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“Seeing someone?” she continued, needing to understand what was wrong.
“Yeah,” he replied, his voice faint and sounding a little unsure. “I’m working on it and things are… complicated.”
“Oh,” she whispered, feeling a little piece of her soul die at his words.
Kyle was interested in someone else, and she was causing problems for him. Without another word, she climbed the stairs behind him and felt so embarrassed for having been so forward with him.
No, she was definitely not trying things again, nor taking any chances. He’d suggested friendship, and now she understood why he’d said that. There was someone else in the picture that he cared for – and she was only getting in the way.
“Let me cut the breaker to the café – and I’ll install the light tomorrow,” Kyle said quietly. “I think I should go.”
“I’m so sorry…”
“You have nothing to apologize about. It’s me.”
“You’ve done nothing – literally.”
“I really don’t want things to be strange or weird between us… and well, that was…” Kyle hesitated, clearing his throat and not looking at her. “Intense - and I don’t think that we should be going down that road yet.”
“Playing with fire, Mr. Firefighter?”
“I’m not ready to get burned either…” he admitted, still not looking at her, making Reyna feel like an absolute leper. “You’re nice…”
She winced.
‘Nice’was not what she wanted.
Intense, combustible, a roaring desire combined with a fierce longing sounded good – and none of it was ‘Nice’. She didn’t want him to know how awkward this felt, nor did she want to share the keening disappointment within her right now, because he was nearly a stranger…
She knew nothing about him – except that she was finding herself more and more attracted to him as the moments passed.
He was so incredibly…nice.
Reyna sighed pathetically.
Yeah, being done for the day was a good idea. She’d already thrown herself at him, stepped on him hard enough to drop him like a hot rock, smushed him when she landed directly on him, and things were just getting worse as the day progressed.
“I can just hire an electrician,” she said thickly, trying to keep the hurt out of her voice. “You really don’t have to do anything else, and I appreciate the help you’ve already been. I need to come up with a different theme and…”
“Reyna…” Kyle said quietly as they got to the top of the stairs. “I’ll be here at ten, okay? There’s no need for an electrician or a plumber. I’ll take care of both things tomorrow and then maybe we can talk. Alright?”
“Sure.”
* * *
An hour later,she was sitting on the small loveseat in her mother’s room, feeling worse than ever before. Her mom was calling her ‘Betty Jean’ and cursing like a sailor at the gameshow on the television while eating popcorn. It was almost like the dementia was getting worse and worse before her very eyes.
“Betty Jean, do you know where my cat went?”
“No, mom… you’re allergic to cats, remember?”
“Phooey…” her mother waved her hand in annoyance. “Next thing you’ll be telling me is that the wash needs to be brought in off the line. I’m telling you now that I’ve already done the wash and the clothesline is empty. I put it all away.”
“Thank you for doing that,” Reyna said dutifully, because it was easier to go along with her than it was to argue. When her mother was that ‘lost’ in the moment, it was better to keep her happy, because seeing her mom cry just broke her heart.
“Yep,” her mother smiled. “Used the new washboard, too. I really like it because you can really get the dirt out of Grandpa’s jeans. I don’t like those fancy washing machines that just swish things around. I know your mom and grandma does, Betty Jean… but seriously. It just muddies the water, and you don’t even have a rinse bucket, you know?”
“You’re right,” Reyna agreed, nodding, realizing her mother was thinking of her early teenage years on the farm.
