Shoe Strings

so…inadequate.   We
came home.”
    Lita eyed her suspiciously.   “If you just came home, then why do you
look guilty and…like there’s more to tell?”
    “Well…”   Kerri
Ann didn’t know how to explain what happened and, from Lita’s reaction to the
details, she was pretty sure she’d take Bryce’s side on the end of the date as
well.   “He offered to follow me home
from the restaurant.   I told him it
was silly for him to bother because it wasn’t like it was a real date or anything.”
    Lita’s eyes got huge, like big malt balls swimming in her
picture-perfect face.   “Oh my
goodness…”
    “And that’s when he got mad.”
    “I’ll bet he did.   What’d he say?”
    “Nothing at first, so I got out of the car and started to
head inside when he grabbed me.   He
turned me around so fast I lost my balance and stumbled into him.”   She’d been shredding strips of pepperoni
as she spoke and the pieces began falling onto the floor.   She didn’t even care, just watched them
pile up on the tile between her feet.   “He kissed me, Lita.   Really kissed me.   It was…like something
out of a movie.   I saw stars, really
I did, and he smelled so good close up like we were. Then he pulled back just
as I was getting into it.   He said I
should think about that kiss and figure out if we’d been on a date or not.”
    Lita smiled, very slowly, very knowingly. “Bryce, you man of
action.”   She huffed out a satisfied
breath and clapped Kerri Ann’s shoulder.   “Thank God one of you still had your wits about you.”
    “I’m glad you’re enjoying this, but I need help here.”   She moved to the storage closet to
retrieve the broom and dustpan.   “I
don’t know what to do.”
    Lita tilted her head and smirked.   “You’re a grown woman with a child.   I’m pretty sure you remember what comes
after a passionate kiss.”
    “Don’t be crude.   I mean, do I go to him or wait for him to come to me?   And either way, what do I say?”
    “Why don’t you thank him for the date—and make sure
you call it a date and suggest you do it again sometime.   Sometime soon.”
    “I can’t do that.”
    “Why not?”
    “Because he’s the man.   He’s the one who’s supposed to ask me out, not the other way around.”
    “Says who?   He
put his cards on the table, Kerri Ann.   Now you have to be the one to ante up or fold.”
    “Ante up or fold?   This isn’t a bad western movie, Lita.   What does that even mean?”
    “Kerri Ann.”   Lita grabbed the broom handle and, in the process, stopped Kerri Ann
from using it on her.   “Follow your
heart.   You love him, don’t you?”
    “I never said that.”
    “You didn’t have to.   You do, don’t you?”
    “Probably…yes, alright…yes, I do love him.   But I can’t just go throwing the L word
around.   What if he just wants to
sleep with me?”
    “Of course he wants to sleep with you.   But do you really think that’s all there
is?”
    “No.”   She didn’t
think that was the case and that was the whole problem.   Just because Bryce had shown interest in
her didn’t mean their issues had changed.   She still didn’t stand a chance with him, not for the long haul.   “So I should just ask him out?”
    Lita tapped her finger on her chin, then snapped her
fingers.   “Invite him to dinner at
your place.   Make sure Ty is out for
the night with Jesse or Cal and seduce him.”
    “I can’t do that.   I wouldn’t even know how.”
    “Kerri Ann, Bryce has already made it clear he wants
you.   All you have to do is admit it
was a date.   Say you’d like to make
it up to him by having him over for dinner and just let the night play out.”
    Lita made it sound so simple, so easy and natural.   But nothing about her and Bryce had ever
been easy.   Could she really pull it
off?
    ***
    Jesse pulled the last of the wet suits from the trough and
hung them to dry on the line that stretched from the shop to an adjacent
tree.   His summer employees would
soon take over the chores that filled his days at the very beginning of the
season, but for now it felt good to do something physical, something
honest.  
    The air felt warm against his bare chest and the sky was so
blue it held him captive whenever he looked at it.   He hoped spring wouldn’t yield to a late
winter cold snap as sometimes happened in March.   He relied on good weather for a
profitable and enjoyable season.   For personal