When the Wind Chimes, page 18
I threw in a bit of humor because the things I wished for would never come true. Like wishing Steve and Roselyn had never had cancer.
“Chocolate chip cookies?” Bridget’s giggles filled the room.
I continued eating and said, “Maybe I should ask Santa for pizza?”
Bridget laughed harder.
I wasn’t trying to be funny. I didn’t have anything else to say.
Lee and I flinched and I sucked in air when Bridget dropped her pizza and burst into a fit of coughing, like she was choking. She finally stopped and drank water.
Lee and I exchanged horrified glances and then relaxed with an exhale at the same time. He put a hand to his forehead and shook his head, and I did the same. We rolled our eyes when we made contact.
When a text came through, Lee got up and wiped his mouth with the napkin. “I need to leave, but I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
His words were meant for Bridget, but he was looking at me.
“Take your time. Go do your business and come home. I’ll be here.” I got up to clean the table.
Lee went around the table to Bridget and kissed her on the cheek. He then turned toward me, as if he’d been about to kiss me by reflex but stopped and retreated. Our gazes locked a heartbeat too long.
“I-I’ll see you later, Kate,” he said quickly.
“Be safe and have fun.”
Have fun? Lame—he was going to a business meeting. But what if it wasn’t? He might be going on a date. And he had every right to go out with whoever he wanted.
Irritated with myself, I shoved the thoughts aside and cleaned the table with Bridget’s help. After we played a couple of games of Unicorns versus Skeletons, she brushed her teeth and I read her a bedtime story.
I got into bed with Bridget, snuggled under the blanket. It was only nine, but she was exhausted, and so was I.
“Would you like me to stay with you or would you rather me leave?” I asked.
“Stay,” she said, her eyelashes fluttering.
“Okie dokie. Then I’ll read you another book.”
Bridget wrapped her thin arms around my neck and pulled me closer. “I know what I want for Christmas.” Her words were soft and hardly audible.
“You do?” I whispered, using the same quiet tone.
She nodded, her big eyes glistening like blue diamonds.
“What is it?”
“You.” She tapped my chin. “I wish you could stay with me forever.”
I melted into a puddle. Abby was right—I was getting attached to Lee and Bridget more than I should. In only two weeks, we’d bonded strong and fast.
Secretly, I was playing house. Lee, my amazing loyal husband, who would never cheat on me. Bridget, my sweet daughter. We were a happy family. But I was down to the last few days. Mona would be back soon and they wouldn’t need me anymore. When I left, Bridget would have to make another adjustment.
Kids are resilient. They bounce back fast. I’d miss her more than she would me.
“We will always be friends. No matter what happens.” Liquid pooled in my eyes.
“Promise?” Her lips turned downward into a pout.
“Let’s pinky promise.”
She curled her small delicate pinky into mine and said, “Promise to the unicorns, rainbows, and all the sparkling things.”
I laughed and repeated.
Bridget fell asleep about halfway through the second book. I shelved it and called my sister and we talked until my phone flashed with a text.
Lee: What are you doing?
I blinked. Jayden used to ask me that, so it seemed more intimate than something you’d text your employee.
Me: Bridget is sleeping.
Lee: That’s good. Thank you.
Me: You’re welcome. What are you doing?
I pictured him surrounded by beautiful, well-to-do women, and I almost didn’t want to know.
Lee: Boring stuff. You’d fall asleep.
I laughed.
Me: Is that why you’re texting me?
Lee: Maybe.
Me: Well, I hope I don’t bore you then.
Lee: You’re not boring.
I didn’t know what to think of that.
Me: You’re not boring either. Maybe. Sometimes.
Lee: What? I think my ego needs stroking.
Me: I think ...
I itched to text something naughty about something else that needed stroking, but I sternly reminded myself who I was speaking to.
