Sticky Notes - A clean romance (Ethel King Series Book 1)

by Sherri Schoenborn Murray

  “It only came out last year.”

  “Yes, well, I was wondering if you’d care to join us. The Micro is an intimate little theater with seating for probably one-hundred, one-hundred and twenty people at the most, and we can get you a seat near the wall where you wouldn’t worry about anyone stepping on your foot.”

  “No, thank you.”

  He swung the folding chair next to the bed again, sat down, and faced her.

  “Why not?” Eyes wide and full of emotion, he studied her.

  “I have a test tomorrow, and I also have my first date with Brad, and I want to be focused for both.”

  “Evans was right; I am a distraction for you.” He smiled.

  He’d always been. Was it simply meeting Brad, or was it when he’d upped her medication that her heartache became manageable?

  “Quinn, are you eating in there too?” Grandma asked from the kitchen.

  “No, I’ll be there shortly.”

  When Quinn returned a half hour later to retrieve her tray, she pretended to be asleep. He reached across her for her tray and paused for a moment before he left. In the midst of pretending, she actually fell asleep and was awakened two hours later by the phone ringing in the next room.

  After two rings, Grandma answered. “Hello. Yes, please, wait a minute. I’ll get her for you.” She appeared in the doorway. “Telephone.”

  “Who is it?” Katherine yawned.

  “I can’t keep track.”

  Katherine rolled her eyes and went into her new routine of carefully getting out of bed, hopping on her left foot to her crutches, and maneuvering to the phone.

  “Hello.”

  “Hi, Katherine, it’s Quinn.”

  Grandma was conveniently in the kitchen.

  “Would you go with me to the Micro tonight to see A Beautiful Mind?”

  “No, thank you.” She hung up on him.

  “Grandma, you knew it was Quinn!”

  “He said to tell you that I couldn’t keep track. So that’s what I did.”

  The phone rang. Katherine picked it up. “Hello.”

  “Hi, Katherine, it’s Quinn. Would you go with me to the Micro tonight to see A Beautiful Mind?”

  “Quinn, I’m trying to study. Get a life.” Again, she hung up on him.

  “Katherine!” Grandma said from the kitchen.

  “That’s the seventh or eighth time he’s asked me.”

  “Oh, dear.”

  The phone rang. Katherine answered it. “Hello.”

  “Hi, Katherine, it’s Quinn. Would you go with me to the Micro tonight to see A Beautiful Mind?”

  “A beautiful mind is not what you are depicting at the moment.” She hung up on him. She pulled a chair next to the phone and waited for it to ring, but it appeared that he was taking a break. After five minutes, she returned to the guest room.

  The phone didn’t ring.

  Not only was Quinn providing her with study time, he was also giving her a chance to call Brad and cancel. She knew the man! She recalled the sweet sentiments Brad had written in his card. For some reason, she’d opened up to him when she was on morphine, and it was probably because of his warm hazel eyes, or were they blue? Or maybe it was simply because she needed someone unbiased to talk to.

  Had Quinn given up now that she’d declined him nine, or was it ten, times? She studied Lewis and Clark until she couldn’t keep her eyes open. The phone rang in the other room. There was no way she could hobble on crutches and make it in four rings.

  “Katherine, it’s for you,” Grandma said.

  “Who is it?”

  “Lover boy.”

  Which lover boy? She crutched into the living room. She had to be careful about not saying “no” too quickly and hanging up.

  “Hello.”

  “Katherine, it’s Quinn. I was hoping we’d reconcile. One of my favorite movies of all time is playing at the Micro, A Beautiful Mind. It’s directed by Ron Howard and received four Academy Awards and a Rotten Tomatoes rating of seventy-eight percent. I was hoping you don’t have plans.”

  “I’m sorry, I’ve seen it.”

  “Yes, well, so have I, but it’s one of those films where once is not enough. And from my experience, it’s even more enjoyable the second time because you’re not so keyed up about his delusions.”

  “How many times have you seen it?”

  “This will be my third. Will you go, Katherine?”

  “I feel like I’ve mastered Lewis and Clark, and I was just thinking that I’ll reread American Scripture for the evening.”

