“Well, I...”
Grinning again, Cameron winked at her. “Don’t try to deny it, kid. If you were the type to give personal advice, you’d have joined the others in warning Amber away from me.”
Several throats were cleared in unison. Amber smiled a bit sappily at her lover. “I wouldn’t have listened to Kelly any more than I listened to the others. I know you and I are meant to be together.”
For only a moment, Kelly saw a somber expression cross Cameron’s wickedly handsome face. And it occurred to her that if she were the type to offer advice to her friends, she would be more likely to warn Amber not to invest too much hope in a future with Cameron, than to suggest to Scott that Paula wasn’t right for him. For one thing, she suspected that Scott, a twenty-eight-year-old attorney, was under no illusions about the avaricious and rather demanding woman he had been casually dating. She thought Heather’s fears that Scott was getting too deeply involved were unfounded.
Scott pushed his chair away from the table. “I’ve gotta go. Heather, you can lecture me over lunch tomorrow at Mom’s.”
His twin muttered a disgruntled response, but returned his casual good-night kiss with an affection she made no effort to hide.
Scott’s departure signaled an end to the evening. Heather left not long afterward, followed by Michael, Cameron and Amber, all of them pausing on their way out to thank Kelly for hosting them.
“Are we still going fishing next weekend, Shane?” Cameron asked from the threshold.
“Yeah, sure. I’ll call you to set up the time.”
“Great.”
Amber pouted. “I still don’t know why I can’t go with you guys. I like to fish.”
Cameron pulled playfully at a strand of Amber’s dark hair. “Guys only. No girls allowed.”
She was still arguing when Shane closed the door behind them.
Shane turned to Kelly with an ironic smile. “You suppose she doesn’t know Cam wants to go fishing just to get away from her for a couple of hours?”
Kelly sighed. “You think so, too?”
“Yeah. She’s starting to smother him. I suppose if either of us was the type to give advice, we would tell her so.”
Smiling wryly, Kelly shook her head. “I don’t know about you, but I’m staying out of it.”
“So am I. I just hope it will end amicably rather than in a flaming disaster.”
So Shane, too, thought the romance between their friends was ill-fated. Like him, Kelly hoped the end of the affair wouldn’t mean an end to a long friendship. But realistically, she couldn’t see any other outcome.
She noticed then that Shane didn’t seem to be in any hurry to leave. “Would you like another soda?”
“To be honest, I’d rather have a cup of coffee—unless you’re tired and ready for me to get lost.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. You know you’re always welcome here.” She waved him toward the couch. “Sit down. I’ll get the coffee.”
He didn’t hesitate. He was comfortably settled on the couch before Kelly had even made it to the kitchen doorway.
She wasn’t gone long. She returned carrying a cup of coffee for him and a glass of water for herself. Shane patted the couch beside him as he reached for his coffee. “Sit. You’ve been jumping up and down all evening being the gracious hostess.”
She sank onto the cushions beside him, took a sip of water and then set her glass on the low table in front of them. “I didn’t mind. I always enjoy having everyone over.”
“I notice you’re limping quite a bit this evening. Is your leg bothering you?”
His matter-of-fact tone kept her from being self-conscious about the limp, a result of the serious car accident she was involved in a year and a half earlier. She had been lying in a hospital bed recuperating from that accident the first time she’d met Shane. He had seen her at her most vulnerable point and had watched her grow stronger since. During that time he had become one of her closest friends. “I’m fine. Just a little tired.”
“Want me to massage it for you?”
Just the thought of having Shane massage her leg almost made her squirm on the couch, no matter how casually he’d suggested it. “No,” she said a bit too quickly. “But, er, thanks for the offer.”
“Sure.” He sipped his coffee for a few moments, looking across the room toward nothing in particular. His thoughts seemed to be suddenly far away, and she suspected he was thinking again about whatever had bothered him earlier. She waited, knowing he would tell her when he was ready—if at all.