The three dots rippled for a few seconds and then stopped. They came up again and then stopped. When he didn’t finish, I figured he’d gotten busy with his meeting, so I went to the painting room and continued a painting I had started. I wanted to leave Lee and Bridget a parting gift for welcoming me into their home and filling my life with joy.
Jayden was no longer in my thoughts and I harbored no bad feelings toward him. Abby, Tyler, Lee, and Bridget had filled me with gratitude that overpowered the residue of what he’d left behind. My heart had no room for past inconsequential things. No room for hurt and hatred, just love and happiness.
We are reminded life is fleeting when tragedy strikes—or almost does. That moment of fear that we had lost Bridget had jolted and reset my system.
As I listened to a Christmas playlist with my earphones on, I stroked the canvas with the paintbrush. I added details to the hair, lightening it a bit. Then I shaded along the cheekbones.
After I selected another tube, I squeezed it onto the palette. I added white to the pink and dabbed it on the canvas. Afterward, I swirled the brush into a jar of turpentine, and then blended brown with the blue on top.
There.
Perfect.
I put that away and replaced it with a new canvas I’d already primed. I changed the medium to acrylic and dabbed colors on the palette.
When my eyes began to droop, I looked at the time. Midnight. Lee wasn’t home yet. Not that I’d expected him to come home early on account of me.
I got up. My muscles felt tight from sitting for hours. As I listened to “Rocking Around the Christmas Tree” singing and painting, I zoned into my creative world.
My piece looked like a unicorn had gotten sick and thrown up a rainbow. But that was how I thought all of my paintings looked at the beginning stage. I laughed at that thought and swung my arms back to stretch.
The walls around me were several feet away so I shouldn’t have hit anything, but I did.
Not again. I swallowed and turned slowly. Lee held a blank expression with blue paint smeared across his black and white dress shirt. He must be infuriated. Twice I had done this to him.
“I’m so sorry, Lee.” I covered my mouth, trying not to laugh.
I thought he was going to react the way he had the last time, so I mentally prepared myself for a scowl and a scolding. But instead he took the paintbrush out of my hand and swiped it across my shirt with a smirk.
Astounded, I gasped and lowered my gaze to the blue streak. I took my brush back, dipped it into pink and splashed it on his black pants. Lee furrowed his brow, scooped up white paint from the palette, and slopped it on my hair.
“You—what’s that for?” I took two paint-drenched brushes and made circles on both of his cheeks.
Lee grabbed a tube and squirted it on my neck. “For making me think of you all night. You didn’t text me back.”
What did he mean by that? I only recalled how he hadn’t finished and left me hanging. I laughed off his words and abandoned myself to the adrenaline rush.
He thought that was the worst I could do?
“Well, you should have stayed home, you big baby.” I grabbed the canvas with wet paint, smeared it on his head, and ran.
The canvas thudded on the hardwood floor and tumbled to the side.
Lee growled playfully. That sound gave me the shivers in more ways than one. With his hands drenched in gobs of paint, dripping on the floor, he went after me.
“No, no, no.” I went to the left of the standing easels and then the right.
His wide grin made me smile bigger as he continued to chase me. We circled around the easels, our laughter bouncing off the walls. Lee gripped my shirt from the back and I slipped on a smear of something cold and gooey.
I dropped sideways and he fell on top of me, his forearms keeping him from crushing me. The playfulness evaporated, air leaving our lungs in heavy spurts.
Our eyes locked with something much deeper than before. His gaze slid to my lips and his eyes darkened. He inched toward my mouth, torturously slow, as his finger brushed my cheek.
Lee, what are you doing to me?
My heart ricocheted inside the cavity of my chest as fast as his thumped against me. As we exchanged panting breaths, my treacherous muscles began to ease, surrendering to him.
I wanted him, and there was no denying he wanted me too. Not in this position. And I didn’t want a one-night stand either. I had sworn off men, especially men at Christmas time, but this man had weaseled into my heart without even trying.
