Page 38 of Faking Forever
Kenny had colleagues and acquaintances and associates, not friends.
And for a moment, when it became clear that Smith wasn’t going to leave after her miscarriage, she’d allowed herself to hope. To believe that she had possibly found her “person.”
Losing him was a blow. And she knew that this time, she truly had no one to blame but herself.
“Right,” he said with a decisive nod and she blinked out of her reverie. “Shower it is then. I’ll find that chair for you.”
“I need my bag,” she said. “It has my toiletries and a change of clothes.”
It was a little embarrassing to admit that she’d packed an overnight bag. How very optimistic—and misguided—of her. His eyes narrowed, but he didn’t comment.
“I’ll retrieve it from your car.”
“My car!” She hadn’t given Harris or her car a second thought since arriving here. “What happened to Harris? How did he get home? Did he have to walk? Do he and Tina live close by?”
She’d never visited Smith’s sister and best friend in their hometown before. The oversight made her feel incredibly selfish now. They’d always spent holidays and other special occasions withherfamily. And whenever Smith did come here, Kenny had always been too busy with work to join him.
“Don’t worry, I didn’t leave him wandering around the mean streets of Riversend,” Smith said with a slight quirk of his lips. He definitely wasn’t going to gift her with one of his magnificent smiles anytime soon, it seemed. “Tina was waiting for him when we arrived.”
“She didn’t want to say hello?” The wistful question slipped out without her permission. It was one of those “think it, don’t speak it” moments that revealed way too much about her state of mind.
Smith looked surprised by her question, then a little troubled.
“She wanted to. I told her it was better if she didn’t. That it would be awkward since you wouldn’t be staying long.”
“I see.” She averted her eyes to the pretty pink and white daisy-shaped rug on the floor.
Seriously, why was the vet renting this adorable little dollhouse out to strangers?
The thought was a welcome distraction from the complicated, painful feelings roiling in her chest.
“Kenna,” Smith’s voice was a whisper. “It’s for the best.”
“Yes.” It was the only word she could choke out. She kept her gaze determinedly fixed on the rug, happy when he finally sighed and turned away.
There really was nothing more to be said.
An hour later, after the most awkward yet satisfying shower of her life, Kenny finally felt human again. Or nearly human. She was still exhausted and her toe was killing her. Her foot could not bear her weight at all.
At least she looked halfway decent again. It had taken everything in her not to scream when she saw herself in the mirror earlier. Her long black hair had been a snarled, sticky mix of dust, sweat, twigs, and dead bugs. It had mostly escaped the neat braid she’d put it in before leaving that morning.
Her skin was caked with claylike mud and she’d had two huge raccoon-like circles of clear skin on her face where her sunglasses had been.
And then there were the itchy red bug bites.
This day, which had started off with such promise, haddevolved into a nightmare. It could have ended in literal death, but instead it had ended with the death of any hope she’d had of saving her marriage.
She stood in front of the bathroom vanity, staring at her now clean face in the mirror, with her hands braced on the countertop to support herself. Her right leg was bent at the knee while her left bore all her weight.
Her towel-dried hair framed her face like a curtain, the wet ends creating dark, damp spots on the shoulders of her gray top. She was dressed in a pair of loose-fitting boxer shorts and an old T-shirt.
She’d spent most of her shower sitting on the chair Smith had so thoughtfully provided. After wrestling her way into her clothes, she stood there working up the reluctant courage she’d need to call him to help her from the bathroom.
A sharp knock at the bathroom door startled her and she jerked in fright.
“Kenna? You okay?”
She met her blue-gray eyes in the mirror determinedly.
