Page 43 of Shine On Oklahoma

Kendra stood there with Dax and waved goodbyeas everyone left. The shower had gone really well. And now she wasgoing to help with the cleanup, and make the best of the evening,because there was nothing else she could do tonight, anyway. Hersister had been right about that. So she pushed up her sleeves andstarted back to the dining room with the few remaining people. Nedwas still there, and he and Miss Dolly were using cleanup time tocontinue talking, and laughing and touching every now and then. Itwas kind of sweet.

Everyone headed into the dining room. Kendrapaused and glanced back at the bar. Might as well make clean-up asmuch fun as possible. She filled a glass with ice, then halfwaywith Coke, and then the rest of the way vodka, highest proof on theshelf. She dropped in a straw before moseying back into the diningroom, where not a single balloon remained.

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Dax could see that Kendra was tipsy. She wasnot drunk. He knew drunk from tipsy. She’d sneaked a couple ofdrinks when she thought he wasn’t looking, probably because sheknew he was on the wagon.

“It went really well, don’t you think?” sheasked.

“I think it was a huge hit,” Dax said.

“I had a moment with Kiley, I think.”

“I saw.”

Everybody was gone, except for the two ofthem. The place was clean, chairs up on tables. Joey had been thelast to leave, and he’d said, “I’ll leave the back door open. Lockit up before you uh… whatever.”

They were walking that way now, toward theback door. Dax wasn’t sure if Kendra was expecting him to leave andlock it behind him, or stay, and lock it from the inside.

He decided to find out, and locked the door,then looked at her, waiting for her to object. He did an internalhappy dance when she didn’t.

“Miss Dolly is sweet,” he said, arm aroundher shoulders, walking them back through the kitchen, into thesaloon, and around to the staircase.

“She’s been flirting with Ned all night. I’ma little bit worried about him.” She wrapped her arm around hiswaist as they climbed the stairs, let her head rest against hisupper arm as they went up. “She’s in the…family business.”

“He’ll be fine. He’s ex-Navy.” Then hethought a minute and smiled. “Besides, he’s smitten. Well and trulysmitten.”

“Twitterpated,” she said, laughing. “Itiskind of sweet.”

“You’re kind of sweet, too,” he said, and heturned her into his arms when they stopped outside her door. Andthen he kissed her, and as usual, common sense and rational thoughtleft his mind. “You taste like vodka.”

“I’m sorry. I’ll brush my teeth.”

“I like it.” He kissed her again to prove it.He’d quit drinking, so this was as close as he was gonna get.

She kissed him back and pressed her key intohis hand. He turned them sideways and maneuvered it blindly,jabbing and missing a few times before he manged to turn the keyand open the door. They stumbled inside, still kissing, fell ontothe bed still kissing, undressed each other, still kissing.

Sex with her always felt real. She didn’tpretend, she didn’t cover, she didn’t hide. She let him see hersoul when he made love to her. He stroked her secrets. He kissedher scars. He touched her fears, until she let them all go.

It had always seemed like she really meantit, when Kendra let him make love to her. And tonight, it felt likeshe meant it even more.

Later, when they collapsed in and around andagainst each other, breathless, plummeting to earth from heavenlike the winking sparks of a fireworks display, he said, “I loveyou, you know.”

And she said, “Yeah. I know.”

He hadn’t expected anI love you, too.He’d hoped, but he hadn’t expected it. Probably just as well. Ifshe said it now, before he told her what he’d decided, it mightchange anyway.

He sank back onto his pillows beside her, onehand behind his head, and watched her face. She was on her sidefacing him, knees bent and tipped over on top of his thigh, onebent arm across his chest, fingertips splayed over his heart. Maybeshe was feeling it beat. It was beating fast. For her.

He looked right into her eyes. “I don’t wantto own a racetrack, Kendra. It’s probably the thing I want least inthe whole world.”

She flinched as if something had stung her.And then her gaze seemed to be looking within. “Why not?” sheasked. But he got the feeling it was filler, to give her mind timeto write the rest of the script. All that connection, all thatopenness, was fading now. She was gathering her masks around heronce again.

“On his deathbed, my father told me he’d havedisinherited me if he’d known he was gonna die so soon. He’dintended to take care of it, just didn’t get around to it. Whoexpects to die at sixty, you know?”

“Your father was an asshole.”

“Yes. He was. But the fact remains, I don’twant it, Kendra. He didn’t want me to have it, and I can’t swallowenough pride to take it on a technicality.”

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