Page 16 of Montana Heat

I was honestly a little surprised she remembered my name. “Good to see you again.”

Kenzie stood up. “I’ll leave you two to your dinner. I don’t want to?—”

Mrs. Kimble patted the bench next to her. “Don’t be silly, dear. We always have a slice or two left over. Stay here and eat with us.”

She looked over at me, one eyebrow raised. I shrugged. “Is there ever any legitimate reason not to eat pizza in the middle of the afternoon on a Wednesday?”

A smile tilted those full lips. “Not that I’ve ever found.”

Mrs. Kimble took the box and pulled out two paper plates from her bag like she always did. She handed one to each of us. “Wonderful! I’ll use the box as my plate today.”

Mrs. Kimble chatted as we all ate. I gave my normal grunted replies, but Kenzie was obviously better at this than I was. She asked questions to keep Mrs. Kimble talking, even turning the conversation back to the older woman when she tried to make it more about Kenzie.

I had to admit, that impressed me. I would’ve assumed that Kenzie was used to attention and focus on her and that she liked itthat way. But even when it was logical for her to talk about herself, she kept directing the conversation back to Mrs. Kimble. It wasn’t hard; all Kenzie had to do was ask about Harold, and Mrs. Kimble would happily launch into a story.

But something wasn’t quite right. Now that I was closer to Kenzie, I could see that she was looking paler and a lot more tense than when she’d dropped her car off yesterday—and she hadn’t been in the greatest headspace then.

Not that she was letting Mrs. Kimble know that. Again, I was impressed. Kenzie might be more big-city than small-town, but she wasn’t letting a lonely widow feel anything but completely seen and heard.

I was almost through my second slice of pizza when Mrs. Kimble jumped up. “Would you look at the time? I’ve got to go!”

“Go do what?” I asked. She always went straight home after our meal.

“I…I forgot I had something I scheduled.” She patted my arm. “Now, don’t you be rude. You stay here with Kenzie and finish the pizza. I’ll see you next week. I’ll be sure not to…schedule anything then. Silly me.”

Mrs. Kimble hugged Kenzie and fluttered out the door, despite both of us trying to get her to stay. We were both standing there just staring at each other as the door closed behind her.

“I think somebody is playing matchmaker,” Kenzie finally said.

I gave her a half smile. “I’m pretty sure you’re right, but we don’t have to stay.”

She nodded. “Yeah, don’t let me keep you. I appreciate the pizza.”

I recognized a dismissal when I heard one. “You’re welcome. I hope to have your car ready soon.”

“Thanks.”

I turned to leave, but I caught her glancing at the door, almost in fear, as I did. Once again, she looked pale and tense.

Damn it.

I should just leave. It wasn’t my business whether she was struggling with something or not. But somehow, I couldn’t make myself move. I looked down at the small foil package Mr. Cristolman had given me. I already knew what was in it.

“Would you like a brownie?”

That shook her out of whatever had spooked her. “What?”

“The pizza place knows I have a standing dinner date with Mrs. Kimble on Wednesdays, and the owner sneaks us a treat. In her oh-so-subtle attempt to make herself scarce, I guess she forgot about them.”

Kenzie raised one perfectly arched eyebrow. “Or she was trying to give you a secret weapon. Who can resist brownies?”

“Would a brownie help?”

“Help with what?”

“With whatever has that look on your face?”

She sat back down on the bench. “I don’t think a brownie is going to help with that, but I’ll take one anyway if you’re offering.”

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