“I see.” After taking a sip of her beer, she said, “Well, now I have a new project. I’m going to help you find your niche around here.”
“No offense, but I don’t think there’s a lot for a guy like me to do around here. But that’s okay. I mean, I didn’t move here to make friends.”
She turned off the burner and set the wooden spoon in her hand on a plate on the counter. “What do you mean, a guy like you?”
Now he felt like more of an uneducated hick than he already was. “I’m just pointing out that there are a lot of country clubs and fancy gyms with juice bars around here. I’m not that type of guy.”
After taking another sip of beer, she tilted her head to one side. “What type are you?”
Was it his imagination, or had her tone altered slightly, turned suggestive? “More of the hunting, fishing, and poker-playing type of guy.”
“Ah. Now I understand.”
What did she understand? Kurt was beginning to get the feeling that they were having the same conversation but were talking about two different things. Taking a closer look at her, he noticed that her pretty brown eyes were sparkling. “What did I say that amused you?”
“Nothing.” Gesturing to the serving dishes, she murmured, “Will you help me carry these to the table?”
Turning, he belatedly noticed that behind the bar was a small table set for two. White linen napkins were folded into neat rectangles on the left of each plate.
She’d gone to a lot of trouble in an incredibly short amount of time.
As he picked up one of the dishes, a burnt-orange-colored dish, Kurt decided that things like that were yet another aspect of femininity that remained a mystery to him. Where did women pick up the idea that serving dishes and cloth napkins were items that needed to be on hand in the kitchen? He was lucky if he and Sam had plates that didn’t have chips in the rims.
After Emily joined him at the table, she smiled. “I hope you will enjoy everything, Kurt.”
He already was. It was nice not sitting at home by himself. He liked being around a pretty woman, especially one who was as smart and kind as Emily. She was the type of woman who his mother would have paraded in front of him if she’d had the chance. A marrying girl, she would have called Emily Springer.
Realizing she was still waiting for him to comment, he forced himself to step up his game. His momma had taught him his manners, he’d just gotten lazy over the years. “It all looks delicious. Smells like heaven.”
“Thank you.”
Moments later, he knew the food tasted as good as it looked. He actually had to force himself to eat slowly. Sitting across from him, Emily ate more than he thought she would. She kept their conversation easy and low-key, too, mainly sharing some of her funniest mishaps in the classroom.
After he had a second helping, Kurt was just about to share a story about him and Ace, back when they were both on the high school football team, when there was a knock at her door.
Emily frowned at it. “I’m sorry. I don’t know who that could be.”
As she crossed the room, Kurt got to his feet, stopping himself before he cautioned her to look to see who it was first.
When she half-moaned and half-giggled, she said, “I’m going to apologize for this in advance, Kurt.” And with that, she pulled open the door.
Kurt took another step closer, then stopped when a man about his height and woman with short blond hair entered. They greeted Emily with hugs then abruptly drew to a stop the moment they spied him.
“Huh. You have company,” the guy said.
“Oh, my gosh, Em. You’ve got a date!” the blond exclaimed.
“Now that you’ve completely embarrassed me, come on in. I’ll introduce you to my guest. And it’s not a date.”
The guy stared at the table. “Looks like one.”
Emily’s cheeks turned even pinker. “It’s just dinner. No, I mean, I have a new friend over for dinner.” Turning to Kurt, she cast a nervous glance his way. “I’m really sorry, Kurt,” she muttered.
The guy stood a little straighter. “Your name’s Kurt?”
Feeling awkward as hell, Kurt stepped forward to her side.
Emily began a stilted round of introductions before he could take care of it himself. “Brenden, Samantha, please meet Kurt Holland. Kurt, this is my brother and his wife.”
“Good to meet you,” Kurt said as he shook hands with both her brother and sister-in-law.
“I’m sorry we barged in like this,” Samantha said.
“It’s okay,” Emily said. “So, is everything all right?”
