“Mm, I slept very well,” she said. “Very.”
“It was my pleasure,” he said. He tapped his laptop. “My morning news.”
“How’s the world looking this morning?” she asked.
“Despite the dire condition it’s been in lately, it’s never looked better.”
She poured her coffee and sat down across from him. “Funny, I woke up with just that feeling. Thank you for last night. For all of it, from the storytelling to the lovemaking. I feel brand-new.”
“You’re beautiful in the morning,” he said. “I wanted to be here when you woke but I don’t want to be a pest. I fed Tux and he’s already asleep. Can I make you some breakfast? And we can talk about our days?”
“I think I just had breakfast last night,” she said.
“Which is why I brought pancake mix. You have some berries. How does that sound?”
“Hm, I could get used to you,” she said.
“Let’s have some breakfast and go to our corners. I have a little work to do, you have work you’re supposed to do. And this afternoon I thought I’d drive over to the coast and around the hills—the leaves are at their peak. And it’s going to be a beautiful day. Want to come?”
“I do,” she said. “What time?”
“How does two sound? Does that give you enough time to get some work done?”
“Of course,” she said. But she thought the last thing she wanted was to work.
She felt the urge to burst into song.
When Landry had gone and the kitchen was cleaned up, she called Janette, the first person who came to mind. “It’s possible I’m falling in love,” she said. “With my landlord.”
“Well, now, that’s interesting. Is he falling in love right back?”
“I think so, yes. It’s early. Time will tell.”
“You have nothing but time, cookie,” she said. “Can I suggest you use that time to enjoy life? It seems you’ve been having some trouble doing that for a while. Obvious reasons.”
“Obvious,” Kaylee returned.
9
LIFE TOOK ON a glow for Kaylee. Every day was a bright and sunny day even when there were clouds in the sky. She saw Landry every day but not all day. They had coffee inside in the mornings now because it was getting very chilly outside and they drove around the countryside at least once a week, sometimes twice. They went to dinner on the coast, watched movies on his big-screen TV, had dinner together frequently and breakfast most mornings. They slept together every night. One of them always made the first overture: Do you need a night alone? Would you like to spend the night? Even if they didn’t make love like a couple of sex-starved bunnies, they held each other and murmured sweet, soft words during the night. But they also made love like sex-starved bunnies.
They had long, meaningful talks about everything from philosophy to great books; they had read many of the same authors. Thanks to digital publishing, they would often download each other’s recommendations so they could discuss more of the great books they loved. They talked about religion, politics, travel and even the possibility of space aliens. They told each other about their friends, family, people they worked with or people they had known who left an impression.
One day they drove down to San Francisco. Jack agreed to check on Lady and the pups, let her out a few times, and to feed Tux. He took Otis home with him for the night, much to the joy of Jack’s kids and the annoyance of his border collie, Ralph. The purpose of the trip to San Francisco was to visit some of the galleries that Landry liked to work with. Some of his finer glass creations were on display and Kaylee was bursting with pride. They had a nice dinner at Fisherman’s Wharf and stayed overnight at a lovely hotel. Kaylee was a little nervous that they might run into Laura but Landry said, “It’s a very big city. And besides, it doesn’t matter if we do.”
They only stayed the one night, both anxious to get back to their pets.
Kaylee told her closest friends about Landry, about his art, his tenderness, his dogs, his kindness and his passion for her. She told Michelle and Janette and her aunt, Beth. No one seemed concerned that this could be a bad idea. In fact, everyone was thrilled to hear some joy in her voice for the first time in so long.
She even told her mom, though of course her mom had no reply. She wished her mom could meet him, get to know him, love him as Kaylee did. The feeling she got when she communicated with Meredith was that her mom would be so relieved to know that Kaylee had someone special in her life, someone to love. Someone to take a little of the weight of her grief off her back. It had been quite a while since she’d had a boyfriend.
She ran into Mel at the bar and Mel said, “You look so great. Have you been getting a little extra sunshine on your cheeks? Did you get a new haircut or something?”
“No change that I’m aware of, but I’m feeling great. Maybe it’s just time. Maybe I’m finally learning to live with losing my mom. I still miss her like mad. Nothing has changed there. But lately I’ve been spending a lot of time with Landry. We’ve become pretty close and it’s making me happy.”
“Maybe that’s what’s glowing on your pretty cheeks,” Mel said. “I don’t know if you heard this through the grapevine, but Jack
