Feels Like Summertime(19)

“So, are you going to take a picture of this one?”

She groans. “What good would that do me? Or Alex for that matter?” She lumbers to her feet, pressing her belly forward. “Thanks for letting me know he’s doing it here. I wasn’t aware.”

“He asked for help, Katie.”

“I know that, Jake.” She stares into my eyes. And her blue ones are full of something I can’t quite pinpoint.

“What can I do to help you, Katie?” I ask, my heart in my throat.

“We don’t need for you to take care of us, Jake,” she says on a heavy breath. “I just need to be here. I need to stay here and not feel like someone is trying to jerk my soul out of me every time I take a breath.” She presses her fist against her chest. “I just need to breathe, Jake. That’s all I need. If you can’t let me breathe, then get the f*ck off me and stay the hell away. I’m not leaving. Please don’t make me miserable.”

Then she stomps up the steps.

I sit there, absolutely stunned. And hurt. And angry.

My gut wants me to follow her, to find out what’s really going on. But my head…my head is telling me to take it slow, to let it unravel. My heart… That bastard is telling me that this is exactly how I messed everything up back home.

“Get a dog,” I mutter to myself. Because that worked out for me.

“Get yourself together, Jake,” I mutter again.

“Jake!” a voice yells from inside the cabin. The door flies open and Katie’s kids run out.

One of them screams. I step inside to find Katie standing on the center couch cushion. She has a frying pan clutched in her hand.

“What the hell?” I say. There’s no one in here but her. “What are we trying to kill?”

She points with a frantically shaking finger to the edge of the kitchen counter. “That! Get that. That.”

I look over and find a tiny little mouse nibbling on the corner of a piece of cheese. “That?”

“Yes! That!” she shrieks.

“I can get it!” Alex yells through the door.

“No!” Katie yells back. “Stay outside.”

“It’s just a mouse,” I say. I walk toward it, and take a bowl off the counter very slowly.

“It’s a rodent!” Katie shrieks, making my ears ring.

“It’s just a tiny little mouse. All he wants is a piece of cheese.”

“Get it out of here, Jake!” she screams.

“Okay, okay,” I say calmly. I slowly lower the bowl on top of the unsuspecting mouse until I have it safe within the tiny dome. The mouse doesn’t seem to care. He nibbles his piece of cheese.

“Now what are you going to do with it?” she asks. She steps warily down from the couch cushion.

Hell, I have no idea. “I’m going to…take it outside.”

Katie has a wide envelope lying on the counter. I pick it up and slide it under the edge of the bowl, slowly inching beneath the tiny little beast until I have him carefully trapped.

“He’s actually kind of cute,” I tell her.

She leans close to me, and the scent of her shampoo tickles my nose. She used to smell like Love’s Baby Soft. Now she smells like Love’s Baby Soft and comfort. She’s really, really pregnant, I have to remind myself. Because being this close is like shooting a lightning bolt straight to my middle. And lower. And that’s just wrong. Katie’s not available. Not by a long shot.

“He’s cuter now that he’s in the bowl,” she says, calmer now. She’s still leaning against me though, with her hand on my arm. “Thank you, Jake.”

“You’re welcome.” I have this irresistible urge to lean down and kiss her. “I really want to kiss you right now,” I whisper.

She looks up at me for half a second. “I really want to be kissed,” she whispers back. Then she takes her hand off my arm and rubs a tiny circle over her belly. “But I’m not quite ready for anything like that.”

“Can I kiss your forehead?” I ask, a grin tugging at my lips.

Her brow furrows. “You want to kiss my forehead?”

“Yeah, I do.” I hold out the bowl and envelope to one side. “I did catch the beast with the gnarly fangs that was out to do you great harm. Your kids too. I saved the day.” I shrug. “I think I earned it.”

She leans close and pulls her dark bangs back from her forehead. I bend down and press my lips firmly to her soft skin, lingering a bit longer than I should, but I can’t help it. It’s Katie.

“I won’t ask questions, Katie. I promise. If I don’t ask questions, can I still come and see you?”

Her eyes jerk up to mine. “Yes. I’d be mad if you didn’t.”

“Okay.” I kiss her forehead again. “I’ll stop asking questions you don’t want to answer.”

“Okay.” She breathes out and visibly relaxes. “Thank you for catching the gnarly beast who was bent on death and destruction.”

“I’m going to take it outside.”

“Don’t let it eat my kids.”

I chuckle. “I promise.”

“Do you want some eggs?” she asks. Then we look over and realize that the whole time we’ve been talking, Sally has been eating every bite from every plate, including every last egg on the serving platter. “Well, I can make some more.”