Page 53 of The Valentines Day Proposal

“It was nice seeing you, Katy,” Brennon said. He still couldn’t help but to compare her to the teenage girl ingrained in her mind.

Katy smiled. “Yes, and it was nice seeing you too, Brennon. Thank you so much for the advice...really. It came right on time.”

Brennon laughed, hugged Katy gently, then walked toward his car. Katy headed in the house, shut the door, then peered through the side windows. She watched the taillights of Brennon’s Chrysler swerve out of the driveway and disappear. The scent of his cologne still lingered in her nose. Katy had been lost in her thoughts when her mother’s alarming voice rang out once again. “Katy?”

Chapter 3

“I know I had that folder sitting out here a couple of hours ago,” Katy said. “I hope one of the kids didn’t somehow walk off with it.”

Katy had walked her class to the school exits so they could load onto the buses and ride off into the sunset – at least for her – nearly thirty minutes ago. She finished filing some things and was now gathering what she would take home. Today had been a good day – no fire drills, no fights, and no kids acting too bad. Now, she was racking her mind trying to find a plain vanilla folder with math worksheets inside, which she wanted to take home and grade since she planned on having the time this evening.

Katy searched through drawers, through every file on the desk, and even some of the cubbies in the back of the classroom. She felt dumb when she found the folder on the floor under her desk. She snatched it up quickly, tossed it into her bag, then headed for the hallway.

Katy’s drive home was every bit of the usual. Traffic slowed a bit when she got out to the suburbs. After a couple of busy exit and on-ramps, as well as a small slowdown in a construction zone, she zoomed out into the country freely for about twenty minutes then got off at her exit. As the road sloped with the hills, she thought about her life. What would be her next move? She still couldn’t decide on the Master’s part, but knew she was ready to do something. Brennon’s words – his pure, helpful advice – had been on her mind. She smiled at just the thought of him.

Kettering Road sloped uphill then turned a bend in a wooded area at the sides of a creek. From then on, after going up another slope, there was a majestic view of their house. The road pointed directly toward it for at least a few minutes before finally winding a different way. When Katy turned into the driveway then winded around another wooded bend and into the circular driveway, she was a bit surprised to see another car in the driveway – a white Chrysler was parked next to her father’s Buick. Katy’s forehead wrinkled up as she processed it all and grabbed her bag.

“Absolutely and that’s what I was trying to get through to the board at the last meeting,” Katy’s father Richard had been emphatically explaining when she walked through the door. “You know that bonehead Skillman doesn’t want to hear it. He’s only in it for the money and everybody knows it, but his family owns this and that, so you know how that goes.”

Katy chuckled and shook her head. She realized her father was venting his frustrations about serving on the local development board in La Grange, which was about an hour away. “Hey Dad! It’s me!”

“Oh, hey Katy,” Richard said, stepping out of the living room and into the foyer. “Before you go upstairs, you wanna come in and say hello real quick?”

“Yeah, sure,” Katy said. She hung her jacket on a hook then stepped up to the living room entrance. She was surprised to see Brennon sitting on the fainting couch, in the very spot where she’d been sitting with him last weekend when they had people over to the house. “Oh, hey.”

Brennon smiled – a genuine, happy-to-see-you smile. He stepped across the room, hugged Katy tightly, then sat back down. Richard stepped back into the room.

“Yeah, since I didn’t get to talk to Brennon the other night when everybody was over here, I decided to see when he could stop by.”

“Yeah, that’s cool,” Katy said. An urge came over her to sit down and join the conversation...not for her father, but rather to talk to Brennon. But she didn’t want to disrupt her father’s venting about the board. After all, everyone knew how passionate the man was about it. “Well, I won’t interrupt you guys. Nice to see you again, Brennon.”

“Yeah,” Brennon said, looking into Katy’s eyes. “Likewise.”

Katy graciously bowed out of the room as her father picked up where he left off. She grabbed her bag then headed upstairs. She paused for a moment at the banister looking over into the foyer. Brennon had started speaking. For whatever reason, Katy wanted to hear what he said. Even if she didn’t know what he was talking about or referring to, she still listened intently.

Katy retreated to her bedroom, pushing the door up so she could change out of her clothes. Her phone rang only moments after she pulled her shirt up over her head. It was Eve calling. She answered. “Oh God.”

“Well, geesh,” Eve said. “Is that how you answer the phone now, Katy?”

“For you it is,” Katy said. She vividly recalled the last time they talked, which was a few days ago. Eve called with her usual story about how Katy needed to get herself out there in the world so a man could notice her. Then, as to be expected, Eve went on and on about the guy she met at the house the few nights before. He seemed so nice and Eve was sure he was interested in Katy. “So, what’s up? Are you at some bar somewhere with your legs out and crossed and chest hanging out trying to get some guy to notice you?”

“Now, now, Katy,” Eve said then sucked air through her teeth. “You know it’s getting a little too chilly to have your chest out right now. So, I probably won’t be doing that.”

Katy shook her head disapprovingly as she lay on the bed, turning her head toward the windows. The view of the hills beyond the church steeples down in town had become a signature scene for Katy throughout her childhood. “Yeah, yeah.”

“So, a

nyway, what are you up to today?” Eve asked.

“Just got home,” Katy said. “Dad is downstairs giving a earful to Brennon.”

“Brennon?” Eve asked, sounding as if she were on the edge of her seat. “Isn’t that what’s-his-name that came and sat with us out on the patio?”

Katy sighed loudly. “Yes, that’s him.” She rolled her eyes. “That’s Brennon. Eve, please don't start.”

“Don’t start what?” Eve asked. “You said to not try to hook you up with the guy or imply that kind of stuff...and I didn’t, Katy. Geesh, would you calm down. So, I think I should tell you I think that guy’s interested in you. I really do.”

Katy paused for a moment. Brennon certainly was an attractive, handsome man. And he was interesting while having a lot in common with her. The thought of dating him, though, was somewhat strange. After all, he had practically watched Katy grow up. There was a little more than fourteen years between she and him. “Eve, I couldn’t even date him if I wanted to.”

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