ChapterEighteen
BRYCE
After a late night spent in prayer, I arrived at church with a smile.
As promised, I saved a seat for Krystal and her mom next to Monica, my parents, and me.
Krystal wore a cheerful yellow sundress, and her tanned California skin looked positively radiant.
I smiled and ushered them into the pew.
“Good morning, Mrs. Daughtry,” I greeted Krystal’s mom before turning to Krystal. “Ms. Daughtry.”
She looked at me with a confused but cheerful smile. “Good morning, Captain Storm,” she said cordially. Krystal sat on the far side of her mom, which meant we weren’t next to each other. That was probably for the best.
“What happened to your arm, Bryce?” Sharon asked curiously, her eye on the bandage revealed under my rolled-up sleeve.
I looked at Krystal and saw the worry in her eyes as she flicked her gaze to her mom and back to me. She didn’t want me to tell her mom about how close the incident had been. Well, I knew just how to take care of this. “Oh, your daughter stabbed me with a wooden stake.”
I watched with glee as Krystal’s mouth fell open and she sputtered her objection.
“I did NOT stab you, Bryce Storm. And you better not be telling people I did, thank you very much.”
I chuckled. “Fine, fine. It’s really more of a scrape. Truth is, I did it to myself. Practically ran into her.”
Krystal’s expression was one of gratitude as the conversation shifted, and then the music began.
I sighed with relief. Whatever heaviness had existed yesterday after the accident and the kiss was apparently forgotten. We could move forward how we’d planned.
Last night, I’d come to an understanding as I lay on the couch and stared at the ceiling talking to God. I’d known from the start that I was in trouble if I had to spend too much time with Krystal. And yet, I’d walked into the fire.
It wasn’t her fault I had kissed her. Apparently, I was always the one kissing her, and she would always be the one rejecting me.
It was like I was eighteen years old again.
But this time, I wasn’t in too deep. We only had a month left, and I could keep my distance from Krystal. Emotionally, anyway. Actual distance was pretty hard to come by in Minden, especially as the auction drew near.
Monica leaned over and whispered, “So you and Krystal are going okay?”
I gave her a confused look. “We’re fine, why?”
“Just checking. My friend, Jennifer, was asking about you. I figured if you’d blown it already with Krys, I’d give her your number.”
I glared at my sister and then pointed at her Bible and then to Pastor Justin at the pulpit. I turned my thoughts back to the sermon as well.
If Krystal was going to be here for five more weeks, then I was still going to take advantage of my blind date shield. Honestly, it was the least she could do after rejecting me a second time.
Later in the week, I sat in my truck after dropping a load of mulch at the church for Luke. My fingers hovered over the keyboard.
BS: Are you busy today?
KD: Just getting home from physical therapy with Mom.
I read the message and hesitated. Things for the auction were going just fine. We’d texted a bit throughout the week, but I hadn’t seen Krystal since church. I shouldn’t want to see her…but I knew I did.
We needed to hang out, right? Just to keep up appearances. Monica had asked about Jennifer at church, and while she hadn’t asked again, I didn’t want to take any chances. At least if I spent some time with Krystal soon, I could tell Monica that when I deflected her matchmaking attempts.
BS: Want to hit up Bloom’s Farm? Hawthorne told me they’ve got baby animals at the petting zoo right now.