Just One Kiss

“How do you like Fool’s Gold?” Charlie asked.

“It’s wonderful.” Felicia’s large green eyes sparkled with excitement. “I’ve never lived in a small town before. I’ve lived on a university campus, which has some similarities in size and sense of community but the demographics are totally different.”

Jo hurried by. “What’ll you have?” she asked, barely slowing.

“A margarita,” Felicia called after her.

Heidi turned to Felicia. “Your parents were professors?”

Felicia hesitated. She reached for a chip, then pulled back her hands and rested them on her lap. She seemed to be making a decision. “I was raised by several professors and scientists, but they weren’t my parents.”

Charlie leaned toward her. “What? Why is that?”

“I’m very intelligent. I was doing complex math equations when I was three, and by the time I was four I’d become more than my parents could handle. When a professor approached them about admitting me into a special program through the university, they agreed.” She gave a brief smile. “It was for the best. I would have been impossible in a regular school.”

Patience stared at her, trying to process the matter-of-factly delivered information. “You didn’t live with your parents?”

“No. They moved away and had other children. Oh, they also adopted several special-needs kids. That was easier for them to handle. I stayed at the university until I was sixteen. Then I joined the army.”

She shrugged. “I admit I forged my identification so that it said I was eighteen. I handled logistics and got moved to Special Forces, which is where I met Justice.”

She relaxed as she said his name. “He’s been my family all these years. When I was in my car accident, he was the one who took care of me.”

Patience felt as if her head was spinning and she was on her first margarita. “Car accident?”

“I was hit by a car. I had several broken bones, mostly in my face, but everything turned out great.” Felicia glanced around and lowered her voice. “I was really unattractive before the accident. But when my face got smashed up, the plastic surgeon who fixed it made a few tweaks. Actually we collaborated. I made a few sketches of how the bones could be adjusted and the muscles placed, and he agreed.”

Felicia reached for a chip. “Our standards of beauty can be reduced to a mathematical formula. It’s all about symmetry. When I saw what he’d done, I was thrilled. It’s really tough being the smartest person in the room, let me tell you. Add in some mismatched features and it’s nearly impossible to fit in.”

Heidi looked at Patience and raised her eyebrows. Patience knew what her friend was thinking. Felicia was a little bit strange but not unlikable.

“How smart?” Charlie asked.

Felicia sighed. “You don’t want to know. People get scared when I tell them.”

“How many degrees do you have?”

“Five. Oh, I assume you meant advanced. Like PhD level. If you want me to count up all of them—”

Charlie nearly choked on her beer. “Pretend I didn’t ask.”

Heidi smiled at Felicia. “Are you married?”

“No. I don’t date much. Men are afraid of me. Some of it is I’m not very good with the details of mating rituals. Growing up the way I did, I missed normal socialization. I’m trying to figure it out, but it’s not going well. Getting a guy to sleep with me the first time was so complicated.”

She paused. “I shouldn’t have said that, right? It’s too soon. I’m not used to having girlfriends, either. My assignments in the military put me around men, and with the traveling...” She pressed her lips together. “Not that I’m implying we’re friends. We’ve just met and—”

Patience had been prepared to really hate Felicia. She was too beautiful not to. But after five minutes, she realized that despite the incredible good looks and perfect body and apparently the genius mind, Felicia was just like anyone else. She wanted to fit in and wasn’t sure she would be accepted for who she was.

Patience leaned toward her. “Felicia, we’re friends. Now relax. We’re all crazy here. You get to be crazy, too.”

Felicia nodded. “Actually the health profession doesn’t use the word crazy as a definition for mental illness.” She paused. “That’s not what you meant, is it?”

“No.”

Felicia nodded. “Sometimes I have that problem. I know nearly everything you can learn in a book and very little that you learn in life. Like my fear of spiders. It’s silly, really. I’ve studied arachnids in an effort to get over my ridiculous overreaction, but still, every time I see one...” She shuddered. “It’s not pretty. I simply can’t control myself. A flaw—one of many.”

“If you’re not perfect, then you came to the right place,” Charlie told her. “Fool’s Gold is a lively town with plenty of characters. You’ll get a crash course in how the little people live.”

“I hope I can fit in.”

Patience saw the concern in Felicia’s eyes and touched her arm. “You’re going to do just fine.”

* * *

FORTY-EIGHT hours and counting, Patience thought as she put mugs into the dishwasher.

Melissa Sutton walked into the back room with a tray in her hands. “This is the last of the dishes,” she said. “I wiped down the tables and the chairs.”

Patience took the tray and set it on the stainless-steel counter. “Thanks, Melissa. You’re great. I appreciate all you’re doing.”

The statement had the advantage of not only being true, but sounding so rational. It sure beat “I’m going to throw up from nerves” or “Never, ever open your own business.”

She’d reached the place of panic, which was a little scary. With two days left before the opening, where did that leave her to go? Extreme panic? Extreme, extreme, icky panic?

Either Patience was doing a good job of pretending to be normal or Melissa was really polite, because the eighteen-year-old only smiled.

“I’m happy to be working here,” she said. “It’s a cool job that’s going to be lots of fun.”

“Saving money for college?” Patience asked. Melissa was working through the summer.

“I am. I go in late August. UC San Diego. My mom is a little nervous about me going out on my own. I keep telling her I’ll be living in a dorm and not to worry, but you know how she gets.”

Patience wasn’t close friends with Liz Sutton-Hendrix, but they’d known each other most of their lives. Liz was a few years older. Technically Melissa and Melissa’s younger sister, Abby, were Liz’s nieces. A few years ago Liz had moved back to Fool’s Gold to raise them when their dad went to prison and their stepmom skipped out on them.

