“And if you actually won the election?”
“I’d move into the governor’s mansion.”
“And I’d stay in your old house? Alone, right?”
“You know I can’t come out right now and win an election, Riley.”
“You’ve made the decision already, haven’t you?” Riley asked, knowing the answer.
“I haven’t made any decision yet, babe. I’m sorry I’ve upset you with this. I wasn’t expecting it. You know that, right? I love you, Riley.”
Riley’s eyes welled with tears. She’d loved this woman so much once, she couldn’t imagine her life without her.
“I don’t think I can keep doing this anymore, Elena.”
“What do you mean?” Elena asked softly. “Riley, don’t do this.”
“Don’t do what? You want to be the governor of Texas. I want to live a simple life in South Lake Tahoe. I want to buy a home with my girlfriend. I want that girlfriend to become my wife one day. I’d like us to raise children together.”
“We talked about kids. I’m past that point–”
“I know. I know.” Riley wiped at her eyes. “You said you’re too old. You don’t want kids even if I’m the one that has them. I know.”
“But you said that was okay before. You’re changing your mind now?”
“You changed your mind about moving here.”
“That’s not the same thing, Riley.”
“It isn’t?”
“Changing your mind about wanting to move in with someone is one thing. Changing your mind about wanting to have children is something else entirely.”
“Well, both of them end up with us going our separate ways, Elena. In that way, they are the same.”
“Hold on. Going our separate ways?”
“It’s better this way, don’t you think?”
“No, I don’t think. Riley, I love you.”
Riley’s next appointment entered the outer room of her office. Her assistant greeted the man, and Riley wiped at her face.
“I have to go. A client just walked in.”
“Wait. Riley, let’s talk about this. I’ll make time tonight, okay?”
“I don’t want you to make time for me, Elena. I want you to have time for me because you can’t not do that. I’ve got to go.” She hung up the phone moments before her assistant led her next appointment into her office.
◆◆◆
“I think if I drink tonight, that would give you a very bad impression of me,” Riley said as Kinsley passed her the beer she’d just opened for her.
“You brought them last night. We didn’t get a chance to drink them.”
“You drink it. I’ll stick to water,” Riley replied with a laugh. “You really didn’t have to make dinner again.”
“I told you, I don’t mind. I love cooking. And I hate cooking for one. This works out.”
“Can we eat outside, or would that be too much trouble?”
“We can definitely eat outside. It’s a nice night,” Kinsley replied and passed her a plate.
They made their way outside to the lower patio. Kinsley had a round glass table there, with four metal chairs. They chose to sit next to one another in order to enjoy the view. They ate in silence for a few moments, with Riley staring out as the sun began to set.
“This is perfect.”
“It’s not bad.” Kinsley smiled over at her and offered a wink.
“Is that a path down to the water?” Riley asked and pointed with her fork toward stones Kinsley had set in the ground. “I didn’t notice it last night.”
“To the sand, yeah. I had them put in last year. I don’t go straight down there all that often, though.”
“Why not?”
“Usually, I just sit here, or up there.” She pointed at the balcony over them. “When I’m alone, that is. If I’m with my friends, we’re usually playing football on the beach down the road. Sometimes, I go hiking with Morgan, but we take one of the trails.”
“Do you have a boat down there?” Riley paused. “I’ve always wanted my own boat to take out on this lake. We couldn’t afford one when I was growing up here.”
“No, I don’t have a boat,” Kinsley answered and laughed. “I think you might think I’m rich. I’m not.” She continued laughing. “I got this place because it was going into foreclosure, and I had the inside scoop. I picked it up before anyone else heard about it. No way I’d be able to afford this place otherwise.”
“It’s beautiful, Kinsley. Have I said that yet?”
“Once or twice.” Kinsley took a drink of her beer. “How was your day?”
Riley stopped eating at that and thought about the last time Elena had asked how her day was when they’d eaten dinner together. She couldn’t remember it. What did that say about their relationship?
“Can I ask you a question?” she asked Kinsley.
“So, you’re not going to answer mine, I take it?”
“I will. I just want to ask you something first, if that’s okay.” She took a bite of Kinsley’s delicious dinner.
“Okay.”
“What’s the longest relationship you’ve ever had?”
“Oh, wow.” Kinsley set the beer bottle down onto the table, and the sound was thundering against the near silence of the setting.
“You don’t have to answer.”
“It’s not that. I just wasn’t expecting that.”
“What were you expecting?” Riley asked.
“I don’t know. How did you get your lawn that green?”
Riley laughed and replied, “You can tell me that later.”
“My longest relationship…” Kinsley looked out at the trees as she considered.
Riley wondered what she was considering exactly. It seemed like a pretty simple question to her. Her longest relationship was Elena. They’d been together for three years.
“I guess it was about a year and a half. I’ve had a couple of those, technically,” Kinsley supplied.
“A couple?”
“One was about a month longer than the other, if you need specifics.” Kinsley looked back at her with a smile. “Abigail was her name.”
“Where’d you two meet?”
“Culinary school.”
“Another student?”