  “I’ll buy you popcorn and a root beer, and we’ll sit with Evans and Cindy and . . .”

  “I’ll think about it.”

  “Good.” Click.

  He hung up on her.

  Katherine moved to the couch and rested her foot on the coffee table.

  “Grandma, do you mind getting American Scripture for me? It’s in my bag from the hospital.”

  “Are you going with Quinn?”

  She shrugged. “I haven’t decided yet.”

  “When a girl says, ‘I’ll think about it,’ it always gives a fellow hope.”

  “I honestly am thinking about it.”

  “I think you’ve been horrible.”

  “The experience has probably been good for him, Grandma. I think Benton has a difficult time asking women out.”

  “Most men do.”

  “I don’t think he’s had to do it very much,” Katherine said.

  “He made up for it today!”

  Chapter Fifty-Two

  The back door opened and closed. In the kitchen, someone set down what sounded like a brown paper shopping bag on the table. Grandma remained seated in the recliner, working a crossword puzzle from the Moscow-Pullman newspaper.

  “Who’s in the kitchen, Grandma?” Katherine asked.

  “Quinn. He’s making bacon-and-cheese omelets for dinner.”

  “I thought you said he doesn’t eat pork.”

  “Well, he did the other day. He usually doesn’t eat pork chops.”

  Katherine shook her head and reread the start of the seventh chapter of American Scripture. The smell and sounds of bacon frying permeated the living room.

  “I hope he doesn’t burn the bacon this time.” Grandma slid her pencil behind one ear. “I better put the fan on.” Rising from the recliner, she went into the kitchen, opened the window above the sink, and turned the fan on above the stove.

  “Don’t worry, I’m not leaving the kitchen this time,” Quinn said over the crackle of the bacon frying.

  “I wasn’t worried.” The dishwasher creaked open, and Grandma added to the noises in the kitchen as she unloaded it.

  Ten minutes later, Quinn entered the living room. “Dinner’s almost ready.”

  Over the top of the hardback novel, Katherine studied him. He wore khaki shorts and a Princeton-orange polo shirt. From fifteen feet away, she detected pine cologne. Her stomach knotted. Tonight was a date.

  Uneasiness coursed through her like morphine—maybe she’d gone too long without painkillers. “I’m still going tomorrow. Just because I’m going to see A Beautiful Mind with the professors’ group does not mean I have any intentions of canceling Brad tomorrow.”

  Quinn gazed at her softly and smiled.

  “You should have worn that polo last Friday.”

  “Why?”

  “It’s Princeton orange.”

  “Well, then, it’s perfect for tonight.”

  “Why?”

  “You’ll figure it out.” He winked.

  After a delicious omelet, Katherine brushed her hair and looked in the medicine cabinet mirror. Her eyes beheld a hazy sparkle. Boy, all of a sudden Mr. I Want knows what he wants. She still wore the same outfit she’d worn to church, her jean skirt, a jade-green short-sleeved shirt, and a brown leather belt.

  Grandma knocked on the bathroom door. “You better hurry up. Brush your teeth and put some Dentyne in your purse.”

  “
Grandma!”

  Ж

  The Micro Theater was in an older bungalow home on Third Street near one of the busiest intersections in Moscow. Katherine and Quinn waited in the foyer for Cindy and Evans.

  “I’ll get us a large popcorn. What would you like to drink?” Quinn asked.

  “Root beer’s great; thanks.”

  With a smile, she watched him as he stood in line. Though he was comfortably dressed, Quinn looked amazingly handsome. A smile lit her lips. She was quite possibly the second love of his life. Her eyes widened at her premature thinking; that is after she took care of Brad tomorrow and Quinn took care of Miss Palouse this Friday.

  The snack area was roomy, with large paisley maroon carpeting. Katherine glanced at a couple leaning against the wall—Joe Hillis talked with Anna, from the Chinese restaurant.

  She smiled as Joe approached holding Anna’s hand.

  “Kate, what happened to you?”

  “I stepped on a broken wine bottle last week while swimming in the Palouse River.” She steadied her crutches.

  “Bummer. Do you remember Anna?”

