Better Late Than Never (7 page)

He grinned when he pulled into his parent’s driveway. Wade was out in the front yard playing. His mother was in her garden checking on her plants. Wade began jumping up and down when he saw him. Randy stepped out and scooped his son up into his arms.

“Did you have a good time?” he asked Wade as he walked toward the house.

His mother stood as he walked toward her. Stretching upward she placed a kiss on her son’s cheek. “Glad to see you made it.”

He glanced at his watch. “Am I late?”

His mother shook her head. “No, you are earlier than I thought you would be, but from your expression and the smile that hasn’t left your face, I can guess why.”

Randy realized he was grinning, but he was happy. Kristen hadn’t said she would give him a chance, but the fact that she was thinking about it was enough for him.

His mother turned and led the way into the house. “So things are okay between you and Kristen?”

He put Wade down before answering his mother. “Yes and no. She didn’t say yes, but she didn’t scream at me either. She needs time to think about it, and I am willing to give it to her.”

His mother nodded. “I always did like Kristen. She is good for you. She also seems to be good for Wade. I have noticed some good changes in him.”

Wade looked over at his son who was gathering up his toys. His son did seem a lot happier.

“So are you prepared to do whatever it takes?”

He turned back to his mother with surprise. “What do you mean?”

“I mean that you need to understand that Kristen was hurt by you. Equate it to how hurt you felt after Lila ended your relationship as abruptly as she did.”

Randy sighed, not wanting to think about how devastated he had been. If it hadn’t been for Wade and his parents, he might not have recovered as quickly as he did.

“What do you suggest I do, Mom?”

His mother gave him a sympathetic look. “There is nothing you can do but give Kristen time. She will let you know when she is ready.” His mother smiled. “But it wouldn’t hurt for you to show her what she is missing out on in the mean time.”

He thought about what his mother said as he helped Wade put his toys in the bag before telling his mother bye. Wade climbed into the truck, and Randy strapped him into his car seat. As he backed out of the driveway, he realized his mother was right. He couldn’t sit back and wait for Kristen to make the decision all by herself. He had to come up with a plan to show her why she should do more than just think about giving him a chance.

Chapter Five

Kristen groaned as she pulled into the driveway. Even though it was still early she had hoped her sisters wouldn’t still be up. After dinner with Randy, she needed time to think. She sighed in frustration as she got out of the car. There would be no chance of that. She opened the door and both of her sisters looked up at her.

“How was the date?”

Kristen rolled her eyes at Kayla. “It wasn’t a date.”

Kayla frowned. “Did you sit down at a restaurant, eat, and have conversation?”

Kristen groaned. “Yes.”

Kayla smiled. “Sounds like a date to me.”

Kristen flopped down on the couch. “Now is not the time for your sense of humor, Kayla.”

Keirra sat up and turned the volume down on the television. “So it seems like everything went well.”

“Everything went perfectly,” Kristen half growled.

“Damn cops,” Keirra grumbled before going into a tirade of cursing cops and sisters too weak to resist them. Kristen laughed at her sisters and shook her head.

“Look, you two, I appreciate your concern, but I am a capable of handling this right now. If I can’t, I will let you know.”

This was hers and hers alone. What she had experienced with Randy was wonderful, and she wouldn’t change it for anything. Still, she had to figure out what it was she had with Randy. There was no doubt she still had feeling for him, but what was she going to do about it? Getting involved with Randy again was a major risk to her heart. There was a lot of thinking to be done and decisions to be made. He had pushed her away once, and six years had been lost because of it. They both had changed, yet a lot of things were still the same. Kristen looked over at her sisters. Keirra was still staring her down, and Kayla was still smiling, but they were respecting her wishes and not cornering her for an inquisition. She would have to keep that in mind when her sisters found romance.

Keirra and Kayla had dated their share, but when she thought about it neither one of them had ever had a serious boyfriend. Not like she had been with Randy. Keirra had never gone out with anyone long enough for him to be classified as a boyfriend.

