Page 16 of Dependable Cowboy

Maybe due to there being next to no lighting out in that lot, she was able to catch sight of a shooting star. She hadn’t realized they’d taken so long to eat inside, but a peek at her phone told her they’d been chatting and eating in there for nearly two hours.

She could hear the sounds of the tributary from the river that became a nearby creek, as well as the distant sounds of coyotes and possibly a woodpecker in the small grove of trees off to the side. It’d been a long time, but the noises didn’t alarm her. They were the sounds of her childhood. The sounds of home.

“Ooh, look…” She pointed straight up into the sky.

“Pretty, isn’t it,” he said. “There’s a meteor shower happening tonight. Also, it helps that there’s a new moon. Makes for better viewing.”

They stood there together for several minutes, content to watch as one splash of pale light trailed against the velvet of the darkened atmosphere after another. There must’ve been dozens of them. Then, there were the constellations themselves. Everything was so crystal clear here that she could see all the various signs her dad had named for her as a kid.

Planets and distant stars like Venus and Sirius, but also constellations like the Big Dipper, the Pleiades, and Orion.

“Cassiopeia’s about to set, looks like,” Aaron observed, and following his eye line, she could see that he was right.

“Never thought I would miss things like the stars, but I have.”

“You couldn’t see them in California?”

She shook her head. “Way too much light pollution, or sometimes real pollution like smog down in LA. Between the two, seeing the sky this clearly just didn’t happen.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re here to see it again.”

“Yeah.” She stared at him, even though the dimness didn’t allow for her to make out much of him, just his outline, really. Yet, she could feel him standing beside her. Sense him there as a solid and familiar presence. “Me, too.”

He paused for another few moments halfway through the rocky parking lot, then reaching for her hand, tucked it into his arm and guided her the rest of the way. Once at her car, he brought his face closer to hers. She could smell that birch essence of his, and something about how it teased her senses had her taking a deep breath as if to memorize it.

“’Night, Joy-Joy.” And he kissed her.

It wasn’t a full-on lip lock or anything, merely a brief peck that was mostly her cheek and the corner of her mouth.

She didn’t know what compelled her to do it, but rather than stepping back or even pushing him away, Joy returned the kiss. Worse, she didn’t give him what he gave her, she lined them up properly so that her lips pressed against his. It was an action that not only refamiliarized her with the feel of his mouth to hers, it allowed her to feel the warmth of his surprised breath as he released a sharp exhale.

His eyes—one she knew to be amber brown with darker flecks—shined at her for maybe a second before he let them fall shut and kissed her all over again, improving on the one she’d provided to him. The kiss continued on and on, far too long, really, but she didn’t stop him. She couldn’t stop him. Or maybe, she had zero inclination to end something so wonderful.

By the time they broke apart, her breathing had accelerated, and she’d become a bit dazed. lightheaded. Even woozy.

Words were spoken between the two of them, but she had no idea what they were. She was too overwhelmed by all the sensations coursing through her. Because she and Aaron had never kissed like that. Or more accurately, she’d never had such a response to a kiss from Aaron. They’d been dear friends, and she’d felt more comfortable with him than with anyone back then.

But chemistry?

No.

So, when had that changed? And why?

Somehow, she found herself on the trip back to her parents’ house to pick up Kara even though she wasn’t consciously aware of any choice to do so. Had she been on automatic pilot or something?

Maybe.

Joy also discovered herself caressing her lips with her own fingers, as if to make sure they were there. She didn’t know what was going on. This wasn’t exactly normal behavior for her.

Had that kiss really happened how she remembered it? And if so, why had it been so much more powerful now than in their youth?

It was only as she pulled up in front of her mom and dad’s house that it occurred to her that she’d been treading in some dangerously deep water. She needed to think about all this, to process it. Because no matter what she might or might not feel for Aaron, there was one complication that she couldn’t get past even if it was a technicality.

Legally, she was still married to Wayne.

The truth was she couldn’t even be certain that Wayne was alive. For all she knew she was a widow. It wasn’t the best of signs when a man with a drug problem vanished without a trace. Or that he’d been gone for so long. A year and a half without a word. Not a single call, letter, or message. And not one of the leads she’d followed had led anywhere useful. She’d done everything she could to find him.

She wished she’d done more than try to find him. If she’d pursued having him declared dead or even a divorce she’d be free right now.

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