Kellan: Great. Pick you up at 11.
Those three dots hover for a full minute.
Kellan: I know I'm going to be dreaming about you tonight. Is it too much to tell you that?
Actually, I was kind of thinking the same thing.
Kellan: Good. Please tell dream-me to remember to pack both coffee mugs in the truck.
LOL! I’ll try.
Kellan: Sweet dreams, gorgeous.
You too.
The three dots hover again for a moment.
Kellan: I wish I could be watching your eyes as you read this, because I've honestly never sent this to anyone before…
Kellan: XOXO.
Don't know what my eyes are doing, but my mouth is grinning from ear to ear. XOXO.
Kellan: :)
My heart is threatening to burst out of my chest. There are so many green flags with this man.
Guess I’ll need to keep my own red flags tucked away.
5
KELLAN
My entire family has always been the kind to dive into projects. If something needs to be done, we do it.
It's wonderful for me to see that Jenna has the same sort of work ethic. She's so focused right now, holding the camera up to her eye as she crouches slightly, taking shots of a pothole from a few different angles.
Meanwhile, I'm standing in the middle of the road, ready to flag down any traffic or pull Jenna out of the way if necessary. Out on these back roads, vehicles are a few and far between, but I’m not taking any chance with her safety.
She picks up the banana we’re using for scale in the photos and straightens up, turning to me with a grin as her ponytail ruffles in the breeze. I'm struck by how her eyes look in the sunlight against the coppery auburn highlights of her hair. She's just wearing a t-shirt, jeans, and a faded gray-blue hoodie, but somehow she makes the outfit sexier than any lingerie.
"What are you staring at?" she laughs.
"Just some gorgeous woman standing in the middle of the road."
She laughs. "Don't be silly."
"You want silly?" I pull a series of the freakiest, most bizarre expressions my face will stretch into until Jenna is practically doubled over with laughter. I rush in, grabbing her around the waist and spinning her gently, then scoop her up, being careful of the camera, and carry her toward the truck while she protests. "I have two working feet, you know!"
"You might be tired after hours of crouching and taking photos. I can't take that risk."
Once we’re driving again, Jenna flips through the photos. “I think we’ve got reference shots for pothole levels one through five covered. I’ll crank the contrast a bit so the edges are clear.” She shoots me a sideways glance. “That banana idea was great.”
I chuckle. “I didn’t invent it. It’s commonly used online. But it’s something everyone can easily picture, plus, it adds a pop of color, don’t you think?”
I drive to a crossroads where the corner of the asphalt is crumbling, and Jenna takes a few photos with the banana front and center. Then we head back to town.
“What kind of scale are you going to use?” she asks. “Just number them one to five?”
