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“I am.” She nodded, blotting the oil off her pizza before eating. “But my folks shipped me off to Cypress Alley Boarding School for Girls in southern Louisiana.”
“Why there?”
“Because it’s in the bayou, where boys can’t get to you,” she said lightly.
“Sounds like a wonderful place,” Stephen mused, watching Kimber pour a drink for Marvin. “No boys, you say?” A sharp pain attacked his shin. “What’d you kick me for?”
“Don’t you dare think about sending Kimber away.”
“Okay, okay.” Stephen chucked.
After playing a few more rounds of the Cyclone, Skee-Ball and whack-a-mole—Stephen drew the line at DanceDanceRevolution—Shenanigans started to close. As promised, Lexi gave her tickets to Philly and went with her and the other children to pick out their prizes. Parents arrived one by one to get their kid
s. Lexi walked over to the door to make sure each child got home with the correct parent. One kid was left behind. Lexi stayed and Stephen sent the girls home with Keenan while he waited an extra thirty minutes for the tardy adult to arrive. Once the mother picked up her daughter, Stephen walked Lexi to her car. He took her keys from her hands to open the door.
“Tonight was fun,” said Lexi. “I hope you enjoyed it.”
“I did.” Stephen nodded. “I think next time I may end up beating you at the Cyclone.”
“Sure,” Lexi replied with a dramatic eye roll, “as soon as you try DanceDanceRevolution.”
“And you said you don’t like to dance,” Stephen teased.
“I dance best when the steps are on a screen for me to follow.”
“That’s what I’m here for,” he said, leaning forward. On autopilot, Stephen’s right hand reached for her left and tugged her close to him. “You just need to watch me and follow my lead.”
Under the pink sky, she blushed and cleared her throat. “So, um, I can drop you off if you like,” Lexi offered. She rested her hip against the side of the car. The early summer’s heat cooled off with a breeze through the streets. Birds began settling in the dogwood trees lining the sidewalks.
Not ready to share his lack of desire to take the short route home, Stephen shook his head and smiled. He allowed his hand to drop to his side when she untangled hers from his fingers. What had possessed him to try and hold her hand? Feeling awkward, Stephen scratched the back of his head. “Keenan should be here any minute. You go ahead.”
“I don’t want to leave you out here by yourself.”
“Afraid something will happen to me in the mean streets of Southwood?” Lexi chuckled and waved her arms about. The sun had already begun its descent over the city buildings. Stores were closing for the evening. Cars made their ways toward the suburbs. One car, in particular, a white American vehicle, approached, catching Lexi’s attention.
Stephen watched Lexi’s eyes and her faltering smile. The woman behind the wheel, a caramel-hued older woman with perfect gray hair, drove at a snail’s pace with her eyes forward and lips pinched.
“Friend of yours?” asked Stephen, touching Lexi’s elbow. A clench seized his heart when she faced him with tear-filled eyes.
“Thanks for waiting with me, Stephen.” Lexi smiled. Keenan had the utmost timing and pulled up the moment she’d turned to face him. Lexi reached for her door handle, and not wanting to stand in her way, Stephen stepped aside.
Somehow a wave of disappointment washed over him with the realization there’d be no kiss good-night. Is that what he expected? Wanted? The Cadillac’s engine roared to life and she let down the driver’s side window.
“Wait? What just happened? Who was the woman in the car?” he asked.
Lexi squared her shoulders and smiled. Her tone became almost robotic, practiced, even. “Well, Stephen,” she began with a toothy grin, “if you must know, that was my mother.”
* * *
The bells over the door of Grits and Glam Gowns jingled when Lexi entered her boutique the following morning, business as usual. She could hear someone hammering next door in Stephen’s new store. Her four-inch heels clicked against the floor and her hips swayed in her knee-length brown pencil skirt. Already she slipped out of the matching jacket, leaving on her sleeveless brown-and-cream polka-dot blouse.
“You’re in early,” Chantal said, looking up from the books at the register.
“Couldn’t sleep,” Lexi said, breezing into her office, Chantal and her book on her tail.
“I don’t like the sound in your voice.”
“I’m okay.” Lexi half smiled. “I saw my mom last night.”
