Summer Kisses (172 page)

The very man she had walked out on days before and hadn’t spoken to since. Okay, so maybe she hadn’t exactly walked. Driven was more like it. But it was what she’d had to do at the time. Mental self-preservation.

Cole had come into her life, one she’d worked very hard to maintain control of emotionally after her failed marriage, and he’d turned her safe little world upside down. He was everything she’d always wanted in a man, but was afraid to hope for. And to think how close she’d come to throwing it all away.

Her cell rang. Kelsie grabbed for her purse and dug inside for her phone. “Hello?” she said, catching it third ring.

“You made it home I see,” Nanci said at the other end. She’d left the island a few hours before Kelsie had.

“Just got in. You get your laundry done?”

“Working on it. Have you called your mom?”

“Not yet. I wanted to listen to my messages first.”

“I wouldn’t tell her that.”

“I think she’s going to find out when I call to tell her my news.”

“About grabbing life by the horns and riding the hell out of it?”

Kelsie smiled. “That too, but I was referring to the book offer that was made on
Operation: Date Escape
.”

“Must be the connection. I could’ve sworn you said something about a book offer.”

“I did. A publisher wants to buy my book.”

“No shit! Oh my God! No way!”

Her friend’s reaction had her laughing. “Way. The editor left her number. I’m supposed to call her for the details, but it’s really happening.”

“I’m so excited for you. I can see it now, radio and television interviews, multi-city book tours, the works. Can I be your personal assistant?”

“Let’s not get too carried away. It’s a date book, not a Stephenie Meyer novel. Although some of my blind dates could’ve been characters in her novels. Not the good ones.”

“Wait until she hears your news! You’d better call her as soon as we hang up and get me off her shit-list.”

“Why are you on her shit-list?”

“She wasn’t too happy with me for not telling her where you were when I called her last night. I really want back in her good graces.”

Kelsie laughed. “I’ll see what I can do.”

“When are you going to call Cole?”

“What are you? My mother?” she replied with a grin.

“Maybe you shouldn’t call him.”

After she’d spent the last two days telling her to call him? “Why not?” Had Joe told her something to make her feel differently?

“I’m thinking you should go see him in person. Talk, have sex, whatever comes to mind.”

Why wasn’t she surprised that having sex was included in Nanci’s list of possibilities? “I don’t think the sex thing’s going to be happening today.”

“Why not?”

“Because Cole’s on duty.”

“That’s right. Damn. That means no sex for me and Joe either. At least, not in person.”

“I think you’ll survive. Besides, you have an arsenal of back ups in your livingroom should the need arise.”

A beep sounded on the line.

“That’s Joe calling,” Nanci announced. “Gotta go.”

“Nanci...”

“Yeah?”

“Please don’t tell Joe I’m back. I want to surprise Cole.”

“I won’t. Call me later. I’ll want details.”

She hurried to her room to unpack. “I will.”

“Love you!”

“Love you, too.”

“And call your mother!” Nanci said before hanging up.

Ten minutes later, the doorbell rang, sending Kelsie’s heart into a thudding frenzy. No, she told herself. It couldn’t be Cole. He didn’t even know she was home.

The doorbell rang again, this time more insistently.

It had to be Nanci. She was the only person who knew she was back. She went to answer the door, surprised to find her mother standing there.

“Mom?”

“Ah, you do remember who I am,” her mother said, moving past her into the apartment.

“What are you doing here?”

“Making sure you’re alive with my own eyes,” she replied with a frown.

Why had her leaving town made both her mother and Nanci worry she was in some sort of physical danger? “I’m fine. How did you know I was home?”

“I was in the neighborhood showing a house and saw your car in the parking lot. I’ve been worried sick about you.” Proof of that was in the lines of tension creasing her mother’s brows. “You might have called to let me know you were home.”

“I intended to.”

“When?”

“As soon as I finished unpacking.”

“But you had time to pick up the phone and call Nanci to let her know you were back,” she said, sounding hurt. “That’s okay. I see where I fit into your life.”

“I didn’t call Nanci. She called me.”

