That First Special Kiss

She smiled. “Lasagna? Spaghetti? Or maybe chili, since it’s such a cool day.”

“Chili sounds good,” Shane said from beneath the hood of her car. “I haven’t had chili in a while.”

Cameron nodded. “I’ll vote for chili.”

Mentally running through the ingredients, and confident she had them all, she nodded. “I’ll go get started, then. Unless there’s something I can do to help you out here?”

Shane looked at Cameron, who was playing with the flashlight. “I think I have all the help I need out here, thanks,” he said dryly.

As Kelly returned to her apartment, she couldn’t help wondering if she’d just made a mistake. Would she and Shane be able to deceive Cameron during a cozy dinner for three?

Cameron didn’t seem to notice anything unusual during a hearty dinner of salad, chili and jalapeño corn bread. Though conversation was brisk, they avoided any sensitive topics, talking about work and current events and music and films, but not about matters of the heart.

They were having pineapple sherbet for dessert when the telephone rang. Kelly answered it, then winced when she heard Amber’s voice on the other end.

“I forgot to tell you something earlier,” Amber said. “There’s a sale at McGinty’s Antiques next week. That little boudoir chair you like? It’s going to be forty percent off.”

“Really? Thank you for telling me. I night just buy it for myself for Christmas.”

“I thought you’d want to know. I’d stopped in there yesterday to pick up something for Mom, and the manager told me about the sale.”

“Maybe you and I can go together next week.”

“Sounds good. The sale starts Wednesday. Want to go then?”

Before Kelly could answer, Cameron called out from the other room. “Hey, Kelly. Do you mind if I make a pot of coffee?”

“Go ahead. You know where everything is,” she called back, then spoke into the phone again. “I’m free Wednesday, Amber. Let’s plan to go then.”

There was a long silence on the other end of the line. And then Amber asked, “Was that Cameron?”

She hadn’t thought Amber had been able to hear Cameron’s question through the phone line. She should have known her friend’s hearing was hypersensitive when it came to Cameron. “Um...yes, Cameron’s here.”

“You mean you and Cameron are...?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Cameron and Shane are having dinner with me. Shane worked on my car today and Cameroon tagged along to help. I’m feeding them chili to thank them.”

“I’m sorry. I guess I did leap to a ridiculous suspicion. I know you and Cameron are no more involved than...than you and Shane. I guess I’m still a little crazy from the breakup.”

“I guess so,” Kelly agreed weakly.

“I’ll let you get back to your guests.” There was a new note of wistfulness in Amber’s voice now. “See you Wednesday, okay?”

“I’ll look forward to it.”

What a sad situation, Kelly thought as she hung up the telephone. All of Cameron’s and Amber’s friends were being placed in the middle between them, torn by divided loyalties. She found herself actually feeling guilty for having Cameron to dinner, which was ridiculous, of course.

Cameron pressed a cup of coffee into her hands when she rejoined him and Shane. “Your Christmas tree looks good,” he commented, nodding toward that corner. ”I like the minimalist look in decorations.”

She made a face at him. “I’ll admit I don’t have many ornaments yet. This is my first tree. I’ll have to build up a collection over the years.”

“Are you the kind who’s going to start a lot of sappy Christmas traditions?”

“I hope so. I love Christmas traditions. My mother used to tell me about her childhood Christmases in Germany. I’ve always thought if I ever have children of my own, I’d like to incorporate bits of my mother’s Christmases into our family traditions.”

The mention of having children made her suddenly aware that Shane was nearby, watching her. Though he had participated in the conversation at dinner, he had been a bit more subdued than usual. She found herself babbling to fill the gap. “What about you, Cameron? Does your family have any special traditions?”

Cameron’s expression was suddenly hard. “Yeah. My mother goes on winter tours of Europe and my father spends a little more time than usual with his girlfriend. Of course they always made sure I had lots of presents under the tree Christmas morning. They were just never there to watch me open them.”