Page 84 of Unlikely to Stay
All of a sudden, Brant didn’t have to worry about the discomfort in his pants.“Oh, really?”he said.“She might already have classes planned.”
“Something tells me she’ll let me have my class,” Kelda said, a gleam in her eye.“You sure have a lot of paint on you, Doc.Whatcha been up to?”
At that exact moment, Colleen walked around the corner.She was just as painted as he was.“Well, hi, Kelda.What are you doing here?”
“I was just asking the good doc here why he was covered in paint.Did you two even manage to get any on the walls?”
Colleen looked down and herself, her face turning red.“Well…” she stammered.“We were…we kinda—”
“We were trying to paint warrior faces,” Brant said quickly.“To see which one of us could look the fiercest.”
Kelda looked both of them up and down.“Looks to me like you were finger painting on each other’s bodies,” she muttered.“Got any paint under those shirts of yours?”
“I’m not raising my shirt so you can see my stomach,” Colleen replied.Brant was glad she said that.He knew there was quite a bit of yellow paint making a trail down her neck and stomach.“That’s none of your business, Kelda.”
The old woman huffed out a breath and muttered something that sounded likehorny young ’uns.
“Anyway, I saw a sack on the counter at the café and have been noticing Sadie leaving the same time every night,” Kelda said, putting the sack of food on the table by the door.“I might have peeked out the window one night when I was eating and seen her come into the gym.I put two and two together and figured she was bringing you two food while you were working.I was just trying to be a Good Samaritan and deliver it for her tonight.The café’s real busy.Didn’t want your food gettin’ cold.”
“Well, thanks, Kelda,” he said.“We sure appreciate it.”
“It was my pleasure,” she replied, a gleam in her eye.“Always willing to help out the community.”At her words, Kelda turned and walked out of the gym.
“Do you think she’ll keep quiet this time?”he asked.
Colleen shook her head.“I think we’ll be the town’s new hot gossip as soon as she wakes up in the morning.”
“You really need a bell over the door.”
“I really need to start locking it.”
“So…does getting out of town and going to see my mom tomorrow sound like a good plan?”
“Absolutely.”
Brant had just pulledhis Honda to a stop in front of the house that had become his home when he was eleven.The home, a small, tan brick Craftsman, had a wide front porch and a hunter green front door with the same color awnings over the windows.Pink and yellow day lilies were poking through the soil in front of the porch, the small yellow rose bushes under the window in full bloom.The once brightly colored wooden sign with the words,Bloom Where You’re Planted,was now chipped and faded.Still, it remained in Betty’s small garden.
Brant glanced at Colleen, who was wringing her hands in the passenger seat and taking deep breaths.“Hey, Freckles.Did I tell you how pretty you look today?”
Colleen had worn a royal blue, off the shoulder sundress, the skirt flowing around her knees.The color brought out the beauty of her eyes and her cheeks were flushed pink.She had even chosen to take her hair out of the bun that had become her norm, choosing instead to curl it into loose waves, the bright red strands falling around her face and shoulders.
“No,” she said.“You didn’t.”
Brant leaned over and kissed her cheek.“Well, you do.My mom is going to love you.”
Before they could get out of the car, the front door of his childhood home opened and his mom stood in the doorway, hands on her hips.“Well, what are you waitin’ for?You gonna come in this house or are you gonna make me meet your girl in the seat of your Honda?”
“Oh, boy,” Brant said under his breath.“We need to get out of this car now before she comes down those steps.”
“What happens if she comes down the steps?”
“You don’t want to know.”
“I thought you said she’d like me!”Colleen screeched.
“She will,” Brant said with a smile.“As long as you get out of the car right now.”
Colleen took another deep breath and opened her door.“Let’s do this.”