Authors: Loree Lough
The tapping started up again, slightly louder this time. Parting the curtains, she saw Adam’s handsome face on the other side of the glass.
“Adam,” she said, when he stepped into the kitchen, “how long have you been standing out there in the cold?”
“Just a couple of minutes.” One corner of his mouth lifted in a boyish grin. “You look gorgeous in that getup, by the way.”
She couldn’t help but laugh at that. Her apron was spattered with grease and grime, and unruly curls that had escaped her French braid had been driving her crazy for the past half-hour. No doubt she’d worn all her lipstick off by now, tasting things.
“Why didn’t you come to the front door?” she asked, blushing as she tried to pat a stray wisp into place.
“Because I wanted to give you these,” he said, bringing the bouquets from behind his back, “and I didn’t want to make a big fuss.”
Kasey pressed a palm to her chest and bit her lower lip. “Adam, they’re gorgeous.” She looked into his eyes. “But where did you find wildflowers this time of year?”
He shrugged one shoulder, looking every bit like a shy teenage boy.
“I’d better get them in water,” she said. “They can thrive under the most horrible conditions in nature, but once they’ve been cut…” She pulled a big cut-glass vase from the cabinet under the sink. “They’re a lot like human beings in that way, don’t you think?”
Adam had no idea what she was talking about, but he was so happy to see her, he didn’t admit it. “I guess,” he said carefully.
“Well, left to their own devices, people can survive in
credible odds. But take them out of their natural environment, deprive them of the things that protect and nurture them, and they’ll wither on the vine.” She giggled. “If you’ll pardon my very poor metaphor….”
Was she comparing herself to the flowers, saying, in essence, that outside influences had tampered with her world, and she’d grown up differently because of it? Because if she was, maybe Wade and the guys had been right. Maybe she
knew.
He could count on one hand the things in life that truly scared him, and have fingers left over. Kasey finding out what he’d done as a boy was one of those things. Adam swallowed, hard.
“Thirsty?” she asked. “There’s iced tea and cold water in the refrigerator.”
He remembered exactly where she kept the tumblers, because he’d poked through just about every cabinet in the kitchen on Halloween night. Remembered, too, that the glasses stood on the shelves in orderly rows, like glass soldiers standing at attention.
He helped himself to one, filled it with water from the pitcher in the fridge. “Smells great in here,” he said, hoping to change the subject. “You must have gotten up at dawn.”
“Actually, I did most of the cooking yesterday,” she said, arranging the flowers in the vase, tall ones in the middle and shorter ones surrounding them.
“Yesterday?” He sipped the water, grateful she hadn’t returned to the subject of what happens when something tampers with a living thing.
“All I had to do today, really, was set the table and put the turkey in the oven.” She glanced at the clock. “In half an hour or so, I’ll mash the potatoes and pop the biscuits in, and
voila`!
, dinner is served.”
He watched as Kasey stood back, one hand on her hip, the other beneath her chin as she tilted her head this way and that to study her handiwork. Her delicate fingers moved so quickly they seemed like a blur as they repositioned flowers in the vase.
“There,” she said, clasping her hands in front of her chest. “A Thanksgiving centerpiece!”
Did she have any idea how stunning she was with her coppery hair aglow under the overhead lights and her cheeks flushed from the steaming pots and pans? Did she realize that one glance from those sparkling emerald eyes was enough to steal the very breath from his lungs? Or that her mastery of everyday things, like flower arrangements and alphabetized spice cabinets, kindled in him every urge God ever gave a man?
Adam gulped the water until the glass was empty.
“Warm in here, isn’t it?”
Nodding dumbly, he smiled awkwardly.
“Give me your jacket,” she said, dainty hands extended.
When he handed it to her, Kasey stroked the brown leather. “Ooooh,” she said, eyes closed as she hugged it to her, “soft.”
In the week between their lunch and today’s dinner, he’d done a fair-to-middlin’ job of tamping down the feelings she’d stirred in him. One look into that pretty, wide-eyed face in the church the other day, and he’d had to stomp them down all over again. He had suspected the same thing might happen if he accepted this invitation, and yet he’d said a hearty, hasty yes.
