Under the Viaduct by H. Anderson (first e reader txt) 📗

removed the top from the steaming soup and plopped a plastic spoon in it. She traded Mama C for the water bottle, put the lid back on, and set it on the ground between them.

Kaylee stood and grabbed a couple of rolled up sleeping bags to prop up Mama C while she ate.

“Here, let me help.” Blayne crouched down on the other side of Mama C and helped secure the sleeping bags. “How are you feeling today, Mama?”

“No worse than yesterday. You all need to quit fussing over me.”

Blayne looked at Kaylee and raised his eyebrows.

“She has a fever today. I just gave her some medicine so it should come down within thirty minutes or so,” Kaylee said in answer to his silent question.

“You all settled for a minute?” he asked Mama C.

“Yes. I’m fine. I’m just going to sit right here and finish eating this delicious soup Miss Kaylee brought me.”

“Okay.” Blayne patted her gently on the shoulder, then looked at Kaylee and jerked his head to the side. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”

Nodding, Kaylee stood and followed him, wondering if now would be a good time to tell him about New York.

When they stopped and faced each other, Kaylee looked up at him, waiting for him to speak. After a few awkward moments in which he looked from her to the ground several times, he said, “I get paid tomorrow.”

“That’s great!”

“It won’t be a full check, because I only worked part of last week.”

Kaylee nodded, not knowing what to say.

Blayne cleared his throat and looked her straight in the eyes. “I’d like to take you to dinner tomorrow. My treat, but you’ll have to do the ‘taking’ part, since you’re the one with the car.”

She didn’t want him to use his hard-earned money to take her to dinner, but she knew she needed to give him this one. And, she’d promised to let him buy the next meal they shared. The next two meals if she recalled correctly. “I’d love to. Do you want me to meet you here or at the job site?”

He smiled and answered quickly, “Meet me here around six. That way we can check on Mama before we go.”

“It’s a date,” she said, her face instantly flushing with warmth. “Um, I mean…”

“Yes,” he interrupted. “It is.”

Now that their apartment was clean and somewhat stocked with groceries, Allie decided to invite Max over for dinner and a movie. Kaylee had nothing else to do, so she joined them at Allie’s insistence, feeling like a third-wheel.

“So,” Allie said as soon as they all sat at the table to eat the “gourmet” spaghetti and garlic bread she’d cooked, “guess who has a date tomorrow?”

Max plastered a fake look of shock on his face, eyes and mouth open wide, and looked at Kaylee. “You? Like, a real date?”

Kaylee rolled her eyes at him and glared at her friend.

“Who’s the lucky guy?” Max asked.

“Who do you think?” Allie said. “The only guy she’s spent any time with for the last month.”

Max tilted his head to the side. “The homele…I mean, Blayne? Really?”

Now was a good time for Kaylee to put a stop to this. “Yes. Blayne. He gets his first paycheck tomorrow, and he wants to take me to dinner. I agreed. End of discussion.”

Ignoring her last statement, Max asked, “Are you sure this is a good idea? I mean, he has quite a history, you know.”

“I know his history much better than you do,” Kaylee snapped. “And it’s just dinner. We’ve eaten together multiple times, and he’s yet to murder me with a spork.”

“I think it’s uber-romantic,” Allie said, stopping her boyfriend from saying whatever he’d been planning on saying next. “And you’ve met Blayne. He’s a teddy bear.”

“Some teddy bears have hidden teeth and claws,” he mumbled.

“Oh my gosh! I’ll be fine. I trust him.” Kaylee stabbed a meatball with more gusto than necessary. “Now, change the subject.”

And she did trust him. But did she deserve his trust? She would tell him about New York tonight. No more keeping things from him.

Casual. That was the look Kaylee was going for. She wanted the “this is no big deal, just two friends having dinner” look with a splash of sexy…maybe a drop…a small drop. She settled for her favorite jeans, a tight sweater, and lip gloss.

Kaylee pulled up to the viaduct a little before six, checked her face in the sun-visor mirror, and stepped out into the cold, chastising herself for being so nervous. It was ridiculous, really. She’d eaten with Blayne on multiple occasions. She took a deep breath and focused in on Mama C as she stepped toward the camp.

“Mama C, how are you feeling tonight?” Kaylee knelt next to her and felt her forehead. Still a little warm, but not as fiery hot as the night before.

“Much better. Thank you, dear. Blayne had me take some more of that cold medicine and it’s been keeping my fever down.”

“How about the cough? Is it getting any better?”

“No,” Blayne answered for her, stepping into the ring of firelight. “She nearly coughed herself into throwing up while she was eating a while ago.”

“I’ll see if Max can suggest anything else for her.”

“Stop talking like I’m not here,” Mama C said. “It’s just a little cold. I’ll be fine. Now, don’t you two have plans? Get going. Hannah and Clint can babysit me tonight.”

“Yep,” Clint said. “We’ve got this.” He sat next to Mama and handed her a water bottle.

“Okay, okay,” Blayne said. “We’re going.”

“We won’t wait up,” Hannah said with a wink.

Kaylee looked at Blayne as the familiar warmth of embarrassment spread up her neck and into her face. He rolled his eyes and took her gently by the elbow, leading her toward her car.

“Ignore her,” he said. “She loves to get a reaction out of people.” He walked her to the driver’s side and opened the door for her before going over to the passenger side to get in.

As