  “Of course.” Katherine smiled. “Anna, it’s nice to see you again.”

  “Joe talks about you a lot,” Anna said.

  Holding two drinks and cradling a large popcorn, Quinn neared Katherine’s left elbow.

  “Quinn, remember Joe Hillis, and this is his girlfriend, Anna.”

  “The professor again?” Joe grinned, meeting Katherine’s gaze. Several years ago his charm had completely entangled her, and now they were the best of friends. In hindsight, she could see God’s hand in all that had taken place.

  “There you two are,” Evans said. “We were afraid we were running late.”

  “Cindy, Evans,” Quinn said, waving them over. “Meet Joe Hillis and his girlfriend, Anna. Joe’s one of Katherine’s friends from years ago.”

  “Oh, uh, hello, Joe.” Evans held out his hand. “I remember reading about you in the Argonaut, a tennis player.”

  Cindy also shook Joe’s hand.

  The professors’ group sat in the back row of the intimate theater. At the end of the row near the wall, Katherine felt secure that no one would step on her foot. Quinn tucked the crutches beneath the seats. Evans and Quinn sat in the middle of the foursome. Evans set down his soda, elbowed Quinn, and then set his arm around Cindy. Quinn set down his soda and then, lifting his arm a tad, looked at Katherine.

  She shook her head. Were the men up to something? The Please No Smoking sign spanned the screen. They hadn’t even gotten to the previews, and Quinn was attempting to set his arm around her.

  “Quinn,” she whispered, “this is a public place, and you like your job.”

  He smiled. “I’m glad you didn’t mention Hungerbottom.” He popped a kernel of popcorn into his mouth.

  She glanced across the aisle and down about five rows at Joe. His arm was already around Anna. For some reason, Joe glanced back at her. By the crane of his neck, he was trying to see if there was anything he could tease her about.

  Katherine cuddled a little closer to Quinn. Joe grinned.

  “I saw that, Katherine,” Quinn said.

  “Well, I was looking over there when he glanced back here, and I didn’t want him to think I was looking at him. Because I wasn’t. I was looking at them. They look happy together.”

  “I think so too, except he keeps looking at you.”

  Katherine sighed. “Thanks for the popcorn and root beer . . . and movie and . . . the omelet.”

  “Shh . . .” he whispered. “We’re about to watch A Beautiful Mind, and that’s not what you are portraying at the moment.”

  She’d have liked to dump her soda all over him, but resisted the temptation and sipped it instead.

  “Crud!” Benton blurted out.

  “Shh!” Evans said. “Previews are my favorite part.”

  “It’s her, the loon!” Quinn stared at a dark-haired woman two rows behind Joe.

  “Did she see you?” Evans asked.

  “Yes, two seconds ago, she scoped out the theater.”

  “She’s looking back here,” Evans whispered. “Kiss Katherine.”

  Wide-eyed, Katherine stared at the back of Joe’s head.

  “No, Evans!” Quinn said.

  “Katherine.” He sighed, turning toward her. “It’s the loon, the Uniontown woman who liked me, I mean really liked me.”

  “Remain calm.” She stared straight ahead at the screen and questioned if this was all a part of some scheme.

  Quinn let out a heavy sigh.

  “Remain calm. She’ll probably think we’re a couple because you’re seated beside me.”

  While the first preview played, Quinn turned to look at her. A little bit of the projector light caught the upper half of his face, and in the dimly lit room, the emotion in his eyes surprised her. Open, raw fragility. How could she have green tea with Brad tomorrow when Benton could look at her like this?

  He’d never pursued a second date, never tried to hold anyone else’s hand, because—she smiled—all along he’d been in love with her.

  She gave in a little, with a gaze that told him: As soon as I’ve graduated, we are going to make out.

  The next preview started, and Evans cleared his throat. “Good thing we sat in the back, Cindy, don’t you think?”

  Katherine stared at the screen. Quinn’s shoulder bore into hers. The loon, whoever she was, glanced back at them a couple of times. Joe did too, grinning.

  John Nash, the main character in the movie, was a student at Princeton University. That’s why Benton wore his Princeton-orange polo. In the dark, in the last row of the theater, she smiled and relaxed against his shoulder.

