A Time To Wait: Rebuilding Kane, #3

By Lauren Thell

Seventeen-year-old males have no self-control. They're practically feral.

That's the assumption Kane finds himself fighting against when Claudia comes to Ohio for Christmas. He's determined to prove his love for her is real—much deeper than the savage desire expected of guys like him. But as he gets a look at life through the eyes of a blind girl, it becomes about so much more than defying low expectations.

A contemporary YA Christian fiction short story, # 3 of Seasons of Kane. 34 pages.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lauren Thell
• Release date: Oct 6, 2022
• ISBN: 9798215355596

Lauren Thell

Lauren Thell is an author of Christian YA fiction full of characters who find themselves on the undersides of impossible situations. She is a professional musician, an amateur dancer, and a wannabe astronaut.

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

Kane drummed his pencil on his notebook, his brain rebelling against geometry. If he could rip the next two days off the calendar and fast-forward to Claudia’s arrival, he totally would. Waiting was torture.

He cracked his knuckles and admired a lone snapshot tacked to the wall above his desk, more for vanity than any real need to remember what she looked like. If he were an artist, he could paint her from memory. Honey-amber ringlets sticking out in all directions highlighted her spunk, and her smile gave her unfocused mocha eyes a sparkler effect. His favorite detail, however, was the delicate fingers wrapped around his hand.

His heart threatened to warp his ribcage.

Two more days.

He scratched his head with his eraser and frowned at the numbers in his textbook. Suddenly, his bedroom door blew open with a loud clunk. Kane glanced up as his nonverbal autistic older brother lumbered in.

Hey, Mic, what’s up?

Micah went to the dresser and picked up Kane’s tablet. He pointed at it and grunted.

Kane shook his head. Where’s yours?

A flurry of hand gestures and guttural noises proclaimed his brother’s frustration. Either Micah’s tablet was dead or misplaced.

Kane exhaled loudly. Whatever. Go ahead.

Micah shoved the tablet under his arm, then pulled a caramel candy from his jeans pocket and dropped it on Kane’s desk before loping out of the room. Kane shook his head and smiled. Apparently he was a sucker for his brother’s caramels.

The second he popped it into his mouth, a polite knock sounded on his open door. His mother, still dressed in a gray skirt suit, stepped in and smoothed her hands over her crisp jacket.

The guest room and bathroom are ready for Claudia. I set towels and washcloths where she could find them, and pulled the blinds for privacy.

Kane nodded. He never would’ve thought to pull the blinds.

Is there anything else we need to do to accommodate her?

He shrugged. We can’t leave stuff all over the floor.

Her gaze swept over the landscape of dirty laundry, shoes, and stray baseball gear. An eyebrow rose. You better not let her come in here.

I wasn’t planning on it.

Make sure you watch out for her around Micah. I don’t know how he will respond to her.

Yeah, I know. He twirled his pencil, wishing he could turn the clock ahead forty-eight hours.

Listen, Kane. His mother waited for