“Oh. Yeah,” Brenden replied. “We were out and thought we’d come by and say hello. Sorry to interrupt,” he added, though his expression looked like he wasn’t especially thrilled to find Kurt there.
Samantha rested a hand on her husband’s arm. “We should go. Like Brenden said, we were just out nearby and thought you were home alone. You know, like usual.”
“Kill me now,” Emily moaned.
Samantha bit her lip. “I mean, um, I’m glad that wasn’t the case.”
“Me too,” Kurt said.
Emily cleared her throat. “Well, thanks for stopping by, but I bet you need to get on home.”
“Not really,” Brenden said. “How did you two meet?”
Emily might have been embarrassed, but after her sharing how the last man in her life had hit her, Kurt completely got her brother’s cool greeting. “My little brother Sam is in one of your sister’s classes.”
Her brother slapped a hand on his forehead. “Emily, you’re dating a student’s parent? That’s not allowed, is it?”
“To be clear, Kurt is one of my student’s brothers, not his father. So it’s pretty different. Therefore, yes, it’s allowed.”
“Huh.” Brenden stepped forward. “How long have you known each other? And what do you do?” He looked him up and down. “Do you work?”
“I own a landscaping business.”
“Is that right?”
“We’re not going to play twenty questions any longer, Brenden,” Emily said, with a sharp bite to her voice.
Walking over to Emily’s side, Kurt pressed a hand to the middle of her back. “Don’t worry, Em. I’m fine.” When he felt some of the tension leave her, he dropped his hand and gazed at her brother. “What else do you want to know?”
Brenden raised his hands. “Emily’s right. Your life isn’t any of my business. I didn’t mean to offend.”
Kurt shook his head. “You’d have to ask more than that to offend me.”
Samantha edged toward the door. “Come on Brenden. We’re making a mess of things.”
After glancing Kurt’s way, Emily said slowly, “Guys, we’re done eating. Do you want to sit down and join us? Kurt brought some beer.”
Brenden glanced his direction. “Is it all right with you?”
Suddenly Kurt realized Emily’s brother was growing on him. He cared about his sister. Obviously, he took time to check on her on a regular basis. “It’s fine.”
“Thanks. We’ll join you but we’re fine, Em. Go finish eating.”
Emily rolled her eyes. “Samantha, since my brother didn’t even ask, can I get you anything? Water? Juice?”
“I’m good. And I can serve myself. I know where everything is. So that’s fun. I didn’t know Emily had much cause to meet her students’ families.”
“My brother had some trouble. I came up to a meeting.”
“He’s new. Kurt and Sam just moved here from West Virginia.” She smiled suddenly. “He was just telling me that he wasn’t the country-club type. I was going to tell him about Lake Isabella. Turns out you came at the right time.”
Brenden’s expression turned far less judgmental. “You haven’t been out to the lake yet?”
“I didn’t even know there was
a lake nearby.”
“It’s nothing real special, but there’s good fishing.”
“We used to hang out there,” Emily explained. “We went walking.”
“Lots of kids used to also go parking out there,” Samantha said with a laugh. Looking at her husband, she grinned. “Us included.”
“Sam and Brenden have been together forever,” Emily explained. “Since high school.”
Kurt sat down on one of the barstools, liking how easy the siblings got along with each other. “I’ll have to go out there sometime.”
“Poor Kurt has been telling me that he didn’t think there was anything to do around here but join the country clubs.”
“There’s nothing wrong with that,” Brenden said. “Our sister Violet and her husband Chris belong to a golf club. They love it. But I never saw the point of chasing a little white ball around.”
“We should go out to the lake tonight. All four of us,” Emily said. “Want to, Kurt?”
“I’m game.”
She turned to her brother. “Brenden?”
He glanced at his wife. “You up for it, Samantha?”
She nodded. “I think a walk will do me good.”
“Let’s go, then.”