  Ж

  “I’ve always feared running into her somewhere,” Benton said during their drive home. “I don’t need to worry ever again. Thank you, Katherine.”

  “I’ve forgotten how you met Miss Uniontown.” Uniontown was a small, back-roads town, far removed from the highway, on the way to Lewiston. Tall silos dotted the rolling landscape.

  “In March, Evans and I went to Uniontown for their annual Sausage Feed. It’s a great event. While we waited in the food line, Evans got to telling some of the people around us that I’d recently started dating again. Casual conversation. Miss Uniontown wasn’t really a date. It was more of a gastronomical extravaganza that felt like a date. Evans and I loaded our plates with sausage, mashed potatoes, and sauerkraut, and when we sat down, the loon sat down across from me. She wouldn’t leave me alone. Ask Evans, he witnessed the whole ordeal.”

  “I believe you.”

  “Katherine, I want you to know, I usually don’t approve of public displays of affection.”

  She smiled. “It’s my turn to apologize. I have an outing tomorrow, and I’m sorry if I got your hopes up.”

  He sighed. “Please don’t ever look at me that way and apologize, Katherine. It doesn’t sit well.”

  She gazed out the window at the passing moonlit streets.

  “In two weeks, Katherine.” He reached across the console for her hand—“You’ll no longer be my student, and I can court you wholeheartedly.”

  In the meantime, was he only courting her halfheartedly?

  “Don’t forget Miss Palouse, Quinn.” Her voice sounded hollow.

  “I forgot her six days ago.” Had it been only six days since her accident?

  Was he trying to break her? That was what tonight was all about—breaking Katherine King. She leaned her head back against the headrest and closed her eyes.

  Chapter Fifty-Three

  At 9:42 a.m. it was official: Brad was running late.

  “Did you give him directions?” Grandma looked out the window above the kitchen sink.

  “No, he never asked. I assumed he looked at my admittance papers.”

  “Does he drive a big cream soda colored truck?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “He’s here,” Grandma said, lifting her chin.


  Feeling a tad uneasy, Katherine remained seated at the kitchen table.

  “And he’s wearing a Hawaiian shirt just like your Uncle Will’s.”

  When it came to Hawaiian shirts, Uncle Will’s philosophy was the brighter, the better. With two ballpoint pens in the front pocket of her Levi’s skirt, Katherine crutched to the back door. Through the top glass, she caught a brief glimpse of bright orange and blue hues. Maybe Brad’s taste in shirts was the reason he hadn’t married at an earlier age. When she opened the door, she needed sunglasses.

  “Good morning, Katherine. Hi, Ethel.” He looked past Katherine into the kitchen, where Grandma stood drying her hands. “Has Katherine told you I won’t get her home until later this afternoon?”

  Grandma nodded. “My brother-in-law wears Hawaiian shirts just like yours.”

  “Where does he find them, do you know?”

  “The Salvation Army in Spokane.”

  Brad chuckled. “Sounds like he gets a better deal than I do.”

  She needed a hoisting crane to get up into his Dodge quad cab Cummins diesel truck. Katherine leaned her crutches in the open door.

  “I may have to give you a boost.” He chuckled.

  Using his arm for leverage, she got her left foot up to the floorboard, and he pushed her up the rest of the way. It was an awkward, humbling experience.

  He slid behind the wheel. “I need a heavy-duty truck to tow my boat.”

  She tried to remember his hospital attire. It had been far more subdued. “How’s Quinn Benton?” He glanced at her as he drove west toward campus.

  Wide-eyed, Katherine stared straight ahead. “Fine. Why?” Maybe he’d heard about the Micro. Maybe someone from the hospital had also been at the theater last night.

  “Has he come to his senses yet?”

  “About . . . ?” Katherine stalled.

  “About you, of course.” Brad glanced across the cab at her.

  “He’s been more attentive since the hospital, yes.”

  “Nurse Kitty used to date one of my good friends. She told me her blind date with Quinn was a disappointment.” Brad drove up to the Admin Building and parked near the registrar’s office. The man knew his way around campus.