After a moment, he sighed. “I just wanted to go for a walk with you.”
“Oh.” She wasn’t sure what to make of that. “I’m glad you did. It’s a beautiful day for it.”
“Maybe you’re sure we can’t be more than friends, but I’m absolutely sure I want us toremainfriends. And things are changing again, so it’s a good time for an update, I guess.”
For one foolish, heart-stopping moment, Kenzie thought he was about to tell her he was staying at the campground for the whole season—maybe so they could test justhowsure she was they couldn’t be more than friends.
But then thathell, noechoed through her mind again and she stomped hard on that anticipation.
“Brian’s coming up for the long weekend. He said he’ll be able to be on hand for weekends again.” He sounded almost sad about it, but then he smiled. “I guess I can tell you, since that means she’s out of her first trimester, but Siobhan’s pregnant.”
Kenzie stopped, clutching his upper arm. “Really? That’s wonderful! I’m so excited for them.”
“We all are. Especially Oliver, from what Brian says. He can’t wait to be a big brother.”
She let go of his arm, and they started walking again. “That must be fun. At his age, he doesn’t really have a concept of how long that bun has to be in the oven. Does he ask them how much longer every day?”
“Yes. My mom made him a little calendar with her due date circled, and every morning he crosses off another day, and I guess that helps. He’ll probably get bored with it at some point.”
“And your other brother has a new baby, so they won’t be too far apart in age. That’s kind of perfect.”
“They’ll be close. All of them will, even though Nora’s a few years older. Our mom said she’ll probably do playdates at her house in the future, so they’re all together at least once a month.”
“That sounds amazing. Rhylee’s like a sister to me, and her brothers would step in as brothers when I needed one, so I’m certainly a fan of cousins being close.” She couldn’t stop her next question, even though she didn’t particularly want to hear about Danny’s future dreams that wouldn’t include her. “What about you? Are you hoping to throw some grandchildren your mom’s way in the future?”
Danny made a sound low in his throat, and it sounded more uncertain than negative. “I don’t know. I mean I’m not against having kids, but they’re a lot of work and… Well, I know myself, and there would be chunks of time their mother would be pulling all the weight, and that doesn’t seem fair.”
“No, it doesn’t. But there would also be times you could pull more of the weight, and maybe their hypothetical mother would understand that give-and-take.”
“Maybe.” He nudged her with his elbow. “What about you? Kids someday?”
She snorted. “It doesn’t seem likely. Even if I bumped into a guy who didn’t mind living with his father-in-law and didn’t care if his wife was gone at dark o’clock in the morning and didn’t come home until almost nine at night, smelling of french fry grease, the cost of day care would be more than I make.”
“You’d still live with Frank?” he asked, and she found it interestingthat’swhat he took from a conversation that had started with their feelings about parenthood.
“I don’t know. Maybe not, I guess. It’s hard to imagine him on his own and… I don’t know.” She didn’t really want to go any further down the depressing road of her not having the financial means to pay half the rent or mortgage somewhere else, so she veered back to the original subject. “So if Brian’s coming back, does that mean you’ll be going home?”
“Probably. We don’t really need three of us here. And all of the cabins are rented into late July already, which is great for us as a business, but it would mean Brian, Stella and I all sharing a small bedroom.”
And there it was. The end.
Not the end of their friendship. He’d be back every once in a while, and he would undoubtedly stop by the restaurant so they could catch up. They’d text each other birthday and Christmas wishes.
But it was the end of her being able to pretend they were both living this life. Danny was just visiting.
And with that certainty settling in, Kenzie decided it was time to steer them back to the topic that had brought them together, and which wasn’t fraught with emotional tension for her.
“So tell me how you ended the book.”
He laughed, the sound startling birds out of a nearby tree. “Kenzie Pelletier, are you trying to get spoilers out of me?”
* * *
Danny started to pull open the door of Corinne’s Kitchen the following day, his mind on Kenzie and popcorn chicken—he was craving both—but he stopped when he saw the handwritten sign taped to the glass.
They would be closed for three days next week. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, with no explanation for why.
His first thought was to hope everything was okay. His second was to wonder if Kenzie had plans for those days off. If it was Frank who had something going on, maybe she was free. Maybe he could actually take her out on something like a real date.