Kurt held back. “What about the dishes? Let me help you with them.”
“I can do them later.”
“You worked all day, then made all this. No way am I going to make you face a stack of dishes when you get home.” Already picking up two of those serving platters, he started carrying them to her small kitchen.
“You do dishes?” Brenden asked.
“Yeah.” Kurt eyed him. Wondering if he’d just opened himself up to get teased for caring about dishes.
But all Emily’s brother did was nod. “Good,” he said. “I’ll help, too.”
Kurt had a feeling he’d just passed some sort of test. And though he wouldn’t have thought he’d ever care about that, he felt a small measure of relief.
CHAPTER 8
FROM LES LARKE’S
TIPS FOR BEGINNING POKER PLAYERS:
If you don’t have a good poker face, don’t attempt to bluff. You’ll get burned every single time.
“Thanks for getting me out of there,” Kayla said to Sam as he pulled out of the high school parking lot. “I can’t believe those girls were so mean.”
Glancing her way, he shook his head. “Don’t thank me, Kay. You know I wanted to see you. I spent most of the last month trying to figure out a way to ask you out.”
And just like that, Kayla felt like her night had gone from absolutely horrible to amazing. Sam Holland had a way about him that was so different than all the other guys she knew. Not only was he really cute, he was humbler and more honest, too.
She couldn’t think of another guy who would ever admit to trying to get the nerve to do anything.
“Where do you want to go?” he asked. “I would take you over to my house, but my brother’s out on a date. I bet your momma would have a fit if she found out I was taking you to an empty house.”
She laughed. “That’s kind of an understatement, though since it’s you, she might make an exception. She thinks you’re pretty great.”
He looked pretty pleased about that. “So, where to?”
Even though her parents might be okay with her taking him to her house, she wasn’t up for that. They’d probably send her little sister down to be with them. Brianna was in seventh grade and loved acting like she was sixteen. It was beyond annoying. She would likely either spend the entire time talking about her hair or attempting to flirt with Sam.
“How about Lake Isabella? There’s a path there around the lake. We could walk on it, if that sounds okay to you?”
“It sounds good. So, you hungry? We could go to a drive-through if you want.”
Her stomach had been in knots from the moment she noticed some junior boys leering at her while she was cheering. She might have been imagining things, but she was pretty sure that even though her picture was supposed to be off those phones, not everyone deleted it.
“Maybe just some fries and a Coke?”
He turned his truck down Bridgeport Avenue. “I can do that. Just tell me where you want to go.”
She watched him drive and loved how confident he was. Only his left hand was on the wheel, and it was resting on the top of it like he’d been driving forever. Whenever she drove her mother’s car, her hands were still glued at ten and two. “I guess you’ve been driving a while.”
“Yeah. I got my temps at fifteen, but my dad had me out on country roads way before that. Probably when I was thirteen or so.”
“Thirteen? That’s hard to believe.”
“It wouldn’t be if you lived where I used to. There’s a lot of open spaces out there in West Virginia.”
He sounded wistful. “I guess you miss it.”
“Sometimes, but then, there are some things about Bridgeport that aren’t so bad, you know?” he drawled as he glanced her way with a smile.
Butterflies fluttered in her stomach as she realized he was talking about her. Gosh, he was dreamy. “I know,” she said at last.
“So, Burger King or McDonald’s?”
“For french fries? McDonald’s, of course.”
He laughed as he pulled into the drive-through lane. There were four cars in front of them, so they settled in to wait. “Want anything else?”
“No. That’s plenty.” Bending down, she reached for her purse.
“I got it.”
“I’m not going to make you buy my food.”
“My brother would skin my hide if he found out I was taking you through a drive-through and making you pay,” he said.
“Sometimes it sounds like your brother raised you. Did he?”
He shrugged. “No. But he’s kind of intense about things like that. A lot more than my dad.” His expression looked pained before he shook it off again. “So put your money away, Kay. It’s just fries and a Coke.”
