Kissing Trouble (11 page)

“I don’t think I slept a wink,” she mumbled honestly, setting her cup down. “I woke up every hour to check on the kids.” She bit her lip, watching the ripples on the surface of her drink. “I kept expecting someone to break in and...”

“Hey.” Mason reached across the distance and lightly slipped his fingers around her wrist. He pulled her hand away from her mug and held on to it. She let him. Let the warmth and comfort of his touch sooth her, even if it was temporary. “I won’t let anything happen to you, or the kids. I promise.”

Her gaze slid away from their joined hands to clash with the eyes searching her face. Her skin tingled even as her chest did that weird fluttering thing. She quickly pulled away.

“The kids will be up soon.” She pushed to her feet. “I should start on breakfast.”

Taking her mug with her, she stepped behind the security of the island, putting the chunk of marble and wood between her and the man seducing her resolution.

She didn’t know what to make of the Mason standing before her. He had, only four years earlier, made it perfectly clear that he had no interest in her whatsoever. Yet there he was now, acting like he cared, touching her, and using those smoldering good looks on her like she were one of the girls that normally clung to him. Did he really think that, just because he made her heart palpitate a little faster and her knees a little weaker, she would just forgive him for what he did?

Turning her back on him, she yanked out pans and set them on the stove. Her mind was set on repeat, reminding her he would be leaving in four days and she could go back to pretending he never existed. What were the odds of them ever crossing paths again?

Comforted in her own thoughts, Julie broke eggs into a bowl and dropped strips of bacon into the first pan. The greasy scent of frying meat filled the air. She popped pieces of toast into the toaster while pouring the egg mixture into the second pan. She did all this without giving the figure at the table a single glance. It was simple only in theory.

Whether it was the clang of pots and pans or the smell of breakfast, it drew Dustin and Rick into the room. Rick seemed more awake than his older brother, but Dustin made up for his lack of alertness by glowering hotly at everyone. Apparently, he hadn’t gotten over his grounding the day before. Julie didn’t let it bother her.

She smiled at the two. “Morning! Where’s Wendy?”

“Sleeping,” Rick muttered around a wide yawn. “I smelled food.”

Julie waved them to the table and began filling their plates. She was just pouring orange juice when Wendy stumbled into the room, looking exhausted.

“Did I miss breakfast?”

“Nope, just started.”

Julie got Wendy a plate and urged her into a seat.

“Can I have more bacon?” Rick called.

“I want more juice,” Dustin chimed.

“I don’t like scrambled eggs,” Wendy whined.

Julie was reaching for the plate of bacon when a hand rested over hers, stopping her.

Mason met her gaze as he dragged the plate away from her. “Grab yourself a plate. I’ll deal with the savages.”

“Oh, it’s okay—”

“Sit!” he urged, nudging her towards the table.

Not accustomed to being assisted, Julie sat and watched as he dropped bacon onto Rick’s plate, told Dustin to get his own juice, and coaxed Wendy to eat her eggs. Had she not been so tired, she would have been impressed.

“What are we doing today?” Rick asked, as he sat kicking his legs under the table.

In the process of raising her coffee to her lips, Julie paused, her mind a complete blank. “Uh...”

“Well, if you guys behave and hold tight for a little while, I was thinking we could hit the carnival. I saw signs for it driving in. It’s opening night.”

He had the kids at carnival. They practically upended the table in their enthusiasm. Even Dustin’s sullen expression broke with the enormous grin that spread across his face. Julie laughed and watched as they shoved down their meals and hurried from the room to get ready.

“Do you think that’s a good idea?” she asked once she was alone with Mason.

Mason shrugged. “Why not? It’ll get the kids out of the house and keep them quiet for a few hours.”

Julie had to agree that it had been a good idea. There wasn’t a peep out of the kids the entire day. Even Rick and Wendy, who were notorious for their screaming matches, played quietly in the yard with Mason, shooting hoops and chasing each other around the pool. Dustin, after finishing his breakfast, left his plate on the table and wandered off to flop down alongside Shaun on the sofa. Julie was scrubbing egg and leftover bacon off the plates when Luis padded into the room. He made himself a bowl of cereal and ate it at the counter as Julie did the dishes. When he finished, he rinsed out his own bowl and asked if she needed help before leaving her alone to join Shaun and Dustin in the sitting room.

