I clapped a hand over my mouth and nearly cried. “I knew I liked her.”
Kenzie briefly glanced up from her bubble letters. “Shouldn’t we hang a few outside of town, too?”
“Good point,” I replied, tapping my chin. “Got any extras?”
???
By midday, exhaustion tangled with a strange, buzzing energy. My volunteers were all hard at work. The town was humming with an addictive sense of community.
Strolling down Main Street, I ended a call with Janice—she’d just agreed to take on something special and very top-secret—and tucked my phone into my back pocket. I was halfway to the diner when Rhett’s old pickup rolled into view, his denim-clad arm draped casually out the window. I half-dove toward the nearest shop, but he’d already seen me.
He swung into the closest parking spot, hopped out, and dusted his hands on his jeans. “Where you off to with those?”
I stared at posters tucked under my arms, momentarily at a loss for words. “Port Camden,” I replied in a rush and motioned toward Captain’s with my chin. “I'm going to go see if Margot can drive me in Ruth’s car.”
Rhett crossed his arms and leaned against the hood of his truck. “I just passed Margot having a pretty intense phone call up by Callahan’s Garage.”
My heart sank. “Oh.”
“Good thing you’ve got me,” he said, patting the grille.
“You’ve already done too much—”
“What if I said I was already heading that way?”
I narrowed my eyes at him and blew a lock of hair out of my face. “Is that true?”
Then, Rhett smiled and shrugged. Before I could protest, he pushed off the truck and yanked the posters from my arms.
“You coming?” he tossed over his shoulder as he pulled the passenger door open.
Something told me I’d regret this.
Chapter Twenty-One
Iclosed my eyes and relished the feeling of the breeze whipping against my face as we drove toward the city. Rhett had been quiet, merely drumming his fingers along to the radio and casting me a sidelong glance every once in a while.
The second I pulled myself into the passenger seat, I made up my mind that this trip would be purely business. A friend helping a friend—nothing more. But friendstalkedabout things, right? Attempting to avoid him while stuck in the car together would just be silly. And uncomfortable.
I turned in my seat and tucked one leg under the other. “So, your parents.”
“Was that a question?” he shot back, raising his eyebrows.
“Tell me about them.”
“Right to the point, huh?” Rhett cleared his throat and dropped one arm out the window. “Well, they’re… driven.”
I waited for him to continue.
Nothing came but the sound of country twang as it drifted from the speakers. Dropping my chin in my hand on the center console, I blinked up at him. “Driven by… what?”
He sighed. “Are we playing twenty questions?”
“If that gets me an answer, then…” I pursed my lips and pretended to think. “Sure.”
Rhett sent me a mischievous, twinkling look as we stopped at a red light. My stomach did a somersault and several impressive acrobatic maneuvers.
“Fine. They’re driven bysuccess.” His voice flattened as the light turned green. “And for them, success was money—mainly how much you have.”
