Kiss Me (You & Me 3)

“Does it feel as good as it looks?” a female voice called out, breaking Katherine’s concentration.

Her arms flailed as she fought to right herself without sinking in the water. She wiped water from her eyes and looked to the edge of the pool where a young woman with short, choppy blonde hair was standing in a skimpy two-piece.

Katherine nodded her head. “It feels amazing.”

“Do you mind if I join you? I’ve been driving for hours and really need to relax my tight muscles.”

“Of course,” Katherine quickly said.

She felt no threat from the woman and decided to hang out a bit longer. The pool was too good to leave after her brief swim.

“I’m Lindsey,” the woman said, slowly walking down the steps into the pool.

“I’m—” she stopped for a second. “Dawn,” she said, struggling to think of a name on the fly.

Lindsey eyed her carefully. “Hi, Dawn,” she dragged out the name, clearly not believing it was her real name.

“I’ve been on a Greyhound for almost two days. I feel your pain with the stiff muscles,” she said, trying to be polite without saying too much.

The woman nodded. “That’s brutal. I’ve been driving for what feels like forever, but is actually only a few days.”

“Where have you been driving from?”

“Arkansas,” Lindsay replied.

“Wow, that is one hell of a drive!”

Lindsay laughed. “Yes, it is. I’m doing it all on my own. I’ve never felt so liberated in my life.”

“Where are you headed?” Katherine asked, knowing she was probably asking too many questions.

Lindsay shrugged a shoulder. “Would it sound too crazy if I said I didn’t know?”

Katherine smiled and shook her head. “Not in the least.”

They both swam and chatted about nothing in particular. Katherine felt Lindsay was a kindred spirit. She had no idea what Lindsay was running from, but it was clear she was doing exactly that. Like recognized like, she mused, thinking of a saying she had heard a long time ago.

“I should probably get to bed. I’ve been up since dawn and I’m sure I’ll be up early again tomorrow,” Lindsay said, slowly climbing the steps out of the pool.

“Goodnight. Thanks for hanging with me,” Katherine said with a smile.

“Sure. It was nice to kick back and relax. It’s been a long time,” she said, and Katherine knew her earlier assessment had been right.

“Good luck,” Katherine said, climbing out of the pool and wrapping her towel around her.

Lindsay stopped at the gate and looked back. There was a familiar sadness in her eyes that Katherine recognized. “You too. I think we both need it, huh?”

Katherine nodded her head. “Definitely.”

Lindsay walked away, fading into the darkness. Katherine picked up her room key and made her way back to her room, stopping to look at the options in the vending machine before deciding it wasn’t worth the money. She’d eat the peanuts in her purse and search out food in the morning.

She put on a pair of sweats and a t-shirt after showering, then crawled into bed. It was at night when she felt the loneliest. It was times like these she wished she could pick up the phone and call Ben or Talia. She hated leaving them without telling them goodbye or even letting them know she was okay. They didn’t deserve to be dismissed or ditched. She doubted either of them would understand she was doing it for their sake. Tim would continue to haunt her and them by proxy if she stuck around. Leaving was the right thing to do.

She wiped the tears that had been falling without her even realizing it. She was so tired of crying.

“Pull it together, Katherine. This is nothing new,” she muttered, rolling over to turn off the light.

Running wasn’t new but leaving a life and a man she cared a great deal for was definitely new. That’s what was making this so hard. She’d packed up and left so many times in the past without ever looking back. Soon enough, she would get over Ben. Her heart would heal.