Page 29 of Powerless

“Mom and Dad think this is for Jen. So, I had to pick up Jen, and she’s hanging with Liam, while Dad called and asked if I could use the grounds to take my girl for a picnic.”

Kathryn lifts her hand to cover her mouth, but I can see the smile lighting up her angelic face. “You, Liam and Jen are all in on it, while your parents and her parents think it’s you and Jen here?” I nod proudly at my sneakiness. “And what happens if either set of parents decide to slip over and see what’s happening?”

“We’re not thinking of worst-case scenario this evening, Kathryn.”

She laughs and shakes her head. “What’s in the box?”

“Food.”

“Did you cook?” My mouth contorts as I balance and hold the box with one arm, and reach for her hand with the other. “I see.” She links our fingers as I lead her to the perfectly manicured garden. “Wow,” she says when she looks over the greenery. “The garden is so vast and bright. It’s more than a garden. It’s a showpiece. This should be in magazines. Look at that massive water feature that runs nearly half a mile down the center. This place would be amazing at night, with all the lights. Wow, look at all the fruit trees lining this magnificent garden. They could easily charge a small entry fee and let families come and enjoy a picnic for the day.”

I love how enthusiastic Kathryn is about something as simple as the garden. “They do allow friends and family to visit. They’re not here at the moment, they’re traveling overseas somewhere. But, they like Dad, and were happy for me to have access.”

“What a shame this isn’t available to everyone.” She looks at the box, then drops my hand and runs ahead. “Here. This is where we should set up.” She picks the biggest tree with the greenest of leaves and twirls under it. “This is perfect.” There’s a growing sensation in my chest as I walk toward her. Kathryn simply takes my breath away with how flawlessly beautiful she is.

“So, this is the one, is it?” I ask as I lower the box to the lush green grass.

“This is it. Look.” She raises her arms over her head and wiggles her fingers as she stands on her tiptoes to touch the leaves. “It’s so beautiful.”

“Yes, you are.” The instant the words leave my mouth, I know how corny they sound, but I can’t help it when I’m with her.

Kathryn lowers her arms to her sides and drops her chin so she’s looking at the ground. “That was really bad.” She lifts her head to meet my eyes. “There was some hardcore cheese factor there.”

I break out into a deep guttural laugh. “As soon as I said it, I thought it was corny.”

“Oh, it was.” She shakes her head and laughs. “Should we set up?”

I open the top of the box and produce a picnic blanket. “Here.” I hand it to her to spread on the ground. Then, once she’s seated, I begin to take out the containers of food. “Our cook made the food.”

“At least you didn’t try to take credit for it.”

“I give credit where credit is due.” I stretch my legs out in front of me, and Kathryn turns to sit cross-legged facing me. “There’s a selection of baguette sandwiches, and a few different salads.”

“Wow! How many people are you expecting?” Kathryn asks as she looks at all the food laid out between us. “This is enough for at least two or three days.”

“Whatever we don’t eat, we can throw.”

“Throw it?”

“Yeah, in the trash.”

“You’re going to throw perfectly good food away?” Her features soften and her shoulders slump. “How about whatever we don’t eat, we give to someone who might not know where their next meal is coming from?”

My mouth falls open and I tilt my head to the side, staring into her molten brown eyes. “I’m not even sure that is possible.”

“Donating food to people?” She wrinkles her nose as if she’s disgusted with me.

“Nope. Not that.” I can’t tear my eyes off of her. “I think I’m even more in love with you.”

Kathryn’s cheeks glow with a hint of pink. “You can’t say things like that, Bennett.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s not fair.”

“Why?” I repeat.

She leans her arms back and tilts her head to the side, while maintaining strong eye contact. “You might be a dud kisser, and then that’s it for us. But you’ll be all broken up because I don’t want to date you anymore,” she says playfully.

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