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And Kelly could be that someone.
That’s why he kept right on walking.
Because how could he drag anyone into his shit? At the first whiff of it, she’d run for the hills anyway. He’d never be able to explain it all to her. The church. His father. Linnea. Jonathan. She’d never understand what growing up in Crossfield was like. The horrors he’d endured. The unspeakable things he’d done.
Best to leave it be.
Kodiak had given up on having a wife and kids when he signed those papers three years ago. At thirty-four, he’d resigned himself to leading a solitary life, and he’d finally made peace with it. He had a small circle of friends who’d become family, his sister, and a niece on the way.
They would be enough.
No, Kelly couldn’t be that someone.
Nobody could.
Feet crossed in front of her, Kelly leaned back against the coffee bar, watching her nephew wipe down the table by the window, trance-like, as he stared through the glass. He’d been at it a full five minutes now. “It’s good, Kev.”
“Huh?”
“The table.” She chuckled, shaking her head. “What’s so interesting out there?”
“Nothin’. Keeping an eye out for Katie is all.” Spray bottle in one hand, rag in the other, he turned around. “She had an afternoon class today. Her friend might be with her.”
“What friend?”
“Ava.” The curse of being a blond, Kevin’s cheeks turned red. “Now that she’s back, I think I’ll ask her out again.”
Ohhh.
“Good luck with that.” Kelly smirked, moving toward the storefront window. “Your sister’s not coming in. It’s just you and me, kid.”
“That sucks.”
“Gee, thanks.” She socked him.
“C’mon now, that’s my throwing arm.” He rubbed it. “And I didn’t mean it like that.”
A flash of denim out the window caught her eye. Motorcycle boots. His hair woven into a single braid down his back. She smiled. “Here comes Kodiak.”
He seemed to hesitate at the door, but he didn’t stop, walking by without so much as a glance in her direction.
“And there he goes.”
The smile falling from her face, Kelly turned to her nephew. “I wonder why he didn’t come in.”
“Why do you even care?”
“I don’t.” She shrugged, watching Kodiak blend in with the shoppers on the sidewalk until he was gone, and she couldn’t see him anymore.
Was she disappointed? Maybe a little, but then Kelly hardly expected some cookies to bring him around. A spur of the moment gesture, she wasn’t even sure why she did it. Except he’d looked so…alone.
And Kelly knew what that felt like.
She’d always been alone, even during that disastrous farce of a relationship with Stacy. Especially then. Since college, Kelly just couldn’t quite connect with anyone. Not on an intimate level, nor as a friend. Leo was probably the only exception, simply because he was Leo. And for one night, when she let her guard down with the help of a little alcohol—okay, maybe a lot—Kodiak.
The only man she’d ever willingly given herself over to. Kelly wanted him that night. Did she still?
A real woman would.
