Chapter 3 #2
“To us,” she said and clinked her glass against his. As he smiled, Kyle’s heart broke. He’d kissed yet another frog, and he’d actually found a princess. Problem was, she wasn’t his princess.
There was plenty of work to be done, and Kyle tried his best to stay busy and not think about what had happened with Amy. But try as he might, it still made him sad. They could’ve had a great relationship, he was sure, but there seemed no way to work it out. It was best to just move on.
Two weeks. It took him two weeks to work up the courage to look at the website again, and when he did, he was surprised.
Three women had responded to his profile, so he pulled up theirs and took a look.
One looked nice enough, but one of the things it listed as her likes was the symphony.
That just wasn’t Kyle’s cup of tea. She had other likes too, like gourmet cooking and flying to New York to shop.
Wow. Good luck there, girlie, he heard his brain say with a laugh. What was she doing on a rural website?
The next one he saw was a woman who was drop-dead gorgeous.
Everything sounded good—she liked water sports, liked Cajun food, and liked quiet nights sitting in the back yard swing, talking and cuddling in front of a fire pit.
There were personality questions, and he started reading her responses.
One of them was, “Prove to us that you’re different from everyone else.
Give us a statement that will tell us something about yourself.
” Hmmm. This should be interesting, Kyle thought.
The answers were hidden in drop-downs, so he clicked the little arrow and when he read it, he almost choked.
“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but rope and whips excite me.”
Oh, holy hell. When she said water sports, I don’t think she meant skiing! There were a lot of things Kyle was into, but kink wasn’t one of them. He’d never understood it. If somebody liked it, that was fine, but that somebody was not him.
There was only one more response, and he held his breath as he opened it.
In the picture was a woman who wasn’t beautiful, but she was certainly put together well.
She seemed to care about herself. There were pictures of her running a marathon, one of her and another woman hiking, and another of her kayaking with a group.
It looked like fun. By all appearances, she was physically fit.
Eating healthy was important to her, and he liked that idea.
He and Myla could certainly benefit from some good home-cooked meals.
She liked movies, country music, and camping.
Well, that was good too. Looking at the questions, he checked the same one, and he was impressed with her response.
“For me, it’s not about settling. It’s about learning to be content.”
That’s profound. Sounds good. Kyle took a chance and shot her a message.
Hi! I saw your profile from your response to me and wondered if you’d like to meet. Just let me know. Have a nice day. Kyle
“Daddy, I can’t find my other slipper,” Myla called from her bedroom.
“Be right there.” The profile hadn’t mentioned any kids. Wonder how that would go over?
By the time he’d found Myla’s slipper and gotten her into bed, his messaging app had pinged, so he checked. And there it was.
Hi, Kyle! It’s Leticia. I’d love to meet you sometime. I’m free on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, and if that’s not convenient, I can work something else out. Just let me know. Have a happy evening.
Kyle breathed a sigh of relief and answered. An hour later, they had a meeting arranged in the atrium dining room of the local hospital on Tuesday evening. Kyle smiled. Healthy food and inexpensive too. And a safe environment. He was hopeful.
At least he wanted to be.
He arrived about ten minutes early and wondered if he’d recognize her when he saw her. He needn’t have worried. At three minutes before their agreed meeting time, a woman stepped into the foyer of the dining room and walked straight up to him. “Kyle?”
“Yes! You must be Leticia!” Boy, she’s tall! he found himself thinking as they shook hands. And a strong grip too. Must be all the exercise and outdoor activities. “It’s good to meet you.”
“And you too! Have you eaten here before?”
“Yeah. A friend’s mom used to work here, and we came in after school sometimes and hung out until time for her to go home. The food’s good, inexpensive, and leans toward healthy eating.”
“Awesome! You read my mind! So it’s cafeteria style, I take it,” she said, wandering through the doors with Kyle right behind her. It didn’t escape him that she had a nice ass, and nice legs too.
“Let’s get our food and sit over in that area,” he said, pointing to a corner away from everything.