The three of them had their quirks men just couldn’t get around. She was considered to be the shy one, the non-confrontational one, but normally, she scared men off with her strong sense of feminism. Men knew that when she was with them, it was because she wanted to be with them in return and not because she needed to be. Kayla was the perfectionist and always had the perfect amount of rationale. If that didn’t run a man off, her brain did. Keirra was athletic and a little bit of a control freak. She tended to be opinionated and outspoken, which left men without a word to say because they couldn’t get a word in if they wanted to. The three of them together made a hell of a trio. It also made for interesting times. People always worried about twins switching places. Well, triplets liked to play the switching game, too, and they did it a little better.

There had been the time in high school when she had been required to give a speech in front of the class and she had been terrified so Kayla had taken her place. She felt bad about the situation, but she couldn’t have done it herself. The interesting thing was to this day she still was not good at speaking in front of people, but she could do it now thanks to her college years.

There had also been the time Kayla had to complete an activity course in P. E. class, and Keirra had taken her place. Kristen had come in handy when Keirra had been running late to basketball practice. She filled in long enough to say she was present, and that had been it. They had gotten into some sticky situations, but their teamwork had pulled them through.

Kristen yawned and realized she was sleepy. It had been a long weekend. Standing up, she moaned as she felt her muscles protest. “It’s bedtime for me.”

Kayla nodded. “It is getting late. We should be going to bed.”

“Speak for
yourself
,” Keirra grumbled.

She stood before walking over to each of her sisters’ and kissed both of them on their cheeks. “I love you guys. Good night.”

They reciprocated, and she walked out of the living. She realized just how tired she was when she started up the stairs. Once she made it to her room, she took a quick shower and crawled into bed. She reached for her favorite teddy bear and squeezed it tight in her arms. The bear was scruffy looking with good reason. It was the same one that Randy gave her the day he kissed her for the first time. She smiled at the memory. She closed her eyes and soon she was fast asleep.

* * * *

It seemed like she had just closed her eyes when the alarm went off. She brought a hand down on the buzzer and got out of bed. After she arrived at work, the day seemed to fly by. She locked up her day care center and hopped into her car. The drive home was short, and when she walked into the house, she sniffed the air to try to guess what was for dinner. Her sisters came out of the kitchen, and they looked ready to go out. She gave them a questioning look.

“What is for dinner?”

Kayla grinned. “Sam’s Café.”

A smile came to Kristen’s face, and she headed for the stairs. “Give me fifteen minutes, and I will be ready.”

She loved Sam’s Café. Sam’s offered a little of everything from Tex-Mex to Italian and everything in between. She went into her room and hopped around shedding clothing until she was naked. Her next stop was to the shower, and she made it quick. When she stepped out of the shower, she dried off, went to her closet, and began flipping through her clothes to find out what she was going to wear. She decided on her powder pink top. It was an asymmetrical bandana top. She had several of the tops in several colors, but the pink one was her favorite. She added her blue jean skirt, which stopped a few inches above her knees, and topped it off with the pink calf-height boots she had bought with the top.

She put her clothes on in record time. The next battle was going to be making the decision on how she wanted to style her hair. She decided to keep it simple. After parting her hair down the middle, she plaited a braid on each side. When she was done, she placed a pink beret-style hat on her head. While spraying perfume, she gave herself
a
once-over and, satisfied, walked out of her room and down the stairs.

Her sisters were standing downstairs waiting for her. Keirra glanced down at her watch and smiled. “You made it with a minute to spare, and you still look great.”

Kristen laughed. “Whose vehicle are we going in?”

Kayla spoke up. “We can go in mine.”

The three grabbed their purses and headed out the front door. Keirra locked the house up, and they were on their way. Kayla drove into town, and a short time, they pulled in front of Sam’s Café. They had been back to the café a handful of times since they had come back to town. They climbed out of Kayla’s vehicle and stepped into the café. Kristen was glad that it wasn’t crowded and that they were seated quickly.

