Suddenly, her cell phone rang.
“Perfect timing,” she muttered as she glanced at the ID. She saw that it was the police station calling her. She answered the phone with a curious, “Hello?”
“Ms. Howell? This is Chief Allington. I just wanted to know if you’ve made any progress on this case. I haven’t heard from you in a while, and people are calling here pretty often, wondering if there’s been any word on their missing pets.”
“Well, I do have something. Before you hang up on me and say I’m nuts, just know that I have pictures to prove what I’m about to say. Last night, I saw a unicorn. I actually got up next to it, and it sniffed my hand. It had an aura around it that was stretching up to the sky, and when it ran, there were sparkles behind it.”
There was silence on the other end of the line. Kenzie could hear Brock exhaling as he contemplated this. She was half afraid he actually would hang up on her, when he replied, “Ms. Howell, if you took pictures of this so-called unicorn, I want to see them. But keep this quiet – if it was a unicorn, I can guarantee the research center will be all over this.”
“You mean the science facility?”
“Well, it’s a research center inside the hospital, but yes. Even though most people don’t claim to have seen a unicorn, it’s still a law that it’s illegal to own or experiment on one. Essentially, you’re supposed to leave them alone unless they’re in their natural habitat, and even then you shouldn't do anything frivolous. But let’s just say we’ve got some interesting characters that work at the research center. I bet they’d take a unicorn the second they saw it to do who knows what with it. And since the sightings of them are so minimal, no one would even notice.”
“Well, I’ll get you these pictures, but I haven’t found any…”
Kenzie stopped herself. The chief had unknowingly given her a direction to look. The research center would take a unicorn to study it? Maybe there really were other unicorns in town, just like she’d read online, but there was a reason they were so hard to find. Maybe the research center was involved somehow.
“Actually,” she said into the phone, “Scratch what I was about to say. I think I’ve got an idea. I’ll get back to you.”
“All right, keep me posted.”
“I will.”
Kenzie hung up the phone and was about to head to her laptop to do some more research and send the unicorn pictures to Brock when there was a knock at the door.
“Oh, honestly!” she said aloud, irritated. How was she supposed to solve this case with all these distractions?
And just her luck, the distraction waiting for her behind the door was the very last one she needed.
“Austin, please,” she said desperately. “I think I finally caught a break in the case, and I really don’t think…”
“I just wanted to apologize. May I come in?"
Kenzie shrugged indifferently as Austin stepped through the doorway and closed the door behind him.
"I’m sorry if I came on too strong," he said. "I shouldn’t have done that. But would it be asking too much of you to accept a gift expressing how sorry I am?”
“Well, I guess not. Fine, apology accepted, and I’m sorry for just leaving like that. I guess I just got scared.”
“And again, I apologize.”
With that, Austin reached behind his back and presented Kenzie with a lovely bouquet of pink roses.
Kenzie took the flowers and inhaled their sweet fragrance. She remembered that each rose color had a significant meaning. Red was for romance, yellow was for friendship, and pink was…
“As close as I can get to your favorite color, which is now spiceberry,” Austin explained when Kenzie inquired. “Well, I guess I could have gotten purple, but I felt pink, which symbolizes beauty and perfection, was more fitting. I mean, you’ve always been a perfectionist and…well, I’ll stop now.”
Kenzie was sure her cheeks turned as pink as the flowers she held. She couldn’t suppress a smile as she thanked Austin, then went to put the flowers in water before setting them on one of the two nightstands next to the bed.
“So,” Austin said to break the awkward silence that ensued, “you said you caught a break? That’s good. What is it?”
“The research center in the hospital. Chief Allington called, and I broke down and told him about the unicorn I saw. I promised him I’d send him the pictures I took. He said to keep it on the down low though, because apparently some of the scientists may go looking for it and try to capture it for experimenting or something. So I was thinking, maybe there really is something to these unicorn sightings, but since they’re so rare, and the facility would be so interested in them, maybe they’ve got them and are only releasing them at certain times. Maybe to distract people so their pets can be stolen for some other devious reason.”
Austin raised his eyebrow for the second time that day and asked skeptically, “Isn’t that a bit of a stretch? I mean, capturing unicorns in order to force pet owners out of their homes to steal their pets? That doesn’t answer the question of why.”
“No, and it does sound pretty far out when it’s said out loud like that. But still, what other explanation could there be?”
“I wouldn’t know, but surely something more rational.”
“Austin, you may be on hiatus, but you work at that research center. Have you seen anything unusual? Do you know of anyone who might want to kidnap animals and unicorns?”
Austin hesitated before he answered, “No, I have no idea.”
Kenzie sighed and flopped down on the bed.
