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“Fairly young,” he agreed, but didn’t elaborate.
“What about your mother? Is she still alive and smoking?”
“Mom quit smoking after Dad died. She decided she needed to live a healthier lifestyle. She traveled for a while but settled down. She runs a holistic hippie compound about an hour from here for anyone looking to find themselves. They grow their own food, make their own makeshift houses and live a mostly organic if isolated life.”
Listening to him talk about his life made Taylor feel as if she were that rabbit in the sky, one that had fallen into another realm. “Really?”
“You think I can make this stuff up?”
“I can’t imagine.”
“I can take you there sometime.”
She’d meant his childhood, but his offer caught her interest. “To meet your mother?”
“To see the compound,” he clarified.
Taylor’s face heated. She shouldn’t have assumed he’d meant anything. “Oh, right. Sorry.”
“You’d meet my mom, too, Taylor. She lives there.”
“She probably wouldn’t like me.” The words slipped out of her mouth, revealing way more than
what she should have.
“Why’s that?”
“Sounds like she’s very much a free spirit. That’s not who I am. She’d find me plain and boring.”
He rolled over onto his side to look at her. “She’d feel you were a kindred soul just waiting to break free from the confines of society and embrace your inner self.”
His assumption pleased Taylor more than it should.
“That sounded rehearsed,” she accused playfully, giving him a suspicious brow raise.
“You think?” He laughed. “I may have heard her say that a few times.”
“About women you’ve taken to the compound?”
His gaze met hers and he shook his head. “I’ve never taken a woman to the compound.”
“Oh.” She stared into his eyes, marveling at how they perfectly matched the sky. “But you’d take me?”
He nodded.
She marveled at his answer, too. “Why?”
“Because you wanted to go. And for the record, you, Taylor, are the least plain and boring person I know.”
* * *
Although Jack was enjoying lying on the blanket with Taylor, he was ready for a subject change.
“What about your parents? Are they alive? Do they live in Louisville?”
“They are alive. I used to see them a few times a year, but not since my divorce.”
The pain in her voice gave any explanation needed. Her parents hadn’t approved of her divorce. Had they cut her out of their lives? Or had she had to walk away from them along with her ex?
