Page 63 of Mine For The Winter

She never should have demanded he talk to her in the summer house.

“Is everything okay?” she asked Will, her voice thick as she hung her coat up and grabbed an apron, wrapping it around her waist.

“All good. Just started to get busy about twenty minutes ago,” Will told her. “That’s when I messaged you.”

Mariah Carey’s voice was pumping out of the jukebox, and a group of twenty-something guys were surrounding the pool table, laughing as their friend missed a shot. Kelly turned to the customers lining up at the bar and took the first person’s order, thankful for the distraction from thinking about him.

Will’s message had come through right as they’d finished dinner. The four of them had been sitting around the table, only two of them aware of the thick atmosphere. And thank God for that. She was glad her dad and Cole were oblivious.

They didn’t need to know what an idiot she was being. Just because her past had come striding back into her life, turning everything upside down.

“I asked for a soda, not a glass of beer,” the man in front of her said. Kelly looked down, frowning at the half-filled glass in her hand.

“Sorry. A soda coming right up,” she muttered.

She needed to get her head in the game.

“Are you okay?” Will asked her, his brows pinching.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” she said tightly.

“You don’t look fine. You look kinda peaky.” He lifted a brow. “You’re not coming down with something, are you?”

Just a case of the stupids. “No, honestly, it’s all good.”

“I could call Carmen?” he suggested. “If you’re not feeling okay.”

She opened her mouth to protest, then closed it again. He was right, she really wasn’t feeling okay. She was confused and weirded out, and more than a little annoyed at herself. She couldn’t even remember who to serve next. “I’ll call her,” she said.

Will nodded, looking pleased. “Good idea.”

It only took Carmen ten minutes to walk through the doors, since she lived right on the other side of the square. But even in that time Kelly managed to mess up two more orders. Will blew out a mouthful of air as the older woman shrugged her jacket off and shot Kelly a concerned look. “You do look a little sick, hon,” she said. “You should go home.”

Kelly shot her a wan smile. “I will. Thanks for coming in to replace me.”

“Any time.” Carmen winked and turned to the customer at the front, leaving Kelly to take off her apron and grab her coat.

As soon as the cool night air hit her, she felt another wave of dizziness wash over her. Clicking on the key, she opened Amber’s car and sat down heavily on the driver’s seat.

She hated feeling so confused. She was supposed to hate Kris Winter, not kiss him. Yet just thinking of him made her body feel like it was on fire.

Grabbing her phone, she pulled up his number, hitting the call button before she could think better of it.

“Hello.” He sounded so calm. So serene.

“It’s me.”

“I know. Your name came up on the phone.” And now he sounded amused. Why wasn’t he an emotional mess like she was?

“Why do you keep trying to save me and my family?” she asked.

There was a moment of silence. Followed by a chuckle. “Did you make it to the tavern?”

“Yes. Well kind of. I’m now back outside it.” She frowned. “Can you answer my question?”

“Why are you outside? It’s cold.”

“I’m in my car. Well, Amber’s car.”

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