"Want to make a deal?"he asked."No more secrets?"
"Yeah."She smiled."That sounds like a plan to me."
~ ~ ~
Ollie felt like he was in the way as he watched Alara supervising Reaves.Reaves had wanted to take care of the camper himself, but he had no clue what he was doing.Alara, on the other hand, had already unhooked the power and water supply.
In the end, he was relieved when Reaves gave her a rueful smile and said, "You know what?How about I just admit that I'm an extra pair of hands here to do your bidding, and you can give me orders."
It didn't surprise him that Alara shook her head."I'm not big on giving orders."
Zia skipped between them, sprinkling glitter from a little pot as she went."It's true," she told Reaves."Mommy believes that we do better when we figure things out for ourselves.She'll help if we ask, and she might have to step in sometimes, but mostly she doesn't give orders."
Reaves chuckled as he met Alara's gaze."That's good to know.In that case, I'll go with a couple of questions.First, do I have this thing hooked up to the Suburban okay and all the electrics connected properly?And second, do you want me to tow it out onto the road, or would you be more comfortable doing it yourself?"
Ollie glanced sideways when Callie spoke in a low voice beside him."Good for him.I'm impressed.Where I come from, the guys just take over.I have high hopes for these two."
"Yeah, Reaves will never trample over anyone.He gets stuff done, but he gets it done with people's cooperation.Everyone loves him.He's a good guy."
A rush of happiness buzzed in his chest when she said, "It seems to me that you're a pair together."
He was surprised that Alara told Reaves he could back the camper out, since it would get him used to maneuvering it before they hit the road.But he understood her reasoning when she came and took hold of Callie's hand.
"Thank you so much.There's no way I'll ever be able to repay you for everything you’ve done for us."
"And no way you'll ever need to," said Callie.
That made him smile, but he wandered away to see if he could help Reaves so that the two women could say their goodbyes.
Zia came running to him and caught hold of his sleeve."Will you make me a promise, Secret King?"
He bit down on his bottom lip, not sure that he wanted to agree to the request.
She put her little hands on her hips and stared up at him for a few moments before saying, "I'm only going to ask you to promise totry, since it's not up to you really."She made a big show of looking over at Callie before looking back at him and nodding.
That made him chuckle."Okay, I promise I'll try."
She grinned."Thank you.Please promise you'll try to bring Lady Sunshine to visit us at Grandpa Grape's castle."
He squatted down in front of her so that he was at eye level."I promise.And more than that, I promise that I'll be trying really hard.I want to get her to come there too."
"I know," said Zia."I wasn't just asking for me."
He could only laugh as she ran back to where her mom and Callie were still talking.He knew he shouldn't listen, but he couldn't help it.
Alara leaned in to hug her."Thank you again.And you have to promise that we'll keep in touch."
"You know it," said Callie."And you really don't have to thank me.I've loved having you guys here, and you can come and visit whenever you like."
"I hope you'll come and visit us too," said Alara.
Callie gave her arm a squeeze."I will.I'm coming to see Becca soon anyway.I'll check on you.But don't you worry — you're gonna be fine.And if ever you feel like you're not, you give me a call, okay?"
"Thanks.I'll do that.It's nice to have a friend to talk to."
Ollie's chest tightened when Callie said, "It's the same for me, you know.I told you before and I'll say it again — we have more in common than you seem to realize."
"Well then, I'm there for you too," said Alara."And one last time, I'm really sorry about what happened with Ollie."