We would never work. I was going back to Los Angeles and he lived here. Besides, he likely wanted to be with someone of his caliber. Someone who moved in wealthy, powerful circles instead of the Poipu Preschool. The most I could be to him was fun with the nanny.
I was oil; he was acrylic, and we could never mix on the same canvas.
“I-I—” He swallowed hard.
His serious tone made me nervous. I didn’t want him to tell me this was a mistake, that I was a mistake. I wondered if he was thinking of Bridget, that we were a bad idea. It certainly was unprofessional.
I had to listen to that warning in my head and not my heart or my body. I had to do something because as much as I wanted this kiss, in the end, I would be the one left heartbroken.
My hand already coated with paint, I patted his face with a wet squelch. The tension shattered.
Lee widened his eyes and opened his mouth in surprise. Then he poked my sides, tickling me as he smothered his cheek wherever it could touch me.
“Lee.” I curled into myself, unable to stop laughing and he did the same.
We laughed for a good minute until the door opened.
“What’s going on?” said a sweet, sleepy voice.
I sat up to see Bridget rubbing her eyes, holding a stuffed unicorn.
“Papa? Kate?” She giggled, pointing at us.
“Bridget, I can explain.” Lee stood and almost fell on his knees when his foot slipped, but he caught himself.
Bridget laughed harder and so did I.
Lee continued, “I spilled paint and we fell. So you have to be very careful, too.”
Lee was trying to make our mess into a learning lesson, but it wasn’t working. Bridget couldn’t stop laughing, turning her eyes on me, to Lee, and then sweeping over the floor. Her mouth dropped open with a small gasp.
The tile was layered with colors and our clothes were a gaudy acrylic patchwork. We’d made a mess that was going to take forever to clean up.
“Bridget, go to your room,” Lee’s said with a stern tone. “I’ll stop by to tuck you in after I help Kate clean up.”
“Okay,” Bridget sang and left.
Lee took off his shirt and looked at me.
I narrowed my eyes, heat fizzing through my blood as I tried not to stare at his toned, smooth chest. Tried not to remember my first day here, when I had touched those warm, sculpted muscles. The familiar warmth tingled, so I shifted my gaze to his hands.
I didn’t know if he was trying to imply we should get naked, but I didn’t think he would be that bold. He had been a perfect gentleman thus far. Well, until he’d smeared paint on me.
“I’m not taking off my shirt. You’re not expecting—”
He blushed. “I didn’t ask you to, Kate. I’m going to turn around. Take them off and go wash up. I’ll start cleaning up the mess.”
Lee turned his back to me, facing the standing easels, patiently waiting. Taking clothes off that were stuck with wet paint on them was harder than taking off wet jeans. Finally, my shirt and pants thudded behind him.
“I’m done, but give me a second.”
“Kate?” Lee’s voice went from playful to tender.
“Yes?”
“There’s a charity event tomorrow night. We raise money for cancer research. I thought you might want to go. I mean, would you like to go?”
Was he asking me on a date?
I glanced at the panting Roselyn had painted of Bridget when she was about two years, and said, “Yes. Thank you for asking me, but what about Bridget?”
He craned his neck to the side. “I could hire someone.”
I contemplated what he said, but I had an idea. “No, you don’t need to. Abby can watch her. Bridget would love that, and so would Tyler.”
“Great. I’ll pick you up at six.” He paused and added, “It’ll be easier. That way I can drop off Bridget.”
That made sense, but the way he said it confused me, like he was reassuring me that it was a practical matter. I didn’t know if this was a date or if he was being nice.
I picked up my clothes and approached closer, his back still to me. “What do I wear?”
“You can wear what you’re wearing now.”
I laughed inwardly and I lightly smacked his arm. When he tried to turn, I poked his back.
“You stay right there, mister,” I said with a stern voice, but then I snickered softly.
His body shook with laughter. “Go take your shower.”
If we were a couple, we would be showering together.
“I might take a while. You got paint in my hair,” I ground out playfully and dropped my clothes to the side of him.
