Page 38 of Holidate Fail
Kelly hung up the phone, his hand still on the receiver. At least this gave him reason to get her number from Wayne without being creepy.
No. The conversation would be awkward and stilted and short of him telling his best friend how much he wanted to be with his sister, it would leave him right where he was now. And if he did tell, it would leave him worse off. He shouldn’t be surprised she hadn’t believed him. Why would she when he couldn’t explain how they’d ended up exactly where Kristy and her cohort had been lying in wait?
“Hey, Vin.” Kelly told his partner about the phone call.
“We’ll have to see the details in the paperwork, but it sounds like a great opportunity for some extra publicity.” Vin tapped something on his tablet. “And you say this Alana person got our name from Dahlia?”
“Yeah.”
“The same Dahlia from the scavenger hunt? The one you’ve been moping after for two weeks?”
“You don’t have to rub it in.”
“The one who’s in this video from yesterday about the bad water storage practices?” Vin showed Kelly his screen. “And isn’t that your ex-wife glaring in the background?”
And there Dahlia was, leaving the courthouse in a smart blue suit, waving off reporters shouting questions at her. She had on makeup that accentuated her eyes and her hair was neatly pulled back with a sensible barrette, but that nose, those eyebrows, those lips were definitely his Dahlia.
Vin angled the tablet back and scanned the rest of the article. “She’s way too smart for you, dude.”
“Give me that.” He took the tablet from his partner, turning it so the video took up the entire screen. He watched as she got into a waiting car and the cameras turned to Kristy and the other lawyers for Shady Creek Farms.
He handed the tablet back to Vin. It was time to change the subject and take his mind off her. Today, anyway. “Did you get a chance to look at the boat I found?”
“Yeah, it looks good. Needs some work.” Vin tapped on the tablet and frowned. “Kelly. Why are you scheduling outings in swamps? First, we don’t have the right equipment for that. Second, no one’s signing up for them.”
He had hoped one smart and awkward brunette with a scrunched nose would. “It just seemed like another way to branch out. You can take them off the schedule.”
Vin raised his eyebrows and shook his head. “Geez, you’ve got it bad.”
“I know!” Kelly gave the countertop a solid punch. How long should he try before giving up? He’d be on the verge of waiting for her in the parking lot where she worked if that didn’t scream creepy stalker. He’d never chased a woman like this before. He’d never had to. Usually they flocked to him like mosquitoes.
He just couldn’t keep them.
He realized now that he’d never wanted them to stay as much as he wanted Dahlia. And wasn’t that the epitome of irony? Part of him recognized that she knew how to get in touch with him and could easily do so. But the other part argued that her shy side sometimes took control and didn’t let her go after what she wanted.
The chime dinged above the door. Seconds later, Lacole and Heath marched up to the desk, hand in hand.
Seeing them together gave Kelly a much-needed serotonin boost. Even if his love life had become a disaster, at least the two of them had made something of theirs.
“What’s up, guys?” He gave Lacole a hug, then did the macho handshake back slapping thing with Heath. “It’s great to see you.”
“You, too, Kelly. This place looks great.” Heath looked around the open floor of the building, taking in the life jackets on the walls and the crates of helmets and oars. He studied a picture of a group going over a Class IV rapid on the wall next to the counter with their cash register. “This you?”
“The one in sunglasses, being too cool for school,” Kelly said. It was the trip that had cemented his love of being in the water, in nature. Wayne was seated next to him.
“We should plan something sometime. Right, honey?” Heath turned to Lacole, who had her arms folded across her chest, one elegant eyebrow raised at Heath.
She said nothing.
Heath cleared his throat and meandered a little more down the aisle that held accessories, like waterproof phone cases and sunscreen. “Heard from Dahlia?”
“Not since she left.” Kelly straightened a row of souvenir keyrings that didn’t need straightening. He really didn’t want to talk about her. “I thought about messaging her on social media, but that seems…I don’t know, invasive?”
The bell over the door rang again, and Kelly listened to see if Vin was available to help. His voice rumbled over to them, so Kelly turned back to his guests.
“That’s rough, man.” Heath slid his hands into his pockets. “What’s the—”
“For God’s sake, just tell him.” Lacole shoved at Heath’s shoulder. “Stop this ‘man’ing and small talk and just freakin’ tell him already!”
