I hand it to her. “Well? What does it say?” Her eyes grow huge as she reads from the screen.
Kane: Dude, that’s an amazing idea! I’ve already texted the McMurphy family and the council. We’ll own the land by the end of the week and can start digging well before winter.
Leah hands me back my phone, watching me type my reply.
Thanks. This should be a quick project. I have an expert on RV life with me who can help with the plan and everything.
Kane: Is she cute?
Kane: I mean, I assume it’s the girl you took to New York.
Details later. Thanks again.
Leah’s eyes are glazed over as she stares into her coffee. “Just like that?” she whispers. “That’s…bonkers.”
“Yeah, I know.” I thread my fingers through hers again. “I’m still not really used to it either. But when something is a good idea, we charge ahead. If we haven’t thought of something, the town council will holler. If not, away we go.”
I run my ankle up and down her calf under the table. “We have assistants to deal with the lawyers and property taxes and all that other boring crap. It leaves my brothers and I free to be the ideas people.”
It’s difficult to read her expression, since her eyes keep shifting around. “I’m sorry, baby. Did I do something wrong?”
“No, that’s not it. I think I’m just…truly surprised, I guess.”
“Oh, yeah, it’s weird. I totally get that it’s weird.” Lifting her hand, I kiss her fingers. With a quick glance over my shoulder to make sure nobody is looking, I turn her hand gently and drag my lips along her inner wrist. “I know I’m a handful,” I murmur. “But it’s fun to be one of the town’s fairy godmothers, right?”
Although Leah’s chin tips up and down, her eyes still don’t seem completely focused. It’s as if her mind is churning. On what, I don’t know.
“Hey, want to come check out my house? It might help you get to know me better. And prove that hopefully I’m the right kind of weird.”
She nods, and finally a spark ignites in her eyes again. “Yeah. That’s a good idea.”
12
LEAH
My stomach is slowly tightening into knots on the drive to Kai's house. And not just from the surprising number of potholes on a few of these back roads that toss me around no matter how carefully he drives around the worst of them.
Kai is amazing. I already have intense feelings for him. Yet his lifestyle is so different than mine. Maybe I need to find a way to tell him how I expected my life to go.
The truck takes a tight corner, pointing out just how easy it is to drive nimbly in this sporty, brand-new vehicle. Maybe that's part of the problem. I'm not sporty. I've always planned and deliberated and driven slowly. That's part of having an old RV.
They're huge and clunky and you need to know exactly where you're going. It takes a while to stop and change direction, too: you need to pump the brakes long before you approach a stop sign, since the weight of such a big vehicle wants to keep going and it takes a massive amount of effort to stop or redirect it.
Is that me? Am I so set in my ways that I’m afraid to change direction?
On the other hand, wouldn’t I be completely nuts to change my entire life plan for a guy I just met?
My stomach lurches again. That’s what I want. I want to stay here and live with Kai forever.
Yeah, and I also want chocolate to have zero calories, and to have stronger legs from just one workout.
"Hey." Kai reaches out and squeezes my hand. "I know it's weird that I can send a couple of texts and get a project this large underway immediately. I freely acknowledge that it isn't normal. But it's the way my family has always operated. If we see something that needs to be done, something that we can help with, we jump on it. We have the resources and the connections to do so, so why not, right?"
"Yeah. I guess it makes sense." I stare out at the trees zipping past the window, trying to organize my thoughts. It really is admirable that Kai and his brothers are so dedicated to helping this town. "I guess the thing that strikes me as strange is that you don't have an RV. Have you ever traveled in one?"
He shrugs, turning onto a smaller road. "To a large degree, I've had most of my trips sort of thrust upon me in a mad rush. Never had the time to take it slower in an RV." He laughs. "I do want to travel more just for fun. Choose a place and go there, even though there’s no conference or work event. And I haven’t done nearly enough extended road trips."
“Yet you just trust me, a relative stranger, to tell you what an RV park needs?” I glance over to catch his gaze. “Please tell me you’ll consult with actual experts first.”
