“So what is your GPS saying?”
“I asked you over again tomorrow, didn’t I?”
“Yes, you did,” Stevie agreed with a smile. “I accepted your invitation, didn’t I?”
“How long are we going to go on like this?” Kellen asked with a laugh.
“I can go on all night. I’m a smartass, and obviously, you are too.”
Chapter 9
By the time Stevie got ready to leave that night, her car and Kyle’s truck were the only two vehicles in the driveway. Kellen walked Stevie out to her car with a flashlight in one hand and Stevie’s hand in the other. Stevie’s heart hammered in her chest as they strolled lazily along, amazed that just holding hands with Kellen had that effect on her. She wondered and hoped the night would end with a kiss, but she didn’t feel quite brave enough to initiate it.
“I’m very happy you came back tonight after I acted like a balloon dick hat.” Kellen gave Stevie’s hand a squeeze.
“I’m happy you cared enough to chase me down.”
“It wasn’t exactly a chase, but I did jump off the side of the porch, and I didn’t have the light on then, so it was very daring,” Kellen said, trying to sound serious. “You saw what happened to Trent, I could’ve ended up with a gardenia limb in my ass.”
“That was very brave, and I’m going to view it as a chase anyway. What time do you want me to come over tomorrow?” Stevie dug her keys out of her pocket with her free hand careful not to break contact with Kellen’s.
“Is one o’clock okay? I think it’s gonna take time to get Madonna and Trent on their way home.”
“That’s perfect.”
“Great, I look forward to seeing you again,” Kellen said as she began to pull her hand away from Stevie’s, but Stevie caught it and held on, hoping to send a signal that she didn’t want to end the evening with a casual goodbye.
Kellen got the message, leaned close, and placed a soft kiss on Stevie’s lips. When Stevie still didn’t let her go, she kissed her again, and this time, Stevie felt the brush of Kellen’s tongue against hers. She was both thankful and disappointed the kiss ended so quickly. A moment longer, she would’ve wrapped a leg around Kellen’s.
Kellen backed away quickly and blew out a breath. “That was a nice good night.”
“Me night, too—I mean good night.” Stevie fumbled with her key fob. Her hands were shaking so much she could barely hang on to it. She finally pressed the unlock button and threw open the door. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Oh, if you back up about ten feet, there’s a trail you can turn around on. I’ll shine the flashlight on it so you can see.”
“You don’t want me to drive you up to the house?” Stevie asked when she realized that would’ve been the polite thing to do.
“Nope, I need the jog. Good night,” Kellen said before she sprinted toward the turnaround.
Stevie got into her car, and for a second, she forgot how to start it. “Oh, damn, get your shit together,” she whispered and pushed the button near the steering wheel. She backed up to where Kellen directed her, then turned onto the driveway. In her rearview mirror, she could see the flashlight moving up and down and going farther away quickly. “She is shagging ass. I hope that means she’s excited and not trying to get away.”
At the end of Kellen’s driveway, Stevie stopped and took a moment to collect herself. Her hands still shook, and her heart still pounded as she touched her lips with her fingertips. She marveled at how good Kellen’s kiss had felt. It was the first kiss she’d ever gotten from a woman, and as far as she was concerned, it was the first real kiss ever.
*******
“How’d it go?” Kyle asked as he loaded the dishwasher and Trent washed serving trays. “Why’re you so flushed?”
“I ran” was all Kellen could say as she caught her breath. “What’re y’all doing? When I walked out of here a few minutes ago, you were both lying on the floor in front of the fireplace. I thought y’all had passed out.”
Kyle nearly fell down when he shook his head. “Oh, no, we got a lotta party left in us.”
“Uh-huh. Wine bottles don’t go in the dishwasher, and, Trent, the serving trays have to be dried before you put them away.” Kellen took a dripping tray away from him and set it on the counter.
“Did you kiss her?” Kyle asked.
“Yes.”
Suds flew off Trent’s hands as he waved them wildly. “I told you that was gonna happen! They were looking in each other’s eyes a lot.”
