“Pondering life.”
“Damn, that’s deep, Kyle. I didn’t know you had such self awareness.”
I extended my arms as if to say, ‘Yeah, that’s me – deep.’
Kenzie studied me with interest and then smiled warmly and said, “You intrigue me.”
“Me?” I laughed. “I can’t imagine why.”
She continued to size me up with her eyes, and then shrugged as if she’d decided to shelve the issue for now, but I could bet she’d bring it into play later.
“Tell me about your hometown,” I asked.
“There’s not much to tell. It’s a farming town, mostly dairy cows, and it’s got these beautiful, historic Victorian buildings. The people are really nice, but there aren’t many of them. It has a population of about 1,500 people.”
“Holy shit. You said it was small but that’s, like, teaspoon-sized.”
“Yeah, it’s tiny, all right, but rush hour’s a bitch.”
I smiled at her joke. I realized then that it was rare for me to have a conversation with a woman my age that didn’t revolve around Jake. I had to admit it was somewhat refreshing. “Do you know everyone in town?”
“Of course.”
“And is everyone sleeping with their cousins?”
“Probably,” Kenzie replied, with such indifference that it made me laugh.
“Do you like living there?”
She pondered my question, pausing for an overly long time. Something told me this girl had a few secrets in her past, too. “About as much as my slimy treasures like being trapped in the bucket.”
Her honesty surprised me. “That bad?”
“It’s a good place to grow up and to grow old, but the in between years… I’m not digging it as much. I just want to see more of the world, you know?”
“So why do you stay? Aren’t you like twenty-two or twenty-three?”
“Twenty-four, actually.”
“Really? Jesus, you’re old.”
She pushed against me like she was offended. “Oh, yeah? How old are you?”
“Almost twenty-three.”
“Almost?” She laughed. “You say that like a kid.I’m ten and three quarter years old,” she mimicked in a child’s voice.
“You’re just jealous because you’re one-and-three-quarter years closer to death than I am.”
“Death doesn’t go on a timetable, Kyle.”
I thought about that. Yeah, I was officially an idiot. Maybe my parents were right and a little higher education would do me good. “Yeah, well lucky for you, I like cougars.”
“Lucky for me?” she scoffed. “You wish.”
I laughed. Yeah, actually I kind of did.
“Besides, I hardly think one-and-three-quarter-years older qualifies me for cougar status,” Kenzie derided, attempting to act all put upon when the amusement in her eyes gave her away.
