Last First Kiss (5 page)

She took a deep breath, willing her feet to start moving again. The closer she got, the more her heart picked u
p speed. It pounded in her ears
,
almost deafening her.
He turned her way b
ut hadn’t noticed her quite yet because he seemed to be looking at the carousel that had just started up.

Yes, he was a mature grown man now. His shoulders were wider
,
and he
’d
bulked up in a good way
.
He
’d suddenly caught sight of her
and mouthed her name.

Sophie
’s heart missed a beat as she ran
at top speed
toward him
,
and he ran toward her.

When they met
she
put her hand out to shake his
, thinking that was the safest thing to do
. However
,
when he failed to accept it
,
and
instead
pulled
her in close, she knew she was in love with him all over again. She wondered if he felt the same way
,
too
.

Would that be stupid
of us
or romantic?

“Sophie, it’s so great to see you. You look really good.”

They pulled away. “You do
,
too.”

Now that they’d got past
the hugging stage she
thought about giving him a kiss on the
cheek
for old times
, but he made the first move
and kissed her lips instead.

She closed her eyes. How long had it been since they’d kissed? Seemed like eternity. Sophie thought it would be just a quick peck. She wasn’t expecting anything more
,
but Wade’s lips lingered on hers.

Sophie
had
always loved the way he kissed. No other guy, including her
ex-
husband
,
had
kissed
quite like Wad
e
. He was the first boy she
’d
ever kissed
,
and it had been the summer of her sixteenth birthday. Yes, they’d kissed before, play sort o
f ones, quick ones where their
lips smacked
together
for a few seconds. But
on
that birthday things had gotten more serious
,
and the kiss had been longer
;
mouths
had
open
ed
,
and eager tongues had
slipped beyond their lips
.  When they
’d finally
pulled away Wade had said something she
still
remembered to this very day
.

“Y
ou’re going to be my only girlfriend
, and I’ll be
your only boyfriend
,
so
we won’t have any
other first kisses,
which officially makes that our last first kiss.”

Wade
had
finally pulled away
,
and Sophie smiled
, remembering
his
words
verbatim
. He hadn’t broken th
at promise.
S
he had
.

“You look so mature,” he said
,
running his hand down her left cheek.

“Does that mean old?”

“No, it means you’ve turned from a pretty girl into a beautiful young woman.”

Wade had always had a way with words
. C
ompliments seemed more special when they spilled off his tongue.

The buzzer on the carousel sounded
,
and it began moving.

“I guess we should ge
t your luggage and start
the journey
home. You must be tired.”

He put his arm around her waist as they walked along.

“Yeah, I was up at 5 a.
m. this morning because I started
work
on a new client’s living room at seven. Well, at least it’s only 10 p.m. in
Seattle
,
so my body doesn’t think it’s quite time for bed
yet
.”

“I’m betting your head will hit the pillow fast and hard once you get back to
Greenville
. Hey, do you still snore?”

Sophie playfull
y smacked him on the arm but then
suddenly felt sad. Sad about all the years that had gone by and
the fact they hadn’t even spoken to one another
. Embarrassment washed over her
,
too. She’d done a really shitty thing to him.

Has he forgiven me
?
I hope so
.

“You still
crazy about clothes?
I mean how many bags are we waiting for here?”
He asked as they stood in front of the carousel.

“Just the one.”

“I can’t believe that.”

“I can always buy more things while I’m home.”

“Ah, ha, I knew it
,
Sop
h
.
”

Only Wade
had ever called her that
,
a
n
d
it
took her by com
plete surprise hearing it after all these years.

An oversized
black suitcase with a red stripe
running
down
its middle
slid down the chute and headed toward them.

“That’s my bag,” said Sophie, pointing to it.

“Just the one bag she said, but failed to mention that it’s big enough to
fit a man inside.”

Wade being six feet three
inches in his stocking feet was able to
extend his reach and grab its
handle long before it approached th
em. He eased it off the metal ledge
and set it on the ground.

“And it feels like you have a man inside here
,
too. Yep, you’re still
a girl who loves her clothes.
Okay, I think I’
ve spent
enough t
ime in
Casper
a
irport
. Let’s
hit
the road.”