“Do you really like her? Was it a kiss on the cheek or the mouth? Did you have the moment?” Kyle asked.
“Please say you had the moment.” Trent slapped his hands together as though he was praying.
“Babe, you’re getting suds everywhere,” Kyle said and wiped his eye.
“I…I…I need some time to process what’s happening.” Kellen waved a hand over her midsection. “All in here.”
“You got gas, what does that mean?” Trent asked.
Kyle frowned. “That meant butterflies, right? Or do you have to shit because that crab dip did a number on me too.”
“No, I don’t have to go to the bathroom,” Kellen snapped. “It’s butterflies. I had to run up the driveway because I’m so excited she’s coming here for lunch tomorrow.”
“Does she cook?” Trent asked Kyle.
“She can but doesn’t do it.” Kyle shook his head and almost fell again. “I’m gonna have to step in here. Pasta makes Kellen bloat, so that’s out. What about beef tenderloin seared with peppers and onions?”
Trent made a face. “They’ll be burping. What about that shit you make with the chicken that you cook for a long time and it’s so tender and it’s got tomatoes and stuff?”
“That has spicy tomatoes in it, talk about burping.” Kyle jerked a thumb at Kellen. “That’s not all she does when she eats it.”
“Oh, right, it’s way too early for that. I didn’t fart in front of you until we were going out for almost a year, and that was an accident,” Trent said and furrowed his brow. “I think we ate that spicy tomato stuff then, too.”
“I remember that!” Kyle burst out laughing. “I sat on your lap, and it was like bamp. I knocked it out of you.”
“You two need to go to bed, you’re both slurring and wobbling, and you’re making me seasick.” Kellen took a wine bottle from the dishwasher.
Kyle waved a hand. “No, Trent’s got a point, don’t fart in front of Stevie yet.”
“As if.” Kellen pointed toward the guest room. “Please go.”
“The timing of farting is very important in a relationship, Kellen,” Kyle said with a snort.
“So is sleeping in the guest room instead of out on the porch.”
Trent looked at Kyle. “I don’t get it.”
“If you two don’t go to bed right now, I’ll throw you both in the gardenia bush.” Kellen waved a hand at the pair. “Got me worried about farting and what I’m gonna cook tomorrow. Totally ruined my kiss afterglow.”
*******
Trulee looked up from the table she was sanding the next morning when Kellen walked into her garage. “You’re up early, darling. I called Kyle to find out what he’d done with this.” She held up the sander. “He was still asleep. He said he and Trent drank a little too much last night and stayed at your place. Must’ve been some shindig y’all had.”
“A little too much is an understatement. Those two were completely smashed.”
Trulee chuckled. I imagine that was a sight. Did you have a good time too?”
Kellen nodded. “I had a great time.”
“Was Stevie Sealy there?”
“That’s why I had a great time and the reason I’m here.” Kellen took a seat on a wooden box. “I asked her out, and I really like her.”
“I already knew that,” Trulee said with a sigh and set her sander aside. “I could tell that she’d caught your eye the day y’all met at the diner.”
“Tell me what you really
think about her.”
“I think she’s a good kid. I have since she came to the diner with Trent when they were teens. She was always very respectful and polite, and that hasn’t changed. If her last name wasn’t Sealy, I’d be jumping for joy. Of course, you know my reservation, his name is Walt, and he is going to have a complete meltdown over this. I suspect her family will do the same.” Trulee sighed. “Honey, you know you can’t keep a romance between you two a secret in this town.”
“I know, but I’m gonna try for at least a little while. I would just like some drama-free time with her before I have to tell Walt.”
“How much time?” Trulee asked.
“Forty or fifty years?”
“You’ll be lucky if you have four or five days.” Trulee planted a hand on her hip. “I’m not gonna tell him, that’s your responsibility. I love that man with all my heart, but he’s as stubborn as they come, and this is something he’s gonna fight tooth and nail. A Sealy is a Sealy in his eyes, and he is not going to give Stevie the benefit of the doubt. It’s gonna get really rough around here, so you better know she’s worth the trouble before you open your mouth.”
