“Do you remember when your mother came to the pool where we were hanging out and she painted on the same purple zinc stripes on your face? You were trying to be all cool and everything and then well, ya’ know!” he laughs out loud at the memory.
Gosh! He’s right; I forgot all about that. “I was so embarrassed!” I get lost in the memory.
I laugh, remembering that I’d been embarrassed, but even though Trent doesn’t tell the rest of the story, I remember it. Trent asked my mom for some zinc too. He put on warrior purple zinc stripes and even drew a funny moustache with the stuff, and it’d taken the focus off of me. He was always doing stuff like that. Anytime I got awkward or embarrassed, he was there to save the day.
Those warm feelings make it hard to remember that I should be backing out of the kitchen when Trent draws closer to me.
The laughter that filled the room only seconds ago is gone and now it’s only complete silence. I don’t know who stopped first or whatever, but I do know one thing.
I shouldn’t be doing this.
My fingers shouldn’t tremble as he reaches for them and holds them tight and laces our fingers together. I shouldn’t be looking at our combined hands and be remembering the love we once shared and how we used to hold hands all the time. I definitely shouldn’t be raising my eyes to look at him. I know that if I look into his blue eyes, I’m not going to have the strength to pull away.
He tilts my chin upward and looks down at me like he’s going to kiss me. I can see in his face how much he wants to, and I’m sure the same thing is expressed in my face. I wait for it. I can feel myself swaying toward him even though I know I need to stop. I know all it would take is one kiss. One kiss and I’d be a goner for Trent Keller again. Closer and closer his face comes toward mine, and now I’m a mindless mess, not breathing, but feeling like I’m about to hyperventilate, waiting for the touch of his lips on my own.
I feel his breath on my cheek just as water starts to drip down my back. One drop of water turns into two. And then another.
I pull back and look up at the ceiling. “What the—?” I ask, still dazed from our closeness.
There is water dripping from the ceiling. The upstairs bathroom is leaking!
Trent
There can’t be a guy with worse luck than me.
I was so close to kissing Lacy. If only I’d kissed her a few seconds earlier. I am confident it would only take a secure lip lock for Lacy to feel the magic we always had between us.
The water starts to stream quicker from the ceiling, and we both look at one another before bounding for the steps. I let her go first and follow close behind. She stops outside the new tenants’ door and knocks incessantly. They open it, looking at us without a care in the world, both of them with pamphlets on the town in their hands.
“Can we check your bathroom? There seems to be a leak,” Lacy tells them.
“Oh my! I forgot I started the bath!” the woman exclaims.
Lacy and I start for the bathroom. The floor is soaked, and sure enough, the water is flowing freely out of the tub.
I could have joked with them about how if you blink as you drive through town, you’ll miss it all, but that’s not really true anymore. The town has built up, offering winery tours, horseback and trail riding, and a national park that is close by. There’s actually a lot to see and do now. Too bad they weren’t out doing it instead of reading about it, though.
Water can damage property faster than most things. I get to work getting the water mess cleaned up and call over some of my friends that have the industrial size fans used to dry out property after flooding. I set one up in the bathroom while Lacy helps the guests move to another room. Then I go downstairs and set another fan in the kitchen.
I gather up all the towels—I’m pretty sure we’ve used all the ones in the house—and put a load into the laundry after moving the load Lacy had started earlier. I finish cleaning up as well as I can, and luckily the stream of water is no longer falling into the kitchen.
I lean against the counter in the kitchen thinking about our almost kiss before the flood. I don’t mind helping Lacy, but missing my chance at that kiss makes me worry that she’ll throw up her walls of defense again.
Come on, give a guy a break.
9
Lacy
Trent has been here all day. He’s worked tirelessly helping me with every emergency that has popped up. Who knew taking over the B&B would be this hard? Who knew my first day would be like this? I knew things could get crazy sometimes, but I honestly was expecting an easier day than this.
If I don’t do something to make him see that I’m not going to lose my heart to him again, then I’ll mess up and do just that. How close was that almost kiss? Way too close, if you ask me. If water hadn’t doused my back, I’d probably be tangled up in blankets on my bed with Trent right now.
Landing in bed with Trent would be disastrous. If I allowed my heart to be broken by Trent again, it would be worse than before because this time I won’t be able to leave and go somewhere to heal when he hurts me again. I’d have to stay right here and probably see him at least once a week in town. There’s no way I can do it. It hurts me even now to see him. I won’t do that to myself again.
“I’m done. Do you need anything else while I’m here?” Bradley interrupts my thoughts as I walk down the stairs and meet him at the entryway.
I forgot all about Bradley still being here. My first day running the B&B has definitely been a hectic one. I’m ready to call it a day and fall into a bathtub at this point.
“No, that’s about it. Thank you for getting the railing too while you were here. How much do I owe you?” I ask, already walking toward the office that has the checkbook locked in it.
“I’ll invoice you.”
“Oh, great! Okay, then. Well—"
He interrupts me. “I was wondering if you’d like to go out to a movie with me?”
“Tonight?” I ask him.
He just shrugs his shoulders. “Sure.”
I swear I hear a sort of growl coming from behind me, and I’m almost positive that Trent is listening in. I don’t agree to go on the date with Bradley with the intent to hurt Trent. I agree because I know I need to put some distance between Trent and me.
“I can’t tonight. How about tomorrow night?”
Bradley smiles at me. “That’s perfect. I’ll pick you up at six.”
I walk Bradley out to the porch and stand there as he drives off in his work truck.
Trent
Some things are hard for a man to hear.
Listening to Bradley Crawford, the local handyman and total womanizer, ask out the woman that I’m in love with ranks up there with attending a funeral.
Bradley was in my older brother’s grade. He was butt ugly and fat in school, and he’s made it his life’s purpose to use and lose women. Somehow, I need to warn Lacy about him.
I walk out onto the porch, and before I can calm down, I tell her, “You shouldn’t go out with Bradley.”
She looks at me, tilting her head to the side. I know that look. Nothing I can say is going to sway her at this point, but it doesn’t mean I’m going to give up.