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Keep Kissing Me Like That

11/29/2023

Ryan followed Marta to her car. “I can’t believe you got me out.”

“You can thank Earl for that.”

He slid into her passenger seat. “I did, but he told me you got the judge up.”

“I just love being a brat.”

He nodded and yawned.

“Didn’t get any sleep?”

“Could you, if you were in my place?”

“Probably not.” She backed out of the spot and headed for the street.

He looked back at the police station and shivered. “Hope I won’t be back there anytime soon.”

“Guess we’ll see.”

“Yeah, I’m sure he’ll try to get me back for this.”

“About that…”

“You want some breakfast? I’m pretty hungry.”

She gave him a side glance. “Breakfast? Sure. I can make you something when we get back to the pastor’s place.”

“You’ve done enough already. We can just stop at the Zavijava for an egg sandwich or something. My treat.”

“Turducken guy is resilient and swings a fat wallet. Not sure if Zavijava is open yet. How about the diner?”

“Works for me.”

She chewed her lip. “Um…”

“Are you actually at a loss for words?” He smiled.

“I think there’s a bottle of hand soap in my purse if you’d like to wash your mouth out.”

He held his hands up.

“Did the Chief act differently after we left?”

“Differently?” He pondered a moment. “He went home after a while. I didn’t see him again after he cuffed me to that table.”

Marta huffed and drove on.

“One of the guys came in and swabbed me when I asked to go to the bathroom.”

“Really?”

“I figured he had some unsolved nonsense he wanted to try to hang on me if he could.”

“That’s as good a guess as any.” She turned a corner. “What do you remember about your mom?”

“I was telling the pastor, she used to buy me activity books.”

“What brought that up?”

“He gave me a book of Advent devotionals and it has some word search pages in it. I always liked stuff like that.”

“And that’s what you think of when it comes to your mom?”

“She’s been gone a long time.” He looked out the window. “I spent all my angry thoughts about her back when I was growing up.”

“Good thing I’m driving.”

“Huh?”

“I want to kiss you so much, it hurts.”

“I’ll take a rain check until we get to the diner.”

“He’s humble and magnanimous all at the same time. I may need to pull over.”

“You’ve got to do what you’ve got to do.” He shrugged.

“Nathan?” She whispered. “What time is it?”

He stirred.

She realized her phone was still in her coat pocket. She realized she didn’t care and tried to go back to sleep. “Nathan?”

“Carol? What’s the matter?”

“I’m worried about Sarah.”

“Poor kid. She was upset yesterday when I saw her.”

“I hope she’ll be alright.”

“What happened?”

“She tried to end it all.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. She was mad about the thing with Paul, but I’m sure there was more to it than that.”

“Probably. There’s no telling what the last straw might be for anyone.”

“I’m just glad she’s not alone. I thought she was happy. She told me she was.”

“Putting on a brave face. People do that.” He hugged her tighter. “Pretense can’t last forever.”

“No, I guess not.” She snuggled down onto his chest. “Neither can ambiguity. I’m glad I know where I actually stand with you now.”

“I wasn’t sure where I stood with you, either. I wanted to be whatever kind of friend you needed me to be.”

“You always were. Thank you.” She caressed his cheek.

“That was my way of saying ‘I love you’ without trying to scare you away.”

“Why did you think that?”

“When Ryan roared out of town, you were so…”

“Devastated.”

“I wanted to be everything he wasn’t.”

“I was too hurt to do anything but take you for granted. I’m sorry.”

“I’m not.”

“Wow.”

“You take understatement to an art form, sir.” Marta pulled away from the curb and drove on toward the diner.

“Keep distracting me like that and we might wind up late for brunch.”

She whacked his arm. “They say the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. Try to be the exception. Will you?”

“You’re already there.”

She smiled. “Yeah, you too.”

“Will your parents approve?”

“Who do you think got the judge out of bed? I’m telling you. She wants grandkids.”

“Keep kissing me like that and she’s likely to wind up with an army of them.”

“My name is Marta Kwock and I approve this message.”

“Okay, okay. You’ve had your kicks. I’m seriously hungry. I’m going to need some nutrition for the next round.”

“So, tell me about your dad.”

He scowled and tapped a tense beat on the armrest. “My dad was a bum. How about your dad?”

“My dad is retired, so he’s a bum with a nest egg.”

Ryan laughed. “Boy, you’ve got a comeback for everything. Don’t you?”

“Only child of a bossy Korean mom.” She nodded. “I needed to develop a repertoire if I was going to get a word in at all.”

“What are their names?”

“My parents? Sam and Fran.”

“You’re lucky they didn’t name you Cisco.”

“They already had a dog named that before they had me.”

“You’re awful pretty for somebody made out of Teflon.”

She smiled as they pulled into the parking lot. “You’re so sweet I’m going to have to eat half a salt shaker to keep from going into shock here.”

“So, what are you planning to have for breakfast?”

She leaned over and whispered in his ear.

He blushed and released his seatbelt. “Not here, we’ll both get arrested this time.”

“A jury of my peers will not convict, stud-muffin.” She unbuckled and opened her door. “Breakfast first, dessert after.”

He got out and chased her into the diner. “Boy, you’re something.”

“I’m yours. That’s what I am.” She hung her coat on the rack outside the inner door.

He reached across her to hang his coat and whispered to her. “Ditto, kiddo.”