Chapter 11 The Right Signs
THE RIGHT SIGNS
“What a cute picture of you and Becca on Saturday,” Kelsey said to her on Monday morning.
Alana barely got her laptop booted up before Kelsey came marching in with her King Charles Springer Spaniel, Frankie, on her heels.
“It was a cute picture.” She squatted down. “Not as cute as this little guy.”
Frankie trotted over to get his daily dose of pets and attention. He only came into the office when Van wasn’t working from home.
“Frankie loves his snuggles in the office. Don’t avoid me,” Kelsey said, moving over to shut the door.
“Nothing like making it obvious shutting my door to talk to me all the time.”
Kelsey waved her hand. “Everyone will think it’s work or family related. Who cares?”
“Maybe I do,” she said. She didn’t want Brennan to think he was being gossiped about.
“I only commented on a picture,” Kelsey said. “Why is your face red? What am I missing?”
She soooo wanted to talk to someone about this.
She’d never been confused about her feelings with a man before. That was before the man she loved betrayed and broke her heart and trust.
Since then she had put little effort into men again.
Just looked and wished from afar.
She wasn’t lying when she told her family yesterday that she was trying again.
But that didn’t mean she was getting anywhere with it.
The last thing she needed to do was make a fool of herself by not reading the right signs.
“Nothing,” she said.
“Liar,” Kelsey said. She sat in the chair across from Alana’s desk.
There’d be no getting rid of her now. “Can I get your opinion on something?”
“Yes,” Kelsey said, bouncing in the seat. “Give me the deets. All of them. Something happened, right?”
“On Saturday Becca asked me if I liked tacos and then wanted me to have dinner with them. She really put us on the spot.”
“First, did you end up having tacos with them?”
“Yes.”
“Sweet. Okay, how was the night? Did you and Brennan interact with each other or was it all about Becca?”
“Becca was napping when I got there, but woke up maybe twenty minutes later. We talked for a bit. I told him I could have come later.”
“If he wanted you to come later, he would have let you know,” Kelsey said.
“I thought that too, but I don’t want to read more into this.”
“This is getting good.” Kelsey was rubbing her hands together like she always did. “What did you talk about before Becca woke up?”
“He asked how I ended up on the island. My senior status surprised him.”
“You won’t stay there long,” Kelsey said. “You know that.”
She shrugged. “I don’t care about that. I know I’m good at my job.” She returned Kelsey’s smirk. She had all the confidence in the world in her ability to do a great job. “But he wanted to know what brought me to the island.”
“Did you tell him about your dickhead ex?”
“More than I thought I would have. I just talked and it’s hard to say one thing and not all.”
“What was his reaction?”
“He made a comment about excuses don’t work with cheating. I got the feeling he felt the same way I did. I asked how he ended up on the island, even though he mentioned losing his nanny.”
“I’m so proud of you for being direct.”
“I am too,” she said. “But I got little more than what I figured. His mother is here and suggested it and it fell into place. I had hoped to get more, but then Becca woke up.”
“Moving on. How was it with the three of you?”
“You haven’t given me much yet,” she said. “I said we were put on the spot and you asked how we interacted.”
“Because if the night went well, then Brennan didn’t care his daughter did that. Maybe he liked that she had.”
“He’d never use his daughter that way,” she argued.
“Whoa.” Kelsey put her hand up. “You just got super defensive with that. I never said he’d do that, just that maybe he was okay Becca had asked.”
Her head went back and forth. “I guess. He didn’t seem as embarrassed over it as I did. And the three of us had such a good time. Becca cried when I said I had to leave. I felt bad, but I didn’t want to overextend my visit.”
“Why? If you were all having a good time?”
“It wasn’t a date. I had tacos and we played.”
“I can see you getting on the floor and playing with Becca. What did Brennan do while you were? Was he watching or doing it too?”
“I can’t tell you.”
“Oh, yes, you can,” Kelsey said, her eyes wide. “It has to be good now. You can’t say that and not tell me the rest.”
She should have guarded her words better.
“Let’s just say we both did everything that Becca wanted us to. Exactly the same.”
“Awww,” Kelsey said. “That’s kind of sweet. I remember asking my father to let me paint his nails once and he said no way.”
She cleared her throat and lifted her eyebrows. “No comment.”
“Nooooooo,” Kelsey said.
“My lips are sealed, but my nails are bare.” She held her hands up.
“Okay, so not on Saturday but maybe in the past?”
“I don’t know for sure. Just saying that I wouldn’t put it past him if it was asked. He’s such a good father. Becca is his world. You can see she knows he has her and always will.”
“Major points for you, huh?”
“At least I know how he’d be. But that means nothing more than his daughter likes me and he’s giving in to her. That’s where I’m confused. Is it just that?”
“Nope,” Kelsey said. “I doubt it. He’s a good leader and firm when he needs to be, but is well liked.”
“I know. I mean he hasn’t been here long or not long enough for anyone to complain.”
“And I’d know if he had issues in Boston, but my mother says he’s great. He doesn’t take shit from anyone and has no problem putting his foot down if he has to. The client comes first and he does what he needs to within reason.”
“I can see that. He told Becca no a few times. He doesn’t give her everything.”
“Just enough. So what’s next?”
“No clue,” she said. “Nothing. I haven’t talked to him since Saturday when I left. I was in Boston yesterday for Kirk’s birthday.”
“Did you tell your mother about Brennan?”
“No. No one knows, but they saw the picture. Jonathan still riles Kirk up. He thinks I’m here hiding.”
“If we didn’t just have this conversation, I’d agree with your brother.”
She frowned. “Gee, thanks.”
Kelsey laughed. “What did you say when he brought it up? I know you won’t take that sitting down. You think everyone thinks you’re a pushover, but you’re not.”
“I’m so happy to hear you say that. I think everyone thinks that of me. I can stand up for myself when I need to.”
Kelsey squinted at her. “It takes a lot and when you do, it’s still not the same as I’d do, but we aren’t the same people.”
No one was quite like Kelsey Raymond, but she still had a heart of gold.
“We aren’t. I told them I was trying. I didn’t need to say anything else. I think they believed me.”
“I’m sure they did,” Kelsey said. “But they also most likely think you’re hiding something too.”
Her shoulders dropped. “I’m not. There isn’t anything to hide. I don’t know what is going on. That’s why I asked your opinion. What do you make of all of this?”
“I think you are both dancing and not quite on the same note yet.” Alana burst out laughing. “What’s so funny?”
“I can’t say,” she said, thinking about how Becca said the same thing. That Brennan and Alana weren’t matching exactly. Who would have thought a three-year-old could be such a perfectionist?
“I’ll let it go for now,” Kelsey said. “But I’ll be watching the two of you in the office now.”
That was exactly what she didn’t want to happen!