Page 39 of Kevin's Destiny

“I like how you worded that,” he laughed. “Since I invited you, and I went to the community freezer and got a couple of steaks out this morning, how about my place? I have the ingredients for steak, baked potatoes, and I think I have some fresh vegetables, I’m not sure what though.”

“I have asparagus that needs to be used up.”

“Perfect. I’m going to head out to go home, shower, then start supper.”

“I’ve got about twenty minutes left to work here, then I’ll head out.”

“My place in an hour?”

“Sounds perfect,” she said, and watched him leave, not releasing the breath she’d held until she heard the front door close. She twirled in her chair, feeling giddy like a teenager because the popular boy asked her out. She knew it was a stupid analogy, but she couldn’t otherwise describe how being asked to dinner by Kevin made her feel. She hunkered down to work, buther mind went in different directions, so she didn’t finish the work before she left. She saved it in order to do it the next day. Even though she was excited to get to Kevin’s cabin as quickly as she could, she decided to go home to get cleaned up and change into something other than her work clothes. Another thing she enjoyed about working at New Double was the fact that she could wear jeans every day, something that her old job wouldn’t allow.

As soon as she walked into her cabin, she grinned when she spotted the cake she had made that morning still sitting on the counter. She had been bored and craving something chocolate. She had baked a two-layer chocolate cake, but left it to cool when she went to work, anticipating frosting it when she got home. She would deny it with her dying breath that the cake alone would have been her dinner, because she hadn’t wanted to cook anything. Cooking for one sucked, and she was glad that Kevin had asked her to join him.

She quickly frosted the cake with chocolate frosting, then went to her bedroom and took a quick shower. However, she didn’t wash her hair, because she had done that when she’d showered that morning, so she pinned it up, took a quick shower, and redressed in a pair of jeans she liked to call dressy, a nice blouse, and she dug her cowboy boots out of the back of the closet. It had been years since she’d worn them, and as soon as she slipped her feet inside, it was like coming home. After she touched up her makeup, she put the cover over the cake, snapped it in place, picked it up, and walked out the door, then she had to turn back around to grab the asparagus from the refrigerator, but she make sure she left the light on above the stove so she didn’t walk into a completely dark home later. She did a quick happy dance then walked down the steps and across the road to Kevin’s cabin, wearing a big smile.

CHAPTER 14

“Thank you,”Yvonne said as she gently pushed her plate away and sat back with a satisfied sigh. “That was wonderful. I don’t know if it was because I didn’t have to cook it, or that it was genuinely delicious. I can’t thank you enough.”

“You’re welcome. It’s good to cook for another person again.”

“I’m sorry?”

Kevin shook his head with a heavy sigh as he pushed his own empty plate to the side. He leaned his crossed arms on the table. “Karen stopped cooking for Caleb and me when Caleb turned thirteen. He was the typical teen that would eat us out of house and home. Which was perfectly fine, because he wasn’t the type of kid that played video games. He was into sports, and was always either practicing or playing in a game.”

“Which meant he needed the food for fuel.”

“Correct, and Karen being Karen, the entitled bitch she was back then, was repulsed by the amount of food he ate. When she tried to restrict his diet, I stepped in and told her if she thought she could starve a growing boy with her four hundred calories a day diet plan, then I would take over the cooking.”

“Four hundred calories?” Yvonne looked at him in shock. “No one can survive on that.”

“You know that, I know that, but Karen was all about image. In her mind, we had to be the perfect family. Perfect in looks, manners, and any other shit like that. Anyway, there were times that I couldn’t be there to cook dinner for Caleb.” At her look of confusion, he elaborated. “I had just made Detective in the Homicide Division, I was on call twenty-four-seven. All of us were, but we rotated which case we would get.”

“Was that so you didn’t take each case and were overworked?”

“Yes, I set up a bank account for Caleb, with his own debit card. On nights I was called out, or couldn’t come home at a decent hour, he used that account to order some food for himself. One thing you might want to know is that Karen thought that since Caleb was a teenager, then her role as a mother was over, especially once he became taller than her.”

“I understand. I haven’t met him yet, have I?”

“No, he’s over at Broken Two, and I’m sure he’ll be at the get together on Sunday.”

“I forgot about that. Remind me again what it’s for?”

“For everyone to meet us, and for us to meet them. It’s my understanding that the workers from Broken come over here to help out since New Double is still short-staffed.”

“Ah, and this way if I meet them, I won’t give them the third degree as to why they are here, other than working in the barns.”

“Correct,” Kevin said with a nod as he rose to his feet and started clearing the table. Yvonne joined in, and for the next thirty minutes they cleaned up after their meal. When the last dish went into the dishwasher, he turned and faced her with his hips leaning against the counter.

“Would you like another glass of wine?”

Yvonne worried her lip while looking at him, then finally nodded. “Sure.”

He poured them each one, and instead of handing the glass to her he carried them both through the kitchen and into the living room. He turned to her, “You don’t mind, do you?” He indicated the couch with one of the glasses of wine, and once she settled in, he handed her one, then settled in beside her. Close enough to reach out and touch her, but not so close to making her uncomfortable. At least he hoped.

They sat there in silence as they sipped their wine, each lost in their own thoughts. He turned to her, and ended up leaning a little closer, then really studied her.

“What?” she asked quietly, a little self-conscious with the intensity of his look.