“And you answered. I’ve been calling you for days and you never once picked up.”

Now her mother was being dramatic. “I only answered because I turned the ringer on my cell back on when I got back home. If it would have been you I would have answered, too.”

“I’m sorry, honey. It’s just that I’ve been going crazy for days, worrying about you.” Stepping forward, she wrapped her arms around her in a warm embrace. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine.”

Her mother released her and stepped back, eyeing her skeptically. “You picked up and left town and didn’t answer any calls. That sort of behavior is not what I’d call ‘fine’ in my book.”

“I needed to get away for a few days to think. My life’s been pretty complicated lately.”

“Only because you make it that way.”

There was definitely some truth to that.

“And for your information,” her mother continued, “those few days felt like weeks to me.”

“I’m sorry. I never meant to worry you. I wasn’t exactly thinking straight when I left town.”

“I’m assuming by the calls I’ve received from Cole that your leaving had something to do with him.”

Kelsie nodded. “He’s falling in love with me.”

“What?” her mother gasped, her frown morphed instantly into a smile.

“At least he was before I took off out of town the way I did.”

“Oh, honey.” Her mother reached out, laying a comforting hand on Kelsie’s arm. “Are you in love with him?”

She nodded again. “Yes.”

“Then things will work out. You’ll see.”

“I really hope so, Mom.”

Her mother gave her a reassuring smile. “Cole’s been trying to reach you for days. I think he was more out of his mind with worry than I was over you. And I’ll tell you right now I was at my wit’s end. That tells me he still cares a lot about you. Have you called to let him know you’re back?”

“No. I’d rather talk to him in person when I explain why I did what I did.”

“Then go talk to him.”

“He’s on duty today. I’d rather wait until tomorrow when he’s off to talk things over.”

“I suppose one more day won’t make that much of a difference.” Her mother smiled. “I’m so happy for you, honey. To be honest, I was afraid you’d never let a man into your heart again after what happened between you and Kyle.”

“I never thought I would either.”

Her mother clapped her hands together. “Ooh! This means I’ll finally get a couple of─”

“Grandchildren,” Kelsie finished for her with a smile.

“Yes,” her mother said. “Lots and lots of them.”

Now she was a breeding machine? “If,” she told her mother, “and that’s a big ‘if’, I can get Cole to forgive me for running out on him, we’ll go from there. One step at a time.”

Her mother sighed. “I suppose there’s nothing I can do to help out. You know, to sort of move things along a little faster.”

“I appreciate the offer, but I think I’d rather handle this on my own.”

“Fine, but don’t take too long. Your mother here isn’t getting any younger. I’d like some grandchildren before I’m too old to enjoy them.”

“Point taken.” She couldn’t help but smile at the thought of having a baby with Cole someday. One with his dark hair and dark eyes. And please oh please his dimple.

“I really am happy for you,” her mother said in all sincerity.

“I suppose you’ll be even happier when I tell you my other good news.”

Her mother’s face lit up. “You’re already pregnant!”

“Mom!”

Her mother held up her hands. “Sorry. But you can’t blame a mother for trying. So what’s your other good news?”

“I’ve written a book.”

“What kind of book?”

She hesitated, debating the best way to tell her mother what she’d been doing. Would she be upset that Kelsie hadn’t taken her blind dates more seriously? Not that there had been much possibility of that happening, considering the men she’d been set up with.

“It’s called OPERATION: DATE ESCAPE. I came up with the idea when you started setting me up on all those blind dates.” She went on to explain to her mother what the book was about and that she’d come home to find she had an offer on it.

“My daughter’s going to be famous! Wait until all of my friends at work hear about this.”

“Mom, I don’t think selling one little how-to book is going to put me in the famous author category. But thanks for being happy for me.”

She glanced at her watch. “I’d better get going. I’ve got another showing in Dublin in an hour. Then I have a few things I need to see to afterwards.”

“Just as long as those things don’t include any wedding planning,” Kelsie warned, remembering what Cole had told her about the wedding cake tasting.

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” her mother replied with a grin as she headed for the door. “At least not yet. Be sure to call me as soon as you’ve straightened things out with my son-in-law to be.”

