“Tired?”“A little.”
“Overwhelmed?”
She thinks about it.Then, “A little.But in a good way.”
I lace our fingers together.
She looks down at our joined hands and smiles softly.“Lindsey was right.”
“That about me?”
“That everybody here would make me feel welcome.”She glances at me.“I didn’t expect it to feel so genuine.”
“It is.”
“I can tell.”
That quiet certainty in her voice almost wrecks me on the spot.Because I know what it costs her to trust family bonds.To believe people mean what they show.
And she’s looking at mine and seeing the good.
“Had an old lady once.She couldn’t understand the bond.Couldn’t trust she was part of the fold.Thank you,” I shared the most personal thing with her about my past.Outside of what I’m feeling with Lucy, I’ve only let one other female get this close to me.She went crazy keying my car on a run once thinking I was cheating.She didn’t believe these kinds of gatherings were legit and swore we were all putting on a show to trick her.In the end, she couldn’t handle the lifestyle and left me because of it.For a while I thought I didn’t present things right.I didn’t give her enough of my time when I was home.
The way things are going so easy with Lucy, I can’t help but realize I was wrong.It wasn’t that I didn’t do something right, it’s she wasn’t right for me.
When the day finally winds down, I take her to the hotel before we head all the way back to Freedom Falls.Two rooms were available when I booked—one with two queens, one with a king.I took the one with two queens because I’m not an idiot, and because getting this right still matters more than getting my hands on her.
Even now.
Especially now.
The hotel’s nothing fancy.Lakeside lodge, clean enough, quiet enough, mostly booked with brothers and their women for the night so no one has to ride back exhausted.
Lucy stands in the doorway when I unlock the room and just looks around.
Two beds.Small table.Lamp.Simple.She looks at me.Then at the room again.
Then back at me.“You got two beds.”
“Yeah.I didn’t want to make assumptions.”
She pauses a beat.Then her smile curves slowly.“You really are trying to be good.”
I drop my bag onto the chair.“Don’t spread that around.I’ve got a reputation.”
She laughs softly and walks in, setting her overnight bag on the farther bed.
The ease of it all settles over me again.
No awkwardness.Just the low, warm satisfaction of an absolutely perfect day.
I strip off my cut and drape it over the chair, then step out onto the balcony for a second to look at the lake darkening under sunset.A minute later, the door slides open behind me.
Lucy steps out and comes to stand beside me.
For a while, neither of us says anything.
The air smells like water and pine and summer.
