Baby Girl: Dare to Love (7 page)

She hugged Kassie.  “What’s wrong, baby?”  She felt her forehead and was surprised that it felt warm.  Maybe she was coming down with something, she feared.

“Tummy hurt,” she whispered, leaning against her mother. 

“Must have been that ice cream after those tacos,” she said to her daughter.  “Why don’t you lie in my bed for a little while? The pain should go away soon.”  She led her daughter to the bed and helped her under the covers.   After she changed into her nightshirt, she slid under the covers next to Kassie. 

Jemma thought she would have fallen asleep instantly, but sleep wouldn’t come.  Her brain was on fast forward.  Between the kiss, Kyle asking her out, Kyle’s late night call, and now a sick child, Jemma doubted she’d ever fall asleep that night. 

              EIGHT

This was supposed to be easy, Jemma reminded herself as she pulled on a pair of black slacks. Earlier that day, Janna, Damon and the kids, showed up as promised to babysit Kassie. They were overjoyed she was speaking, however limited.

Her parents were another story.  If Jemma hadn’t had enough to worry about that day, her retired parents showed up on her doorstep a few hours ago, unannounced. 

“We thought we’d keep Kassie company while you were on your date with the cowboy,” her mother said, when Jemma opened the front door.   “Your father wanted to get out of the house. So we decided to come here.”

“Of course, Mom,” Jemma said.  She kissed her mother on the cheek.  “The more the merrier.  Janna and Damon are watching TV.  The kids are playing a video game upstairs. 

Imogene Shelton looked her daughter up and down.  “I hope this is not what you’re wearing.”  She motioned at the red t-shirt and ripped blue jeans Jemma was wearing. 

“No, Mom.  We were running errands earlier.  He’s not picking me for two hours, I still have time to change.”

Imogene nodded.  “I’m going to go see Kassie.  I can’t believe she’s started talking after all this time.  I already like this man.”  She headed upstairs without another word.

“Mom, just don’t pressure her into a conversation, okay?” 

Her father chuckled as he kissed Jemma on the cheek.  “You look beautiful, honey. I’m came to give this guy the once over. I’m happy that you’re giving another man a chance.”

“Thanks, Dad.”  She hugged him.  “What would I do without you?” 

“Let’s not find out.”

“You got it.” 

Now Jemma had been locked in her bedroom for the last hour.  This should have been easy.  This was her third outfit and still she wasn’t satisfied. 

“Jem, are you dressed?”  Janna called from the other side of the door.   “You only have about thirty minutes before he gets here.”

“No, I’m not dressed.”  She stomped to the door and let her sister inside.  “I don’t know about this, Janna.  Everything reminds me of the past.”

“Why don’t you wear that pink blouse?  It would go great with what you have on.  It’s sexy.”  Her sister walked to the large walk-in closet.  “It’s such a pretty, girly blouse.”  She returned with the blouse in question.

“That thing is low cut.  Why do you think I never wear it?  Kyle will think that I’m a good time girl.”

Her sister handed her the blouse.  “We can only hope.”

***

Kyle drove through Jemma’s quiet neighborhood, admiring everything about the secluded subdivision.  He could easily understand why she lived there.  All the houses were on oversized lots, and the lawns were manicured to the death, he realized. 

He located Jemma’s house and noted the cars parked in front of it.  None of them were hers.  There was a red Tahoe and a black Ford Explorer.  Maybe she had company?  He parked his BMW behind the Explorer and cut the engine.  He wiped his sweaty hands on his slacks. He was a nervous as a teenager.  He should have had a drink before he left his house.  His sister would have killed him. 

He was thankful to Krista for planning the entire evening for him.  They had reservations at the La Bella, an Italian restaurant in Arlington, then they were going to After Dark, a new dessert eatery in the heart of Mansfield.

“Come on, man.  It’s a date, that’s all.  No use getting crazy.  Besides, it’s been five years,” he told himself.  “It’s going to be all good.”  He opened the door and slid out of the car. 

As he walked up to the front door of the two-story house, he heard noises coming from inside.  Sounded like a party, he thought.  Surely, she would have told him if something had occurred when he called her yesterday.  Shaking away all those doubts, he rang the doorbell.  Then he heard it.

“Aunt Jem, someone at the door.”

“That’s Mr. Kyle,” Kassie said from behind the closed door.

