Picket Fence Pursuit

by Jennifer Johnson

  “Really, I didn’t mean to impose. I didn’t realize you’d eat this early.”

  “Kylie?” Ryan pulled the oven mitt off. That sounded just like her. What is she doing here?

  “Girl, you’re not imposing on anyone. You’re going to stay right here and eat.” Gramps nudged Kylie into the kitchen.

  “Don’t you look nice.” Ryan drank in her blond hair, soft and loosely pulled up. Her cheeks flushed, making her eyes a deeper blue. Her navy suit didn’t look half bad, either.

  “Thanks.” She cupped her hand over her mouth. “I like your apron.”

  Ryan glanced down at his pink polka-dotted apron with lace fringe. His face burned as he untied the strings around his waist. “It’s a joke between me and Gramps.”

  “I have no idea what he’s talking about.” Gramps inhaled and shook his head. “It embarrasses me each and every time he puts that thing on.”

  “Gramps!”

  Kylie giggled. “I think it’s great. How does the saying go—‘Real men wear pink’?”

  Ryan pounded his chest with his fist. “Yep, and I’m a real man.” He laughed. “Okay, enough of that.” He grabbed another plate from the cabinet. “Let’s eat and you can tell us why you’re here.”

  “I really didn’t mean to impose.”

  “Do you think we can eat all this ourselves?” Ryan waved his hand across the counter.

  Kylie grinned. “You are two grown men, and my brothers could do it.”

  Ryan lifted his eyebrows. “Probably true, but we want to share. Now eat.”

  He moved closer to her, shoving the plate in her hand. Her perfume lingered as she moved over to the table. Ryan relished it for just a moment longer than necessary as he fixed his own plate. Once Gramps was ready, Ryan blessed the food.

  He looked up as Kylie took a sip of her pop. I like seeing her here, Lord. This feels right. She crinkled the napkin in her hand, and Ryan glanced up to find her blushing. She knows what I’m thinking. Ryan continued to stare into her eyes. He couldn’t deny it. He was falling for her.

  “So what brings you out here?” said Gramps.

  Ryan blinked, grabbed his knife and fork, and began cutting his steak.

  “I have wonderful news.” Kylie placed her napkin in her lap.

  “What is it?” asked Ryan.

  “I had a job interview at Miller Enterprises today.”

  “What’s Miller Enterprises?” asked Gramps.

  “A large accounting firm in Evansville. They handle the books for several businesses. It’s like my dream job.”

  “That’s terrific.” Ryan smiled. Her excitement was contagious.

  “Mmm-hmm, and it went great, too. I’ve got the job. I start at the end of January.”

  “Congratulations.” Gramps stood and shook her hand.

  “Thanks, and I should be able to go on the missions trip with you.” She looked at Ryan with such anticipation he thought his heart would burst.

  “I’m really happy for you. It’s just what you’ve wanted.”

  “Yes. Isn’t God amazing?”

  “He’s definitely amazing.”

  Ryan listened as Kylie chattered about the interview, the position, and how God had given her the desires of her heart. Contentment welled in his own heart as he thought of sharing excitement and sadness, success and failure, up and down on a daily basis with her. The more she spoke, the more Ryan wanted to hear, and the more he wanted to know.

  God, I’m falling hard, and I like it. He closed his eyes for a brief moment. I’m going to trust You with my heart.

  “Let me help you with those dishes.” Kylie stood and stacked the plates.

  “You don’t need to do that.” Ryan took them from her hand.

  “It’s the least I can do.” She gazed up at him and puckered her lip. “Please.”

  Everything in him wanted to draw her close and kiss her. He swallowed and turned toward the sink. “Okay, you can help.”

  Pretending to focus on getting the water to the right temperature, Ryan stilled his anxious thoughts.

  “You’re a pretty good cook.” Kylie picked up the salad bowl and the dressing bottles. She had taken her hair out of its knot and let it flow down her back. Its softness called to him, and he had to look away again.

  “I’ll have to return the favor sometime.” She walked toward him. Once again her sweet perfume sent his senses into overdrive.

