Chapter 3-2
1005 Words
Cassie and John hugged and kissed their goodbyes to Tim. They finally got out the door to John’s SUV and their waiting honeymoon. Staying behind, Luke, Kelly, and Tim stood on the porch and watched them leave.
Tim leaned against Kelly and she absently ran her hand in his hair. Kelly was affectionate with Tim. Her attention toward him was genuine. Tim adored Kelly and talked about her all the time. Luke didn’t give Tim that much credence, truly thinking his little nephew was seriously misguided about his aunt. But suddenly, he had a lot to consider. Had he been a little too judgmental of Kelly?
The first time he met Kelly face-to-face, she’d come barreling into the house in the middle of Cassie’s stalking mess. Her arrival in town had put Cassie’s safety at risk because it gave Cassie’s ex-husband the chance to follow Kelly’s trail to Seaclusion. Which he did do. Luke was convinced ever since then that Kelly did what was best for Kelly. That, and the fact she was a famous model who took racy pictures, lived a fast paced, party lifestyle, and was the center of several scandals over the last few years made it pretty easy to guess what she was about. So how was he, a small town, math teacher, living a very quiet, very ordinary life, supposed to relate to someone like her?
Well, they had all week to see if maybe Cassie was right, and he’d been too quick in his judgment. He did, however, need to address last night, because his memory wasn’t wrong that he’d asked her to stay in his room with him.
“Hey, Tim, why don’t we go to the beach?” Luke said, distracting Tim from his mom’s departure.
“Okay. Can we play catch?”
“Sure, go grab the mitts out of the garage.”
Luke glanced at Kelly. “You coming?”
“Sure. Who could resist that invite?”
He didn’t mean to sound so gruff, but he was nervous. He didn’t know what to do with the new information he had about Kelly.
Luke followed Tim along the sand dunes behind the house and down to the beach. Long waves crashed into the miles and miles of clear brown sand. The June sun was warm and pleasant on their arms and faces.
The fresh air woke Luke and cleared his hazy brain. He and Tim started playing catch, something they did nearly daily. They fell into an easy game of back and forth, which finally did the trick of getting Tim to smile. Especially when Luke started zig-zagging the throws, making Tim run about, while Luke pretended, he couldn’t get the ball straight to him. It was a game Tim never ceased to enjoy, and one which hardly seemed to put a dent in Tim’s energy.
“You’re good with him. He talks about you all the time.”
Luke turned toward Kelly, who stood a few feet away, watching quietly.
“He does? I never dreamed how much he’d grow on me when he and Cassie first came here.”
“I’m glad he has you, and John, too. He’s been sorely lacking men in his life.”
Kelly’s gaze was off toward the frothy ocean waves, a distant look in her eyes. She had eyes that could change a man’s mood. They were green and gold, with thick lashes and perfect eyebrows framing them. Her hair was red, but the kind of red that made one think of a sunset, rather than a carrot. Her face was so perfect, that Luke didn’t often look her in the eye. Her face was too symmetrical, too stunning. Anyone would react visibly to seeing her. She was like headlights coming at him in the dark. He didn't want to be affected by her, so he avoided looking directly at her.
“We should talk about last night.” He averted his eyes from her.
She stiffened her back and turned back to him.
“About last night?”
“I asked you to stay with me.”
What if he had talked to Kelly before Cassie? A bigger fool he couldn’t have made of himself. And no surer way to make his already strained relationship with Kelly even worse.
“You probably don’t remember much, do you?”
“Meaning, I did ask you? I’m fuzzy on the details,” he said as he threw a long one for Tim to run into the sand dunes for. The ball spun against the pale blue sky. He pretended Tim’s catching it was the most interesting thing he’d ever seen.
“I know how drunk you were. And believe me, I didn’t flatter myself that it was me you wanted.”
It was Shelly he really wanted. She didn’t have to say it out loud, but the truth hung between them.
“Still, I shouldn’t have said it.”
“Forget it, no harm done. Just be relieved I didn’t take you up on it.”
“My drunken offer didn’t tempt you, huh?”
She turned toward him. Her mouth open, eyes wide. His usual response to her was either blatantly walking away or completely ignoring her. In the past, he’d taken anything she said to him as a come-on, so it was nearly unprecedented that he kidded around with her.
“Tempted? No. Surprised? Yes.”
“One time offer. You missed your chance.”
She snorted, and then grinned at him. He met her eyes for a moment, before turning away. God, why did Cassie’s sister have to be a God damn model of all things? Why couldn’t she be a librarian or kindergarten teacher, and look like the stereotype of those who were in such professions? No, Cassie’s damned annoying sister had to be one of the most truly beautiful women alive. It wasn’t like you could pretend she wasn’t there. She was five feet eleven, and as bright and shining as a piece of gold against the rest of the world’s ordinary sand.
It was going to be a long week. He had summer school to teach, so Kelly was expected to watch Tim during the day. And on some level, Kelly was like Tim’s second mother. She’d help him not miss his mother so much. It was just hard to see Kelly Reeves as anything approaching motherly while she was living with him.
- Writer
