Chapter 3

© Copyright 2006 by Elizabeth Delayne



Two days later, Jenny parked her flashy sports coup outside Kevin’s grandmother’s house and tugged a suitcase out with her. The house was colonial style, two stories, with slender columns in the front. The yard was without frills, without ... punch, but carefully groomed in straight lines.

She vaguely remembered him in high school talking about is grandmother. She’d been too young–probably too self involved to note anything more.

But now she knew he was troubled. He missed his Gran, as he called her. He loved her fiercely.

And he was taking on his grandmother’s sense of responsibility. He was trying to hard.

Cassidy answered the door within seconds, which told Jenny that she was a bright spot of energy–and that she’d likely been spying from one of the side windows.

“You’re Jennifer Morton.”

“Jenny–and you’re Kevin’s sister.”

The cute blond sprite–definitely pregnant–grinned. “Unfortunately, some of the time. I told him, have told him, that I would be okay on my own.”

“I don’t mind. It will be an adventure, I’d think.”

Cassidy shut the door behind them and laughed. “We’ll just keep that a secret. Say the word adventure around Kevin at this point would have him calling out the national guard. How about we call it a treat? All mine. My grandmother was a huge fan of your show. She never missed it. She thought a great deal of you.”

Jenny set her suitcase down at the bottom of the stairs. “Really? And how was her cooking?”

“She was a fabulous cook. You once cooked–or tried to cook–her chicken and dumplings.”

Jenny grimaced–vaguely remembered the recipe as one might recall a nightmare. “I’m sorry.”

“No way. She thought it was a hoot. You would have thought she was the one on TV and not her recipe. She could have taught you. If one can teach Kevin, one can teach anyone”

“Then she was a miracle.”

“She was–lets go into the kitchen. It’s time for my morning tea ritual. Kevin’s co-worker told him it was a must, so Kevin forced me into the habit. Besides, I think we have a lot to catch up on–and my grandmother was sure you couldn’t catch up on anything unless it was over tea or coffee. And you can’t have coffee if I can’t. House rule.”

For a few minutes they busied themselves in the kitchen, spouting off small talk. Jenny who could make a descent pot of boiling water, sent Cassidy to sit down.

“You and Kevin have spent a lot of time together over the last few days.”

Jenny shrugged and opened the cabinet door that Cassidy indicated. Here was the feminine flash, old school china cups and saucers, delicately decorated with tiny rosebuds.

“We went to dinner, then I met him for coffee, which was apparently a lifesaving mission as he’s not getting any at home.”

Cassidy shrugged in delight. “House rules–otherwise he was prone to lord it over me.”

“He had a list of concerns about him leaving me here with you.”

“Did he program your cell?”

“Twice, but I refused to let him have my number one spot. If I did I would be calling you to check my messages.”

“Sorry–it’s a bad habit of his and all my fault. I didn’t even know how to use mine for a long time–so he got into the habit every time he came home to check it–and double check it. If you’re the troubled cook, then I used to be the troubled Technology queen. I had a tendency to erase his settings–“ she shrugged impishly, “only occasionally on purpose. Then I got this nursing job, where I worked in homes, met Mark ... and needed my cell. It’s my second arm when Mark’s away.”

“You’re a nurse?”

“Sure–when I’m not supposed to be taking it easy. I had some problems when my grandmother got sick. I was still working and Kevin came home, found out about it and yelled at me for a bit. I have a check up in three days.”

“Which is why Kevin wanted to get the trip over with.”

“Exactly. He doesn’t trust me to go on my own,” she laughed then, the sound full an bright as she took the cup of hot water Jenny handed over. “I just can’t wait to get him into the doctor’s office with me. He’ll remember then that it’s the last place he wants to be. Let’s grab the tea bags and we can have our little chat out back in the garden.”

* * *

A week later, Jenny sighed as she stood in her own, rarely used kitchen and sorted through her ingredients. “She’s just pregnant, not ... helpless.”

“I’m not saying she’s helpless,” Kevin moved out of the way when she motioned at him, and watched as she walked to the refrigerator. “I’m just saying, isn’t this expecting a lot of her at this point?”

“You’re saying she’s helpless.” Jenny walked back with a jug of milk and stopped to face him head on. “What exactly can go wrong if she helps us at the garage sale?”

“I don’t ... a lot of things. There will be a ton of people ... strangers.”

Jenny rolled her eyes, “You let her go to the grocery store last week.”

“I don’t have to let her go–and of course she can go to the grocery store. What’s wrong with that?”

“I don’t know. There are a lot of strange people at the grocery store,” she measured out the milk, lifted it up to peer at the lines–then remembered and set it down to measure on a level surface. “A lot of strange, out of the ordinary, people. I run in to half of them.”

She shot him a look–reminding him that she had met him again at the grocery store. He shook his head an laughed.