After they placed their drink orders, all eyes went to Kayla. Kristen leaned closer to Kayla. “So how was your date with Richard?”

She shrugged. “It was a date, but he has changed a lot.”

Keirra nodded. “He seems a lot more attractive now than he was in high school.”

Kristen laughed. “Most of us tend to be.”

Kayla grinned. “You know what they say.”

Keirra rolled her eyes. “No, I don’t, but I am sure you are going to tell me.”

Kayla shrugged. “Of course I am. They say everything gets better with age.”

Keirra just shook her head. “Whoever said that never heard of perishable foods.”

Kristen almost choked on her drink at her sister’s cynicism, but she managed to laugh instead. “Kayla, I think you said it wrong. I think it goes something like he has aged like a fine wine.”

Kayla pondered the correction before shrugging. “You could be right. The bottom line is the man looks good.”

Kristen nodded. “There are a lot of people around town we haven’t seen.”

Kayla scoffed. “Yeah, well, there are a lot of people I have run into that I would have loved to avoid but couldn’t.”

Kristen gave Kayla a confused look. “What are you talking about?”

“I had a little run-in with Michelle, Margaret, and Trish.”

Kristen groaned at the mention of those three names. The three women were mean to the core. They always had been. They were all the same age as Randy, but for some reason, they had always been in competition with her and her sisters and had been a pain in the butt from day one. It had made times in Baxley a little difficult to say the least. “What happened?”

Kayla laughed. “What hasn’t happened? This has been going on since the beginning of the school year. I was fortunate enough to get all three of their daughters in my class.”

Kristen’s eyes widened. “Well, you forgot to mention that part.”

Kayla shrugged. “There was no need to. The girls are just like their mothers, but they haven’t given me any problems. At least, up until today I didn’t have any problems.”

Kristen gave her sister a questioning look. “Do you think there will be a problem now?”

Kayla smirked. “I’m sure it’s due to the other exciting event that occurred.”

“And that would be?”

“Brigette enrolled Somer into my class today. She wasn’t doing well in class with the other English teacher. Brigette is hoping I can change Somer’s behavioral issues.”

Kristen felt a smile come to her face at the mention of Brigette Holbrock’s name. She was a good person, one of the first people to befriend them when they first moved to Baxley, even though she was four years older than them. She had lived on what was known as the poor side of town, but it hadn’t concerned her or her sisters. Brigette was a sweet person who had a rough time in life but had dealt with it a lot better than most.

“Is everything okay with Somer?”

Kayla grinned. “I had to prove to her that I am smarter than her and qualified to teach her, and she was fine.”

Kristen and Keirra laughed. “How long did it take?”

Kayla rolled her eyes at Keirra. “Ten minutes.”

Picking up her menu, Kristen shook her head. “Sometimes I wonder why I even torture myself with talking to you guys.”

Keirra smiled. “Because you love us.”

Kayla rolled her eyes. “When it comes to you, trust me, it’s out of necessity.”

Kristen laughed again. She loved her sisters and didn’t know what she would do without them. Her sisters picked up their menus and tried to decide what they were going to eat.

* * * *

“Damn.”

Randy looked up in surprise after Eric let the word of profanity slip. This was the guy he wanted to be his next deputy. He was showing Eric around the town to show him what he would be getting himself into. He turned to look in the direction Eric was looking in, and he grinned when he saw the Smith Triplets, although he felt like he had been punched in the gut when he got a full look at Kristen. She was sexy as hell. Even though it had been less than twenty-four hours since he last saw her, he missed her. She said that she needed time, but it didn’t mean that he should sit around until she made up her mind. Like his mother stated, he needed to provide her with extra motivation. Not being able to resist, he took the last swig of his coffee and sat the cup down. He pulled out his wallet and placed a few bills on the table. It was enough to cover his and Eric’s food plus a nice tip. He stood up.

“I will introduce you.”

Eric grinned. “Well, if you insist.”

Randy shook his head. He liked the guy and could see him fitting in well in Baxley.