He kicked off his hiking boots and sidled up to her, holding her as if everything about them was perfectly normal; but after the film screening, his embrace felt like a coffin surrounding her on all sides.
In his arms, she would die.
29
POLAROID GIRLS
Though Lacey’s investigation had quieted down, his relationship with Kenna had not seen much improvement.
Dayton thought about this while sitting at his desk at the rear of the practice. There was a positive correlation between the distance she’d put between them and his desperation to mend that rift. A pain splintered in his chest upon realizing it wasn’t the universe or God or any other cosmic force tearing them apart. No, it was retribution for all he had done. Plain and simple.
Mary Janes clacked on the floor behind him and he shuffled papers, feigning productivity to cover the tracks of his brooding.
Kenna bent beside him to gather her things and he was assaulted with her scent. No matter how familiar that fragrant potion had become, he still tipped toward insanity every time he breathed her in. He’d had her so many times, flesh on flesh, and yet when their ephemeral contact reached its end, he was left hollow. She spared very little of herself beyond the sheets and Dayton feared they were approaching end times.
“I’m heading out.”
“It’s 4 o’clock.”
She slid a hand across her face. “I have a gynecology appointment, if you must know.”
“Do you want me to take you?”
“No.” Her brows pinched together. “I’ll see you later, though, okay?”
He shook his head. “Tonight’s not good for me. I’m behind on some paperwork.”
She nodded, saying they would figure it out, and swept out of his office. Dayton may have been upset over her lack of parting affection but he was hyperaware of the state of their relationship.
He didn’t have paperwork to catch up on nor did she have an appointment. Kenna had seen her OBGYN back in November. It had been notated on a digital calendar on her laptop, something he’d seen the night he let himself into her apartment. When she’d fled south to California to chat up his ex-fiancée. She was keeping something from him yet again.
What it was, he had no idea.
He toyed with the idea of following her but it wasn’t a viable option. Another patient was due any minute.
Liam had agreed to meet her downtown at Bigleaf. She ordered a latte she had no intention of drinking and gravitated toward the pair of armchairs in the corner of the shop. Kenna set her mug on the round coffee table and sat perfectly still, focusing on her breathing in an attempt to steady herself before Liam’s arrival.
A few minutes later, he walked through the door and she was in awe of how much a year had changed him.
The shaggy hair was gone. Now it was short, spiked at the front. He had traded his leather jacket and tight jeans for an oxford and slacks.
Liam gave her a half-wave and pointed to the register, a silent indication that he’d join her once he ordered his coffee.
Minutes later, he set his latte on the table and filled the chair adjacent to hers. They sat in a spell of silence that seemed to span days. Liam was the one to break it.
“I was a little more than surprised when you reached out. Didn’t think I’d ever hear from you again.” He gestured at her. “Let alone see you.”
In that message, Kenna had not supplied a reason for their meeting but he hadn’t needed one to accept. She wondered if that meant, on his end, their exchange in the cafe would serve as a kind of closure.
He shifted in the armchair, speaking again though she hadn’t said a word. “I’m not sure how long I can stay. My job keeps me at the mercy of a phone call.”
“Where do you work?”
“School district. IT. I float around wherever they need me. So much for my film degree, eh?” His cell phone chimed and he glanced at the screen. “I told my girlfriend I was here. She might pop over on her break. She works at the record store across the street.” He slid the phone back in his pocket. “We met at aSilence of the Lambsscreening. How’s that for romantic?”
“Will told me she’s picking up some of the slack for the trivia team.”
“Well, Will told me that you brought a certain doctor to a party full of grad students. You’re still hanging around that guy? I thought some of the novelty would’ve worn away by now.”