“This case just seems so hopeless. I haven’t caught any leads except this research center thing, and I keep getting distracted, and by now the animals could be dead…”
“Hey,” Austin pulled Kenzie back to her feet. “Kenzie, this is my fault. I shouldn’t have distracted you. I just missed you, and I was enjoying our time together. But I shouldn’t have taken your mind off your work. This case is your top priority. Once again, I’m sorry. I’m just causing you stress. I’ll leave.”
“No, don’t.”
Kenzie bit her lip. She really didn’t want Austin to leave. Even if he was distracting her, she liked having him around. Maybe she should try doing with him what she did with Logan in Twinbrook – going around town with him and questioning people. Maybe there had been some new reports on the case.
As Kenzie began suggesting this, her stomach rumbled noisily. She shied away from Austin, who smiled and said, “Why don’t we get you something to eat? We can hit the restaurant. My treat.”
“You already paid for my lunch at the dive bar.”
“I know, but that wasn’t that good. It was burnt. You deserve better than that. Please, just that to say I’m sorry. That’s a better idea than the flowers, now that I think about it.”
“Well, if you insist. But I already forgave you.”
“It’s my pleasure. But if you don’t mind, I’d like to change into some nicer clothes first. I did ride a horse in these earlier.”
“Sure, if you don't mind waiting while I get something nicer too.”
“Deal.”
Unfortunately, Kenzie had only packed jeans for her trip to Appaloosa Plains. She hadn't anticipated dinner at a fancy restaurant, so she hadn't brought any skirts (it was too cold anyway!) or dress slacks. So while she still had on a nice pair of jeans, she did take the time to style her hair a little bit and add some jewelry. After she emerged from the bathroom in a fancier shirt with high-heeled boots, they headed to Austin's house, where he exited his bedroom wearing a dapper-looking jacket over a blue shirt with matching pants. The two then headed toward Kim Gould's Steakhouse.
********************
The interior of Kim Gould's Steakhouse was pretty elegant. There were booths along the walls and tables on the main floor. A dance floor was in the center of the restaurant and some couples were already on it. The waitress led Kenzie and Austin to a vacant booth and handed them some menus. Since the restaurant was a steakhouse, they both ordered a tri-tip steak. The two continued to converse while they waited for their food to arrive.
“So, you don’t have any crazy coworkers that might be out to get the animals in town?” Kenzie asked in a somewhat joking manner.
Austin didn’t look too amused. He just shrugged and replied, “We’ll get the occasional employee who thinks he’s the next big inventor or something, but that’s it. No one would have any reason to kidnap animals. I’m sorry I can’t be of more help.”
“It’s not your fault. But when are you going to be off hiatus? You could keep your eyes open for me.”
“I talked it over with my boss. When the issue is resolved regarding what I was previously working on, I’ll be back. Of course, I didn’t give him a date for when that would be. So to keep my job secure, I keep working on projects at home.”
“I wish you’d tell me what that big project was that you were working on. Please? I won’t tell anyone, you know you can trust me.”
Before Austin could respond, the food arrived. Austin quickly took a bite and didn’t bring the subject of his last project up again.
Kenzie found this unfathomably annoying. She understood confidentiality, but she was getting that vibe again. The vibe she got when something didn’t feel right.
But this was Austin. He wouldn’t be involved in anything bad. One of these days, her vibes would turn out to be wrong. She didn’t have ESP (though she hadn’t been tested for that), so maybe it was her paranoia mixed in with the frustration of not catching any good breaks in this case.
For an animal lover, she was disgusted at herself for not trying harder to figure out what was going on.
When they finished eating and Austin paid the bill, Kenzie prepared to leave, but Austin surprised her by asking her if she’d like to dance.
Kenzie looked out onto the dance floor. She wasn’t much of a dancer, and she hadn’t danced since some parties in college. Dancing was the last thing she should be worrying about, but she still felt compelled to do it. And she didn’t feel like she was obligated to – she genuinely wanted to.
So the two made their way to the dance floor as another slow song began playing over the restaurant’s sound system. It was an instrumental song with flutes and acoustics. Austin took Kenzie’s hand and the two began swaying to the music.
Kenzie stepped on Austin’s foot.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” she said quickly.
“Don’t worry about it. It didn’t even hurt. By the way, at the risk of causing further distractions, you look really pretty tonight. I knew the pink roses were the right choice.”
“Thank you. And you look really good yourself.”
“Thanks. And don’t be surprised if I step on your foot too. Dancing isn’t my specialty.”
“You know, when I first saw you yesterday, and you asked me if you looked that different. You do, but in a good way. I mean, you’ve got contacts now, you’re taller, and your voice is deeper. But you’re still the same guy I knew back in high school. You’re still the same guy I…”
“The same guy what?” Austin prodded.
