“Hey, Keely. I know you’re up there trying to decide what to wear. Bring down your choices and let me help you decide,” Katherine called up the stairs.
A flash of distant memories danced through her mind. Kat standing in her room asking for advice on what to wear on a date with her boy-of-the-month. She’d always been dating someone in high school. Well, until the accident.
Keely scooped up her three favorite choices and went downstairs to show her sister.
“Not that one. Too boring.”
First choice nixed.
“That one makes you look like a librarian.” Kat shook her head.
Second choice down.
“That one is okay, but come in my room. I have the perfect scarf to go with it to perk it up a bit. Oh, and how about some dangly earrings?”
She went to her sister’s room and got loaded up with the scarf, earrings, and a bracelet Kat insisted she wear.
“Now, go upstairs and get ready, but come down here and let me do your hair for you. You’re going to wear it down, and I’m going to curl it for you.”
“I was just going to French braid it.”
“Nope. Wearing it down. Trust me on this.”
“Kat, you’re making quite a fuss over all this.”
“It’s not every night that my sister goes on a date.”
“It’s not a date. I’m just going out to dinner with Hunt.”
“Whatever you say.” Kat’s eyes twinkled with skepticism.
Their mother walked into the bedroom, eyeing the girls. “Are you sure you should leave Kat alone at the cafe?”
“Mother, I won’t be alone. Becky Lee and Natalie will be there.”
“I still say that’s too much for Katherine. What if something goes wrong?” Her mother stood in the doorway, one hand perched on her hip, a knee-quavering-guilt-inducing look on her face.
Katherine turned to Keely. “Don’t. Don’t even think about it. You’re going.”
“But, I—.”
“Don’t argue with me. Go finish getting ready.” Surprisingly, Katherine could be almost as tough as their mother.
“Humph.” Keely turned and walked past her mother. The disapproval she saw in her mother’s eyes wasn’t something new, but it hurt, just the same. She knew that look so well. Just once she’d like to see her mother’s eyes shine with pride and approval.
She trudged up the stairs, the excitement of going on a date dampened by her mother’s displeasure.
An hour later she was dressed, her hair was down and curled, and she’d dropped Katherine off at the cafe. Her mother had disappeared into her room with the almost door slam she’d perfected to a fine art.
Keely sat on the very edge of the worn sofa, waiting for Hunt. Her stomach did a cartwheel when she heard him pull into the drive. A totally inappropriate reaction for a non-date.
She got up, smoothed an imaginary wrinkle from her dress, then answered his knock at the door. He slowly looked at her from the top of her head to her almost-like-new heels. Low heels, but heels nonetheless. The look of approval in his eyes was unmistakable and chased after a thrill tumbling through her.
“You look great.”
“Um, thanks.” She shifted in the doorway to give him room to come inside. “You look good, too.”
Hunt was dressed in khaki slacks and a blue, button-down shirt. His hair was still slightly damp from his shower. The light stubble beard he’d been sporting the last few days was gone. He brushed past her and walked inside.
“You about ready to go?”
“I am.”
“I thought we’d go to Sylvia’s Place. How does that sound? Or is there some kind of competition between you two for customers, and we should go somewhere else? I don’t know the politics of all of this.”
“No, Sylvia’s Place sounds great. I’ve been wanting to try it out. It’s fancier than the cafe. A different experience. More of a date place than a grab a bite to eat place.” Had she said date?
~ * ~
Hm, Keely had said date place. So she considered this a date? He’d been afraid if he called it a date it would scare her off, which was the last thing in the world he wanted to do. ‘Cause, for real, he wanted it to be a date.
Keely grabbed a sweater and her purse. He opened the door and they went out to the truck. He and Natalie shared her truck while he was in town. Becky Lee had promised to drive Natalie home after the cafe closed tonight so the shared vehicle situation was under control. He really should consider getting his own car, but that seemed silly since he didn’t know how much longer he would even be here. He liked being here and helping out his sister, but it was a fine line he walked. He didn’t want her to come to rely on him because they’d both seen firsthand what happened when he was put in the responsibility position. Well, he’d seen even more than Natalie. She hadn’t seen his biggest failure. The one that still haunted him.