bet she had twenty carats or more in her ears, around her neck, and on her fingers. If Denver is a good boy, he’ll have all he’s ever wanted.” Kayla yawned.
“We could send him a large supply of paper bags,” Teresa said.
“What for?” Noah asked.
“Because if he uses plastic bags to put over his gift horse’s head when he goes to bed with her, he might smother her.” Teresa giggled.
“You!” Kayla’s finger shot up so fast it was a blur. “Are a bad foster sister, but that was funny. On that note, I’m going to bed. Good night to y’all. Turn out the lights when the party is over. How about we have breakfast at eight instead of seven? Miss Janie hasn’t been waking up until about then anyway.” She left the room without even taking her cup to the sink.
Teresa cleaned off the table, put away the milk, and glanced over at Noah, who was staring at her. “What? Do I have cookie crumbs on my mouth?”
“No.” He covered a yawn with his hand. “I was thinking about how cute you look in those Betty Boop pajamas. The night I kissed you for the first time, you were wearing a pair that had Minnie Mouse on them.”
“You remembered something like that?” She certainly couldn’t remember what he’d been wearing that night, but she’d never forget the way that kiss affected her, or the ones they had shared more recently—like about four hours ago.
“I’ll get the lights,” he said. “See you in the morning.”
She touched her lips to see if they were still bee stung or as hot as they felt, but to her surprise they were cool to her fingertips.
She stood up and crossed the hallway and was about to go into Miss Janie’s bedroom when he tapped her on the shoulder. When she turned around, he wrapped her in his arms and hugged her tightly. “I love having you and Kayla in the house. Please don’t move out when it’s over.”
“I don’t plan on it,” she whispered. “If Sam will rent us a house, Kayla and I can get started on making our dream a reality.”
“This old house would get lonely without you.” He released her and kissed her on the forehead. “We’ll need each other to get through the tough times.” He took a step back and then disappeared down the hallway and up the stairs.
“As friends or maybe friends with benefits?” she muttered as she went back to Miss Janie’s room and crawled back into the bed beside the hospital bed. She closed her eyes, but sleep wouldn’t come, so she opened them and stared out the window at the stars. She wanted to be more than friends with Noah, but they didn’t have to label whatever it was between them right now—just so long as there was a future somewhere up ahead that she could see, like the light at the end of a tunnel.
Kayla groaned when the alarm went off at seven o’clock on Sunday morning. She could have slept until noon with no problem, but it was her day to do the cooking since Teresa had spent the night in Miss Janie’s room. Miss Janie might only eat a few bites or nothing, but Kayla would be sure that there was a good hot breakfast ready for her when she awoke.
She wasn’t surprised when she found herself alone in the kitchen. She rather liked some me time, a few minutes alone when she could think about the night before. Knowing that Denver was out of her life was closure, but what was uppermost on her mind was the idea of starting a business, hopefully with Teresa, and those delicious kisses she had shared with Will. She hadn’t told her foster sister about that part of the night because she selfishly wanted to savor the kisses for herself for a while.
She closed her eyes and relived the feeling of Will’s arms around her, and the fire he’d created in her body. No one, not even Denver, in those rebellious teenage years, had caused such heat inside her.
“Good mornin’,” Noah said right behind her. “I’ll get the coffee going.”
His deep voice scared her so badly that she got an adrenaline rush. “Sorry about not having it ready,” she stammered. “I was off in la-la land.”
“Hey, before y’all got here, I had to do everything but clean the house. I’m sure not complaining about making coffee,” Noah said.