Marsh was a few minutes early, and Karissa wasn’t ready to leave yet when she heard his voice downstairs. She looked at her reflection in her bedroom mirror and finished her right eye. No way was she going down half made up and without mascara on, even if just the sound of his voice made her feel like a young teen in the first stages of a crush.
When she did make it down the stairs a few minutes later, she found Marsh reading a book to her pajama-clad son. They made a nice tableau, and her heart leaped in her chest when Marsh looked up and smiled at her. He and Paul seemed so natural together. Perfect really. And she could see her life with him, see him and her son growing closer every day.
She wanted it with a strength that scared her. Was she in love with Marsh? She wasn’t sure. There was something between them, something growing every day, but she wasn’t ready to fully let herself go. She hadn’t been good enough for Dennis. What if Marsh dated her for a while and then saw her deficiencies, saw what had driven Dennis from her bed to Sheryl’s?
Karissa finished her trek down the stairs, carefully making her way toward the pair in her pumps and a flirty floral dress that showed off her calves, and had a neckline that hinted at cleavage without actually baring it.
“You look gorgeous.” Marsh looked like he wanted to stand, but his lap was still full of little boy.
“Thank you. Don’t get up. Finish your story. I’m going to say goodnight to Mom. I’ll be back in a minute.” Ants started to race through Karissa's stomach as she held his gaze.
“Okay.” His eyes lingered on her for a moment longer, appreciation in his expression, before he sucked in a breath and turned back to her son and the book they’d been reading.
Karissa smiled, pleased with his reaction, and headed to check on her mom. Beth had been doing better the past few days and the doctor seemed to think she was going to recover this time. It was a relief to all of them, as watching her mother’s illness was hard. They were doing their best to control the lupus, and Karissa hoped with continued monitoring, it would eventually become just a very bad memory.
“How are you, Mom?” Karissa asked when she found her in the kitchen.
“Just fine,” Beth said from where she was slicing apples. “Don’t worry about me. I’m going to make some apple crisp and sugar that little boy of yours up before we put him to bed. Your dad has been craving it.”
“He should have told me; I would have made it.” Karissa felt bad for taking off when her family obviously needed her around. Though her mom was doing better, she looked a little pale now.
“You do more than enough around here,” Beth said, putting the back of her hand on her hip. “We’re capable of taking care of ourselves for one evening. You need an evening out. Go, enjoy yourself.”
“You don’t mind taking care of Paul again?” Karissa felt like she left her son with her parents far too much. “At least next year he’ll be in school all day, so you won’t have to watch him so much.”
Beth touched her daughter’s shoulder. “Honey, we love having you here. We’re your family. We love to help you, and we’re proud of what you’re doing. It takes a lot of guts to step up and do what needs to be done. And your help here has been invaluable. I don’t know how we would have gotten through this without you.”
Karissa’s flutters turned all gooey at the praise. “Thank you, Mom.”
Beth waved it away. “I’m not saying anything that isn’t true. Now, go eat, you must be starved.”
“I will.” Karissa leaned in and kissed her mother’s cheek. “Don’t let my son run you ragged.”
“We’ll be fine.” Beth turned back to her chopping block and started to hum along with the radio.
Karissa grabbed her coat and headed for the front room where she could hear her son giggling and talking to Marsh.
The book was done, and Marsh stood when Karissa entered, sliding Paul onto his feet on the floor. “You ready to go then?” he asked.
“Yeah.” She hugged and kissed her son, telling him to be good, then let Marsh help her into her coat, and they left.
When Marsh opened the door of the Luigi’s fifteen minutes later, the pepperoni-laden heat enveloped Karissa. They passed a room filled with the dinging and bleating of arcade games and the chatter of children’s voices. It was a different kind of homecoming for Karissa, the first time she had been in the restaurant since she had returned to town.
They ordered, got their drinks, then settled across from each other on the black benches, and Karissa settled her hands on the table’s chipped red Formica. She smiled when she recognized the letters JLH carved into the edge. When Karissa had been twelve, her friend Jana Lee Harper’s latest ‘boyfriend’ had put the letters there. At the time, it had seemed almost romantic, now she shook her head, amazed that she had ever been so young and foolish.
A glance back at Marsh made Karissa smile. All the times she had sat at this table with her friends or parents, dreaming that someday she would be there on a date. Since Karissa’s one high school boyfriend had never taken her anywhere but parties and dances, it had never happened. Until now.
“What are you thinking?” Marsh asked, taking her hand on the tabletop and wrapping his fingers around hers.
She laughed lightly. “You bringing me here on a date is the fulfillment of a childhood dream.” It seemed silly to admit it, but he knew far more embarrassing things about her.
A cocky grin slid across his face. “You dreamed of dating me, too?”
Karissa picked up the straw wrapper in front of her, scrunched it in a ball, and tossed it at him. “The pizza place, dork. You’re just the mode of conveyance.”
“Convenient. So you’re saying you didn’t pine for me like I did for you?” His eyes laughed at her, and his mouth was set in a mischievous curve.
She took a sip of her soda. “I’m still not sure I believe you about that.”
Marsh grinned and she realized the tension had ebbed from her shoulders while they spoke. This was what she needed right now. He was what she needed.
“You know I wouldn’t lie to you about something like that,” he said.
“Right, because you’ve never teased me about things before, making up stories to fool me.” She thought of their childhood and the tall tales the guys had fed her. Not that she thought he was doing the same now.
“This is totally different, and you know it.” He caught her gaze, holding it for a long moment.
