Chapter 15
“What was that about?” Kasey asked with a pointed look at the trio of waitresses who were hovering around an iPad, laughing.
“Nothing to worry your pretty little head about,” Reese said with a smile that didn’t quite meet his eyes as he held the door open for her and the kids.
“Is this the point when I should drop the subject and move on?” she asked, feeling uncharacteristically generous this morning as they headed towards the parking lot with Mikey and Eric in the lead and the boys already heading towards a large black pickup truck that she assumed was Reese’s.
“Yes, yes it is,” he said with a heavy sigh as he pressed his hand against the small of her back and gestured towards the truck in question.
“I guess I can do that,” she said magnanimously as she smoothly stepped away from his touch only to find herself once again heading towards his truck when he placed his hand back and steered her towards the boys, who were suddenly racing back towards them and yelling, “Dad!” as a large SUV pulled into the parking lot.
“It’s for the best,” he murmured, suddenly dropping his hand away and grabbing the boys before a minivan trying to back out of a spot could hit them.
“Be careful,” he said with a pointed look at the driver as he released the boys safely on the sidewalk so that they could race the rest of the way and slam into Trevor as soon as the misguided man made the mistake of climbing out of his truck. With a nod in Reese’s direction, he had one of the boys thrown over his shoulder and was heading inside the diner with the rest of his brood in tow. Zoe barely managed to say, “Hello,” before the smallest boy dragged her inside. Once they were out of sight, Reese was back to his manhandling ways.
“Umm, I have a ride,” she pointed out when Reese once again started leading her towards his truck only to end up frowning as she watched Eric and Mikey drive by only slowing down long enough to send her a well-timed glare before completely abandoning her, which really shouldn’t surprise her.
But, still…
“And they seem really excited about spending some quality time with you, but on the off chance that they’re not coming back, why don’t I give you a ride?” he suggested, opening the door and gesturing for her to climb in.
“They’re so damn fickle,” she said with a heavy sigh and a shrug as she moved to climb in only to find herself swept off her feet and set down on the bench seat before she had a chance to blink.
“Umm, thanks?” she said, not really sure what the proper etiquette was for being manhandled.
“You’re welcome,” he said, shooting her a smile as he closed the door and quickly made his way around the truck as she sat there, reminding herself to relax.
“Do you need to go anywhere?” Reese asked, as he climbed into the truck.
“Not until tonight,” she said with a shrug, silently congratulating herself on surviving this encounter with him as she turned her attention to the radio, needing a distraction from the incredibly handsome man sitting next to her that was seriously screwing with her sanity.
“What’s going on tonight?” he asked, pulling out of the parking lot and headed back home.
“Taking Mikey to the carnival,” she said with a shrug, although she really wasn’t sure that she wanted to share her cotton candy with the little traitor, not after this recent betrayal.
“What time?”
“It starts at seven,” she said, contemplating inviting his cousins since the kids seemed to be getting along.
Not that Mikey actually wanted to go to the fair tonight since there was a game on. Mikey was determined to stay home and watch the game and Kasey was determined to remind her daughter that there was more to life than baseball. Mikey would fight her tooth and nail, but in the end she would drag Mikey to the fair and she would have a great time.
It was just a matter of dragging Mikey out of the house before she had a chance to lock herself in the bathroom with her iPad and the stash of drinks and snacks that Mikey didn’t think she knew about. It had taken some time and a lot of failed attempts, but now Kasey had this down to a science. Mikey would try to run, hide, outright beg, throw in a few tears, make promises that she never planned on keeping, use embarrassing flattery, and say and do whatever it took to stay home and watch the game, but in the end, Kasey would prevail. Mikey would be at the fair tonight even if she had to drag her there, kicking and-
“I’ll pick you up at seven,” came the sudden announcement, breaking into her inner musings.
“I’m sorry, what?” she asked, too late.
They’d arrived home and Reese was already out of the truck and walking around to her side before she managed to get the words out. Steeling herself for one last encounter with him today, she slowly exhaled, nodded to herself because she was an idiot, and climbed out of the truck, ready to talk her way out of this.
“I’m-” she started to say in a reasonable voice even as she ignored the urge to run away only to get cut off by the man that had absolutely no idea how badly she was struggling not to freak out right now.
“We can grab a bite afterwards if you want,” he said, not asked, she’d like to point out.
“That’s really not-”
“Or before,” he said, shrugging as he placed his hand on her back and gave her no choice but to walk the short distance to her front door with him. “Whatever you want is fine with me.”
“That’s nice of you, but-”
“Don’t get mad!” Eric, whom she’d liked to point out was supposed to be on his way to work at this very moment, said, as he stumbled out of the house, soaked to the bone, covered in white dust, odd fragments that appeared to contain hair of some sort, bits of wood, and pieces of wet newspaper.
“What the hell happened?” she asked, momentarily forgetting the man standing next to her and focused on Eric, who was standing there, licking his lips nervously and shifting anxiously as he said, “It’s not that bad.”
“What’s not that bad?” she asked, eyes narrowing on him as she noted the tool belt that hung around his hips with the price tag still attached to it, the condition of his clothes, that guilty expression on his face that reminded her so much of his brother, and cursed under her breath as she shoved past him.
Before she reached the kitchen, Mikey was standing there, holding up two filthy hands and trying to pull off a smile as she said, “It’s really not that bad, mom.”
Whatever was in her expression had Mikey quickly losing that smile, clearing her throat, nodding with a mumbled, “Alright then,” before taking off running towards the safety of her bedroom.
Telling herself that Eric and Mikey couldn’t have possibly done that much damage in the five-minute head start that they’d had on her, she slowly blew out a breath, started towards the kitchen when an odd squishy sound accompanied the one and only step she’d taken towards the kitchen. Looking down, she watched as water pooled around her feet only to disappear seconds later into the thick rug that she definitely needed to replace now.
A pathetic groan escaped her that came off more as a whimper as she followed that flow of water into the kitchen, splashing water the entire way until she found herself standing in a puddle of water, feeling absolutely numb as she took in the scene before her.
Five minutes…
That’s all it took, she thought as she slowly took in the scene before her and shook her head, trying to make sense out of what she was seeing. The kitchen was flooded, water was shooting out of what was left of the wall to her left, chunks of horsehair plaster were everywhere, pieces of newspaper were floating past her, there was a huge hole in her wall, and a sledgehammer that she’d never seen before was lodged in the “pantry” door.
She wasn’t sure how long she’d stood there, staring at that sledgehammer, or when she’d tackled Eric to the ground and tried to make him eat that tool belt, but as Reese and Jason tried to drag her off him, she realized something very important, after this she wouldn’t have to worry about trying to come up with an excuse to get out of going tonight.