Page 32 of Love at First Flight

Why shouldn’t I kiss him?she asked, while slipping her key into the lock of the townhome’s back door, quietly letting herself in so not to disturb her sister. She merely wanted to float upstairs to her bedroom to daydream a little—

She gasped after turning on the hallway bathroom light and—Holy hell!She was a messy, gross disaster with puffy eyes and blotchy skin. It was not the appearance of one who should be throwing herself into anyone’s arms and confidently giving kisses. No wonder he was surprised. Perhaps he wasn’t besotted with her lips as much as horrified because, again,holy shit. As a friend, he should understand why she’d never be able to see him again after this.

“God, Selah. What’s wrong?” Her sister must have heard her strangled gasp because she appeared beside her.

“Nothing.” Selah closed the bathroom door for privacy.

“That’s not going to work. I’m going to stand right here until you come out,” Naomi said from the hallway.

“There’s nothing wrong. I have to pee. Are you going to stand there and listen to me pee?”

“Yes, because you don’t look good, and I want to make sure you’re okay.”

“I’m okay. I just went to a friend’s house and the movie we watched made me cry.” Technically, it was the truth.

“What friend? You never go to any friend’s house. And since when do you ever cry over movies?”

“Why does everyone think I’m some kind of unfeeling robot?” She definitely wasn’t a robot because if she were, Selah would have been able to keep a secure lid on her emotions. Except it wasn’t a small prick this time, and she could, usually, prepare herself. She’d gotten good at knowing when there might be things that could trigger the pricks in her life. To the point where she thought she had total control and could be a human pincushion, no problem. She could be a rock nonstop.

Tonight, though, had been different. It wasn’t a prick as much as it had been a surprise stab to the gut. All it took was that first few opening scenes ofGalaxy Questand the lid on her emotions hadn’t simply come off—the whole thing had tipped over and everything spilled in a full containment breach. Doing a puzzle at Dex’s place was not the time nor the place for her to be hit with an emotional tidal wave, one she wasn’t able to stop.

He’d been sweet and gentle, even without an extensive explanation from her. Selah didn’t know how to reveal that this sudden outburst was a result of nothing more than a silly movie.

So, yeah, she was clearly mentally confused and out of control. It was no wonder she kissed him, for the last and final time. Selah should have used tongue while she had the opportunity. If a closed-mouth kiss was hot, she had no doubt that an open mouth one with tongue would have melted her bones down to their marrow.

Of course, she wasn’t going to explain all this to her sister, the romantic one in the group. She’d, no doubt, try to talk her into something ridiculous like making out with Dex, and Selah was much too fragile to risk it.

It was quiet outside the door. Maybe Naomi took the hint, leaving Selah in peace. She washed her hands and dabbed some cool water on her eyelids as if this might magically transform them into a normal appearance.

When she opened the door, her sister hadn’t budged, leaning against the wall. “I’m sorry,” she said in a sincere tone.

Selah shrugged, moving past her. “Why? What do you have to be sorry about?”

“I don’t want you to believe that I think you’re an unfeeling robot. I don’t think that. And what Hailey said today wasn’t fair. He was your dad as much as ours. She doesn’t believe that, either, but I think she’s seriously bothered that Dad... well, that his ashes aren’t being respected, and she doesn’t know how to talk to Mom about it, so I think sometimes she finds it easier if she takes out her frustrations on you.”

The pinpricks of heated tears had returned again to her eyes, which was annoying when she thought she’d cried them all out earlier in the evening. Whether what Naomi said was true or not, it didn’t matter at this moment. Selah didn’t have the energy to take it. She sighed. “It’s been a very long day and I’m tired. I’m going to bed.”

“Did you at least have fun at your friend’s, even though the movie made you cry?”

“Yes.” Thankfully, her sister didn’t ask the name of the movie. Otherwise, it would have given the whole game away. Selah hadn’t lied. She did have a good time at Dex’s. Yeah, the whole emotional breakdown part sucked, but the rest of it was nice. It was those moments she held onto as she lay in bed that night.

The next morning, Selah was in the office going over finances when her mom brought her homemade breakfast bars and coffee. “What’s all this for?”

“I just wanted to see mi roca and bring you breakfast. I’m trying a new recipe with the fresh peaches I got from your auntie. You work so hard, mija.” Her mother brushed back some of Selah’s hair. “Also, I need to apologize.”

Selah gave her mother an odd look. “What do you need to apologize for?” As far as she was concerned, there was too much apologizing going on, except from the one person who needed to.

“So, yesterday, there was a call from Bria, a reporter at the Bend news station, and I forgot to give it to you. I put the Post-it with the number and her email right there.”

Selah picked it up while taking a bite of food. “It’s not a big deal.” She wasn’t sure she wanted to talk to the news organization, anyway.

“I know, but it could be very important for the business, and I should have been more on top of it.”

Selah set down the Post-it, turning her chair to face Elena. “It’s not even your responsibility. You and I both know that Hailey’s supposed to be taking calls and emails and, as usual, you’re picking up the slack for her. That’s not fair to you.”

“I think you should talk to her. She was crying a lot yesterday after you left.”

Selah did her best not to roll her eyes.Shewas crying? There was a part of Selah who could understand Hailey’s frustration in regard to their father’s urn, because talking to their mother about that stuff wasn’t easy when Elena did her best to avoid such conversations. It had taken Selah two months to get her to agree to let their father’s cell service drop to save money and, even then, there’d been a lot of tears. But, despite Selah having sympathy in this area, it didn’t excuse her sister’s other actions. Hailey was the one who purposely created the gossip surrounding her and Dex.

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