“I didn’t.”
She slipped on a jacket and grabbed her purse, wondering if Grandpa had shared her secret with Cody during one of those visits to Alaska. She was curious how much he might’ve talked about her, but didn’t feel right asking. “I named him after the very first character I ever created,” Jenna admitted as she locked the door behind her. “I was four.”
“Was it a dog?” Cody guessed.
“A cat, actually. Mom used to sneak scraps to a stray when she didn’t think I was watching. Claimed she didn’t want us girls to get attached. But the cat naturally turned tame since we werebothsneaking him food.”
“Cody Evans? I thought you’d gotten on a plane by now,” Cadence, one of the three Whitmore sisters who owned and managed the lodge, said as they stepped into the lobby. She stood beside the buffet, refilling K-cups, creamer packets, and utensils. The aroma of freshly baked muffins—banana-nut Jenna knew because she’d already swiped one—danced around them.
“Leaving on Saturday,” he said, the words a blunt reminder that he was a temporary part of her life, amazing kiss or not. Sunset Ridge would certainly feel like a different place without her personal tour guide. Which made her all the more determined to steal one more kiss before he left. A good-bye kiss she could remember him by.
“Maui this time?”
“Yep, that’s the gig.”
“I’ve only been to Hawaii once, when my niece was first born. But I hear Maui is a favorite of those who’ve island hopped.” Cadence opened another box of K-cups, its beautiful packaging tempting Jenna to reconsider her dislike of coffee. That caramel-toffee flavor looked delicious.
“Maui’s nice,” Cody said, his words so generic they gave Jenna pause.
“Jenna, is everything going all right for you?”
“For me?”
“With your room?”
She felt a tinge of embarrassment at the misunderstanding, but recovered quickly enough. “Oh yes, it’s wonderful. I should be checking out by Saturday.”Or taking up permanent residence for three years until Cody comes back to finish the list. Either way, she’d decided to become an Alaskan resident. “Is that a problem? I know there’s a festival this weekend—”
“It’s no issue at all. Things start to slow down around here this time of year, even for this final festival. We’ve got two empty rooms if anyone shows up last-minute.”
Cody pulled at his phone, glancing at the screen. “We better head out. Don’t want to be late.”
“Late?”
“Enjoy Maui if I don’t see you before you leave,” Cadence called after them, the conversation leaving Jenna with a pit in her stomach.
When Cody first announced he was delaying his flight, she didn’t have the good sense to appreciate the extra time they’d get to spend together. Now that it was coming so quickly to a close, emotions stirred inside her she didn’t want to feel. A kiss or two was harmless enough. But feelings were quite another thing.
“How are you with surprises?” Cody asked as he stole her truck keys from her palm and hopped into the driver’s side after Graham.
“Not great.” Cody cranked the engine before she took a step closer, rolling down the back window halfway for Graham. “Cody!”
“C’mon, there’s no time.”
“Ugh!” She marched around to the passenger side, wanting to be mad at him. But she was much too touched by the way he was acting with her dog this morning to be more than mildly annoyed. “Where are we going?”
“If I tell you, it won’t be a surprise, then, will it?”
“Is this on the list?”
“You’re not getting any hints from me.”
Jenna folded her arms over her chest, well aware she was acting like a pouty child. “Fine.” But secretly, she felt a slice of excitement. What if he was taking her somewhere romantic? Preferably somewhere that didn’t require an airplane ride to get to. Maybe she’d never gotten seriously involved with a man, but she still recognized when one was interested. And even if Cody was in the habit of running from anything serious, he most definitely was interested. No man kissed the way he did if he weren’t.
“What is this?” she asked when he pulled into a parking spot a block off the downtown strip.
“C’mon. They’re expecting you.” Cody and Graham hopped out of the truck and started walking down the sidewalk toward a two-story brick building, leaving Jenna sitting in the truck. She’d seen buildings like that before. She didn’t need to read the sign to know where they were.
“Why can’t I ever have agoodsurprise?” she grumbled, reluctantly following the duo. Dozens of cars were parked along both sides of the street. A school bus sat off to the side. How many people were inside? If she’d only talked to the lawyer about a loophole instead of barricading herself in a lodge room to write or allowing Cody to whisk her away to places without cell reception, maybe she’d have gotten a pass for this one item.
