He cleared his throat and pushed that thought far, far down, still unsure what her mood was like. “Sixislate. I let you sleep in.”
“You outdoor types are exhausting.” But she smiled as she shook her head, and thank the Blessed Virgin Mary that he hadn’t asked William to swap. If she was willing to ignore the out-of-nowhere disagreement that had exposed the black hole at the heart of their relationship, so was he. It was the only way to survive the weekend and possibly this whole damn partnership.
“I made coffee.” He gestured at the empty mug next to the pot on the counter.
“Yes! Thank yo— What are you doing?”
He’d set her bag on the kitchen island and was unzipping the top compartment.
“I figured you’d need some help packing. There’s an art to it.”
But when he flipped the top open, he saw her sunscreen, bandanna, first aid kit, and trail mix settled in neat as a pin, exactly as it should be.
“This looks good,” he said in surprise.
“It should.” She didn’t look up from the coffee as she poured. “William packed it for me.”
He let go of the bag as if it had burned him. “What? When?”
“Yesterday. He came by my place after work to help me get it all sorted.”
“He…” The question was strangely hard to push out. “William went to your parents’ house?”
She flicked a smile at him. “Used the front door and everything.”
Golden-boy William had parked in the driveway, had rung the bell, had shaken her father’s hand maybe.
He pivoted and crossed to the refrigerator, yanking the door open and letting the air cool the blood pulsing in his temples. Once he was fractionally back under control, he grabbed the milk and walked to the island with it. Faith waved him off, so he poured some into his mug and returned it to the rack in the door.
So what if William had helped her pack? So what if he’d seen her bedroom? So what if he’d sat on the magic bed? It was Faith’s business, not his. All they did when they were together was trip over the land mines of their past and wound each other with the shrapnel. For God’s sake, he shouldwanther to pair up with William if only to shut down this miserable push-pull he felt every time they were together.
While he was spinning out, Faith was excitedly poking through the contents of her bag. “I can’t believe how much stuff he fit in here. And it’s not as uncomfortable as I expected.”
“That’s physics for you.” He refocused on the actual conversation. “What did he pack?”
Not only did he need to know what supplies William had equipped her with, but he was perversely curious about whether William had handled the clothes thathe’dchosen for her at Hiking HQ. The ones he’d imagined helping her pack properly before they left today.
Hot jealousy surged yet again, and he choked it back as Faith started pointing to the various compartments.
“Extra clothes, including socks. Raincoat. Spare water. Sleeping pad and bag. Oh, and he put the stove and cookware in the middle part. He said since he’s carrying the big tent and you’re carrying the food, I could handle that stuff.”
He nodded, running down his mental checklist. Their food supply didn’t have any tree nuts for Mateo’s allergy or any strawberries for Faith’s, so they were good there. But he wanted to know what else William had put in her backpack.
“Did he pack you a reflective blanket? Lighter? Compass?”
She shook her head. “Yes, yes, no. I wouldn’t know what to do with a compass if I had one.”
“No problem. Just stick with me.” For more reasons than she knew, he wanted that. But he didn’t say so out loud and simply rezipped her bag and nudged it closer to her. “Any questions before we go?
“One, maybe.” She fiddled with the end of one of the braids, looking uncomfortable for the first time that morning. “Which Leo am I going to get over the next couple of days?”
“What do you mean?”
“Come on.” Her eyes lingered on his face. “Are you going to be the short-tempered guy who grunts one-syllable answers? Or are you going to be the guy who helps carry heavy boxes from my car and has an unnecessary security system installed at work?”
“It was necessary,” he said.
She rolled her eyes. “I told you that—”
