She seemed to relax a little.“That’s good.Knowing Josh, it was probably more than a thing or two.”
She looked up at him again.“I hope he didn’t make you feel sorry for me.I don’t need pity.”
“Hell, no.From what he’s told me, I admire you.You had it tough taking care of your mom by yourself.”He gave her a little squeeze.“And you managed it all — and turned yourself into a fine mechanic along the way.”
She gave him a small smile, but it faded again when she said, “I managed because I had no choice.And there were a lot of things that I didn’t do that well.And I’m sorry that I’ve taken us here.You don’t need to know all about my gloomy past.”
From the way she bit down on her bottom lip before she continued, he wondered if there was more that he did need to know and she wasn’t telling him.But for now, he’d take as much as she wanted to share.
“The only reason I’m going into it is because of the whole taking a shower deal.My mom wasn’t really able to take care of me when I was small, and I had to figure a lot of things out for myself.”She stood a little straighter, and her chin jutted out as she said, “It was a long time before I figured out that it’s best to shower every day — and that you get a bit smelly when you don’t.”
She looked away before looking back up at him.“The kids at school taught me that lesson — and not in the nicest way.It was when you said the wordstinky.That’s what did it.There was a time when I was known asStinky Savvie, and it just hit me that if you knew that, if you saw me that way…”
He kept one arm tight around her waist and brushed her hair away from her forehead.“I don’t see you that way.I could never see you that way.I want to make light of it by saying I’m the one who stinks right now — but I know that’s not the point, is it?”
She shook her head slowly.
“I’m sorry.Kids are mean,” he said eventually.“I know I can’t change what happened to you back then.I wish I’d been around.I would have kicked their asses for them.”
That won him a small smile.“Now you know why Josh is so protective.”
He did.And knowing it lifted Josh even higher in his estimation.But he didn’t know how to move forward from here, so he asked, “Do you want to talk about it?”
She shook her head rapidly.“I really don’t.I’d rather you never knew that about me, but I had to explain myself.”
“You don’t ever, ever have to explain yourself to me if you don’t want to, you know.”
She held his gaze.“I kind of do, though.If… if we’re…”
He understood what she meant.“You’re right.If we’re going to make this work, then the way to do it is to be honest with each other.And I appreciate that you want to do that.I want to know everything about you.But it’s going to be up to you how much you share and how soon you share it, okay?”
“Okay.Thanks, Jake.And I’m sorry.I didn’t mean to turn this into any big… I don’t know what.And I don’t know how we move our evening on from here.”
He pressed his lips against hers.“You turned it into a chance to get to know each other a bit better, that’s all.And as for moving on with our evening, I have a question.”
“What’s that?”
“How about we order takeout from The Boathouse for dinner — for takeout?I’ll run home, take a quick shower, and pick it up on my way back.That’ll give you the chance to take a shower and get changed.Does that work?”
He felt her relax against him.“That works just fine.Thanks, Jake.”
He kissed her again.“There’s no need to thank me.We’re working this out together.”
That won him a smile.“I guess we are, aren’t we?Like a pretty decent pair of mechanics.”
“Yeah,” he agreed.“The best pair around.”
Chapter Fifteen
On Friday afternoon, Savannah was more than ready to go home at the end of her shift.She went into the back to grab her bag from her locker and was tempted to sneak out the back door.She felt awful, but she didn’t want to run into Taryn on her way out.
Taryn had said that she should take a week or two to think about whether she’d be interested in the assistant manager position, but every time she saw her, Savannah felt bad.It was a great opportunity, and she knew it — and Taryn had to be wondering why she wasn’t jumping all over it.
Still, facing Taryn wasn’t as bad as the thought of facing Rick.And so, rather than sneak out the back, she made her way out through the restaurant.
Taryn wasn’t around, and no one else saw her leave, and she let out a sigh of relief as she hurried down the hallway back toward the main reception area of the lodge.She’d been parking out front all week because she didn’t want to take the risk of being alone in the dark parking lot at the end of her dinner shift again.But when she’d arrived earlier, she’d forgotten, and now she was going to have to walk all the way around back.At least it was still light, and there were plenty of people around.
“Hey, Savannah, how are you doing?”