“She is.”
Trulee shot Kellen a cynical look. “You know this after spending a few hours with her.”
“It was more like six or seven. I have a good feeling about her.”
“Oh, Kellen, honey,” Trulee said with a groan. “You have an excellent head for business, you’ll probably be the best mayor this town has ever had because you’re incredibly smart. That’s why it’s so befuddling to me that you hang on so tightly to this whole moment notion.”
Kellen held up a hand. “I didn’t say I had the moment with her. I’m taking a very sensible approach to Stevie. That’s why I want time to get to know her and decide if the pull toward her is legit.”
Trulee smiled. “What you have, darling, is intense attraction for her.”
“I know that,” Kellen agreed with a nod. “I have to make sure that’s not the only thing drawing me to her.”
“Sweetie, you have to let go of that moment nonsense. Love and relationships are about finding the person you’re most suited for, then figuring out how to make it work. That’s all it is.”
“I grew up listening to the story of how you and Walt had that moment the day he saw you in the hardware store. He knew you were his person, and you did too. I know it sounds stupid, but I think when you meet the person you’re most suited for, you know it.” Kellen laughed. “Stop looking at me like I’m an idiot.”
Trulee joined Kellen on the box. “The day Walt came to my house and we talked, he surprised me because he made me laugh. Not the polite chuckle you give someone when they say something they think is funny, he really did make me laugh. He only had two thumbs, and that was a bonus, too, because Jasper was calling on me at that time, and he had that extra one that unnerved me. My mom filled my head with stupid notions, too. She told me no man would ever want me if he knew I had mechanical skills because he wouldn’t feel like a man. My dad told me if a man was intimidated by the fact I could change the oil in the tractor, then he was no man. Walt really set his hook in me when I could tell how impressed he was that I knew what I was doing while we worked together.” She smiled. “The real moment between me and Walt came years after we were married and I learned all his secrets, and most of them weren’t pleasant. Little things like he can’t hit the bathroom trash can with a Q-tip, then he pretends he did. I had to weigh my irritation of having to pick up dozens of Q-tips behind the toilet against the good things about him, and I decided to hang on to the good things. Kellen, it’s all just trial and error and making up your mind to live with a shitload of errors.”
“Thank you for ripping the romanticism right out of love and crushing it,” Kellen said dryly.
“Well, there’s good things about loving someone too. If you pick the right one, you’ll know you have someone to stand beside you no matter what life throws your way. It’s all peaks and valleys. That’s what marriage is. You’re stuck in a rotation of loving someone with all your heart and wanting to smother them with a pillow. It gets better when you’re older because you’re too tired to start over, plus prison isn’t a good place for a woman in her seventies.”
Kellen smiled at Trulee. “I don’t know if you realize this or not, but you’re steadily talking me out of wanting to fall in love.”
“Let’s deal in reality, honey. If you and Stevie have a long life together, she will eventually have the desire to smother you. Sleep with one eye open, and don’t dry your socks in the microwave like your uncle did this morning. The damn thing smells like a pickle sweltering on fresh asphalt in August. I couldn’t even rewarm my coffee in it. I’m not a good person to talk to about love right now because I’m definitely on the wanting to smother side of the rotation.”
“So you’re saying my problem with having to tell Walt might be resolved by tomorrow morning after you’ve smothered him?” Kellen asked with a laugh.
“Maybe by this afternoon, Walt does like to take a nap after a fishing trip.” Trulee laughed, too, and bumped Kellen with her shoulder. “Think about this, too. You won’t only want to smother Stevie, you’re gonna want to take a pillow to everyone in her family. The saying ‘you marry your in-laws’ is very true.”
“Whew, that’s a sobering thought.”