Complicating everything was Liz’s relationship with Ethan Hendrix and the fact that he had a son Liz had never told him about. They’d worked through their issues and were happily married. Patience understood Liz’s worry about her oldest going away to school. She didn’t think she would ever be emotionally prepared to let Lillie move out.

“You might want to go talk to Isabel at Paper Moon,” Patience told the teen. “She had an unexpected experience at UCLA. You need to avoid what she did.”

Melissa laughed. “It didn’t go well?”

“She had beautiful highlights and a fabulous surfer boyfriend, but didn’t do so well with the going-to-class part.”

“That’s never good.”

“It’s not.”

Melissa shook her head. “You don’t have to worry about me. I’m big on being responsible. I would never blow off class for a guy.”

“Good for you. Picked a major yet?”

“I’m looking at a couple of different options. What I do know is that I’m going to law school. I’m thinking Harvard.”

“Ambitious. You don’t want to be a writer like your mom?”

“I think I have just enough of her skill to write a good brief.” Melissa untied her apron. “I’ll be here at four opening morning.”

“Me, too,” Patience said. “You sure you can get up that early, then go to class?”

Until high school was over in June, Melissa would work mostly on weekends and a couple of evenings. But she had wanted to work on opening morning.

“You’re going to be super busy. You know how the town loves a grand opening,” Melissa said. “I can be sleepy for one day.”

“Thanks.”

The teen waved, then left.

Patience watched her go, thinking Liz and Ethan must be so proud. They had three great kids.

She finished loading the mugs and plates, then turned on the dishwasher. Their last practice run had gone well. She’d kept the numbers small and by invitation only, and they’d worked out a few kinks with the espresso machine. The rest of her coffee would be delivered tomorrow morning, along with most of the food.

Patience pressed a hand to her stomach and wondered how she was going to get through it. Talk about being on edge.

But despite her nerves, she knew she’d made the right decision. Great-Aunt Becky had given her a wonderful opportunity. The store had been her dream for a long time. She wanted to be a part of the fabric of Fool’s Gold. To be one of the small businesses in town. To have a place in people’s memories.

Because that’s what this place was about—making memories. Mrs. Elder, the head librarian, had been the one to hand Patience her first Judy Blume book. Years later, Patience had been in Morgan’s Books when she’d realized her feelings for Justice weren’t just friendship. She’d been fourteen, it had been a Tuesday and they’d been browsing. He’d turned to tell her something. She remembered how blue his eyes had been and how his hand had accidentally brushed against hers. She’d felt the tingles clear to her heart.

Later, in high school, she’d had her first kiss in Pyrite Park, after the Fourth of July fireworks show. A couple of years later, when she’d realized she and Ned would have to get married, she’d gone window-shopping at Jenel’s Gems. Not that they’d bought her ring there. Ned had claimed it was too expensive and why did she need an engagement ring? He’d purchased a plain gold band somewhere in Sacramento and she’d convinced herself it was enough.

Good and bad memories, she thought. But all in this town, and she wanted future generations to remember being at Brew-haha. Which meant she was going to have to pull herself together and survive the terror of opening in the first place.

She walked into the main part of the store only to find someone stepping through the unlocked front door. Patience recognized the tall, beautiful redhead at once.

“Felicia. Hi.”

Felicia gave her a tentative smile. “I know you’re not officially open, so don’t worry. I won’t try to buy anything. I just wanted to talk to you. Or check with you. Check in would be more accurate, of course.” Long, slender fingers twisted together. “It’s about the dinner the other night when I shared far too much information. When I get nervous, I talk too much. Overexplaining and babbling are a way to show a person isn’t dangerous or trying to obtain higher social status. Animals do that all the time, in their own ways.” She pressed her lips together. “And I’m doing it right now.”

Patience pointed to one of the chairs. “Have a seat.”

“Thank you.”

Felicia sat down gracefully. Patience settled across from her.

“You’re unique,” Patience said. “I’m now picturing you as a very elegant dog, maybe a poodle, showing your belly to us.”

“That’s a good description. Not the poodle part. I like to think I’m more like a pit bull.”

“Sorry, no. You’re all poodle. Besides, they’re considered very intelligent.”

Felicia nodded, her expression resigned. “Yes, there is that. But I would like to be intimidating and tough.”

“If it helps, you’re intimidating.”

“But only because I’m freakishly smart, right?”

“Isn’t that enough? I’m not intimidating at all.” Patience wasn’t sure how they’d gotten into this line of conversation, but she found herself having a good time. Apparently she really did like Felicia.

“You’re very warm and welcoming,” Felicia told her. “I can see why Justice likes you so much.”

“He does?”

“Yes. I can see it in the way he looks at you.” She leaned forward. “He never looked at me that way at all. He sees me as his baby sister. I like it. He’s my family. But back when I was younger, I desperately wanted to belong in a more romantic way. I thought my virginity was the problem. I was twenty-four years old and I’d never even been kissed. So one night I begged Justice to get drunk enough that we could have sex and...”

Her voice trailed off and her eyes widened. “I’m doing it again, aren’t I?”

“Yes, you are,” Patience said, not sure if she was more stunned or amused. She supposed that because they were discussing Felicia trying to sleep with Justice, stunned won. “And you’re going to tell me what happened.”

Felicia seemed to crumble in her seat. “Nothing. Nothing happened. He wouldn’t even consider it. He put his arm around me and told me one day I would find a man who would appreciate all of me. Then he walked away. I was crushed.”

“I’m sorry,” Patience said, and found she actually was. She wouldn’t have liked knowing Justice and Felicia had been intimate, but she could understand the other woman’s pain. No one liked being rejected, no matter the circumstances.