Page 1 of The Kissing Part
1
Owen
“No, I don’t think it’s about time I settled down.”
I move up in line at Something’s Brewing Café. This isn’t the first time Aunt Hailey has asked me about love, commitment, all that BS, and it won’t be the last. There’s a reason I’m a die-hard bachelor. Anyway, she means well.
“When was the last time you met a nice woman?” she presses with a sunny smile, her pale blue eyes sparkling. She’s in her fifties and looks much younger thanks to healthy living, as she says.
I wrap an arm around her and pull her in for a side hug. “It’s good to see you too.”
She gives me a playful shove. “Owen Campbell, such a charmer. Just keep an open heart, that’s all I’m saying. You never know when you’ll turn around and fall suddenly, madly in love.”
“That’s not how it went down with you and Uncle Josh.” Their frenemy rivalry turned into all-out war back in the day. Much to Aunt Hailey’s embarrassment, their story is an endless source of entertainment for both our family and the small town of Clover Park, Connecticut. Tough for the town’s premier wedding planner. Her company is called Love Junkies, which tells you all you need to know about her take on life.
She tosses her long strawberry blonde hair over one shoulder. “That’s because he was a beast. It took time for him to show his true sweeter colors.”
I put in my order for coffee and buy hers too. We step to the side to wait.
“Thanks for the coffee,” she says. “Is Mackenzie seeing anyone?” That’s her daughter.
I put my hands up. “Not touching that one.” My cousin Mackenzie works with me in a small high-tech security company.
“She’s just so secretive about her love life.”
Gee, wonder why. Not only is Aunt Hailey a matchmaker by nature and a wedding planner, she runs a long-standing romance book club called the Happy Endings Book Club. Uncle Josh named his bar after it, Happy Endings. No, not that kind of happy ending. Ha.
Mackenzie doesn’t believe in love. I know, ironic with her mom. Can’t say I disagree with her. Love is for suckers.
I try to sound reassuring. “I’m sure if there was anything serious, Mackenzie would bring him home to meet the family.”
Aunt Hailey purses her lips. “I just worry she takes the warrior part too seriously. She has more armor around her heart than you do. I don’t think she’s ever been in love.”
Aunt Hailey has called herself a warrior princess for as long as I can remember, and she calls Uncle Josh a warrior beast. Mackenzie says she’s no dainty princess, she’s a badass warrior queen. I’ll say this for her, she doesn’t take shit from anyone. I once witnessed her and my sister, Harper, have a knockdown fight when they were little girls with legit punches and kicks over who got to play with Harper’s doll’s Corvette. Harper insisted it was hers, so she should get it, and Mackenzie said the guest gets to play with what they want. Forget about taking turns. Probably didn’t help that Mackenzie, a year younger and smaller, had been trained in self-defense since she could walk. Her dad, Uncle Josh, was a paratrooper in the Army, skilled in hand-to-hand combat, and wanted his three kids to have self-defense skills.
“Owen!” the barista calls.
I head over to the counter. “Thanks.”
I take the coffee tray and hand Aunt Hailey her coffee.
She goes up on tiptoe to kiss me on the cheek. “I’ll see you on Saturday night for the double graduation slash grandparents’ anniversary party.”
“See you then.” My family’s so big—Dad was one of six with honorary brothers too—that there’s always some occasion to celebrate. This time it’s Grandpop Joe and Grandmom Brandy’s anniversary, as well as my brother and cousin’s college graduation party. It helps that Uncle Josh owns the Happy Endings bar to host all our family events. It’s not just a bar. There’s a full restaurant and a back room with pool tables, a jukebox, and a dance floor.
I jog upstairs to our office and set the coffee tray on the kitchen table.
“Oh, good, you’re here,” Mackenzie calls from the next room.
“Yeah,” I say, distracted by a text on my phone.
Mom:I need to see you right away. Stop by the Summerdale library. We’re wrapping up filming.
A jolt of adrenaline fires through me. It’s the “right away.” Mom is Claire Jordan, a world-famous actor, producer, and director. I have a love-hate relationship with show business because of what it does to people, and how it can make famous people unsafe. Mom’s had more than her share of stalkers and overzealous fans. When I was a kid, she had a full-time bodyguard, Frank, who lived in our guesthouse and oversaw her security as well as ours. He’s retired now. His son, Frankie, took over where he left off.
Me:Be there in fifteen.
I pull my key fob from my jeans pocket and bolt to the door, yelling over my shoulder, “I’ll text you later.”
