The Rescue - Nicholas Sparks [78]
“You were tired.”
“Sorry about that.”
“It’s okay,” she said. Kyle had wandered to the corner of the living room and sat down to play with his toys. Denise walked over to him and bent, kissing him on the top of the head. “Good morning, sweetie.”
“Morning,” he said. (Mawneen)
“Are you hungry?”
“No.”
“Do you want some yogurt?”
“No.”
“Do you want to play with your toys?”
Kyle nodded, and Denise returned her attention to Taylor. “How about you? Are you hungry?”
“I don’t want you to have to cook up something special.”
“I was going to offer you some Cheerios,” she said, eliciting a smile from Taylor. She adjusted her pajama top. “Did you sleep okay?”
“Like a rock,” he said. “Thanks for last night. You were more than patient with me.”
She shrugged, her eyes catching the morning light. Her hair, long and tangled, grazed her shoulders. “What are friends for?”
Embarrassed for some reason, he reached for the blanket and began folding it, glad for something to do. He felt out of place here, at her house, so early in the morning.
Denise came and stood next to him. “You sure you don’t want to stay for breakfast? I’ve got half a box.”
Taylor debated. “And milk?” he finally asked.
“No, we use water in our cereal here,” she said seriously.
He looked at her as if wondering whether or not to believe her, when Denise suddenly laughed, the sound melodic.
“Of course we have milk, you goob.”
“Goob?”
“It’s a term of endearment. It means that I like you,” she said with a wink.
The words were strangely uplifting. “In that case, I’d be glad to stay.”
“So what’s on your agenda today?” Taylor asked.
They’d finished breakfast, and Denise was walking him to the door. He still had to make it home to change before heading off to meet his crew.
“Same as always. I’ll work with Kyle for a few hours, and then I’m not sure. It sort of depends on what he wants to do—play in the yard, ride bikes, whatever. Then it’s off to work tonight.”
“Back to serving those lecherous men?”
“A gal’s gotta pay the bills,” she said archly, “and besides, they’re not all so bad. The one who came in last night was pretty nice. I let him stay over at my place.”
“A real charmer, huh?”
“Not really. But he was so pathetic, I didn’t have the heart to turn him down.”
“Ouch.”
As they reached the door, she leaned against him, nudging him playfully.
“You know I’m kidding.”
“I hope so.” The sky was cloudless, and the sun was beginning to peek over the trees in the east as they stepped out onto the porch. “Hey, listen, about last night . . . thanks for everything.”
“You already thanked me earlier, remember?”
“I know,” Taylor said earnestly, “but I wanted to do it again.”
They stood together without speaking until Denise finally took a small step forward. Glancing down, then up at Taylor again, she tilted her head slightly, her face drawing nearer to his. She could see the surprise in his eyes when she kissed him softly on the lips.
It wasn’t more than a peck, really, but all he could do was stare at her afterward, thinking how wonderful it was.
“I’m glad I was the one you came to,” she said.
Still dressed in pajamas, her hair a tangled mess, she looked absolutely perfect.
Chapter 18
Later that day, at Taylor’s request, Denise showed him Kyle’s journal.
Sitting in the kitchen beside him, she flipped through the pages, commenting every now and then. Each page was filled with Denise’s goals, as well as specific words and phrases, pronunciations, and her final observations.
“See, it’s just a record of what we do. That’s all.”
Taylor flipped to the very first page. Across the top was written a single word: Apple. Beneath that, toward the middle of the page and continuing onto the back side, was Denise’s description of the very first day she’d worked with him.
“May I?” he asked, motioning to the page. Denise nodded and Taylor read slowly, taking in every word. When he finished he looked up.
“Four hours?”
“Yes.”
“Just to say the word apple?”
“Actually, he didn’t say