Julie finished in the kitchen and did a quick sweep of the rest of the house, making beds and running a quick vacuum and mop over the floor. Mindless cleaning had always helped keep her mind off her troubles, except this time. Thoughts kept bouncing off the walls of her skull and it all revolved around her decision to be in that place. She should have told Maureen no. She should have just accepted the offer to take the kids to Disneyland instead. But no. She hadn’t thought she was capable of handling three energetic miniature-sized humans for a solid month at an amusement park. Somehow, now that she was faced with Mason and some psycho nutcase, Disneyland sounded like a fantastic idea.

It was two in the afternoon when Maureen called to talk to the kids. Wendy wasted no time telling her mom about Mason’s promise to take them to the carnival if they were good. Even from a distance, Julie could hear Maureen’s false excitement as she cheered at the news. It made Wendy laugh and bounce around the kitchen as she chattered on about the couple of days they’d had. By the time Julie got a hold of the phone, after it had been passed from Wendy to Rick and Dustin, patience was running thin in Maureen’s voice. She could almost hear the rattle of pills as Maureen staved off one of her many migraines with valium, or aspirin, or whatever the choice of numbing agent was that week.

“Are you sure it’s safe?”
Maureen asked once she had dosed herself properly.

“Yes,” Julie assured her. “There are four adults and three kids. I think we can keep an eye on them. How are you?”

Maureen blew heavily into the receiver. The sound reminded Julie of wind blowing through an open car window while driving down the highway.

“Exhausted. I spent most of last night talking to my lawyer and then the rest of it tossing and turning. Susan, my lawyer, swears we have a solid case against him, but it is going to be a long, messy road. Dean’s pulling out all the dirty stops. He’s bringing up stuff that I did in college. Can you believe it?”

“No, I—”

Maureen kept talking.
“It’s ridiculous. I’m the one the kids should be with. I do everything for them.”

Julie said nothing, not sure what to say.

“So have you and Mason solved your problem?”
Maureen asked.

“Oh, yeah, we’re good,” Julie assured her, not wanting to burden her even further.

“I knew you would be. Mason is just wonderful.”

What was she supposed to say to that? So she said nothing.

“Have there been any incidents?”

Julie considered not telling Maureen about the incident the night before, but years of babysitting had taught her one thing—never lie to the parents. It never ended well.

“There was one.”

She told Maureen about the kittens and how the sheriff had behaved and all the things Mason had told her. By the time she finished, Maureen was spitting mad.

“I never liked that sniveling worm,”
she hissed.
“Errol Reynolds was always a self-serving little shit.”

“But is it true?” Julie asked.

“Julie, listen, the things Mason did, yeah, they were really stupid, but he was young and he was stupid. He paid for his crimes. He straightened out his life. He’s a good man now and that’s what matters. We all learn from the crap we did when we were young, right? Anyway, that asshole should have looked into the matter instead of sitting on his thumb.”

“He seemed positive that Mason and Shaun were responsible.”

“Of course he was,”
Maureen muttered.
“It means he doesn’t have to do his job. The lazy fuck. I know when Roger and I would take the kids up, back when Dustin was Wendy’s age, there was always that one kid high on bravery who would do something stupid like throw eggs at the house or key the cars. But Mason’s right, after a day or two, they always stop.”

“So you’re okay with us staying?” Julie wondered. “I don’t mind bringing the kids back.”

“No, no, it’s fine. I should have forewarned you beforehand, but I always forget about that part.”

Typical Maureen, Julie thought with a stressed shake of her head. The woman never remembered anything important, not unless it involved her directly. Having dead animals thrown on your porch was something Julie would most certainly not forget, especially when she was insuring the safety of her children to someone who wasn’t properly warned. But then again, that was also typical Maureen.

“I should go make sure the kids are ready for our outing. Did you want to talk to any of them again before I let you go?”

