He fell asleep a few minutes later. I pulled the blanket up to his shoulder and exhaled slowly as I rested my cheek against his hair.
When had I started falling head over heels for Kit?
Not that it was any wonder. He was spectacular, amazingly kind and talented and beautiful. My god was he beautiful.
I was touched by the way he’d trusted me with this road trip, and with all my random ideas. He managed to surprise me—andprobably himself—like when he’d stripped down and jumped into the ocean with me.
And he made me happy. I felt good when I was around him. He helped me forget about the dark clouds, and the doom and gloom.
There was something else, too. It occurred to me that my bucket list had started off big and life-changing, but the stuff I’d kept adding to keep it going felt frivolous. Now I’d shifted my focus from my list to his—the road trip, taking care of his dad, launching his career, that was all Kit’s bucket list stuff, and helping him gave me a sense of purpose. I was grateful for that.
All in all, it was no surprise I was falling hard for him.
But I had no idea what I was supposed to do about it.
9
Kit
We had a lot to do on our last day in San Diego. I wanted my dad to come home to some nice surprises, so we stocked his fridge and deep cleaned his kitchen. Then Devon and I baked a double batch of chocolate chip cookies and left half for him before packing our things and heading to the diner.
Devon and Dad ended up talking business after the breakfast rush, including a conference call with Devon’s lawyer, who was drafting their contract. I was absolutely thrilled that this was happening. It was exactly what my dad needed—an investor who believed in him, and in the diner. It was going to completely transform his life.
And maybe it was exactly what Devon needed, too. Even though he’d said he wanted to be hands-off, he seemed excited to brainstorm some ideas when my dad asked for his input. It gave him a chance to focus on something besides that ticking clock counting down to his thirtieth birthday, and that had to be a good thing.
When it was time to go, Devon and I both hugged my dad goodbye. Dad and I teared up a little, but I meant it when I toldhim, “I’ll see you soon.” Whatever my concerns had been about coming home, I’d put them behind me on this trip.
Our last stops before leaving town were a sporting goods store, where we bought some camping equipment, and a grocery store, so we could fill our new ice chest. It was early afternoon when we finally got on the road.
“Since we’re getting a late start, I have a suggestion,” Devon said, after we merged onto the interstate. “Instead of driving all the way to the Grand Canyon tonight, I’d like to spend the night at this awesome campground that’s on the way.”
“Is this someplace you’ve been before?”
He nodded. “I took a detour in this direction for about a week during my west coast road trip. It’s really cool, and I’d love to share it with you, but it’s your call. If you’re eager to get to the Grand Canyon, it’s no problem to drive straight through.”
“No, let’s stop. I’d like to see this place.”
It turned out he’d been talking about Joshua Tree National Park. I’d seen photos of it, but they’d totally failed to do it justice.
It was starkly beautiful, an almost alien desert landscape punctuated with rugged rock formations and the strange trees that gave the park its name. Their trunks were rough and gnarled, the older trees crowned with a handful of thick branches that ended in clusters of spiky leaves. When I turned to Devon and told him, “I love this,” he looked relieved.
“Awesome! Not everyone appreciates the desert, but I’m glad you do.”
“It’s incredible. Thank you for bringing me here.”
He smiled as he drew me into his arms. “I’m so excited that you get to experience camping for the first time. I want to make sure we hit all the highlights, including cooking over an open fire, toasting marshmallows, and making s’mores.”
“So, the best part of camping is the food.”
He chuckled and said, “Pretty much. But there’s other great stuff too, like nature walks, and songs around the campfire, and stargazing. I don’t want to leave anything out.”
“What do we do first?”
“We set up camp. Since we’re sleeping in the van, we get to skip the step of setting up a tent, and yay to that. It’s always a pain in the ass.”
We unpacked our new canvas folding chairs and placed them beside the fire pit, along with a bundle of firewood. Then Devon spread a red-and-white checked tablecloth over the picnic table and began pulling things out of the cooler. Our haul from the grocery store had seemed pretty random, but now I realized he’d actually gone in with a plan in mind.
After he got a fire going, I acted like his sous chef and helped him prepare some chiles, onions, and tomatoes, which he turned into a batch of fire-roasted salsa. He served it with thick, melty quesadillas that he cooked over the coals in a wire basket with a long handle.