“Sounds good. Ready?” He waited as she got a tray and her silverware, then started down the line. Everything she chose was healthy, but she chose a lot, so much that she had to have two plates. Most of it was vegetables, true enough, but still … it was a lot of food.
“Well, here we are!” she said as she picked up her fork. Something about the way she held it made Kyle pause, but he couldn’t quite put a finger on it. “So, you’re a farmer?”
“Yes. Have been all my life. My family’s owned the farm for generations, so staying there is important to me.”
“I can understand that. I love the outdoors, so being in the middle of a big piece of land wouldn’t bother me one bit!”
“What do you do for a living?”
She took a bite of green beans, chewed, and swallowed. “I work at a salon. Hairdresser and makeup artist. I do a lot of wedding and prom hair.”
“Gotcha. You like it?”
“I love it. The highlight of my year is going to the big hair show in Las Vegas every year. I couldn’t afford it myself, but the salon helps pay for it, and the company whose products I use exclusively picks up the rest. I love the lights, the food, the hustle and bustle, but, I have to tell you, I’m worthless for two weeks afterward!
Just exhausted! I don’t travel too well. ”
“I can understand that. I don’t get much of a chance to travel, so trips like that are out.”
“It’s just four days. So you have a child, right?”
Kyle nodded as he swallowed his bite of meatloaf. “Yes. Little girl. Myla.”
“And where’s her mother?”
“Died six months after she was born. They found the cancer while she was pregnant.”
“Oh my god! I’m so sorry! I feel horrible for asking,” she said, and he could tell she meant it. “How long ago?”
“Five and a half years. Sometimes it seems like an eternity, and sometimes it seems like just yesterday.” He sat there for a few seconds, trying to rein in his emotions. “So do you like kids?”
“I love kids. I won’t ever be able to have any, so if I met someone who had a child, that would be a bonus.”
“I’m so sorry. Medical problems?” He didn’t want to pry, but if they were going to get to know each other, he figured he should ask.
“Ummm, you could say it’s something like that.” As he watched, she picked at one of her nails, then sighed deeply and looked up at him. “There’s something you should know, and I need to be up front about it, but I don’t know how you’ll take it. You seem like an old-fashioned kinda guy.”
Kyle shrugged. “I dunno. I’d like to think I’m pretty progressive in my thinking.”
“Okay then.” There was some kind of struggle going on inside Leticia, and he couldn’t figure out what it was.
“So,” she said, twisting her napkin, “I’m a woman.
I love pretty clothes and jewelry. I love getting a massage.
I love heels and makeup and perfume. I’m as heterosexual as they come.
I’m not the least bit attracted to women. ”
What was the big deal? Sounded good to him. “I suppose that’s good to know,” he offered.
“There’s just one detail you need to know. These?” she said and cupped her breasts discretely. “They’re not natural. They’re implants. I had them put in when I started taking hormones.”
“You have hormone problems?” He wasn’t understanding.
“You could say that. My body was making male hormones instead of female ones.”
“And you take medication for that, right?” And that was when he noticed it.
Her Adam’s apple. Well, fuck me with a cactus, she’s trans! Kyle’s brain screamed.
“Yes. Kyle, I’m—”
Kyle held up a hand. “No Don’t say it. I get it.
” They both sat quietly for a full minute before Kyle finally managed to pull his thoughts together to speak.
“Look, I have no experience with that kind of relationship. But I’ve heard what you’ve said, and I understand more than most people around here.
I get that you’re not gay because you’re attracted to men.
I do. I mean, I’ve never met a transgender person, but I’ve read a lot about it. ”
“And you—”
“Leticia, don’t sell me short. Look, honestly, I’m willing to see where this goes.”
Her mouth dropped open. “You’re kidding me.”
“No. I’m not. At all. I like you. Best of all, I like that you’re honest. You could’ve kept going until you pulled a ‘reveal’ on me some night and shocked me, but you didn’t. I can work with that.”
“Seriously?”
“Yep. So let’s eat our meal and talk, shall we?”