Thin Love (Thin Love, #1)(144)

He’d asked Kona a week or so ago what he thought about his chances were of getting Keira back. The kid was curious; kept asking, kept hinting that he caught the vibe between them and more than once Ransom had caught Kona staring at Keira. His boy wasn’t stupid. He knew what Kona wanted so for the past few days Ransom had been pushing Kona to make a move. He didn’t have the heart to tell his son he’d tried already, at his party. Kona didn’t think Ransom would be cool with him groping his mom outside on that balcony.

Another nod at Kona and a silent whisper of “I’m so not coming back,” then Ransom backs away, eyebrows waggling. “You two kids behave now. First time without a chaperone in while, right?”

Keira’s shoulders stiffen and Kona jerks his fist up at his son, a mock threat that Ransom finds funny. “Boy, leave before I smack you.”

The click of the door sounds across Kona’s large house, the noise making Keira look over her shoulder. Kona stands next to her, reaches for a cup to put in the dishwasher, but she stops him with her hand on his wrist. “It’s okay, I’ve got it.”

“You’re my guest, Wildcat. I can’t let you do that.”

“And you bought us breakfast, lunch and dinner. Besides, I taught Ransom better than this.” She waves to the collection of plates on the counter. “You have to let me do something.” She removes her hand and shoves him back toward the table. “I need something to distract me.”

Keira’s shoulders haven’t relaxed and as Kona watches her from his spot at the table, he realizes that it is more than Ransom leaving with a girl that has her worried. “You really scared about him being in the city?”

She gives him a half shrug. “He’ll be okay. I know he can take care of himself.” She looks out the window above the sink, eyes unfocused for a moment before her attention is back on the silverware in her hand. “He’s been running high for weeks. That’s because of you.” Her smile is soft, real, when she glances at him. “But I’m worried that something will set him off. End of the summer when we go back, him having to say goodbye to Tristan or this Emily girl. Or you. I’m worried that he’ll have another episode.”

Kona gets up from the table, fingers itching to touch her, tell her it will be okay. “He’s not medicated?”

“No. He hates what the doctors had him on. Said it killed all his motivation.” The muscles around Keira’s eyes tighten and her gaze slips to Kona for a moment, as though she expects him to lecture her, tell her she is a bad mother. “We handle it with diet, with exertion, that’s why he runs so much and then the same things you and I both had to learn—the counting, the breathing. But he’s much worse than either of us were, Kona. Calming him takes a lot of effort.”

“You mentioned something about the piano.”

She nods, reaches for another cup. “I started that when he was eight. Some little jackass pushed him out of line at school and Ransom broke the kid’s nose. Got suspended and I brought him home, sat him down in front of the piano. I made him stay there and play until he was calm and it just sort of worked. If his attention is distracted and he’s moving, even if it’s just his fingers, then he’s not as angry.”

Kona steps behind her, needing to touch her, to let her know he would never judge how she raised their son. Keira drops the cup in her wet hands, back straightening even further as he circles her waist with his hands on the counter at her hips. “You’re a great mother, Wildcat. He loves you, I can see that and he respects you.” Kona rests his chin on the top of her head and can’t help the quick inhale, the scent of her hair that hasn’t changed. “I’m proud of you and I’m so thankful that he has you.”

His praise seems to relax Keira. The straight bearing in her shoulders and back eases and Kona can feel the tension leaving her body. “I didn’t have a choice. I knew what kind of mother I didn’t want to be.” She shrugs but he can feel a small tremble working in her arms. “I just did the opposite of my mother had done to me.”

He moves the hair off her shoulder thinking about how strong she’d been, how it kills him that he wasn’t there to help her. He’s missed so much and right then Kona promises himself he’ll never let her struggle on her own again. He will be there, hopefully at her side. She looks up over her shoulder, her eyes catching his, and then she quickly turns back around. “What are you doing?”

The day hadn’t been just a stroll into the past. Kona had watched Keira, saw how she’d returned his stares, the way she didn’t bat his hand away when he led her into a room or opened doors for her. She had eased since the night of the party, didn’t seem so opposed to his attention and now it was just the pair of them in his large home. Kona couldn’t stand not touching her for another second.

“We’re alone for the first time in weeks and I’ve had to be around you all day, walking down sidewalks where I held you as a kid, in hallways where you touched me and all I wanted to do is kiss you again.”

“Kona…”

His hands go to her hips, around her stomach. “I’ve been thinking about the party, about kissing you, that song, and how you didn’t hate it. How you kissed me back, how you touched me. I know I’m obvious. You know what I want.”

“You can get that from anyone.”