Sometime Soon - By Debra Doxer Page 0,24

leg under the table with her sneakered foot. “I’m talking about the Café Blue guy you were going to call. You did call, right?”

“Yes, I called.” Then I entertain Bryn with stories of my sudden dating bounty.

“Two guys,” she exclaims, eyes wide, bobbed hair bouncing.

“That’s right. Of course, I hardly know either of them, and it’s unlikely that either will become a relationship, but I’m feeling pretty good about myself at the moment.”

Bryn gives me a grin that is both humoring and chastising. “Miss Optimistic,” she deadpans. We’re both sucking our frozen coffee drinks when Bryn’s expression becomes serious. “Have you talked to Katie lately?” she asks.

I give her an exasperated look as the cold mouthful goes right to my head. “Yes, I have, and she could really use her friends right now. You need to get over this and call her.”

“What do you mean? Why does she need her friends?”

I’ve said too much, I realize. I don’t want to betray Katie’s confidence.

“Is everything okay with her and Mike?” she asks, more curious now that I’ve clammed up.

I sigh and decide to tell her only what she already knows. “They still can’t agree on a wedding date. But I’m sure it will work out.”

“They’re arguing about the wedding date?” she asks cautiously.

“I didn’t say they were arguing. Just having some trouble picking a date.”

Bryn puts her frappuccino aside and leans toward me across the table. “Are Katie and Mike having problems?”

“No…. I don’t know.” Her curiosity is making me uncomfortable. I don’t like being put in the middle this way.

She stares at me.

I lean back in my chair. “If you want to know what’s going on with Katie, you should call her yourself.”

“I don’t have to call Katie. I already know what’s going on.”

This gets my attention. Did I hear her right? I look up from the straw I had started to twist around my finger. “What do you mean?”

Bryn becomes very interested in the top of the table.

What?” I ask again. “Bryn, what’s going on?”

She glances up at me, and her eyes begin to tear. Embarrassed, she turns her face away and looks out toward the busy street. “Mike has been calling me,” she tells the passing traffic. Then she faces me, wiping at a tear that has made a path down her cheek.

“Mike has been calling you? On the telephone?” I ask dumbly.

She nods.

“Why is he calling you?” I thought Bryn hardly knew Mike, the same as me.

Bryn starts to speak again and then stops.

I take in her tears and her pinched expression. “Are you and he….?” I begin, but I can’t finish it.

“No,” she answers quickly. Then she softly adds, “Not really. He kissed me once. Right after we got back from the Bahamas.”

“He kissed you?”

She nods again. “In the parking lot at the grocery store.” She pauses, taking a deep breath. “My car wouldn’t start. I was at the store that’s just down the road from Katie and Mike’s place. I had milk and cheese and some ice cream, and I didn’t want them to spoil while I waited for a tow truck. So, I called to see if Katie could come get my groceries and store them in her refrigerator. Only she wasn’t home. Mike was there and he offered to help.

“He came down with some jumper cables, and he tried to get the car started for me. The whole time, he was telling me these funny stories about his kids who he’d just seen. When he finally got the car started, I was so thankful, I jumped up and hugged him. But he didn’t let go of me, and he kissed me.”

I can feel my eyes widening at her.

“I kissed him back,” she says, her eyes meeting mine almost defiantly.

I just blink at her.

“I felt terrible,” she continues, rushing her words now. “I pulled away from him and drove off, leaving him standing there in the parking lot.” She takes a shaky breath, seeming to sink into the chair as she exhales.

“You kissed Mike?” I ask again, sure that I’m misunderstanding this.

“Yes. When I leaned back from the hug, he grabbed my face and he kissed me. We kissed, Andy.”

As I’m absorbing this, she continues.

“Then he started calling me. I missed the first call. He left a message on my machine saying he needed to talk to me. I figured he wanted to apologize or ask me to forget the whole thing. So I called him back at work. But he didn’t want to