“Amen to that.” Kayla felt much better, but she still made a batch of raisin-filled cookies to keep herself busy until it was time to get ready for her first real date. What she and Denver had done couldn’t even be considered dating. They’d sneak around during their noon hour at school and have sex in the back seat of his car. If there was a pep assembly at school the last hour of the day, they’d sneak into the auditorium and have sex behind the stage curtains. Denver always loved the thrill of doing something he shouldn’t.
Strangely enough, Kayla’s nerves had begun to settle down when it came time for her to start getting ready that evening. What Teresa had said about what sisters do had run through her mind all afternoon. Kayla realized that she hadn’t been a very good sister, either, in the time she’d lived with Miss Janie, so she couldn’t fault Teresa for anything.
I loved being here, she thought, but I had so much anger in me those years; my attitude stunk. I was a lousy daughter to Miss Janie and a worse sister to Teresa.
Half the battle of getting through a tough situation is admitting that maybe part of it was your own stupid fault. Miss Janie’s voice was strong in Kayla’s head.
“Yes, ma’am,” she said aloud.
“Who are you talking to?” Teresa popped into her room as if on cue.
“Miss Janie and I were having a visit,” Kayla answered. “Would you twist my hair up, please? You do it so much better than I do.”
“Sure. Be glad to.” Teresa pointed toward the chair in front of the dresser. “And by the way, you sure look pretty in that dress. Aren’t you glad that you bought a couple of outfits with your paycheck?”
“Yep, but if it hadn’t been on sale for half-of-half, I wouldn’t have bought it.”
“There you go, and three, two . . .” Teresa giggled.
“Why are you counting down?” Kayla asked.
“One!” Teresa finished a few seconds before the knock came to the door, and they could hear Noah telling Will to come on into the house.
Kayla’s eyes widened. “How did you know?”
“I heard the gravel crunching when he drove up and his car door slam. You’re so worried about everything that your heart was probably pounding too hard for you to hear. You’ll be fine. I have faith in you,” Teresa said.
“I’m damn sure glad someone does,” Kayla muttered. “If you’ve got any points with Him”—she pointed toward the ceiling—“you might put in a prayer for me.”
“I will, but you don’t need it.” Teresa gave her a reassuring hug and headed back across the hallway.
Kayla was halfway down the stairs when she realized that Will was standing at the bottom of them, staring up at her.
“Oh. My. Goodness.” He held out his arm for her when she reached the bottom step. “You are even more gorgeous than you were in paint-stained jeans last night.”
“Y’all have a good time,” Noah said, and disappeared into his office.
Kayla looked up at Will. “Thank you. You clean up pretty good yourself.”
“Aww, shucks.” He ducked his head like a little boy might. “I ain’t used to pretty women sayin’ things like that to plain old Will Barton.”
“Don’t you talk about my friend like that.” Kayla looped her arm into his. “He’s one handsome fellow, and I like him a lot, so don’t be putting him down.”
“Is that so?” Will laid a hand over hers, and together they went out to his SUV. “I thought I’d let you choose where we eat tonight.” He opened the door for her.
That was a new twist from what she was used to with Denver. When they had the money to go out for something other than hamburgers, he made the choices, and usually it was a steak house.
Do not compare men. Miss Janie’s voice was back in her head. Will is rock solid and kindhearted, but he won’t ever be as dangerous and thrilling as Denver was to you in the beginning, so it’s not fair to him.
Kayla had closed her eyes and was nodding when Will got into the vehicle.
“Are you listening to music in your head?” he asked.
“No, I was listening to Miss Janie,” she said truthfully.
“Shh . . .” He put his finger on her lips. “Don’t tell anyone, but I hear voices, too. They usually give me really good advice.”
His gentle touch sent a jolt through her heart, releasing even more of those icy chains. She