“Instructor.” Kinsley lifted both eyebrows. “She was one of the reasons I fell in love with pastry.”
“I bet she was.” Riley laughed. “Why’d you two break up?”
“She took a job in Spain. It was amicable.”
“That’s good.”
“Can I ask you a question now?” Kinsley lowered her fork again.
“Fair is fair.”
Riley waited for Kinsley to ask her why she’d ask that question.
“How was your day?”
CHAPTER 8
“So, you guys are hanging out now?” Morgan asked.
“I guess.”
“And that’s okay with you?”
“Why wouldn’t it be?” Kinsley asked.
They were hiking one of the more difficult trails. Kinsley’s thighs were already starting to feel it, and they’d only been at it for a mile.
“Because you’re all in love with her, and she has a girlfriend.”
“I’m not all in love with her,” Kinsley replied with a laugh. “I like her, yes, but I’m not all in love with her.”
“But?” Morgan said as she stopped to take a long drink from her water bottle, apparently feeling the burn, too.
“But nothing.”
“It won’t bother you, being just friends with her?”
“I’ve always been just friends with her.” Kinsley took a drink of her own water.
“But this is different. You’re spending time alone now. You never used to do that.”
“I’ll admit it’s different.”
“Different good or different bad?” Morgan took a seat on a large rock.
“I don’t know yet. I like spending time with her. But we’ve been hanging o
ut a lot lately, and it is weird sometimes.”
“How so?”
“We’ll be eating dinner or just talking, and I’ll get this urge to touch her or kiss her. I can’t explain it.”
“You’ve always been that way with her. I never understood it either.” Morgan chuckled.
“I never understood how you felt that way about Reese. I mean, I love Reese. She’s one of my closest friends. But I don’t see her the way you used to see her. You two were over the moon for one another. Now, she has Kellan. They’re that way with each other. I like Kellan, but I don’t get it. I don’t think you’re meant to understand fully how that works with another couple.”
“But, James, you and Riley aren’t a couple.” Morgan gave her a sympathetic look. “She’s in her own couple with someone else.”
“I know.” Kinsley stared out at the expanse of the wilderness. “I don’t understand that.”
“You just said you’re not meant to.” Morgan stood.
“It’s different.”
“How so?” Morgan chuckled as she motioned for Kinsley to join her and continue the hike.
“Her girlfriend treats her like crap,” she replied.
“She’s been with her for three years, James.”
“So? I stayed with Abigail even though I wasn’t feeling it at the end. The last six months with her weren’t good. She was working all the time, trying to figure out if she even wanted to stay in the country, and she hardly noticed me.”
“Why’d you stay then?”
“Because we’d had a great first year. It seemed like we just needed to get through the rough patch. We loved each other once. We’d get back to that. Then, we didn’t.”
“You think Riley’s doing that? Trying to get through a rough patch?”
Kinsley walked behind her, regretting this difficult hike idea, and replied, “I don’t know. It might be. I feel like she deserves better, Morgan. She’s so nice. She’s smart, and funny. She brings me coffee now.”
“What?” Morgan laughed and turned around to look at her, walking backward up the tricky hill.
“Turn around, Morgan.” Kinsley pointed. Morgan obeyed and turned to continue walking. “And it started on Monday.”
“Today’s Sunday.”
“Yes, thank you. I know what day of the week it is.” Kinsley avoided a rock in the path that she nearly tripped on. “She dropped by around lunchtime, but I was with a client. She came back, like, twenty minutes later with coffee for me. On Tuesday, she came around ten, and when she found I wasn’t with anyone, she stayed for a while, and we talked. It’s like a thing we do now: she comes in, we have coffee, we talk, and then she goes back to work.”
“And she brings you this coffee that she pays for?”
“Yes.”
“And you’ve had dinner a couple of times?”
“Three times, yes.”
“Do you talk about your hopes and dreams, plans for the future, kids and grandkids?”
“We’ve talked about that stuff some,” Kinsley replied.
Morgan stopped abruptly and turned around.
“James, be careful. Okay?”
“What? Why?” Kinsley looked around, thinking that Morgan had seen something on the trail ahead.
“Because she has a girlfriend.”
“I’m aware of that,” she tried to laugh it off.
“Kinsley, you’re doing things couples do. You think her girlfriend isn’t good to her. I don’t want her taking advantage of the fact that you are good to her. I don’t want you to get your heart broken.” Morgan’s expression was serious. “She belongs to someone else, Kinsley.”
◆◆◆
“Hey,” Riley greeted when she entered Kinsley’s office on Monday morning holding two cups of coffee. “Are you busy?”
Kinsley checked her schedule and noticed it was ten on the dot. She also noticed the block she’d already put on her calendar for every day this week in order to prevent herself from booking something at this time. She’d wanted to make sure she was there when Riley arrived. She smiled up at Riley as she deleted that block.
“Hi, I have a few minutes, but I have to head out soon for a showing,” she lied. “Thank you. You don’t have to keep bringing me coffee.”
“I know. I wanted to.” The woman sat in the guest chair Kinsley now considered to be Riley’s chair. “How was your weekend?”
