Glaring over her shoulder as he leaves, Jenna marches through the lobby and plows right into me.
“Oh! Sorry,” she says, taking a step back. Her face softens when she’s sees me. “Hey, I know you.… Kayla right?” She smiles and all the anger and frustration surrounding her instantly disappears.
I smile. “Yeah. I met you and Sarah—Pixie—Sarah?—at the lake.”
“That’s right. You stopped to ask for directions to Copper Springs.” She adds, “You can call her Pixie, by the way. I do. So what are you doing here?”
“At the moment?” I exhale. “Hiding from a guy.”
She scoffs. “I feel ya. I wish I could hide from that guy.” She tips her chin at the front door and sighs. “But I can’t.”
I nod understandingly. “Because he’s always around?”
“No.” She looks at the door longingly. “Because I don’t want to. Don’t get me wrong, the guy pisses me off and makes me want to pluck my leg hairs out one by one, but…” She shrugs and a hint of a smile pulls at her lips. “He makes things interesting. Honestly, I’d be bored without him.”
Jack pops his head back in the front door and calls out, “I’m ready when you are, Diva!”
Her puppy dog smile is immediately replaced with a look of complete agitation as she whips her head around and yells, “Don’t. Call. Me. DIVA!”
He grins at her. “It never gets old.”
“God!”
He disappears back out the door and she turns back to me, all smiles and goodness again.
“So this boy you’re hiding from,” she says. “Does he make things interesting?”
I think for a moment. We jumped out of a train car, fell down a mudslide, slept in an abandoned house, and showered with handcuffs on—and all in the last seventy-two hours.
“Yes,” I say. “He’s the most interesting thing that’s ever happened to me.”
She smiles. “Then what are you hiding from?”
36 Daren
With carefully planned routes through the inn, I manage to avoid Kayla for most of the day. It’s not that I don’t like to see her—I very much enjoy looking at her. But I just don’t know what to say to her. I loved feeding her, but she was so sad about everything she’d learned about her mom that I felt like drudging up any issue she and I have would have been petty.
I need to say sorry but sorry has never come easy for me, especially when it comes to girls. I’ve never really put much effort into making up with members of the opposite sex. Once they burn me, I typically back off so I can’t get burned again. It’s a rule of mine and, up until three days ago, it worked flawlessly.
But for some reason my chest just won’t seem to loosen up with all this guilt and gloom. I can walk away from any girl anywhere, but not Kayla.
The sound of jingling keys meets my ears and I turn to see Ellen approaching the front desk, where I’ve been restacking printing paper for the past ten minutes.
She smiles. “The repair guy towed Kayla’s car to Latecomers and gave it a jump, so it should be working now. I’m going to grab Kayla and we’ll meet you outside. You ready to go?”
I nod. “Yep. I’ll be out in fifteen minutes. I’m sure Kayla wants to get away from me as soon as possible.”
Ellen narrows her eyes. “Why?”
“Because,” I sigh, angry with myself, “I basically slaughtered her to pieces with my words the other day.”
“Ah,” she says softly with a short nod. “That explains your guilt.”
I frown. I wasn’t aware my guilt was noticeable. Shit.
“But what about hers?” she says.
“Hers?” I wrinkle my brow.
“Yeah,” Ellen says. “Kayla’s been darting her eyes away from you and looking at the floor every time I try to speak with her about you… just like you’re doing now.”
I snap my eyes from the floor and meet her gaze. “That doesn’t mean she feels guilty.”
“Well it certainly doesn’t mean she’s angry. You should talk to her.” She smiles. “Girls are big on communication.”
“Why, so she can tell me what a jackass I am?”
“Maybe.” Ellen shrugs. “But if it meant you’d get her back, wouldn’t it be worth it?”
“Get her back?” I shake my head. “I never had her.”
Ellen smiles with a twinkle in her eye. “Oh, Daren. There is so much you don’t know about women.”
37 Kayla
From how sexy and beautiful Ellen is and how put together she looks, I expected her to drive something sleek and flashy. Something sporty and wild, or maybe sophisticated and expensive. But instead, she walks me outside to an old beat-up bright yellow truck.
She laughs at the look on my face. “What were you expecting? A Porsche like Daren’s?”
I laugh. “No. Yes. Maybe. I think I pictured you driving something fancy.”
She nods with a smile. “I get that a lot. I think it’s because of the high heels I wear, or maybe just my overall appearance. Whatever the reason¸ I like to surprise people now and then by doing something that seems ‘out of character’ for the way I look.”
“Oh!” I immediately feel bad. “I’m so sorry. I wasn’t trying to stereotype you by your appearance, I swear.”
She laughs. “It’s no big deal. It’s just the way it is. The way I look makes life easier in a lot of ways, but it sometimes leads to people making assumptions about me.” She tilts her head at me. “But I’m sure you know all about unfair assumptions based on beauty.”
I open my mouth but don’t know what to say.
Ellen steps closer. “It’s okay to be aware of your beauty, Kayla. In fact, it’s important. It’s okay to know you’re pretty and to know that the world treats you differently because of it. It’s only a problem if you use your beauty to manipulate others, or make others feel bad. Which, after getting to know you a little bit, I’m confident you would never do. So it’s okay. Be beautiful.” She grins. “Hey and maybe someday you can surprise someone by driving a giant yellow truck.”
She gets into the truck and I walk around to the other side. As I slide into my seat I almost feel like crying. In just a few sentences, this woman who was a stranger until just yesterday showed me more understanding than any other woman has in my whole life. And she gave me permission to look the way I do without feeling guilty or ashamed.
Without thinking, I lean over and wrap my arms around Ellen. “Thank you.”
She hugs me back, embracing me tightly. When we pull away she looks at me.
“You know what, Kayla Turner?” She smiles softly. “You’re amazing. And the world is just going to have to be okay with that.”
I laugh and wipe away the single tear dripping down my cheek just as the back door opens. I seriously have a crying problem lately.
“Hey, sorry I’m late,” Daren hurriedly says as he climbs inside the truck and shuts the door.
“No problem.” Ellen turns the engine on and pulls away from Willow Inn. Then she glances at me with a sympathetic face. “I talked to the tow truck guy and he was able to jump your car and give it a little juice, but he said it’s on its last legs and probably won’t last much longer.”
I sigh and nod. “Yeah. I knew it was coming. It’s just a matter of time before it’ll just die altogether. But at least it’s working for me now and I have a way to get around.” I glance back at Daren, knowing he’s completely car-less and wondering what his plan is, or if he even has one.
I think about Jenna’s words all afternoon. She seemed so frustrated with that Jack guy, but at the same time so sure she wanted him around. Because he was interesting.
Daren has been nonstop interesting—and absolute trouble, just like I thought. But it was the kind of trouble I needed to feel alive. It shook me up. It woke me up. It was the perfect kind of trouble.