Chapter 6

 

 

They walked to the car and went home, arriving just minutes before Aura and Kate returned to the house. Shelby had waited for Jackson, so Jackson clapped Reed on the back and left him on the porch. Reed waited for the girls to approach.

“How was your time together?” Reed asked, walking up to Kate and Aura.

“Good,” Kate said. “I enjoyed hearing stories of you as a kid.”

“And I enjoyed hearing stories of Reed as an adult,” Aura said.

“Friends?” Reed asked.

Aura looked between them and slowly shook her head. “I think it’s time I figure out my life.”

“Is that a no?” Reed asked.

“It’s a not right now,” Aura said. “Tonight I’ve realized I’m okay. Someday I hope to have friends like yours.”

“So you’re going?” Kate asked.

“My mom and dad are on their way to pick me up,” Aura said. “I just wanted to say goodbye.”

Kate hugged her first. “It was nice to meet you,” she said.

“You too,” Aura said. “Reed deserves someone great.”

“I think that’s a bit much,” Kate said.

Aura merely smiled and stepped to Reed, who embraced her. Reed didn’t know what the girls had talked about, but it seemed to have helped Aura. She looked worlds better than she had when she’d been crying in his car.

“It was good to see you,” Reed said when they parted.

“You too, Reed,” she said. “Make sure you take care of Kate for me.”

“I’ll do that,” he said.

A rental car pulled up and Aura’s parents got out. While her father fussed over her, Sheila walked to Reed and hugged him, clinging to him with surprising strength. When she stepped back her eyes were filled with tears.

“Thank you, Reed—and Kate,” Sheila said. “I know tonight was probably hard, but she needed it.”

“Sheila!” Harold called. “We need to get her back. The doctors said she needs a full night’s sleep.”

“Goodbye, Reed,” Aura called.

Reed waved, struck by the strange sense of finality, as if it was the last time he would see her. Aura smiled one last time and then she was gone. As the car disappeared around the corner he released a long sigh.

“Weirdest date of my life,” he said fervently.

“Agreed,” Kate said. “Just goes to show, if you aren’t dating me, it’s going to be terrible.”

He laughed and pulled her into his arms. “I’m glad I ended the night with you.”

“Are you sure?” Kate asked. “Aura told me she tried to kiss you.”

He winced. “I was going to tell you about that.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck. “Oh? What would you say?”

“That a non-ex-girlfriend was in a bad place and briefly thought I was her salvation.”

“And you stopped her?”

“Of course,” he said.

She gave him a searching look and then smiled. “At least your fourth date will be with me.”

“Fourth?” he asked.

“First was with me. Second was Aura. Third was with Jackson.”

“He kept his hands to himself,” Reed said defensively.

“At least one of them did,” she said with a laugh.

“And what did you mean, fourth? It’s after eleven and it’s been a long night.”

“I couldn’t let anyone else have you at the end of the night,” she said. She smiled mischievously and kissed him. “Come on. It’s more of a double date with Jackson and Shelby.”

He cast a look to where Aura had disappeared and nodded, grateful the night was over. Then he walked with Kate into the house. Inside, they found Jackson and Shelby pulling out every box of cereal in the house and putting them on the table.

“What’s going on?” Reed asked.

“You don’t drink but Kate said you needed one,” Shelby said. “So tonight we’re doing cereal shots.”

Reed laughed and took a seat, accepting the shot glass from Jackson. “I’ll take a shot of Lucky Charms,” he said.

“Coming right up,” Jackson said, pouring a tiny amount into the glass.

Reed drained it and savored the marshmallows. Kate asked for the same, a double, while Shelby took a glass of Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Jackson took Golden Grahams, but the box was mostly crumbs, so he stared at the nearly empty glass morosely.

“What a night,” he said.

“Aura tried to kiss Reed,” Kate said.

“Really?” Reed asked Kate as they stared at him. “Did you have to tell them that part?”

Kate suppressed a smile. “Can’t a girl torment her boyfriend a little?”

“She almost kissed you?” Shelby asked.

Reed nodded. “To her, the accident was just two months ago, and she remembered my voice keeping her alive. Add that to the shock of learning how much time had passed and she latched onto me. She thought I was the only thing left.”

“She just needed to heal,” Kate said.

“By kissing Reed?” Jackson asked, smiling broadly.

“Are we done laughing at my expense?” Reed asked.

“Not even close,” Jackson said with a devilish laugh.

Reed washed away his chagrin with a double shot of Fruity Pebbles, and chased it down with a shot of milk from a second glass. Shelby kindly topped him off and he nodded his gratitude.

“First time I’ve had four dates in one night,” Reed said.

“Enough about you,” Jackson said. “I want to know about Kate’s time with Aura. That had to have been weird.”

“It was at first,” Kate said, examining her glass. “But she’s more lost than anyone I’ve ever met.”

“I can’t imagine what that would feel like,” Shelby said. “Just waking up and finding out years have gone by.”

“Might as well be a decade,” Jackson said, swallowing a glass of Captain Crunch like it was whiskey.

Reed laughed at the absurdity of the moment. “Is it just me, or is dating a minefield?”

“Of course it is,” Jackson said. “Whatever made you think it wasn’t?”

Shelby leaned over and kissed Jackson. “There are still mines after you’ve been dating, you know.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” he protested.

“You know what it means,” she said.

Jackson looked to Reed and gave a helpless shrug but his eyes were pleading. Taking the hint, Reed raised his glass.

“I think a toast is in order.”

“We don’t have any bread for toast,” Jackson said, causing Kate to groan and hit him.

“To finding the right one,” Reed said.

They toasted the end of a strange night and talked until after midnight. Then Reed walked Kate to her car. He caught her hand as she reached for the handle and pulled her back. He threaded his hands around her back and pulled her in tight.

“Tonight was interesting,” he said.

“Can we please do a real date next time?” she asked.

“I already have a plan,” he said.

“It’s my turn,” she complained.

“It should be,” he said. “But I have a good reason. Jackson asked for my help and I need yours.”

“What’s going on?”

Reed told her about Jackson and his plan to propose to Shelby. When he finished Kate had a strange smile on her face, as if she’d known it was coming.

“Shelby knows it’s coming,” Reed guessed.

“She suspects,” Kate said. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t have a little fun.”

“Exactly,” he said. “That’s why I think our next date isn’t about us. We get to set up some things for Shelby.”

“So we’re on the same team?” she asked. “I like the sound of that.”

Reed nodded, a slow smile spreading on his face. “Let’s plan an engagement.”

She agreed, but Reed’s thoughts returned to the realization he’d had on the basketball court. The girl in his arms was more than just a friend, more than a companion, even more than a girlfriend. And as they talked about Jackson’s proposal he realized the truth.

He was in love with Kate.