Lee’s laugh echoed in the room. Then he said, “Wear a cocktail dress.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven — Charity Gala
“Kate, you look beautiful. Wait ‘til he sees you.” Abby zipped up the back of my black strapless dress in her bathroom.
“Thank you. I love your dress, and I think I should keep it.” I posed with a flash of my teeth in the mirror.
I hadn’t had time to shop for a dress, so I’d borrowed one of Abby’s. Abby didn’t have many to choose from. She rarely went to galas where she had to wear fancy dresses, so I was thankful she had a few from her college years. Also, she was practical when she went shopping, just like me. The one we chose from her closet was perfect.
Abby fluffed my hair she’d helped me curl. “You can keep it. I don’t have any use for it.”
She said it like it was no big deal, but I read into her meaning. Steve was gone and she didn’t imagine needing it again.
“Don’t say that. You never know.” I draped my arms around her shoulders and kissed her cheek.
I was about to tell her she would eventually move on and find someone else, but she wasn’t ready for that. How long she would wait would be up to her.
“I don’t know, Kate. I don’t want to talk about it. Tonight is about you.” Abby unplugged the curling iron and faced the bathroom mirror. “So, are you coming home?”
“Of course I am. What kind of question is that?” Warmth traveled up my neck. “I’m going to a charity event with him. He didn’t ask me out on a date. And even if it was a date, I would still come home.”
“Sure.” She sounded like she didn’t believe me.
My nephew peeked in, holding a tablet. “You look pretty, Auntie Kate.”
“Thank you, Ty. Are you playing—”
“Nope.” He frowned with his shoulders slumped. “I’m doing homework. Mom is making me do some phonics sound thing. It’s not as fun as Unicorns versus Skeletons, though.”
I patted his back. “I’m sure it’s not, but you can make it fun. It’s all in the attitude, Ty.”
His big eyes softened and nodded. “When is Bridget coming over?”
As if on cue, the sound of a car door slamming reached us.
Tyler ran to the window and peeked through the shutters. “Wow. It’s black and very long. I’ve never been inside one like that.”
Abby dashed out and stood beside Tyler. “See. It’s a date.”
Abby liked to be right, even if she was wrong. Though secretly, I wished she was right.
The doorbell rang.
“Stay right there.” Abby narrowed her eyes at me to stress her point.
I felt like I was going to the prom and I was stealing a glance at my date. And Abby was my mother.
“Lee. Bridget. Come in.” Abby moved to the side to give them room. “You look very nice, Lee.”
Lee looked more than nice. He wore a dark navy suit with a flower-printed tie. His hair was slicked back the way I liked it. From his head to his polished black dress shoes, he was perfect.
“Thank you.” His voice dipped softer. “This is Bridget’s bag. It has her toiletries and PJs. I’m not sure how late we’ll be.”
“That’s okay. Take your time. In fact, Bridget is welcome to spend the night. That way you can stay out with Kate as long as you’d like.”
What did she say that for?
Before she could say something else, I stepped out.
“Hello.” I waggled my fingers in a wave. I suddenly became nervous, especially when Lee’s eyes brightened, taking me in.
Bridget wrapped her arms gently around my waist. “You look pretty, Kate.” She peered up at me under those long eyelashes.
“Thank you.” I tapped her nose.
“Well, you two should get going.” Abby clasped her hands under her chin. “Have fun.”
I grabbed the black clutch purse I had also borrowed from the entryway table and we were out the door. I tried to relax. Not a date. I was out with Lee, my friend. Bridget’s father. My employer. We were on our way to a charity event—practically a work thing for him.
“A limo, Lee? The Poipu Grand Hotel is fifteen minutes away,” I teased as my heels clicked on the front walk.
He rubbed his clean-shaven chin and chuckled lightly.
Lee and I chatted mostly about Bridget on the way to the function, but he never brought up the almost kiss. I supposed it wasn’t the right time to talk about it in the back seat with a stranger in front.
