Kyle did join Trent when he walked Stevie out to her car. They stood in the parking lot smiling until Stevie’s car disappeared from sight, then Trent asked, “What was with the meerkat routine you and Trulee were doing at the windows of the kitchen door? Why didn’t you come back to the table?”
“We had to have a meeting of the minds after Stevie made the hot comment about Kellen. Trulee thought I was gonna try to fix them up, and she felt the need to explain all the reasons that wouldn’t be a good idea. We had a long debate after that.”
“So you think we should fix Stevie up with Kellen too,” Trent said with a smile.
Kyle wagged a finger. “No, I didn’t say that.”
“What was the debate about then?” Trent followed Kyle to his truck.
“At first, we both thought it was a bad idea,” Kyle said as he and Trent got into the truck. He turned the engine but didn’t shift into gear. “It was weird, we were both in agreement for a while, then all of the sudden, we got confused because we weren’t sure if we were right.”
“Stevie and Kellen would be a good match if you leave the whole McLin/Sealy feud out of the equation.”
Kyle gazed at Trent with his brow furrowed. “That’s the problem. The feud is the only reason we could come up with for not trying to hook them up. Kellen found Stevie very interesting and attractive.”
“I know it’s a big deal to you, but to me, it ain’t. Stevie is exactly the person I remembered. She’s sweet, and she doesn’t see the car a person drives or the labels on the clothes they wear, she sees the person. She could’ve hung with the popular crowd in school, but she picked me. Kellen couldn’t ask for better than her, and I think Kellen would be good for Stevie. You always say the fight with the Sealys has taken up too much of your family’s time. You gonna let it take away Kellen’s shot at the moment she’s always been looking for too?”
Kyle thought for a second or two. “No.” He started his truck. “No, I’m not.”
Chapter 5
“I had to think about this a lot for a couple of days before I came to you. I think I’m ready to say it out loud.” Kellen rested her head against the wall. “I met a woman, she was a stranger passing through town. I felt…something. She was really pretty, and I think that’s part of it. I mean, you don’t meet people every day and think wow. I couldn’t help but think when I left the diner to go back to work that I was leaving someone important behind. Now she’s gone, and I don’t know if I’ll ever see her again. I wish I would’ve stuck around and learned more about her. She’s probably married. That’s the scary part. What if I meet my moment girl, and she’s in a relationship, and our timing is all off?” Kellen held up a finger. “What is even more horrifying is that I spend a lot of time sitting on this floor talking to a fucking bronze seal.”
Kellen shook her head. “Some people write their thoughts in a journal, I tell mine to a statue. So what? Is that really a problem? I’m getting things out of my head just like someone who writes it down. That’s healthy, right? Please don’t answer.”
Kellen’s eyes flew open wide when she heard knocking. “Shit! I thought that was you for a second.” She covered Mr. Sealy with a blanket, closed the closet door, and rushed into her kitchen. “What’re you doing?” she asked when she opened her back door to Kyle.
Kyle stepped in with a bag slung over his shoulder and a bottle of wine in his hands. “Remember when we were kids and we’d come out to this house when we needed to get away from everybody and we’d have a picnic?”
“Yeah,” Kellen said as she closed the door behind him.
“We’re gonna do that now. Throw another log on the fire.”
Kellen didn’t hesitate to do as Kyle asked. “What’s wrong? Did you and Trent have a fight? Did you find another crab leg?”
“No, he’s helping his dad fix a broken pipe, so I came to see you.” Kyle set his bag on the coffee table and started digging in it. “I hope you haven’t eaten because I got you the hot ham and cheese sandwich with all the trimmings from Willie’s. Plus, I’ve got wine and chips.”
“I’m so glad I ate cereal for dinner—no, we’re not sitting on the floor,” Kellen said when Kyle started to take a seat on the rug in front of the fire.
“This is how we used to do it.”
“My teenager ass was fine with that, my adult ass says no.” Kellen went into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle opener and two glasses.
“I have all that,” Kyle said when Kellen returned. He held up two plastic red cups.