Kyle’s heart swelled with pride.  As did everyone in the house.  He heard cheers of joy.  Finally someone opened the door to let him inside.  That feeling of dread he’d had all day came front and center when his eyes locked with another pair of blue eyes.  The man smiling at him was maybe an inch or two taller than he.  His brown hair had large specks of gray in it.

“You must be Kyle,” he said extending a hand.  “I’m Brandt Sheldon.  Jemma’s father.  She’ll be down in just a minute.  Why don’t you come inside?  You might as well see what you’re getting yourself into.”  He motioned him to the living room. 

“Sure, Mr. Shelton.”  He followed the man into the crowded living room.  “This is my wife, Imogene, I call her Emmy.”  The woman who reminded him of Jemma, nodded.  “This is our son-in-law, Damon.”  He nodded to a tall, slender African-American man sitting on the sofa.  “These are my grandkids and of course, you know Kassie.” 

Before he could acknowledge the child, she was at his side, hugging him.  “Hi, Mr. Kyle.” 

“Hi, Kassie.  It’s good to see you.  Did you tell your grandparents how well you’ve been doing in your lessons?”

She nodded.  “Yes, I did.”  Suddenly, the kids took off for another part of the house.

“You may as well cop a squat,” Imogene said.  “When Jemma and Janna get together, there’s no telling how long it’s going to be.” She took a deep breath.  “So tell us about yourself,” Imogene said. 

He took a seat beside Jemma’s Dad. “Not much to tell, Mrs. Shelton.  I’m the ranch manager where Kassie takes her riding lessons.  I’m divorced.”

“First of all, you can call me, Emmy.  Especially since Kassie has started speaking.  We heard about Nutmeg.  I’m so glad you could reach her when the rest of us couldn’t,” she sniffed.  “It means so much to us.”  She reached for a tissue, but her husband was already at her side, wiping her face.

“It’s been my pleasure, Emmy.  In a short time, I’ve become very fond of Jemma and Kassie.”  Had he really said that out loud? 

“Well, that’s good to know,” her mother said.  “Sounds like they’re finally coming downstairs. 

Kyle had never been so happy to hear footsteps in his life. He stood as she entered the living room.  Jemma looked like a goddess.  Her curly black hair was straight and hung below her shoulders.  She was wearing a lacy pink blouse that was going be his death, he knew.  It displayed just enough cleavage to get him in trouble.  She had on dark slacks and stilettos.  Perfect.  “You look absolutely perfect.”  He kissed her on the cheek. 

Jemma smiled at him.  “You looked very handsome.  I’m sure you’ve already met everyone.”

Kyle nodded. 

Someone cleared their throat.  “Oh, this is my sister, Janna.”

Kyle met the gaze of Jemma’s sister.  They could almost pass for twins, except Janna was about two inches shorter than Jemma.  He stuck out his hand.  “Nice to meet you.”

“Same here.  Now don’t you worry about a thing.  Kassie will be well looked after.  So don’t hurry back.”

Kyle looked from Jemma to Janna.  “O-kay….”  Not sure of what to do next, he said, “Ready?”

“Yes,” Jemma said smiling.  “Kassie, we’re leaving.”  She looked at him.  “She wanted to say bye.”

Kyle felt honored.  “No problem.”  He grinned as Kassie ran into the room and into his arms. 

“Bye, Mr. Kyle.” She hugged him before sliding down the floor.

“Bye, Kassie.  I’ll see you next week.” 

“Have fun at the movies.”  She took out for the other room.

“Movies?” Janna looked at him. 

“That’s what I told her,” Kyle admitted. “It seemed easier than saying an actual date.

“Got it.”  Janna start ushering them toward the door, then she opened it and waved them out of the house.

Kyle took the hint and put his arm around Jemma’s waist guided her out of her house.  Subltety was not her sister’s thing. The door quickly closed behind them.

Jemma huffed.  “I’m being ran out of my own house!”  Her mind really wasn’t on the fact that she didn’t even have her purse, she was focused on the man now holding her hand. 

Kyle was dressed in a dark button down shirt, black sports jacket, slacks and leather shoes.  She’d expected jeans and boots.   That was what she got for stereotyping him.  And he smelled wonderful.  It was going to be hard to resist him. 

“Where’s the truck?”  She assumed he’d bring one of the ranches’ vehicles.  

