On a sidelong glance, I murmured, “How old are you?”
“I’m legal.”
I coughed a laugh. “Legal. Wow … that’s not as comforting as I think you meant it to be. It sounds like a defense for a statutory rape claim.”
“I’m not too worried about you raping me, Mrs. Smith.”
“Stop …” I giggled as they called my name for my order. “You’re obnoxious.” Before he could say anything else, I hustled to the counter to snag my bag of food. Then I took the long way around the line to the exit—anything to avoid Kael.
Chapter Seven
I miss him, but only because there are fifty unfinished projects around our house.
* * *
Sex dreams.
Forty-two years without having sex dreams—at least that I recalled.
Then Kael Hendricks made a few borderline inappropriate comments, threw out the cheesiest pick-up line ever, and I woke up in a hot sweat with my hand down the front of my panties and my legs scissoring back and forth.
What if Bella would have peeked into my room? I never fully closed my door. Was I making noises? In my dream, I made all kinds of moaning sounds. So there I was, still panting, eyes wide and focus stuck to the ceiling while I contemplated finishing what I apparently started in my dream.
“Mom?”
Whoosh!
Bella’s voice drifting closer to my room ended that thought in a heartbeat as I yanked my hand out of my panties and jumped out of bed. I ran into the bathroom before she saw me in my hot-mess state.
“In the bathroom, sweetie.” Turning on the cold water, I scrubbed my hands and splashed water on my face.
“I have a headache. If it goes away, I’ll go to the late service.”
After blotting the water from my face, I opened the door.
“Sorry, babe. Did you take something for it?”
Bella nodded, yawning then grimacing as she pressed her fingers to her temple.
“Well, you know I can’t go to late service. So if you don’t feel better soon, just stay home and rest.”
“Okay.” She turned and dragged herself back to her bedroom.
I showered and dressed for early church service in record time. The idea of skipping crossed my mind, but Jan was right—church family had a special gift for guilting absentee members upon their return. And … I needed a little prayer time to seek forgiveness for my naughty dreams.
Wearing my red, cowl neck sweater dress and black boots, I hurried off to church in my dirty Tahoe. We sang hymns, prayed for our wellbeing, guidance, and dreamless sleep. Okay, one of us prayed for dreamless sleep. Then I had to sneak out a few minutes early (as usual) to get to the store in time. To my knowledge, no one ever judged my need to leave early because I did tithe well every week.
A real live customer waited at the door to my store as I walked down the sidewalk. “Good morning! Let’s get inside where it’s warm.”
Then … he turned around. Kael really needed to stick to one jacket and one beanie to make himself more recognizable.
“I like the sound of that.” Mischief spread along his face.
My smile faltering, I brushed past him to unlock the door. The sex dream made it really hard to keep eye contact. “Both of my employees for the day called in sick, so I might not have time to chitchat with you today. Feel free to look around and brainstorm while I get things opened up.”
“Chitchat … do people say that anymore?”
“Yes, Kael. I’m a person, and I just said it.” I liked saying his name as I would one of my own children. It felt imperative to think of him as not only young but inexperienced and in need of role modeling.
However, he demonstrated lots of experience in my dream the previous night.
Dear God, please make it stop! Take a magnet and wipe my brain.
“Can I help you with anything?”
“Nope.” I turned on the Open sign and shrugged off my long, wool coat.
“Wow … you look great in red.”
I ignored his compliment as I turned on the other lights, unlocked the cash register, and hooked up my phone to play holiday music over the speakers.
“So tell me about your kids.” He picked up a jar of sweet honey mustard and read the back of it. When he shifted his attention to me, I averted my gaze and busied myself behind the counter, tidying up a few things.