The obvious solution to their problem was Danny rearranging his life to be close to Kenzie. He knew that, but he couldn’t imagine what that would look like.
Maybe someday, down the road when they’d figured out if what they felt was the real deal, it looked like him selling the house he loved like it was a part of himself and buying a house up here.
And because he knew Kenzie wouldn’t give up the restaurant and there were very few day care options in the area, he knew if they did have kids, he was going to juggle being a full-time author and practically full-time stay-at-home dad.
Logically, he knew a lot of people made that work. He couldn’t even count the number of authors he’d heard talk about fitting their writing time around raising kids. It was possible.
What he couldn’t see was how they got there. Nobody in their right mind would sell off their property and relocate to a very small town with few amenities, upending their work process, for a person they’d kissed once. And even if he stayed at the campground for the entire season to be closer to her, where would that get them?
Going for walks and chatting with her at the restaurant in between customers made him happy, but how would they get the time and privacy to really get to know each other? There would be no romantic getaways. Hell, he wasn’t even sure they could manage a sleepover without her father or his brother in the next room. By the time the campground closed for the winter, would they be any closer to knowing they were a forever kind of thing?
Maybe Kenzie was right, and it wasn’t possible for them to be more than friends.
The crack of plastic and scrape of the ragged edge against his skin—along with Hannah’s startled sound—alerted him to the fact he’d just snapped his plastic fork in half.
“Danny, you good?” Rob asked, looking at him with concern.
“Yeah.” He tried to laugh it off, but the sound was rough and didn’t quite land. “Cheap fork, I guess.”
Rob nodded, and then gave Hannah one of those undecipherable looks like the ones that often passed between his parents.
She pushed herself to her feet with a groan. “We should head back, anyway. I’m beat, and this picnic table’s doing me no favors.”
Danny knew they were leaving because Rob sensed his brother’s vibe had changed, though he might not know why. Maybe he should have told them to stay and found Hannah a better chair, but he wasn’t going to be able to snap out of it while he could still see Kenzie. Every time she moved, it drew his attention, and then he’d remember the feel of her straining against him.
Instead, he’d hit the shower and open his laptop so he could pour all of his frustration and needs into beefing up the ending of his book until he was sure that, love the twist or hate it, readers wouldn’t be able to put it down.
That, at least, was a problem hecouldsolve.
Chapter Thirteen
Four nights. Kenzie spent four long nights tossing and turning, watching for his truck to pull into the parking lot in vain each day, before she heard from Danny again.
She’d begun to think maybe she wasn’t going to. After the most amazing kiss of her life, she’d basically told him there wouldn’t be any more of them. And then she’d avoided being alone with him—or even near him—for the entirety of the cookout.
When her phone lit up with a message from him on Wednesday morning, during the lull between breakfast and lunch because he was thoughtful like that, she was relieved. Maybe she couldn’t have him, but she also didn’t want to give him up.
Are you up for a walk today? I’m going up to the pond again at three for some fresh air. Hoping you can join me.
Kenzie didn’t let herself overthink it.I’ll be there.
She did overthink it, though, from the time she hit Send to the moment she pulled her car next to Danny’s truck and turned it off. It was going to be hard, being alone with him in the woods without thinking about thelasttime they were alone. That kiss would stay with her forever. But if their friendship was going to continue—and she wanted it to—they had to get over it and move on.
Maybe his face didn’t light up quite as much as usual when he saw her, but they’d push through it. He was leaning against his truck, hands in his pockets. Kenzie got out, trying not to notice the way the Henley shirt and old jeans hugged his body, or the way his thick hair was definitely in need of a trim. And she also tried not to notice the extra distance he left between them as he fell into step beside her.
“So are you stuck on your edits?” she asked as they hit the division between the parking area and the walking trail.
He looked over at her, confusion furrowing his brow. “What do you mean?”
“You wanted to go for a walk, so I assumed you needed to knock a problem around.”
He shoved his hands in his pockets. “I turned the book in last night.”
“Congratulations! I’m so happy for you.” That was an understatement. “That wasn’t even two weeks, was it?”
“I did about at least two weeks’ worth of work in the last few days, so it probably averages out to a month.”
“Definitely time to breathe some fresh air and remind your body how to walk upright,” she said, and he chuckled.
