Back to Square One (Brandon Bay Babes) (9 page)

“Yeah. You do” Barnaby said sternly.
 
“You’re an absolute mess”

“That’s not a very nice thing to tell a girl” Kit huffed.

“But it’s the truth” he shot back roughly.

Kit pouted jokingly.
 
“Perhaps it is; but couldn’t you lie just a little for my benefit”

Barnaby leaned forward with a dangerous light in his eyes that she had never seen before.
 
“Listen.
 
My membership to the “Kit Davidson Fan Club” expired a long, long time ago.
 
And I’m not looking for a renewal.
 
I no longer
need
or
want
to feed your precious ego in the hopes that maybe you’ll see me …,
differently.
 
I won’t do it Kit.
 
Like you said…, we’re not sixteen anymore.”

Kit shot him a look of hurt mixed with a smidgen of admiration. “Wow!
 
That’s quite a speech.
 
A little uncalled for, but quite enlightening; you’ve never sounded so … forceful.
 
Just
who
are you and what did you do with the
real
Barnaby Calder?”

Barnaby shook his head and chuckled, lightening the mood.
 
“I guess I’ve changed quite a bit, and not just by having Lasik so I don’t need glasses anymore.”
 
Fixing her with a solemn stare, he added, “You see, I discovered in high school that nice guys finish last, and I never intend to make that mistake again.”

“
No
” she replied with a dubious grin, “I don’t believe that you’re not a nice guy anymore.
 
You may talk tough Barnaby Calder, but you’re still that big old marshmallow I’ve known since sixth grade.” Kit playfully went to punch him in the arm, like she had all those years ago, but he caught her blow before it hit.

Kit’s breath rapidly sped up as she looked at his hand gripping her wrist. Oh my, he was strong!

“Don’t be so sure about that Kit.
 
You may still want to think of me as good old Barnaby, but I
have
changed.
 
I no longer stand back and hope for things to come my way –I
take
what I want now.”
 
His eyes scanned her lips for a moment or two and then returned to glare back at her.

Wide-eyed, Kit gazed into his eyes.
 
“Do you?”
 
This new, supposedly improved version of Barnaby was a little unsettling.
 
Licking her lips, she awaited his answer.

Barnaby let her wrist go.
 
“Yes, I do.
  
But only things I want.
 
I don’t go chasing anything or anyone that I don’t
really
want.”

Kit looked a little taken aback.
 
So he was well and truly over her.
 
Well, thank goodness for that.
 
Maybe now they could go back to being friends.
 
Leave what happened at the Prom in the past and chalk it up to hormone overload on his part.
  
But she couldn’t help but ask, albeit a little shakily, “So the past is all water under the bridge to you now?”

“Blew up that bridge a long time ago” he said with a sarcastic snort.

“Good to know” Kit replied with narrowed eyes.
 

She wondered if he was really a changed man, or just putting it on for her benefit.
 
If the past was all such a distant and forgotten memory, how come Barnaby seemed to be treating her with such unveiled antagonism?
 
Was the bravado he showed real?
 
The zip she’d felt when he’d touched her was definitely real.
 
Kit hadn’t felt such awareness since Jeffrey Jones and that blasted elevator.
 

What the hell was going on here?
 
The boy of her dreams, Jeremy Atwell was hitting on her, and the boy, who swore to love her till the day he died, now claimed to feel nothing; she was water under the bridge to him.
 

The world was going topsy-turvy and Kit was starting to wonder if Gladys was actually the
only
sane person in this town, and everyone else was bonkers.
 
Whoa
, scary thought!

Deciding to change the subject Kit asked, “So you’re here for your dad’s birthday, how is he?”

“Why don’t you come on Saturday night and find out?
 
My folks love you like crazy, always have.”

Unlike you, Kit thought with undeserved scorn.
 
Perhaps staying away from Barnaby and his new found sexiness was what Kit should do, but instead she opted to GAG and take him up on the offer.
 
So far, going against her gut was working out pretty well.
 
And when you’re on a good thing, stick with it.
 
“I’d love to come” she replied with a smile.

“Good.
 
I’ll let them know.” he said letting out a long held breath.
 
Kit wondered if he’d been holding it, awaiting her response.
 
No.
 
Barnaby was rich, successful and now, surprise, surprise; a hottie.
 
He had ventured out of her league, and therefore so not Kit’s type.
  

Gladys popped her head around the kitchen door.
 
“You two still getting along?”

