He kissed her!
Her heart pounded. She wanted to touch her lips with her fingers, stop a moment and savor the feelings that roiled inside.
Instead, she turned and stepped back on the path, her shoes squishing. She knew she’d be uncomfortable all the way home. But that didn’t faze her. It was that brief kiss that dominated her mind.
She didn’t know how to react. Should she say something? Ignore it. Laugh it off. Her back to Kirk, she wrung water from her shirt, pulling it away from her body. Her pants were dripping at every step, her shoes dribbling water as she walked.
Taking a breath, she turned. Kirk had taken off his shirt and was wringing it out. She almost caught her breath at his masculine beauty. She knew his shoulders were broad and muscular. He looked like some kind of perfect male form thatartists would long to paint. His skin was tanned and taut over muscles in his chest and flat stomach. She was mesmerized. It wasn’t like she hadn’t seen men in swimming trunks or something, but none she could remember looked like Kirk.
When he donned the damp shirt, she was disappointed. But she hoped he never suspected.
“Ready?” he asked.
She nodded, and followed him as he led the way along the stream and back to the picnic area. This outing was the most spontaneous fun she ever remembered.
And his kiss was not something she’d ever forget.
By the time they reached Webb Francis’s home, her feet felt rubbed raw from walking in wet shoes and socks. Her shirt and cotton pants had dried for the most part, but she couldn’t wait to get them off.
“Next time bring a bathing suit,” he suggested as they parted.
She hesitated a moment, then nodded. Sounded like he planned on a next time. She wanted to nail that down, but still feeling awkward about that kiss, she just waved goodbye and turned to enter the cottage. She had not been expecting another kiss.
Chapter Five
Hurrying to take a quick shower and put on dry clothes, Angelica barely had her hair dry by the time Sam knocked on the door. With him was a girl of about the same age.
“Hi, Miss Cannon. This is Teresa Ann. Can you teach her to play the fiddle, too?”
“Hello, Teresa Ann. You want me to teach her in time for the festival?”
Angelica was startled that Sam had brought another child. Was Webb Francis the local music teacher?
Teresa Ann giggled.
“Not for the festival. Not this year. But if I could learn, I could play next year. My mother said I was to tell you if you take me on, she can pay five dollars a lesson. But I have to use Webb Francis’s fiddle. We can’t spring for one of those,” Teresa Ann said.
“I see. I’m not really giving lessons,” Angelica said slowly.
At the disappointment in Teresa Ann’s face, she relented. “Tell you what. I’ll call Webb Francis and make sure it’s all right with him if you use one of his fiddles and then I’ll show you the basics. He’ll be home soon and then he can teach you.”
“He’ll say yes,” Sam said. “He wants us to learn.”
Angelica settled her two students on the porch with a glass of milk each and dashed over to Kirk’s house. She rapped on the front door and he opened it a moment later.
“I need to talk to Webb Francis,” she said, glancing back at her house to make sure the children were still sitting there.
“Right now?”
He followed her line of sight and smiled.
“Doubled your class, did you?”
“I didn’t expect Sam to bring a friend. She wants to use one of Webb Francis’s fiddles. I need to make sure that’s all right with him.”
“Sure to be. Come in and we’ll call the hospital.”
Five minutes later Angelica led two children into the music room.