  “Sounds good.” Ryan plunged his hands into the soapy water.

  “I can’t believe you don’t have a dishwasher. Two bachelors doing manual dishes.” Kylie winked and smiled, sending his brain into a frenzy.

  “Look, Kylie.” Ryan yanked his hand out of the water, sending bubbles through the air. Several hit her face. She scrunched her nose and spit them away.

  “Yeah?” She wiped them away, smudging bubbles across her cheek.

  She couldn’t possibly look any cuter than she does right now with bubbles streaked across her face. “I’m sorry.” He grabbed a paper towel and wiped her cheek. Allowing his hand to linger, he gazed into her eyes. “What I’m trying to say is, would you like to go out to dinner this Saturday?”

  “As a date?”

  “As a date.”

  Kylie blinked. “O–kay.”

  Ryan cupped her chin in his hand. “I can’t wait.”

  Seven

  “What was I thinking?” Kylie stared at her closet. Nothing looked appealing.

  “You were thinking that Richie Cunningham is quite the cutie. That you’d love to run your fingers through that long, curly mop.”

  “Ugh.” Kylie pretended to gag. “You make his hair sound disgusting.”

  “You and I both know it’s not disgusting. He has the most unique color and style I’ve ever seen.” Robin wiggled her eyebrows. “And it’s adorable.”

  Kylie grabbed a bright orange T-shirt and an aqua polo shirt with pink and white stripes from her closet. She turned toward Robin. “Which one?”

  “Definitely the aqua. It brings out your eyes and complements your fair skin.”

  Kylie leaned against the dresser and studied her face in the mirror. “I hate my coloring.”

  “Don’t get me started on that again. Do you know how many people would kill to have your perfect complexion? And that sprinkling of the cutest freckles across your cheeks and nose to boot? I spent my entire teenage life fighting pimples and blackheads.”

  “Oh no, here we go.”

  “Here we go is right.” Robin hopped off her bed and tugged Kylie’s arm. “I spent years in a dermatologist’s office—”

  “And my skin still doesn’t look as good as yours.” Kylie finished Robin’s sentence and stuck out her tongue. “Fine. I won’t complain about my skin color.”

  “Thank you.” Robin crossed her arms in front of her chest and feigned frustration. One side of her mouth lifted in a grin. “So, where’s Richie taking you?”

  “Dinner, I think.”

  “Casual?”

  “He didn’t say, so I’m going with khaki capris and a nice top. I figure I can wear that to fast food or to a halfway decent restaurant.”

  “Sounds like a plan.” Robin grabbed Kylie’s arm and squeezed. “Listen, let yourself have fun. I want to hear all the juicy details tonight.” She picked up her purse, then slid on her sandals.

  “Where are you going?”

  “Out.”

  “With Tyler?”

  “Yep.”

  “Robin, you’ve spent a lot of time with him, like almost every waking hour for the last few weeks. You even got Ryan to cover for you at work one day.”

  “Yep.”

  “We need to talk about this. What are you going to do when school starts?”

  “I told you I’m not worried about that. One day at a time.”

  “Robin—”

  “Look, Kylie, Tyler is a wonderful Christian man. Bransom is a super kid. I love them.” Robin faced Kylie. “Both of them.”

  Kylie sat on the edge of t
he bed as her stomach tied in knots. “Are you saying—”

  Robin nodded. “Yes, I am.” She kissed the top of Kylie’s head then headed for the door. “I’ll see you later.”

  Before Kylie had a chance to respond, Robin was gone. “Oh, my. What is she thinking?”

  She stood, grabbed the aqua polo, and pulled it over her head, then slid into her capris. After applying a touch of blush and mascara, she brushed her hair, deciding to let it fall straight and silky down her back.

  She looked at her alarm clock. “I still have forty-five minutes until he gets here.” While puttering around the apartment, straightening magazines and fluffing pillows, she noticed her bank statement on the coffee table. “Might as well balance my checkbook before he comes.”

  After scooping it off the table, she grabbed her purse from the counter and searched through it for her checkbook. “This probably isn’t the best of ideas.” She opened the cupboard and picked up the calculator. “This always makes me grouchy.”

