t help my smile.
Life may not be perfect, but in this moment, it’s good.