Kellen laughed. “You’re feeling really nostalgic tonight. You wanna sneak into Sealy and vandalize something, too?”
“Do you forget sometimes that you’re the mayor of McLin?” Kyle asked seriously.
“Yeah, but it doesn’t happen by accident. I have to concentrate really hard and push that knowledge deep into the recesses of my mind. Alcohol usually helps.”
“Why won’t you try to push your hatred of the Sealys deep into your recesses?” Kyle opened the wine and poured it into the plastic cups instead of the glasses. “We’re the new generation of McLins, we don’t have to perpetuate the old family feud.”
Kellen plopped down on the couch. “I have grown up, you know. I’m just as sick of the feud as you are and hearing Walt gripe about damn Dave Sealy all the time.”
“Yeah, and Walt’s making it about land again. He found out Dave was interested in a piece of land, and he took a big chunk out of our inheritance and went and bought it.”
“That’s an investment. That twelve acres will be prime real estate soon because it’s not that far from the interstate.” Kellen smiled. “One day, that land will make us a fortune just like the plot we sold to Hadley Distribution. You can retire from your pest control business in your forties. I might even sell my tree-cutting service to Chance and retire, too. God knows he’s keeping it running right now while I play mayor.”
Kyle watched Kellen unwrap her sandwich and blurted out, “That woman you met at the diner thinks you’re hot.”
“Get out. Don’t toy with me, you shit,” Kellen said with a laugh.
“She came to the diner again today, and she told me that straight up.”
Kellen lost interest in her sandwich and gave Kyle her full attention. “Seriously?”
Kyle began to twist and turn the truth like a pretzel. “Trent was there, and she realized we were a couple, that’s how the topic came up.”
“Is she single?” Kellen grabbed her cup of wine.
“Uh…yeah. She recently got out of a relationship with a guy. She admitted her questions about her sexuality pretty much caused the breakup. She’s had a lot of crushes on women, but she’s never been in a relationship with any or slept with one.”
“Hmm,” Kellen said with a thoughtful nod. “Where does she live?”
“A town somewhere nearby. She has a really interesting job, she writes instruction manuals for office products,” Kyle said, hoping Kellen wouldn’t pin him down on exactly where Stevie lived because he wasn’t sure how to admit who she really was. He considered doing it when he was walking out the door but figured Kellen would’ve caught him before he was able to get inside his truck and lock the doors. He suddenly had a vision of her snarling and clawing at the window like an angry dog.
“That’s cool. What else do you know about her?” Kellen shook her head when Kyle opened the chips and held the bag out to her.
“Not much, other than she and Trent are the same age. Eat your sandwich, it’s probably already getting cold. I invited her to the party, which is gonna be next Saturday, by the way. I talked to Chad Clement, and he has a big group of friends, and a lot of them are lesbians who get together to watch some show at his house. He’s gonna invite his crew.”
Kellen frowned. “You didn’t tell him you’re throwing a party to hook up your lame-ass sister, did you?”
“Yeah, and they’re all bringing sympathy gifts,” Kyle said with a laugh. “I told him we’re having a gay celebration and to br
ing all his friends under the rainbow. That’s what I told everybody else I talked to. I know it’s short notice for you, but it’s the Mardi Gras season. Everyone is throwing parties, so I had to move fast. That reminds me, you’re gonna need enough food for about fifty people, probably more.”
Kellen had just taken a bite of her sandwich and nearly spit it out.
“I did tell everyone to bring their own booze at least,” Kyle added quickly. “I’ll supply a keg, though, and a couple of platters of finger sandwiches.”
“Thanks. I’m not cheap, but I don’t know how many Swedish meatballs I can make.”
“Oh, please, you’re gonna order half the food from Trulee and half of it from Chuck’s on the Water.” Kyle rolled his eyes. “The only thing you’re gonna do is open the pans and stick serving spoons in them.”
“That’s a lot of spoons. Can we get back to the woman—Stephanie? Did she accept the invitation to the party?”
Kyle smiled as he regarded Kellen. “You were really taken with her, weren’t you?”