  After sliding into a dining room chair, Kylie spread her papers on the table. It didn’t take long to figure the numbers and discover she had ten dollars less than she thought in the account due to a subtraction error. “Not too bad of a mistake.” She wrote her current balance in the ledger and then flipped her checkbook pages to find the calendar. “Don’t have much to live on ’til payday, though.”

  Exhaling, she smacked the checkbook shut, collected the statement and calculator, and put them away. “I hate being broke.”

  Her mind wandered to Robin. What was her friend thinking? She needed to keep her head, to finish school, not to fall head over heels for the first guy she dated. Kylie didn’t deny Tyler being a great guy. She didn’t even have a problem with Robin falling in love with him, marrying him, and having children with him, but her friend needed to finish school first. She needed to be able to support them if something tragic happened.

  Of course, Tyler won’t be getting black lung from his job. Kylie closed her eyes and thought of her parents. Only four of her brothers and sisters still lived at home. Two of them worked to support the family until Daddy’s disability claim could be settled. Coal mining had sucked the life from her family.

  Her mind skipped to Ryan. He was a true gem, the kind of man she would want to marry, have a few kids with, a dog, and a white picket fence, but he wasn’t a provider. “He’s an ice-cream-cone clerk at an amusement park.” She smacked her thigh. “I need a provider.”

  She looked at her watch again. He should arrive in fifteen minutes or less. She walked into the bathroom and brushed through her hair one last time. After pulling her lipstick from the drawer, she put some on and smacked her lips together. “Tonight, I’ll tell him we can only be friends.”

  ❧

  Ryan couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt this way. He was downright giddy. Truly unmasculine, that was for sure. He squelched the excitement inside him as he opened the restaurant door for Kylie. The host seated them, and Ryan picked up the menu.

  “Do you know what you want?” Kylie asked before he’d had a chance to read what they offered.

  He chuckled. “Not yet.”

  “I always get the shrimp platter.”

  “Good, huh?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I’ll trust your judgment and just go with that.”

  “Oh, I didn’t mean. . .”

  Ryan frowned. Kylie was nervous, and he couldn’t figure out why. Maybe just because this was their first date. One of many, if he had his way. “I love shrimp. I’m sure it will be great.”

  He put down the menu. He watched as Kylie played with her silverware for several moments then scanned the room, looking anywhere but at him. Small talk. . .think of something to say. “So, how do you like working at Holiday World?”

  “It’s good.”

  “Great.” Ryan fiddled with the tip of his napkin. Strike one. Think of something else, Watkins. “What about school? You ready to go back?”

  “Oh, yeah. I can hardly wait to graduate.” She flipped her hair over her shoulder and watched the family beside them.

  Strike two. This is like pulling teeth. She acts like I’m not even here. “Have you heard anything else from your job?”

  “I go for a physical next week. If it goes well and my criminal record comes back clean, I’m hired.”

  “Uh-oh.” Ryan tapped the top of her hand. “Your speeding tickets are going to come back to haunt you.”

  “I don’t have any speeding tickets.”

  “I was just kidding.”

  “Oh.”

  Ryan sighed. Strike three. No doubt about it, he had struck out. They ordered their food and ate in near silence. Ryan watched Kylie focus on everyone in the restaurant except him. Something was wrong. Sure, Kylie hadn’t sent tons of signals suggesting her interest in him, but she had shared her job offer with him first thing, even before she’d told Robin.

  He smiled. “I’ve got an idea.”

  “Yes?”

  Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. He hadn’t meant to say that out loud. “When was the last time you went to Frosty’s Fun Center?”

  “Never.”

  “Never?”

  She shook her head.

  “Not even as a kid?”

  Her expression clouded, and Ryan knew he’d said the wrong thing. He pulled cash for their dinner from his wallet and laid it on the table. “Well, I’m going to take you.”

  “I don’t know. I’m a little tired.”

  “Come on, Ki.”

  A faint smile lifted her lips, and a glimmer shot through her eyes. “Something about you calling me that. . .” She shook her head and waved her hand. “Never mind.”