“Yes mother, we are” Kit answered with a roll of the eyes.
 
She’d be offering the two of them cookies and milk soon.

“Friends again?” Gladys added.

Kit and Barnaby looked at each other warily.
 

Strange, Kit thought, she used to know exactly what he was thinking; now she was totally baffled.

“I think we’re good” Kit responded hesitantly.
 

Barnaby gave her a crooked smile.
 
“I better go.
 
My Mom said dinner would be on the table at six-thirty”

Kit grinned at him.
 
“I guess
some
things
never
change.”

At that, Barnaby laughed and bid the Davidson’s farewell.
 

His gaze caught Kit’s for a moment at the door and Kit felt a little thrill run over her.
  
Barnaby Calder was unsettling her equilibrium in a way that was as surprising as it was unwelcome.
 
Crazy!
 
Certifiably crazy!

The next two days passed without incident.
 
Kit returned to Craig’s Cliff and busily worked on her first painting.
 
The birthday party for Jonas Calder loomed in her mind, but she pushed it away with the strength of a female Eastern European discus thrower.
 

By two o’clock on Friday afternoon, she decided that there was no way she could tweak or add to her creation.
 
It was done!
 
Pretty good, she thought without ego.
 
No, not bad at all.
 
Kit wasn’t quite sure what category of art it fell under, abstract or some form of expressionism or impressionism.
 
So she elected to call it GAGism for now; figuring that she would never had attempted to paint unless she’d gone against her instincts.
 
She only hoped that it wouldn’t actually make anyone gag for real.

She started packing up her paints but stopped midway.
 
Oops.
 
One thing was missing from her painting –a signature.
 

Kit resolutely decided that she wouldn’t use her real name.
 
That was just asking for trouble. She could almost hear the mockery and teasing that would come with signing “Kit Davidson”.
 
She couldn’t run the risk of that happening.
 

No.
 
She had a better idea.
 
With a smile she got out her double-zero brush, and loaded it with a contrasting white paint.
 
With care, she wrote the initials “TPG’ in the bottom right-hand corner.
  
Grinning at her handiwork, Kit couldn’t think of a more appropriate tag for her creation.
 

To those who knew her past, it had just the right note of self-mockery and humour to say “yeah, I painted a picture, and you can ridicule all you like, but I don’t care”.
 
But it also anonymously protected her from the criticism that inevitably fell on artists who had the gall to show their work. Not that she planned to show it to anyone but Jasmine for the time being, but who knew?
 
Her future could very well be as “Kit Davidson, Artist”; alias TPG of course.

Loading up her car, Kit couldn’t wait to show Jasmine what she’d been doing the last two days.
 
She couldn’t remember being this excited, ever!
 

When she burst through the door of the shop, painting in hand, Jasmine was bent over the front counter display case, busily arranging her jewellery.
  
She glanced up for a moment to greet her friend; “Hello stranger.”

“Hi” Kit said nervously, holding the painting so that Jasmine couldn’t see; not an easy task with something so huge.
 
“I’m finished.
 
Wanna see it?”

Jasmine shut the display case, stood erect, closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
 
“Okay, I’m ready.
 
Let me have it” she said with great gravity.

Kit turned the painting around and watched as Jasmine opened her eyes and looked it over thoroughly.
 
“
Oh Kit
” she said with sniff.

Kit’s face fell.
 
“No good?” she asked with a frown.

“It’s not good, it’s
great
.” Jasmine squealed, tears in her eyes, but clapping her hands nonetheless. “I love it.
 
I’m so proud of you!”

“You
really
like it that much?” Kit asked, genuinely hoping that Jasmine was not just saying what she wanted to hear.

“Can I hang it in my shop?”

“No!” Kit said emphatically.
 
“I’m not ready for anyone else to see it, not just yet.”

“GAG Kit, GAG, GAG, GAG.” Jasmine smiled.

“No” she said shaking her head and sorry she’d told Jasmine all about the GAG theory. “GAG, or not; I can’t do it.”

Jasmine put her hands on her hips, but looked neither threatening nor frightening. “Then let me do it.
 
Give me the painting and I’ll do with it what I may.”

“Which means?”

“Hang it on my wall, look at it, and smile every time I think of you” Jasmine said with a pout.

“Oh
puh-lease
” Kit rolled her eyes.

Jasmine looked at the painting again, literally oohing and aahing over it in awe.
 
“TPG” she said, completely befuddled.
 
“Why TPG?”