Fool that he was, he’d told himself he could get through one dinner without waking the emotions yet again. But the instant those curtains parted earlier and he saw her lovely smile on the other side of that window…
Idiot,
he upbraided himself as she hung his jacket on a
peg beside the back door before returning to the stove.
Blockhead.
He was in so deep, he’d need a rope and a ladder to haul him out.
Good thing one of your best friends is a firefighter,
he thought,
you spineless moron.
Somewhere between his house and hers, Adam must have lost his mind. Why else would he have crossed the room in two long strides and taken her in his arms? What else explained the way he pressed a lingering kiss to her soft pink lips?
For an instant she stood, stiff with surprise, one hand still holding the stirring spoon, the other gripping the pot lid. Then a soft sigh—no, it was more like a purr of contentment—issued from her as she relaxed, leaning into him, wrapping her utensil-laden arms around his neck.
“Something’s burning,” he mumbled against her lips.
“Mmm,” was her whispery reply. Taking a half step back, Kasey looked up into his face. “Think it’s your lips, or mine?” she asked, before her dreamy expression morphed into a cheery smile.
Chuckling, he held her at arm’s length. The range of emotions she brought out of him ran the gamut from passion to fear to blatant joy. “No, it’s something on the stove, I think.”
She pulled away from him, put the spoon and the lid on the counter and snapped off every burner. Then, hands on her hips, she faced him. “Well, are you happy? You’ve made me ruin the peas!”
He could tell by the spark of merriment in her big eyes that she was teasing. Such a small thing, really, but the intimacy of their little joke made him take a step closer, made him press a palm to each of her rosy cheeks. “No big loss,” he said, “’cause I’ve never liked peas.”
One delicate, well-arched brow lifted slightly, as did one corner of her recently kissed mouth. “Really…?”
Something happened in the second that ticked by as she stepped on the foot pedal of the trash can and unceremoniously disposed of the burnt vegetables. Now he had a name for what he’d been feeling, practically since he opened the cabin door and saw her standing on his porch, soaked to the skin.
From the sink, Kasey shot a flirty glance over her shoulder. “Cool,” she said, “we both hate peas.”
Heart thumping and pulse racing, he returned her affectionate smile. Yep, he had a name for it, all right.
God help him, it was love.
To give them their due, both Adam and Buddy had done a stellar job so far, avoiding topics that might cause an argument. Kasey doubted that anyone other than Pat and Aleesha noticed the deliberateness of their pleasant, if stilted, conversation, and she made a mental note to thank the men—separately, of course—when the day ended.
Moments after everyone had a full plate, Adam’s beeper went off. Frowning, he stood. “Mind if I use your phone?”
“’Course not. Help yourself.”
While Adam was in the kitchen, Buddy helped himself to another slice of turkey. “Any cranberry sauce left?”
Pat passed the bowl. “Another roll? Butter?” she asked from the head of the table.
“Why not,” he said, laughing as he patted his flat stomach. “I can always move my belt up another notch, if I have to.”
His joviality made her wonder if maybe he’d somehow orchestrated the call that would more than likely take Adam away from the celebration.
It hadn’t escaped Kasey’s notice that Buddy and Adam had chosen the seats beside her own at the other end of the table, a spot she preferred because of its proximity to the
kitchen. But when had Buddy moved his chair closer to hers? she wondered. Probably when Adam leaned in to ask about borrowing the phone.
“Hey, Mom,” Aleesha said. “When are we gonna start the ‘why we’re thankful’ thing?”
There had been so much going on as they all sat down, that Kasey had all but forgotten to announce it. Then Pastor Hill said grace, and the napkins had started flapping, and well, she’d decided it would be just as effective with dessert.
“Soon as I clear some of these dishes and put out the pie, we’ll do it. You’ll remind me in case I forget?”
Beaming, the girl gave her word.
Adam returned on the heels of Aleesha’s promise. “Sorry I’m going to miss that,” he said, slipping into his jacket. “Sounds like fun.”
“Where are you going?” Aleesha asked.
“One of my patients had surgery yesterday, and she’s worried that one of her stitches might have popped.”
“I told him to take that sewing class in high school,” Buddy said, grinning, “but would he listen to me? Noooo.”