  Aha. It was there. He hadn’t imagined it. She was attracted to him. He just had to convince her to let it grow. “Come on. We won’t stay long.”

  “Okay.”

  Ryan led her to the car, opened the door for her, then walked over to the driver’s side. He slid inside and drove to Frosty’s. “Arcade or miniature golf first?”

  Kylie’s tenseness seemed to fade. “I’m afraid I’ll be terrible at either.”

  “That’s okay.” He grabbed her hand and squeezed. “I’ll just rub your face in it every time I beat you.”

  Kylie’s expression charged with competition. “I’m going to take you down, Ryan Watkins.”

  Ryan wiggled his eyebrows and winked. “Bring it on, Ki.”

  She hopped out of the car and raced to the front of the building. Ryan followed her inside. She pointed to the pinball machines. “Arcade first.”

  He purchased tokens and escorted her to a racing game. “Okay, you’ll control one car. I’ll control the other. We’ll race around an obstacle course. Understand?”

  Kylie lifted her eyebrows. “No speeding tickets?”

  Ryan laughed. “Nope.”

  She batted her eyelashes. “Good. I don’t want to risk my job, you know.”

  “Just play.”

  They raced, and Ryan beat her easily, even with his effort to let her catch him. “We can go on to miniature golf.”

  “Let’s play again.” Kylie’s eyes lit with pleasure.

  “I didn’t know you were so competitive.”

  “I’ll beat you yet.”

  They played again, and Ryan still beat her despite slowing down at many places.

  “One more time.”

  Ryan chuckled. “Okay.” The cars raced down the arcade freeway. He shifted his gears and turned his wheel with his car easily taking the lead. “Ready to call it quits?”

  “Never.” Kylie giggled, then leaned over and tickled his ribs.

  “What are you doing?” He swerved and his car plunged into the guardrail.

  Kylie’s car moved slow and steady but stayed on course. He turned his around and hit the gas again. She leaned over and tickled him once more.

  “Kylie!”

  She laughed as her car passed the finish line first. “I won! I won!” She pumped her fist in the
air.

  Ryan growled and grabbed her waist, pulling her toward him. She lifted her gaze to meet his, and Ryan longed to lean down and kiss her lips. He grazed her cheek with the back of his hand, and her eyes closed for a brief moment.

  “You cheated,” he whispered as he lowered his lips toward hers.

  A push from behind knocked him into her, severing the moment. “Sorry!” a boy yelled, as he chased another child to one of the games.

  “Ready for me to beat you at miniature golf?” Kylie smiled like the Cheshire cat as she reached up and twirled the bottom of his hair with her fingers. Surprise welled in her eyes. “I can’t believe—I’m sorry. . . . I’ve wanted to feel your hair—oh, my.”

  She turned away from him but not before he saw her neck and cheeks blaze red. He grabbed her hand. “Let’s go play.” He led her to the shack where they picked out their golf clubs and ball colors. She put her ball on the tee, and he strolled up behind her. “You can play with my hair anytime you like.”

  She gazed up at him and wrinkled her nose. “You’re trying to break my concentration, aren’t you?”

  Ryan touched his chest and tilted his head as if he had been wounded. “The things you accuse me of. I’m hurt.”

  Kylie rolled her eyes and swung her club. The ball launched through the air and hit the green of the second hole. She covered her mouth. “I guess I hit it too hard.”

  “You think?” Ryan laughed. He retrieved her ball and showed her how to hit it. By the time they’d finished, Kylie had beaten him. They walked back to the car, and Ryan relished the great time they’d had.

  “It was pretty hard playing bad enough to let me win, wasn’t it?”

  “I’d say.”

  Kylie giggled. “The mark of a true man.” She laid both hands on her heart. “He lets the lady win.”

  “It’s true.” Ryan pulled into her apartment’s parking lot and walked her to the front door. “I had a really good time, Ki.”

  Kylie closed her eyes. Her tense stance had returned. Ryan brushed a wisp of hair behind her shoulder. “I’d really like to do it again sometime.”

  “Ryan.” He watched her take a few quick breaths. “We can’t.”

  “Why?”