“No, no, I think they’ve told me all they can for one day. I’ll call again tomorrow. Have fun and be safe.”

She hung up before Julie could even open her mouth to say goodbye. 

“Everything okay?” Mason asked when Julie set the phone down.

“Yeah, everything’s fine.”

“Great.” He grinned and clapped his hands together once before rubbing them in a very insect-like manner. “Ready for some fun?”

Despite the tension in her gut, Julie couldn’t help but laugh at the wicked grin on his face. “As I’ll ever be.”

It took less than twenty minutes to get the kids packed and strapped into Julie’s car. Dustin opted to go with Mason, leaving plenty of room in her backseat for Wendy and Rick. The air was white hot with excitement. The kids were practically euphoric throughout most of the trip into town. They chattered on about all the rides they were going to go on and all the cotton candy they were going to eat. It got loud a few times, but Julie would take their happy babbling over their arguing any day.

Night was creeping across the sky, dosing the pale gold smear left behind by the fading sun. Cool air swept through the open windows, filling the car with the crisp scent of pine and night. It felt amazing stinging Julie’s cheeks and blowing her hair back from her face. She would have closed her eyes, had she not been driving.

A safe distance ahead, Mason’s Dodge Ford taillights spilled pools of crimson across the wet pavement. On either side, trees became dark silhouettes that stretched on for miles until it was broken by the first shop into town.

Mason followed the neatly kept roads and passed rows of country styled buildings. People darted from store to store like it was the night before Christmas and no one had done any of their shopping. Julie had to keep one foot over the brake at all times as she maneuvered the crowd with a tight knuckled grip around the wheel.

“What the heck is going on?” she muttered to herself as she slowed to allow a couple the chance to dart in front of her.

They waved, laughing as they sprinted across the road.

“It’s like this all the time,” Rick announced from the backseat.

“Not all the time, stupid!” Wendy argued. “It’s the festival weekend,” she said. “Mom and Dad used to take us all the time.”

“So you guys have been to this carnival before?”

She saw Wendy and Rick bob their heads in the rearview mirror.

“My favorite is the bonfire!” Wendy announced. “We get to stay up late and roast marshmallows until the fire dies.”

“The bonfire?”

Julie made a mental note to ask Mason about all the other festivities taking place in the next four weeks. The last thing she wanted was to make the kids stick around the cabin all summer, doing nothing but swim and run around. New activities once in a while sounded nice.

“It’s on the beach!” Rick said.

“The lake!” Wendy corrected. “And the whole town comes and they build this giant fire by burning tons of old furniture and stuff. It’s really fun.”

Julie huh’d. “We’ll have to check it out,” she said.

Wendy clapped excitedly.

It seemed like forever before they pulled away from the bustle of the main road and headed further out of Salmon Cove. Julie was beginning to wonder if they were headed back to Alberta, when Mason turned off the highway and pitched headlong down a dirt path that forked off. The darkness was thicker and the road thinner, not nearly big enough for the two-way pass that it was. Julie prayed to god no one was headed towards them going in the opposite direction. She wasn’t sure she had enough room along the shoulder to allow them to pass.

Eventually, after nearly six miles, the road yawned and widened. The trees thinned until they were sparsely placed and finally stopped altogether as a clearing came into view.

They saw the halo of light first, spreading into the navy blue sky like the approach of dawn. The tinkling sound of music came next. Then she saw it, the glittering top of a Ferris wheel peeking out from over a small cluster of trees. A long row of cars curved up the road ahead, creating a line that seemed endless as Mason rolled to a halt, forcing Julie to do the same.

“Guys?” Julie called into the backseat. “We need to set down some rules before we get there, okay?”

Groans followed her statement, making her grin.

“First, you stay with me at all times. You don’t go anywhere without me. You stay where I can see you and you can see me. Don’t talk to anyone you don’t—”

“We know all this, Julie!” Wendy whined. “We’re not babies.”

“No, you’re not, but I just want to refresh your memories.”

“Are we there yet?” Rick piped in, craning his neck to look out the window.

“Okay, guys, for real now, I need you to stay with me at all times, okay?”