Page 263 of Worth the Trip

“Still.”

“Good.”

That was all.

He didn’t need to ask whether it remained his.

He knew.

I liked that he knew.

The pint went back into the freezer before Landon’s hands returned to my waist.

“You proud of me?” I asked.

The question slipped free before I could reconsider it.

He looked over my face.

“Very. And I was proud before these doors opened.”

That one stayed.

My fingers curled against the front of his shirt.

“I know.”

“Good.”

“No speech?”

“Nah.”

“No explanation of my emotional development?”

“Absolutely not.”

I laughed. “So what did you come back here for?”

“To celebrate my woman, eat my private ice cream, and determine whether she letting me take her home when this day over.”

“That order intentional?”

“Very.”

I kissed him before he could add anything else.

The Brookses stayed until early afternoon. Nana stayed much longer.

Apparently once she and Ms. Greene discovered they both believed children required books, discipline, and adults willing to feed them properly, the two women entered an alliance nobody else had authorized. By the time Nana finally gathered her purse, she and Ms. Greene had already discussed three possible reading themes and disagreed over whether children should receive juice before or after story time.

Landon walked Nana toward the door.

I stayed several feet away, pretending I had no interest in whatever conversation they intended to have.

Nana stopped before the entrance.

“You still making that drive?”