He put his hat back on and smiled. Wade was one fine looking cowboy. Sophie had always had a weak spot for
a man
in
a cowboy hat and boots. U
nfortunately sightings of them in
Seattle
were far and few between.

“How’s Grans doing?”

“I think she was a little upset when she realized that
she was
going to jail and not just to
the police station to have her photo taken.”

“Will I be able to see her tomorrow?”

“Sure
,
and I know she’s going to be real excited when she sets eyes upon you.”

“How did she get into this mess?”

“Beats me
,
but that’s what she’s hired me to find out.”

The sliding glass door
s opened
,
and Sophie enjoyed
the first of the
Wyoming
air. She took a
deep breath. She wished she’d come
home under better circumstances
,
but nevertheless she was happy to be back in the state where she’d
been
born
and raised.

“I’m parked over in that ramp,” he said pointing across the street.

“You said she’s hired you,” said Sophie while they waited at the crosswalk.

“Yes, guess you haven’t heard
that I decided to become a private investigator when I moved back to
Greenville
.”

Sophie smil
ed and turned to look at him. Wade a private eye.
A cowboy PI.
She c
ould imagine him on surveillance
wearing his hat, sitting on
horseback
and looking through some binoculars.

“How many clients do you have
?” she asked as they cross
ed
the road.

“Don’t tell anyone
,
but Emily’s going to be my first client.”

“My lips are sealed
,
but I know you’ll do a great job. If anyone can get Gr
ans out of this stupid mess
you can.”

“That’s my SUV,
” said Wade pointing to a black Jeep Grand Cherokee
. He put the bag down and popped open the trunk. First he loaded in Sophie’s suitcase
,
and then took the bag off her s
houlder and placed it on top of it
before closing the back door.

“What happened to your black
,
what was it
,
a Camero?”

“That bit the dust years ago.”

He opened
and held
the passenge
r door for her
,
and she climbed onto the running board and slid into
the seat.

“Do you remember we
used to take it to the drive-in movie theater
?” she asked him when he got in beside her.

“Yep, a
movie and popcorn for two for
just
$5
,” he said sticking the key into the ignition.

“You always were a cheap date,” said Sophie settling back down in the seat.

Wade backed the car out, stopping momentarily to let a car pass.

“I was not.”

“You were
,
too. Rememb
er those flowers you bought me?”

Wade laughed as he checked the traffic and then merged onto the road leading back to the freeway.
“Edith told me I could take whatever I wanted
from her garden.”

“She was smar
ter than you ga
ve her credit for because her garden was always overgrown with weeds
.”

“Yeah, so she got some free weeding done that day,” said Wade.

They both burst out laughing. Sophie knew the reason she was in this very situation, sitting here, being taken back to
Greenville
was because her grandmother was in trouble, but
nevertheless
she couldn’t
help but feel joy inside her. S
omething in the pit of her stomach made her feel good.
She had Wade beside her again
. Nothing bad ever happened when he was around.

Sophie turned on the radio and was about to switch stations.

“Hey, I like that music. Don’t tell me you’ve gone from country to rock and roll since you’ve been on the West Coast
. What do
they call it in Seattle, Gringe?”

Sophie laughed again. “It’s actually Grunge
,
and no, I still love country music
,
but tha
t song was all about crying in
your beer.”

“Crying in
your beer
, what’s that all about
?” he asked momentarily taking his eyes off the road to look at her.
“Well, young lady, you’ve become
a
cynical
country girl
since you’ve been in the big city. Nothing quite like
listening to
a
cry your hear
t out in your beer ditt
y as you
travel the highways.”

They both burst out laughing
. If this kept up
all the way home
, her cheek
s were going to ache like hell tomorrow.

She attempted
to change stations again
,
but Wade put his hand on top of hers. He obviously didn’t do it to stop her because he just let his fingers rest on top o
f hers before running one of them
over
her knuckles. It tickled and
felt good.

Sophie closed her eyes wanting to turn her hand over and hold onto his. He didn’t move his hand when he
asked,
“Are you seeing anyone?”