“That’s tomorrow,” she said. “But I actually did it on my lunch today because they called and asked if I could.”
Kelsey was holding her fingers up. “Okay, we’ve got volunteers at the food pantry, picks up clothing for the local clothing drive at least for one if not more organizations, you’re doing some Christmas toy drive too, and now you want to babysit a coworker’s daughter. Do you ever just sit home and stuff your face with Oreos and Doritos?”
“Eww,” she said. “First, you’re making me sound like some saint.”
“You are,” Kelsey said. “We all know it. Little miss helping everyone she can in the community so that you don’t have to put yourself out there again.”
She scrunched her nose up. “It’s not for that reason. I enjoy helping those organizations. We all give back. It’s part of our family legacy.”
But she wouldn’t admit that a lot of it was to not sit home alone and feel like such a loser that she couldn’t attract a man.
She’d put herself out there a few times, gone on a couple of dates that flopped, and it was best to let it go for now.
Everything she felt for Brennan hit harder than it ever had with any other man, but he never gave any sign he wanted more than casual conversation about his adorable daughter.
Why not help a coworker in a bind?
“Put your chin down,” Kelsey said. “Yes, we do, but you take it to extremes. In a nice way. Maybe you thought you’d find someone doing those things.”
She snorted. “Nope.”
A big part of what she did on the island she’d moved to a year ago for a career and lifestyle change had more to do with her clients.
She focused on not for profit, government funded organizations. The more she got to know them and their services, the more she wanted to help.
Nothing more than that in terms of volunteering.
It sure the heck had nothing to do with the fact she was running from a failed engagement. She didn’t care what Kelsey said. Volunteering wasn’t a new form of dating in her mind.
Prior to that, it was more misses than hits in relationships because she was never the one her exes wanted in the end. A great friend, not a perfect partner.
“Good,” Kelsey said. “Because you won’t find anyone but do-gooders at those things.”
She put her hands on her hips. “What’s wrong with do-gooders?”
“Gotcha,” Kelsey said, pointing both fingers and alternating them back and forth as if she was trying to shoot love arrows out of her tips.
“I’m not looking for someone,” she said. “Been there and done that and needed a break.”
Kelsey let out an exaggerated snort. “It’s been over a year. Be honest. You think Brennan is hot.”
Her shoulders dropped. She turned her head to look at the closed door again. Brennan’s office wasn’t that close anyway, but she didn’t want to be caught.
It’d be nice to talk to someone about this and Kelsey was great at making her laugh and not feel like a complete failure.
“It’s hard not to. He is.” He stood a good foot taller than her. She’d peg him at six-three. His brown hair was cropped short on the sides and back, a little longer on top, just messy enough to run her fingers through. But it was his eyes that held her. Dark blue, like a storm rolling in. Not the kind you fled from, but the kind you leaned into, desperate to understand what stirred beneath the surface. “Do you know his story?”
“Good for you,” Kelsey said. “It’s better to go for a guy that appeals to you and you can find out about him in person. Those apps, we know they don’t work.”
Kelsey had tried her hand at dating apps and entertained the office with her tales. Not that Alana was here when it was happening, but she still heard bits and pieces.
Her cousin was engaged to Van Harlow and was getting married in a few months. The 911 operator who answered Kelsey’s frantic call when her dog was trapped under the deck over a year ago.
Kyle Raymond’s business partner that no one knew about.
Getting to know someone in person worked for her boss.
That was how she went about it with Jonathan too. Look at how wellthatturned out.
