Page 17 of Belonging: KT & Lolo (Good Hope: The Next Generation #2)

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Inside the cabin, Lolo leaned against the door for a moment, her hand still curled around the knob. Her heartbeat was unsteady, her breath catching in her throat as if her body was trying to hold on to what had just happened.

She touched her lips with her fingers. They still felt warm from KT’s kiss—slow and sure and full of promise. A promise he hadn’t spoken out loud, but one she’d felt anyway.

Dropping her sketchpad on the chair, she stepped out of her shoes, walked barefoot across the wooden floor and turned on a single lamp. The warm light didn’t chase the quiet from the room—it deepened it. Made it feel like a space for something sacred.

Lowering herself to the armchair by the window, she tucked her legs beneath her and looked out into the night.

His porch light was still on. She imagined him walking back through the trees, brushing droplets off his sleeves, maybe running a hand through his hair like he always did when he was thinking hard.

She could still feel the imprints of his fingers on her waist. The way his voice had gone soft when he’d said he wanted more time with her. The way he’d looked at her while she’d sketched, as if she were something rare and worth knowing.

The knock had changed everything.

Still, it hadn’t changed the most important thing—that KT wanted her there. That tonight, under different circumstances, she might have stayed.

Lolo picked up a nearby sketchpad, not because she intended to draw, but because she wanted to keep something of the moment.

Her pencil hovered, then traced the curve of a hand.

A thumb brushing the inside of a wrist. A pair of eyes looking back with questions and patience. A kiss that didn’t ask, just gave.

She didn’t know what tomorrow would bring.

But tonight, for the first time in a long time, she felt seen.

More than that, she felt wanted—not for what she could deliver, or who she was connected to, or what she could fix, but for who she was, here, now, messy and honest and trying.

And maybe…maybe that was the beginning of something real.

Standing at the counter, KT poured the last bottle of Coke into two tumblers while Braxton made himself comfortable on the worn leather couch.

“Sorry for interrupting whatever that was between you and Lolo,” Braxton said, accepting his glass with a raised brow.

KT dropped into the armchair across from him. “If you were aiming for the worst possible moment, congrats. You nailed it.”

Braxton gave a low whistle. “So I wasn’t imagining things. The air in here was…thick.”

KT didn’t smile. He stared into his drink, thumb tracing the rim. “It was a good night. One of the best I’ve had in a long time.”

“Until I showed up.”

“I’m glad you’re here.” The honesty in his tone softened the edge. “Even if the timing sucked.”

Braxton offered a half smile and took a long sip .

They sat for a moment in familiar quiet before KT spoke again. “You caught us in the middle of a moment. And it wasn’t just physical. It was…more.” He exhaled, struggling to explain. “It felt real. Like I didn’t have to explain myself. She just…gets it. Gets me.”

Braxton’s brow furrowed, though his voice stayed easy. “Now I feel guilty for not sending a heads-up.”

“It’s fine.” KT gave a quiet laugh. “Seriously.”

They fell into silence again, broken only by the ceiling fan’s gentle hum and the rustle of wind through the window he’d opened.

Braxton set his glass down with a soft clink. “I haven’t thought about her in years. When you said she was here, it threw me.”

KT shrugged. “The cabins are for artists. She needed time away, space to sketch and breathe. It lined up.”

“She still does art?”

“Mostly charcoal and pencil,” KT said, the affection unmistakable. “More passion than paycheck. She’s in interior design now—commercial builds. Works for her dad.”

Braxton nodded slowly. “Explains the hours. The intensity.” He ran a hand over his jaw. “Still wild that she ended up right next door to you.”

KT opened his mouth to say more, but his phone buzzed on the side table. He glanced at the screen and smiled.

Good night. xoxo

His smile deepened as he typed a quick reply, then set the phone down.

“That was Lolo,” he said simply. “Saying good night.”

Braxton leaned over to peek. “She signs off with xoxo?”

KT just smiled, the kind of quiet, satisfied smile that didn’t need explaining.

Still grinning, Braxton leaned back. “Man, you’ve got it bad.”

KT didn’t deny it. He lifted his glass, condensation cold against his fingers.

“I’ve got it right,” he said softly .

They sat without speaking for a while, the silence holding something easy, something known.

Eventually, Braxton stretched and stood. “Well, now that I’ve spectacularly wrecked the mood, I’ll head back to Grandma and Len’s. Maybe I’ll ruin their evening, too.”

Pushing to his feet, KT walked him to the door.

“Thanks for the Coke,” Braxton said with a smirk.

“Thanks for the ambush,” KT replied, dry but not unkind.