“She’s pretty.” Kellen tried to sound casual and took another bite of her sandwich.
“Her name isn’t Stephanie Grant, it’s Stevie Sealy, and she was Trent’s best friend growing up,” Kyle said quickly and grabbed a couch pillow as a shield.
Kellen inhaled sharply and started coughing.
“I knew the day you came into the diner if I told you who she was, you’d be rude. Kell, she’s really nice, and she’s not anything like the rest of the family. She thinks the feud is stupid just like I do and—you are so ugly when you’re choke coughing. Do I look like that? Are you choking because you’re not doing the universal sign thing and grabbing your neck?”
Kellen didn’t respond. Her mouth gaped open as she coughed and gagged.
“I know what to do!” Kyle snatched Kellen up like a ragdoll and gave her a few slaps between the shoulder blades before he wrapped his arms around her and started the Heimlich maneuver.
“You’re not supposed to do that to someone who’s coughing,” Kellen said, sounding like Gollum from Lord of the Rings.
“You sound demonic, are you okay?” Kyle asked with concern.
“I’m gonna kill you.”
“Don’t threaten me in that voice, you’re making my arm hairs stand on end. I did just save your life, so you should be nice to me.”
Kellen flopped over and sat on the floor. “Tell me you’re joking about Stephanie,” she said and wiped her eyes.
“Stevie,” Kyle corrected. “Remember when Trent told us about her a while back? He said she’s not like her brother and sister, who I admit are dickheads.”
“She’s a Sealy,” Kellen cried.
Kyle pointed a finger in Kellen’s face. “You need to grow up. The fight with the Sealys is ridiculous. Stevie is a sweet, personable, pretty woman. You’re a dumbass fool if you let this opportunity pass you by.”
“Even if I could find it within myself to trust her, Walt’s head would explode. Do you honestly think Dave Sealy wouldn’t throw a fit when he found out his daughter was seeing me?” Kellen shook her head and sighed. “I’m so disappointed. I was actually thinking about her right before you got here.”
“You’ve stood your ground against Walt on important things before,” Kyle argued. “Remember the boy bike he didn’t want you to ride? You saved your money, and you bought that cool motocross one. He didn’t want you to be an arborist, and you became one. He told you it was a waste to fix up Grandpa’s old house.” Kyle waved a hand. “Look at it now.”
“Okay.” Kellen pointed to her phone on the coffee table. “Call him and tell him you wanna fix me up with Stevie Sealy.”
“Fuck no, are you crazy?”
“No,” Kellen said with a sardonic smile.
“Chat with her, see if you like her, then we’ll cross that bridge. Look, you’ve pissed on every idea I’ve had about meeting women except for the party plan. You basically expect the perfect woman to fall out of the sky and into your lap. Well, she might’ve walked into the diner instead.”
“Does Trulee know about this?” Kellen asked.
“Yeah.” Kyle averted his gaze. “She told me this was probably one of the dumbest ideas I’ve ever had.”
“Cancel the party, we’ll do it another time.”
“No,” Kyle said defiantly. “She could be the one. You’re both already attracted to each other, and you don’t often get that goofy interested look on your face like you did when I brought her up.”
“Now who’s being a silly romantic?”
“I know the type of woman you like, and Stevie is it. What’s more important is that Trulee even likes her, and she’s a tough sell. That’s really something since Stevie is a Sealy.” Kyle held up both hands. “Let’s just have the party, talk to her, and see what happens. Maybe you’ll have the moment with her.”
“One day, you basically call me stupid for believing in the moment, and the next, you’re claiming I could have it with a Sealy?” Kellen shrugged. “Why the sudden change of opinion?”
“Because Trent made me believe you and Stevie deserved a shot at the dumbass moment.”
Kellen sat quietly for a moment, then said, “This is my luck.”
“Don’t start feeling sorry for yourself already. Hang on to that in case you and Stevie actually get together, and you have to tell Walt. If that happens, let me move to another country first. I’m sure I’ll be able to see the fireworks from Iceland.” Kyle fidgeted as Kellen stared off into space, her expression somber. “Hey, if you and Stevie did actually like each other, think about how much that would piss off her daddy.”
