“I need to get some sleep,” he said to his brother and sister while pulling out enough cash to more than cover their tab.
“Hang around and listen to the next set with me,” Courtney said to Scott when it looked as though he was planning to leave, too.
Scott pushed back his bentwood chair, anyway. “Nah, I really—”
“You really want to hear the music,” Courtney insisted, using the same emphasis that their mom did when she wished to make it clear that her suggestion was actually a command.
The ploy worked, and Scott sat.
Kevin stood.
“See you at home,” he said to his brother. He waved goodbye to Conal, who returned the farewell, and then he ruffled his kid sister’s hair just to toy with her a little.
Once outside, he decided to take a moment and enjoy his surroundings. The streets were quiet, as it was both a weekday and after the full push of tourist season, when the Channel Cat ferried visitors across the Mississippi from the Illinois side to fill the village’s shops and restaurants. Kevin relished the evening’s peace.
He knew what perceptive Court had done, buying him a little time alone before Scott came home. They were currently housemates in a restoration project. Like many of the houses that sat on the hillsides above the village, it was large. However, unlike the rest, they were currently down to two bedrooms, the kitchen, and one bathroom in the way of habitable space. Neither of them was accustomed to such tight quarters. Tonight they’d be like bears circling in the same cramped cave.
Kevin walked uphill, past the old firehouse, and then into Lindsay Park, just the other side of it. Full darkness was beginning to overtake twilight. He sat on one of the park benches overlooking the river. Legs stretched out in front of him, he willed himself to empty his mind of the day’s stress and let night come.
He wasn’t clear on how long he sat there, as he didn’t want to keep time. All he knew was it had been long enough that the lights on the opposite shore now twinkled brightly, and that the village behind him was growing quiet. Kevin rose and began to make his way home.
While there were any number of routes that could have taken him back into the part of the neighborhood where he lived, the most direct was past Shortbread Cottage. Lisa’s place sat back on its lot, and she’d made it inviting to customers by putting in a small garden with a couple of café tables beyond the picket fence that James and he had installed just after James had gone to work for him.
Kevin’s gaze was drawn to the cottage, but that was no big deal. It was only natural to glance at a place that had been a part of his life for so long. What was a big deal was to see Lisa sitting alone at one of the tables. The lights on either side of the front door and the small solar lights in the garden gave just enough illumination to be sure it was her, but he couldn’t gauge her mood.
Kevin figured he could always pretend he hadn’t seen her, but that fell far outside of what he considered to be good character in a person. Instead, without slowing too much, he said hello. But he didn’t get a hello back.
“Do I strike you as a weak person?” she asked.
That stopped him.
“No,” he replied.
“As someone who doesn’t have the drive to make it on her own?”
“No.”
Even though she hadn’t exactly invited him to join her, Kevin did, pulling out the opposite chair. It felt intimate yet also oddly anonymous, sitting in the dark like this. But if dim light was what it would take to get her to talk to him again, he’d sit there until the sun rose.
“So I take it Inquisition Night was a little rough?” he asked.
“More so than normal. First they ambushed me with a man, and then they asked me to move home. My dad cast the move as being for Jamie’s sake, but it felt more personal than that.”
Kevin put aside questions about the man ambush, the thought of which bugged him…as did any thought of Lisa dating someone other than him. Instead, he focused on her.
“Jamie seems like one content little guy to me, and I give you huge credit for that. I give you credit for making this place the gathering spot that it is, too. I guess what I’m saying is, Lisa, you’re one of the strongest people I know.”
She ducked her head, and her hair, which for once was down loose, shadowed her features even more.
“Thank you,” she said as her face came back into the sparse light. “Maybe I’m just a little tired. Maybe that’s why I haven’t been able to just brush off their comments.”
“Could be,” he said noncommittally. He knew if he told her what he really thought—that to him, she seemed more fragile by the day—she’d be in the house in a heartbeat. “Maybe you need to spoil yourself a little.”
Her laugh didn’t carry its usual light ring. “I don’t think I even know how to spoil myself anymore.”
“So, suppose you had a day off, with only yourself to think about, what would you do?”
“Go to the grocery store,” she replied without any hesitation.
“You’re kidding, right?”
“Hardly. You have no idea what a luxury it would be to shop without a four-year-old in tow.”
“So, not a day at the spa or the movies or a bookstore?”
“Afraid not. I’m pretty low maintenance.”
He pulled out his cell phone. “It’s time for an intervention.”
“A what?”
Instead of explaining, he did what he did best, and took action. He pushed Courtney’s speed-dial number and waited for her to answer. When she did, he said, “Hey, Court, I’ve got a favor to ask.”
“I’d say I’d do anything for you, but I’m afraid you’d ask me to have Scott move in with me. He’s a slob.”
“Interesting suggestion, which I might take you up on sometime, but no. I was wondering if you would watch Jamie Kincaid tomorrow night? You know, just keep him after hours and give him dinner? I’ll pay, of course.”
“If you’re taking Lisa out, I’ll do it for free.”
He looked at the woman in question. “I don’t know if we’re going to have dinner or not. All I know is that I want the opportunity for that to happen.”
“So it’s not a done deal? Do you even have Lisa’s permission for me to watch Jamie?”
“If I don’t right now, I will by tomorrow night.”
“That’s a novel approach, I’ll give you that much,” Courtney said. “Sure, I’ll watch him.”
“Great. Love you,” he said, then hung up.
He didn’t need light to catch Lisa’s glare.
“What, exactly, was that about?” she asked.
“It was about getting you to take a breath. I like you, and I don’t like what I’ve been seeing over the past few months. I can’t put my finger on it, but you haven’t been quite you.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
He knew that she fully understood what he meant, but also saw no point in cornering her. It sounded as though she’d had enough man ambushes for one night. “Then humor me. You close up shop at five, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then tomorrow night at six, meet me in Malloy’s Pub for dinner. Nothing fancy, not a date…just some talk between two people who could both stand to get out more.”
“No!”