Amid the good-natured laughter his joke inspired, Kasey rose and walked with Adam to the foyer. “I’m sorry you have to leave so soon, but I understand.” Joining him on the porch, she closed the door behind them. “If the problem with your patient isn’t too serious, maybe you can come back, have dessert with us.”
“Maybe.”
His smile reminded her of the shy little boy who’d been in her Sunday school class last year, stirring an urge to stroke his cheek. Instead, she stuffed her hand into her sweater pocket.
“But if you can’t come back in time for dessert, maybe
you can make it later this evening.” She lowered her voice. “I’m sure everyone will be gone by seven….”
“Maybe,” he said again.
She lay a hand on his forearm, absentmindedly fingering the supple leather sleeve. “I’ll pack some leftovers for you to take home. You have a microwave at the office, don’t you?”
He nodded. “Yeah.”
“Good. I’ll box up enough for a few lunches, too.”
“Kasey, you don’t have to go to all that trou—”
“It’s no trouble, no trouble at all. You’d be doing me a huge favor, really. You saw what was on the table. If you don’t take some off my hands, we’ll be eating Thanksgiving dinner ’til Christmas!”
He chuckled and shook his head, causing a lock of hair to fall across his forehead. Without thinking, she stood on tiptoe and finger-combed it back into place. Almost as an afterthought, she pressed a quick kiss to his chin.
She felt the heat of his shuddering breath as she said, “Now get going, before that poor woman has a panic attack.”
He started down the steps. “Thanks, Kase.”
“No, thank
you.
The flowers are beautiful. I’m going to move them into the kitchen after dinner, so I can enjoy them even more.”
“See ya later,” he said, climbing into his car.
She didn’t know what possessed her to do it, but Kasey blew him a kiss. “I hope so.”
She waved until he’d backed out of the driveway. Then, cupping her elbows in her palms, she watched as he drove away. For a long time, she just stood there, heart aching and barely breathing and staring at the spot where she’d last seen his car.
Sitting on the top porch step, she huddled into her car
digan and, blowing warm air into her folded hands, closed her eyes.
“Lord,”
she whispered,
“I don’t know what You have in mind for my future, but I know that, as always, You have my best interests at heart. You know I’ll willingly submit to Your will.”
She opened her eyes, looked down the street and sighed.
“But there’s something about Adam. I don’t know what it is, but I’m sure that You do!”
Suddenly, she remembered the painful edge to Adam’s voice when he’d said,
“There are things you should know about me”
—things, his tone implied, that would make her want to keep her distance from him, permanently.
But how could that be?
Those moments in her kitchen earlier echoed in Kasey’s memory, rousing hot tears that pricked at her eyelids. How could that be? she thought again, remembering the tenderness of his touch, the gentle way he looked into her eyes, the sweetness of his lingering kiss.
He seemed so good and decent, so compassionate and kind. Could a man like that really have done something so terrible, so awful, that the mere knowledge of it would make her turn away from him?
Sighing, Kasey admitted that she honestly didn’t know.
But God knew.
She’d just have to trust Him to guide her.
“I want Adam in my life, Lord,”
she continued,
“and I’m praying with all my might that it’s what You want for me, too.”
And if it isn’t,
she added silently,
then You’d better give me a deep well of strength.
Again she glanced down the street, where moments ago his car had been. If she missed him this badly already, how much more would it hurt if he was out of her life forever?
Drying her eyes on her sweater sleeves, Kasey slowly made her way back to the foyer. Leaning against the closed
door, she shut her eyes. The grandfather clock against the opposite wall chimed, announcing four o’clock.
God willing, Adam would be back before the clock struck five.
She didn’t even try to fight the silly half grin that turned up the corners of her mouth.
You’ve gone and fallen head-over-heels for a guy you barely know. You must be out of your ever-lovin’ mind!
Accent on the
ever-lovin’,
she added, her grin broadening. Because the truth was, for a reason she couldn’t explain, Kasey believed she
did
know Adam Thorne. When she looked into his warm brown eyes, it was as if she could see into his heart, as if she could read his soul, telling her he was more than good and decent, telling her he was honest and honorable, right down to the marrow of his bones!