That First Special Kiss

They found Shane pacing the living room, his hands in his hair again. He spun to look at them when he heard them approach. Kelly and Molly smiled at him.

“I’m hungry, Shane,” Molly announced. “When’s lunch?”

Shane stared at her. “Er...are you okay?”

“I’m fine. Kelly made me feel better. Have you fed my guinea pig today?”

“No. The cage is still in the laundry room.”

“Okay. I’ll go feed him.” Molly spun and moved toward the laundry room at her usual pace—top speed.

Shane watched his little sister out of sight and then turned slowly to Kelly. “What on earth did you say to her?”

“Girl talk,” she answered breezily. “She’s fine, Shane. Don’t worry about her, okay?”

“Don’t worry? She spent an hour in her room, crying as if her heart was broken, and I’m just supposed to forget about it?”

“A couple of snotty brats hurt her feelings at the party. I’m not going to tell you what they said because I don’t think Molly would want me to, but she and I talked about it and I don’t think she’ll let them hurt her again.”

“They’d damned well better not,” Shane growled, his eyes flashing. “Tell me their names and I’ll call their parents. And then I’m calling Kristin’s mother and asking what she was thinking, letting a child be attacked in her home.”

“You aren’t calling anyone,” Kelly replied firmly. “The only purpose that would serve is to give the brats more ammunition to use against her. Let Molly try to handle this. If she decides she wants your help, she’ll ask for it.”

He blew out an impatient breath. “Darn it, I want to pound someone for making her cry.”

“So do I—but you really can’t pound a couple of teenage girls.”

Shane muttered something incomprehensible.

“She’ll probably tell Cassie about it. Cassie will know exactly wh

at to say to make her feel better,” Kelly predicted confidently.

“Apparently you did, too. She went into that room sobbing and she came out smiling.”

She could tell from Shane’s expression that he was a bit hurt that Molly hadn’t been able to talk to him. She laid a hand on his arm. “She really just wanted a woman’s perspective on this one. She knows you’ll always be there for her when she needs you.”

“So what about lunch, Shane?” Molly asked, bouncing back into the room. “Can Kelly eat with us?”

Shane ruffled Molly’s freshly brushed hair and smiled at Kelly. “I’d like that. Kelly, will you have lunch with us? We thought we’d go out to eat today.”

“Well, I...”

“Please, Kelly,” Molly said winningly. “First you can visit the kitten Shane’s giving you when she’s old enough to leave her mother, and then we’ll all go out to eat. It will be fun.”

She couldn’t refuse. “I would love to join you for lunch. Thank you.”

Beaming, Molly caught Kelly’s hand in her right hand and Shane’s in her left. “This is going to be great.”

Kelly’s eyes met Shane’s And something in his expression made her swallow hard.

“Yeah,” he said quietly, speaking to Molly but still looking at Kelly. “This is going to be great.”

Shane and Kelly allowed Molly to select the restaurant for lunch. Hardly to Shane’s surprise, she chose her favorite Tex-Mex place, which was attached to a shopping center just outside of Dallas. The mall was crowded with Saturday-afternoon Christmas shoppers, and glittering with decorations. Even though they were a bit early for the lunch rush, they had to wait fifteen minutes for a table. Molly didn’t seem to mind.

“This place has the most awesome nachos,” she assured Kelly. “But the other food is good, too.”

Kelly promised to keep that in mind.