“Thank you,” she said as he pulled up again then rolled down his window.
“I’ll have two orders of fries, a Quarter Pounder with Cheese, and two Cokes,” he said into the speaker.
She raised her eyebrows. “I guess you were hungry, too?”
“Yeah.” He shifted, taking his wallet out from a back pocket and pulling out a twenty.
Kayla couldn’t help but notice that the twenty-dollar bill wasn’t the only one in his wallet. There had to be at least two others, along with a couple of fives and ones. She couldn’t remember a time when she had so much cash. “Do you work?”
“Yeah. My brother owns his own landscaping company. You’re looking at his number one grunt.”
She laughed. “Sounds important.”
“Real important. I get to do all the crap none of the other guys who work for him want to do,” he joked after he paid the lady at the window and pulled the sack and drinks into the cab of his truck. “Mind if I pull into a parking space and eat right here?”
“Not at all. We can do whatever you want,” she said softly.
He laughed. “Didn’t your mother ever tell you to not say things like that to boys?”
She started, then giggled. “Sam, you’re funny.”
Smiling at her, he opened the bag and pulled out one of the cartons of fries and handed it to her. “Nah. What I am is hungry. Here you go, Kayla.”
Digging in, she popped a french fry into her mouth. Like always, it tasted piping hot and perfect. Sam maneuvered his truck into a parking space at the edge of the lot, rolled down both of their windows, and turned off the engine. Then, he was biting into his burger like he hadn’t eaten in days.
As she picked at her fries, she was suddenly conscious of the quiet between them, and the sounds drifting up from around the parking lot toward them. In the distance, sh
e could hear teenagers laughing. Two cars over, some parents trying to get their toddler into his car seat. Music from a handful of cars mixed together as they sped down the street.
Not a bit of it was unusual or particularly noteworthy. But all together, here, while the sky was darkening and she was sitting by Sam Holland’s side? It felt amplified. Almost different.
Maybe because she felt so happy to be with him? Or, maybe it was because while she couldn’t help being aware of everyone around them, the guy next to her didn’t seem aware of it at all. Instead, it was as if the only thing that mattered to him was in his truck.
“Hey, you okay?” Sam asked as he crumpled up the wrapper of his burger.
Instead of answering, she asked a question of her own. “You finished it already?”
He grinned. “It wasn’t that much.”
“Not for you, I guess.” She looked down at her cardboard container. “I still have half of my fries left.”
“I’m a guy. We like to eat lots … and don’t have to fit into cheerleading uniforms,” he added with a wink.
She didn’t know what to say to that. “I was just listening to all the sounds around us.”
“Really? I didn’t notice anything.” He craned his neck, looking out the windows. “Did you see somebody you wanted to talk to?”
“No.” Feeling self-conscious, she shrugged. “Forget it. I don’t know what I was thinking.”
He popped a fry into his mouth before sipping on his drink. “Ready to go to the lake?”
“If you still want to.”
He put his truck into reverse. “Let’s go on, then.”
Kayla smiled at him as he headed out of the parking lot, then followed her directions to the lake. About fifteen minutes later, they were getting out of his truck and throwing their paper sacks in a metal trash receptacle.
It wasn’t completely dark yet, but the sun had almost disappeared over the horizon. The lake was a good size. Big enough to put in a little boat and fish or to stand at one of the docks on the side and cast a line.
Vintage-looking black iron lights were situated every fifty feet or so along the path around the lake. There were about thirty people scattered in the area. Some were families barbecuing, others were couples like themselves who were obviously out for a walk. Still others were groups of men fishing. But the best part, for her, at least, was that no one was paying them the slightest bit of attention. After feeling like she was living in the middle of a snow globe, where everyone was staring at her and analyzing what she did, Kayla felt fresh and clean. Freer than she had felt in days.
Take a Chance Page 6
