Just like him to let me know he was here, I thought. He wasn’t going to pretend he wasn’t just to let me off the hook. He might not bring it up, but he wasn’t going to let me believe he didn’t know. We knew each other too well for false faces.
Kane came down the stairs slowly and paused in the doorway.
“He went back to work. He was here only to pick up some important paper.”
“Oh.” He looked relieved. “Then maybe he didn’t . . .”
“He saw your car, Kane. He wouldn’t just walk in, get the paper, and walk out. Even though he left this note that implies just that,” I added.
Kane looked at it. “What should we do?”
“Nothing. We should do nothing.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t want to get you into trouble. I just assumed we would be alone. I mean . . .”
“Let’s not apologize to each other for what we do together, okay? If we think we might have to apologize for something, then let’s just not do it.”
He smiled.
“And if and when we see my father soon, do not apologize to him or look guilty.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said, and saluted. He took a deep breath. “I’m still hungry.”
“I will be once my stomach twists out of the knot it’s in,” I replied, and we headed out.
While we were eating, Kane got a text from his sister.
“You’ll be happy,” he said when he looked up.
“Why?”
“My sister and her boyfriend want to take us out to dinner tomorrow night at La Reserve, without my parents. Of course, if we feel generous afterward, we can stop by Tina’s house. Sound good?”
“La Reserve? That’s très fancy.”
“So we’ll dress up, okay?”
“Yes,” I said, but without the enthusiasm I would have had before my father had come home unexpectedly.
Kane knew me well enough to see the hesitation. “You don’t think your father will ground you, punish you or anything?”
“No. My father doesn’t punish me for things I do wrong. He just looks at me with disappointment, and I punish myself,” I said.
“We didn’t do anything wrong,” Kane said, his eyes more like I imagined Christopher’s would be, with that look of intensity and confidence. I almost anticipated a long, scientific explanation for our behavior, supported by references to the situation we were in. He did add, “It’s only natural for me to want to make love to you, Kristin. Both of us are really adults. We’re both less than a year away from being able to vote. Right? We drive cars. We’d be in adult court if we did something illegal, I’m sure.”
“What a relief to know that,” I said.
“I just meant . . .”
“It’s all right. Don’t worry. I’m okay.”
“We can’t legally drink alcohol, but in some countries, we’d be married with children by now,” he added. He was on one of his Kane rolls.
“I’m not leaving the country,” I said, and he laughed.
I was glad we were going to a movie, and for a few hours, at least, I didn’t have to think about anything else. Some of our friends were there, but we didn’t sit near them. When the film ended, we rushed out before anyone could suggest we join them for something. We tried to talk only about the film. When Kane brought me home, he wanted to come in to face my father.
“No sense in running away. I’ve got to face him sometime.”