Kelly looked down at Rambo and started running her hand through his hair. His dog loved every second of it and moved his head around, making sure she was getting all the right spots scratched. “He wouldn’t care either way,” she said toward Rambo and not him. “He hasn’t spoken to Kori in months, and he ignores my lawyer on our custody agreement.”
“Are you still married?” The question came out strangled. He didn’t want to think she was still tied to another man because the longer he sat her with her, the more he felt like she was here for a reason. He could only hope he was the reason.
“No, the divorce is final, but custody is still in the air. His parents, who also haven’t spoken to their granddaughter, they want her raised in the city, the Hamptons. They’re socialites and appearances are important. My argument is that a nanny shouldn’
t raise my child, and she should live with me until she’s older and can make her own decisions.”
“No judge in their right mind will give him custody.”
She shrugged and looked at Danny with tears pooling in her eyes. “They have money, power. I’m just the mom, trying to make it in a tiny tourist town.”
He pulled her close and kissed her forehead. He could feel her body sigh. He made a vow to himself, that he was going to do whatever he could to protect her. “No one in Gray is going to let anything happen to you or Kori.”
“Thanks,” she half laughed, half sniffled. Glancing at her phone to check on Kori she moved to get up, “I should get back. I didn’t do any baking last night.” She stood and wiped the sand off the back of her shorts.
“Why not?” He asked, following suit. They walked together, back to his van, where he stowed his surfboard. He’d have to try and hit the waves tomorrow. Rambo though, had no intentions of jumping in and getting comfortable. He stood next to Kelly, waiting.
“Mel came by, talked to me about life. You.” She winked. “Come by later, maybe I’ll have some muffins for ya.” With that, she walked back to her shop and disappeared behind the door he knew led to the upstairs apartment. He waited, for what he didn’t know until Kelly appeared on the terrace with Kori by her side. Her little voice ringing out. “I feel much better, Dr. Weatherly.”
He waved, until the two disappeared. He and Rambo drove back to their house, where he changed and headed right back to the Java Hut.
11
Kelly
Kelly’s cheeks hurt. There wasn’t anything she could do it about it, not that she wanted to. Plastered on her face was the smile that had been there since she left Danny at his van, a few hours ago. It was as if they hadn’t been apart for fifteen years, or that she made one of the biggest mistakes of her life when she walked away from him. Her own ego and stupidity ruled her teenage mind. She wasn’t thinking clearly and only wanted to get away from Gray, and Danny because he was the source of her humiliation. She had stupidly thought he was trying to embarrass her, to make her look stupid – she was an idiot. Her mother or Melody should’ve slapped her in the face, made her face reality. Throwing a fit, ignoring the boy she was in love with and subsequently leaving home was incredibly childish. To alter your life over something as stupid as being stood up for prom and being embarrassed in front of friends was incredibly stupid and selfish. If she had just spoken to Danny, her life could’ve been different.
Although, doing so wouldn’t have given her Kori, and she wouldn’t give her up for anything. Not even the massive check her in-laws wrote, suggesting she walk away without her daughter. She hadn’t told anyone, not even her parents or Melody, and didn’t really care if Alan knew whether his parents tried to buy her off. She wasn’t for sale. Not in the divorce and definitely not when it came to her daughter.
Music played in the background while she mixed the batter for her next batch of muffins. There were cupcakes baking in the oven now and a tray on the cooling rack waiting to be frosted. It was only after she frantically called her mother, did she agree to come in to help. Kelly didn’t tell her that she drank a bottle of wine the night before and barely slept, or that she spent the morning on the beach with Danny Weatherly, where had it not been for Kori, she’d still be. She wanted her mom to believe she was busy, that the first day was so overwhelmingly successful she couldn’t keep up. The look in her mom’s eye though told her otherwise. Did she know about her encounter with the sexy town doctor?
When he’d pulled her legs into his lap, she’d wanted to melt, to fall into him and have him hold her. Her heart raced. Her palms became sweaty. It was like they were back in high school, shyly flirting with one another, until he kissed her under the moonlight with the waves lapping at their bare feet. They say you never forget your first kiss, which she definitely agreed with, because sitting out there with him this morning reminded her of everything they’d shared.
As she poured batter into the muffin pan, her hips swayed slightly to the music. She couldn’t remember the last time she felt like dancing or even smiling for that matter. She also didn’t want to look into the future and see Danny by her side, but the thought was there. Could they rekindle their romance? Not necessarily pick up where they left off but reignite the fire and desire they once had for each other. She wasn’t naïve to think a high school romance held a flame in adulthood. They had both changed. Nevertheless, they had a shared a deeper connection and sometimes even time and wasted opportunities weren’t enough to sever and change those.
She busied herself and tried to think about work, but her mind continued to drift to Danny and how caring he was with her when he could’ve easily ignored her. It’s what she deserved after the way she had treated him, but he acted like the past didn’t matter.
The door separating the kitchen from the café swung open with so much force it banged loudly as it crashed into the counter. Kelly looked up and blanched as her mother cringed. “Is something wrong? What is it?” She stood, whacking her hand on the top coil of the oven, she cried out and started shaking her hand up and down. “Oh ouch,” she muttered as tears began to fall. Her mom rushed forward, grabbing her hand and pulling her toward the sink where Mindy turned the cold water on and stuck her daughter’s hand under the faucet.
“I’m so sorry, Kelly. I forgot that your father oiled the door and it doesn’t need much of a shove to open up.”
“It’s okay.” It really wasn’t but she refused to make her mom feel worse than she suspected she already did. Her hand throbbed. She wanted to scream out and say a few choice words but bit down on her tongue instead and let her tears fall freely. She was afraid to pull her hand out from under the cold stream to see the damage. This was the last thing she needed. There was a business to run, foods to bake and a child to take care of. She couldn’t afford to work one-handed, let alone a bandaged hand that would prevent her from working fully. This meant she would have to ask for help and that would mean the people closest to her would have to put their lives on hold.
Her mom pulled her hand out from under the water and dabbed it dry. The sting was almost too much to bear and she attempted to pull it away from her mother’s grasp. Mindy’s grip was tight, and Kelly had no choice but to let her mother inspect the burn. “Oh honey, this looks bad.”
She was afraid to look but peered over her mom’s shoulder anyway. “It hurts but doesn’t look bad.”
“It’s definitely blistering.”
She leaned forward and tried to see what her mother was looking at. “I don’t see a blister forming.”
“Mother’s intuition, you shouldn’t doubt me.”
“Huh. Don’t I have the same intuition, being a mother and all?”
Mindy shook her head. “Only with your child, not yourself.” She continued to hold her daughter’s hand and placed a wet paper towel on it before placing a large piece of plastic wrap around it. How her mother managed to do this one handed was beside her, but she watched with apt attention, taking mental notes along the way. “I’ll call Dr. Weatherly and let him know you’re on the way.”
“Wh-what?” Kelly stuttered.