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Which made Burke realize the RV wasn’t as cold as it should be. “Is the heating system set up to run without the engine?” Hell, had she been sleeping in the cold since Lawson had torn apart her engine?
Rissa allayed his fears. “The heating system runs off the propane tank at the back and the solar panels on the roof. I want to upgrade to full solar and electric battery at some point. The technology in RVs is new, so it’s very pricey. One day.”
He nodded as he looked around, wondering whether the walls had sufficient insulation for a Vermont winter and whether it would cost her a lot to keep it warm. He’d ask Lawson if there was anything they could do to make it more efficient for her.
Aside from moving her into his bed with him.
Rissa gestured to the back of the RV. “I rigged up a shelving system back here. Keeps everything in place when we’re moving.”
He chuckled as he hefted a few bins to bring to the back. “Why am I not surprised your system is color-coded and ruthlessly organized?”
She grinned. “It took me a while to figure out what would work best, but it saves me a lot of time.”
Color-coded labels on the shelves with the names of the bins made it easy to store them in the right place. “It’s like a rainbow of science.”
Rissa laughed, cheeks flushing prettily. “Thank you. I love that description.”
“I’m assuming you’ve got at least one lesson in here on rainbows and prisms.”
She grinned and pointed at the purple bin on the bottom shelf. “Optics is right there. The high schoolers love that one. Bouncing a candle’s reflection off mirrors until it reaches another classroom is always a hit.”
He tilted his head. “I’ve never tried that. I’d love to give that a shot in the farmhouse.”
Her smile widened. “I don’t have a video of that one in action yet. Maybe we could do one here.”
He grinned. “I’ll be a willing victim if you need a student to teach.”
Her laughter filled the small space, which was already several degrees warmer. Or maybe that was just him.
Once the bins were put away and secured, he looked around the space again, trying to learn more about the current Rissa from her surroundings.
She’d secured some photo frames to the cupboards covering the wall opposite the shelves. Frizzle starred in a few, along with landscapes of places she’d visited. But one drew him forward—one of the two of them with his siblings.
His mom had taken the picture without any of them realizing it. This wasn’t a posed picture; it had captured the joy of the afternoon. Jolie had found the trickiest item on the scavenger hunt list: a ladybug resting on a flower. She was probably six in the picture, lifting her arms in triumph. Amber clapped, face shining with pride. Knox and Lawson were grinning and moving to hoist Jolie into their arms for a victory dance. He and Rissa laughed from the sidelines, Rissa with her notebook in her hand.
He had to suck in a breath. “I remember Jolie crowing with delight when Knox and Lawson lifted her.”
Rissa chuckled. “And you rushed forward to ensure they didn’t drop her.”
“That was such a fun day.”
Rissa nodded. “Your mom slipped that photo into my backpack one day.”
“You kept it all these years.”
Her eyebrows flew up. “Of course. That picture makes me smile every time. When things are tough, I look at it and remember there are more good people in the world than bad. That happiness is about what you do, not what you own.”
The wistfulness in her voice sharpened his attention. She brushed her finger lightly over the frame with a soft smile.
“Whose ass do I have to kick?”
Her eyes widened. “What do you mean?”
He wished he’d kept the question inside. “Someone hurt you. Your father?”
Her eyes shuttered. “He’s been gone a long time. None of that matters anymore.”
Hell, how much had he missed? “I’m so sorry, I wasn’t aware enough. I knew he was negligent but didn’t think beyond that. I should have been there for you.”