“Mom...”

“Gotta run,” she called back with an over-the-shoulder wave as she closed the door behind her.

Kelsie shook her head, smiling. Today she would celebrate her good news. After all, Operation: Date Escape had played a big part in bringing her and Cole together. Then tomorrow she would go after her man.

~~~

Cole held out the TV remote, flipping through channels on the big screen, not that he really cared what was on. All he could think about was Kelsie. Where was she? Was she okay?

“Any word from Kelsie yet?” Joe asked as he settled into the empty chair next to his.

“No,” Cole muttered. “Not that it should come as any big surprise.”

“I just thought... Well, Nanci was acting a little strange on the phone last night.”

“Strange how?”

“Like she was keeping something from me that she really wanted to tell me. Saying things like tell Cole the sun will come out tomorrow and that patience is a virtue. I’m not sure what the hell all of that meant, but I think you need to give Kelsie a call again.”

“As if she’d answer.”

“When’s the last time you tried to reach her?”

He turned to his friend. “When she first took off. I left several messages for her on her cell phone and on her answering machine at home. I think her not responding to any of them pretty much says it all.”

“It doesn’t make sense. Maybe she never got the messages. Nanci said─”

“Nanci’s wrong,” Cole growled. Fool he was, he’d fallen hard for Kelsie.

Joe frowned. “Look, Cole-”

“Breakfast is ready,” Stubby hollered to the crew as he stepped from the kitchen carrying a platter filled with several stacks of pancakes.

“Time to eat,” Cole said, pushing out of the recliner, thankful for Stubby’s timing.

“We’ll finish this conversation later,” Joe warned as he stood up from his Lazy-Boy.

“Give it up, Joe. I don’t want to talk about Kelsie.” He tossed his friend the television remote and then crossed the room to the oversized table where the rest of his crew had already gathered for that morning’s breakfast.

He’d done enough thinking about Kelsie the past few days to last a lifetime. And none of it had succeeded in really answering why she’d taken off the way she had. They were good together. The chemistry was incredible. And he’d done his damnedest to prove to her he was nothing like her ex, for all the good it had done him.

Cole pulled out his chair and sat down. Then he reached for the coffee, in desperate need of some caffeine. His sleepless nights were beginning to catch up with him and that wasn’t a good thing.

Joe settled into his chair across the table from Cole. Grabbing for his fork, he stabbed at the stack of pancakes in front of him and dropped three onto his plate. “Hey, Stubby, pass the syrup this way when you’re done.”

“Will do.”

The rec room door opened and Nate strolled in carrying the morning paper. He made his way toward the breakfast table, a smile on his face. “Hey, Maxwell, why didn’t you tell us that hot little tamale you’re dating is a writer?”

A writer? What was he talking about?

He looked up at Nate in confusion. “She’s not. Kelsie’s a dental hygienist.” And they weren’t dating. How could they be when she was nowhere to be found?

Nate held out the folded newspaper. “According to this article, she’s also a soon-to-be famous author. At least, now I know how she ended up in that tree behind the strip club.” He chuckled. “Too funny.”

Cole took the paper and scanned down the page. Sure enough, halfway down was a brief write-up about Worthington’s newest celebrity.

‘
Local resident, Kelsie Collins, hits the mark with her bad date survival book – OPERATION: DATE ESCAPE. According to our source, OPERATION: DATE ESCAPE is being picked up for publication. Miss Collins...’

He read on and the more he read the more his gut twisted. Kelsie had never mentioned anything about being a writer. And she sure as hell never mentioned dating men to help her find ways to skip out on them in the name of research.

Cole muttered a curse as understanding dawned on him. He was one of those men. To think he’d been fool enough to believe there had been something real between them. That Kelsie felt the same way he did and had only run out on him for fear of getting hurt again.

His hardened gaze settled on the paper he clutched in his hands. It appeared he couldn’t have been more wrong about her. About them. No wonder his profession had never been a problem for her like it had been with the other women he’d dated. She’d had no intention of sticking around long enough for it to become a problem.