She lowered her head to his shoulder.“I needed to hear that.I was avoiding it too.Every decision feels like it has to be perfect...I need you to check in with me every day.Do not let either of us shut down again.”
The zipper still hung open.His hand lifted once, then he drew it up slowly.When it was done, his hand remained there, resting between her shoulders.
After a while, they stepped out of the fitting room.Outside, the late winter air was sharp.Kyla tightened her coat and tucked closer to him.Their hands found each other on instinct.
When they reached the house, the kitchen met them with the same spread of paper and ink.Kyla sat in her chair.Titus set the kettle on the burner.Blue flame caught.
“You still stuck on Mary Lou,” he said.
Kyla let out a breath that almost counted as a laugh.“She’s been the problem all week.”
“What if she sits with your Denver folks,” he suggested.“They won’t care how she talks.They’ll just think she’s interesting.”
Kyla considered it.Her pen hovered, then tapped once against the page.“That might work.”
He pulled out the chair beside her and sat.She worked through the next few names, then set the pen down.“That’s as far as I’m going tonight.”
He reached for the chart and slid it a few inches away.“Then you’re done.”
She looked at him.“You’re not going to say we should just scrap the whole thing and elope?”
A corner of his mouth lifted.“Thought about it.”
She huffed a small laugh.He took her hand, his thumb moving across her knuckles.“We’ll get through it.”
He stood and pulled her up with him.He reached for the light switch and dimmed the room to something softer.“Come on.”
She followed him down the short hall to the bedroom.This time, neither of them hesitated at the threshold.
Chapter 18
Late March
Titus nudged open theback door with his elbow.His boots thudded on the cracked flagstone.Warmth from the firepit met his face at once.Smoke hung thick in the air while bourbon cut sharp through the cool Montana night.
Someone poured another round from a jug.Marisol by the look of it.The bourbon filled glass jars that passed from hand to hand.People stood close together everywhere he looked.Denim brushed bare calves.Sunburns showed from the afternoon spent stringing lights above the alley fence.
