That First Special Kiss

He had long since decided that he would never even consider marriage unless he found what his father had found with Cassie. A love so strong, so intense, that it was almost palpable. A commitment so deep and so binding that nothing beyond death could break it.

Rather embarrassed by the direction his thoughts had taken, and relieved that Cameron couldn’t read his mind, Shane cleared his throat. “So what are you going to do now?”

Lifting one shoulder, Cameron replied. “I suppose I’ll try to avoid her for a while—until she cools off some. Maybe, after that, we can figure out a way to be friends again. But that’s all. Just friends.”

Cameron had been successful in the past turning lovers into friends. But this time, Shane wondered if it was possible for Cameron and Amber to go back to a comfortably platonic relationship. The affair had been too hot, too fast, too intense. Too big a mistake from the beginning.

As Shane sat back and listened quietly while Cameron continued to unload his frustrations, he fervently hoped he would never be so unfortunate as to get involved in something that ill-advised and painful.

Thanksgiving Day dawned crisp, clear and beautiful. No one could have asked for more perfect holiday weather. Kelly should have been delighted to be on her way to a big family holiday meal, the kind she had always fantasized about as a child. The Walker siblings always had such a good time when they got together. She had enjoyed their get-togethers since the first one she had attended, when she was still in a wheelchair after her accident. She had looked forward to each gathering since, especially when they were held at the Walker ranch, as this one would be.

But that had been before Shane kissed her.

She was determined not to let that single incident change anything. As Shane had pointed out, it had only been a kiss, and a brief one at that. There was no reason for them to mention it again—no purpose in even thinking about it. She, for one, intended to act as if nothing had happened.

“Is anything bothering you, Kelly?” Brynn asked, twisting in the front seat of her husband’s car to look at Kelly, who sat in the back seat.

Kelly pasted on a smile. “Not at all. Why do you ask?”

“You seem preoccupied today. You have ever since we picked you up.”

Kelly shook her head. “I’m fine. But thanks for asking.”

Tucking a strand of chestnut-brown hair behind her ear, Brynn studied Kelly’s face for another moment, as if she wasn’t quite satisfied with her friend’s denial. Joe spoke before his wife could question their passenger further. “How’s school going, Kelly?”

“Finals are coming up. And then I’m one semester away from my degree,” she announced with satisfaction. Her education had been hard-won, obtained with unwavering determination and single-minded purpose. She loved the job she would be doing when she finished, working with hearing- and speech-impaired children, and she had already made several valuable contacts toward finding a permanent position.

Brynn made a face. “I’ll be glad when I can say I only have one semester left toward my degree. I still have two semesters to go after this one—and then at lea

st a year of postgraduate work.”

It had been somewhat easier for Kelly to attend college than it had been for Brynn. Kelly had had some life insurance money left in a trust fund by her mother, who died when Kelly was thirteen. She’d also received small monthly child support checks from her career-military father, whom she hadn’t seen since she was a child. Those checks had stopped several years ago, but they, along with the trust fund and academic scholarships, had funded Kelly’s college education.

Brynn, whose teenage father had died before her birth and whose emotionally troubled young mother had left no insurance money behind when she’d taken her own life, had been dependent upon child welfare services to provide for her until she’d turned eighteen. Since then, she’d been on her own, working her way slowly toward a degree in education by taking an occasional evening class and working in day-care centers during the days. When Kelly had been accepted into UT-Dallas, she’d talked Brynn into moving with her, assuring her the job opportunities would be better here for both of them than in Longview, where they’d lived previously.

Instead, they’d been hit head-on by a speeding drunken driver before they’d even unpacked their bags, and Dr. Joe D’Alessandro, a witness to the crash, had come into their lives. He had operated on Kelly’s mangled legs and had fallen in love with Brynn. And now Brynn was able to attend classes full-time, her goal of being an elementary school teacher finally within sight.

“How’s Amber?” Brynn asked, changing the subject. “Have you talked to her since Monday?”

“She called last night. She’s still an emotional wreck, but I made her promise to try to enjoy Thanksgiving with her family today.”

“And Cameron? Have you heard from him?”

Kelly shook her head. “No. I’m sure Shane has talked to him, but I haven’t spoken with Shane this week, so I don’t know how Cameron’s doing.”

“Probably just fine,” Brynn said in disapproval. “I doubt that he’s eating his heart out like poor Amber. This sort of thing is almost routine for Cameron.”

“Cameron isn’t heartless,” Kelly protested. “I’m sure he hated hurting Amber. But he would have hurt her worse if he had let it go on longer when it just wasn’t working for him.”

Brynn peered over the seat back. “You’re defending him rather heatedly. Are you sure you don’t have a thing for Cameron?”

“Brynn,” Joe murmured.

Brynn shrugged unrepentantly. “You should have heard the way she grilled me about you before you and I got together. She knew I was besotted with you, and she teased me mercilessly about it.”

“You were besotted, huh?” Joe seemed to like that description.

“Oh, very,” Brynn answered humorously. “Of course, that was before I married you.”