“The same guy that…that I…fell in love with.”
Kenzie turned her face away from Austin, cheeks ablaze. She was getting tired of that happening.
Austin’s hand left her waist and went under her chin, rotating her face to look at him again. She was forced to stare into his sincere and gentle hazel eyes. His kind voice said, “You’re the same girl I fell in love with, too. The same girl that I still love, even after all these years.”
“But…but I’m the only one you’ve ever known or been with romantically.”
“And that was enough for me to know what I want. Remember how I was telling you that I can’t find the right girl? I lied. I have found her. She’s standing right in front of me. You’re the only one, in high school, college, and even after that, that’s ever seen me for who I really am. You’re not intimidated or appalled by my intelligence, you don’t think I’m hideous or a geek…you’re just…perfect.”
Kenzie felt her pulse quicken as Austin's face got closer and closer to her own. This was what Austin had been trying to tell her earlier, only she’d been too much of a coward to stay and hear it. Now that the words were said, she forgot all about what a distraction he was. As a sonata began playing on the sound system, an impenetrable, invisible force drew their lips closer and closer until they touched.
This kiss wasn’t one of control and urgency. It was one of caring and fondness. But it did turn into a more passionate kiss as Kenzie’s and Austin’s lips began to part and their arms began to encompass each other.
Kenzie suddenly drew back, and Austin once again looked excessively apologetic.
“I’m sorry,” he said with haste as he began to leave the dance floor, “that was out of line. I never should have done that.”
Before Kenzie could respond, Austin added, “I’ll take you back to the hotel. I just keep screwing up with you. I’m a mess.”
“No you’re not. It’s as much my fault as it is yours.”
“But I’m the one that started it. Let’s just get you back to the hotel.”
Kenzie didn’t push the issue. She was tired of being confused, tired of being frustrated, and just…tired. When they finally got back to the hotel, she just wanted to take her shower and crawl into bed.
Austin walked her inside. The night air was getting a chill to it, so Austin draped his arm over Kenzie’s shoulders as they headed inside.
“Ugh, I did it again,” he said as he removed his arm when the door was closed behind them. “I really need to control my emotions around you.”
“I really need to stop getting stressed. At this rate, I’ll end up sick because I’ll become susceptible to all the germs flying around in the air.”
“Well, may I try something to help you relax?”
“I guess so.”
Austin instructed Kenzie to turn around. She complied, and then felt Austin’s hands begin to caress her neck and back. They were nice hands, actually. They were gentle, yet firm and strong from working so hard with his horses, and even from when he helped his parents with the farm back in Riverview.
“That does help,” Kenzie said in ecstasy. “That’s really helping me relax.”
“I’m glad. And at the risk of crossing the line again, I’d do anything for you, Kenzie. Never mind what I said earlier. I understand that you just want to stay friends, and I respect that. I shouldn’t have tried to push it.”
Kenzie turned around and looked at Austin. “I enjoy having you in my life, Austin. And I appreciate everything. I’m sorry that I’ve been acting so weird around you.”
“Believe me, you haven’t been acting weird. I work with scientists, remember? If you want to see eccentric, you should meet some of the people I work with.”
“Would any of them have something to do with your latest project?”
Austin just shook his head in an amused manner. Kenzie didn’t know if it was her impending delirious state from the day’s activities, or if her subconscious was finally caving to what she’d been fighting, but she found herself moving closer and closer to him. He seemed to pick up on the vibe and brushed his hand along her cheek.
The tender caress made Kenzie’s eyes flutter closed, and the next thing she knew, Austin was pulling her into an embrace.
“I better get going,” he said into her ear. “I need to let you get back to work.”
But work was the last thing on Kenzie’s mind at the moment. She pulled away from the hug and touched her lips to Austin’s.
Austin seemed slightly taken aback, but he must have figured that if Kenzie initiated this, it was all right. So he returned the kiss, much to Kenzie’s delight. The kisses had gotten more and more passionate in the restaurant, and now, here in the hotel room, they were even more heated.
So heated that the two seemed to lose their senses completely, which resulted in them shedding their clothing, layer by layer.
And Kenzie had thought the hug he'd given her at his house filled her body with an electric current. That was nothing compared to this. It felt so wrong, yet so right.
Kenzie remembered Austin being her first. It had happened on high school graduation night. It was slightly awkward then, but it was a bonding of two people that were genuinely in love, though many would argue that claim due to their young ages back then.
Now, the situation wasn’t awkward at all. In fact, it felt right. As the two migrated to the bed, Austin hovering over Kenzie, she felt an overwhelming sense of elation. She couldn’t remember having been this happy in a long time.
And then, just like in the restaurant, where a sonata was playing over the loudspeaker, Kenzie and Austin made a composition of their own.
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