Chapter Nine
Kit
Of course there’s a teacher’s meeting today which ran far too late, keeping me at school until well after five. That’s how things go when you have other obligations on the front burner, work runs late.
I’m halfway down Main Street when Charlotte calls. I pick up right away.
“News travels fast.” She sighs into the line. “What the hell?”
“I don’t know. Duke showed up, I followed him back to his truck, and this urge just rolled over me. I had to kiss him.”
“Right then, right there, at the school?”
I flick on my blinker to turn up the mountain road that leads back toward Duke’s cabin. “I guess so. I mean, it wasn’t my intention to ensure everyone was staring, but they were.”
“Has your dad gotten ahold of you yet?”
“I haven’t answered his calls. I don’t know what to say. I mean, how do I tell him I’m in love with a man nearly his age? It’s kind of sick.”
“You don’t need to tell him. Duke did,” she laughs under her breath, “and I’m sure he heard it a hundred more times all day. Everyone is talking about it. I ran into the diner for lunch and Mrs. Robinson was talking about it.”
“Mrs. Robinson? I thought she was sick?”
“She was. Doing better now, though. I told her we’d stop by next week for dinner.”
My chest tightens. Not because of dinner with Mrs. Robinson. That will be lovely. No, my chest is tightening because everyone in town knows what a jerk I am. Everyone in town is talking about how sick and deranged I am for dating a man so much older than me, a man who’s best friends with my father.
“I’m never going to live this down.”
“Who cares?” Charlotte states as though her opinion is fact. “You don’t owe anyone anything. You’re a grown woman.”
I know in theory she’s right, but deep down I do feel like I owe my dad something. I’m just not sure what that is. I don’t want to apologize for loving Duke, but maybe I should apologize for hurting him, for not telling him sooner.
Ugh, why is everything so complicated?
“Distract me. How was your day? You make any progress with Jake?”
“No!” she laughs. “I didn’t even talk to him. Tonight, I have to go see my sister and help her and my mom with some wedding prep stuff. As you know, the whole thing is super last minute, so I have no idea what we’re doing. It’s just funny to me that if she meets a man three weeks ago and decides to marry him on a whim, she’s cute and eccentric. If I decide to stay single, raise cats and read, I’m an outcast.”
“Which is exactly why you don’t need Jake or any fake boyfriend at the wedding. You should go as you are and let them accept you for you.”
“Yeah right.” She chuckles low. “Do you have some kind of torture wish for me? It’ll be easier to find a man that looks like my fake boyfriend and lie to everyone all weekend. Trust me.”
I pull past the row of pines on the corner, turn left, and then down the long stone driveway that leads to Duke’s cabin. “Whatever you say. I’m here to help.”
“Same goes for you. Let me know what happens. If you don’t, I’ll hear a version of it from someone in town.”
“Ha. Ha. Ha,” I manage as I park beside Duke’s truck in front of the porch. “Catch you later!”
“Later!”
I’m barely sat in the driveway for a second when the front door opens and the giant man I’ve been thinking about all day steps outside, the screen door slamming behind him.
The sky is already dark, but the front porch light illuminates his wide shoulders, his flannel rolled up at the sleeves, his big hand brushing down over his beard.
I want to cry. I want to smile. I want to run into his arms and let him carry me straight back to the bedroom. I want to make all this official before either of us has a chance to change our minds.
“This place looks incredible,” I say climbing up out of my little jeep as I take in the work he’s done on the property. I didn’t realize it had been so long since I’d been out here. Where a single two-bedroom cabin once stood is now a sprawling ranch house with rooms that look to go on forever. Somehow, he’s even found wood that looks to be aged exactly like the original house, at least from what I can see in the dark.