“Yeah. I know it.” She studied him a while before allowing herself to say what she was thinking. “Being with you feels good. It surprises me all the time, how right it feels to be with you. It shouldn’t, but it does.” And the fact that attraction wasn’t the only thing she felt, that the friendship was easily catching up to the chemistry between them, surprised her. He was nothing like Dennis and, it turned out, nothing like she’d thought from what she’d known of him when they were kids. Was this an act? Or had that been the act and this was the reality? Or was the truth somewhere in between?
“Good.” Marsh's lips twitched for a few seconds, like he wanted to say more, but then he stopped, leaving Karissa to wonder what he wasn’t saying.
“So, what’s new on the basketball front?” she finally asked. She tucked her fingers more firmly into his hand, hoping he’d feel her reassurance, and not like she was just prying.
“We practiced with the JV team today. Three of their guys are going to join our team permanently. Some of the others will rotate in from week to week. We announced this morning that we are going to have tryouts to fill a few spots. Four guys approached Jeff this afternoon. We may have another one or two talk to him tomorrow, if we’re lucky. We’ll work out together for the next week and see which ones mesh the best. Then we’ll pick the new guys next week, before Christmas break. We’ll juggle a few more things and see where it comes out.” He shrugged but seemed uncomfortable.
“Are you nervous?” she asked.
“Terrified. The sheriff’s office and school have been leaning on the kids pretty hard, but either they don’t know where the drugs came from or they aren’t telling. As long as they keep their mouths shut, we can’t stop the person who put us in this spot.”
“Do you think they’re being threatened by the dealer?”
“It happens, sometimes. We think this is different, not your typical dealer. None of the guys on my team tested for recreational drugs. And the wrestler who did isn’t connected to the rest of the problem. He’s kind of a loner and doesn’t know anything about it.”
“So he says.”
“So he says.” Marsh nodded and sucked in some of his soda. The pizza arrived and he thanked the waitress. “Okay,” he said when she was gone. “Enough of that. I’ve practically thought of nothing else, and I don’t want to worry about it now. I’m with you, and you’re much more interesting.”
She shook her head but had to chuckle a little at the flattery. “You keep saying things like that.”
“That’s because it’s true. So tell me about what, exactly, your dream of coming here on a date consisted of. And what other dreams can I fulfill for you? Night skiing?”
Karissa laughed. “Yeah, because me and skiing go hand in hand! No. I don’t know what else, and this was just the usual. I guess.” She shrugged.
“What’s the usual?”
“You know, me and a hot guy—that’s you by the way—sitting across from each other, eating pizza, holding hands, his attention riveted on me instead of his buddies or video games.” She felt herself blush at calling him a hot guy, though it was entirely true. She’d never been so forward before.
“I think I can manage that. Really, you need to get some bigger dreams,” he said as he threaded his fingers through hers. “Not keeping my attention focused on you is going to be much harder than the alternative. Is a stolen kiss part of the dream?”
“From across the table? Now that would take some serious contortions.” It had been part of the dream, but she wasn’t going to say so. Having a vision of something like that, and actually doing it in a packed restaurant surrounded by people she knew, were entirely different things. Then she glanced around the room and realized that the only people she knew were the wait staff.
“I wouldn’t want you to get bent out of shape. I guess I’ll have to wait until later.” His eyes made dark promises.
She wet her lips in anticipation of the kiss she was already looking forward to.
***
Marsh brought her back to his place for movies and ice cream after they finished eating. “I’d take you down to the theater but, with the storm brewing out there, it probably wouldn’t be smart,” he explained.
The closest theater was down the twisting canyon road, and the drive to her parents’ place would be dangerous enough if the snow started coming down. Adding the extra miles of bad road wouldn’t be smart.
“You’re right. Besides, who wants to deal with a big theater full of giggling teens?”
“Exactly.” Marsh helped her with her jacket, hanging it beside the door, then turned her to face him. “Plus, we’re much cozier here, and more private.”
Karissa looked up and caught the heat in his gaze. It blazed through her, making her face grow warm again and her mouth go dry. “Privacy can be a really good thing,” she agreed.
“Especially when someone has as little of it as you usually do.” He stepped closer.
“I really do. There’s always someone in that house when you’re over.”
“And when we’re sledding,” he said when he tipped his head toward hers.
“Or at pizza places,” she murmured.
“Or your work.” He touched his fingertips to her chin, tipping her head up even more toward him.
“Or downtown. But we hardly ever meet there.” Her heart beat triple time, and she brought her hands up to his waist, needing the extra support even though he hadn’t kissed her yet.
“Except when we do.” His mouth covered hers, soft, gentle, with increasing pressure.
Karissa felt her heart fly out of her chest and flutter around as she pressed against him, wrapping her hands around to slide up the muscles of his back. One of his hands caught in her hair and their heads shifted, molding their lips closer than ever.
The breath backed up in her throat and she stopped breathing, not sure if she could anyway as she came up on tiptoe, stretching to meet him better.
Somewhere her heart must have been pounding against the ceiling, wanting to get out, because she could feel its residual beat in her chest still, harder and faster than ever. “Marsh.”
“I’m such an idiot,” he muttered against her mouth.
She realized he had been maneuvering them in the room when her back hit the door. “Why are you an idiot?” she asked.
“Because I didn’t do this weeks ago.”
The kiss flowed on for a long, timeless moment before she pushed him away, sucking in a breath and her heart with it so it beat only in her chest instead of filling the room with the reverberations, though she still felt the nerves firing in her fingertips.
“Wow.” Marsh tipped his forehead against hers, breathing hard.
“Yeah. Wow. Hold on.” She let herself catch her breath for a long moment. “Don’t be an idiot again, okay?”
He laughed. “I promise. I’m going to kiss you as often as I can get away with it.”
“Good.” She laughed in relief as the blood started flowing to her brain again and he led her to the sofa, asking what she wanted to watch.