“You hang on to those sobering thoughts for dear life. No one is completely perfect, we all come with baggage. I’d been married to Walt a few months when I learned he enjoyed yodeling, and he wasn’t even any good at it. That was the first little bag he unpacked, the second was full of belches and farts. I started unpacking my bags, too, and one of them had my momma in it. I had her over to the house all the time because I missed her. I have only encountered Joan Sealy twice, and if Stevie unpacks her, you’d better have a pillow handy.”
Kellen grinned. “Stop it.
*******
“Did I wake you?” Stevie asked when Trent answered his phone.
“Presently, I don’t know how to answer that question. I’m sitting on Kellen’s deck with a cup of coffee, I think. I could be dreaming right now, I’m not sure. One thing I do know is my head feels like it’s under the tires of a semi, and there’s something stuck to my back, it feels like a sticker. Did I take off my clothes last night?”
“That’s a bandage, you have a booboo. You fell into a gardenia bush, and one of its limbs stuck in your back.” Stevie snorted. “I’m so sorry for laughing, but it had leaves on it, and you looked like you were sprouting.”
“I don’t remember that,” Trent said, sounding stunned. “You’d think I would because I’m sure it hurt.”
“You inhaled helium after drinking a lot of tequila, so I don’t know if that had anything to do with your memory loss. Is Kyle up?”
“When I got out of bed, he said, ‘Stop eating the sheets,’ so no. I don’t expect to see him moving around for a while. Kellen isn’t here, either, her Jeep is gone.”
Stevie sighed. “Oh, Trent, I’m in trouble.”
“Shit! Did your people find out you were here last night?”
“No, nothing like that. Do you know about her moment thing?” Stevie asked.
“Aw, man! Okay, she’s not insane, she’s actually a really smart woman, and she could’ve had some helium and tequila, too. Oh, my God, what did she say?”
“I think…I had her moment—the moment, whatever. I lay awake for hours last night thinking about her smile, what it felt like to dance with her, our good night kiss, and now I want things. I want to know her middle name and what she looked like as a kid. I wanna see her climb a tree. I want to hold her when she’s hurting, and I want to drink coffee on her deck with her. I want to see her sweaty on top of me or under me, I’m thrilled with the idea of both. The point is, I want all of her. She swept me off my feet.”
“Okay…okay, that’s good. You just gotta throttle that back a little bit.”
“Why?”
“U
h, you just met her,” Trent replied. “You gotta find out if her weird matches your weird first.”
“I’m already convinced we’re both on the same weird wavelength.”
“You’re horny. I get that. When I started seeing guys, it was like being let out of a cage. I was like an explorer, and I wanted to claim every piece of man land I could find. My grandma used to say it like this, ‘Men jump into everything pecker first, women think they jump heart first, but it’s usually the cooter leading the way too.’ Grandma was crazy, she ate banana peels, but that was the sanest thing I think I ever heard her say.”
“I don’t have any desire to explore. Honestly, I think I’ve been doing that for a long time, unsure of what I was looking for. Sorry,” Stevie said with a wry laugh. “Your grandma’s theory is wrong, at least in my case. My libido, I can’t call it a cooter with a straight face, has never led me anywhere. If anything, it refused to show up at all. What I’m telling you is I think I’ve met the person who I’m gonna fall in love with because every part of me wants her.”
“Okay, so why do you say you’re in trouble?”
“This is going to get complicated really quick because she’s a McLin, and I’m a Sealy.” Stevie huffed. “That really just pisses me off. I want to enjoy this experience without having to worry that my family and hers aren’t gonna get all up in the middle of it and try to tear us apart. I can’t tell my mom or my sister, ‘Guess what, I met someone who I think is the one’ and have them be happy for me.”
“Welcome to being gay. Man, you got a double whammy going here. If you think telling them you’re with a woman will be like a grenade going off, wait until you fire that McLin missile into their living room and watch that explosion. Put this moment thing in a box right now. You gotta know it’s real with Kellen before you start blowing up shit. When you roll over one morning and your face is in her armpit after a night of the sweaty sex you’re talking about, and you think ‘Wow, she really stinks, but this smelly pit belongs to her and it’s beautiful,’ you got something real, then you can fire away.”
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