“I don’t like to fight anymore. I did when we were kids, I’ll admit that, but now, I just want a peaceful, drama-free life,” Kellen said with a frown.
“I noticed that when you became mayor and you took my advice about refusing Dave’s calls.”
“The very first message that he left said he wanted to take me to dinner, so he could congratulate me on my win. I figured he did that to piss off Walt, or he thought he had a chance of being able to manipulate me somehow. Your advice was good, and I’m glad I took it. That’s why I can’t consider even chatting with Stevie. I may very well end up liking her, but I won’t be able to do anything about it.”
“You know what Trent said today that really got to me? He reminded me of how much I gripe about the fight with the Sealys taking up so much of our time. Then he said something like, ‘Are you gonna let it keep Kellen from the chance to have her moment?’ That’s when I thought it might be a good idea to invite Stevie to the party. I want you to be happy, and if by some ironic, crazy chance that Stevie might be the one, I didn’t want to stand in the way. Before I admitted who she really was tonight, you looked excited, and you haven’t looked that way for a while.” Kyle rubbed his hands on his pants legs. “Oh, fuck, that really made me feel emotional.”
“Are you actually gonna cry to get me to agree to allow her to come to the party?”
Kyle squinted. “Will it work?”
Kellen waved a hand. “Have the party, let her come,” she said without any enthusiasm.
*******
As soon as Kyle left, Kellen stomped down her hallway, threw open the closet door, and ripped the blanket off Mr. Sealy. “You dick!” she yelled at him. “I’d kick your ass if I knew I wouldn’t break my foot!”
*******
The next day, Kellen tried to focus on work, but her mind was on the party and mostly Stevie. She felt like the butt of a joke. The Sealys had delivered a blow that’d knocked her to her knees, and they didn’t even know it.
“Walt is headed toward your office,” Laina Hanford, the receptionist, whispered through the intercom on Kellen’s desk. “Mike just stopped him to chat. If you’re fast, you can get out the back door—oh, never mind.”
Kellen rubbed her temples and chanted, “Not today.”
“You need to get on the drainage guys like I told you,” Walt said as he walked into
her office without hesitation. “We’re gonna have more rain this afternoon.”
“I’d like to do that, but with people coming in and out of here all day, I don’t have the time.”
Walt took a seat in one of the chairs in front of Kellen’s desk. “Tell them to get out and stay out then.”
“All right, get out,” Kellen said without cracking a smile.
Walt ignored Kellen’s comment. “You’ll find your feet, don’t worry, and handling all the crap will become second nature. Give yourself time, you’ve only been sitting in the big chair a few months. Guess what I did today.”
“I’m afraid to ask.”
“I put up a sign on the new property that says, ‘Suck it, Dave, you lose again, you pansy ass, manicure-loving, titmouse.’” Walt slapped the armrest of his chair and laughed. “I can’t wait till he sees that. I’m expecting a call from him any second.”
Kellen didn’t join in on the laugh. Since her conversation with Kyle the prior evening, she’d thought a lot about the McLin/Sealy feud. As far back as she could remember, the Sealys had always been the enemy. She remembered her grandfather telling her the only difference between a Sealy and a mule was the scent—a mule smelled much better. Despising a Sealy wasn’t only a family obligation, it was a pastime like football. Pranks were the games that led up to the Super Bowl, and the winner of that bowl did the most property damage. Dave and Walt had been destructive in their youth, and Kellen was more than happy to follow suit and wage war with Linden and Christine Sealy, as well, when she was a kid.
“Why ain’t you saying anything?” Walt asked. “You think I shoulda rubbed it in his face more that I got the land instead of him?”
“A titmouse is a bird.”
“Bullshit,” Walt said with a snort.
“What did you think it was?”
“A suckling mouse.” Walt scratched the side of his nose. “I’ll have to make a new sign.”
“How’d you get out to the property?”
Kellen's Moment Page 6