“I brought my car,” he said, leading her toward a very stylish BMW.  He opened the door for her and she slid inside.  After he closed the door, she realized that this was going to be a hard night.   She ran her hand across the leather interior. 

He slid behind the driver’s wheel.  “You could have told me about your father.” He started the car.  “Not that it matters to me, but a heads up would have been nice.  I thought I was at the wrong house.”

“Yes, I could have.  I like surprising people.  My parents have been married 41 years.  My dad was an English professor, he retired a few years ago.  He met Mom his sophomore year hear.  She was a nursing student.  They met at a party.”

“Wow!  Does he ever go back to England?”

“Yes, he and Mom go every year.  My grandmother is there, along with aunts and uncles, and several sets of cousins.”

“When did you go?” 

“A few years ago.  We were supposed to go last year, but you know with losing Jared and Kassie’s condition, I just couldn’t do it.”

He reached across the console and grabbed her hand.   “I understand, Jemma.  It would be hard to face anyone with the amount of stress you were under.  You’re a very strong woman.”

She smiled.  “I never thought of myself that way.  I was just doing what I had to do for my family.”

At the red light, he kissed her hand.   “You are strong to me.  That’s what I admire most about you.”

He always said the right thing to make her feel better about herself.  “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”  He continued driving. 

“You know, Janna rushed us out of the house so fast, I don’t even have my purse.”  She didn’t know why she was mentioning this. 

“No problem.  He pulled up to La Bella’s Italian Cuisine.  “Here we are.” He parked at the valet stand. 

The passenger door suddenly opened and a slender hand reached in to help Jemma out of the car.  “Hello, ma’am,” the young man said.  “Welcome to La Bella’s Italian Cuisine.”

  “Thank you.”

Kyle soon joined her.  “Reservation for Cosgrove.”  Kyle grabbed for her hand.

  “Yes sir,” the young man said.  “Felipe will show you to your table.”

“Thank you,” Kyle said, leading Jemma to the waiting area.  Another young man was waiting for them.

He showed them to their table and helped Jemma with her chair.  After he distributed the menus, he took their drink orders.  They both ordered a glass of Pinot Grigio.

Jemma shook her head.  “You just keep surprising me.  I didn’t think men drank wine.”

“I do occasionally.  At home, I usually have a beer after work.”

She nodded.  Her father would never have wine.  “Oh, I can’t remember the last time I had a beer.  Probably a baseball game with Jared.”

“I take he was a big Ranger fan?”

She nodded.  Why was talking about her dead husband?  “Season tickets for all of our marriage.”   She took a deep breath.  “I don’t mean to keep bringing Jared into the conversation.”

“It’s okay. Sometimes, it helps to talk about it,” he said, opening his menu.  “I’ve never been here before.  Krista says just about everything tastes good. She and my brother-in-law come here a lot.”

“That’s nice.” She opened her menu and perused the menu.  She gasped at the prices, but groaned at the delicious meals.  It was going to be too hard to pick one.

“Is something wrong?”

“No.  Everything sounds delicious.  It’s going be hard to decide.”

“I’m having the same problem.  I guess we’ll have to come back,” he said quietly.

“Seems so.  It’s been a while since I had an adult meal.  I mean something not involving a drive-thru.”

He lowered his menu and smiled at her.  “Tonight will be very adult, I promise.”

Yep, he was going to be her downfall. Between that dazzling smiled and the ocean blue eyes, she was going to be putty in this man’s hand.  “I’m going to hold you to that.”  Did she just dare this man? 

The waiter returned with their drinks and took their food order.   “I’ll have the Prosciutto Stuffed Chicken,” Jemma said.  She loved the Italian styled ham inside a chicken breast.

“Good choice,” Kyle said.  “I’ll have the Linguine Frutti di Mare.”

“Yes sir.  I’ll have these right out.”  The young man left the table. 

Jemma couldn’t hide her curiosity.  “What did you order?”

“It’s kind of like a seafood sampler.  It has shrimp, baby clams, mussels and calamari, in a screaming hot tomato sauce.  I like spicy food.”

“Super spicy?  I mean like Habanero hot?”  She took a sip of wine.  Her mouth heated up just thinking about the world’s hottest pepper. 

“No, not that hot.  A little hot is good.  Every now and then I like to push the envelope.  Normally, I eat at my parents, and Mom doesn’t do spicy, so this is a treat for me.”