“Oh, uh, fairly busy, but in my businessthat’s a good thing,” he told her, realizing no one had asked him that question in a long time. “How about yours?”
“Oh, it was great,” Allie said happily. “And Maya had a really good day too. She’s such an enthusiastic learner.”
“She has a great teacher,” Ash said, letting go of Allie’s hand to open the passenger door for her.
“Thank you,” she said softly as she got in.
There was something so sweet about the way she reacted to him complimenting her outfit and opening the truck door.
In his experience, a lot of women automatically expected a man to make a fuss. But Allie didn’t seem to take anything for granted.
It feels good to do little things for someone who actually appreciates them.
He was smiling as he walked over to the driver’s side.
“Your truck is so clean,” she said.
“Well, thank you,” he said. “Although it might not be such a good thing. I should probably be getting it dirty doing more things around my place.”
“Like what?” she asked.
“I’m not sure,” he admitted as he started the engine. “But we’ve got plenty of land. I’d like to have a vegetable patch, and maybe build a play set for Maya.”
“Those are great ideas,” Allie said. “What about a flower garden?”
“Do you even get enough sun here for that?” he teased before pulling out.
“Believe it or not, we do,” Allie said, laughing. “You should plant sunflowers. Maya would like that.”
“She would,” he said. “Maybe you can help us.”
“I’d be happy to,” Allie agreed.
They drove on in companionable silence. When they reached the covered bridge, he tapped his horn before proceeding.
“You already know the drill,” Allie said approvingly.
“My real estate agent explained it,” he told her. “And I know not to honk too early or late in the day because of the Johnsons.”
“Wow, you’re really one of us now,” Allie said, laughing. “Did you know I used to be terrified of this bridge?”
“Really?” Ash asked. “You strike me as the fearless type.”
“I do?” Allie asked, looking pleased.
“Definitely,” he said. “I’ll bet you told ghost stories around the campfire and everything.”
“I definitely did that,” she told him.
“So why were you afraid of the bridge?” he asked.
“There was one just like it on the cover ofThe Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” she said, looking a little sheepish. “I was a little bit afraid that if I walked through that bridge by myself, the headless horseman would get me.”
“You know what?” Ash said. “I actually think that was probably valid. Itisa little spooky to be in a covered bridge, especially at night.”
“You’re just being nice,” she teased. “I’ll bet nothing scares you.”
Everything scares me now.