“Good.” Kinsley moved the coffee to the other side of the desk. “Yours?”
“I had a chance to look at those listings you sent over. I really liked the one with the porch swing.”
“It’s a nice house. Good bones.” Kinsley leaned back in her chair. “It’s been on the market for a while, because it’s not in one of the best locations.”
“I don’t mind. Do you think we could go take a look at it?”
Kinsley leaned forward again and looked at her calendar.
“I can do tomorrow at three,” Kinsley replied.
“I have to be in court.”
“I can do Wednesday at five. Is that late enough?”
“I can do that. Maybe we can grab dinner after.” Riley leaned forward in her chair. “Have you been to Dante’s in Truckee?”
“Truckee? Up north?”
“Yeah, it’s one of my favorite restaurants up there. My treat.”
Kinsley wanted to say yes so badly.
“I can’t. I have another showing at six, actually.”
“Oh,” Riley replied, seemingly disappointed. “Right. Well, five is good for me, then.”
“Okay. I’ll put it on my calendar. I should probably…” She pointed at the front door.
“Go. Yeah, sorry.” Riley stood.
It was an awkward goodbye, to say the least. Mainly, because Kinsley didn’t actually have anywhere to go. She followed Riley out and locked the door behind her before climbing into her car. Once Riley disappeared, she climbed out and went back into her office. She kept the lights off, though, and made her way back to the bathroom. She stayed in there for another ten minutes or so, just to make sure Riley was really gone. Then, she emerged, feeling like a complete idiot; but at least she was an idiot that wouldn’t risk getting her heart broken by a woman who was with someone else.
◆◆◆
“Is it weird, being back here now that you don’t live here?” Riley asked Kellan as they sat at her table, sharing Chinese food.
“A little, but not a lot. I’m at home where I am. This place was always temporary,” Kellan explained.
“And your place with me is permanent,” Reese said as she smiled at her girlfriend.
“That’s the idea,” Kellan replied.
“Can I ask you guys something?” Riley asked.
“What’s up?” Reese asked back and slid a shrimp into her mouth.
“What was it like when you found each other?” she asked. “You two, I mean.” She motioned with her chopsticks between the two of them.
“Confusing,” Kellan said with a laugh. “She has a twin sister.”
“Stop it,” Reese replied and laughed at Kellan. “It was confusing. But that was because she was a tourist.”
“And I had a broken heart,” Kellan added. “I thought it was broken, at least.”
“And it just worked?” Riley asked.
“Well, it is still working. But, yeah, it just worked.” Reese nodded. “It took work. We had to figure things out. Kellan moved here. She started a vet practice. I had to open up about something I hadn’t told anyone else about. She had to get over some stuff as well. We worked it out, and now we’re here. We love each other. We’re not just planning our lives together; we’re living them together.” Reese took Kellan’s hand with her free one on top of the table.
“How did you know?” Riley asked.
“Know what?” Kellan asked. “That Reese was the one?”
“Yes, how did you know?”
“Is something going on with you and Elena? Is that where these questions are coming from?” Kellan a
sked.
“No, we’re fine,” she lied. “I was just curious.”
“So, it’s a curiosity because the girlfriend is about to move here, and you’ll be living together for the first time?” Reese asked.
“I guess.”
“Well, pick your socks up off the floor; that I can tell you,” Kellan said. “Oh, never run out of mint chocolate chip ice cream.”
“Or whatever Elena’s favorite ice cream is,” Reese suggested. “Maybe she’s a Rocky Road kind of girl.” She glanced in Kellan’s direction.
Riley didn’t say anything for a moment. She stared down at the cardboard container and poked around at her noodles with her chopsticks.
“You don’t know what her favorite ice cream is, do you?” Kellan asked.
“I don’t, actually,” Riley answered. “She eats ice cream. We’ve had it together a few times. But I don’t know what her favorite kind is. I think she’s ordered chocolate a couple of times, but I don’t know if that’s her favorite kind or if that’s just what she wanted in the moment.” She let out a deep exhale. “I don’t know my girlfriend’s favorite ice cream, and we’ve been together for three years.”
“What was the longest you’ve ever been in the same place together, though?” Reese asked her.
“Three months, when I went to Dallas. But that was right when we met. We’ve only had a couple of weeks together each visit since then,” Riley replied.
“Kind of hard to get to know that stuff if you’re only on the phone, huh?”
“Maybe she told me once, and I just forgot. I’ve been forgetful lately,” she said.
“Forgetful?”
“I forgot Kinsley was gay,” she said and met Reese’s eyes.
“What?” Reese laughed. “How’d you forget that?”
“I don’t know.” She laughed at herself. “I know I knew that. I remembered her telling me for the first time as soon as she said it. I just hadn’t thought about all that college stuff in years.”
“But she’s one of our closest friends,” Reese said.
“Not really,” Riley replied. “She’s one of your closest friends. She wasn’t one of mine back then. And since I’ve moved back, I hardly spent any time with her. If I did, it was with all of you. Up until recently, I hadn’t spent time alone with her at all.”
Time of Day Page 6
