“Wait…” Cody jumps out of the truck to hand him something. “Here. Keys to my place, in case she needs anything.”
“Good idea.” Jesse tucks them in his palm.
Cody gets back in the truck, and I buckle my seat belt. Dad comes up and stands at Cody’s window until he rolls it down.
“How close you wanna follow?” Dad asks.
“Whatever you want. I’ll have it on the GPS and we can stop whenever you guys stop.” Heshrugs.
“Well, I’m just thinking, you’re gonna be able to cruise a little faster than us.”
“That’s fine, I’m good,” Cody assures him.
Dad looks to me. “You good, Addie? Got your water and snacks?”
“Ha, yeah. I took a Dramamine already.”
“Good,” he says before walking back to his truck. Jesse slides in the backseat, the cold air whirling around me again from the open door.
“Alright, we’re good,” he says.
“Sure she doesn’t wanna go?” Cody looks to Jesse in the rearview mirror.
“Nah. You kidding? Cora doesn’t even like the twenty-five-minute drive into Bellamy.” He laughs. He’s right…a two-day road trip with her would be a nightmare.
Cody puts his truck in drive and starts down the lane, following Dad.
“I think we should make a bet.” I look to Cody.
“Who? Me and you?”
I nod. “Yeah. How many days until Jesse gets grumpy and starts going through Ella-and-Cora withdrawals.”
“Oh. Not even days…hours,” Cody teases. I look behind me to see Jesse shaking his head.
“Laugh all you want; you guys will understand one day.”
“I’m kidding,” I assure him.
He hums but is a good sport about it.
When we get to the end of the lane, my heart sputters a second. Wesley is waiting in his truck. We said goodbye last night and I wasn’t expecting to see him again until I got back.
“Stop a minute,” I tell Cody. He barely gets it in park before I’m hopping out the door. He and Jesse exchangesome smart comment, but I don’t give it the time of day.
Wesley steps out of his truck, shooting me a grin. I walk around the front of his truck and his hands immediately encircle my waist as he pulls me against him, so we’re hidden from the view of my waiting family.
“Hello there,” I say flirtatiously.
“More like goodbye,” he jokes. “I’m gonna miss you.”
I tilt my head. “Me too.” I rise on my tiptoes to give him one last big kiss.
* * *
It took about two hours, but we got our vendor spot all set up. We lucked out with a corner space, which gives us two high-traffic walkways to draw people in. Our tables are arranged in an L-shape—Dad is stationed at one end, standing behind the high-top table, while Jesse holds down the other side at the straight table.
Cody’s bouncing back and forth, and he comes across a little intimidating to approach, which is why Jesse takes the lead when it comes to talking to people. Thankfully, I don’t have to do a ton of talking and I can sit in front of our backdrop with Mom. We have duck and goose mounts set around, along with some framed pictures and a photo album of hunts through the years.
