Page 88 of January

Melinda went to unlock the door and asked, “Kyle, what’s wrong?”

“I have to cancel our date.”

“Huh?”

“I need to cancel our date.”

“Babe, come in,” Melinda told her, taking Kyle’s hand and moving her inside. “What’s going on?”

“I was going to call you, but I’ve been walking for a couple of hours now, and I realized I was close to your office, so I thought I’d tell you in person.”

“Tell me what, Kyle?” she asked, cupping Kyle’s cheek with one hand and locking the door again with the other.

“I’m not much in the mood for a fun date night.”

“Okay. That’s fine. But you’ve been crying. What happened?”

“Can I just tell you the whole story tomorrow?”

“You can, but I’m worried about you now,” she said.

“I’m okay.” Kyle sniffled.

“Hey, do I also need to fill out that spreadsheet thing?” Lacey asked.

“No, just write down the cash amount on a Post-it. I’ll take care of it tomorrow,” she replied.

“Okay. Cool.”

“You’re working still. I’m sorry. I’m early.”

“I’m done. Let’s go upstairs.”

“No, I don’t want to interrupt. You have a–”

“Kyle, please. Come with me. We can talk, or you can sit quietly while I cook dinner. Whatever you want.”

Kyle’s eyes were a little red and puffy, and God help her, Melinda actually thought she looked cute, which was awful. She leaned in and kissed her gently on the lips.

“I feel like I don’t know what to do,” Kyle told her.

“Then, let me make some suggestions, okay? Upstairs, dinner, and whatever else you want; talking or no talking.”

When Kyle nodded, Melinda took her hand again andwalked her back to the staircase. Then, she took a quick glance at Lacey, who had the bank bag in hand and was putting the deposit in there. Lacey had worked at NOLA Guides for two years now and had taken the deposit to the bank a handful of times, so Melinda wasn’t worried about that. She was more worried about Kyle and what had her crying. As they made their way up the stairs, Melinda had a selfish thought that Kyle was crying because she’d gotten news that she had to go back home sooner than planned. She hoped that wasn’t the case but worried more that if thatwasn’tit, it was something worse.

“Want some coffee or tea?” she asked once they were inside the apartment.

“Water?” Kyle said.

“Yeah. Have a seat, okay?” Melinda replied.

For a second, Kyle stood and looked around the second floor of the apartment, which had the main bedroom, a bathroom, a small living room, and a kitchen. Then, she moved slowly to the sofa and sat down.

Melinda grabbed the jug of filtered water and a clean glass, filling it up before she started a pot of coffee, just in case, since they likely wouldn’t be having any red wine tonight. After that, she carried the glass over and handed it to Kyle, sitting down next to her with an arm over the back of the sofa.

“Will you tell me?” she asked, lifting her hand and running it through Kyle’s down hair.

Kyle took a long drink and nodded, placing the glass down on the coffee table.