Braxton clapped him on the shoulder. “You’re welcome.”

KT stood in the open doorway for a long moment after his brother’s taillights disappeared down Paintbrush Lane. The muggy summer air curled around him, thick with the scent of pine and memory.

His gaze drifted toward the cabin next door with the bright blue door.

If even one light had been glowing behind the curtains, he might’ve knocked. Who was he kidding? He totally would have.

But it was dark. Quiet.

With a slow, quiet exhale, KT stepped back inside and closed the door behind him, knowing she’d be the last thing on his mind tonight—and the first thing come morning.

Morning had broken humid and still, the kind of day where time felt suspended. KT had risen early, hoping a few hours of painting would clear his head, but his thoughts kept drifting to the cabin next door.

He was midstroke, deep in the zone, when a knock splintered his focus.

Finally.

He capped his brush, wiped his hands and hurried to the door, expecting to see Lolo when he opened it.

“Braxton?” KT blinked. “You’re…early.”

Braxton lifted a brow. “We said six.”

“I must’ve lost track of time,” KT said, stepping aside. “I was painting.”

Braxton shook out his jacket, drops of rain scattering. “Took some maneuvering to escape Grandma Anita. She nearly tackled me with a to-do list.”

KT laughed, closing the door behind them. “She could’ve asked me.”

“She thinks you need creative solitude.” Braxton grinned. “I, on the other hand, get assigned tech support and furniture moving.”

“She’s not wrong,” KT deadpanned. He moved toward the kitchen. “Thirsty? No more Coke, but there’s wine, soda…lemonade.”

Braxton narrowed his eyes. “You made lemonade?”

“Lolo made it yesterday,” KT said, grabbing the glasses.

“Ah. That checks out.”

He dropped ice into the tumblers and poured the pale yellow liquid, savoring the quiet domesticity of it.

“She brought lemons. And cherry cobbler. And wildflowers.”

Braxton’s gaze slid to the mason jar on the table. “She brought you flowers ?”

KT slid him a glass. “She’s thoughtful like that.”

His phone buzzed. KT glanced at the screen, smiled and sent a quick reply.

“That was Lolo,” he said. “She just got back. Said she was going to stop by, but she saw your car and didn’t want to intrude.”

Braxton smirked. “She thinks I bite?”

“I told her to come anyway. I want you to know her.”

Braxton studied him. “Last time I saw her, she had braces and flyaway curls. Now she’s delivering cobbler and lemonade?”

“And sketching beside me while I paint,” KT said, his voice quieter now. “It’s…unexpected. But it feels right. ”

Braxton leaned back. “So you two are just…picking up where you left off?”

“Something like that.” KT’s gaze drifted toward the front window. The space felt warmer with Braxton here, but a little emptier without her.

“It’s strange,” he added. “But familiar, too. Like we were always meant to circle back.”

Braxton held his glass up. “To old friends turning into something more.”

KT raised his own. “I’ll drink to that.”

When Lolo drove past KT’s cabin after spending the day with Eliza and Ava, she spotted a car parked out front.

Braxton.

She sighed as she turned into her own driveway. The day had been warm and bright, but now it felt as if the clouds had thickened just behind her eyes.

Inside, the cabin felt strangely hollow. The air held that faint, sealed-up stillness of a space left untouched too long. Even the cushions on the couch looked somehow unfamiliar, like they belonged to someone else’s life.

Not wanting to intrude if KT was enjoying a long-overdue visit with his brother, she sent a text—casual on the surface, careful underneath.

Saw Braxton’s car. Have fun with your brother.

She hadn’t expected much from the evening. No official plans, just the soft promise of shared quiet. Dinner, maybe. Sketches passed between them. An easy rhythm. She hadn’t realized until now just how much she’d been looking forward to it.

Her phone buzzed.

Please join us .

Three simple words, but they landed in her chest with surprising weight.

She moved to the window. KT’s porch light was on, spilling a warm glow across the steps. She imagined the brothers inside, trading stories and laughter that needed no backstory. That kind of rhythm didn’t happen often. Maybe it wasn’t meant to be interrupted.

Still…he’d asked her to come.

Her gaze swept her own small space. It felt even quieter now, the silence pressing at her shoulders. Her sketchpad lay on the table, her pencils waiting, but she didn’t feel like drawing.

She wasn’t sad, not exactly. Just…unmoored. Drifting.

Without another thought, she stood. Her body moved before her mind caught up, feet finding a path as familiar as breath. As true as instinct.

Toward him.

Instead of opening the door and stepping inside like she had the last few times, Lolo knocked.