sure I’d want to kiss those rough edges, but the look suited him.
Kimmy was already digging into a pancake when I placed a stack in front of him.
“Homemade?” he questioned as he poured the syrup over the top.
“Leese makes good pancakes,” Kimmy replied.
“And, yes,” I responded, “they are homemade.” I observed with curiosity as he put the first bite in his mouth and watched the pleased grin take over his face, “Good enough?”
He smiled, “Delicious. So how long will it take to get to this airstrip in Okeechobee?”
“It’s about an hour and a half away, maybe a little bit more. You don’t have to come. You can trust me to-”
“Leese, I trust you completely, but Ryan? He’s the reason I’m coming, baby, not you.”
“Who’s Ryan?” Kimmy asked, stuffing the last bite of her pancake in her mouth.
“Someone who likes your sister almost as much as I do,” Micah replied with a smile.
“Are you going to fight over her?” Kimmy questioned him with no more fanfare than if she had asked if he was going to eat another bite of pancake.
“Absolutely not. Kimberly Margaret Winslett, why would you even think such a silly thing?” I replied before Micah could open his mouth.
“That’s what they do in the movies if two boys like the same girl.”
“Well, this isn’t the movies, and real boys-I mean men, don’t have to act like that. Besides I’m the one who decides who I love, not the boys.”
“Do you love Ryan?” she asked.
I didn’t mean to hesitate. But, I realized Micah was being quiet and staring at the two of us as we discussed the viability of the ‘boys’ fighting and I was momentarily distracted. “No-not like Micah. Ryan is a friend and, believe it or not, that is different from a boyfriend.”
“Oh, I know they’re different,” she stated matter-of-factly as if issues of love and complicated relationships were things she handled on a daily basis. She looked at Micah and smiled, “Are you gonna beat him up?”
Micah had this really funny grin on his face as he leaned toward her and asked, “Do you think I should?”
I was ready to end this stupid conversation when she simply said, “I think Leese will be mad if you do, so you better not.”
I opened my mouth, but at that moment Mom walked in the room.
“Good-morning, everybody. What will Leese be mad about?” she asked, grabbing the plate I was handing her, and then settling in beside Micah.
“If Micah beats up Leese’s other boyfriend.”
“Ah!” was all I got out.
Mom looked at me like this was not the kind of conversation I should have brought Kimmy into, “Who?”
“I told you Kimmy, Ryan is just a friend,” I clarified, my frustration level rising.
“Oh, Ryan,” Mom smiled, “he’s just a friend, Kimmy. Leese loves Micah, that’s why they’re getting married. But, she can still have friends that are boys just like Micah can have friends that are girls.”
Somehow I didn’t like the little addendum she tacked on the end because it wouldn’t take any girl long to jump from being Micah’s friend to wanting more from him. That was when the whole issue of jealousy rose in my mind. What if Micah started to feel the same way about me having a male friend? What if he got pushed over that emotional edge? I wasn’t sure what would happen. I challenged him once on this subject and earned myself a pair of handcuffs and an uncomfortable night.
Micah still wasn’t saying anything as he got up from the table taking his plate and Kimmy’s to the sink, rinsing them off and then placing them in the dishwasher. “I’m going to go change,” he stated as he headed for the stairs without pausing to give me a kiss or a hug or a ‘thanks for breakfast.’
I sighed and shook my head as I sat down to eat. I knew this whole business with Ryan was going to turn into a disaster; it had already ruined my morning and I wasn’t prepared to handle a jealous Micah for the remainder of the day.
I was in a state of dread by the time 10:30 rolled around. Micah hadn’t come out of his room since breakfast, and I was really worried about his mental state when he finally did. I was dressed and waiting, standing outside his bedroom door and just about to tap on it when it opened.
He had a smile on his face as I asked if he was ready. He only nodded. We walked down to the garage, and I opened the door to my car, noticing he wasn’t going for the passenger’s side. He headed for his Corvette instead.
“You want to take the Vet?” I asked, closing my door and starting toward him.
“We’ll take two cars.”
I didn’t like the way he said it and I was getting the distinct feeling he was up to something. He was being his unemotional self and I hated it when he did that.
“We don’t have to.”
“Leese, did you want to try out your new car on the strip?”
He knew I was dying to see what it could do, “Yeah, but-”
“Great. I want to see what my car can do, too. Who knows, baby, maybe you’ll finally get to race me.”
I was glad he was at least back to calling me baby, but he was still up to something.
I took the lead as we headed out of Palm Beach up 710 toward Okeechobee. Once out of town, the two lane road stretched before us in one continuous, long, straight sixty-mile line. I had my music playing nearly full bore to take my mind off the pending problem I was sure to be facing in another hour or so. I came up on a little Toyota chugging along at exactly fifty-five miles per hour. Before I could throw on my blinker and go around it, his Corvette blew past us both. All right, buddy, you’re challenging the wrong girl.
I had pushed my new twelve cylinders, but only slightly. I pressed the pedal down and let the engine roar. He was giving me a good run as he hadn’t let off the gas, and I couldn’t over-take him before oncoming traffic met me from the other direction, so I had to be patient and wait for another opportunity. I was on his tail and we were running just over a hundred before he came up on a pickup truck and had to bring it back to the legal limit. As an opening appeared he took it immediately before I could corral him into his lane.
We traveled this way for about twenty minutes before I saw my chance coming. It was going to be close. I would have to make sure my reflexes were timed perfectly as the oncoming semi-truck went by. The stretch would be open, but if Micah wasn’t paying attention to my move, this could end with a tremendous car crash. My driving instructor was screaming in the back of my head reminding me the key to any calculated driving experience was safety first. This was definitely calculated, I’d have it down to the inch, but the safety factor all depended on Micah paying attention.
The big rig was now on my left and the very second the back of his trailer passed my rear bumper, I switched into his lane with the pedal all the way to the floor. For an instant, I could tell Micah intended to pull into the lane, but he realized it was too late as I was already beside him and passing.
I laughed as I pulled in front of him, but my laughter was cut short when my cell phone rang; it was Micah and I knew I was getting ready to get yelled at.
“Hey, baby,” I gently answered.
“All right, I’m not passing you anymore. You proved your point, and I really do want to spend our wedding night together in a honeymoon suite instead of ICU.”
I let up my gas pedal, bringing my car down to about seventy, “I agree. I’ll be good-even if you are a lot of fun to race.” I was glad that he wasn’t angry with me.
He laughed and then told me he loved me and hung up.
Not surprisingly, we made the hour and a half trip in an hour. Ryan wasn’t there yet so we parked in the shade not too far from the entrance. I climbed out smiling, but my smile dropped when I saw his face. Maybe he was just a little bit angry about the whole dangerous passing play.
He pushed me against the back of my car, and kissed me, but still didn’t smile.
I wrapped my arms around his waist and pulled him to me to soften his anger with a hotter version of the kiss he had given me, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have tried to take that opening, but you were impossible to-”
He stopped me, placing his hands on either side of my face and giving me the kind of kiss that took my breath away-the kind of kiss that told me just how real the love he felt for me was to him. What I had thought was anger was something else I didn’t understand; an emotion I had never encountered with Micah.
