Page 42 of Catching the Coach
I feel Marlene staring at me and I give myself a mental shake. Marlene doesn’t say anything and heads into the kitchen and I follow after her. She pulls containers from the cupboards and we fall into a comfortable rhythm of me emptying food into them. Her taking the empty dishes and rinsing them off before putting them into the dishwasher. I go back out to the table and finish collecting napkins and silverware. I hand Marlene the remaining silverware and discard the napkins. She starts the dishwasher and wipes her hands on a towel.
“Well, now that that’s all done I think we deserve a drink. Care for some wine?” she asks moving to a cabinet and taking out two wine tumblers.
“That sounds great,” I say and she grabs a bottle of Riesling out of the fridge and pours us both a generous amount.
“Let’s go sit on the swing and watch the men for a bit before we join them. We can have some girl talk.” We grab our tumblers and head out the sliding door and take a seat on the swing. I tuck my legs up under me criss-cross applesauce style and she pushes off the ground, gently swinging us. We sit in comfortable silence for a minute before Marlene speaks.
“You know I actually had plans to set Kessler up on a date tonight,” she starts.
I look at her, eyebrows raised. She holds up her hand. “It’s not what you think. I didn’t know about you until yesterday. I had this planned for a few weeks, so when Kessler told me he wanted to bring you to dinner, I of course was delighted. A little hurt he hadn’t told me he was seeing someone, but he explained that to me too.” She looks at me and I turn away, taking a drink of wine. “I see it, you know? Actually, I feel it too, I’m sure everyone does,” she says, taking a drink of her own wine.
I give her a confused look. “I’m sorry, I’m not sure I know what you’re talking about.”
She laughs softly. “I mean the pull between you two. There’s an energy when you two are together. I can see that he touches you whenever he gets the chance. I saw the shock on your face when he kissed your cheek. I know you’re trying to fight it, but it’s not something you can fight.”
I take a gulp of my wine trying to figure out what I should say to that, nothing comes to mind so I stay quiet.
Marlene lays her right hand on top of my left one and gives it a soft squeeze before releasing it. “You’re the first woman he’s ever brought home since high school.” She lets that bomb drop.
I whip my head to look at her to see if she’s joking, she’s not. “But, He’s 36,” I blurt out.
She lets out a laugh that makes Kessler look up at us, a huge smile on his face. “I’m well aware of how old he is. All I could think about when he told me about you, was ‘it’s about time.’”
I sit there in stunned silence for a minute not understanding why he’s never brought anyone home, and why me, why now?
“When you know, you know dear,” Marlene says as if hearing the questions running through my brain. “Henry and I only dated for three months before we got married. I was pregnant with Kessler a month later and 36 years later, here we are.” She pats my hand. “Granted I didn’t have to worry about Henry being in the spotlight like Kessler is, nor did I have a child’s feelings to protect, but Kessler wouldn’t do anything to intentionally hurt someone he loved.”
I freeze. Love? But, that’s not possible. Right? Marlene must see the panic on my face because we’ve stopped swinging and it slows. “Oh dear,” she says. “Lucy, I-”
I jump to my feet before she can finish her sentence. I turn to run to the bathroom, then realize I don’t know where the bathroom is. I turn back. “Restroom, I need the restroom. Where is the restroom?” Jesus, can I say restroom anymore?
“Down the hall, first door on your right. Are you ok?”
I nod my head, then dash inside in search of the bathroom. I find it and quickly shut the door, locking it behind me. I set my tumbler on the counter and pace the space a few times. I stop and turn the faucet on cold, letting the water run over my wrists, trying to cool my body that has broken out in a sweat. I take a few deep breaths, trying to calm my racing heart. My heart starts coming down to a normal pace when a knock sounds at the door.
“Lucy,” Kessler says through the door. “Are you ok? I saw you rush in the house, when I asked Mom what happened she said I better come talk to you. Can I come in?”
My heart starts racing again and I don’t answer.
Kessler knocks again. “Lucy? You’re worrying me here, Coach. Let me in.”
I turn off the water and wipe my hands on a towel. I turn the lock and the door opens. Kessler’s 6’2” frame fills the doorway and I’ve never noticed before how much taller he is than me. I stare at him taking him in. He stares back at me, uncertainty and concern in his eyes.
“What’s wrong? Are you sick? Do you need to go home?” he asks, reaching for my face and feeling my forehead.
“No, I’m-” I start, but stop to clear my throat and continue, “I’m not sick” is all I can manage to say.
“Ok, then what happened?” he asks, taking his hand from my forehead, instantly making me miss the physical contact.
I open my mouth to tell him but the words won’t come out. Instead, I find myself closing the distance between us and burying my head into his chest, wrapping my arms around him. I feel his arms come around me and hold me tight. I inhale his leather and spice scent and feel my body relax. He softly rubs my back and we stand there like that for a few minutes. I finally lift my head from his chest and tilt my face to look at him. He looks down at me, and I feel the air crackle between us.
Hmm, that must be the energy Marlene was talking about.
“You’re so beautiful,” Kessler whispers, moving one of his hands from my back, up to my cheek to caress it. I close my eyes and lean into his rough palm. Opening my eyes, I swallow hard when I see him looking at my lips. I lift up onto my toes and he meets me the rest of the way. His warm lips press against mine. I sigh and open my mouth slightly. Kessler matches me and deepens the kiss, sucking the breath from me.
Holy shit. I’m kissing Kessler. Wait, weren’t you just upset because his mom told you he loved you?
I break the kiss and put my hand on Kessler’s chest, pushing back slightly. We both stare at each other slightly out of breath.
