Page 67 of Summer Ride

“Happy?” Carter asked her as she leaned against him after eating her third s’more.

“Very. You?” She glanced up at him.

“More than I could ever tell you, even if I had a lifetime to.” He smiled. “Think we should stick out our last two nights here?”

She sighed and rested back, taking a moment to look up at the stars. “I’m sort of eager to get back, but they’re right. I don’t want to leave until I feel as much love for this place as I did when we arrived.”

“Then it’s settled, we’ll stay.” He kissed her.

They didn’t know the others were listening in, but when Carter said this, everyone cheered again.

“When are you all leaving again?” Carter asked against her lips to more cheers.

Chapter Twenty

After everyone left the following day shortly before lunch, they decided to head out on a short bike ride. He knew he had to do something to keep her mind off the other night.

She’d told him that she would be able to ride the bike one-handed. He knew he would worry the entire time, but it was better than being stuck at the house.

Already, it was getting more difficult to keep her from turning on the news to see what they were saying about what had happened.

Kara’s knuckles were still bruised, and his head ached still, but the bump had disappeared. Kara’s cuts were covered in Band-Aids. He was thankful Lea’d had a box of them in her bag since there hadn’t been any in the bathrooms.

Her yellow cast was now covered in messages and funny drawings, making it look even more cheerful.

There wasn’t a bike path near the road, so they kept the ride short. With all the cars zipping by, he was concerned about her trying to ride with only one hand.

Still, they managed to ride into town and have lunch at a burger place. Many people who saw them stared at them or gasped when they noticed how bruised they were.

Honestly, if he saw a couple who looked like they did, he would have assumed they’d been in a car accident, not the horror they’d been through.

Still, they both kept their dark sunglasses on to hide the worst of it as they ate lunch outside under the shade of a huge oak tree.

The grilled sandwich from the little local sandwich shop was by far the best meal they’d had there thus far. They enjoyed it so much, they made plans to stop there on their way out of town the next day.

When they got back to the house, he wanted to take a dip in the pool. But he knew she was still having issues with swimming, and she had a cast on her arm, so he suggested they head to the cool waters of the Gulf instead, where she could stand in the water and only get the bottom half of her wet.

They spread out a blanket on the beach and splashed around in the water until it started to grow dark.

He knew that she probably didn’t want to remain outside too long after dark since it was just the two of them again. The night before, there had been a dozen people enjoying the campfire.

As they passed by the pool, he noticed that she avoided looking at it.

When they stepped inside, she went around the house turning on as many lights as she could. She even left a few lights on upstairs.

“We can watch a movie?” he suggested as he made them grilled cheese and turkey sandwiches.

“I know what you’re doing,” she said from her spot at the countertop.

“What?” he asked, glancing back at her.

“Keeping me away from the news. It’s okay.” She held up her hand to stop him for denying it. “It won’t break me. Besides, we’ll hear it sooner or later. I’d rather hear it here, with you.”

He sighed and removed the last sandwich from the stove so that he could wrap his arms around her. “If you are sure.”

“I am.” She smiled up at him.

While they ate, they sat on the sofa and flipped between news stations until they settled on one local station and waited. Ten minutes later, there was a quick report that only said that the man who had been responsible for the kidnapping of Abigail Peterson had been killed in another attempted kidnapping in St. George the night before. The reporter confirmed that two other people sustained minor injuries during the conflict. There was no mention of their names or the name of the house.