His small smile and the way it highlighted the thin white scar on his lip caused my heart to do a littlethump-thump.“I think yoga tomorrow morning is a great idea.”
“Gabrielle will take care of Jolene.Don’t worry.She’s going to go all ‘badass lady lawyer’ on that old biddy.Jolene won’t know what hit her.”
Pressing his forehead to mine, he hooked his thumbs in the belt loops of my light denim overalls.“I’m so grateful that Mabel—and I—have you guys.I couldn’t imagine trying to navigate this alone with her.I think we’d just pack up in the middle of the night and flee if we didn’t have a support system.”
“Please don’t do that,” I whispered.“I’d really miss you.”
Pulling his head back, he stared down into my eyes.“I’d really miss you too.”
It was a bit of a struggle to peel my ass out of bed for the 8 a.m.Saturday morning yoga class.But it needed to happen.I was stress-eating way too much chocolate to not find some place to burn it off.
Apparently, Mabel wanted to play more ofThe Sorcerer’s Questwith Damon, so she hopped out of Lennox’s truck and bolted for Gabrielle’s house while I climbed into the front seat in her place.
“Hi, Naomi.Bye, Naomi,” she said to me, her sandy-blonde hair trailing behind her like a veil.
Yawning, I tossed my yoga mat and towel into the backseat.
Lennox leaned over and kissed my cheek.“How was your night?”he asked, reversing out until we reached a spot he could turn around in front of the main house.
“Uneventful,” I said.I hadn’t had time to put my hair in two braids yet, so I took the opportunity of him driving to do that.“Dinner with the kids, a bit of light reading, and a glass of wine before bed.Still wasn’t easy climbing out of bed this morning.”
He slid me a sideways glance and smirked.“You just miss having me in there with you.”
“I really do.”I shot him a wink.“It’s always like this at the beginning of the season.And at the end of the season.Midway during the summer we find our stride and the staff learn the ropes, but by the end of summer, everyone is burnt out.Then we have to add in the harvesting aspect of it all.By mid-October I’m awake and upright, but can barely remember my own name.”
Reaching over, he rested his hand on my thigh and gave it a squeeze.“Well, you’ll have two extra, willing and able hands this summer to help pitch in.Once the school year is done, put me—and Mabel—to work.”
“Yeah?”
“Totally.I’d love to learn more about the wine industry.”His smile grew.“Plus, it’d give me an opportunity to spend more time with you.”
The sleepy butterflies in my belly woke up and flapped their wings slowly.“You know, for a dude who’s never had a girlfriend before, you’re really nailing the boyfriend thing.Saying and doing all the right things.”
“I studied up.Watched all the rom-coms so I was well prepared for whatnotto do.I don’t want you to lose a guy in ten days.I want you to keep that guy.And I want that guy to be me.”
I placed my hand on top of his where it was still on my thigh, and I laced our fingers together.“I want that guy to be you too.”
Like two lovesick fools, we just grinned at each other until he realized he needed to keep his eyes on the road and had to swerve to avoid hitting the minivan headed toward us.
“We can make googly eyes at each other when we get to yoga,” I said.
“Deal.”
“How was Mabel after you took her home?Still rattled?”
“A little.But hanging out with Damon and playing that riddle video game seemed to really help.Distracted her better than anything I could have thought of.She texted him and asked him if she could come back this morning when I picked you up for yoga.I wasn’t sure it was such a good idea, said the kid probably wanted to sleep.But she said he said it was fine.”
“I think my nephew is a little smitten.And while I’m definitely not trying to suggest they be anything more than friends, because they’re just kids, I’ve never seen him smile the way he smiles when he’s around Mabel, or get such a glittery look in his eyes.”I tossed my hand in the air.“Hell, the kid is reading about lichen in his spare time because of your daughter.”
Lennox tossed his head back and laughed.“She told us about the lichen conversation.She was impressed that he said he thought about it from time to time.”
“You know he said thattoimpress her, but that he’d never had a thought about lichen before in his fourteen years of life before she asked him,” I said.
“Of course I know that.I was a teenage boy once, too.I never thought about lichen.But it’s cute that he tried to save face.”
“I think their friendship is adorable.”
We pulled into the parking lot for the Yoga Yurt.Lotus always kept the property so beautiful, and right now all her wildflowers were in full bloom.Bees and butterflies bounced from flower to flower as we made our way up the stone path toward the open yurt door.