“Okay, all right,” he help up his hands. “She can go work at the garage sale–“

She looked over at him, her gaze narrowed. He shook his head, unable to hide the smile. “Okay, you’re right. I don’t have to give her permission to do anything. She can do what she wants. I don’t have to let her do anything. But she won’t lift anything?”

“She knows not to lift anything,” Jenny shook her head, “but my eye is on her. I won’t let her lift a thing. And it’s for a good cause. One to get your sister involved, so she can meet people from around here, and be around other women ... and it’s raising money for the women’s shelter.”

“I’m not saying it’s not a good thing.”

“You could drop by. We could use a strong back.”

“I drop by and you’ll both accuse me of meddling again. I’m not quite sure that putting the two of you together was a good thing. To much experience at cross examination.”

“It’s what you do for a living.”

“What I did for a living–and maybe the reason I won’t go back.”

Jenny shook her head as she went back over her ingredients. She occasionally practiced the recipes, if they involved a skill she wasn’t sure of. She had every single episode of a popular cooking show, and had it cued to how to make a souffle.

Why she’d picked this recipe ... besides the fact that it had chocolate in it ... and besides the fact that the note the viewer had written with it had been so sweet. Of course, she was very aware that it could be a trick ... a risk she was evidently willing to take.

Kevin straddled a stool across the counter from her and watched as she sorted through her ingredients. He’d taken to dropping by recently. He’d started going with her to church, had begun attending a men’s bible study that met at the same time as her own. Afterwards, they’d gotten into the habit of going out for coffee or desert. They went out for dinner together all the time, with Cassidy and without.

They’d shopped for a baby gift when Cassidy had an especially troublesome week, missing Mark and worried.

They’d come home with bags of gifts.

Jenny wasn’t exactly sure what they were doing. They’d gone out the night she’d got back from the summer debate camp. He’d taken her out for a relaxing evening, a quiet dinner, a stroll through the park. They’d talked past midnight, sitting on the park bench.

He hadn’t kissed her yet. He’d looked at her like he wanted to ... acted, at times, like he thought of her as more than a friend ... but he kept talking about loose ends. He was working on a few things, doing odds and ends legal work for old friends ... but for the most part, he just ... coasted.

And for Kevin Damron, that had never been part of his makeup.

* * *

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

Cassidy laughed as she settled down in her Gran’s easy chair. “I’m fine. I’m just tired.” She yawned blissfully and stretched up her arms. “I haven’t worked this hard in a long time.”

“I’ll get you that tea.”

“Don’t burn it.”

Jenny laughed as she disappeared into the kitchen. “I’ll try.”

They’d had a great day. The morning had gone by so fast. At first, Cassidy had been stationed at the cashier’s table where Jenny had assigned her, but some time before lunch she’d switched off to handle some of the leg work.

Part of her wanted to trust that Cassidy, being a nurse, could take care of herself. But another side, knowing how Kevin worried ... and uneasy around pregnancy to start with ... did worry.

“I’m so glad you invited me today,” Cassidy spoke from her seat in the living room. How often do y’all do things like this?”

“We have fund-raisers every couple of months, Mom’s nights out once a month ... some of the women partner up for Bible studies. I go over to tutor during the school year. All in all, it’s fun.”

“It’s hard. Mark and I, we had a church ... but Gran was so weak we I moved in, I hadn’t gotten around to attending church here. I miss the support group. The military wives, the people who know what you’re going through, because they’re going through it ... here, it’s just been so hard to get involved. It was ... good to be involved.”

Jenny walked back in and sat on the sofa across from her. Cassidy was so easy to talk to. They’d bonded from the first. Staying up late talking, fumbling over breakfast, working through chores, pruning a very bright and needy garden ... it was like having a sister around.

When her cell phone went off, she got up and dug through her purse.

“Don’t answer it. It’s probably Kevin.”

“Why would he call me, instead of you?”

“You’re the one with a date tonight.”

“It’s not a date. You would think it wouldn’t fall that far in.”

“He’s taken to calling you more than me,” Cassidy laughed. “Thank goodness. Besides, I called him earlier and told him I was headed home.”

Jenny pulled it from her purse and checked the caller ID. “It’s Kevin.”

She dropped down on the sofa. “Hey ...”

“Hey ... how the sale going?”

“It’s good,” she glanced at her watch. They still had another three hours left before closing time. She had planned to just come home, drop Cassidy off. “You going to stop by?”

“No ... I just wanted to call and let you know. My sister’s feeling kind of tired. Thought I would hang around here with her tonight.”

Jenny looked up feeling a terrible burning in her gut, met Cassidy’s eyes. “Are you with her now?”

“Ah ... yeah. I just, I have to go. Listen. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Jenny slowly lowered the phone and carefully closed the case.

“What is it?”

“He said he’s with you.”

“With me?”

She stood, pushed her phone back down in her purse. “I need to get back. Just don’t ... don’t tell him I know.”

“I’m certainly going to tell him something. If I choose to speak to him at all.”

Jenny shook her head. “I don’t get it. He’s been careful not to commit to anything. Why would he feel like he had to lie?”


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